Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A New Beginning 

◆

The world had been destroyed… How many times was it again? Anyway, it had been destroyed many times. I can’t even remember how many times.

Under the split ashen sky, the stench of corpses was vibrating.

To add a bit more explanation.

“In a dark fantasy game”

Humming the melody that came to mind, Carlisle peeled off the flesh that was sticking to his body.

It was the remains of someone who had failed to dodge the instant death beam of ‘Gluttony’, one of the Archduke Demons, and died instantly.

“Possessing someone without any abilities~ what a shitty life~”

To be precise, he wasn’t possessed without any abilities.

[ Quest Info ]

♧ Main

• Assist the Hero and save the world!

[ Regression Count: 1 remaining. ]

[ If you fail to complete the quest within the given attempts, you will die. ]

This was the status window that had been following him around since the first day he was born into the world of ‘Demon Hunter.‘

As dark fantasy games tend to be, the world of Demon Hunter was a place without dreams or hope.

Perhaps as consideration for an ordinary person who had fallen into such a place with nothing, he was given the powerful authority of regression countless times.

Thanks to that, he had almost completed the given task.

He had succeeded in killing three of the seven Archduke Demons who wielded divine power and symbolized the seven deadly sins.

Well, all the humans who came to war also died.

“……”

Carlisle took out a cigarette from his chest and lit the tip.

Looking around, the symbols of the groups they had carried were rolling around on the ground in a mess among the broken spear shafts.

The Imperial Knights, priests of the Orthodox Church, shamans, back-alley mercenaries, warriors of the Sand Kingdom.

Carlisle, who had been counting how many had died, threw his cigarette behind his back.

“Rest in peace, everyone.”

The words of mourning mixed with cigarette smoke rustled through the air filled with the stench of blood.

He swept his hair back and stood up, starting to walk forward.

All the corpses he stepped on were familiar faces.

They were all people Carlisle had led to their deaths.

Under the guidance of a regresser who had gone through long regressions, he had made them die in the most ‘efficient‘ way.

The taste in his mouth was terribly bitter. 

-!

Suddenly, at the violent noise in his ears, Carlisle stopped walking.

It seemed there was still someone surviving and fighting in this hellscape.

Actually, he could quickly guess who it was.

Only one person survived and fought until the end, in all the rounds.

He let out a deep sigh. 

Moving toward where the violent sounds of battle were heard, someone was driving a sword into an Archduke Demon’s heart.

“-I pay my respects. Among all the opponents I’ve met, you are the strongest.”

This was what the ‘Archduke Demon’ said.

The fearsome being that had barely held its own against three people, even when Carlisle and all the remaining allied forces attacked together… was now praising a single human.

The recipient of such praise only tilted her head slightly with no emotion.

Marble-like pure white skin, pure white hair, blue eyes.

A woman who could be called a peerless beauty.

Gray Chasefield.

The ‘Hero’ of the Demon Hunter world.

Soon, the protagonist of this world.

The guardian of humanity who received the Holy Sword and was tasked with subjugating demons, and her personal martial prowess was a monster that made even such titles pale in comparison.

Supreme in heaven and earth, self-respecting, above all people.

“For a human to slaughter several Archduke Demons alone. This will remain as a mythical achievement.”

Before the words could finish, the Archduke Demon’s body collapsed.

Because Gray had roughly pulled out the sword stuck in its heart.

Carlisle looked around.

There were three corpses of Archduke Demons lying around.

And finally, that one.

They were all handled by Gray alone.

Although she was covered in wounds, a human had slaughtered four Archduke Demons and survived.

‘She’s fucking insane.’

Even just looking at the results, a very simple formula was established.

The allied forces of all humanity that Carlisle had led with all his might through countless regressions had mutually destroyed themselves with three Archduke Demons.

That woman had slaughtered four Archduke Demons alone.

Soon.

That woman was stronger than all of humanity combined, including the regresser.

As Carlisle let out a bitter laugh at the futility, Gray’s head, which had been quietly closing her eyes, slowly turned.

“You! Were you alive?”

“It somehow turned out that way, Hero.”

Carlisle said helplessly as he walked over, limping. Both seemed completely exhausted; Gray’s body also slumped down just as he reached her side. No matter how much of a Hero she was, facing four Archduke Demons must have required using all her strength. 

“Did we win?” 

We did win.

All the Archduke Demons were dead. The remaining humanity would now be at peace.

The 10% of the population that remained after 90% had been swept away at the end of a long war.

On a continent where even the land and sky had been contaminated by the power of hell.

“Does this look like winning to you?”

“……”

“What came here was the military strength that the remaining humanity could squeeze out. And from that, only you and I remain?”

“Everyone died.” 

“Yes.” 

The hellscape made of mountains of corpses and seas of blood wandered at the edge of her gaze. 

“Carlisle.” 

“Yes.” 

“May I say something pathetic?” 

“I’ve heard it from you countless times already, what’s the point now?” 

Carlisle quietly looked at Gray. “I should have listened to your words a little sooner. If I had…”

This catastrophe probably wouldn’t have come. This devastation is largely my fault. 

“……” 

Carlisle quietly nodded and took out another cigarette from his chest. 

“At least it’s fortunate that you listened, even if it was late.” 

He was sincere. During all those regressions, Carlisle had faced countless variables, but throughout all those regressions, the one law that never changed even once was this Hero. A monster.

The pinnacle of humanity. A natural disaster transcending genius and humanity that was precisely inversely proportional to that.

Perhaps because her innate martial prowess was so strong, she was a woman who seemed to be molded from the word arrogance.

She despised the weak. She treated others like insects. She rejected beliefs different from her own.

Only, other humans existed to assist the Hero herself, who was the strongest being on earth.

The more fucking thing was that it was the right thing to say.

Throughout all those countless cycles, no matter what route was taken or how, it was impossible for a human stronger than Gray Chasefield to be born. As if this woman being the strongest was already a predetermined law of the world.

The moment this woman was missing, humanity could not stand against the Archduke Demons.

In the end, throughout all regressions, the victory plan inevitably had to be formed around assisting this woman.

Because she was a figure of such importance, whenever she couldn’t control her temper and went on a rampage, the damage to the surroundings increased exponentially.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Carlisle’s regressions were used to move the entire world to reform this woman’s temperament. And the result of that was right before their eyes. 

At the very last moment, she cooperated, moving in step with another person. The reason they could slaughter all the Archduke Demons was because this stubborn Hero had listened to Carlisle’s words at the very end. 

“You! Do you hate me?” 

“Tremendously.” 

Carlisle answered immediately.

“Drexler, Fanheimer, Vespa, they all died because of you.”

Drexler had a wife and children waiting for him desperately at home.

“If even once, you had thought to share that power and talent with others.”

Fanheimer wanted to find his long-lost younger brother. He had said with a sparkling smile that if he distinguished himself in this war, his brother might come looking for him.

“If you had even the slightest bit of empathy.”

Vespa, who had served by Gray’s side the longest, worried about the Hero until the moment she died.

Worried that if she disappeared, the Hero would truly be isolated from everyone. Even as her intestines were severed and she was dying, she only talked about Gray.

The Hero wasn’t even interested in how her final moments were. 

“Everyone would still be alive.”

Not just her, but she had no interest in anyone. Until she met Carlisle. 

“That was so.” 

Gray muttered. 

“That was so.” 

It was a tone filled with regret. 

“If I had come to my senses just a little sooner.” 

There had been opportunities to prevent this situation, many times over. 

There were countless disasters that could have been prevented if she had moved according to Carlisle’s words. If only she had come to her senses a little earlier. 

Before father died. Before the Chasefield Ducal House collapsed. 

Before the knight order was destroyed. Before the Orthodox Church became corrupt. 

Before the Empire fell…… Before that, and even before that. There had been countless opportunities. 

“……” 

Carlisle quietly looked at Gray. Beneath the usual expressionless face that was always there, tears were flowing down. In that liquid, Carlisle could discover something he had never seen even once in all those countless regressions.

Even when tens of thousands died because she trampled all over the operation plans and went on a rampage alone.

Even when she exterminated an entire race just because she didn’t like them.

Something the Hero had never shown even a fragment of.

A fragment of ‘emotions’.

If he had to give it a name.

Regret. He pretended not to see and exhaled cigarette smoke into the air. It was a choice made in consideration of the Hero’s pride. 

He had at least some camaraderie. From the position of someone who had been terribly tormented by this person, he hated her tremendously, but anyway, in any cycle, it was ultimately this person who played a key role in saving the world. 

As she said, it would have been good if they had met a little earlier. When everything was still intact, if they had been given a little more leeway. 

‘There wasn’t time.’

The point where he started regressing was always after the Empire had fallen and the world had begun to collapse. In a world already crumbling like dominoes, desperately reforming the Hero was the only choice given to him. What was before their eyes now was at least the best result. 

“Carlisle Belfast.” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

Carlisle looked back at Gray. He said with a chuckle, 

“Now?” 

Everyone was already dead, so what use was an apology. But even with such a reaction, an answer came back from Gray again. 

“I want to do it even if it’s now. Being able to come to the very end was all thanks to you.” 

“……” 

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had even the minimum humanity. It would have been good if we had met a little earlier.” 

Carlisle quietly looked at her. 

“Even though it’s all too late to say now…… If I could atone, I would want to do anything.” 

“……”

Carlisle quietly nodded. There were no particular words to return. As she said, it was all too late to say now. Thinking that, he blankly looked up at the empty sky. He didn’t want to think about anything. So. Until something appeared before his eyes. 

[System Message]

[All Archduke Demons have died.]

[Entering the Final Act!]

“……”

Carlisle froze.

“What do you mean?”

“Final Act?”

A chill slid down his spine at the ominously resonating word.

-!!

The very next moment, Carlisle’s body floated up.

It was thanks to Gray, who had approached his side at some point, embracing his body and leaping far away.

“What is this? Was there another remaining Archduke Demon?”

Looking at the black crack forming where they had originally been, Gray muttered with narrowed eyes.

“No, that’s not it. That’s. “

But seeing her swallow her words immediately, Carlisle also nodded.

This was something different.

Sticky black miasma seeped out from the cracks in the split space.

The sulfurous smell that made your nose feel like it would fall off.

……The smell of death.

Even though it hadn’t even properly revealed its form yet, just looking at it made your skin feel like it was rotting. The feeling of instantly filling the surroundings made it hard to breathe.

Even they, who had been through all kinds of battles, were crushed by that presence.

It was instinctively felt.

This was something that surpassed even the Archduke Demons.

‘Shit.’

Curses naturally burst out.

After barely managing to catch the Archduke Demons who had completely destroyed humanity, that wasn’t the end either?

“Dodge!”

With those words.

The entire field of vision going black was Carlisle’s last memory.

◆

[Quest Info]

♧ Main

• Save the world.

[If you fail to complete the quest within the given attempts, you will die.]

[This is the last attempt.]

[Special privileges are granted.]

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. At the sound of birds chirping echoing through the knight order’s recruit barracks, Carlisle sat up in shock. 

‘……No.’ 

This wasn’t the usual starting point. The Imperial Knight Order’s recruit barracks. Intact beds and buildings. Not the worn-out tent crawling with bugs and corpses where he usually woke up at the regression starting point. 

‘I’ve returned much further back.’ 

He instinctively felt it. This was when the Empire was still functioning properly. Long before the existence of hell was even widely known. 

‘This is……’ 

He had seen the message saying special privileges would be given since it was the last attempt. Thanks to that, he had clearly awakened much earlier than the original regression point. And. It was clear that the peculiarity of this ‘last attempt’ wasn’t just that. 

“……”

After some time had passed. 

He looked at the sword in his arms.

It was an item that had been nestled in his arms from the moment he regained consciousness.

He could tell what it was at a glance.

Because it was the Holy Sword, the main weapon the Hero carried around.

And it wasn’t just that sword alone.

“Why did you come along too?”

[……]

The surface of the sword trembled.

As if it had a consciousness.

“How would I know?”

Gray’s voice rang bluntly through Carlisle’s head.

“At the end, when I threw my body to protect you from that unidentified thing…… When I came to my senses, I was in this state. I don’t know what kind of phenomenon this is either.”

“……”

Oh my, goodness.

Carlisle looked at the Holy Sword with an expression like he was chewing on bugs.

The soul inside the sword or whatever, anyway, he understood that Gray from the previous cycle was inside this sword.

He didn’t know how they ended up regressing together.

“Hey, Hero.”

“The thanks can be skipped.”

“Excuse me?”

“Weren’t you going to say thank you?”

“Ah.”

Since she protected him, she thought he was going to say thanks?

“No. I was going to notify you that I’m going to throw you in a garbage dump.”

“……”

“Ah, no wait. If I did that, someone else might pick you up. I should find some lava somewhere and bury you there.”

“You, do you have any conscience at all?”

“I’m really shocked right now. That came out of your mouth of all people?”

Carlisle said fiercely as he threw the Holy Sword onto the bed.

“Honestly, just being face to face with her was stressful in itself.”

“What do I do……?”

In the first place, in the cycle just before, he had confirmed that there was a higher existence than the Archduke Demons to save this world.

To break through even that, he needed to think of a way to save humanity more certainly than in previous cycles.

This was truly the last chance. If he failed, he would die.

In such a situation.

‘I was already losing hair thinking about taming the Hero.’

This was a timeline that even Carlisle, who had repeated regressions countless times, was experiencing for the first time. The Gray here would still be a child who hadn’t matured yet. He had somehow managed to reform the adult Gray, but he couldn’t think of any way to tame the young Gray. He didn’t know anything about it in the first place. 

‘Thinking about how she looked when I first met her……’ 

It didn’t seem like her personality would be good when she was young. If anything, she’d be more of a brat. Thinking that he had to tame such a human made him want to die already. There was no information at all. He needed to know something to even attempt- 

‘……Huh?’

Suddenly, something flashed through Carlisle’s mind.

‘Information?’

“……”

“Hmm.”

“Hmmmm. Speaking of information. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at the Holy Sword.”

“Hero.”

“What?”

“You said you were sorry. That you’d do anything to atone. Was that sincere?”

The Holy Sword was silent for a moment.

It seemed to sense something ominous from Carlisle’s words.

“It was sincere.”

“That’s good.”

And such expectations weren’t entirely wrong either.

“Hero, if I don’t make you into a proper human being in this cycle, I’m really going to die.”

“What?”

“So.” 

He let out a bitter laugh. 

“Well, if she wanted to change herself, I could give her one more chance, couldn’t I?”

“Tell me how to seduce you.”