I stood there in a daze, reminiscing about what had just happened.

An odd atmosphere.

The girl drawing ever closer.

The breath I could feel.

And eventually…

…Well, far too much had transpired.

So much that it was hard to accept with a clear head.

“Is something wrong?”

Siel asked me, her expression as composed as ever. Considering the stunt we just pulled, I thought she’d be a bit flustered too.

But as usual, she seemed completely unfazed.

In stark contrast to my flushed face, which could’ve rivaled Guan Yu’s.

“…It’s nothing.”

Of course it wasn’t nothing. But with her this calm, it felt awkward for me to be the only one panicking.

Right now, we were in the Demon Realm.

Plus, it wasn’t exactly the best time to bring up this kind of topic when we were still tied up in our business here.

So I had no choice but to say that.

Well, to be honest, maintaining a nonchalant demeanor after what just happened was already stretching it.

…Maybe it was just my imagination.

For a brief moment, Siel seemed to smirk playfully while looking at my reddened face.

I must have misread it, but for some reason, I felt a nagging certainty that dealing with this unpredictable girl was only going to become more challenging from here on out.

As I held my throbbing forehead, Siel stepped lightly and touched the barrier.

Just that simple action caused the massive barrier to melt away and return to her shadow.

And then…

The questions left behind began to surface.

It must have been about an hour since I last saw them, yet the Holy Church people were still torturing the prince.

Understanding the danger of remaining still, or perhaps due to having suffered serious injuries during the battle, a fallen Swordmaster of the Empire lay there.

But I set aside such matters and began to move.

Carl, a top-tier fighter in the Empire.

The First Prince, the most likely candidate for the next Emperor.

Sure, they were both important, but they couldn’t compare to the woman standing right in front of me.

That was only natural.

The Hero’s right hand.

This very woman had walked beside me for a decade, knowing better than anyone what had happened ten years ago.

I glanced at Aria’s condition.

She was in a state so messed up that finding anything intact was a challenge.

…But she was still alive.

That was shocking. The power she had was leagues stronger than before.

She had survived the brutal attack and was still breathing.

However… I probably couldn’t save her.

Sure enough.

Even though I tried to heal her with what little divine power I had left, the aura surrounding her rejected my intervention.

On the brink of death.

This state had been forcefully stabilized, manipulated into turning her into a puppet.

That force allowed none of my meddling.

‘So, did I fail again to gather information about what happened ten years ago?’

I was lost in thought when…

Our eyes met.

The wrecked state she was in was gazing at me.

But she didn’t say anything.

She just silently locked her mixed-emotion blue eyes on me and pulled something from her bosom.

“Ian, this is…”

A flood of ominous energy surged forth.

Siel, who was beside me, shot me a warning glance.

But I nodded in reassurance and accepted the item she produced.

A broken blade.

Half of a once-holy sword still stained black.

The moment it touched my hand, it unleashed a horrid curse that felt like it would consume me right then and there. But curses didn’t work on me.

“What’s the reason for giving this to me?”

I asked her, but she still just stared at me without answering.

However… that didn’t matter too much.

I had a hunch about it, even without her words.

I set down the broken blade and placed my hand on the ground.

At that moment, a formation began to take shape.

With Siel’s support, the spell was completed in an instant.

I needed answers to why the world had turned out this way, what had transpired.

All of those emotions, all the memories—everything must have been contained within it, so there was no reason for me to hesitate.

I immediately activated the spell.

…It was time to face the truth.

*

What defines a correct choice?

That question had been plaguing me endlessly.

I had seen children exploited and driven toward death. Thus, I wanted to save them.

That was undoubtedly a good thing.

However, it wasn’t the right choice.

The power and authority that came with being a Hero.

Using the strength of my companions, I had managed to close down all the inhumane magic stone mining camps across the nation.

Because nothing was more important than human lives, I ensured they were equipped with protective gear and operated the mines properly.

The results, however, were horrific.

By not treating humans as consumables and legally extracting magic stones with all the necessary protections, the operational costs skyrocketed.

But the demand remained unchanged.

As the prices of resources, now deeply embedded in daily life, skyrocketed thousands of times, countless people were pushed into hell.

More people died at my hands than those I saved.

I tried to save lives, yet in the end, I caused even more to perish.

Skilled mages with connections to the upper echelons.

With my allies’ help, I somehow reverted the situation back to how it used to be.

Yet that question continued to cling to me.

The position of a Hero forced choices upon me.

I killed a young boy.

I discovered he would become a vessel for “massacre.”

It was already burdensome with just control and beasts.

If slaughter were to be born as well, there would be no countermeasures to stop him. So I had no choice but to kill him.

The boy’s sister accused me of being a murderer.

I even killed the girl who was crying over her brother’s corpse.

Contracting with a demon.

It wasn’t intended, but I aimed to assist in summoning the demon.

I eliminated the seeds of the Demon King and executed the traitors of humanity who sought to form contracts with demons.

I killed two people to save countless others who would have died because of those two.

To avoid repeating past mistakes.

I didn’t want to push more people into hell while playing the hypocrite.

While human lives can’t be weighed against each other as a factor, two lives can’t ever be on the same level as thousands. Hence it was a just decision.

I made the right choice for righteous reasons.

Yet still…

A wave of nausea washed over me.

The blood on my hands was so repugnant I couldn’t clean it, even after I scraped at my skin until it was raw.

All that came out were resentful words.

Why did I have to do this?

Why was it that I had to make this choice?

The holy sword continued to grow murky.

The vow I once made.

I knew I was lacking and would fail at times, but still, I vowed I would never give up.

Now, it felt like I couldn’t keep that vow any longer.

My heart felt like it would crumble at any moment.

But I didn’t have the luxury of giving up.

If I stop, everyone dies. If I quit, everyone would perish.

So for me, there were no choices.

With that thought, I lifted my collapsing body time after time and continued to fight.

…Until the day arrived.

The mage called for me and said he had discovered a way to solve all these problems.

And he showed me.

A golden chalice.

The Holy Grail that was said to replicate divine miracles.

With that, it would be possible to seal both beasts and dominators. With this power, I wouldn’t have to continue such acts.

“But… every action has its cost.”

He then said.

This was merely an inferior item he created for experimental purposes. To create something strong enough to affect a Demon King required suitable materials.

In other words…

It required the sacrifice of thousands.

To create a Holy Grail, people would need to be used as primary materials.

If I had heard that upon first setting out on my journey, I would have cursed the mage. I would have scolded him multiple times, asking if he was out of his mind.

But right now, I couldn’t say anything at all.

‘At this pace, sacrifices will keep happening. So maybe this is the option that results in the least casualties.’

I rationalized it like that, but…

My true feelings weren’t as simple as that.

The weight of responsibility was far too heavy.

No matter which option I chose, all I felt was torment; I didn’t want to make such choices anymore.

I wanted to run away.

The holy sword was losing its light.

I had ultimately betrayed the vow I once made.

Yet surprisingly, my heart felt relieved.

I didn’t want to think about anything anymore.

I didn’t want to continue living this disgusting life, where I had to kill people to save people.

So I opened my mouth.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you.”

With this, everything would be resolved.

I was sure that I wouldn’t need to suffer any longer.

And then…

The mage’s blade pierced my heart.

The hair that had been cut gleamed in brilliant gold.

Those deep blue eyes stared into mine.

The mage, now turned into an old man, smiled at me.

…The Emperor of the Empire stood before me.