SPTTF 00

[Prologue]

“Everyone, get out of the way!”

My companions, who had been driving the Demon King into a corner, quickly retreated.

I leaped high into the air and drove my greatsword straight down.

The sharp tip pierced the Demon King’s heart before embedding itself in the ground.

BOOM!

Along with the sound of magical power exploding, a scream burst from the Demon King’s mouth.

“Graaah!”

I had torn apart his second heart as well, so this time he would have no choice but to be sent back to the Underworld.

I let out a long sigh as I watched purple blood spread across the Demon King’s back.

“Phew……”

At last, I could see the end.

The conclusion of this damnable novel was finally approaching.

Just then, my companion and the Crown Prince of the Filio Empire, Leonhart, shouted.

“Adel! Look around you! The ground is collapsing!”

Then the hot-tempered mage Ruspel started making a huge fuss, while the gentle priest Owen nervously stamped his feet.

“Hey, you idiot! What are you waiting for?! Drop that bastard and get the hell out of here!”

“A-Adel! It’s dangerous! Please get out of here quickly!”

I lowered my body as though I were about to pull out my sword. The Demon King’s ragged breathing grew closer.

“Haaah! Haaah!”

I could feel his life force rapidly draining away with every breath.

Looking into his blood-red eyes, I whispered softly.

“Hurry up and say your line.”

“Ghk……! M-My line? What are you talking about?!”

“You have something to say to me. Hurry up and say it.”

The Demon King furrowed his brow menacingly.

“You dare humiliate me until the very end! But you had better not become conceited! I am not going to disappear. I am merely returning to the Underworld!”

Yeah, that one.

I wiped the blood-stained face of the Demon King.

“Goodbye. Once you go back this time, stay there for a while and don’t crawl back out.”

“That is exactly what I intend to do. I doubt I will be bored this time.”

The Demon King gave a sinister smile.

I raised an eyebrow.

“What are you scheming?”

“I had a thought. Wouldn’t even the dreary Underworld become more interesting if I were there with you?”

“With me?”

The moment I answered, the Stage 2 instruction appeared.

[Stage 2: (Firmly) Don’t bluff!]

I read it mechanically.

“Don’t bluff.”

“Could it really be a bluff? Can you not see the spirits around you trembling?”

His words were true.

The spirits, having sensed something, had been flying frantically around me for a while now.

—Adel! Something seems suspicious! Something feels wrong! Should I blast him away with an Aqua Ball?

—Ah, f*ck, looks like that bastard is planning something. Contractee, move your ass aside for a second. I’m gonna roast that bastard with fire.

—Lady Adel, the wind is behaving ominously. I think we should bind the Demon King’s limbs first. What do you think? If that is too troublesome, there is also the simple method of cutting out his tongue.

—……Scary.

Ignoring the spirits’ uproar, I spoke indifferently.

“I’m really tired right now, okay? Let’s just move things along.”

The Demon King’s expression faltered slightly.

Then, as though he had realized something, he smiled viciously.

“You are trying to stall for time with strange words. You have quite the clever mind, but you cannot deceive me!”

I had absolutely no intention of deceiving him.

I simply wanted this to end as quickly as possible.

“From this moment on, I will release all the power I have left. Someone of your skill should be able to survive. But your companions will certainly die!”

He’s actually explaining his entire attack strategy to me.

How considerate for a Demon King.

I silently waited for the Demon King’s next line.

“But if you choose to die with me, I will spare them. Now, choose. You or your companions.”

Ah…… finally, it’s the ending.

The hero chooses to die alongside the Demon King in order to save her companions.

The final scene of this novel.

How impressive.

It was already a terrible novel, and now they were killing off the protagonist.

What on earth was the author thinking when they came up with an ending like this?

I suddenly wanted to look inside the author’s head.

Then another instruction appeared.

[Stage 3: (As if shocked) Don’t touch my precious companions!]

“Don’t touch my companions.”

By summarizing the Stage 3 instruction into a single sentence in a dry tone, I triggered the penalty.

Pain stabbed through my chest like an awl.

“Hehehe—You would sacrifice yourself for your companions. What touching friendship.”

The moment he finished speaking, the instruction changed.

[Stage 1: (With both hands clasped in front of your chest, eyes brimming with tears) I love my companions. It is a noble emotion that someone like you could never understand. Even if my body disappears, my soul will live on in their hearts. If that is the case, then even if I die, I will not truly be dead.]

……That is way too embarrassing, so I’m skipping it.

There was no problem with ignoring the Stage 1 instructions anyway.

“Stop blabbering already. Doesn’t your mouth hurt?”

“W-What did you just say?”

“Wait a moment.”

I left the confused Demon King behind and turned my head toward Leonhart, Ruspel, and Owen.

They were waiting for me with anxious expressions.

“Adel! What are you doing right now? I told you to come over here!”

“Do you really want to die by my hand? Get your ass over here right now!”

Unlike Leonhart and Ruspel, who were shouting and making a commotion, Owen backed away with a pale face.

“……N-No. Adel, right? I’m mistaken, aren’t I?”

As a priest, he had an incredibly good intuition.

Sometimes, almost too good.

I wish he wouldn’t notice things at times like this.

I opened my mouth toward the three of them, who looked ready to leap at me at any moment.

Right then, the instruction flashed.

[Stage 3: (Solemnly) Stay there! Don’t come near me!]

“Stay there. Don’t come near me.”

[Stage 3: (In a trembling voice as if desperately holding back tears) Leonhart, Ruspel, Owen. I’m sorry. I will always love you all……. Please don’t forget these feelings of mine.]

……Are they seriously going to do this until the very end?

It was already over anyway.

Instead of following the instruction, I said one last thing to the bastard author of this terrible novel.

“It was awful being with you, so let’s never meet again.”

“……!”

My companions’ eyes widened.

It was the most shocked expression I had ever seen on their faces.

I wasn’t talking to them, though…….

I was just about to open my mouth to clear up the misunderstanding when—

“Cough! Cough!”

Blood sprayed from my mouth.

Then my chest began to hurt like crazy.

That was the result of rejecting the Stage 3 instruction.

“Adel!”

My companions called out to me with deathly pale faces.

Even while misunderstanding what was happening, they were still worried about me.

They’re too kind.

They were good companions.

So good that it made this whole situation even more damnable.

I swallowed the blood that had risen into my throat and wrapped my arms around the Demon King’s neck.

“Let’s go.”

“Kwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Good! I shall welcome you to the Underworld!”

He was fine in every other way, but he really was too talkative.

A talkative Demon King. This novel’s quality is truly something else…….

I covered the Demon King’s mouth with my hand.

“Let’s go with your mouth shut. That’s okay, right?”

He glared at me as though he wanted to kill me with his long, slitted eyes.

The next moment—

Rumble!

The ground collapsed with an enormous tremor.

“Adel!!!”

I closed my eyes as I heard my companions’ screams.

In the whiteness of the void, elegant old-fashioned letters slowly appeared.

—The End—

Thank you for loving <I’ve Become the Hero Who Saves the World> until now.

It really was over.

Endless darkness followed.

“D-Duke……”

“……”

“Duke, does it hurt?”

What was that?

What was this unbearably adorable voice that made me want to bite it?

Someone was very carefully touching my finger.

Soon, I felt a faint breeze against my hand.

“Hooh, hooh. Our Duke, don’t be hurt.”

The voice that had seemed so distant, like something from a dream, suddenly became crystal clear.

At the same time, my body—which had felt as though it did not belong to me—suddenly felt refreshed, as if it had been completely cleansed.

I opened my eyes wide.

“……Gasp!”

An unfamiliar ceiling.

An unfamiliar bed.

Where am I?

“Huh? D-Duke! Y-You, you, you’re awake!”

I turned my head to the side and stared blankly at the child.

A doll is talking…….

Blue eyes and pink hair.

How could someone be this pretty?

The child was clinging to the bed with only her arms and face barely hooked over the edge, struggling to climb up.

She was so ridiculously adorable that it was almost creepy.

“D-Duke, D-Duke! Sh-Should I c-call the b-butler, B-B-B-B-Butler Uncle?”

Huh? She’s not a doll?

“You……”

Before I could ask, You’re really pretty. What’s your name?, letters appeared in the air.

[Stage 3: (Coldly, while shaking off the child’s hand) Who told you to come into my bedroom?]