Chapter 27. No One Is Born a Hero (13)
“…This isn’t good.”
Straight ahead lay the subjugation unit’s encampment.
From the state of things, it was clear that several had already arrived.
Could an injured professor really fend all of them off?
No—had he even woken up? Had he already been defeated? Or was he still holding out?
My heart churned as I stared blankly in that direction. The stench of burning monsters stung my nose. It was nauseating.
‘…Should I save them?’
I only saved Camilla Guinevere because she was necessary for the future, and Jan Godwin because Ethan was watching.
So what about the others—those insignificant ones?
It would take a while for the Royal Knights to arrive.
The incident had started earlier than expected, so it might take even longer than I remembered.
That meant the students left at the encampment were as good as dead.
They were destined to die anyway.
Should I really go so far as to take on a Gigantic Arachne, and face off against the unknown Rimos Therion, just to save them?
What were those people to me? And more importantly—
‘…What am I to them?’
Logically, I knew the right decision was to pretend to flee and instead go investigate the curse.
It was just that experiencing this moment for the first time again clouded my judgment. I steeled myself.
No one exists who can save everyone.
If such a person existed, they’d be called a hero.
Right. A hero.
My head buzzed with conflicting thoughts.
In the sky, I saw Ethan Behemoth overwhelmingly sweeping through the monsters.
KWA-BOOOOM!!!
Each heavy swing of his sword sent winged beasts falling, spraying fluids as they plummeted.
He was, quite literally, fighting like a madman.
Judging by the tattered state of his armor, some monster must’ve spat acid—far worse than the minor burn he’d gotten earlier.
His short hair whipped about as he swung his sword, occasionally craning his neck and breathing deeply, looking downright deranged. And yet… beautiful.
Blood of unknown origin dripped steadily from the tip of his lowered sword.
‘…He’s still holding out?’
Just counting the number of fallen monsters, there were already more than both hands could tally in that short time. He’d surely exhausted all his elixirs by now.
He was charging in recklessly, but even a human body had its limits.
And yet, Ethan still endured.
‘How…?’
The answer came quickly.
Because of me.
Ethan launched himself up with power in his legs, landed atop a winged monster, gripped his sword in both hands, and stabbed precisely where the core lay.
As the monster crashed down, he reached into the shattered carapace, grabbed the core, and drank its concentrated essence.
‘And he had the nerve to call me insane.’
The bright-red wounds closed up.
It couldn’t have been possible at that distance, but for a brief second, it felt like he looked straight at me.
‘You’re the crazy one.’
As soon as he healed, Ethan leapt toward another charging monster.
To think he’d continue fighting like that even after using up his elixirs.
Charge in, take damage, kill instantly, extract a core, recover—then repeat.
It was, given the situation, undeniably the most efficient method. But the real question was—
‘…Why go that far?’
Thanks to Ethan Behemoth, the airborne monsters couldn’t push through to the encampment. Instead, they hovered near him, blocked from advancing.
Even in the midst of being seemingly hunted, Ethan was smiling.
‘…Hah.’
I looked down, observing the Gigantic Arachne. It was still far off, too busy playing with the gorge, unaware of the fire burning nearby.
…I pulled out two elixirs from my pouch and handed them to Jan.
“Here, Jan. Can you carry Camilla to the encampment?”
“…But—”
“When the flames die down, more monsters will come. Run through that path before then.”
I gestured with my chin to a forest path that still seemed untouched by monsters. Jan hesitated, gripping the elixirs, his eyes wavering.
“Then what about you?”
“…I’m not alone.”
Hard to believe, but…
When I gestured toward the sky where Ethan was massacring monsters, Jan seemed to understand and let out a breath.
“…You monsters.”
“He’s the Behemoth. Not me.”
“No. You’re not human either.”
Jan chuckled and nodded. His trembling cheek betrayed the forced nature of the smile.
It must’ve been unbearable. I watched him for a moment, then lightly patted his shoulder.
“Enough. Go, now.”
“…Alright.”
He acted like he trusted me and Ethan, but his slow steps showed his guilt about fleeing first with the unconscious Camilla.
Just when it seemed he was about to disappear down the path, he suddenly stopped and asked with a trembling voice:
“That giant spider… can you really do something about it?”
“Me?”
Wasn’t that too much to expect? I raised an eyebrow, and Jan awkwardly waved it off.
“…No. I didn’t really think you could. But if you can’t… then I can’t just leave you—”
“Of course I’ll do something about it.”
I cut him off. Don’t worry so much. I was just teasing.
I smiled slightly, and Jan looked stunned.
“What?”
“Didn’t you see me take down those small spiders?”
It was only this timeline that was new to me—I was a regressor.
I knew things no one else did, and I had internalized the most efficient ways to move, in both mind and body. So—
‘If I wanted to quit, I should’ve done it a long time ago.’
Now, there was no one left to face it but me.
Honestly, this was more than I could handle at my current level. This wasn’t something optimism could fix.
But for those who would run away from this situation…
…What they needed was a sliver of hope.
Jan and I locked eyes.
He nodded once. I nodded back.
“When you reach the encampment, summon the Royal Knights. There should be a summoning scroll in the advance party’s tent.”
“Scroll… Got it. But how do you know that?”
If it were Ethan Behemoth, he would’ve picked up on it without asking. A bit annoying, but I replied.
“Ethan told me.”
‘It’s okay to use his name, right?’
Jan seemed convinced the moment Ethan’s name came up.
“Ah, alright. I’ll go now!”
“Be careful. If you see any monsters, don’t try to fight—just run. And if it gets too bad, wake up Camilla.”
Jan readjusted Camilla on his back, nodded, and sprinted down the path.
If nothing went wrong, they would survive.
Before more monsters swarmed, I ducked between some rocks to catch my breath.
‘…Can I do this?’
These weren’t ordinary monsters born and bred locally. They were demonic beasts from the Demon Realm itself.
Among the many signs of the world’s end, this was one of the clearest: a gate to the Demon Realm had opened.
The gates appeared randomly and without warning, vomiting out monsters before closing again.
Each time I regressed, I tried organizing advance squads to investigate, but before the end of my last life—no one had ever returned.
The monsters that came through those gates were like other monsters—but also different. More vicious. More powerful. Much larger.
No one ever figured out the pattern of where the gates opened. Not even until my last breath.
‘But the first time, I remember clearly.’
The very first gate opened at this subjugation training site.
Even if gates had opened earlier, none had caused damage as massive as this one.
The low-tier monsters the students were supposed to face were all wiped out by the beasts from the Demon Realm. Elite knights, professors, and students were swept away.
There was no way this incident could go unnoticed.
Kirr-rrrrrk…
Above me, a little farther away, the Gigantic Arachne stretched its long, rigid legs—apparently done breaking apart the gorge.
I held my breath and watched as it stretched.
‘After this incident, the gorge completely collapsed, didn’t it?’
Half of it still remained. That meant the destruction wasn’t over yet.
So… now—before it finishes—is my chance.
The Gigantic Arachne, as its name implied, was massive, but it still wasn’t taller than the intact part of the gorge.
If I could bring that remaining part down all at once…
‘There’s a chance.’
Just a chance. But—
‘If I give up, even that chance disappears.’
