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I didn’t go far from my spot, and I caught sight of Erin and Stella fighting against a high-ranking demon.

To be precise, I merely turned slightly upon seeing a massive lightning bolt filled with enormous magical power that someone had evidently summoned, and that’s when I found them.

The outcome seemed already decided, and just as I was about to move on, I noticed the high-ranking demon, Baya or something, writhing.

From a glance, Erin and Stella didn’t look like they had the strength to lift a finger, so I decided to lend them a bit of help on my way.

Although it had been a high-ranking demon before it became a charred heap, it was already in a defeated state, so all I needed to do was walk over and poke it lightly to finish it off.

While I wanted to move Erin and Stella to a safer location, there were urgent matters to attend to, so I had no choice but to leave them behind and continue on.

There weren’t any other presences around, and since the enormous lightning bolt had burned away the dense magical energy that had been in the area, there wouldn’t be many bold enough to approach this place. Hence, it was likely one of the safest spots around.

With that in mind, I headed straight for the direction where Selian had come running from, towards where Yuli and Anne were.

I hurried my steps, trying hard to ignore the screams echoing around me. Feel free to call me selfish. You say every life is equally precious? Unfortunately for me, that’s not the case. The lives of my friends are far more important than anyone else’s.

You can complain about what kind of hero I am. Honestly, I myself question why I was chosen as a hero.

In the blink of an eye, I arrived at a new battlefield.

Fortunately, Anne and Yuli were somehow holding their ground against the demons.

Knowing Anne’s abilities, it puzzled me that she had yet to defeat any demons, but then I saw the weapon she was wielding and understood.

Just like her mother, the reason Anne carried around that oversized Great Sword was not anything else.

Weapons capable of fully harnessing the bloodline power of House Klain, which annihilates demons, are hard to find. Therefore, Anne’s strength is unleashed when she wields her unique weapon against demons.

That was why Anne could resist demons until the very end as humanity’s last line of defense.

On the flip side, I was slightly surprised by Yuli’s performance. As the daughter of the Sword Master, her swordsmanship had been nothing special. Yet, after meeting Linne in this life, she had grown far stronger than before.

Though I was already aware that her strength had increased after forming a contract with Linne, recalling her feeble self from my past life made it unavoidable to compare her past to her present.

Yuli’s magic couldn’t pierce through an opponent’s magic. Conversely, the demon’s magic didn’t seem to be touching Yuli either. That meant the battle would come down to stamina and magical reserves, putting Yuli at a disadvantage.

But I had already arrived.

With the battle dragged into a drawn-out struggle, it was almost a given that the outcome had already been decided by the time I showed up.

Thus, I approached the demon, who was throwing unusual magic at Yuli, from behind.

Even though I was right behind it, the demon didn’t sense my presence and was completely focused on Yuli, giving me the chance to raise the Holy Sword and lightly pierce its heart.

The demon that had been facing Yuli collapsed without even letting out a scream.

In fact, Yuli didn’t even notice the demon had fallen and cast magic towards me instead.

Of course, I had evaded Eden’s tendrils, so there was no chance I would be hit by Yuli’s magic.

Instead, I dodged the magic and moved towards Anne, who was still battling nearby.

I swiftly beheaded the female demon who was busy flicking her whip.

Unable to enter the whip’s range and busy defending herself, Anne noticed the demon’s strength was waning and rushed in only to find just the corpse of the headless demon.

Both Yuli and Linne, as well as Anne, stood there hesitating, not even able to comprehend what had brought down the demon.

Knowing that a farewell would be an embarrassing act, I remained hidden in the shadows.

For now, I observed the surroundings and noted that no intermediate or higher-ranking demons seemed to threaten the lives of the two.

On the contrary, I sensed a massive presence approaching from afar. Was that Craig, the Sword Master and Yuli’s father, already drenched in the blood of demons from having battled fiercely?

Now that he, who had long mastered the ways of the Sword Master, had arrived, the lives of the two were ensured. Therefore, I would head towards my next destination.

I wondered if she was still there, but I moved towards the location I had kept in mind during the closure ceremony.

On the roof of the building where Frecia had sat during the closure ceremony.

Lying there as if in deep slumber, without a single wound, looked strikingly out of place among the battlefield chaos surrounding her.

Just like Selian, who had exhausted all her strength, Frecia had wholly spent her magical power.

Had she not stopped the meteor that fell towards the city, the casualties would have been unthinkably high.

She truly was a magician with the greatest talent on the continent.

However, attempting to stop it in haste likely led to her magic being less polished than usual, and thus it seemed she had drained all her magical power in the process, causing her to faint.

The fortunate aspect was that no demonic beings, monsters, or demons had touched her while she was unconscious.

It appeared she had gone unnoticed, thanks to Gomtaengi and Tokki stretching out their hands to cast concealment magic beside her.

Unexpectedly, Gomtaengi and Tokki were capable, and the concealment magic they used seemed to be difficult to detect unless one had an extraordinarily keen sense or was an intermediate demon or higher.

Of course, to me, it was plainly visible, but I was both an assassin and a Sword Master. It would actually be abnormal for me to miss such things.

As I gently descended next to Frecia, the gazes of Tokki and Gomtaengi, who were performing the concealment magic, shifted towards me.

Lacking any real power apart from their concealment, they immediately stood between Frecia and me, trying to guard her with their small bodies.

However, upon seeing my face, they appeared relieved and quickly approached, tugging at my clothes while pointing towards Frecia.

Even without their urging, I gently scooped up the small girl who lay unconscious in my arms.

A tiny girl nestled in my embrace.

I moved forward, carrying her to the building of the Magic Building, which still retained its shape, plastered with all sorts of magic cast by the professors.

Without needing to use the front door, I easily scaled the wall to the seventh floor and opened a window.

As I pulled aside the dark curtain, I entered Room 707 of the Magic Building, where Frecia resided.

Gently laying her down on the sofa she usually used for sleeping, Gomtaengi and Tokki, who had been perched on my shoulder, scampered down and peered up at her from underneath the sofa.

If this Magic Building, akin to a fortress, was already secured, then Frecia’s research room, warded with all kinds of magic, should be safe.

I raised my hand and gently stroked Frecia’s hair. It might seem inappropriate to touch a little girl who couldn’t even resist in her unconscious state…but wait, upon thinking, Frecia and I were the same age. If I treated her like a child, I would be labeling myself a kid as well.

Of course, in that context, what about Anne, who, despite being older than me, acts like a naive younger sibling?

“Thank you for everything up till now. And I’m sorry, boss.”

Feeling a strange emotion, I took advantage of her slumber to quietly utter my apologies.

However, even in her fainted state, Frecia seemed to find joy in my soothing hand, nudging her face into my palm and smiling brightly.

I checked again to see if she had woken up, but she remained fast asleep.

Seeing her innocent appearance made it even harder to bear, so I slowly turned my body towards the door.

Just then—

I felt something grab my ankle before I could fully open the door.

Glancing down, I saw Tokki gripping my pants.

Soon after, Gomtaengi, who had been keeping an eye on Frecia, waddled over and grabbed my other ankle.

Locking eyes with me, Gomtaengi and Tokki shook their heads while holding onto my ankles.

It was clear they weren’t simply asking me to stay near Frecia out of concern.

It seemed they had sensed something about my goodbye to Frecia.

As I stood silently, they struggled hard, pulling the hem of my pants towards the room, but really, how much could those two, lacking any real strength, manage to pull?

Despite my stillness, undeterred, they were putting in all their effort to prevent me from leaving, trying their best to drag me back to Frecia’s side.

I felt terribly sorry for both of them, not just for Frecia.

I lifted Gomtaengi and Tokki, embracing them gently.

Then, forcing the two, who clung to my clothes, off of me, I set them back down next to Frecia.

Gomtaengi and Tokki leaped from the sofa and quickly came after me, but finding only emptiness where I had concealed myself, they only bolted out into the hallway, looking around in confusion.

Now it was time to clean up the remaining demons.

But before heading back out to the city streets, I stopped by a different place for a moment.

I arrived at the dormitory I had shared with my friends.

Though the building was a mess because of the aftermath, it still retained its shape, thankfully.

The reason I came here wasn’t to gather the items I had left in my room. Quite the opposite.

I carefully ran my fingers over the ring that was on my finger, slowly removing it from my hand.

This ring symbolized the bond of friendship I shared with my friends. I had no right to wear this ring after betraying them.

Even though I was trying to firm my resolve, it seemed I still hesitated to put the ring down on the desk.

But I finally left the ring behind and jumped out through the window to return to the battlefield.

It didn’t matter if they were high-ranking or intermediate demons.

I collected the lives of all the demons that were reveling in slaughter, playing with Academy students, and grappling in fierce battles.

As the demons were distracted by other things, exploiting their openings was not difficult.

Losing a strong gravitational focal point like Eden, and with me showing up as a variable, it was only natural for the demons to lose.

However, our victory came at a cost, with plenty of casualties and wounds.

I surveyed the surroundings once again, confirming that all the demons had fallen, before slowly heading outside the city.

With my strength significantly increased, forming a party again would likely lead to reaching the Demon King more smoothly than before.

But knowing I had already killed them with my own hands, how could I drag them onto another perilous path?

No matter how minimal the danger may be, their lives were still at risk.

That’s why I would bear all those dangers myself.

Of course, my strength by itself was nothing compared to that of the collective.

However, since I was also an assassin, even if it was in another form, it was possible to become even stronger when alone.

Even if the danger might be higher than before, compared to the risks my friends would face together on an adventure, it would amount to me bearing those dangers alone.

Yes. This was my only atonement for them, and my revenge for killing my family.

If fortune smiled upon me and I succeeded in assassinating the Demon King, that would be the icing on the cake.

But even if my sword were to fall short and I were to collapse before the Demon King, that was fine too.

I was the last remaining assassin nurtured by the Black Moon with utmost care.

My death would also serve as my final act of revenge against the Black Moon, which had already been annihilated and was no longer in this world.

I left the Academy behind, setting off alone on the path to hunt the Demon King.

And three years passed.