episode_0073

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I sense Edanant’s presence.

Regnas instinctively sensed this and sent a signal to King Tarrant.

Peaceful confrontation may be difficult.

Therefore, citizens in the city were evacuated in advance to prevent possible casualties.

‘We finally meet again.’

How will Edanant react if he faces the truth?

He’ll be angry.

He would vent his anger more violently than anyone else.

Although he has a blunt personality like Maximilian, he is also a person who cares more about his colleagues than anyone else.

Fate is just cursed.

A man with reddish-brown hair smiled bitterly and grabbed the hilt of a sword. It was one of the habits I showed whenever I made a firm determination.

“Warmonger has arrived. Everyone please step aside.”

“Ber, already… You mean you arrived?”

“As I said before, you should never pull out the hilt of your sword. In any case.”

“… Of course.”

Regnas, who left a new message to Tarant and the knights, took a step forward.

I left the royal castle.

Eventually, we arrived at the castle walls filled with tall spires.

The soldiers guarding the castle walls had withdrawn to carry out the king’s orders. Regnas waited alone on the castle wall, facing the strong wind, for Edanant to come.

“… Legnas.”

How long has it been like that?

A man wearing a rusty iron mask suddenly appeared.

Warmonger.

Finally reunited with my old comrade.

Regnas raised his head as he smelled the gunpowder blowing in the wind. Next, I came face to face with the sharp eyes seen through the iron mask.

“It’s been a really long time.”

“It wouldn’t be a situation to calmly share a story, right? After playing the game board in the Pug Kingdom.”

“Sorry. You must have been very surprised.”

“Is this something to laugh about?”

Bullets were fired along with a strong gunshot.

As soon as he finished speaking, Edanant pulled out a pistol and pulled the trigger on Regnas.

In response, Regnas stretched out his hand and snatched the bullet.

“… You’re still in control.”

“What should I do? They say the habits of three years old last until eighty.”

The distance between Legnas and Edanant was only 10 yards.

As soon as I took the pistol out of the holder, I stretched out my mana-covered hand.

Regnas’ reaction speed, which reacted immediately upon sensing danger, was at a level that surpassed that of even a superhuman.

My skills never rusted.

Even though three years have passed since the end of the war, it is still at its peak.

The Seven Strengths of the Nation.

Sword Saint Regnas.

Regnas, who was in charge of the vanguard along with Maximilian at the saint’s party, is a hero who never showed his back in the face of any danger.

You should not overlook their usual gentle appearance.

Because the time before a huge storm is the calmest.

Edanant knew more about Regnas’ strength than anyone else. That is why the Empire and the Holy Emperor took action before committing the foolish act of defining the swordsman, who had been reduced to a regicide, as a public enemy.

“Could it be a vampire… . You still have unique tastes.”

“I’m not taking you around because I like it.”

Regnas, who saw a vampire with flowing black hair, said with a smile. She was guarding Edanant’s back like a bodyguard.

He was a vampire, a bloodsucker.

He was even an apostle serving the God of Disaster.

How did Edanant, who despised the cultists so much, come to accept it?

Regnas expressed doubt but also showed strong interest.

“We will share a private table, so please wait from afar for now.”

“Understood, Seer.”

Edanant gestured, and Ariel nodded, turning into fog and dispersing.

“There was no next time… . What on earth does that mean? No, before that… . Why did you guys disappear?”

Warrior. Saint. Mercenary King. Wise man. Sword Saint.

The immortal heroes who defeated the immortal demon king disappeared overnight.

At first, I thought it was simply because of my passion. I thought the male protagonists, who had outstanding looks and outstanding abilities, were just running away at night to spend the rest of their lives with the poor female protagonist.

but-.

As time passed, questions arose.

It occurred to me that it might not be such a trivial reason.

“Where is Beatrice?”

There is no one eavesdropping.

There was no one to disturb us along the way.

Edanant stared at Regnas with sharp eyes and asked a question that had been buried for a long time.

* * *

The answer appears before your eyes.

I came face to face with the truth I had longed for.

I struggled to hold back my trembling and waited for the answer to come out of Regnas’ mouth.

“Ethan, I’m sorry, but before I answer… Can I ask you just one question?”

“… … .”

I frowned at Regnas’ behavior of asking a new question while waiting for an answer. But there was no need to rush, so I suppressed my impatience for a moment.

There is no need to rush.

Today, the inside story of the saint’s party will finally be revealed.

Regnas is not a person who will ever spout lies. Therefore, even though I felt nervousness weighing on my mind, I allowed Regnas to ask questions.

“Are we really the beings in the novel?”

“What?”

What now?

What did I just say… ?

My mind turned white as I heard Geomseong’s question, which made me feel deep regret.

My whole body trembled reflexively at the completely unexpected question. I fell into such a deep panic that I momentarily lost my desperate determination to find out the inside story.

How did you find out?

When did you first find out?

That they are artificial beings created by someone. That the vast world they desperately protected was a space created by someone.

Even though I heard it clearly, I couldn’t believe it.

This cannot happen.

It was also something that shouldn’t have happened.

I swallowed dry saliva as I felt the change in my heart beating furiously.

“Ever since I met Ethan, I have sometimes felt doubts. It must be your first journey… Ethan was like a prophet who predicted the future, and he handled it skillfully every time we got caught up in an incident.”

“… … .”

“At the time, I just thought I had excellent intuition. But now that I see the truth, I understand. Ethan already knew the ending before our journey began.”

“… How on earth did you know?”

I have no intention of backing away.

Because Regnas’ voice was firmer than ever.

I don’t know the detailed process.

However, it was clear that the saint’s party had reached ‘knowledge that should never be known.’

“So the saint’s party ran away without any message? You learned that the world you had defended with all your might was actually an artificially created vanity.”

All the actions decided so far have been nothing more than a process on the monorail created by the author. As a saintly party who had achieved the grand finale after many twists and turns, they would naturally have felt regret and futility worse than death.

Was that why he disappeared?

I asked Regnas, recalling Beatrice’s disillusionment and despair.

“Sometimes I complained of embarrassment, and sometimes I expressed frustration… The journey we went through over the years was undoubtedly the most beautiful memory. Even if it is a story that someone made up, I believe that our desperate efforts to save the world were not in vain.”

Saved the world.

Saved countless people.

That’s why I never regret it.

Even though he was faced with a truth that should not be known, the Sword Saint’s chivalry still shined resolutely.

It looks the same as before.

Although numerous incidents occurred, he was still a saint of the sword.

“Then why did it disappear?”

The prediction was wrong.

The saint’s party never disappeared for personal reasons.

There is a reason I had to leave.

There is a new inside story that had to disappear without saying anything.

My heart began to beat faster as the truth was revealed one by one like a riddle. I waited anxiously for Regnas’ answer.

“There was no next time… . Do you remember what I left?”

“uh.”

They killed all the king and nobles and left a message to Crown Prince Erik.

While I was nodding my head at Regnas’ words, a deep question like a quagmire passed through my mind.

‘All this time, I had completely disappeared with Beatrice… Why on earth did they suddenly appear in the secular world and annihilate the king and nobles of the Pugh Kingdom? Regnas is definitely not the type of person who would use murderous intent to seek revenge from the past.’

The reason why the saint’s party suddenly disappeared must have something to do with the gruesome massacre that took place in the Kingdom of Pug. And the message left by Regnas may have been a clue to unravel the connection.

The wait for an answer felt like an eternity.

This was especially true because it was a moment I had longed for.

“It’s literally like that. Next… , we have no next.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

“The world is slowly dying. This is because after we defeated the immortal demon king, the evil that prevented the end of the world disappeared.”

“… … .”

The end of the final dark scene, which was a constant ordeal, signifies the completion of the work.

Completed.

Regnas called it ‘the end of the world.’

For the characters in the story, the ending may be the same as the death of the world. Because the world of completed works will remain stagnant forever.