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“…What? What do you mean by ‘hidden’? Isaac….”

Alonso’s pupils shook. It was understandable. Given the current situation, it must have looked like I was about to betray him. But I had no intention of betraying him.

“I didn’t come here to kill the Demon Lord. I came… to meet her.”

“Her…? Are you saying you know the Demon Lord?”

“Yes. Her name is… Lina.”

I had hesitated for a long time. Whether to reveal the Demon Lord’s true identity and my relationship with her to Alonso or not.

Alonso, who had fought alongside me for two years, was a man of justice. He always fought on the side of the weak. Though he wasn’t of the Hero’s bloodline, he was the closest thing to a hero. He was the strongest swordsman of humanity, a man worthy of the respect and pride of his descendant, Bella. That’s why I decided to tell him the truth.

I explained to Alonso that Lina had been a hero. I painfully recounted the sorrow and tragedy she had endured.

Every word felt heavy, as if someone was choking me. It wasn’t because of the poison from the thorns.

The ‘Trial’ was interfering. It was trying to stop me from acting against Isaac’s role.

“Cough…!”

“Isaac!”

I couldn’t hold back any longer and vomited blood. My eyes were bloodshot. It felt like my chest was being torn apart, but… I endured. My patience, tempered by ‘Endurance,’ wouldn’t let me fall to this level of pain.

But to Alonso, it must have looked like I was dying from the poison. In reality, I had already suffered fatal wounds from the thorns piercing my body.

“We need to treat you…! If we wake Alisa now…!”

“…No need. I know my body well….”

I was aware that my body had already suffered irreversible damage. I was enduring purely through sheer willpower. Sensing my end, I confessed the truth to him.

Faced with the truth, Alonso muttered in disbelief.

“The Demon Lord… was a hero?”

“Yes… She was a descendant of the hero’s lineage, chosen as a hero… No, she was just a ordinary girl played by fate.”

“……”

“Alonso… Whether you believe me or not… that’s your choice. But… I came here to meet that girl… I fought to meet her.”

Embers scattered. It didn’t take long for Alonso to look at me.

“I… believe you, Isaac. You’re my irreplaceable friend and mentor.”

Alonso’s face reminded me of Bella. His silver hair and winter lake-like blue eyes stared straight at me. Now that I think about it, Bella’s appearance resembled Alonso much more than her father, Fred.

“But why… why are you telling me this only now? If you had told me earlier… I could have helped you.”

Alonso would have done that. He was a just man, like Bella, and would have tried to save Lina if he had heard my story. That’s why I couldn’t tell him.

“I didn’t want… you to help me.”

“What?”

“…Too many people have died since the Demon Lord appeared. If you sympathized with her… if you helped her… you would inevitably be condemned… And Alonso, you would have willingly borne the stigma of helping the Demon Lord… That’s why I couldn’t tell you. Because you trusted me…”

If that had happened, Alonso wouldn’t have been able to become the hero who defeated the Demon Lord as history dictated. That wasn’t what I wanted.

“You… must become everyone’s hero, Alonso. Without a single blemish…”

“What hero? How can I be a hero when my friend is suffering like this?”

“……”

“Isaac. I don’t need titles like hero… So let me help you now. Let’s go back together…”

For a moment, my heart wavered at Alonso’s words. Maybe, with him, we could overcome this ordeal. Maybe we could save Lina and convince people to forgive the Demon Lord. Surely, there would be immense criticism. The stigma of being a traitor to humanity, siding with the Demon Lord instead of defeating her, might follow us for life.

But that wasn’t the ending I wanted.

“I’m sorry… I can’t do that.”

“Why…! Why can’t you?”

“Because… I made a promise to her.”

“A promise…?”

“I promised to stay by her side.”

-If you want, I’ll stay by your side.

I looked beyond the raging flames. Lina was crying, a hole in her chest.

I knew. This would be the final end of the second Demon Lord, who could not be saved by anyone. But…

Could I just leave her like that?

“Maybe, as Alisa said, dying alone in the flames… is the Demon Lord’s… Lina’s final fate… Maybe that’s her destiny.”

I cut the thorny vines embedded in my chest with my sword.

“But… isn’t that too cruel?”

“Isaac…”

“I… couldn’t save her in the end. So at least one person should stay with her… Isn’t that a fair enough fate?”

“No…”

Realizing what I was thinking, Alonso shook his head.

“Don’t do this… Don’t do this and come back with me, Isaac…”

“People… will want to remember the story of the hero who saved the world. They won’t want to remember such a depressing… aftermath.”

“Let’s go back together…!!”

“It’s not me who should go back. It’s you, Alonso.”

“?!”

I threw the unconscious Alisa to Alonso. At the same time, I slashed the ground with all my might. The thorny vines Alonso was standing on collapsed. The vines, already weakened by the fire, were easily cut. The ground crumbled instantly under my sword’s energy.

“Isaac!”

Alonso tried to reach out to me, but holding Alisa made it difficult.

“Goodbye, Alonso.”

I smiled bitterly as I looked at Alonso. The man who would later be praised as a hero. The founder of the Izakhel Family and the strongest swordsman in human history.

From the sinking ground, Alonso screamed desperately.

“Others might forget… but I…! I will remember you…!”

He was crying. Just like when he had fallen off the cliff in place of Bella long ago.

“I’ll remember that you fought with me… that you swung your sword beside me!”

“Alonso… I’ll remember you too…

“I’ll never forget…”

With those final words, Alonso disappeared into the thorny vines.

“……I won’t forget you, Alonso.”

The words lingering in my mouth never reached him.

*

The flames surged. The dried-up thorny vines burned like firewood.

I wanted to step back from the intense heat, but I kept moving forward.

Towards the flames where Lina was.

“Ugh?!”

Suddenly, the surrounding thorny vines rose and lunged at me. They were already dead, having lost their roots. Yet, they attacked me with hostility…

“Is this your way of telling me to act like Isaac…?”

The Trial wasn’t going to let me act beyond Isaac’s role. It wasn’t going to let me approach Lina.

“Hmph……”

I scoffed and cut through the vines with my sword. Isaac’s role was already over. All that remained was ‘my role.’

“Honestly, one person like me… staying with her shouldn’t be a problem.”

I kept moving forward, cutting through the dead vines that flew at me to stop me.

Though my body was battered from the previous battle, the thought of Lina being ahead kept me going.

Realizing that the vines alone couldn’t stop me, the flames now rushed towards me. I was instantly burned, but I didn’t stop.

“Don’t make me laugh…”

The heat was suffocating, so intense it felt like my lungs were burning.

“Just staying by her side… that’s all…”

Enduring the heat, I took step after step. I muttered with pride towards this Trial, this fate that was trying to stop me.

“Are you seriously saying I can’t even do this? Damn fate.”

With the last of my strength, I swung my sword. Leaping over the flames cut by my sword’s energy, I saw a figure crouching.

It was Lina.

As I reached out, flaming thorny vines erupted from the ground. There were too many to cut with my sword.

“……!”

My right arm was torn off by the sharp vines. My face was slashed. Flesh fell from my thigh. Blood splattered everywhere. But…

“Don’t think… you can stop me with this…”

I kept moving forward. Even as I was torn apart, I didn’t stop approaching her. After coming this far, I didn’t want to stop just because the Trial or fate was interfering. No, I couldn’t stop.

Finally… with my remaining arm, I managed to embrace the fallen Lina.

“Lina…”

“Sob… sob…”

She was crying. Like me after awakening as the Demon Lord, she was shedding black tears. Tears born from her despair. She was still suffering in despair.

“Why… why did you leave me?”

Lina, consumed by darkness, spoke with a trembling voice.

“Why did you abandon me? Why… did you leave me to die in such pain?”

“…Lina.”

“I resent you… you and… all humans…!”

Lina began to pour out curses from within my embrace.

“Everyone… everyone should have died…! Burned to death…!”

I silenced her with a kiss. As if to take all her resentment and curses upon myself.

When the short but intense kiss ended, Lina’s eyes widened.

“Huh…!? Huh!?”

“…Are you back to your senses?”

“A-Ah, Isaac…!? Why are you… here…? No, more importantly, why are you here?”

“I came to keep my promise.”

“Huh…?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That you were lonely.”

I stroked Lina’s head, trying to smile as gently as possible.

“If someone like me is okay… can I ease your loneliness?”

“N-No… Isaac… If you stay with me, you’ll die…”

“It’s okay. I think this is as far as I go…”

“Ah…”

Finally realizing my condition, Lina covered her mouth and began to cry.

“Why… why did you go this far…”

“Well…”

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“If I said it’s because I wanted to see you… would you believe me?”

“……”

The flames grew fiercer. Lina looked up at me and muttered.

“Love…”

“…?”

“Do you… love me, Isaac…? Cough…”

Lina began to cough up blood. It wasn’t just me who was battered. With a gaping hole in her chest, she would have died long ago if not for being the Demon Lord. But now, her body had reached its limit.

Lina smiled weakly at me amidst the flames.

“I think… I love you, Isaac… Hehe…”

It was a smile that would make anyone’s heart ache.

I noticed the coat Lina was wearing. It was the one I had given her long ago. She had kept it close until the very end.

I slowly opened my mouth. The words I had always wanted to say to her. The words I wanted to convey beyond fate.

“I… love you…… Wendy.”

“…!”

At that moment, Lina’s eyes shook.

“…Count…?”

In my arms was Wendy, who had remembered everything.

“Count… is it you? Sob… You’ve been protecting me… all along, haven’t you…?”

Wendy sobbed and clung to me.

“You came to save me… even though you were hurt…?”

Flames surged around us. In the intense heat that could melt flesh, I embraced Wendy with the last of my strength.

“You don’t have to suffer anymore. You don’t have to be sad. You don’t have to cry from loneliness anymore.”

Whispering softly to comfort the crying Wendy.

“Because I’m here with you…”

[You have cleared the Trial!]

[A setting change has occurred for Wendy Wingfield!]

[Wendy Wingfield has awakened to a new personality trait!]

[Wendy Wingfield has gained the personality trait ‘Love’!]

 

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