Chapter 120
4 years ago.
At that time, I was having a terribly lonely season.
It had been a few months since I was suddenly dragged into this world.
The fate of 'possession' that I had to take on without time to prepare was only confusing.
Perhaps it was what's commonly called a prank of fate, or the execution of inevitability, but what was certain was that there was no way to return.
In the end, I had to repeat my own struggles to survive.
"What... role do they want from me?"
A world facing destruction.
Then.
The ending that needed to be changed from now on was all too clear.
Though it may have been an interpretation based solely on my own greed, I resolved to live upholding that uncertain calling.
That was the reason I took steps onto the uncertain path of thorns.
The choice was the beginning of an intense life.
The Usurpation War.
It was the event closest to the point when I possessed, and an event I had to intervene in considering the future of the original work.
A power struggle between criminal organizations to swallow the underworld.
However, it was too large a scale to simply call it a struggle, enough to shake even the empire's political situation.
The numerous names that clashed simply for greed affected even the story of the original work.
Led by the [Monarch] who had ruled the empire's hidden side until now, the big shots of the underworld challenged that ruler's throne, and not only that, but also numerous criminal organizations dyeing the underworld with violence.
A world full of trash needed cleaning.
Originally.
This war was not supposed to end until 5 years had passed.
Because the sweetness of ambition was close to madness.
Violence and plunder turn weak humans into demons, and push their backs toward a hell with no end in sight.
People wear the collar of sin only for the reason of a better life.
It's extremely adult-like.
"...I have to stop it."
A world burning bright red with blood and fire.
Slaughter continued miserably.
Those who become corpses lying under the shower of arrows, and barbarians who laugh vilely despite standing on rotten meat.
It was a tragedy or comedy vividly containing the meaning of rock bottom.
Even in this situation, those who cried most sadly... were people who didn't harbor any sin at all.
My very first step had to point to their salvation.
Of course.
The purpose of preventing destruction took priority.
Because it was the root of tragedy in the original work.
The long-lasting war gradually festered the empire's hidden side, and later it became a mess to the extent that even the imperial family couldn't handle it.
To add insult to injury, even black magicians joined hands with the underworld.
In this world, the Usurpation War was.
An event no different from the root of all evil.
"Moreover... I have to find it before it awakens."
That.
The first trigger that drives this world to destruction.
Dealing with the future disaster in advance.
With such thoughts, I left the comfortable mansion and took steps towards the dirtiest bottom.
In those days, I couldn't think of any particularly good methods.
Because I had no one to rely on.
Suddenly.
I, abandoned in a lonely world.
While being flustered at the life given again, hesitating to live, suddenly regretting, finally chose to move forward.
With the resolution that this was really the last game.
Forgetting you.
"I'll be going."
The mansion where no answer returned.
I didn't have the hardship of a possessed person living as someone else.
There was no need to deceive the connections this body had built up so far either.
The family didn't care about me anyway.
No.
To be precise, it was closer to treating me as a non-existent person.
The few months spent in the mansion were like a cold season.
Except for minimal conversations like meals and washing up, no one showed interest or affection to this body.
Even if I disappeared for over a week, there wasn't even an attempt to look for me.
That place felt like a doll's house made up of all lies.
"What kind of life... did Yuda live?"
The hidden side of the traitor I hadn't known until now.
At the time I had doubts, but soon it was a question erased from my mind.
Because just the storm approaching before my eyes was overwhelming enough.
I, like that.
Walked through wind and rain.
"Haa, haa...!"
A war I plunged into recklessly.
From that day on, it was a continuation of pain and intensity.
Because I was covered in a terrible smell of blood.
I was alone.
While handling power I wasn't yet familiar with, I killed the trash strewn on the streets, hid at night to avoid pursuit, liberated suffering people, and moved forward like that.
The first time I was covered in someone else's blood, it was sticky and lukewarm.
There were days when I vomited my insides several times.
But
I couldn't hesitate even a little to survive.
At that time, even the output of lies wasn't like now, so when my strength ran out, I would hide in places like sewers.
It was a background where a terrible stench rose, but I wasn't in a position to be picky.
"Ugh... cough!"
It was the principle that applied in the underworld.
The bottom was a place that exterminated pure and true people, so only those who gave up dignity and qualifications survived.
In the world, there was a name for those who existed so uglily.
None other than trash.
We were waste piled in a landfill.
Killing each other, robbing, chasing, trampling... we repeatedly dove using all sorts of adult methods.
As if betting on who would pull the other down lower.
I was no different.
Under the pretext of rooting out evil, I covered myself in evil no different from them.
That's why I didn't like memories of that time.
"...Should I quit everything."
Anguish I sometimes harbored.
The world of adults I thought I had become familiar with through my past life endlessly bound me as if proving there was no limit to its ugliness.
To the extent that even the pure heart that had still been alive was torn apart without remainder.
I just repeated the cold war.
"The bleeding won't stop... should I stitch it like last time."
Sometimes I was lonely.
While leaning my back against a corner of the sewer, personally treating my tattered body, I would suddenly suffer from an unfillable sense of loss.
But I didn't shed tears in such emptiness.
Was it because emotions had dried up?
Life just kept getting colder.
Nevertheless.
Time passes.
I single-handedly cleaned up criminal organizations rooted in the underworld, and erased seeds that could cause harm in the future one by one from the story.
The situation faded as a feeble flame without time to be gripped by madness.
Though it was a war that continued for as long as 5 years in the original work.
I was able to wrap up the [Usurpation War] in just under 3 months.
It was the reward for intensity.
"Haa, haa..."
Breath exhaled intensely.
Only after dealing with all the forces parasitic on the underworld was I able to destroy the [Kingdom] that remained last.
That kingdom referred to the domain ruled by the monarch.
The white-haired old man spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Cough...!"
The person who gave me the most trouble during the war.
Not only forces wide on a continental scale, but overwhelming force even as an individual alone, and schemes that overthrew opponents with cunning tricks every time.
He was a person worthy of being called the unofficial strongest.
Though he collapsed in the end.
"It's over now."
The aftermath of the fierce battle remained.
The scenery of the castle and streets miserably destroyed.
The old man was kneeling in a tattered state.
His body was covered all over in blood, his neat attire had become rags, and his severed right arm was rolling on the floor.
His left chest was especially in a state pierced by a sword.
I was standing with my sword stabbed into the old man's heart.
A faint heartbeat was transmitted to my fingertips.
"Don't struggle."
"Yes... so it ends up like this in the end."
The old man muttered.
It was a reaction resigning himself sensing the end.
I gazed at him calmly.
Though it was a body miserably caked in blood, this side was also considerably damaged.
Even just breathing was painful.
Even that was burdensome to do even light first aid because of the output that was already showing the bottom.
I just gritted my teeth and swallowed the pain.
"The terrible Usurpation War ends today."
"How is it? The feeling of being the lone victor remaining at the end of all wars..."
"...It's empty."
I answered quietly.
Blood wetting my hands.
The boundary of life and death I had shared was simple.
I destroyed forces that had aided the heretics in the original work, and trampled forces that hadn't just enough to make recovery difficult.
The reason I didn't kill the old man before my eyes now was also the same.
He was one of the few figures who hadn't joined hands with black magicians even in the underworld.
Whether it was simply because he was bothered by malicious power, or because of memories of having been involved in the past, I had no other way of knowing, but anyway I thought he would be a good force if left alive.
I slowly pulled out the sword I had stabbed into the monarch's heart.
Screech-.
As the sword was pulled out, the hole in his chest was filled.
It was this side returning it to its original form.
But
"This isn't mercy."
Magic woven with lies remained inside the heart.
A spell planted to prevent acting recklessly.
It was magic that would explode immediately if I just recited the activation.
As it was designed to activate even in case this side's life activity stopped, methods of the other side striking first wouldn't work either.
The old man seemed to feel the spell squeezing his heart.
A tired laugh flowed out.
"Keukeuk... so you're still letting me live. You're interesting indeed."
The old man spoke while kneeling.
His old eyes were sunk so deeply it was chilling.
I answered.
"From now on, you're a puppet."
"A puppet, you say...?"
"If you don't follow the orders I give, I'll immediately take that heart."
"Are you saying to make a deal?"
"It means pay the price."
"There's no right of refusal, I suppose... it's the rule for the loser to submit to that fate."
"You thought well."
"More than that, it's regrettable. I almost won. I lost by a hair's breadth."
"You were truly terribly strong."
It was as he said.
This side too had overcome several near-death experiences, and only after consuming output to the limit was I able to pierce the old man's heart.
If it had been even slightly misaligned, defeat would have been my share.
I exhaled a painful breath.
The old man looked up at this side and asked.
"Victor... in that worthy name of war, is there something more you want?"
"Of course there is."
I answered without hesitation.
Well.
It was the goal I had made top priority from when I first plunged into the bottom.
I put the seed of destruction on my lips.
"The force you've hidden until now... the last member of the royal guard."
The monarch's royal guard consisted of five.
But
Only four appeared in the war.
The remaining one should be in the underground prison.
A monster he wanted to keep by his side for overwhelming talent in slaughter, but imprisoned from the world because of uncontrollable power.
I mentioned the murderous spirit the monarch had hidden until now.
"Disloyalty. I'll take her."
"...Hah."
A laugh as if dumbfounded.
The old man muttered with blank eyes.
"It was content I kept strictly secret... but you seem to read my mind every time. As if you know the future."
"So what's your answer?"
"It doesn't matter either way."
The monarch nodded as if it was done.
"Do as you please."
The old man obediently gave the coordinates.
It was a prison in a remote location.
I turned my back as soon as I confirmed the content.
Staggering steps left behind the collapsed throne, leaving the scenery of the underworld where war had ended just as it was.
Now it was time for the boy to go meet the seed of destruction.
Just then.
The season at that time was beginning winter.
The coldest winter.
***
Wandering continued for over three days.
What I discovered at the end of wandering through remote scenery was none other than an underground prison hidden in ruins.
I approached my legs that still had muscle pain.
Originally it wasn't a distance that would take this long, but my movements had slowed because my body was tired.
It seemed I would need to devise a convenient way to move from next time.
'Come to think of it... was it Injustice?'
Wouldn't it be convenient to have such a space-type ability user?
I should look for one sometime later.
I headed to the basement putting aside needless idle thoughts.
What appeared at the end of the long staircase was the scenery of a prison with thick bars stuck close together.
Devices to decelerate mana were also running around.
I sensed that I had come to the right place.
Clank-.
A faint human presence heard from beyond the iron bars.
Soon a faint voice rang out.
"Who...?"
A shadow revealing itself.
Despite the thick darkness, a silver-haired girl shining dazzlingly was there.
Chains were wrapped around her arms and legs in several layers.
"I've finally met you."
I examined her.
Though she was an incomparably beautiful original, there were traces of violence remaining here and there.
It seemed the monarch had oppressed her for control.
Seeing her face scratched here and there and even bruised blue, I suddenly remembered my past life I had forgotten for a while.
Even when I was young, I had to suffer from violent parents.
Perhaps it just overlapped needlessly.
"I've come to take you."
"...?"
I gently extended my hand through the iron bars.
What returned was a wary gaze.
Regardless, I spoke smiling.
It was a phrase of embrace gently created.
"Don't you need a name?"
A somewhat strange question.
That was the beginning for us two.