The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

17 – EP1. Dawn Breaking

We won. Those were the words he heard as soon as he got up.

“Truly, you fought incredibly bravely and magnificently. I am proud of you, Hero.”

Beatrice spoke with tears streaming down her cheeks.

The enemy forces were annihilated, and the enemy commander, the demon who had killed our allies in large numbers, is now dead. This should significantly reduce the burden on our allies.

They achieved an unprecedented victory against the demon army. Even if they didn’t know it, the news of the hero’s deeds would spread to the capital, and he would surely rise as a true hero.

Especially, killing the demon was the key.

Among the demon commander’s forces, other than the mighty Grandis, he was the most powerful black mage.

How many soldiers died at his touch?

Even the heavily fortified Felten Fortress’s gates would have crumbled if the hero hadn’t stopped him, and Lena’s arrow hadn’t wounded him. Thanks to that, the hero could claim the achievement of standing his ground against the demon, whom he would have burnt to death if things had been normal, and as a result, the demon’s army was wiped out, and the demon’s heart was pierced.

The enemy’s forces, led by the Empire’s strongest martial artist, Sein, and partly designated as the future owner of the Mausoleum, Peria, crumbled effortlessly.

Furthermore, there were hardly any casualties or fatalities. Led by Saint Beatrice, the clergy quickly healed the soldiers’ injuries, making it even easier for the enemies to be defeated.

Beatrice poured out these stories to the lying Angel, gazing at him with joy in her eyes.

At that moment, other comrades began to enter his room one by one.

Sein sat on the Angel’s bed and laughed, saying, “Really, you must be insane. How did you even think you could buy time against the demon commander alone? I really didn’t know you could pull off something like this.”

Lena swept her golden hair aside, her face filled with excitement.

“Wow, he’s really insane. Damn, it’s like he just hit the bullseye, shooting those genes from there. Damn…”

She praised him, using all kinds of explicit language that didn’t match her beautiful appearance, and soon she grabbed Angel’s face and kissed his cheek wildly.

“Damn, you did a damn good job, my man!”

Sein said, looking at Lena.

“Well, if you want to be specific, it’s my man. How long do you think I’ve been teaching that guy? Let’s not cross the line.”

Sein playfully bantered with Lena, maintaining a surprising level of familiarity, and they both looked at each other and laughed heartily.

“Oh, our crazy guy!”

The sweet fruit of victory brought them closer together rapidly, and Angel’s comrades finally became true comrades.

“Feria, do you have anything to say?”

Sein turned his head to look at the blue wizard. She hesitated and blushed.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if this was right, but… It was amazing. It felt like the legendary heroes in the stories.”

She said that and quickly left the room, seemingly embarrassed to praise Angel, who she usually clashed with.

His comrades continued to praise him for a long time, and Angel grinned.

And after his comrades left, warning not to overtax the patient, Angel covered himself with a blanket.

Rustle.

His forearm twitched, and he began to convulse.

Rustle, rustle.

His body started twitching, just like the post-mortem rigidity of a decapitated beast.

Cold sweat ran down his entire body.

He recalled the genes.

He recalled the fire.

He recalled the pain.

He recalled the fear.

He had won. But in reality, he wasn’t the least bit happy.

He was still experiencing the burning phantom pain of the fire.

He didn’t know he would die at the hands of the genes. It was only after defeating him that he realized he would have to continue enduring this kind of pain in the future.

Is it really necessary to keep fighting, enduring such pain?

No. No. No. No. No. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It’s scary. It’s scary. It’s scary. It’s scary. It’s scary.

Every time he imagined the path ahead, he broke into a cold sweat. When he was captured by the genes in the final chase, he had deeply internalized the feeling of despair.

He didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to hurt. He didn’t want to be scared.

A myriad of thoughts swirled within his mind.

He eventually organized his thoughts.

Let’s die.

Let’s die and never experience anything frightening again.

When he was finally captured by the Genome, his spirit had already been broken.

He had been fortunate to survive, but his heart had died.

He no longer wished to live.

Of course, he realized that even if he died, he would merely return to the past. However, for some reason, he became entrapped in the notion that choosing his own death would be somewhat different.

If he pierced himself with the Holy Sword, wouldn’t it be a unique act? After all, it belonged to the goddess. When one reached the point of wanting to give up on themselves, she might offer a measure of mercy.

The groundless premonition that he was somehow special, having been created to recklessly challenge the Ogres of the past, had now transformed into a tool for aiding in his suicide.

Yes, undoubtedly, by impaling himself with this sword, he would find solace. He could rest peacefully without any more fear.

With that thought in mind, he aimed the Holy Sword solemnly at his abdomen and thrust it in vigorously.

The pain of self-inflicted wounds overwhelmed him, but compared to the burning agony, it was nothing.

He died.

And then, to a familiar scene, he returned to the situation before he impaled himself.

…

The hero’s former comrades watched the hero’s first battle, feeling melancholic.

They had thought it was a glorious battle. However, behind the scenes, countless deaths of the hero that they hadn’t even known about were buried.

The sight of him engulfed in flames and screaming could never become familiar no matter how many times they saw it.

And when the hero fell and, in the past, congratulated himself while smiling, they found themselves thinking that they were fortunate to forget the sins the hero had committed.

Nevertheless, the thought was, “We won’t have to see that tormented face anymore.”

The hero, alone in the room, groaned and suddenly thrust a sword into himself while writhing.

They all watched the screen in shock.

Suicide.

There was a significant difference between dying in battle against enemies and giving up on life oneself.

They realized that he had become so overwhelmed with despair that it had come to this, and they hung their heads.

And then, the truly horrifying part began.

The hero, looking around frantically, soon clutched his head and fell to the ground, trembling.

The voice of the hero echoed from the crystal ball.

“Dammit.”

“What?”

They raised their heads to look at the screen.

He had never used profanity in his videos until now.

“Damn it!”

Tears streamed down his face as he contorted it in a frenzied voice.

“Why! Why are you doing this to me? Why can’t I even die! Damn it, you damn bastard! Why me! Why me! Why am I the one who has to suffer as a hero or a coward!”

He poured his heart out from the depths of his chest.

“Why can’t I just die! Why! Why! Why!”

He spoke this way and then pointed his holy sword at himself and thrust it.

Of course, he would die and then stab himself again, only to die once more.

After that, he began to pray to the gods.

“I, I made a mistake, please, kill me. I don’t want to keep suffering, being afraid, and dying anymore. Please, damn it.”

Then he got angry again.

“Why me! Why am I the one you order! Why me!”

The sound of blaming the gods.

The sound of pleading for mercy from the gods.

From Noble mtl dot com

The gods…

After repeating this several times, he eventually succumbed to a state of resignation and collapsed in despair.

And what he really wanted to collapse were his former comrades.

“What… is this…”

He had completely fallen apart.

After that victorious battle, the hero always showed a bright side to them.

And behind that cheerful facade, they eventually thought he had allied with the enemy out of his inability to overcome his suffering.

But he had truly collapsed.

He raved, completely losing his mind, spewing words of blame against the gods, then clapping his hands together in supplication, and ultimately crying.

They had unintentionally witnessed his physical suffering while watching his past actions.

They had seen his mental instability many times.

But they never could have imagined him falling apart like this.

It hadn’t even been half of the time he had been active as a hero.

Yet, he had already fallen apart.

He who expelled his pain and shed cries, it was difficult to see him as a hero of victory.

But then, what does it look like afterward?

Lena tried to pick up a water cup to drink, but her trembling hands shattered the cup.

The screen only showed him groaning endlessly as he fell.

And when he was seen getting up again, dawn illuminated him in the frame.

The dawn that bathed the sky in brilliant light was too bright, as if it consumed everything in its radiance, even him and the others.

…

Today, for some reason, I felt a gentle pain in my belly. Well,

Still, am I a nobleman? Sometimes, I feel like my skin is burning all day long, but it’s not even close to unbearable pain.

Of course, I’ve lost most of my sensitivity to the workings of my nerves.

Anyway, I turned my back on the hideout of the burning thieves, feeling a strange sensation.

The sight of blood splattered everywhere didn’t look too bad.

EP1. The Dawning Dawn – End.