The Death of the Hero
Ares hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to block the demon’s breath with his shield or try to dodge. But by that point, he had no options left. It was already too late to evade, so he reflexively raised his shield.
However, the blue flames possessed enough power to engulf and incinerate both the shield and its wielder.
Watching Ares brace behind his shield, the demon was certain of victory. “I got him,” he thought.
Even if he himself fell after this, killing the Hero—archnemesis of the Demon King—would be an achievement more than sufficient. With this, perhaps the demons could finally wipe out humanity. It would be a historic feat.
He instinctively poured even more strength into his breath.
──But then, someone intervened.
Someone recklessly took the blue flames on their back to shield the Hero.
It was Carlos. If he had been wearing his beloved black armor, the magic imbued within it might have mitigated the flames. But now, he wore only a token chestplate.
Carlos’s body was scorched by the blue flames, and he groaned in bitter agony.
“Guhhh—!”
[You are…!]
The demon was baffled. The breath meant to kill the Hero had struck Carlos, Prince of Ludonia, instead.
Yet Carlos was also an obstacle to conquering Ludonia. Since he had thrown himself into harm’s way, it could be considered a stroke of luck.
(Should I incinerate him as he is? Or prioritize the Hero?)
Doubt flickered in the demon’s mind.
“Leon!”
Ares shouted as he charged toward the demon.
Ares did not hesitate. He understood that in moments of crisis, it was not about saving someone, but about defeating the enemy.
He had thought about it countless times. About what he should have done four years ago. He had even dreamed about it repeatedly—how he might have saved that person.
That’s why Ares chose not to save Carlos, but to defeat the demon.
Leon, who had also hesitated for a split second, responded to Ares’s shout, and together they slashed at the demon from both sides. The demon, focused on unleashing its breath, was a moment too slow to react.
The demon managed to block Ares’s sword, coming from the side, with the sword in its right hand. But Leon’s sword slipped past the blade in its left hand, which the demon had tried to use to defend itself, and sliced deeply into its neck.
[Gah…!]
Even with a grievous wound to its neck, the demon did not give up. It knew that the moment its opponent believed they had won was the greatest chance to strike back.
The demon dropped its sword, extended the sharp claws of its left hand, and lunged for Leon’s abdomen.
Leon, poised for a finishing blow, never expected a counterattack with bare hands and did not notice the claws.
Then, a powerful impact struck—
the demon, not Leon.
“I know. You lot don’t die easily. And both your claws and fangs are deadly weapons.”
Ares, with all his might, tackled the demon and drove his sword through its belly.
Even the demon’s movements ceased at this. Without delay, Leon’s sword hewed off the demon’s head, not giving it a chance to retaliate with its fangs.
“Splendid…”
Carlos muttered in a groan. Though his body was burned, he knelt with satisfaction as he watched Ares and the others defeat the demon.
“Now, healing magic—quickly!”
Without even pulling his sword from the demon, Ares rushed to Carlos.
A small light shone in his hand.
(Good judgment.)
So Carlos thought. Defeat the enemy, then aid your allies. No hesitation.
Rather than trying to do everything at once, Ares acted immediately, with his priorities clear.
It was surely a habit ingrained in him after much thought and experience.
(A fine Hero.)
That was what Carlos thought.
“Healing magic isn’t working?”
Ares, on the other hand, was perplexed.
He knew his healing magic could barely mend small wounds. He just hoped to buy time until Maria arrived.
Yet, even so, the magic was having no effect at all. He felt none of the usual feedback of healing.
“…Perhaps it’s because my faith is weak. The gods must despise me.”
Carlos spoke jokingly, as if to comfort Ares.
“Don’t say such nonsense! I learned healing magic for moments like this!”
Ares’s face twisted, revealing a glimpse of the vulnerable self hidden beneath his strong spirit.
(…Is he seeing someone else in me?)
Even now, a faint divine light lingered in Ares’s hand.
Knowing it was futile, he continued to use healing magic.
Carlos started to say it was pointless but stopped. The light was warm and gentle, even if it could not heal his wounds.
“Why would you go this far… for someone like me…?”
Ares’s distorted face crumpled as if something had broken inside.
Ordinary, genuine kindness. Perhaps it’s something everyone has. Carlos felt, perhaps, that was the true nature of a Hero.
“I am a Hero too. Even for a rival like you, I can’t help but save you. If I had abandoned you, I could have become the only Hero left.”
Hiding his pain, Carlos managed a faint smile.
“Then I’ll definitely save you, Your Highness!”
Resolute, Ares stood up.
※ ※ ※
I pulled my sword from the demon’s body and ran to fetch Maria.
Leon was already heading for Solon and Maria, swinging his sword.
Though we had defeated the demon, the monsters were still numerous, and Solon and Maria were struggling.
Solon unleashed spells one after another, and even the formidable Maria was swinging her staff to keep the monsters at bay.
Yet, with the demon gone, the monsters’ coordination was starting to unravel.
“Oraaah!”
I shouted loudly as I charged in, both to intimidate the monsters and to let my companions know I was unscathed.
Solon grinned at the sight of me, while Maria, who had been bashing monsters with her staff in a sadistic display, instantly switched to a demure expression.
“Solon, give us some flashy attack magic! We need to drive the monsters away!”
At my shout, Solon grasped my intention and began chanting a spell. Meanwhile, I swung my sword in wide arcs to draw enemy attention.
Leon was also mowing down monsters at a fearsome pace.
Solon’s spell finished, and a huge explosion erupted among the monsters.
Frightened, the monsters fled just as I had hoped.
“Ares!”
Maria smiled with relief when she saw me coming to help.
“Prince Carlos has terrible burns! Please heal him!”
At my request, Maria looked a little dissatisfied, but turned her gaze toward the prince.
Suddenly, her black eyes widened.
“Ares… the prince…”
Alarmed by the urgency in Maria’s voice, I turned around—and saw Elliot standing where Prince Carlos had been lying. Elliot’s sword was plunged into the prince’s abdomen.
“Elliot! Why—!?”
Shock and anger surged in my chest.
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But I saw something dripping endlessly from Elliot’s chin. He was already gravely wounded, blood pouring from beneath his armor.
“Laugh, Ares. My Hero never existed. There never was one, from the very beginning!
Rejoice—you alone are the true Hero!”
It was a voice of utter despair.
Elliot drew out his sword and, without hesitation, pressed it to his own throat.
“Wait, Elliot!”
Blood spurted as Elliot collapsed. The sight of his tragic end made me avert my eyes.
(Why would Elliot attack Prince Carlos?)
Questions spun in my mind. But right now, healing the prince’s wounds was the priority. Even with a stab to the abdomen, Maria’s magic might still be in time.
“Maria!”
Even before I called out, Maria was already praying over the prince with hands clasped. Unlike my healing magic, a divine and powerful light overflowed from her body.
It was unmistakably a saint’s miracle.
The light enveloped Prince Carlos.
With this, no wound should have been beyond healing.
──Yet, neither the stab wound nor the burns showed any sign of recovery. If anything, they seemed to be getting worse.
After a while, still holding her hands over him, Maria quietly spoke.
“…I cannot heal him.”
“What? Not just me, even you, Maria?”
I could hardly believe it. I thought Maria’s healing power was absolute.
“This person is not human. No, not an animal or even a monster—he exists outside the law of the gods, and thus cannot receive their blessing.”
Maria’s eyes were more serious than I had ever seen, and she was not joking.
“What does that mean…?”
[…No, it’s fine. This is how it should be.]
The prince opened his eyes and slowly waved his hand, as if brushing away the divine miracle from his body. His movements were sluggish, but with those wounds, the fact he could move at all was astonishing.
[I am despised by the gods.]
The prince’s voice was different from usual. His eyes reddened, his skin turned pale—it seemed more like a transformation than a reaction to being stabbed.
Maria quietly approached him.
“You are the shapeshifter, aren’t you, one without form?”
[A human heart dwells in form. I am myself, but I am also Carlos.]
The prince muttered something strange. Maria continued her questioning, undeterred.
“Because you have no true form, I’ve heard you cannot die. But with such wounds, isn’t even that risky?”
As if responding to Maria’s solemn question, the prince spat out blood—or rather, a strangely black fluid.
[…It is indeed risky. But I was prepared for this. And I know you are no ordinary saint. You seem to have a most troublesome role to play.]
He met Maria’s eyes and smiled wryly. A troublesome role? What did he mean?
“I am but a humble priestess.”
Maria’s reply was cold.
“You who are forsaken by the gods—there is no more hope for you with those wounds. Do you have any last words?”
It was a cruel, uncharacteristically cold sentence from the saint.
“Wait, Maria! What are you saying? That His Highness was a shapeshifter? Even if that’s true, he was still our ally! Isn’t there anything we can do?”
Leon interjected frantically.
“We cannot. This is the will of the gods.”
Maria’s words were as hard as marble, enough to leave Leon speechless.
[The will of the gods… Yes, perhaps so. But I have one request.]
“What is it?”
A hint of compassion colored Maria’s voice.
[Please switch my corpse with Elliot’s. Carlos and Elliot are cousins, similar in age and build. Make it so that it was Elliot—who had swapped places with the shapeshifter—who killed Carlos. You can do it, can’t you, Great Sage?]
The being that had been Prince Carlos was gradually turning white, its shape dissolving. Now, it no longer had just two eyes—its face was becoming monstrous.
At those words, Solon, who had been silent, nodded.
“I understand. For a short time, my magic can maintain such a deception. If it will raise Ludonia’s morale for Prince Carlos, who died an untimely death, then so be it?”
Even faced with the shapeshifter’s true form, Solon’s tone remained courteous.
I felt a certain fatefulness in the idea of making a substitute of a cousin, and could say nothing.
[As expected. You are quick to understand.]
The shapeshifter’s voice was flat, but somehow satisfied.
[Ares.]
The shapeshifter’s crimson eyes turned to me.
[Was I… a Hero?]
A Hero? The shapeshifter?
For a moment, I hesitated, but memories of my time with Prince Carlos flashed through my mind.
No matter who he really was, he had unquestionably fought for Ludonia.
He was loved by all, strong, and brimming with confidence—he had been just like that person, I thought.
“You are… my ideal Hero.”
[Is that so?]
The shapeshifter replied with a tone of delight. However, the many crimson eyes gradually lost focus, and strength visibly drained from his body.
Only the part that seemed to be his mouth twitched as if spasming.
Without hesitation, Maria leaned in close.
“Is he saying something?”
If he was whispering something at the end, I wanted to know.
“No… nothing…”
Maria’s eyes were filled with quiet serenity.
TLNOTE:
Because of that volume 1 and 2 fan translation in this site will be removed in the near future
otherwise check the internet archive
As usual, please consider reading other novels written by Daken sensei listed below :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- The Castle of Canaan ~ The Lost Kingdom’s Princess, the World’s Hidden Treasure, and the Grand Adventure of the Mightiest Band of Thieves Versus an Empire ~
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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