Chapter 446: I Will Never Accept Such an Ending

He did not understand.

Why must a life have purpose?

“Your Majesty, as you commanded, I have forged for you the sharpest, most loyal blades! With them at your side, surely all obstacles in your path shall be swept away!”

“Well done. You shall be rewarded.”

The figure who had always towered above others now bowed and scraped before another.

It was a sight he had never beheld.

His heart trembled with shock.

So this was it......

In this world, there existed a being far greater—

one known as “King.”

The King became his new master.

His purpose remained unchanged.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill......

Slay every enemy the King ordered him to destroy.

Until one day,

“A great war is upon us~!”

“My loyal weapons, the time has come to win me greater glory!”

The King declared this,

then led him onto the battlefield.

And then......

The King died.

His corpse was strung up for public display.

Flies swarmed his decaying flesh, the stench and ugliness no different from those of all the men he had killed.

The King was no longer great.

He had become a corpse more lowly than any other—worthless, devoid of all purpose.

He did not understand.

If the King was dead,

who would be his master now?

It was then that that person appeared.

He could not recall that person’s face. For that person was the wielder of the Sword, and the wielder of the Sword was a being far greater than any King—too magnificent for him to dare look upon directly.

Yet that person spoke these words:

“Darius, you are free. From this day forth, no one shall enslave you again. You need not live the life you once did. Go and find your own destiny, as you see fit.”

Freedom?

What was that......

What did his own destiny even look like?

Beyond killing and fighting, was there any other meaning to his existence?

When he searched his soul, he found nothing else.

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Aaaaaaaaah——!

How cruel!

Was this person trying to strip him of his life?

This was all he had left in the world.

For the first time, he felt true fear.

Both of the figure before him, and the words they spoke—

struck terror into the very depths of his soul.

When he came to his senses, he was kneeling on the ground.

“I beg you—”

“......”

“I beg you to let me follow you! Please grant me a chance to repay this kindness!”

There was no other way.

He could see no path forward but this one.

In the end, his wish was granted, and he stayed.

Once again, he killed, and killed, slaying every enemy that crossed his path, just as he always had.

But......

Something had changed.

“You’ve worked hard, Darius. Care for a drink?”

“Darius, you charge too far ahead! It’s far too dangerous!”

“You’re not getting any younger, Darius, are you? Have you ever thought about marriage...... No clue what that’s about? Hahaha, figures. We’ll talk about it after the war~.”

Why?

Why would this person......

“......I was born in the southern region of the Federation. It’s a peaceful place. When the war is over, I want to go back there to spend the rest of my days, if I can.”

“Strange? Hahaha. Unlike someone like Irus, who climbed to power on her own, we so-called heroes gained unimaginable strength—but we lost something along the way. Thinking about the future isn’t premature for us.”

“Oh right, Darius—it’s about time you started thinking about your future too, isn’t it?”

Why?

Why was this person so different?

Even when he tried to see them as a greater “King,” their actions and words were nothing like what he knew.

Alien.

This person was utterly alien to him.

He could not understand such a being—and yet, he feared them deeply.

“Your armor’s damaged. We’ll get you a better set someday.”

Before he realized it, he had spoken of his future.

Even if it was a trivial thing,

he knew that this person was reshaping him into someone he no longer recognized, with some unseen power.

He resisted the change instinctively, yet he was lost.

For he had never made a choice in his life.

Or rather, he had never been given the right to choose. Now, he faced a situation he had never encountered before.

Could he really choose a path for himself?

Before he could answer that question,

it happened......

When he came to his senses,

everyone else was dead.

Standing before him was a figure he could never hope to defeat.

“I have been watching you, Darius. You are not like the others.”

“Now, I will grant you a choice.”

“Choose—”

“Will you live? Or...... will you die!”

Die?

He would die?

He knew the figure spoke the truth. For this was a being that even heroes struggled to face.

The chance of victory was nonexistent.

His life was entirely in their hands.

“I...... I want to live.”

He made his choice.

Faced with the fear of death, he surrendered.

Before he could answer the question of choice that had plagued him, he made the first choice of his life.

“As I thought. You have chosen the right path.”

“Darius, from this day forth, you shall be our spy within the demon ranks.”

A black crystal, no bigger than a thumb, sank into his forehead.

“This is a reward in advance. If you serve us well, I shall bestow upon you the honor of becoming one of our great demon kin!”

On the battlefield strewn with corpses,

a once-mighty figure fell from the sky, powerless.

“Darius——!!!”

The person who arrived too late let out a roar of unbridled fury.

“Why!”

“Why did you betray us!!!?”

When he heard that voice, he saw the person’s face clearly for the first time......

They looked so ordinary.

......Why?

He wanted to know too.

Why had his life been filled with nothing but despair from the very beginning?

Why had salvation never come to him? Why had the only chance he ever had been snuffed out so easily?

Why......

Why must he meet such an end?

I will not forgive this!

I hate this!

I hate this world!

I WILL NEVER ACCEPT SUCH AN ENDING!!!

High in the sky,

the half of Darius’s head that remained suddenly glowed.

A black crystal emerged from his forehead,

then immediately drifted away from his shattered skull.

Moments later, the remaining half of his head was completely annihilated by the destructive power, vanishing into the sky.

Everything seemed to be over.

Yet......

THUMP——!

A heartbeat echoed across the entire city of Ilz.

The people, still rejoicing in their victory, looked up in confusion.

THUMP——!

The heartbeat sounded again.

“Hey, did you hear that......”

“Yeah. What’s that weird noise?”

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP......

The heartbeat grew faster, more urgent.

The people finally realized it was not an illusion.

“What in the world is that!”

“That sound...... it’s terrifying.”

“What’s going on?”

As unease gripped the crowd,

BOOM——!

An incomparably terrifying aura surged down from the sky.

The people felt the light of the world dim for a split second. When their vision cleared,

a dense cloud of pure, condensed mana coiled high above Ilz.

“W-What is that?”

The people stared up at the sky, dumbfounded.

At the same time, on the battlefield outside the walls of Ilz,

“Why?”

Irus stared up at the sky, her eyes vacant, muttering over and over.

“Why......”

“Why is the aura of a Celestial-Rank Demon appearing here——!”

......