“It’s not over yet! Do you think it will end here?” 

The final battle.

The Demon King, cornered, raged desperately.

A dark, bloody aura emanated from him as he launched a frenzied attack. 

Shield Knight Reinhold defended against the onslaught with his massive shield.

“Extermination!”

“Kraaaagh!”

“Reinhold!”

As the Demon King clenched his fist, Reinhold’s arm, along with his shield, was crushed.

Seeing her fiancé’s injury, the Hero Lucy screamed. 

Saintess Arsil quickly cast a divine healing spell on Reinhold.

“I’m fine! Focus on the enemy!”

“Lucy! Finish it! Don’t worry about the injuries, I can heal them all!”

With shouts of determination, Reinhold and Arsil readied themselves for the fight against the Demon King.

“Be careful!”

The Demon King raised his hand again, but Elf Archer Naidrian disrupted him with a volley of arrows. 

The Demon King, forced to deflect the arrows, triggered an explosion of the dark energy he had gathered.

“Nets, weaken, intimidate, slow.”

Without missing a beat, the Mage Tigria cast her spells. 

The words alone were enough to conjure the magic, significantly slowing the Demon King’s movements.

“Now!”

Naidrian continued to shoot arrows, pinning the Demon King in place.

“This time, the final blow is mine!”

Saintess Arsil infused the Hero’s holy sword, Hroni, with divine power.

“Optimal opportunity.”

Tigria launched powerful spells, driving the Demon King further into a corner.

“Lucy! Do it!”

Reinhold stood firm, blocking the rising black aura with his shield. 

Under the support of her comrades, Lucy raised Hononima high.

“I envision!”

A brilliant radiance enveloped Hononima.

“A peaceful day with you!”

With all her might, Lucy struck with the holy sword.

“Uaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!”

The brilliance cleaved through the black energy, shattering the malevolent aura. 

The sacred power, like a relentless storm, sliced the Demon King diagonally in half.

“Guh…!”

At last, the Demon King fell to his knees. 

Even as he crumbled, his gaze remained fixed on one point. 

Far in the distance, trembling and holding a small shield, stood the porter.

“You know this isn’t the end, right? I will surely…!”

Unable to finish her words, she disintegrated into black dust.

Thud.

Only a heavy, single horn remained.

“Haa… haa… we did it!”

“Not yet. We need to seal that horn in the sacred coffin!”

Lucy, panting, knew it wasn’t over, just as Arsil had said. 

Unfortunately, sealing the horn was not a job for the warriors.

Lucy, with her red hair drenched in sweat, scowled.

“Hey, porter! What are you waiting for? Get over here!”

“Yes!”

The porter wore a peculiar mask. 

Despite its lack of eye holes, the smiling mask did not seem to hinder his vision. 

In truth, the mask was not the strange part; it was the porter himself. 

His role was to carry the sacred coffin that would seal the Demon King’s horn, thanks to his immense inventory capacity.

“Here it is!”

“…You want me to handle that dark energy?”

The porter pulled out the sacred coffin from his special item, ‘Porter’s Pouch,’ and offered it to Lucy, who scowled again. 

The porter looked around anxiously. 

Despite his robust physique and unique item, the dark energy from the horn was overwhelming.

“Damn it, I’m at my limit.”

Even the Saintess shook her head, acknowledging that everyone was exhausted after the fierce battle.

The porter swallowed hard and approached the horn. It was no larger than his palm, but its energy was menacing.

Tsssszzzzzz

“Aaaaargh!!!!!”

As he tried to move quickly, his arm turned black upon touching the horn. 

It was obvious to everyone that the dark energy was corroding him.

Yet, no one showed surprise or concern. 

The porter’s status as a non-combatant led to his treatment being overlooked. 

Even now, during the battle with the Demon King, he had hidden behind his shield, evoking more irritation than sympathy from his comrades.

“Grrrrrr!”

With all his might, he placed the horn in the sacred coffin and sealed it, stopping the dark energy from spreading further. 

However, his arm continued to sizzle and smoke.

“Stop whining. Reinhold held on even after his arm was crushed.”

It was a fact. 

Reinhold’s arm had been mangled by the Demon King, and the Saintess had healed him immediately. 

Yet now, she scolded the porter without offering any healing.

“It’s finally over!”

Lucy jumped into her fiancé’s arms in joy. Reinhold, with a strained smile, caught her.

“Be careful, Lucy. The battlefield has turned into a cliff.”

Indeed, the intense battle had transformed the terrain into a steep cliff.

“Now we can return to the capital and get married!”

“Haha, first we need to manage the aftermath. Distribute the rewards properly.”

Lucy scoffed at the blonde knight’s calm reminder.

“Why should the imperial family and the nobles, who stayed safe in the capital, get any credit?”

“Lucy, the imperial family and the nobles also played their part. They kept the other demons at bay so we could focus on the Demon King.”

“Nonsense. We could have taken down all the demons on the front line. We were forced to rush the Demon King because the front line got too close to the capital.”

“Lucy.”

“They kept demanding the Hero stop the demons, kill the Demon King. They’re all cowards, incompetent fools. Especially that princess. She’s only the heir because her siblings died, and she’s so arrogant…”

“Lucy!”

“Fine, fine.”

Lucy reluctantly stopped her rant at her fiancé’s stern command. 

She loved the handsome and kind Reinhold dearly but couldn’t help but resent him when he defended the nobility and royalty. 

She believed that as her fiancé, he should always side with her.

But she had gone too far.

As she moved to the cliff’s edge, sulking, she uttered the unthinkable.

“When we get back, we should overthrow the damned Empire.”

In an instant, the atmosphere changed.

Lucy, hoping Reinhold would come to comfort her, turned around, puzzled by the silence.

There they were: the Mage, the Saintess, the Archer, and finally Reinhold, all staring at her coldly.

“W-what? Why are you all looking at me like that…?”

“Capture, rotate, move, crush.”

Crack!

With swift incantations, Lucy’s left leg twisted unnaturally and fell off.

As she collapsed, only the sound of air escaping her lungs could be heard.

“Ah…?”

“Lucy!”

In disbelief, the Saintess ran towards Lucy, not to heal but to break her right arm with her bare hands.

Crunch!

“Argh!”

Before Lucy hit the ground, arrows from nowhere tore through her arms, ripping them apart.

Thud.

The sound was reminiscent of a wet rag being thrown, the once mighty Hero falling with a resounding crash.

“Reinhold!”

Lucy instinctively called out to the one she loved. 

The Shield Knight who had always protected her.

“Ah….”

But the look in Reinhold’s eyes as he approached was filled with cold determination, plunging her into despair.

“Oh…?”

She couldn’t comprehend it. 

These were her comrades who had just fought alongside her to defeat the Demon King. 

Why?

The answer came from Reinhold.

“Hero Lucy. With the Demon King gone, the greatest threat to the Empire is you.”

“What are you talking about, Reinhold…?

“You were too arrogant. Constantly showing hostility towards the royal family, openly talking about overthrowing the government.”

“Reinhold!”

“By the order of Princess Linachien Karlun, I, Morgan Reinhold, along with the Hero’s party, arrest the traitor Luciena Estel here and now!”

The knight raised his shield. 

The pointed edge, designed to repel and attack, now aimed at Lucy’s remaining leg.

Crack!

“Argh!”

Crack!

“Morgan-!!!”

Crack!

Despite the shield’s point, it was still a shield. 

Amidst the agony of breaking bones and torn flesh, Lucy realized something.

Reinhold had never allowed her to call him by his name.

Crack!

“Guh!”

Amidst the blood and pain, doubt crept into her mind.

“You… planned this from the beginning, didn’t you…?”

Crack!

“Gah…! Did you ever love me…?”

The knight raised his shield one last time, granting her a final mercy.

“I have always loved only Linachien Karlun.”

That mercy was the answer to her doubt, and the final blow severed her remaining left leg.

But Lucy felt more pain in her heart than in her mutilated body. 

The reality she believed in had been a lie.

“Are you going to kill her?”

“She’s been dismembered. We’ll bind her and transport her to the capital. There, as a demonstration of imperial power, she’ll be displayed.”

“Che, there’s hardly anything left of her.”

The Hero, her spirit broken, listened in a daze as the Saintess and the Knight discussed her fate.

The Mage cauterized her wounds, leaving her numb.

“Don’t forget our agreement.”

“It’s not over yet. The contract specifies we escort her to the capital. Don’t be impatient, Naidrian.”

Is this the end?

“As the elf said, we need confirmation. You haven’t forgotten the promise, have you?”

“I didn’t expect the saint to be so deeply suspicious.”

I didn’t ask for much. 

According to the contract, the first step was to subdue the hero, the second to transport her. 

Therefore, having completed the first step, it was only natural to reconfirm and reaffirm the promise now.

“Sigh, alright. We don’t have time, so I’ll reiterate it here.”

‘All I wanted was to live an ordinary life with the one I loved, and I complained a bit about things that seemed like obstacles to that.’

“First, Naidrian, you elves…”

‘Was I really that arrogant?’

At that moment, a single tear slid down Lucy’s cheek.

“Scroll of Teleportation: Short Distance.”

A voice, long forgotten by everyone, resounded.

“What?!”

As everyone panicked, someone approached Lucy at a speed invisible to the eye.

It was the porter.

“Porter?! Damn, I forgot about…”

“Naidrian, shoot!”

Reinhold shouted urgently, pushing the startled Arsil aside, but it was already too late. 

Even Naidrian couldn’t track the movements of the porter who used the one-time item ‘Scroll of Teleportation: Short Distance,’ an ultimate skill for movement.

While Naidrian was drawing his arrow, the porter had already scooped Lucy up and was flying over the cliff.

“Tigria!!”

“Target… lost.”

Leaving the panicked group behind, the porter sighed in mid-air.

“Ah, this wasn’t part of the plan.”

The ‘Teleportation’ skill didn’t just speed up movement. It also accelerated the outcome of the user’s actions. Consequently, their descent from the sky was not comparable to a normal fall.

Splash!

As if someone had planned it, the porter and Lucy were sucked into the deep waters of the gorge far below the cliff. 

It was a dive only possible because the porter, Lin, knew the game’s map structure inside out. 

Especially the final battle map of the original game, which was even more familiar.

“Lucyena—!!!”

Reinhold’s anguished cry echoed from above. 

His voice was remarkably powerful.

Lin, the porter, sighed with relief underwater. 

He had left behind the holy coffin containing the Demon King’s single horn, so they wouldn’t be able to pursue immediately. 

He relaxed his body.

According to the DLC content, they would eventually float to a suitable spot. 

Meanwhile, Lin tightly cradled Lucy’s body to keep water from getting into her eyes and nose.