"Pant… pant… pant…"

Sighing and carrying a body covered in blood, Alaric tiredly leaned against a nearby wall.

"...I am finally here."

And The King was still alive.

Most importantly, his body, other than being slightly exhausted, showed no signs of any injuries.

Not even superficial wounds or serious injuries.

And this blood?

It was the blood of the demons Alaric had killed.

What foolish creatures.

They didn't realize that no matter how many of them rushed in, The King would still be ready to welcome them all.

Thanks to that, he had gained a large amount of experience.

"…Wait here for me, Jeff."

Saying goodbye to the horse, The King entered the castle, more specifically, headed towards that room.

Although Kaelus called it a secret room, in reality, the path to it had no traps at all.

Everything looked extremely normal.

So normal that no one would think that this was the path to the room that held Kaelus's greatest secrets.

"Hah."

Unable to hold back, Alaric burst out laughing.

"Your personality seems to have not changed at all, huh, Kaelus?"

After moving for about 10 minutes, The King finally stopped in front of a giant black door made entirely of a material that was harder than diamond.

"...Good security."

The King raised his hand, trying to push the door open.

But…

"Hmm?"

It didn't budge an inch.

Was it because it had been hundreds of years since it had been opened?

Or was it because this was Kaelus' plan?

But whatever it was, Alaric didn't care.

He stepped back, slowly drawing the sword from his waist.

Not long after, tiny specks of light began to appear, dancing around The King's blade, creating a scene that seemed straight out of a fairy tale.

"Nothing is impossible with absolute power."

With a smirk, Alaric swung his sword.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out, shaking the entire space.

A thick cloud of smoke immediately rose up.

And then, when it cleared, The King saw that the door had been destroyed, revealing a not-so-big room inside.

"Oh, that's interesting."

Alaric stepped inside, barely able to contain his laughter when he saw that there were only a few clothes and a desk covered in dust and cobwebs.

"So this is the secret room?"

Kaelus should rename it "storage room".

Ignoring that, he approached the desk.

"Hmm?"

Then, his brows rose slightly as he realized that there was indeed a letter on it.

And this handwriting…

It was definitely written by Kaelus himself.

Even after hundreds of years, the King still remembered the handwriting clearly.

Curious, he opened the envelope.

— To Dix, my friend.

"Tsk, he didn't even write the date."

His lips curled up slightly, though.

— By the time you read this letter, I'll probably be dead. No, I mean… by the time you read this letter, I'll probably no longer be in this world, and you'll be in your second life.

"Pft."

The handwriting and ink color of the second sentence were slightly different from the first.

It meant that Kaelus had changed it after his last conversation with Dix.

"…That was obviously a joke, and you still take it seriously?"

Yet now… that joke had actually become true.

— Okay, without further ado, I'll get straight to the point, the main content of this letter.

"At last."

— Dix, you're… afraid of demons, right?

"…"

— Come on, man, don't even think about arguing back. We've been comrades for many years, we've been through life and death together, we've even worn the same pair of shorts.

— And do you really think I don't understand what you're feeling?

"…"

As expected, Kaelus had always been a thoughtful and perceptive person.

That's his good point.

— And to be honest… that was fucking hilarious!

— Hahahahaha!

"...I take back what I said earlier."

Alaric's eyebrows furrowed slightly in displeasure as he read this.

— A hero who's afraid of demons?

— What the hell!?

— You're the symbol of peace and hope in this world! And someone like that is afraid of demons?!

However, despite feeling displeased, The King felt as if… he was talking directly to Kaelus.

It wasn't like reading a letter.

It was like talking face to face to each other.

"A hero being afraid of demons? That sounds ridiculous, right?"

Kaelus smiled.

"What do you mean?"

Alaric couldn't keep up with Kaelus's frequency.

It was as if the two of them were talking about two completely unrelated things.

Ignoring the King's expression, Kaelus continued:

"Let me get this straight, Dix. You're not afraid of demons, you're afraid that everyone will die again like that time."

"What—"

Alaric wanted to retort.

But strangely, no words could come out of his throat.

And then, thinking back to Kaelus's words, he froze.

"Get it, my friend?"

Back then, more than 30 million lives were lost forever in that war.

That was a huge number.

"And all 30 million lives had a family, each had its own story of life, where they were the main characters."

Kaelus continued.

"But unfortunately, because of those demons, all of them died. Their wives lost a husband, their children lost a father, their parents lost a son, and their story ended before it was even half written."

"..."

Yes.

Sometimes, when Alaric went to sleep, he would remember that scene.

The scene where he could only stand there, watching his comrades fall without being able to do anything.

The moment when they cried for help, but still died.

The moment when their families stood before their graves and cried miserably.

The King felt regret.

Regret that he couldn't save them that day.

He didn't fulfill his duty as a hero.

The King truly didn't want that tragedy to happen again.

He didn't want anyone to die because of those demons anymore.

He didn't want history to repeat itself.

He felt ashamed of this title of hero.

So... he gave it up and became the first emperor of the Voidveil Empire.

"...I'm sorry."

Alaric muttered, looking down.

Right now, he was slowly being pulled into the darkness.

However, there was one person who didn't agree with that.

"Apologize? What did you do wrong, Dix? You didn't do anything wrong. So, what's the point of apologizing?"

Kaelus placed his hand on his close comrade's shoulder, smiled, and shared a lot of light with him.

The light was trying to save the darkness.

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