Stranger

I trudged through the dark alleyway. Pebbles crunched under my feet. I pulled a small hand mirror from my pocket and held it up to the moonlight.

“Shit.”

A low curse escaped my lips. Among the black hairs, white strands peeked out here and there, as if dusted with frost.

It wasn’t just ordinary gray hair. It was an unsettling whitening phenomenon, with even a faint bluish tinge. I never imagined the aftereffects of being stuck in the dimensional rift would manifest like this.

That horrifying boundary of dimensions. How many years was I trapped there, anyway? It was a space where even the concept of time was meaninglessly distorted.

Incomprehensible colors and grotesque astral monsters writhed everywhere, and earsplitting, unintelligible whispers and screams echoed incessantly. With every step, space warped and gravity changed arbitrarily; it was commonplace.

The most troublesome thing amidst all that was those damn swords.

The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword were constantly bickering. It felt like trying to appease two whining children at the same time while fighting.

Who would understand the feeling of having to fight while dealing with childish questions like, ‘Do you like Daddy or Mommy more?’ every single moment?

It was a wonder I hadn’t lost my mind completely. Or maybe I had, halfway.

“Hoo…”

With a short sigh, I shoved the mirror back into my pocket. My current appearance wasn’t what mattered right now.

The world had changed. In a seriously fucked-up way. The stories I’d heard at the tavern swirled in my head.

“The Golden Dragon hunted down another Red Dragon, they say.”

“The Goddess Order and the Empire are at it again. The Holy Maiden-nim herself stepped up, apparently.”

“The Elven Forest is completely sealed off? Something about the World Tree…”

Aris has become a Dragon Slayer, hunting even her own kind, and Seraphin is waging war against the Empire with the Order backing her.

Sylvia has sealed off the World Tree and isolated the Elven Forest, and Nia is an adventurer, poking around the entire continent.

It was absurd. I wondered if they were really the heroines from that game I knew.

‘My original knowledge is useless now.’

The Divergence. That goddamn phenomenon completely overturned the balance of power across the continent.

Are they all going crazy, or were they hiding this insane potential from the start?

Now, my original knowledge is utterly useless. I can’t do anything alone anymore.

“I need a faction.”

To survive, and to find a way back to my original world, I, too, had to gain power like them.

But who to rely on?

Aris? I can’t handle the Golden Dragon’s possessiveness. She’d probably add me to her treasure collection, promising eternal life together.

Seraphin? The Holy Maiden-nim’s mercy has long degenerated into madness. She’d try to bind even my soul under a sacred name.

Sylvia? I never want to experience the World Tree’s prison again. That suffocating obsession sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.

Nia? Nia is… a cat.

The others are the same. The moment I set foot on one side, I’d have to wage a bloody war against all the other factions. Win or lose, the result would be eternal confinement. Just thinking about it made me feel suffocated.

Suddenly, a possibility flashed through my mind.

A headline I saw in the newspaper came to mind.

「Demon King’s Army Defeated, A Miracle Achieved Without a Hero」

The news that the Demon King was dead. And what happened to the Demon King’s Castle after that?

“I should check it out first. See what state the Demon King’s Castle is in.”

***

The road to the Demon King’s Castle was easier to find than I thought. Northeast of the continent, beyond the wasteland where human footsteps rarely tread.

Once the land of the demons, it was now just an abandoned ruin.

Rumor had it that after the previous Demon King was torn to shreds by a hero party without a hero, most of the demons scattered. The remaining forces were said to be on the verge of annihilation.

“There’s also a rumor that a new Demon King has been enthroned… well, we’ll see.”

The Demon King’s Castle had completely lost its former grandeur. The black spires that once pierced the sky were half-destroyed, leaning grotesquely, and holes were riddled throughout the castle walls.

Moreover, not even a single monster was in sight. In the past, dozens of gargoyles would have flown in.

“No guards at the main gate either.”

I confidently passed through the unguarded main gate.

“This is a complete ruin.”

As I entered the massive central hall, only a dusty chandelier reflected the faint moonlight, swaying eerily. Broken furniture and debris were scattered everywhere.

Finally, I arrived in front of the throne room.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

I kicked the door open and stepped inside.

“Take this, hero!”

My voice echoed through the empty hall. After a moment, a small shadow popped out from behind the throne in the distance, accompanied by a rustling sound.

“H, Hwaaaaaak! H, Herooooo?!”

It was a tiny girl.

With purple hair tied in pigtails and two small, cute black horns on her head, the girl appeared, dragging a Demon King robe that was too big for her. As soon as she saw me, she turned pale and screamed. Her eyes were already brimming with tears.

Is that the new Demon King? She just looks like a scared little kid.

“H, Hero! I have to run!”

“Demon King-nim! Please, escape!”

At that moment, a black knight in heavy armor leaped out from the darkness beside the throne, blocking the Demon King girl’s path. He held a massive sword in his hand. Is he the last of the Four Heavenly Kings?

“I cannot allow you to approach the Demon King-nim any further!”

“Get out of my way. I didn’t come here to fight. I came to talk to the Demon King.”

“There can be no dialogue between a hero and a Demon King! If you try to harm the Demon King-nim, I will stop you with my life!”

“Hoo… I can’t reason with you.”

I simultaneously gripped the Holy Sword, Daybreak, in my left hand and the Demon Sword, Twilight, in my right.

[Hero-nim! The time has come to realize justice after a long time! I will purify that impious existence!]

[Hmph, do you even need the Holy Sword to cut down a small fry like that? Just leave it to me.]

“Quiet.”

At my low voice, the two swords flinched for a moment.

“Have you forgotten my personality?”

[A, no, that’s not it… I’m sorry, Hero-nim… Was I too eager?]

[Uh… I… I’ll do as master says. I’m good, right? You’re not mad, are you? Huh? Huh?]

In the past, it would have been impossible to draw them simultaneously because their powers repelled each other, but thanks to training them for two years in the dimensional rift, they now understood my words quite well. Of course, they still bickered whenever they had the chance.

“W, wait… that sword… the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword at the same time?!”

The black knight seemed flustered and took a step back.

I lightly swung the swords. A dazzling light emanated from the Holy Sword, and a chilling darkness from the Demon Sword. Light and darkness swirled around me, creating a perfect harmony.

“Here I come.”

I kicked off the floor and instantly closed the distance to the black knight. I deflected his attack with the Holy Sword and simultaneously aimed for an opening with the Demon Sword.

Clang! Kakang!

The metallic sounds echoed chaotically through the hall. The black knight desperately blocked my attacks, but he was helplessly pushed back by my dual-wielding.

He certainly possessed the strength of a Four Heavenly King-level, but… I am far above that now.

The final blow. The moment I knocked his sword upward with the Holy Sword, the Demon Sword flew towards the black knight’s helmet.

Thwack!

With a dull sound, the black knight’s helmet shattered, sending fragments scattering in all directions. A woman with fair skin and sharp eyes was revealed.

“Kuh… D, Demon King-nim! Please… escape!”

She staggered but tried to grab my ankle. I lightly pushed her aside. She fell powerlessly, biting her lip in frustration.

Now, there was nothing between me and the Demon King girl.

“Now, shall we talk, Demon King-nim?”

“Hiiiik! D, don’t come closer! D, don’t hit me! Please spare me! Uwaaaah!”

The Demon King girl collapsed and burst into tears. Her small body trembled like an aspen leaf. How is she supposed to be a Demon King like that?

“I, I don’t have anything… Heueong… Strange women… demanding the hero… killed the previous Demon King-nim… destroyed the castle… I was just a librarian… why are you doing this to meee…”

Listening to her rambling, I roughly grasped the situation.

“Please don’t hit me! I’ll give you everything I have! Please spare me!”

“Stop crying.”

At my words, the Demon King girl paused her crying for a moment, but then started wailing even more sorrowfully.

“Heuaaaang! I hate the world! Why does this only happen to me! I just… want to eat delicious food… laze around… and read books! I don’t want to be a Demon King!”

She whined like a little kid and rolled around on the floor.

“Hic!”

After ignoring her for a while, the Demon King girl started hiccuping and forcibly suppressing her sobs. Her face, covered in tears and snot, trembled pitifully.

I approached her, knelt down on one knee, and met her gaze.

“What’s your name?”

“D, Darkness…”

“Darkness. Accept me as your subordinate.”

“…Huh?”

The Demon King girl widened her eyes and looked up at me. She still didn’t seem to grasp the situation.

“A fallen hero becomes one of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings. Well, it’s a common cliché, but it suits the current situation quite well, don’t you think?”

I grinned and extended my hand to her.

“Now, are you ready to burn this world together?”

“Hoeeee…?”

Darkness tilted her head.

[Hero-nim, is this Demon King really okay?]

[She seems too weak…]

The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword whispered worriedly.

“Perfect.”

It was better this way. If she were a powerful Demon King, gaslighting… no, negotiation would have been difficult.