Chapter 53: Their Ending
“GYAAAK! GWAAAK!”
I screamed and opened my eyes.
I had woken up from an unsettling nightmare, breathing heavily.
“Huff… Huff…”
It was an intense dream.
In the dream, I was summoned as a hero to an alternative world. My body became this strange, indestructible form, and I ended up joining hands with a silver-haired female Demon King, and together we defeated the King of the Undead.
Though, upon waking up, realizing that it wasn’t a dream felt more like a nightmare.
“Hey, you’re awake!”
I suddenly became aware of a certain fact and sat up in bed. I immediately rummaged through my backpack and pulled out the Box of the Dead.
“…Ah.”
But the Box of the Dead was silent.
It emitted no light, and no notification window popped up.
I tried activating Izanami’s Heart just in case, but as expected, no light emerged.
“I, guess I’m definitely not dead, anyway.”
I carefully retraced my memories.
I clearly remember destroying Eldritch’s Life Vessel after confronting Halsenberg. So, I must not have died and returned to the past.
Then why did I lose consciousness afterward?
I don’t seem to have any visible injuries, thanks to the Ether of Water.
“Ah, you’ve awakened!”
“Oooh, hero. You’re finally awake.”
As I was lost in thought, the door opened, and two of them came rushing towards me.
It was Seop Baek and the Demon King. Seop Baek immediately grabbed my hand and tearfully said,
“I’m so relieved, Lord Jung Yong. Truly, I thought… I thought you had gone! Sob…”
Seop Baek buried her face in my hand and began to sob.
What is she overreacting about again? I pulled her face away and started to pat her head to calm her down.
“Who says I’m dead? Worry is just part of fate. Even if I wanted to die, I couldn’t.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, a bitter smile crept onto my face.
Despite my nonchalant reaction, Seop Baek stubbornly shook her head.
“But… but! You were showing tremendous signs of exhaustion! Lord Jung Yong, did you know you were asleep for a full three days?”
“WHAT? Three days?!”
I was shocked.
So, it’s been three whole days since I collapsed?
When I glanced at the Demon King with confusion, she calmly nodded her head in confirmation.
“You were out cold for three days. Thanks to you, I was close to dying of boredom.”
“That’s… impossible.”
I felt like I had just taken a brief nap for half a day.
As I scratched my head in bewilderment, Seop Baek worriedly said,
“Your body was under a fatal level of overload. That’s why you suffered from severe exhaustion. What exactly did you do? I heard you fought Halsenberg.”
“Ah… That’s right. It must have been because of that.”
I covered my forehead and nodded.
It must have been because I absorbed three Ethers at once.
Even I could see that my physical abilities skyrocketed to a dangerous extent, though I didn’t expect such a severe backlash.
I’ll have to be more cautious moving forward.
“Leaving my physical condition aside…”
I raised myself up and got out of the bed. Though I felt an intense bout of dizziness, there was no major hindrance to my movement.
Seop Baek, surprised by my sudden attempt to move, quickly tried to stop me.
“No, you just woke up! Please rest!”
“No, I’m fine. More importantly…”
My physical state isn’t the priority right now.
After defeating Eldritch, what followed? Are the undead gone? Is the curse over? I need to know.
With so many revivals under my belt, I can’t trust it unless I see it with my own eyes.
“Lord Jung Yong, everything is resolved. You should rest…”
“I get it. But I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“Urgh, really…”
I opened the door and quickly made my way down the corridor. Outside, it was a bright midday, though the cold was still sharp due to the snow.
Seop Baek worriedly followed me, and the Demon King trailed behind expressionlessly.
“The corridor… it’s clean.”
As I walked toward the audience hall, I noticed it.
The corridor was exceptionally clean. The shabby rugs that used to scatter around were replaced with new ones, and the eerie paintings that once hung from the walls were gone.
The blood stains that scarred the walls had been wiped clean, and there was hardly any dust.
“Ah.”
“Hmm.”
As I walked, I met Leira, who happened to be cleaning the corridor. Our eyes locked for a moment.
Suddenly, the air went silent, and then Leira briskly approached me.
What is she doing? Approaching me like this.
Perhaps because I had clashed with her harshly before, I instinctively tensed.
But then, Leira suddenly bowed deeply.
“Hmm?”
Up until that point, I thought it was some kind of prank.
Then came her words of gratitude.
“Thank you… Senior.”
“Huh?”
“It’s truly over. Eldritch is really dead.”
“Ah.”
I dumbly let out a sigh.
Leira looked at me with a calm expression that I had never seen before in her face.
“All the undead are gone. The curse… Halcenberg’s curse has ended. Finally, even if it’s brief, peace has come to this castle.”
Leira looked up at me.
Instead of the contempt or hatred she used to unconsciously show, her gaze held respect.
With her transformed attitude, I finally realized.
‘It’s really over.’
I truly defeated Eldritch.
I clenched my fist, and in front of me, Leira broke into a bright, radiant smile.
Unconsciously, I found myself smiling back. It was a pure, bright laugh.
“At first, it was Guin, and now it’s you… maybe I’ve misunderstood the kind of people you heroes really are.”
Leira twirled the broom she had been cleaning with. The broom turned toward me.
Wasn’t there a blade hidden somewhere in there? I instinctively flinched. But instead, she spoke.
“You guys… are simply humans too, just like us. No different.”
“…”
“To be honest, I think I understand now why Master never resented any of you.”
Though I said nothing, Leira seemed satisfied with her own conclusion and resumed her cleaning.
I looked at her for a while, then I suddenly blurted out:
“What about Guin?”
Immediately after saying it, I regretted it.
A faint shadow crossed over Leira’s smiling face.
“Hmm, the same. Guin wasn’t undead, just… insane.”
“… I see.”
The aftertaste isn’t pleasant. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
Although the troubles of this castle may have been resolved, Leira’s misfortunes continue on.
As I scratched my head, she looked at me and smiled brightly again.
“It’s fine. Even this castle, which I thought had no possible solution, has finally seen peace. Guin will surely come to her senses one day.”
As Leira spoke, her face was filled with certainty rather than emptiness.
Seeing her bright smile, I felt my mood lifting as well.
‘Well, there’s nothing I can do anyway. It’s a problem they need to overcome on their own.’
I nodded, showing my approval, and Leira slightly nodded back before pointing toward the end of the corridor leading to the audience hall.
“Master was anxiously waiting for you to wake up. You should go to the audience hall.”
“Hmm… Alright.”
“Well, I have to finish cleaning.”
Leira gave me a sincere nod before resuming her task.
As she wiped the dust off the window frames, there was no trace of the dark shadow she once carried.
“Ah, by the way.”
As she ran to leave, Leira suddenly stopped. Then she bowed again.
Not to me this time, but toward Seop Baek.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness, but I do want to apologize.”
“Huh…?”
“If you desire revenge, follow me now. I’ll take you to the torture chamber.”
“Torture?!”
“If you wish to kill me, just say so. I’ll take you to the execution ground.”
“…”
Leira walked away down the corridor. Though her words sounded chilling, her face remained calm.
I glanced over. Seop Baek looked conflicted.
I paused in my walk toward the audience hall and bluntly remarked:
“Are you going to take revenge? You can wait if you want.”
“I, I don’t know…”
Seop Baek shook her head back and forth and looked at me hesitantly.
“What would Lord Jung Yong do in this situation?”
“I’d cripple her almost to death and force her to serve as a mode of transportation, riding her half-naked.”
“Eep…”
“Free pack animal.”
Of course, my personal code has no room for forgiveness.
The reason I’m not seeking revenge on Leira for the things she did to me in my previous life is that all those events have become ‘nonexistent.’
“Sure, it’s frustrating as hell from my perspective…”
But, realistically, what can I do?
In this life, she has done nothing wrong to me. There’s no justification for vengeance.
If I acted on mere spite, it would strain my relationship with Halsenberg.
“Looks like I won’t have a place here. You can take over as the Demon King.”
I declared decisively, and Lucy mocked me with a scoff.
I retaliated by pinching her cheeks.
“Ahgahah! Let go, you insolent hero!”
“Should we catch up on three days of missed banter inside the Chamber of Truth? Hm?”
“Ah, ah… That’s cruel…”
As a juvenile tussle ensued between me and the Demon King…
Seop Baek smiled faintly from the side and nodded.
“Anyway, I’ll give up.”
“You sure?”
“Revenge only begets more revenge. It’s not something just anyone can break. I’ve been summoned as a hero into this world, so I want to try being a true hero.”
Seop Baek’s face radiated calmness.
Truly, she’s like an active Jijang Bosal. A thought I, a petty individual, could never conjure. I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
Anyway, it’s good for me. It means I’ll have even less time to stay here.
“Good. Let’s go. Once my discussion with Halsenberg is done, I’ll leave this place.”
“Yes. Finally… We’re leaving.”
“Right. It’s time to escape this dreadful castle.”
The quest is almost over.
I rushed to the audience hall where Halsenberg was, intending to bid farewell.
But soon, I paused my steps.
“Ah.”
I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten in all the chaos. Letting out a gasp, I carefully approached the Demon King.
Lucy, who was still touching her reddened cheek, suddenly looked up as I approached her.
“…What is it?”
I didn’t bother answering.
Instead, I grabbed her wrist and began walking slowly toward the North Gate of Harcenberg Castle.
“What? What’s this about, hero!? Where are we going!?”
“There’s somewhere I need to go. Come with me.”
So we left Harcenberg Castle and headed north.
Through a snowy plain blending with ash, we went toward the ruins where the undead had once thrived.
