How a Delinquent Commander Dotes on the Hero C9

Chapter 9

There, at the center of the battlefield, was a massive pool used to hatch the monsters’ larvae. The blood-red water was filled with countless eggs of all sizes, clustered together in a grotesque mass.

The monsters that had feasted on human flesh and blood.

The birthplace where they endlessly reproduced and multiplied.

Then…

Something began to awaken.

I looked around until I finally located the source of the sound.

A gigantic egg was absorbing every drop of blood from the pool.

As cracks spread across its white shell, dense darkness seeped out.

The instant that darkness took root upon the earth…

I realized what I was witnessing.

“…Verdictus, the Revered One of Death.”

…He had arrived.

He had opened his eyes.

The greatest darkness of Arkerion.

Death itself.

Plague.

Madness.

A heretic who had descended to grant humanity eternal rest.

A seeker devoted to pure death.

【Behold, humanity… and revere Me. The glorious descent of the Evil God who transcends the laws of life. Your deaths shall forever remain upon this continent.】

The incomprehensible language forced understanding directly into my mind.

With a single gesture from the figure emerging from the milky-white egg, the shell split apart.

The very space we perceived as the world twisted unnaturally.

Countless cracks appeared across the sky and earth.

Then, as though made of paper, reality itself tore open.

Within those rifts…

Inverted eyes stared directly at the essence of mankind.

It was despair beyond human comprehension.

A being existing outside the material world gazed down upon us with overwhelming violence.

A fear too vast for insignificant humans to confront.

A presence bordering on infinity.

When the corruption released by the monster seeped through my skin and into my bones, agony twisted through every nerve in my body.

My stomach churned violently.

I dragged the system window in front of my vision, using it like a shield to stay conscious.

Is… that the final boss that only appears in the True Ending…?

…There was no way we could win.

My sanity crumbled…

Recovered…

Then shattered again.

I want to die.

I want to die.

I want to die.

Only after barely shaking off that horrifying brainwashing did I realize what had happened around us.

Everything had already been reduced to ruins.

Even the monsters screamed in ecstasy before the Evil God and willingly burst apart.

Their flesh exploded.

Scarlet organs spilled across the ground.

They were sacrificing their own lives to empower the Revered One of Death.

Somehow…

Gillian was still standing.

His shield planted firmly before him.

“…Gillian.”

“Are you alright?”

Bloody foam trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“For now.”

“This old man is barely hanging on.”

“…Do you know what that thing is?”

“An Evil God…”

“A monster?”

“A monster. An Evil God.”

“Both are correct.”

“But neither explanation is enough.”

“That creature isn’t life born on this planet.”

“It exists beyond that.”

“…”

He was half right.

The goddess who created Arkerion was herself a deity from beyond the universe.

An Outer God.

At the very peak of this world’s mythology stood Goddess Arthena, inspired by the beings of cosmic horror.

Omnipotent.

Supreme over all.

Immortal.

Every creature in Arkerion was nothing more than her servant.

After her corruption…

The offspring she bore naturally inherited a portion of that transcendent authority.

The original game kept its identity hidden.

But now…

I finally understood.

Verdictus, the Revered One of Death…

Was one of the corrupted goddess’s children.

“Did you know?”

“That monster could’ve killed Helior at any moment.”

“No…”

“It possessed enough power to destroy all of Arkerion long ago.”

“How do you know—”

“The kingdom has known about the end for a very long time, young man.”

“…”

“We tried everything to destroy that creature while it was still growing inside its egg.”

“But it survived.”

“As though mocking us.”

“Perhaps it wanted to watch humanity struggle.”

“To see us slowly lose our minds in despair.”

Even while speaking such hopeless words…

Gillian continued smiling.

Absolute faith in Helior lingered across his weathered face.

“But that monster is a fool.”

“That stubborn Hero…”

“Do you really think he’d go mad?”

“I spent my entire life training him.”

“My finest disciple.”

“He…”

“He would never break so easily.”

Blood continued flowing from the smiling old man’s lips.

Tears streamed from his ruined eyes.

Seeing the beautiful light reflected within those clouded eyes, I slowly bent over, gripping my knees.

The system window had protected my mind.

But it couldn’t stop the corrupt aura flooding into my body.

It had already seeped beneath my skin.

My body was falling apart.

When I touched my legs, it felt as though my muscles were melting.

I drank another potion before speaking.

“I’ll run there.”

“For now…”

“Please hold out.”

“You’re going alone?”

“My body’s still intact.”

“And besides…”

“All the monsters blocking our path are already dead.”

“But an ordinary human body won’t withstand an Evil God’s aura.”

“In other words…”

“It won’t be a pleasant death.”

“You’re still going?”

“…Yes.”

“Someone has to.”

Gillian slowly nodded.

“Then you and I shall die together.”

Even now…

He was joking.

I chuckled quietly.

With death right in front of me…

I strangely wasn’t afraid anymore.

That didn’t mean I wanted to die.

Especially not by surrendering to something like that.

But…

I didn’t think I’d have any regrets.

I’d done everything I possibly could.

I’d made it this far.

At least…

My parents wouldn’t be ashamed of me.

And…

I was glad I hadn’t remained a coward until the very end.

“If I die…”

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Gillian.”

“The rest?”

“There is no ‘after,’ young man.”

“Those who look behind them are destined to die.”

“Is that so?”

“Then let’s each survive on our own.”

“If we die… we die.”

“A fine attitude.”

“Here.”

“Take my blessing.”

Blue mana flowed into me.

A new message flashed across the system window.

Blessing protects you!

It was almost laughable.

We had only just met…

Yet he handed over his own blessing without hesitation.

Was this some privilege granted to players?

Or simply a farewell gift to a companion headed for death?

…I only wished I’d been given a little more time.

I immediately discarded the pointless regret.

Smiling at Gillian…

I wondered how a blind old man somehow knew I was smiling.

He reached out and ruffled my hair roughly.

“Don’t look back.”

“Run, young man.”

I waved goodbye.

Then followed the blessing forward.

I abandoned every fear.

Every trace of weakness.

Emptying my mind completely…

I ran through the blood-soaked battlefield.

Across hills where human and monster corpses lay piled together.

Like a madman, I crawled through that sea of blood…

Looking only forward.

Eventually…

I reached the spawning pool where the monsters had ceased to hatch.

The moment my feet sank into the filthy water…

My body began falling apart.

The pain was indescribable.

My flesh seemed to melt…

Then harden…

Over and over again.

I’d long since lost my balance.

I could no longer tell whether I was running on two legs…

Or crawling on all fours.

Perhaps…

I was no longer even human.

Just as I absentmindedly wiped the blood dripping from my nose…

Verdictus moved.

He tore away the membrane surrounding the egg.

Then took his first steps.

As the Evil God’s pale hoof touched the ground…

Enormous bones sprouted from the shadow beneath him.

Sharpened from countless human spines.

Wrapped in spinal cords and blood vessels.

It became—

The Giant God’s Spear.

A monstrous weapon four or five times the height of a man.

Its point was aimed directly at Helior.

Only one thought filled my mind.

I have to deliver the blessing…

Only Helior could oppose that evil.

Anyone else would cough blood and die merely by looking at it.

Even with the protection of the system…

Blood surged up my throat like vomit.

I didn’t have much time left.

So I ran.

Toward Helior.

I dragged myself from the waist-deep spawning pool.

Then desperately crossed the blood-soaked earth.

At that exact moment—

The spear flew.

When the Evil God raised his hand to cover the sun…

Beneath the ominous violet light…

The gigantic spear shot forward.

BOOM!!

I watched Helior raise his sword and block it.

I saw the marks of every curse raging inside his body.

Dark energy flowed backward through his veins, destroying him from within.

I didn’t want to witness him collapse.

So I ran even harder.

Throwing my broken body forward.

The instant our eyes met…

Something sharp pierced straight through me.

“…!”

The pain was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even scream.

I could only gasp for air.

Pinned in place.

Unable to move.

When the weapon was finally pulled free…

An icy chill flooded the hole left behind.

Blood poured from the gaping wound.

Pooling beneath my feet.

“…The blessing…”

“I have…”

“…to deliver it…”

I could feel the mana inside me rapidly draining away.

The effect of Coward, which had forced my ruined body to keep moving…

Was fading.

Death was coming.

The first emotion Helior showed upon witnessing my death…

Was shock.

Then confusion.

That was only natural.

Allen Kalstein would never sacrifice himself for the Hero.

How strange must this look?

“…Allen Kalstein.”

“Why are you…?”

Without realizing it…

I laughed.

Chuckling quietly…

I slowly closed and reopened my eyes.

Helior’s expression had completely changed.

It was the face of someone who had realized something.

The distortion in his eyes vanished.

Instead…

A fierce light shone within them.

He slowly spoke my name.

“rlgus00.“

“…!”

“Am I pronouncing it correctly?”

Cold sweat rolled down my jaw.

Not because I was dying.

rlgus00…

That was one of the usernames I always used while playing the game.

How…

How did Helior know it?

How could he recognize me?

My mind couldn’t make sense of it.

Had I accidentally left some clue behind?

No.

I couldn’t remember doing anything.

I’d only thrown myself in front of him…

To save him.

“You know…”

“I’ve always wondered about you.”

Confusion overwhelmed me as he slowly stepped closer.

“What exactly is a ‘Player’?”

“The one who constantly grants me revelations.”

“Are you a savior?”

“Or the devil who curses me?”

Helior gently brushed my cheek.

His thumb slowly wiped away the blood staining my face.

Then he firmly lifted my chin.

The moment our eyes met…

My mouth went completely dry.

“I’d like to hear your answer.”

“But you’re hardly in any condition to speak.”

He smiled softly.

It wasn’t comforting.

Too many emotions had accumulated over countless years.

His hand slid down from my cheek to support my shattered shoulder.

“…”

Anger filled the Hero’s gaze.

Then…

His hand reached toward…

The system window that had floated before me all this time.

As though he already knew exactly what to do…

He skillfully began operating it.

Beneath his darkened golden eyes…

Lay an ancient obsession.

And resentment.

“But what should I do?”

“I simply can’t allow you to die.”

“I still need answers from you.”

For countless playthroughs…

The Hero of Journey of the Hero Squad IV had carried feelings toward me that ran deeper than I could imagine.

Feelings born from all the countless deaths…

Deaths that I myself had forced him to repeat.

Moments later…

A crimson warning message flashed before my eyes.

Delete all progress and save data?

A terror greater than death washed over me.

Before us lay the only way to return this world to the beginning.

It would erase every achievement Helior had earned.

Every victory.

Every sacrifice.

Reduce them all to nothing.

Knowing the suffering required to reach this point…

No sane person could ever call this a solution.

No one in their right mind would press that button.

“Cough…!”

“Hey… you idiot…!”

The moment Helior reached for Accept, I was so shocked that the curse I’d been holding back slipped out.

No matter how much he resented me…

Starting the game over from the beginning…

Was complete insanity.

He knew better than anyone how painful it was to watch the people he cherished die…

Over…

And over again.

Yet…

Helior placed his hand over the Accept button.

Then looked directly at me.

My reflection in his golden eyes was twisted with panic.

Ah…

You crazy bastard…!

As everything in the world returned to zero…

Helior smiled.

As though…

He was genuinely looking forward to the next playthrough.