episode_0064

Angry crowd.

Drops of blood flying into the air.

Mad laughter.

Everything stops.

The surroundings are frozen, as if someone had frozen time itself.

The same goes for the puppet master’s abilities.

The supernatural power that had been plaguing her for the past few days disappeared in an instant. She was shocked to see her body moving as she pleased.

“Huh, huh?”

And soon, I was able to realize one thing.

In this bizarre scene where everything has stopped, he is the only one moving.

That wasn’t all.

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As some more time passed, the time that had stopped began to rearrange itself.

The audience moved away, the pain moved away, and the puppet master moved away.

Just like Yulys, Lily’s time of suffering disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Lily was very embarrassed by this, but the miracle did not end there.

The warrior whose neck was cut off returns, and the party members who lost their lives are revived.

Although not as religious as Yulis, Lily was quick to figure out the truth.

“Are you going back to the past···?”

In addition, there is a point of return to the past.

I also realized that I was returning to the point of view of the ‘warrior’ and not myself.

“How did this happen···.”

She was confused for a moment, but continued to watch the scene before her.

The time that had been going back like that became like a film, showing different scenes one by one.

Just like in the time of Yulis.

Warriors of various appearances are listed in order.

One by one, the figures of warriors suffering behind public scenes were revealed.

The path he walked was sad and at times depressing.

In the past, Ulis felt sad here. Every single sight of it made his heart ache.

“······.”

However, Lily is a little different.

No, she still felt the same pain in that scene, but she looked somewhere else first.

She watched the hero’s great deeds.

“You really went through all that···?”

The scene where he cut through tens of thousands of monsters on the day he came to save himself.

“Did you catch Oleg too?”

A scene of a fierce battle in the sewers while the curse is still hanging on.

“Oh my god, what Yuris said was true···?”

The day when the Four Heavenly Kings were first captured, the scene where the ancient disaster was additionally captured, etc.

All the scenes she saw were historically significant. They were so magnificent and wonderful…

It was just as brutal.

Wherever he fought, his blood would spurt out, flesh would be cut, and bones would be broken.

He was always hurt, so much so that even she frowned as she watched.

However, due to its incredible regenerative ability, it quickly disappears.

Beneath it were countless scars that left no trace.

And there were a few scars that didn’t show on the skin, but were permanent.

“I give 20 years of my life.”

The time I tore my soul apart when I faced the ancient disaster.

“I offer my little finger.”

Things like when I temporarily cut off my little finger to test my abilities.

Lily also learned for the first time that the warrior had such abilities.

Because I’ve never used that ability in front of party members.

The ability she saw was a manifestation of desperation.

The ability to make impossible odds possible and win unwinable battles.

That’s why I had to let go of things that I couldn’t easily let go of, and endure pain that I couldn’t easily imagine.

The power of sacrifice she saw was powerful, yet so cruel.

He fought against the Demon King’s army, enduring such pain. And in other words… he himself had always been cruel and persecuted.

“······.”

A bitter taste came to her mouth. Her heart gradually grew heavier. The warrior’s abilities did not stop there.

Time went back and forth like that, and before I knew it, it had reached the beginning.

The reason why a warrior could become a warrior.

The reason why an ordinary man was able to rise to the position of one of the strongest people in an instant.

And… the reason why I couldn’t help but have unnecessary suspicions every time I saw him.

“Offering a connection.”

From the back alleys of the dirty empire, brilliant lights emerged.

As if blessing or comforting his future path.

The dazzling lights were soon consumed by the darkness of the back alley, but at least they left behind some results.

Thus the warrior was born into the world, and he took on the burden of hundreds of millions of lives.

“······Ah.”

Lily was speechless for a moment when she saw that.

It felt like my breath was suddenly suffocating. I tried to form words, but they were scattered around my throat and wouldn’t come out properly.

Why? Did you feel a thrill at his actions like you did with Yulis?

Have you ever been impressed by his nobility or bravery?

No, it was more of a plain and ordinary feeling.

What she felt for Luke was regret.

I feel sorry for making someone carry such a heavy burden. And I feel sorry for not knowing the circumstances, and so on…

[The amount of player logs is too huge!]

[Start data expansion.]

[Reviewing save points···.]

Even after the video ended, Lily remained still for a while. Ironically, this time she didn’t go back to the past right away.

In a world where everything was broken down, only the warriors’ logs were floating around in disorder.

Lily stayed there and looked over the records.

Each time you pick up a piece of debris, the video plays again.

The fragments she held were scenes that were vividly etched in her memory. The moment when the warrior had just emerged from the sewer, when he grabbed the tail and fought with all his heart.

At that time, the warrior was exhausted from the fight with Oleg. His bones and flesh were torn and his spirit was worn down repeatedly.

“There is no glory on the path you take.”

“There will be no honor.”

“But why do you want to go that route?”

In the meantime, I heard a sweet request to join the Demon King’s Army.

“Fuck… We need to save the people first.”

Nevertheless, he overcame all the difficulties and defeated Oleg. This feat was accomplished in a place where no one could see. If the aqueduct had been opened, tens of thousands of people might have died.

No, maybe the entire city was destroyed.

Originally, it would not be enough for many people to praise it.

But all he got in return was blame and suspicion.

He questioned him, criticized him, and later got angry and started spewing hurtful words at him.

What was he thinking at that time?

“···.”

She wasn’t a psychic, so she couldn’t know for sure.

One thing is certain, he cried bitterly after that.

In one fragment, Yulis saw Luke holding back tears.

“······.”

Lily played another video, her mouth bitter.

This time, it was when he was captured by the teleportation scroll. At that time, the warrior party was in chaos.

In an attempt to find his missing self, he searches the city with his weary body, and sometimes investigates outside the city walls just in case.

Then, after discovering traces of teleportation and having many discussions among the party members… the warrior set out.

To a land filled with tens of thousands of elite monsters.

Alone, armed only with a sword.

Lily imagined to herself.

What was he thinking at that time?

The fighting in the Demon Realm was more intense than ever.

Although there were no monsters as strong as the Four Heavenly Kings, there were tens of thousands of monsters that could be classified as named monsters.

If you put all those guys together, it might be harder than the Four Heavenly Kings.

In reality, the warrior’s blood burst out and his bones were broken. His magical power was exhausted from using magic.

His back was gradually filled with arrows and thorns, and his regeneration rate slowed noticeably.

“I give you 10 years of my life.”

Every time, he sacrificed something. He faced adversity head-on, even sacrificing his future.

“I give you 10 years of my life.”

“I give you 10 years of my life.”

『···I permanently dedicate both my ring fingers and my little finger.』

Lily watched the whole scene from beginning to end.

“I permanently donate half of my liver.”

“I offer up my appendix and gallbladder permanently.”

“I permanently donate my left eye.”

The fight was more brutal than fierce. The sight of the warrior cutting through tens of thousands of monsters was more desperate than intimidating.

With each step he took, the number of bodies he sacrificed increased. It was all the best move he had made.

The optimal wound chosen simply for swinging the sword. A rational pain calculated to be fatal but still allow the body to move.

After advancing for a while, he finally reached his own self. Seeing himself tangled in spider webs, he said:

『You······are a very hands-on person······you know·········?』

He laughs sadly even though he might collapse at any moment.

Lily imagines again.

What was he thinking at that time?

As I said before, she wasn’t a mind reader, so she couldn’t know what was going on in his mind.

However, as a magician who values theory, he was able to connect the dots and make inferences.

At first he fought fiercely with Oleg, and then he fought with himself again. They were stuck in one place and scratched each other so much that they cried bitterly.

He must have hated himself. He must have been angry.

In that situation, he was kidnapped.

To be honest, I probably didn’t want to save him. He had to fight his way through tens of thousands of monsters while already feeling very emotional.

The difficulty is too high compared to what you get. Thinking rationally, it might be better to just give up and hit the Demon King.

Still, he went forward, carrying only a sword.

Fighting tens of thousands of monsters, sacrificing his lifespan, parts of his organs, his young, his ring finger, and even his left eye.

Having suffered from exhaustion of magical power dozens of times, being shot by hundreds of arrows, and having my flesh torn to pieces thousands of times.

When he arrived in front of me after doing all that.

When he laughed pitifully in front of himself, chewing on all the hardships…

What on earth was he thinking?

“······Ugh.”

I feel like throwing up. Lily covered my mouth for a moment.

My emotions are overflowing and about to spill out.

Lily felt disgusted with herself.

I can’t know all his thoughts.

However, if I dare to guess… Luke would have felt that his fate was very unfair.

He is the one who devoted his entire life to fight against the Demon King. He is the one who smiled in front of me even though he must have hated me and must have been very tired.

But all she had done to him was treat him cruelly… She felt crushed by guilt.

“······Ah.”

She took a deep breath. Her breathing became unsteady. Tears slowly leaked from her eyes. She muttered softly, even though she knew that the scene before her was a video.

“Mi, sorry···.”

The warrior’s true identity was neither a spy of the Demon King’s army nor one of the fallen Four Heavenly Kings. He was not a heartless traitor to humanity.

He was an ordinary person who could get angry and sad. He was just a pitiful person who was pushed by the world to become a hero.

“I’m so sorry···.”

She kept apologizing for a while. She watched the video, tried to guess what he was thinking, and even shed tears of pain.

After repeating that for a while···.

[Data expansion complete!]

[The turning point has been confirmed.]

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Lily regressed to the past.