# 34. Hero Luna's Awakening (7)
As the thumb went up, the believers rushed at me like moths to a flame.
In one hand, they held daggers emanating demonic energy.
Fortunately, there were no high-ranking believers present.
Perhaps the Demon King thought he'd be fine on his own.
"First, I need to kill all these small fries."
Slash—
I slowly began beheading the believers.
One, two, three.
They seemed to have no fear of death, approaching fearlessly with their daggers raised even as their heads were severed.
They were like dolls that had forgotten fear.
"...No, they might actually be dolls."
"Correct. Dog of the Goddess. They are my dolls. Very desirable dolls that move exactly as I wish."
Dolls that had lost their free will and moved at his command.
I beheaded every one of them, all equally expressionless.
On the floor, along with the corpses of Luna's family, the believers' bodies formed a mountain.
It was a devastating scene.
Seeing the carnage, Greed laughed and said:
"If I want something, I take it. If I want to discard it, I discard it. A very simple rule. They must have felt good being controlled by me, a Demon King. Don't you want to move like that too?"
"...Bullshit. More importantly, Luna's family. Why did you kill them?"
There was no reason to kill them all like this.
The blood from the corpses hadn't yet dried, and they'd been killed not long ago.
If the goal was to kill Luna, it would have been better to keep her family alive.
But Demon King Greed hadn't done that.
"Why did you kill those innocent people?"
"Simply, to kill time. While waiting for the Hero, I too must feel entertained, mustn't I, Dog of the Goddess?"
"..."
"My desire is 'eternal life,' you see. Not a life lived in boredom. I want to be an existence that always feels entertained while living. That's why I killed those humans."
Greed was smiling with an expression completely devoid of tension.
An arrogant, irritating face.
I wanted to punch that face right now.
Demon Kings were all creatures that made you want to kill them.
Clang—
"Hmm? Dog of the Goddess. Why did you put down your sword?"
"...I'll face you properly."
Subspace.
I reached my hand into it.
That branch should be in here.
*Found it.*
A magic staff made from a branch of the World Tree, one of only three in this world.
She had made it herself.
I pulled out her keepsake, inherited from my teacher Aina.
A ridiculously large staff slightly taller than my head, which I drove into the ground.
Thud—
Then I shouted:
"Disappear, space."
And.
"Be reborn."
Colorless mana leaked from the ground, enveloping the space.
The floor shook and trembled with an earthquake.
The trembling gradually subsided, and when I closed and opened my eyes, a void of nothingness spread before me.
Literally nothing.
"Hmm, Dog of the Goddess. What is this space?"
"Infinite Prison. Until one of us dies, this prison won't be released."
A prison of nothingness.
For that bastard to escape, he needs to kill me.
For me to escape, I need to kill him.
Magic with no way out.
And magic perfect for sacrifice.
"...She must have felt this way too."
Perhaps pitying me for sacrificing myself this way,
Minerva had given me one last gift.
Even at the end, she couldn't be honest.
[...Just die, Lee Jun-woo. Minerva can live on her own. Idiot Lee Jun-woo. Still, I'll give you a gift. See you again.]
[1. Reach the realm of Archmage and fight Greed.]
[2. Submit to him.]
Even though I possessed an Archmage's knowledge, the reason I couldn't reach that realm was one thing.
Insufficient mana.
That one thing.
But now, with Minerva's gift, it's different.
I drove the tip of the staff into my heart.
Thunk—
"...Dog of the Goddess. Driving a staff into your heart... Do you have no intention of surviving here...?"
Even if I die, we'll go together.
Driving the staff into my heart, I supply mana throughout my body.
I don't die and my heart still beats.
Thanks to Minerva's gift.
"...You. You were quite capable. Then, I too shall face you equally. Dog of the Goddess. Consider it a blessing to see this form."
Slither—
From behind Greed's back emerged a giant red mouth large enough to swallow me whole.
Greedily flicking its tongue, it licked its lips while looking at me.
Just looking at it felt disgusting.
Seeing that sight, I deployed magic in both hands.
*I leave the rest to you, Luna.*
This story has already left my hands.
You must turn the next page.
Why...
Why did this happen to me...?
"N-no... This is a dream... R-right...?"
Someone tell me it's a dream.
This can't be real.
Right?
Please.
Please...
"Tell me it's a dream..."
Reality was cruel.
What spread before Luna as she entered the house were her family's corpses.
The bodies were all abnormal, and as if showing how wronged they felt, they had died with their eyes open.
Luna walked across the floor splashing with blood.
The old man was nowhere to be seen.
"N-no... Th-this... isn't..."
—What isn't, Hero?
"It's not real... S-surely... I fell asleep on the train and had a nightmare..."
—It's real. Hero. This is your 'burden.' Accept it.
What even is a Hero, what's a burden...?
The hallucination spoke in an even clearer voice.
She could also hear screams of "save me," but Luna had no time to care due to the disaster that had occurred.
The voice continued speaking to Luna.
—Hero. Does this seem like a dream?
"I-it must be a dream... It can't be real..."
—Don't be weak, Hero. This is 'reality.' And you must take responsibility.
"R-responsibility... H-how do I take it...? C-can I save them...?"
On the verge of mental collapse,
Luna reached for the last spark of hope.
—Even if you fall, I'll raise you up again. If you want to save them. Pull me out.
"C-can I... save them...? M-my family...?"
The thick fog in her mind cleared and disappeared.
A sword shining golden blocked her view.
—Now, hurry and pull me out.
"..."
Okay...
I-I'll pull it out...
Driven to the edge, Luna reached for the sword with the feeling of grasping a last lifeline.
At that moment, space distorted and a person emerged from the void.
"O-old man—!! Y-you're alive—!!"
Before Luna could finish speaking, Lee Jun-woo's body collapsed forward.
Thud—
"H-huh...?"
Luna supported the falling old man's body.
Luna's hands became soaked with blood as she supported him.
Lee Jun-woo's condition was not good.
Bad enough that he could die at any moment.
"Ah... O-old man...?"
"Cough, Luna..."
"N-no... Don't leave me alone... O-old man... From now on I'll listen well... and train hard... Please... Please don't die..."
Drip drip—
Please don't die...
Don't leave me alone...
Luna shed tears, pressing her hand against the hole in Lee Jun-woo's heart to block it.
Even so, the blood flowed without stopping.
His body grew colder and colder.
Sensing death, Lee Jun-woo gently stroked Luna's head.
"...Luna. Cough—"
"D-don't speak—! Y-your condition—"
"...Luna, listen carefully. These are my last... words..."
"..."
Does it have to be the last...?
I thought today would be a good day...
Why did it become such a painful day?
Luna's vision blurred with tears.
Feeling Lee Jun-woo's warm touch that said "last,"
She heard his final words.
"...Even if you open your eyes again. Don't despair... And."
It will be hard.
It will be painful.
Bear the 'burden.'
You can do it.
Leaving only those words, Lee Jun-woo slowly closed his eyes.
As if stamping the fact that he had disappeared, the voice was heard again.
—Pull it out, Hero. The Apostle of the Goddess is dead. So pull it out.
"..."
Luna reached out without saying anything.
At this point, she didn't care what happened.
With even the hope that things would improve gone,
She pulled out the sword hidden in the fog.
Golden light burst forth, but Luna's eyes were empty.
—Congratulations, Hero. You've chosen to bear the burden.
To save people.
To create a happy world.
You've shouldered the burden of protecting peace.
—I'll send you back. Even if you fall, I'll raise you up again. My name is Holy Sword 'Timeless.' Looking forward to working with you.
Along with screams that became even clearer,
Holy Sword Timeless let out a chilling laugh.
And.
When she closed and opened her eyes.
"I-it's a nightmare—!! H-huh? Where is this? O-old man...? Y-you're alive...?!"
Luna was on the train.
"O-old man—!! Waaah—!!"
"...Luna, get off. You're loud."
"Sob— O-old man— Hic, I thought you were dead... Sob..."
...Did she really drink Estia's Holy Water?
Why is she acting like this?
Luna was clutching my waist, drip drip— shedding tears.
Her appearance was quite unstable, and she was genuinely frightened.
What on earth happened?
I couldn't understand.
"L-Luna...! M-move...! O-old man is troubled...!"
"Sob, Hare... I-I sob... was so scared... I-I thought it was over..."
"G-get away...! D-don't try to hug him...! O-old man... Please remove her..."
Did Luna have a nightmare?
But her reaction was too intense for that.
Luna's words were vivid, as if she was talking about something she'd actually experienced.
"...Luna, don't wipe your snot on my clothes. It's dirty."
"Sob— But sob... how can I not cry— My whole family died... sob, a-and you died too, old man..."
"...Wait, I died?"
"Yes, o-old man went i-into the house... and f-fought with a strange person..."
"Speak slowly, Luna."
"Sob, yes..."
Luna explained the situation through her tears.
That her entire family was massacred, that I closed the door and shouted to run away, and that I ultimately died with a hole in my heart.
And that she pulled out a strange sword.
Combining the information, there was one conclusion.
*Did Luna come from the future to the past...?*
If Luna's words were true, that was probably the answer.
And in that future, I died, and Luna remembers it.
In my opinion, that ability was closer to a curse than a blessing.
Having to remember people's deaths and continuously experience situations others don't remember.
That's what the Hero's 'burden' must be.
The Hero's burden of sacrificing for others and suffering pain in their place.
The continuous 'cycle' had begun.
At that moment, as if my thoughts were correct, Minerva's question arrived.
[Hero Luna, who experienced Lee Jun-woo's death once and returned. Will you read the book recorded from Luna's perspective, or will you not?]
[1. Read it.]
[2. Don't read it.]
"So there were more pages after I died for this reason..."
Time reversal.
Luna had turned back the timeline where her family died and I died.
Like rewinding a clock's spring, turning back time.
Then...
"Now's not the time to be doing this."
"...D-does old man believe Luna's lie...?"
"Right. Old man must be a bug to believe that."
It's not a lie.
Luna is talking about something that actually happened.
When we arrived at the station, I told Hare and Saten:
"You two wait here for Estia. Luna and I will go for a bit."
"Wh-where...?"
"Luna's house."
The corpses weren't old.
So if we move quickly now,
If we arrive swiftly,
We might be able to save Luna's family.
"Luna, I'll save your family."
"Yes, old man..."
Grasping Luna's hand as she steeled her resolve, we ran toward the house.
When we first fought, we probably died simultaneously, but...
*This time is different.*
Minerva must have recorded the fight between the Demon King and me.
She'll give me the answer through a question.
So.
Now I can turn the page that had been burned by black fire.
The recorded future doesn't lie.