TFHITS Chapter 240

-Thunk. Thud.

“Ugh!”

“Grrr.”

The party members’ faces, already drained from exhaustion, grew worse by the second.

Watching the screen with difficulty, I spoke.

“W… withdraw the shield spells at the starting point and the Koscart Mountains……”

My voice was barely louder than a mosquito, but somehow Neril understood and answered with effort.

“Right. No need to protect that side. Xenia, Serein.”

“Got it.”

“Can’t believe we didn’t think of that sooner.”

It was only a little, but everyone’s complexion improved slightly.

I continued.

“And…… the Avis and Dominic territories don’t need as much energy. Lower it about 30 percent from now. The fragments falling there are extremely small.”

“Ah! You’re watching through the screen window.”

“Yeah. I will handle the overall coaching. Instead, pour more energy into the capital and the Hasphil side. Roughly 20…… maybe 25 percent.”

That’s how I supervised the defense of this catastrophe at maximum efficiency.

With all my energy gone, it was the best I could do.

-Ku-gu-gung. Ku-ung.

How much time passed like that?

The number of impacts that had been coming without pause gradually decreased.

The party members clenched their teeth and defended against every last fall.

Some of them had eyes so bloodshot it looked like the vessels might burst.

A few minutes later.

“This one is the last. It’s falling across all territories, but the size is very small. You can ease up. About 40 percent should be fine.”

“…….”

They didn’t even have the strength to reply.

Still, just as I ordered, the shield spells weakened slightly.

And finally.

-Ku-ung.

The vibration of the final fragment falling near the capital reached us.

Just in case, I waited about a minute before speaking.

“It’s over.”

“Hwaaaa!”

Serein was the first to flop flat onto the ground.

It was a very undignified sight, but no one in the group pointed it out.

Thud. Thud.

Because everyone else was copying her.

Me included.

“Ugh. I feel like my whole body’s going to fall apart.”

“Haha. You’re getting a secondhand experience of the Primordial Demon King’s pain, noona.”

“That’s the least funny joke I have heard in my life.”

“Is it really over?”

“Mide said it’s fine, so yeah. If not, it’s on him.”

“Aren’t married couples jointly responsible?”

Tap.

Just then, Bion opened a screen window.

Then she rotated it ninety degrees and projected it in midair for us sprawled out on the ground.

[It’s really all over. Look!]

She was right.

After the shield spells were lifted and all the smoke cleared, the continent was still peaceful.

As if nothing had ever happened.

For some reason, I felt my eyes grow hot.

“In the end, we really did it.”

[Yes, yes. Sniff. You all worked so hard.]

“She really does cry a lot, doesn’t she. Every time I see her.”

[That’s mean! ……I do hear that sometimes, though.]

“Honestly, I kind of feel like crying today too.”

“You can cry, hyung.”

“Adwin, did you just call me hyung? What on earth is going on?”

“Sir Grade…… I will come see you soon.”

“Hey, that makes it sound like you’re leaving last words. Since the whole world is still here, why don’t you hang out with us for a while before you die.”

“That’s a line that somehow feels both good and bad.”

That was when it happened.

Xenia’s voice rang out.

“Huh? Something’s falling over there.”

“Oh no.”

Sure enough, even with the Eye of Omniscience, something was clearly dropping.

The point was exactly here, above the capital.

“So there was still a fragment left.”

“Oh boy……”

Everyone groaned and squirmed their bodies.

At a glance, the fragment wasn’t very big.

But it was falling from an enormous height, and its speed was anything but normal, so it needed to be stopped.

The party members spoke up.

“Serein. Try to handle it somehow. I’m seriously at my limit.”

“I’m out of divine power too, you know? Ah, right. Does anyone have a potion left?”

“The potion bag is with Mide. Mide, can you toss one to Serein?”

“Mide doesn’t look like he can move either.”

“Well, ‘Attack with light’ was pretty rough. Still, this is actually dangerous.”

In that instant, I felt my heart freeze solid.

‘What is this? This deja vu……’

Those lines.

The details were a bit different, but the words the party members had just spoken were something I had definitely heard before.

When was it?

Ah.

The final battle with Idria before the regression.

The conversation we had just before Kaeld betrayed us.

The talk the party shared after cutting off Idria’s head, relaxing as we thought, ‘It’s all over.’

And now, both I and the party were relaxing in exactly the same way.

‘No way. It can’t be…… just a hunch.’

Right?

It has to be wrong.

But in truth, I knew.

We all knew.

That my intuition had never been wrong. Not once.

“……Damn it.”

As I muttered that.

The fragment was already close enough to see with the naked eye.

It was falling straight toward the rooftop of the Imperial Palace where we were.

Fortunately, it didn’t look like it would hit us directly.

“About there, right? That side, the far end opposite us.”

“Even better. We can just tell the emperor to fix his house.”

“Come to think of it, is it okay to talk like that to the ruler of the empire?”

“Now you worry about that? Hahaha.”

I forced my body up with everything I had.

It felt like every bone in my body was shattering.

But somehow, I could still lift my sword.

Neril sensed the change in me and asked.

“Mide? What’s wrong?”

“That thing…….”

My voice barely came out.

In the meantime, the fragment, no, ‘that thing,’ collided with the top floor of the Imperial Palace.

-Ku-ung.

With a lighter sound than expected, part of the building collapsed inward.

A massive cloud of dust swallowed our view.

Was my presence that ominous?

The party members seemed to realize something was wrong too.

“Mide, what is it? What’s going on?”

“We forgot one thing.”

“Huh?”

“A Demon King revives if you don’t destroy the core.”

If the core isn’t destroyed, the world’s negative energy doesn’t disperse.

As long as the medium that gathers that energy, the core, remains, the Demon King will revive again and again.

Whether that Demon King embodies lies, destruction, corruption, or greed…… this is something all Demon Kings share.

Yes, even the Primordial Demon King.

“So you’re saying…….”

Despair settled into Neril’s eyes.

Swish.

At that moment, someone stepped forward through the dust cloud.

I spoke in a voice like a sigh.

“So you were the core of the Primordial Demon King itself.”

“…….”

“Kaeld Wake.”

Kaeld smiled.

“Heh.”

The same.

This situation is exactly the same as before the regression.

Only Kaeld is still full of life, while the rest of us are half-dead.

‘No. It’s not the same.’

It’s more desperate.

Before the regression, at least I was still in good shape, with strength left to spare.

I even had a huge stockpile of potions that could get everyone back on their feet.

But now, my potion bag is lying a few steps behind me, and I don’t even have the strength to crawl over there.

Not that he would give me the chance in the first place.

The party members struggled desperately to force their bodies upright.

But they had converted their fame into power, and that power had been completely spent just moments ago.

‘Why…… why is it the same?’

Why, even after regressing, do I have to see the same scene again?

Why do I have to lose my companions again?

Why.

‘Why do I have to be defeated by that bastard all over again.’

I clenched my teeth and raised my sword.

“That can’t happen.”

“Hm?”

“I barely made it this far. Not just seven years of regression, but even the 230,000 years of effort I don’t consciously remember were all for this moment.”

“…….”

“A world where the Demon King does not descend. A world where a hero is never born.”

A world ruled by ordinary humans.

And in that world, me and my party, living and laughing together.

My happy retirement.

“I ran all the way here for all of that. I won’t let you win now, not after we have come this far.”

“Well now. Saying that in such a state…”

Kaeld stroked his chin and continued.

“By the way, how did you even do it? With the amount of fame you had at the end, there’s no way you should have been able to pull off that feat just now.”

“…….”

“Well, you don’t really have to answer.”

He walked toward me, step by step.

“I think I made a mistake. I should have killed you first, then destroyed the world.”

“Kaeld……”

“Mide Mohan. Since we have come this far, I will admit one thing honestly, just like you said.”

Wearing the same infuriating smile as always, he spoke.

“I was jealous of you.”

“…….”

“I don’t mean just in this era. Even 230,000 years ago, ‘I,’ the project leader back then, was jealous of you.”

“You remember?”

“Yeah. When I became one with the Primordial Demon King, all of those memories came back to life. I don’t know the exact mechanism, but isn’t that the mysterious nature of the negative energy?”

He continued calmly.

“Most of the eighty billion humans revered me as a savior, but I was always anxious. Because of you.”

“…….”

“Back then, I observed you quite closely. Compared to me, you had woefully little fame, but at least among those who knew you ‘personally,’ you inspired unshakable trust.”

“…….”

“How was that even possible? In an era where all of humanity followed me, how did you, who stood against me, manage to inspire that kind of trust?”

Instead of answering, I focused on recovering as much strength as I could.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even move a finger.

But still.

‘There has to be a way.’

I won’t give up.

A hero never gives up.

“This was the same even before the seven-year regression. Those memories are still vividly alive in my head.”

“…….”

“Before the seven-year regression, your party members were part of my party. They did acknowledge me as the leader and followed me. On the surface.”

“…….”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Every time a major decision had to be made or a plan drawn up, the way they would sneak glances at your face?”

His voice slowly heated up.

His expression began to twist.

His face started turning red.

“Xenia hid her uncontrollable appetite for a while after joining the party. She only started polishing off two bowls by default after you said, ‘It’s not even a crime, so why hide it?’”

“Did that really happen?”

“Offense would have told you, over drinks, that he wanted to make the emperor use a wide-area searching magic circle. I only heard about that wish two months after he joined. You heard it in less than two weeks.”

“You’re impressively petty, really.”

No, this is a chance.

Keep rambling, Kaeld.

I will keep thinking.

“Adwin would have come to you to consult, saying there was no way his mother committed such vile acts. Even after I told him outright that the Raynus Territory incident was Mariana’s doing! Why did he go to you instead?”

“…….”

“Lisel first revealed to you that she was good at cooking. The first day she cooked, she handed you the bowl of soup first. You, not me! Even though I was sitting right next to her. I thought she was completely taken with me!”

“You just keep getting more pathetic.”

“Serein always acted all noble, but you were the first to see how black her heart really was. When you and Neril laughed while giving her nicknames like ‘God’s Monster,’ my insides twisted. That was my line to say!”

A good method, a good method.

He is about to wrap up his story.

Just a little more time.

That was when...

‘Huh? Wait a second.’

Didn’t my fame go over fifty million earlier?