At the Academy

As soon as Balrog died, the imps remaining in the dormitory screamed and fled.

“I don’t even have the strength to chase and kill them.”

Sitting down, I smiled in relief at Flare.

“You’re safe, Flare.”

“Hati-senpai, what brings you here?!”

I fell backward as Flare rushed at me, but she squeezed me tightly, making it hard to breathe, so I patted her back several times.

“Th-that’s enough. I can’t breathe…”

“Senior?! Don’t die! Didn’t you come to save me?!”

I almost died at your hands just now.

“…Of course.”

“Senior!!”

I gently stroked Flare’s head as she attempted to grapple me again.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not over yet.”

“What?!”

There’s still the boss left.

I handed Flare the demon sword 『Revenge』, the ring of regeneration, and the necklace of strength.

“Take these. They should all be useful.”

Since Flare’s body was glowing, there was no problem with her wearing the items.

“I didn’t have a weapon, so this is perfect… This is such a good sword! And what are these? The ring and necklace?”

“They’re magical items. The ring restores health, and the necklace boosts your strength a bit.”

I intentionally didn’t explain about the demon sword.

“It’s fitting for a demon sword that consumes the user’s health to wear the ring of regeneration.”

I can make up for the lack of attack power with skills.

After putting on the ring and necklace, Flare looked at me in wonder.

“Is this real? I can feel something changing in my body!”

“Even if it’s just one tick, health regeneration is still health regeneration.”

“Now you use them.”

I might as well give them all away.

“They all seem expensive…”

Even in this situation, Flare was worrying about money.

‘Did I say to Luna that I had suspiciously a lot of money?’

“It’s fine. I have plenty.”

As there were no demons within a certain range, the glow gradually faded.

‘If I don’t ask, she’ll find it strange.’

“But what’s with the light around you?”

“This?! I don’t know! I could see the monsters, and everything got brighter, and I felt my strength surging!”

‘Is the boss quite strong? Flare received a skill as good as my inheritance passive.’

I corrected Flare’s words.

“They’re not monsters; they’re demons.”

“Then let’s hurry and kill those little demons!”

‘My health is starting to drop here.’

Inheritance skills aren’t omnipotent.

“Imps. Call them imps.”

“Imps? I think I’ve heard that somewhere… Isn’t that a real demon name?”

Of course, it is real.

Having rested enough, I stood up.

“That’s right.”

In this event, Balrog is fixed as the mid-boss, and the boss is random, as expected of the “Regret and Obsessive Hero.”

‘I don’t know which one will show up, but…’

With item luck, inheritance skills, and two heroes, it should be enough…

I searched every nook and cranny of the dormitory, but there was nothing.

‘This is strange. The boss should definitely regenerate near Flare…’

Has it not appeared yet?

Since the mid-boss came out quickly, it must be…

“Senior Hati!!!”

That was Flare’s scream.

I hurriedly dashed into room 201, where the voice came from.

What I faced was—

‘This is too much!’

The final boss—the Demon King.

An unreasonable being had come to cut down the heroes.

“Senior…”

Flare, glowing brightly, sat helplessly on the ground with a desolate expression.

“…What is that?”

The Demon King was slowly moving toward Flare.

If I stay like this, I won’t be able to do anything, and Flare will die.

“Stop!”

The Demon King laughed as it saw me rushing in.

[Was there another little rat?]

As soon as our eyes met, I felt an overwhelming fear of this unreasonable being.

As I faced the gaze of death, someone’s face came to mind first.

‘Get a grip. Scarl!’

I can win. Even if it’s the final boss, the Demon King appeared as an event.

If I inflict enough damage, I can drive it away.

And I’m not going to give up here, especially with flashy items that still work in the mid-game.

‘The playtime will cry!’

“Third Moon!!”

The inheritance skill moves forward with the optimal slash, regardless of what’s going on in my head.

Swoosh— swoosh— swoosh—

‘It worked!’

In an instant, the Demon King was split into three.

[Is this all you have, second hero?]

As the place I had slashed returned to normal as if time rewound, I used a linked skill.

“Fourth Moon!”

The Demon King’s body split like flowers blooming in a cross.

‘How about this!’

The Demon King was regaining its form at an even faster speed.

[How annoying.]

Is it not getting cut even now…?

‘At least its HP should be going down!’

“Ugh!!”

I charged in and swung my sword down.

As I sliced through the Demon King’s body, I unleashed a flurry of strikes as it regenerated instantly.

“Die! Just die!!”

A little bit of the Demon King’s body was being chipped away.

‘Just a bit more. Just a bit more!’

[I understand your specialness well. I’ll take you first, you who use strange powers.]

I heard a strange sound in my ear.

Puhk—

I felt no sensation in my abdomen.

“No! No! Senior Hati!!”

I looked down at Flare’s scream.

‘Why is this happening…?’

I saw an arm protruding through my abdomen.

At this point, I should have disappeared…

The ring shattered, and my transformation was undone.

‘I’ve been found out.’

In Flare’s shocked eyes, the image of Scarl, bleeding from the hole in his abdomen, reflected back.

“Cough!”

I was trying to act as a hero in Hati’s form.

I was supposed to team up with Flare to catch the Demon King.

‘Sorry, Flare.’

To Luna…

“Sc-Scarl? Wh-why are you here—? Huh…?”

“Run away… Flare.”

I could feel the Demon King reaching out to Flare with its other hand.

“Senior? Scarl?”

‘…A promise.’

I squeezed out the remaining strength to push my body against the Demon King to protect Flare.

“Don’t… don’t die.”

The pain surged as the arm sank deeper into my abdomen.

“Ugh! Gah! Gah!”

[Are you still alive?]

Just a little more.

If I can hold on for just a little longer, this guy will disappear too.

‘My disciple Flare held on for a minute.’

As the master, I should too.

Just one minute.

Just one more minute to stay alive.

“What… are you?”

The method of defeating the boss in Flare’s event, which I didn’t even want to think about, came to mind.

A hidden condition that appeared from the Luna DLC.

‘The death of one hero.’

In the game, if you encounter the Demon King as the first boss, you either get a retry or…

…send Luna away.

‘So this time, I…’

I had a feeling it would turn out like this.

‘I…’

As my consciousness faded, my vision grew dim.

[Persistent, aren’t you.]

My body trembled under the Demon King’s hand that was tearing through my abdomen.

I collided with it to prevent it from approaching Flare until the very end.

“…Get away—.”

I forgot the pain.

No, it would be more accurate to say that I had no sensation in my body.

[How annoying. Hero.]

‘Damn it! Move! Move, damn it!!!!!’

My vision went black.

“Senpai—!”

Flare’s voice faded and stretched out.

The heartbeat that had flowed along with the Demon King’s hand stopped.

I conveyed my last words to her, which she would never hear.

“L-Luna. Y-You… protect— 1, 1 minute.”

‘I protected Flare.’

Suddenly, a black man appeared before me, and just facing him made my will to live vanish.

All the swordsmanship I had learned until now became meaningless in the face of overwhelming fear.

The strange power that had made my body glow, the special magical items given to me by Senior Hati, were all useless.

And I realized.

That Senior Hati was actually the trash Scarl.

That he had died protecting her.

That my desperate struggle to keep the man away for my sake continued until the end.

‘This, this is a dream! Yes! This must be a dream! It has to be a dream!’

[Time is already… I see. Did this man know everything?]

I snapped back to reality at the man’s words.

“What are you talking about!!!”

[You did well to die.]

I picked up the sword that my senior had given me.

“Senior’s revenge!!!”

The sword, pulsating with a crimson aura, was far more powerful than the one I received from the academy.

I didn’t think about anything else.

With the intention of killing him in one blow, I gathered all my strength and swung the sword at him, just as he had taught me.

Swoosh—!

Unlike my senior, the sword passed through the man’s body without leaving a trace.

‘…Is he not dead?’

[Do you think such a thing could kill this body?]

The man’s hand approached his own neck.

Like a mirage, his touch passed through.

[…It seems this is mutual. Until next time, hero.]

Hero.

Even the monster with the sword of fire called me that.

‘Senior seemed to know something! No, should I now call you Scarl?!’

Amidst the confusion swirling in my head, the man spread his arms wide, enjoying his leisure.

[I am the Demon King. I will await your death. Hero.]

Then the man, who called himself the Demon King, vanished in the blink of an eye.

With the Demon King gone, the weather brightened as if it were a lie.

If Scarl, who lay collapsed with a hole in his abdomen, were not there, the room would have been just like any other.

Clang—

I crawled over to Scarl.

As warm blood got on my hands, tears flowed at the unbelievable reality.

“S-senior… senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, senior!!!”

I caressed his cold, cooling face.

There was no trace of my senioranywhere.

The one who lay dead before me was undoubtedly Scarl.

But this person had always been senior Hati, who had been with me.

‘Room 404.’

I remembered the back of my senior as he came out of Scarl’s lab.

“…It hurts.”

It hurts.

I should feel elated that the enemy I despised, Scarl, was dead.

I should definitely be happy that he, who tormented me every class, was gone.

But my heart ached too much.

“Gah. Gah. Gah. Gah. Gah—”

‘Scarl was Hati…’

Scarl had always protected and cared for me.

“Scaaarrrrrrrrrrl!!!!!!!!!!!”

Flare’s wail echoed throughout.