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I couldn’t make out the voice. Did it even speak words? It made monsters sound like humans and the Giant’s footsteps like broken words. I felt a chill creep up my leg from my heels and down my spine. I felt a chill run up my spine from my heels to my legs, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

“What the hell is that…Do you know anything about it?”

Arjen didn’t answer, just stared into the gathering darkness. His one remaining hand clutched his sword, his fist trembling. An uneasiness and a sense of danger that hadn’t surfaced before bloomed in Arjen.

“Darkness… No, something darker than that.”

He murmured, his eyes, shoulders, and seemingly unbreakable momentum shaking. I gripped his shoulder to reassure him. I could feel him squirming in my hand, trying to break free. With a jerk, I squeezed harder.

“No.”

“I have to kill him here and now.”

“I’ll go, and you can follow behind.”

Arjen’s face crumpled, and he shook off my grip. Explosive momentum rose from his feet, and his form faded into a blur. I clicked my tongue and quickly followed behind him. The sword in Arjen’s left hand was already halfway through the shadowy curtain. I immediately drew my sword and slashed at the flowing shadow.

“…!”

I thought I wouldn’t feel the sensation of cutting, but the feeling on the tip of my sword was too clear. The texture of slowly slicing through human flesh traveled along the blade. A terrible chill overcame me, and darkness clung to the edge like blood.

“Step back.”

Arjen’s sword and left wrist were half wrapped in the darkness like tentacles. I grabbed Arjen by the back of the head and yanked him away. Even with his right arm severed, which should have lightened his weight considerably, Arjen’s body felt heavy. Almost simultaneously, a shadow fell over us, and Arjen moved us out of the way.

“Focus.”

The speed with which the shadows moved by could not be called fast. Maybe it was because it didn’t have to move fast at all. It would never stop, even if we attacked it with all our might. I thrust my sword out. The sound of the blade rippled through the air. The darkness was cut like blood. From the point of contact, it multiplied and grew. The falling shards of darkness were not dead.

With each cut, an unintelligible sound leaked from the darkness. The sound came from the shards we cut off. I couldn’t move forward, cutting the advancing darkness. I could only stay in place and ward off the oncoming darkness.

“Elroy!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Arjen was in no condition to fight right now. I swung my sword again. The more I slashed, the more it seemed to wrap around the Holy Sword, like the netting tangling around a fish. I wanted to rip it off with my hands, but what would I do if I made contact with it?

Breathe and think. I must win. I regripped the Holy Sword. No light emanated from its blade. I can’t rely on her or anyone else now. I repeated the words as if they were an incantation to me, striking at the darkness that flew at me like a spear.

A part scratched my cheek, causing an eerie chill to move across my body. As the sensation coursed through me, I heard a voice in my head.

“That’s sad. You don’t even know who you are and why you’re fighting so hard.”

Not worth answering. I swung my sword again. I know who I am better than anyone else. The darkness slowly pushed forward. I took a step back. It wasted no time in filling the space I had left.

I lifted my head and stared at the writhing mass, which had already become the space itself. The black holes beyond this mental world had been filled, flooded, and overflowed with that unfathomable ominousness.

“Whoa….”

My physical and mental strength is slowly being gnawed away like rotting flesh. If I pause, even momentarily, the multiplying darkness reclaims the space I once stood in. Then I have to take another step back, and when I do, it closes in, and the cycle repeats.

“All right, let’s see who wins.”

I was confident I could hold on. I could withstand the attacks on my mind. I chewed on my lip, trying to steady my dulling senses and blade. There was no gory smell that should have risen to the surface. I was slowly being taken over by the darkness.

“Wake up.”

The voice came from behind me. I spun around, dazed. Arjen stood behind me, his sword gripped in one hand. It pissed me off that I’d been the one who’d been freaking out while the one-armed man looked as relaxed as ever.

“I’ve been watching you for some time.”

“Creepy. What a weird thing to say.”

My brow furrowed at Arjen’s joking remark. He smirked and pointed his sword at the darkness.

“I think you’re already in over your head. It’s more than you can handle alone.”

I snorted at Arjen’s relaxed tone.

“Even if I drew on all my powers, would I be able to handle it? It seems like the more we cut into it, the more it grows.”

“I don’t know. With your power and the Holy Sword, we might be able to cut it all down.”

Arjen said and readied his sword. Time passed, and Arjen seemed to have gotten the hang of wielding the blade with only his left arm.

“…So this parasite-looking thing was in your body?”

Suddenly, I looked back at Arjen, and he shook his head in disgust.

“I’m sure it wasn’t this much.”

Our conversation moved back and forth like our swords. The darkness pushed relentlessly. The space in which Arjen and I could move was shrinking. It was a target so vague it would be easier to cut down the Giant or the Meteor.

“…It keeps getting bigger.”

“Save your words, and use that power to swing your sword at least once more.”

“Then shut up.”

With that, the conversation died away. The only indication that Arjen was still standing behind me was his sword’s sharp, metallic sound. I wondered if there would be an end to this, if we would be trapped in the darkness forever, fighting an endless monotonous attack.

Just as I was thinking that, something grabbed my ankle. It was cold as ice, hotter than molten water. I reflexively looked down at my feet.

“Poor, poor soul. No, soul isn’t the right word for you.”

Far from being pathetic, the voice was laughing at me. I twisted my face into a grimace, slicing through the darkness at my feet with one swipe. The weight on my legs didn’t go away.

“Do you wish to deny your created existence?”

Created? Regardless of my resolve not to respond, the counter-question popped into my mind. The voice burst into laughter.

“I said it in case you didn’t know, but what are the odds? This is truly amusing.”

Damn it, damn it. This wasn’t something I could think about right now. The voice began to babble on its own.

“Have you never questioned your existence, where you came from, who you are, and why you’re wielding the Holy Sword to save the world?”

Because there was no reason to question it.

“You know that’s ridiculous, Hero.”

I must not stop the sword. I must cut through the darkness. I swung my sword but could no longer feel the blade cutting through it.

“You must be wondering why it stopped attacking. Just take it as a sort of apology.”

My sword stopped, and when I looked back, I saw nothing. I couldn’t tell if Arjen had already been eaten or if it was me who had been eaten.

“I pity you, for what is a life without purpose?”

I gritted my teeth. My grip weakened on the Holy Sword, and I opened my mouth to speak.

“If you want to tell me something, just say it.”

“There is an answer to everything I have told you. But what can you know when your memories and past are made up?”

A cackling laugh followed, but it didn’t reach my ears.

“It was made….”

“[I Will Never Go Back.] Don’t you think it’s a terrible and ridiculous book title? Surely, you must have suspected it but haven’t realized it yet.”

My tongue could no longer move.

“How can they make a title as obvious as that? They say that after bringing you. How evil of them.”

The voice’s words didn’t quite register. I wanted to squirm, but the darkness held me too tightly.

“Listen with all the agitation you can muster, for sometimes there is a truth that must be heard.”

The voice’s words were poison. A poison that would kill me.

“Why should I be agitated when I don’t even know what you…are?”

“I am the voice of ■■■■.”

At the part where it said the name, I felt a pain like brass scraping my head.

“One of those you call gods.”

The word “god” came out of its mouth like it was nothing.

“Would you understand if I told you I was an evil god? I don’t dislike the word; in fact, I love the word evil.”

The voice added mischievously. I struggled. It had no effect. I was still enveloped in the darkness. The sword’s presence, still in my grasp, kept me from going mad.

“You still believe in the power of the Holy Sword? It’s nothing but a parasite, clinging onto you just as a kid would to a parent.

The voice was imprinting itself on my mind. It was always annoying, but it felt like it was nibbling away at my sanity.

“Possession? What is that? Did you have another name?

“Dak…hit me.”

I cut myself off, feeling like I was on fire.

“I’m concentrating.”

I have no intention of listening to it. What I do rely on are the words of the Holy Sword. It can reach anywhere: the stars, the moon, and even God. I no longer heard the voice. I tried to move, focusing all my attention on the sword.

A loud crackling sound made me cringe.

My body shuddered. My arm flinched and lurched forward. There are no absolutes. If there were, this world would have ended long ago. If what binds me is not absolute,

I can break it.

I don’t hear the sound of a battle. Slowly, inch by inch, the sword moved forward, and simultaneously, the edge of the darkness slowly began to part.

“…This is a bit of a surprise.”

The Evil God says joyfully.

“I am not capable of such a powerful brainwashing. It seems your mental fortitude has reached an inhuman level.”

Then, my sword stopped mid-stride. The darkness splitting in two slowly began to come back together. I stared at the stitching wound in despair.

“You’re cute when you’re in pain.”

Slowly, the wound healed,

Then, it stopped abruptly, leaving a part unfinished.

“…Huh.”

(The filthy bastard is about to be released.)

My body jerked free. I blinked and turned to where the voice had come from. Beyond the torn darkness, a pure white space was revealed, and a silver-haired woman strode toward me, her heels clicking as she lit her path with bright light.

“It’s been a while, and your coronet looks good.”

Ignoring the Evil God’s words, the Holy Sword turned to face me, its carnelian eyes glowing with a now dangerous beauty. The darkness scattered in her wake, and a pure white paved her path.

(I’m sorry, Elroy.)

The Holy Sword held out her hand to me. The darkness that had enveloped me dispersed. She held me tightly, making sure I didn’t fall.

(Blame me, hate me, despise me, kill me.)

(And then, live happy, enjoying all you deserve as the Hero.)

Everything was scattering. The black hemisphere that encompassed the world, the shards of the Evil God that wriggled, the voices in my head, and the Holy Sword that held me.

“You’re crazy and insane. You truly are.”

(The war will never happen again; don’t get your vain hopes up.)

The Holy Sword spoke back to the Evil God in a cold voice. Then, she looked at me again.

(Elroy.)

I was unable to respond to her words.

(I will always be watching.)

The world was bathed in light and then slowly returned to normal. I was lying in the middle of a crumbling mountain. Beside me, Arjen, one arm severed, lay unconscious in the dirt.

“Holy Sword?”

I looked down at my right hand and tried to speak softly. My voice echoed and rippled within me again and again. I waited, and waited, and waited,

But no answer came.