Chapter 23: True nature

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Translator: Soafp

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[Erius PoV]

The moment the blue sky disappeared from view, I found myself in a place I recognized.

It had been such a beautiful blue sky—yet the very next thing I saw was a world dyed completely black.

Clap, clap, clap.

Accompanied by hollow, dry applause, the one who welcomed me was a man dressed in black from head to toe.

Kuro.

“No way—you actually pulled it off! Haha, I knew you had it in you!”

As I listened to the applause and praise utterly devoid of sincerity, I checked my own condition.

Just as expected, my left arm had been torn off slightly above the elbow, around the upper arm, and my right leg was broken near the knee.

And yet, despite the wounds being just as they were, there was strangely no pain, and the bleeding from my left arm seemed to have stopped.

Perhaps sensing this from my movements, Kuro began to explain.

“I didn't want this place getting dirty, so I stopped the bleeding. And since pain would get in the way of conversation, I stopped that too. But don't stimulate the wounds, okay? They'll open right back up, and the pain will return.”

“You're surprisingly considerate.”

“You did see it through. At least let me do this much.”

So that's how it was.

That blue sky must have meant that Nonoa had safely defeated the Demon King.

I did it. I really did it.

Feeling my guard loosen slightly from that thought, I voiced my grievance toward Kuro.

“It took forever. Five years my a*s—you tricked me.”

“No, no, I clearly said ‘five years in effect,' didn't I?”

“That only applies to everyone except me.”

“Well, sure. But lives were saved because of it. Nonoa's, for example.”

“…Yeah.”

So Nonoa is safe.

Like me, she bears a strong destiny of death.

Even after defeating the Demon King, I wanted to avoid a future where she still died.

That was why I gave her that healing potion—but… well, if this place still doesn't allow lies, then judging from Kuro's words, it must have saved her.

What about Lena…?

I want her to survive too, if possible.

As I was thinking that, Kuro chuckled again.

“But really, you're clumsy. Filling in the last ten thousand that way—I never would've thought of it.”

“…You were watching?”

“Well, watching might not be the right word. I just know.”

“I see.”

“There were easier methods, you know. For example, you crossed the bridge in Merrill Village, didn't you?”

“Yeah. I didn't choose it this time.”

The bridge crossing in Merrill Village.

A blue causal event that only occurs if Nick the archer joins the party.

“That one's interesting, actually. The correct answer is ‘don't cross the bridge.' Of course, if you don't get involved, Nick the archer ends up doing it.”

“Correct… answer?”

Merrill Village lay along the Demon King's army's invasion route, and Nick would accept a request to escort the villagers across the bridge to evacuate them.

Whenever I was involved, I always completed it.

“If we don't cross the bridge, the villagers will be wiped out, won't they?”

“Exactly! And that's what matters! You see, that village secretly practices dragon worship. They regularly offer tributes to an ancient dragon living nearby. Oh, not human sacrifices or anything barbaric—just livestock.”

Now that he mentioned it… there had been several statues in Merrill Village shaped like dragons or dragon fangs.

Dragon worship was taboo in this country.

The Demon King's army included dragons, after all.

It was apparently a remnant from ancient times, when dragons were revered as guardian deities—but it was now forbidden by the state.

Maybe Nick himself was a secret dragon worshipper, and that was why.

Still, on the surface, the villagers seemed like ordinary people, and they got along well even with Lena, who followed a different faith.

“I didn't know that.”

“And if the villagers are wiped out, the enraged ancient dragon intervenes in the battle between Nonoa and the Demon King.”

“What?”

“The ancient dragon eventually gets killed by the Demon King, but the subtraction in that case is a whopping 32,767! It halves the Demon King's HP— the strongest blue non essential flag there is! Which means you should've prioritized Nick over Phalan from the start! Letting the villagers die on purpose—that's the optimal route.”

“….”

Optimal route, my a*s.

What this told me was simple.

He had tempted me into a deal by emphasizing the ‘advantage' of reducing overall casualties.

But he himself didn't care about human lives at all.

What he was talking about was built on sacrifice.

A despicable way of thinking that treated human lives as expendable.

“I don't see it that way.”

“Sure, sure. That kind of thing depends on the person. And anyway, it's all over now.”

And as we spoke…

A sense of unease began to creep in.

Yes—I had a premonition.

Something I had experienced again and again, countless times.

No one had experienced it more than I had.

That's why I knew.

My relaxed focus tightened once more.

“Hey, Kuro.”

“Hm?”

“Our deal—and its fulfillment—is already finished.”

“Of course. You're absolutely right.”

“…Then why bring me back here again?”

“Obviously, to celebrate the victory you finally achieved—together.”

…Just as I thought.

The ‘victory' he spoke of wasn't simply that the Demon King had finally been defeated.

Come to think of it, my one hundred and fifteen loops had always been the opposite of victory.

No one had experienced ‘that' more than I had.

—Defeat.

For centuries, I had lost again and again, died again and again.

Was that why?

Or had the skill ‘Guide' unknowingly grown stronger?

Even if I couldn't explain the reason, I could tell. I could feel it.

There was a common aura shared by those who brought me ‘defeat.'

And from the hundredth loop onward, that sensation had grown clearer and clearer.

And now, stronger than ever before, it was coming from Kuro.

Had he been suppressing it all this time?

I didn't know.

So I threw the premonition—the doubt rising in my chest—straight at him.

“I'm… losing to you right now, aren't I?”

At my words, Kuro deliberately put on a blank, puzzled expression.

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden? That's completely off the mark. You accomplished the great feat of defeating the Demon King—even if not directly.”

“Don't dodge it, Kuro!”

When I pressed him again…

Kuro finally lost control.

“—Heh.”

He muttered a single word, lowered his head, and his shoulders began to shake.

“…Heh… heh heh heh.”

As the quiet laughter gradually turned into roaring laughter, Kuro lifted his face.

At that moment, the unease and wariness I'd felt exploded to their absolute limit, like being hit by a violent gale.

What filled Kuro's face now wasn't the fake expressions he'd worn until now, but unmistakable emotion—delight.

A twisted grin that made it feel as though mocking, ridiculing, and scorning others was the very purpose of his existence.

“Hahahahaha! Saying you're ‘about to lose'—it's just too off the mark! What are you saying, Erius? About to lose? That's not even close to the truth—”

His excitement grew, his warped smile twisting even further as if he were savoring pleasure itself.

“You lost a long time ago.”