Chapter 255 – Hero Invasion (2)

Why couldn’t I have predicted this?

Mister, a Hero is just that kind of person by nature.

He always speaks as if he’s joking, but inside, he’s always serious.

He says he’s fine, but he wasn’t.

He’d say he understood it logically, but he’s the kind of person who could never truly accept it.

The very reason he became a Hero, and why he was hailed as a legend, was all because he saved so many people.

For a man like him, even if it was for the sake of humanity, it would have been difficult to simply pass by people dying right before his eyes.

Countless people were separated from their families, unable to see their loved ones again.

They were dragged away merely as food, and Earth was transformed into a farm for the Demon Kings.

In the end, the Hero once again took up his sword for the people who were dragged away to become nothing more than food.

That is the man known as the Hero.

I failed. It was a complete failure.

The Regressor checked the power she had left.

She could no longer use the power of regression.

“Pfft…”

Not a single speck remained.

Despite regressing and repeating the timelines countless times, in the end, I couldn’t save him.

“Pfft, hahaha.”

The Regressor sat in her chair and laughed alone. No, she cried.

If only she reached out, she could have touched him, a man so full of warmth.

The Mister she remembered was a cold corpse.

When she regressed and met the Mister again.

The Regressor’s heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

Just seeing the living Mister before her eyes felt like it would bring her to tears.

That was why she obscured her face with static.

She deliberately didn’t reveal her identity. Because revealing herself to him could cause the plan to fail.

She wanted, someday, when all her plans succeeded and she could finally save him, to fall into his arms and act like a spoiled child.

That was the only hope the Regressor held in her heart.

But now, even that was ruined.

A man who chose death to protect someone.

After all, there were times he fought arduous battles even to save people he’d never met.

The people he saved sometimes betrayed the Hero, while others followed him for life, indebted to his grace.

What the Hero wanted was simply to fulfill the duty that came with having the power to save someone.

Sometimes, she even had the absurd, childish feeling that she wished he would fulfill that duty only for her.

I have to save him.

The Regressor stopped laughing like a madwoman.

She could feel someone approaching through the dimensional rift she had created.

She knew who it was. She had invited them, after all.

*Swoosh.*

A distortion appeared in the dimensional space. Stepping out from within was her younger self. It was Karin.

Karin sat silently across from the Regressor.

It was obvious at a glance. Her face was haggard.

Realizing that the Mister would die, she was clearly trembling in fear, unable to sleep properly.

The Regressor smiled.

“…?”

Seeing the Regressor smile, Karin furrowed her fine brow.

Feeling the sharp sense of alarm, the Regressor let her smile fall.

There’s no point in fighting each other now.

“The Mister is now going to face his destined death.”

The Demon King Im Jae-joon said he would act on his own.

In other words, the alliance is over.

The only ones left are the Regressor and Karin.

“That can’t be true.”

“You already know it is.”

As expected, the younger Karin refused to accept it.

“I… no, *we* have failed countless times. We lost the Mister every time, witnessed his death every single time.”

“…”

“You’re about to see it for the first time. But I’ve already seen it too many times.”

The Regressor gave a sorrowful smile.

The only person in this world she could completely trust and believe in.

Losing the most precious, most beloved person in her life was a pain worse than having her own body torn apart.

“There’s a way that I… no, ‘we’ can do this.”

“…What is it?”

“A method we’ve never tried before.”

“So, what is it?”

She asked for the method without even checking what risks were involved.

As expected, their thoughts were the same.

For his sake, they could make any sacrifice.

No, they *wanted* to.

“Never again.”

The reason they couldn’t use it until now was simple.

“We might never be able to see the Mister again, but… are you willing to try?”

Karin couldn’t say anything in response to the Regressor’s words.

This was a woman who had done something as crazy as bringing her entire territory with her just to be by his side.

And to such a person, she was saying they might never meet again.

It was, quite literally, the worst possible condition.

How much time had passed?

Karin quietly parted her parched lips.

Hearing her answer, the Regressor smiled sorrowfully.

Even that answer is the same as mine.

That’s why I hate it.

* * *

“I told you to sleep. Why are you awake?”

The Company Man was adding more wood to the campfire.

“I slept.”

“Liar.”

The Company Man let out a dry laugh.

His shadows were moving to dispose of the bodies of assassins who had died attacking them.

“It looks like we’ll have a pretty big fight starting tomorrow morning. You need to recover your strength.”

We’ve only been traveling together for a few days, and he’s already nagging me like a real comrade.

My solo invasion of the demon world must have seemed reckless.

In fact, it was reckless.

I am a madman.

But thanks to that madness, the entire Demon King’s army that had descended upon Earth urgently retreated.

And even while I was resting in this world, I repeatedly witnessed my own death.

It’s a pretty damn awful feeling.

If they’re going to face me under the banner of an alliance anyway,

I figured it would be fine to just wipe out the Demon Kings first.

Demon Kings are fundamentally spread across various dimensions, so it’s difficult for them to gather in one place.

In other words, it’s more advantageous to fight an unprepared grand army than to face a well-prepared one.

Right now, I’ve reached the enemy’s center in just three days.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be engaging in battle with the real Demon Kings.

They won’t be able to retreat any further either.

“Tomorrow, I suppose I’ll be able to see your Holy Sword radiate light once more.”

The Company Man murmured like a dreaming young girl.

“You probably won’t.”

“But you’ve already found the Holy Sword.”

Yeah, I found it.

But the reason I can’t use the Holy Sword even now.

Is because it has no blade. I’ve been compensating purely with my own mana.

In other words, it’s inefficient, and I can’t unleash that incredible power from before.

You can’t prepare for everything perfectly.

Besides, thanks to my surprise attack, the enemy isn’t properly prepared either.

Here, I’ll crush the enemy decisively with pure strength.

“Just do what I told you to do tomorrow.”

At my words, the Company Man gave a charming smile.

“Of course. It’s my first adventure with the Hero. Friendship, effort, victory. I’ll be sure to uphold the three great principles.”

“Right, how admirable.”

It seems like he’s confusing it with the slogan of a famous manga magazine, but I’ll just let it slide.

Tomorrow’s battle will be pretty tough, so I should just let him do what he wants.

* * *

-Ugh, I want to live…

-Please, someone…

Voices that shouldn’t be audible keep reaching me.

-Aaargh!

-Nooooo!

The radius from which the voices come is gradually widening. More people’s thoughts, more voices, keep flowing in.

I don’t know if my ability is getting stronger, or if there are just a lot of people around here.

-They say an incredibly strong Hunter has come.

-He’ll save us. I’m sure of it.

I woke from my sleep.

Was I always this sensitive?

When you look at heroes who fight in wars, they usually think about what was gained rather than what was lost.

People also look at a war hero and see how many enemies he killed, what great achievements and accomplishments he made, rather than how many allies he lost.

I guess I was never meant to be a hero in the first place.

It seems they didn’t attack tonight.

These bastards had been casting a wide net, day and night, just to wear down my stamina.

I don’t even know how many I’ve killed.

My inventory is full of weapons recovered from the enemy.

Bows, spears, axes, swords—you name it.

They all break like toys after a little use, so I chose quantity over quality.

No, thinking about it, I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve probably killed tens of thousands.

Not long ago, there was even a time when over a thousand of them swarmed me at once.

I could have avoided it, but I didn’t. I blew them all away head-on.

Slashing and slashing. Killing and killing.

They say your teens are a period of storm and stress.

Maybe that phrase really does suit me.

While others were enjoying their youth, dating, pursuing academics, and stressing over their future careers, my future was decided for me as the ultimate murderer.

Of course, thanks to that, I’ve now made a name for myself as the top Hunter.

Maybe my spatial ability has gotten stronger, as I could even hear the thoughts of the demons during battle.

I could hear their fear of me, and even the voices wanting to drop their weapons and run.

I don’t know. Maybe what I felt was just a delusion.

What am I fighting for?

It’s simple.

I possess power. And that power is something only I can wield.

Because I have power, I could live a comfortable and easy life.

I don’t have to fight. No one ever forced me to.

But right in front of me, there’s some punk oppressing the weak with his paltry power, feeling superior.

Punishing them, or ignoring them.

There are reasons for choosing either path.

And I chose the former.

It may be just one person’s life, but he probably has a family he loves.

Or a lover, a beloved son, a daughter.

The bonds connected to him. And the memories.

All of this is the weight that a single person carries.

If it’s like this for just one person, what kind of weight must hundreds, thousands of people feel?

It might just be for my own satisfaction.

I possess power. And I am using that power in the way I want.

My foresight ability keeps predicting my own death.

Like a GPS that keeps screaming that I’m on the wrong path.

I don’t care.

If I had let myself be swayed by such premonitions, I never would have become strong in the first place.

It’s about time to get moving.

It’s a good thing I took the time to store some edible things in my inventory during battle.

I took a big bite out of a crisp, apple-like fruit and headed toward the pond.

My reflection in the pond is disheveled.

I’m covered in blood.

-The Demon King fights like a gentleman.

Olivier’s words come to mind.

She was criticizing me, seeing how my fighting style was like a blender, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

I actually went to the pond to wash my face. But it looks like I can’t.

Those crazy bastards, they’ve poisoned the river.

Are they trying to use scorched-earth tactics against me?

I opened a bottle of water from my inventory.

Washing my face feels a bit refreshing.

Now, it’s time for war.

“I’m ready.”

“I’m ready, too.”

The corpse and the weirdo are looking at me as they speak.

It’s obvious they’re going to die, yet neither of them shows any sign of fear.

“Alright, let’s go. My Hero’s party, full of dreams and romance.”