Ch.66Side Story – Battlefield

During the ongoing war with the Demon King’s army, various people gathered at the battlefield to defeat a high-ranking demon, each with their own reasons.

Some came to protect something, for the world, or to fulfill their duty, but among them were a few particularly special individuals.

A Holy Knight who joined the war out of duty to his power.

A Holy Maiden struggling to change her fate.

A comrade of the Hero who had fallen to become the Demon King.

And the Demon King’s daughter.

The Demon King’s daughter had two reasons for joining the battle to defeat the Demon King. The first was to prove her innocence.

It was obvious she would be executed simply for being the Demon King’s daughter if she did nothing. So to survive, she needed to prove her innocence.

Normally, no one would point a sword at their father just to survive. That is, in normal circumstances.

The Demon King, Partia’s father, had murdered her mother figure right before her eyes. Then he told his child:

“Useless thing.”

Thanks to that, her affection for her father transformed into rage. And Partia joined the war for revenge. That was her second reason.

Anyway, these four and many soldiers gathered in one place to defeat a formidable enemy.

***

Because of a single high-ranking demon, all kinds of clergy gathered, including Holy Maidens and Holy Knights.

Several black mages also came, as they could harm demons by using abilities of the same element.

Even soldiers without divine power gathered, trying to fight somehow with weapons imbued with divine power.

But despite the numerous personnel gathered, they still couldn’t inflict significant damage on the high-ranking demon. Rather, they were on the verge of annihilation.

“Is there really no reinforcement?! I’m reaching my limit here!”

The Holy Knight shouted while desperately withstanding the high-ranking demon’s attacks at the frontline.

“The Hero is coming soon! So please hold on a little longer!”

The Holy Maiden cried out while firing arrows of light without a moment’s rest.

Certainly, they had inflicted significant damage on the high-ranking demon. However, the damage they received far exceeded what they had dealt.

Already, countless people had been turned into corpses because of this one demon. In numerical terms, about 70% of their forces had been lost.

To make matters worse, those remaining weren’t in good condition either. The Holy Maiden’s divine power was running low, and the Holy Knight was at his physical limit.

Yet the demon was still fine. About 30% of its total health had disappeared, but that wasn’t a major problem.

In other words, they had no chance of winning. Still, they couldn’t retreat.

The moment they retreated, it was certain that countless casualties would occur.

So everyone was rushing toward death just to buy a little more time.

Even as countless futures disappeared, there was no sign of the Hero arriving.

“Miss! Please retreat now, or you’ll really die!”

“It’s not me who’s going to die, but that thing.”

A woman who appeared to be in her early twenties placed her hand on her eye patch as if she had made up her mind.

“Miss, please reconsider…”

“That’s an order. Stay put.”

The woman who had been using black magic from behind removed her eye patch and calmly called out.

“Mutual Destruction.”

Then the high-ranking demon’s body began to fade gradually. And the woman’s body was also becoming younger.

After about 10 seconds, the woman… no, the girl grabbed her right eye and screamed.

“Aaaaargh!”

From the girl’s throat came not the voice of a mature woman, but a fragile, youthful voice.

Ten years of life. She had poured it all into that demon, but it only bought 10 seconds of time.

“Miss, please retreat now…”

“I clearly… ordered you to stay put.”

“But you have no life force left! How do you intend to fight?”

“I still… have some lifespan left.”

The maid tried to stop the girl, but the girl’s will was too firm.

“…Miss. At least don’t overdo it.”

“I’m sorry, but this time I think I need to overdo it.”

“Then please don’t die.”

“As I said before, it’s not me who’s going to die, but that thing.”

Just as the girl was steeling her resolve to sacrifice her lifespan—

—BOOM!

Something red fell from the sky at tremendous speed, striking the demon directly.

“I’ll handle this one! Everyone fall back!”

And a man appeared before the demon.

A fiercely burning sword. Wings glowing red. A unique divine aura. Only one being possessed all these traits.

The Hero had finally arrived at the front line.

“Hero! We can help you…”

“Get out of my way and leave now!”

Simultaneously, tremendous heat erupted from the Hero’s sword.

And everyone present instinctively realized that staying nearby would only be a hindrance.

Thus began the fierce battle between the Hero and the demon.

***

Only after the sun had set and midnight arrived was the battle finally settled.

The once-dense forest was reduced to ashes.

The terrain had completely changed due to the aftermath of thousands of explosions.

And at the center, someone covered in blood and severely wounded was still mutilating the demon’s corpse.

With one arm and eye gone, continuing to hack at the demon, he hardly looked like a Hero.

Rather, he looked more like something close to a demon.

People felt various emotions watching this scene.

Most people felt fear.

The Holy Knight, the maid, and a few others felt relief and gratitude.

“Goddess… once again… I couldn’t protect anyone…”

The Holy Maiden despaired, seeing a fate that hadn’t changed at all.

And the Demon King’s daughter…

‘Amazing…’

Perhaps because her mental age had regressed along with her body, she was admiring such a Hero.

***

Only after the demon’s corpse had completely turned to ash and disappeared did the Hero stop his actions. Then he collapsed to the ground.

The Holy Maiden spoke with a voice drained of strength.

“Is there anyone else injured?”

“I think we should treat Leo first.”

“Yes, I’ll heal the Hero first and come back.”

So the Holy Maiden walked toward the Hero. And as soon as the treatment of the collapsed Hero was complete, he immediately opened his eyes.

“Where’s the next enemy?”

And he immediately prepared to go fight again.

“Hero, you still need to rest.”

“There’s no time to rest.”

“If you treat your body so recklessly, it will surely break down.”

“I know.”

“…Then why do you do this?”

“Because I’m the Hero.”

The Hero was acting as if he was being chased by something. Seeing this, the Holy Maiden had one question.

“…Hero, what would you do if your actions had no meaning?”

“I still have to move forward.”

“…If nothing changes even if you stay still, would you still move forward?”

“Then what did my comrades die for?”

The Hero glared sharply at the Holy Maiden.

“The moment I stop, their deaths become meaningless. So I must keep moving forward.”

The Hero took out a cross-shaped necklace from his pocket and gripped it tightly.

Then the Holy Maiden suddenly recalled what had happened when she first met the Hero.

At that time, the Hero had raged, saying his comrades could never be replaced. Especially regarding the Holy Maiden, he had seemed somehow sad.

When she was young, she couldn’t understand why, but now she thought she could.

“May I ask one question?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Were you and the previous Holy Maiden in some kind of relationship?”

The Hero couldn’t answer readily and remained silent for a long time. Only after quite some time had passed did he finally speak.

“…Just comrades.”

The Hero spoke as if it was nothing, but there was a clear emotion carried in his words.

Thanks to this, one question the Holy Maiden had since childhood was resolved. And one doubt arose.

“So where’s the enemy?”

The Hero put the necklace back into his pocket and asked.

“…If you go to that tent, someone named Bastia will tell you.”

“Thanks.”

The Hero forced his very exhausted body forward.

After the Hero had completely disappeared from sight, one doubt arose in the Holy Maiden’s mind.

Why was the Goddess doing nothing?

Why did the Goddess only give them trials while passing no judgment on the Demon King?

Such doubt grew larger and larger until it finally reached one conclusion.

“Goddess. What would you do if you knew your actions had no meaning?”

And the Holy Maiden offered her final prayer to the Goddess.

***

In a tent, the Hero and a warrior who pursued justice were chatting.

“Hero, isn’t it still time for you to rest?”

“Then who can replace me?”

“I know it’s useless to try to stop you. So promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You must win.”

The warrior handed over a map with the location of the enemy base.

“I’ll win, even if I have to sacrifice my future.”

The Hero received the paper and went outside the tent. Just as he was about to leave, a girl appeared before him.

“Thank you so much for today!”

The daughter of the being who had taken everything from him. The daughter of that being was standing before the Hero’s eyes.

Clearly, the girl had done no wrong. Rather, he had been indirectly receiving steady help from her.

But just the fact that she was blood-related to the Demon King made his anger surge.

Even so, the Hero wasn’t foolish enough to not distinguish between public and private matters.

“Get lost.”

So the Hero answered as kindly as possible. And the girl thought:

‘So cool…!’

Perhaps because of that moment when the Hero had appeared before her like a hero, even such harsh words seemed cool to her.

But from a third-person perspective, it wasn’t like that at all.

‘Miss… please run away from there…’

The Hero had been fighting continuously without rest for four years. There were even times when he fought for an entire month without sleeping.

It’s a frightening level of mental strength. Then what do you think is the source of this mental strength?

Rage toward the Demon King. And before the Hero’s eyes was the Demon King’s daughter.

Moreover, the Hero was continuously emitting killing intent toward the girl. So the maid thought that if left like this, the girl would surely be brutally murdered.

But fortunately, such a tragedy didn’t occur. That’s because the Hero suddenly disappeared from before the girl.

As the maid was sighing in relief, suddenly someone whispered softly and disappeared.

“Take better care of the kid. Something terrible might happen at this rate.”

No matter what, the Hero is still human. So he feels sorry when he sees someone fighting while sacrificing even their years. Especially if the subject is a child.

So the Hero told the maid to take good care of the girl.

But from the maid’s perspective, it was interpreted completely differently.

‘If that bastard pulls something like this one more time, I’ll really kill him.’

Still, it’s fine if she warns the girl properly. After all, the girl must have instinctively sensed the killing intent just now.

Just as the maid approached the girl to warn her, the girl energetically pronounced her death sentence to the maid.

“Selene! I just met my soul rival!”

She wanted to become like the person she admired. No, she wanted to grow even beyond that. Such thoughts filled the girl’s mind.

“So the next time I meet the Hero, I’m going to challenge him to a duel!”

So the girl arbitrarily made the person she admired her rival.

And those words were interpreted by the maid as:

‘I’m going to commit suicide!’

And thus began the ill-fated relationship between the three.