Chapter 142: Zone 10 Boss (4)

‘...The Tower!’

A black tower.

Identical to the one that had risen in the middle of Earth’s Pacific Ocean.

Now I was certain.

My hunch had been right.

The Hero’s world had been destroyed by the Tower too.

Was this the moment it first appeared?

“Aaaaaah...!”

Clutching her head with both hands, the Hero screamed.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery warped and twisted, spiraling violently out of control.

I tried to check on her.

“Hero? Are you all... huh?”

The Hero suddenly vanished.

Startled, I looked around, but there was no one left except the Demon King.

“Where did she go?”

The Demon King jerked his chin forward.

When I turned back...

the unstable, churning world was already painting a new scene.

The festive city streets had become an open grassland.

The Hero and her companions stood there, staring gravely at the distant tower.

“...All five Mage Tower Masters have investigated it, myself included, and we still haven’t learned a thing.”

The mage woman spoke.

“The power radiating from that black tower isn’t mana, spirits, Divine Power, or any ancient force we know of. That thing is... utterly beyond comprehension.”

What is this...?

Was the Hero’s memory continuing from after the Tower appeared?

The real Hero who had been standing beside me was gone, vanished to who knew where.

For now, I decided to keep watching.

The thief turned to the mage.

“Couldn’t that Demon King bastard have left something behind before he died?”

“Unlikely. As far as we can tell, there’s no connection to the demons whatsoever. And if the Demon King really had done something like this, it would be strange that none of us sensed a thing.”

The priest spoke as well, his voice heavy.

“God gives us no answer. Not to this, not to anything. Why would He place such a trial before us?”

The barbarian warrior looked around at his companions.

“Do you all believe it? That if we don’t climb that tower, most of every race on this land will die?”

“...Those are the words of a being wielding power we cannot even identify. We cannot afford to dismiss them.”

The Hero only stared at the tower in silence.

The mage woman turned toward her.

“Seri, are you thinking of entering?”

The Hero nodded.

“I suppose I have to.”

Resolve filled her eyes.

Watching her, I realized—

‘So the Hero, too...’

She had been a Nightmare Climber.

The scene changed.

It was the same orphanage I had seen at the very beginning.

Children giggled and ran around the yard while the Hero and a man sat side by side on chairs nearby.

“...Do you really have to go, Seri?”

After hesitating, the man finally spoke.

“You already defeated the Demon King after everything [N O V E L I G H T] it cost you. You’ve sacrificed enough for this world. Can’t you just... leave this one to someone else and live happily now?”

The Hero slowly shook her head.

“It has to be me, Rabi.”

“...”

“This Nightmare difficulty... no one has managed to clear it yet. If the Time Limit runs out, the world really might end.”

The Hero placed her hand over his.

“I’m the Hero, aren’t I? I think I need to save the world for just a little longer.”

The man clasped her hand tightly in return.

“I promise. When all of this is over... we’ll be happy. No matter what.”

So Rabi was the Hero’s lover.

The two figures slowly blurred away.

And the scenery changed once more.

This time, the Hero was fighting monsters alone.

She seemed to be in the middle of clearing Nightmare difficulty.

Naturally, the contents of each floor were different from mine.

The scenes flickered past rapidly, like someone skipping through a video.

When the memory stopped again, citizens were cheering and singing the Hero’s praises.

“They say the Hero cleared the tenth floor too!”

“Our great Hero! The sole savior of this continent! Hurraaaah...!”

Her Nightmare run seemed to be progressing smoothly.

‘...Hm.’

But I already knew exactly how this story ended.

All I was doing now was watching the road that led to catastrophe.

Then the scenery shifted again.

Thud, thud, thud!

The Hero strode down a lavish corridor with murder in her eyes.

She shoved aside the knights blocking her path and marched straight into the audience chamber.

Standing before the Emperor on his throne, she asked in a tightly restrained voice,

“Where have you taken Rabi?”

The Emperor waved off the knights rushing in behind her and opened his mouth.

“Have you forgotten your place, Hero? Show the ruler of this Empire the respect he is due.”

Grinding her teeth, the Hero dropped to one knee and bowed her head.

Reclining lazily against his throne, the Emperor continued.

“I shall overlook this discourtesy. As for this Rabi, the Church is currently keeping him under its protection.”

“...Why would the Church...!”

“Hero, it is all for your sake. I am told that ever since the Tower appeared, fanatics yearning for the world’s destruction have been emerging without end.

“Such wicked people may target those close to you and place them in danger. Your mind must remain entirely devoted to climbing the Tower and saving the world. Can we afford to have your strength wasted elsewhere?”

“I never asked for anything like that. I can protect my own people.”

The Emperor looked down at her, his eyes hardening.

“Or perhaps, Hero... your heart has been swayed by the babbling of the ignorant masses outside? I hear what they say. That you alone are the world’s sole savior. That you are the true agent of god.”

The Hero froze.

Then she answered, trembling.

“...That is absurd. It is not true.”

“Then fulfill your duty as Hero. The Demon King is dead, but now a threat beyond comprehension, greater than he ever was, endangers the peace of the continent. While you confront the Tower, the imperial house and the Church shall protect those close to you.

“As Emperor of this Empire, I give you my word. When everything is over, all shall return to its proper place, Hero.”

Watching this, I frowned.

What the hell is this situation?

Did the Empire and the Church kidnap the Hero’s lover?

From their conversation, I could more or less guess why.

Were they afraid she might give up on climbing the Tower halfway through?

Or was the Hero becoming too beloved by the people, and they wanted leverage to keep her under control?

“There is nothing more pathetic than a ruler who fears the very people he is meant to govern. What a miserable worm of a man.”

Standing beside me with his arms crossed, the Demon King regarded the Emperor as though he were looking at something beneath contempt.

The scenery shifted.

The Hero continued climbing the Tower.

Floor 11.

   15...

But the higher she climbed—

scenes of people screaming flashed by.

The Fallen rampaged through the cities.

Somehow, the world seemed to be breaking apart more and more.

Messages began appearing before my eyes as well.

[Floor 12 has been Cleared on all difficulties.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[Henceforth, the difficulty with the lowest top floor will have its Time Limit decrease twice as fast.]

.

.

.

[Floor 14 has been Cleared on all difficulties.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[Henceforth, a Climber who kills a Non-Climber has a low chance of gaining a Level.]

.

.

.

[Floor 16 has been Cleared on all difficulties.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[In 24 hours, the ‘Sacrificial Offering’ will begin.]

[The top-floor Climbers of each difficulty may choose the region upon which the Tower’s Curse will fall.]

[Rewards will be granted in proportion to the number of Non-Climbers turned into the Fallen.]

.

.

.

New Tower rules.

Added every other floor.

The Hero’s world had been no different from mine.

But...

What the hell is this?

The higher they climbed, the more grotesquely cruel the rules became.

The Tower hadn’t even singled the Hero out with some special offer, the way it had done with me.

And yet the rules alone were enough to tear her world apart at a terrifying speed.

No matter how many Nightmare floors the Hero cleared, perhaps resisting every last drop of that relentless malice had simply been beyond her.

Rrrumble...

The Tower shook violently.

The earth split open.

For an instant, everything went black.

When the scenery returned...

I couldn’t suppress a sigh of grief.

The tenth-floor field.

Because somewhere along the way, the Hero’s world had come to resemble it almost exactly.

The scene changed again.

A crumbling cathedral appeared before me.

Gaunt and hollow-eyed, the Hero allowed her companion, the priest, to lead her onward.

“Seri, prepare yourself...”

They stopped in front of a room sealed by a thick iron door.

The Hero opened it.

Stepped inside.

And froze.

One of the Fallen was chained tightly inside.

A horn protruded from its forehead.

“...Rabi.”

The Hero collapsed to her knees in front of it.

She wept silently for a long, long time.

And in the end—

she drew her sword and cut the Fallen down.

...The scenery changed.

The Hero was inside some dark place.

She no longer climbed the Tower.

She did nothing at all.

Like a corpse.

“Seri, even in a world like this, there are still so many people who want to live. Please...”

“...I’m sorry. For making you carry all of this.”

From time to time, her companions came to plead with her.

Or apologize to her.

As time passed, even they stopped coming.

And then—

[The Time Limit for the Nightmare difficulty has expired.]

[The Tower’s Curse activates.]

[99% of all races will die.]

The Hero, who had been staring blankly into empty space, finally rose to her feet.

A world filled with nothing but the Fallen.

Standing on a hill and looking down at the ruined Empire, the Hero let out a hollow laugh.

The flood of emotion that poured into me at that instant made me clutch my chest.

Regret.

Frustration.

Despair.

Rage.

Resignation.

Emptiness.

Grief.

These were the Hero’s emotions.

The mental image she projected was so vivid that even her feelings seemed to spill into me, whole and undiluted.

She had never received the happiness she had longed for.

Nor had she protected the world to the end as its Hero.

“...It was all meaningless.”

It truly had been a life stripped of all meaning.

Shiiing...

The Hero drew her sword.

And with a single motion—

cut her own throat.

With that final image, the world turned pitch black.

“...”

Is that the end?

So that was how the Hero’s world had been destroyed.

I let out a long breath.

Even though the memory had ended, the Hero herself was still nowhere to be seen.

And then...

suddenly, scenery began unfolding before me once more.

“The Hero! The great Hero who defeated the Demon King!”

It was the very first scene.

The Hero’s party was passing beneath the triumphal arch after defeating the Demon King, surrounded by cheering citizens.

And right after this, the Tower should appear...

Except—

“...?”

For some reason, this time it didn’t.

The Hero and her companions passed through the arch laughing joyfully, and the dazzling festival continued deep into the night.

The scenery changed.

“Seri! Welcome home!”

The Hero returned to her hometown.

To the orphanage.

The director and the children rushed out to welcome her.

Among them was Rabi, fidgeting awkwardly.

“Seri... I hardly recognized you.”

The Hero smiled brightly and pulled him into her arms.

...What is this?

I watched in silence.

The Demon King clicked his tongue.

“How pitiful. Delusions now, is it?”

Ah.

So that’s what this is.

This was the world the Hero had wanted.

A world where the Tower never appeared.

A world where everything ended happily after the Demon King was defeated...

“There is nothing more worth seeing.”

The Demon King swept one hand through the air, as though intending to shatter the Hero’s mental image.

I instinctively moved to stop him.

“Wait.”

“What now!”

The Demon King snapped.

I looked back toward the Hero.

“Let’s just... watch a little longer.”

I didn’t want to interrupt.

Because the Hero, laughing and talking with the people around her—

looked so genuinely happy.

***

It had been a long journey.

At last, after defeating the Demon King alongside her companions, the Hero refused every offer of wealth and glory and returned to the orphanage that had always been her true home.

The director, whose hair had gone mostly white, welcomed her back.

There were many children there she didn’t recognize now as well.

Every part of it was precious to her.

Every part of it had been dearly missed.

And then there was Rabi.

She remembered the day she first left the orphanage, following the Priests.

Rabi had told her then that he would wait.

No matter how long it took.

Until she saved the world and returned.

So she had better not let her eyes wander either, no matter how handsome a knight she might meet along the way.

It had been a childish promise between a young boy and girl.

He might not even remember it anymore.

And even if he did, perhaps his feelings had changed over the years...

Then, one night three months after she returned and began helping with the orphanage again—

“Seri, marry me.”

Rabi confessed.

The Hero stared at him in surprise.

“...You remembered?”

Rabi nodded, his face turning red.

“Ten years passed, and I never stopped thinking about you. I kept telling myself I could never be a man worthy of the Hero, so I tried to give up, but even then... I couldn’t.”

The Hero laughed.

And then tears slipped from her eyes despite herself.

She was happy.

Because she realized she still loved him too.

Half a year later, they were married.

The orphanage director and the children attended.

So did the villagers.

And somehow, after hearing the news, even her former companions made the long journey to be there.

Everyone blessed the road ahead of them.

“Be happy, Seri! Our Hero!”

Her duty as the Hero Beldihard had finally come to an end.

From now on, there remained only the happiness she was owed as an ordinary human being.

Rabi was a skilled carpenter.

With his own hands, he built a cabin in the forest beside the orphanage.

That cabin became the home where the two of them would spend their lives together.

The very next year, a child was born.

A healthy son.

And the year after that, a daughter.

Those tiny lives grew in what felt like the blink of an eye.

She taught her son swordsmanship from an early age.

His talent was remarkable.

Hardly surprising, considering whose son he was.

Her daughter, on the other hand, showed an interest in magic.

The Hero herself had a fair amount of skill in magic, so she taught both children with her own hands.

Happy days passed.

Taking her son along to watch her hunt in the forest.

Sitting beside her daughter late into the night as she studied magical theory.

Watching her children run and play with the other kids.

Sometimes her old companions came to visit.

She listened to stories of how their lives were going and shared memories of the past with them.

Even the grueling war against the demons had become nothing more than an old chapter of their lives—

something they could now remember with a smile.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

Before she knew it, her children had grown and left home.

Her son became an adventurer, eager to see the wider world.

Her daughter went to study magic at a Mage Tower where one of the Hero’s old companions now served as Mage Tower Master.

The house that had once held a family of four became quiet again.

Just the two of them.

Rabi had aged greatly before she even realized it.

Sometimes, watching him grow old faster than she did, she thought time seemed a little cruel.

But it was part of the natural order.

Something no one could escape.

She spent peaceful, unhurried days with Rabi, the partner of her life.

They helped at the orphanage and around the village.

Sometimes they took trips into the nearby city.

Sitting side by side and reading the letters their children sent home became a small, yet immeasurable happiness.

Enough time passed for Rabi’s hair and beard to turn entirely white.

And then their children began starting families of their own.

They had reached that age.

“Grandma! Show us magic! Magic!”

Her grandchildren ran up and tugged at her clothes.

The Hero smiled and held out one hand.

An illusion of a blue butterfly fluttered into the air.

The children squealed with delight and chased after it.

“Those little rascals. Showing up out of nowhere before we could prepare a single thing.”

Saying he would have to go into the village to buy a large cut of meat and some spices for a feast, Rabi hurried off.

Settling into her rocking chair, the Hero watched her grandchildren play in the cabin yard.

“...”

Suddenly—

tears began streaming down her cheeks.

One of her granddaughters came over and peered up at her with concern.

“Grandma? Why are you crying?”

The Hero wiped her eyes and gently stroked the girl’s hair.

“It’s nothing.”

She smiled.

“I’m simply so very happy.”

After steadying her breath, she looked up at the sky.

“...I am satisfied now.”

When she lowered her gaze again—

the yard was empty.

At some point, only two figures remained, standing quietly to one side.

“Thank you. For waiting all this time.”

It had been a happy dream.

More happiness than she believed she deserved.

Even if every moment of it had been nothing more than an illusion...

those fifty years had been a small salvation.

A gift granted to a woman who, until the very end—

had never once been rewarded for everything she gave.