The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Demon God?
You’re telling me I’m the Demon God?
“What... the hell are you talking about?”
My thoughts were in complete disarray.
I’d been fighting all this time to utterly destroy the Demon God—and now, out of nowhere, someone’s calling me the Demon God?
Ssshhhhhh.
Before I could even get an answer to the question, Amon’s body, drained of its fire, began to crumble into black ash.
“Hey! Hey, wait! You bastard! You can’t just die without telling me what the hell you meant by me being the Demon God!”
I dashed toward the disintegrating Amon, but his collapsing body never returned to its original form.
As he scattered into ash, Amon spoke in a faint voice that seemed like it might break off at any moment.
“He... will... come for you...”
“What?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
“Who is ‘he’?”
“The sixth... hero... the one who... killed the Demon God... 500 years ago.”
“......”
“Will you... cough!... be able to... survive that monster?”
Heh heh heh...
With a shuddering laugh, Amon’s body turned entirely to ash and vanished into the air.
I frowned as I watched the ash drift away.
“...The sixth hero.”
The words Grace’s soul had left behind during our school trip flashed through my mind.
—Beware... of the sixth... hero.
Her warning to beware the sixth hero.
And Amon’s words just now.
‘The one who killed the Demon God 500 years ago?’
According to the historical records, the five great heroes couldn’t kill the Demon God due to the overwhelming strength he possessed—they merely sealed him in the deepest part of the abyss.
But—
‘They said the Demon God wasn’t sealed... he was destroyed.’
What remained in the depths wasn’t the Demon God himself, but mere remnants of his power.
Within the blazing abyssal flames, there was no sense of will or consciousness from the Demon God.
It was like a corpse—just leftover remains after death.
‘The Demon God really did die, 500 years ago.’
Then why didn’t the five great heroes ever say they killed him?
“...Hah.”
Didn’t I just hear the answer from Amon?
‘It wasn’t the five great heroes who killed the Demon God... it was the sixth hero.’
And for some unknown reason, the five great heroes felt the need to hide the identity of that sixth hero.
‘That’s why they lied and said he was sealed, not killed.’
They erased all records of the sixth hero.
So that no trace of him would remain in history.
“Then this sixth hero...”
Amon said the sixth hero would come for me.
That means the sixth hero who supposedly killed the Demon God 500 years ago is still alive. But aside from me, there was only one other being with such a long lifespan.
‘The Leader of Order of Eternity.’
Yes.
He was behind all of this.
‘What is that bastard’s true goal?’
Amon said he learned how to descend to the abyss from the one who created the seal.
Obviously, that couldn’t have been the Great Sage Julius—he wouldn’t still be alive—so the “creator” Amon referred to must be the sixth hero... the Leader of Order of Eternity.
And there’s no way he didn’t know that Amon, carrying the seed of destruction, would cause the Demon God to resurrect upon contact with those remnants.
‘So, to sum it up...’
The Leader of Order of Eternity used Amon to try and resurrect the Demon God.
“...Why?”
The question slipped from my lips before I realized it.
Why would the very person who killed the Demon God 500 years ago now want to bring him back?
“Gah...!”
Fwoooosh!
Before I could follow that thought further, the smoldering embers wrapped around my body flared violently.
A searing pain racked my mind.
‘The embers... haven’t been fully absorbed yet?’
No—more accurately, they have been.
But the Primordial Flame, grown stronger by absorbing the embers, was now rampaging wildly within the stigma.
The power of the Tree of Creation was barely holding the balance, but if the Primordial Flame kept raging like this, it would soon go beyond what I could control.
‘If that happens...’
Memories from a past life flashed in my mind.
A massive pillar of black flame rising into the sky.
A god of destruction, mindless and soulless, driven only by a will to annihilate the world.
Would I become like that?
Like the Demon God from back then?
‘No.’
This new life... how could I burn it all down with my own hands?
Woooooom!
I summoned the power of the Tree of Creation.
I suppressed the rampaging Primordial Flame.
Fwoosh, fssh.
The Primordial Flame, which had been lashing out like a ravenous beast, faltered and retreated slightly, its violent energy subsiding a bit.
“Haa... Haa!”
Of course, it had only backed off for now—the intense heat still smoldered within.
‘For now... a stalemate.’
Sigh.
As relief washed over me from barely putting out the immediate fire, a wave of exhaustion crushed down on me.
“Ugh...”
Stagger.
I collapsed to the floor, unable to maintain my balance.
“Da-Dale! Are you alright?!”
Camellia the Empress shouted urgently—and then everything went black.
Who knows how much time passed.
“Ugh...”
I opened my eyes, wincing at a skull-splitting headache, and saw a familiar ceiling.
The ceiling of the intensive care unit within the school.
A place I’d ended up visiting far too often, despite having an “immortal” body.
“...Dale?”
Crash!
The sound of a dish shattering was followed by Iris’s voice.
She rushed over and threw her arms around me.
“Th-Thank goodness! H-How’s your body? Are you feeling okay?”
“Mmph, mmph.”
The soft sensation pressing against my cheek cleared my headache in an instant.
“Sniff... Do you know how worried I was, thinking you might never wake up again?!”
“C-Calm down, just a bit.”
“How am I supposed to calm down right now?!”
Iris shouted, clearly upset.
“It’s been two weeks! You were unconscious for over ten days!”
“......”
Two weeks?
It felt like I just lost consciousness for a moment—has that much time really passed?
“I’m fine now, so don’t worry.”
“Ha. You’re fine?”
Iris stared at me with suspicious eyes.
“First, let’s check if your mind is still working. Okay, how many fingers do you see?”
Iris held up two fingers.
“Two.”
“Hm. Cognitive functions seem normal... What’s the first thing that comes to your mind right now?”
“I’m thinking Iris’s chest is really big.”
I answered honestly, recalling the sensation I felt on my cheeks the moment I woke up.
“.......”
Iris narrowed her eyes.
“Well... I guess you’re more okay than I expected.”
She looked really displeased, but it seemed clear that I had regained my senses.
“You said I’ve been unconscious for two weeks, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Honestly, it doesn’t feel real.
From my perspective, I just blinked and suddenly two weeks had passed.
“While you were unconscious, you were sweating a lot, and your breathing was unstable.”
“.......”
So that’s why Iris ran up to me crying the moment she saw me.
“...You’re really okay now, right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I nodded and slowly examined my inner state.
The primordial flame that used to rage wildly was now calm, and the energy of the Tree of Creation was quiet as if nothing had happened.
‘I don’t know what will happen if I try to use power right now, though.’
Anyway, for now, the two forces were miraculously balanced.
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Iris sighed with genuine relief, clutching her chest.
“By the way, what happened with the war?”
“When Amon died, all of his clones vanished. The remaining demons scattered the moment they saw that.”
“The damage...?”
“Not that bad. Actually, you could say it was basically nothing. While the Masters were fighting Amon’s clones, they all disappeared at once.”
“Really?”
That was great news.
“The school is already planning to host a grand victory ceremony, inviting the heroes of the three allied nations who participated in this war.”
“Victory ceremony?”
“Yes. To commemorate our complete victory over the demons.”
Makes sense.
Whatever the process, in terms of results, this war had effectively wiped out most of the demonic forces that had plagued humanity for centuries.
And with barely any casualties on our side, there was more than enough reason for celebration.
‘A victory ceremony, huh.’
Thinking of the cult of Eternity still left a few unsettling questions, but the overwhelming victory against the demons was an undeniable fact.
“...Dale.”
“Hm?”
“Was it Empress Camellia who saved you this time?”
“Oh, yeah. It was her.”
If Camellia hadn’t bought me that time, I would’ve been taken down by Amon before I could absorb the remnants of the demon god that had flowed into me.
‘If that had happened, the primordial flame might’ve really gone berserk.’
Just recalling that moment sent a chill down my spine.
“I see...”
“...What’s wrong?”
“Hmph, nothing.”
Iris snorted and turned her head away, clearly displeased about something.
But it didn’t last long.
With a deep sigh, Iris stood up from her seat.
“Then I’ll head out first.”
“Huh? Already?”
I thought she’d stay with me at least until I was discharged from the intensive care unit.
“Well, you seem to be doing better than expected...”
Iris glanced toward the door.
“Besides, I think someone else should get the spot next to your bed today.”
“.......”
“You have no idea how hard it was to keep that person from barging in here for the last two weeks. They didn’t sleep for over ten days, just staring through the window with bloodshot eyes. And we couldn’t exactly kick out the one who saved your life...”
She sighed and shook her head, clearly exhausted from the ordeal.
“Well, anyway. If I don’t give up the seat today, forget the ceremony—the whole school’s gonna go crazy.”
“.......”
I had a pretty good idea of who she meant by ‘that person.’
“Dale.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“This is really the last one. Got it? If even one more person starts showing up...”
Smile.
“I’ll seriously rip your head off.”
“.......”
“Then I’ll be going.”
With a swish, Iris turned and left the ward.
Not long after—
Click.
The door opened carefully, and Empress Camellia walked in.
“Ah...”
The moment our eyes met, she hurried toward the bed.
“Y-You’re really... okay?”
She asked in a trembling voice, gently touching me with shaky hands.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Ha... haha...”
Seeing me nod, she finally gave a smile of deep relief.
“Th-Thank goodness... really... thank goodness... sniffle...”
I stared, mouth agape, as clear tears streamed down her cheeks.
‘Wait, what the heck, Your Majesty.’
You weren’t this kind of character at all.

Comments

Loading...