Life is a series of choices.
What one hopes for can sometimes lead to the worst possible outcomes.
Therefore, it’s only natural for people to always be filled with regrets.
“You should go back to your friends. Licht.”
Kainel said to me matter-of-factly.
He must have known that there was a world line where Ariel was still alive.
Unlike Pina, who became a Demon God, he said he would send me back to the world I originally came from.
“You said you’d regret it.”
“Yeah, I definitely will regret it.”
I replied to him with a bitter expression.
I would rather he just curse at me.
If I had just tried a little harder, Ariel might still be alive.
But he shook his head, expressing his disagreement.
“Just because of that… doesn’t mean you should invade another world line or use me.”
Even if I fell into being a Demon King or Demon God, a person’s nature doesn’t change.
That was the reason I despised the Demon Kings of the Hero Church.
“The mistake regarding Ariel is something I must carry with me for life.”
“……”
This was also the reason why Kainel and I, who had become Demon Kings, could maintain our sanity.
He even gestured for me to calm down as I suddenly stood up.
“Thanks to you, though, I won’t live in regret for the rest of my life.”
Kainel slowly lowered his gaze and spoke.
He said after I died, all kinds of thoughts crossed his mind.
For a day, he couldn’t accept reality and searched for a way to bring others back.
He even searched for the Demon Kings of the Hero Church for revenge at one point.
“You told me before. It’s better to confess and regret than to not confess at all.”
“…That’s true.”
It was the last words left by my friend Licht.
To keep that promise, Kainel worked hard to convey his feelings to his childhood friend.
“At first, I was afraid it might ruin our friendship….”
When I first met him, he told me something by the campfire.
He felt pity for Nelle, who had turned into a Demon King in the game.
He later told me to not regret it.
“Are you kidding me…?”
“Yeah, we even got engaged.”
At that moment, I noticed something sparkling on Kainel’s left ring finger.
A rough-designed silver ring.
An engagement ring showing the relationship of the Hero couple.
“Still, thanks to your advice, I was happy.”
With those words, Kainel pulled out a crumpled photo from his pocket.
In the photo, he and Ariel looked happy together.
“We talked while looking at the starlit night sky.”
Shadows of lovers leaning on each other’s shoulders under the night sky.
“We even tried to finish a giant parfait together.”
Ariel was joyfully sitting in front of a chocolaty syrup-covered parfait, while Kainel grimaced.
“I promised the future while giving a bouquet and a letter to Ariel.”
The blonde hero proposing to the red-haired mage on one knee.
This couple’s happiness seemed like it would last forever.
“I even went back to my hometown to get my parents’ permission to marry. That’s when we made the promise.”
Kainel spoke while fidgeting with his engagement ring.
Normally, he would have proposed while making a snowman in winter.
“After Licht, you died, I thought I couldn’t hesitate anymore.”
“……”
Chosen by the Holy Sword, Kainel lived with the destiny of a hero since he was a child.
The reason he couldn’t be honest with his childhood friend was simple.
“…Adrian.”
“Yeah, you really know everything, huh?”
The knight of the empire and Kainel’s brother.
Having lost someone precious to a Demon King, he wouldn’t want to experience that regret again.
He said he often saw glimpses of his brother’s back in me since he had already passed away.
“I thought you looked a bit like my brother when I looked at you.”
To Kainel, I was both a rival and a friend.
We fought enemies back-to-back and sometimes trained together.
“Honestly, I was a bit envious.”
“…You, envied me?”
Admiration.
A blonde Demon King with a softened smile while looking at me.
“Think about it. Even the empress is captivated, and your swordsmanship is nearly at sword master level.”
“…….”
“If that didn’t make a difference, I’d be lying. You’re even too kind.”
Kainel said while crossing his arms, contrary to his expression.
It showed how much he had left unsaid to me.
“If I hadn’t stopped you earlier, you and Mardol’s kid would probably have formed a knight order together.”
“…That’s a serious joke, Kainel.”
He seemed to be teasing me lightly.
“This isn’t a joke. Licht.”
With a glance at the torrential rain outside, Kainel continued speaking.
“The Empress… no, Mardol. Since you died, she hasn’t been able to accept reality.”
He began to talk calmly about things from the past.
About how Pina changed after I died.
“She burned down the Library of Truth and destroyed Tardun’s Shrine.”
She couldn’t find a way to bring me back, even among the gods, and began to act increasingly erratically.
“She wanted to see you so much that she even built statues of you all over the empire.”
She was even crying by my grave every day, shouting that she loved me.
“Ariel had to try hard to stop her from saying she’d follow you to death.”
“…Oh my god.”
Pina had even talked about giving up her claim to the throne to die with me.
Ariel had tried several times to stop her from harming herself with a glass sword.
“This kind of thing was also a problem when fighting the Demon Kings.”
It was also the reason she couldn’t respond to Intinium’s ambush.
“When she thought resurrecting the Demon God would bring you back, she lured Mardol.”
“……”
The Magic Hat also harassed Pina here.
The beloved hero turned Demon King became stronger than herself, and using the excuse of bringing me back, enchanted her.
“While Mardol was disoriented like that, Ariel was attacked.”
Intinium killed Ariel while she was distracted.
“The Demon King of Might didn’t know they were twins… I should have protected them better.”
Kainel spoke with tears in his eyes.
“…It must have been hard.”
She probably thought her friend Ariel died because of her.
Not participating in resurrecting the dead demon god was likely because of this.
“After defeating all the Demon Kings, Pina dyed her hair black.”
Her hair color exactly matched mine.
And to prevent anyone from approaching her,
“She even wore a spiked dog collar.”
“…A mark of a married person.”
“Exactly. She said she wouldn’t accept anyone but you, Licht.”
Even Emperor Rock had tried several times to talk to Pina, but failed.
“Queen Bellin… Can’t she persuade Pina?”
I asked hopefully.
The person I couldn’t confirm life or death because she rushed to Jisheer’s shrine.
‘Queen Bellin Grancia.’
The powers of the Magic Hat are released here.
Wouldn’t she be able to return Pina to her old self?
“With some difficulty, the Empress was able to persuade her to this extent.”
But regardless of who spoke, her obsession with me remained unresolved.
Like a clock stuck in time after becoming an Empress, she remained trapped in the past.
‘What should I do?’
Kainel even broke Pina’s holy sword. Even if I returned to my original world, she could follow me.
“Licht. You aren’t thinking of saving Mardol or anything, right?”
“How do you…?”
While habitually resting my chin on my hand, Kainel subtly asked the question.
“It’s obvious. You always do your best to save others.”
Ugh, this guy understands me too well.
If I could save Pina, now a Demon God, I wanted to.
“I know you’re worried… but aren’t your friends waiting for you?”
“……That’s true.”
But it also gnawed at me to just leave Pina in this state.
A parallel universe.
It meant she could have ended up like this after losing me.
“But, since it’s a future that can change. If I can at least get help from Pina….”
[Kainel♡Ariel 80% ‘NEW!’]
[You have raised your affection level since you confirmed Kainel’s Corruption Route!]
I spoke to him while looking at the status window that floated before my eyes.
The Grand Route.
If all world lines are intertwined, opening a new path, there is still hope.
If that’s the case, there wouldn’t be a reason for my affection level to rise now.
If I succeed in persuading Pina, I might be able to create a different future.
“It might be possible if it’s the Grand Route, Kainel.”
Upon hearing my words, Kainel stood up and began to put his cloak back on.
“…Actually, I haven’t just been lazing around for these past ten years.”
He gathered the broken holy sword again and gestured to me.
“I’ve been looking into what you call the ‘Grand Route.'”
He said that after losing Ariel, he took a more moderate approach compared to Pina.
As soon as he heard the sage’s foresight that I would return here.
“That’s why I’m telling you that you must return to your original world.”
Instead of trying to resurrect Ariel or bring a different version of her from another world line.
He thought of helping me find clues about the Grand Route while traveling around the world.
“Unlike the Lee Soo-hyun of another world line, you still have hope.”
As Kainel’s eyes changed to that of a demon, he looked as if he could see through my very soul.
“How did you know my real name?”
“It’s revenge for calling me Kainel.”
When I showed a surprised expression, he shrugged nonchalantly.
Come to think of it, Pantoze did say I was the 24th failure.
‘Did the other version of me also fail a lot like Pina and Kainel now?’
What would have happened if I hadn’t helped the Hero couple’s love line?
Just imagining it made my vision darken.
“Do you remember what you told me before?”
“……You can’t be serious.”
The hero said with a wistful smile on his lips.
“If you want to save Pina, who has become a Demon God, be honest with your feelings. Su-hyun.”
It was the advice I had given Kainel when I first met him.
To not hide his feelings and confess to Ariel before regretting it.
“…I have to go to Pina again.”
When I spoke after much deliberation, Kainel nodded slowly.
[When you meet Pina Grancia, who has become a Demon God, plead for her to save you.]
As I tried to head toward her, a status window appeared.
In the moment she is entangled, she wouldn’t be able to hear anyone else’s words.
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