After leaving Kataroff Village to search for Ageha, I decided to head to a major city to gather information.
That was how I found myself traveling by carriage all the way to the Royal Capital Lana.
As the name implies, it was the city where His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Lastana resided. Being the most prosperous city in the kingdom and a major transportation hub, it was constantly teeming with people.
I figured it would be the perfect place to dig for leads, but—
"The atmosphere here is strange."
I had never left Kataroff Village since the day I was born. This was my first time in a large city, but even I could tell something was off.
Everyone was in a frenzy.
People were eating and drinking in the streets, and some were even playing instruments and dancing. It was a complete festival atmosphere.
"Hey there, lad! Why don't you have a bite?"
A man taller and broader than me suddenly clapped a hand on my shoulder with easy familiarity.
"Oh, thank you."
I was swept along, handed food, and had a mug of ale shoved into my hand.
"Cheers!" he shouted, clinking his mug against mine. It had been poured to the brim, and the liquid splashed everywhere, but nobody seemed to care.
"Man, talk about a cause for celebration!"
The man drained his mug without a second thought.
"Um... what is all this about?" I asked.
"What? You don't know?! The Hero finally struck down the Demon King! We're all celebrating the victory!"
Ah, I see. That made sense.
If the Demon King had been defeated, it was only natural for the people to celebrate on this scale. Still, if the whole city was in this state, gathering information was going to be difficult.
"I saw it, you know. The battle between the Hero and the Demon King."
"What!?"
The people nearby all spun around to look at me at once. This was as good an opportunity as any; I figured I might as well enjoy myself a little.
"After all, I was the man who served as the Hero’s guide—"
I’m sure my expression at that moment was the very definition of smug.
I began to recount the battle between the Hero and the Demon King as if it were a legendary epic. The more I spoke, the larger the crowd grew, everyone listening with rapt attention and cheering at every turn.
When I finished describing the moment the Hero delivered the final blow, the crowd erupted in a thunderous roar. Those who had joined late pleaded for me to tell it again from the beginning.
Getting carried away, I started the tale over.
I ended up recounting the battle between the Hero and the Demon King to the masses over and over again. With each retelling, I learned the tricks to keep them hooked. My delivery became more polished, my gestures more animated, and the details more exaggerated.
"The Demon King blocked the Hero’s ultimate move with ease! Defeat seemed certain! Everyone had given up; there was nothing left to do but pray to God! But the Hero refused to surrender! His sheer conviction brought about a miracle!!"
As I reached the climax, the crowd alternated between screams of tension and cheers of joy. There was a massive throng of people surrounding me now, all of them completely enthralled by my story.
To top it off, the excited listeners started tossing coins my way. I actually managed to earn quite a tidy sum.
Man, this feels surprisingly good.
"Hey! We received a report that a fool is here fabricating rumors about the Hero!"
I looked up to see a group of armored soldiers approaching.
"Uh oh..."
I didn't think I’d done anything wrong, but it was the way of the world to be targeted if you made too much of a scene.
"Wait, it’s not like that, I was just..."
I racked my brain for an excuse as I spoke.
"Wait, is that not Kiska?"
Someone called my name. I looked over and saw a familiar face. It was the Holy Knight, Kariana.
"What are you doing in a place like this?" she asked.
"I was... spreading the legend of the Hero to the people."
Yes, this was for the Hero’s sake—a charitable activity, so to speak. Surely no one could fault me for that.
"Well, it is true that you witnessed the Hero’s battle. It does not seem like you are spreading lies."
"So... you’re saying it’s fine for me to continue?"
"I suppose. Spreading the Hero’s legend among the populace brings benefit to the state. I shall officially recognize your activities."
"Thank you very much!"
With that, my storytelling became state-sanctioned. Now I could do this on an even larger scale—no, wait.
I couldn't lose sight of my goal. My purpose was to find Ageha. I didn't have time to be wasting hours on this.
"By the way, what is Hero Eligion doing right now?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
Since Kariana was here in the capital, I assumed Eligion had returned as well.
"Um, Kariana-san?"
She didn't answer. She averted her gaze from me and stared into the distance, as if my voice wasn't even reaching her.
"...Dragons," she whispered.
Dragons? What on earth was she—
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!"
A thunderous, earth-shaking roar erupted. I spun around instinctively.
"—Huh?"
The sight before me left me speechless.
There were dragons.
Dragons were known as the most atrocious of all monsters. They were S-Rank threats, and killing even one was considered an incredible feat.
And yet, there they were—legendary monsters, right in front of me.
If it had been just one dragon in the sky, I wouldn't have been this shocked. It was rare for one to breach a city, but not impossible.
However, it wasn't just one.
How many were there? I couldn't even count.
They filled the sky. Though the day had been clear moments ago, the swarm was so dense it blocked the sun, plunging the city into an artificial twilight.
"Hey, what is that!?"
"A swarm of dragons! They're attacking!"
The voices of the panicked crowd began to rise. Normally, dragons were proud creatures that hated acting in groups. Yet these were moving in unison, like an organized army.
"Kariana-san!?" I shouted.
She was a Holy Knight and a member of the Royal Guard. Surely she had some way to handle this.
"Wait... she's gone."
I looked where she had been standing just a second ago, but she had vanished.
"Run! Get out of here!"
"Hey, don't push me!"
"Move it! Get out of the way!"
"Mommy! Where are you!?"
The festive atmosphere vanished in an instant. Everyone scrambled to escape the encroaching dragons. In their desperation to be the first to flee, people began shoving and brawling with one another.
Then, a dragon slammed into the ground.
The impact alone made the earth heave; buildings collapsed, and people were crushed instantly. Then another landed. And another.
With every landing, more people died.
One dragon unleashed Black Flames, incinerating the crowd. Another snatched up fleeing citizens with its claws and stuffed them into its massive maw.
Everywhere I looked, people were being slaughtered. Screams and wails echoed from every corner of the city. Some tried to arm themselves and fight back, but they were the first to be torn apart. Dragons blocked the city gates, systematically crunching anyone who tried to pass.
I watched someone die right in front of me. Again.
The thriving city had become a battlefield. No, that wasn't the right word. It was an execution ground. The people were being murdered without the slightest hope of resistance.
Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch. Squelch. Crunch.
Like a horrific rhythm, the sound of people being trampled into paste filled the air. Before I knew it, mountains of corpses were piling up.
"Ah... ah..."
I could do nothing but crouch where I stood. Nothing I did would change this. The violence unfolding before me was too overwhelming.
The world was going to end.
I had come from a hundred years in the future to change that. I hadn't really felt the weight of that responsibility before, but the Observer had sent me back with those instructions. Perhaps because of that, I hadn't truly grasped what "the end of the world" actually meant.
But now, the reality was being forced upon me.
"I'm... supposed to change this?"
How? How could one person possibly change a future like this?
"It's impossible."
This was far beyond my capabilities.
As I reached that conclusion, I heard the sound of my own spirit breaking.
"It's impossible! It’s impossible! I can't do it!"
I screamed and began to run blindly. It didn't matter if a dragon killed me. In fact, I wanted them to kill me.
I ran and ran until—Thud! I slammed into someone.
At first, I thought I’d hit a stone pillar. It was that massive, that solid. But when I looked up, I saw a face. Its mouth was moving.
"Hmm. It seems things are proceeding smoothly."
"Huh...?"
I couldn't process it. Why was Demon King Zoga here? He was supposed to be dead.
The "pillar" I had run into was the Demon King himself.
"Why... why are you here?" I stammered.
"Hmm?"
The Demon King turned his head. He didn't even truly look at me. He simply swung his Greatsword as if he were crushing an ant that happened to be in his path.
"Ah—"
I reflexively threw up my arms to protect myself, but the blade sheared through my limbs and my torso in a single stroke.
In the next heartbeat, I was dead.
"Gah!"
I snapped awake, gasping for air.
Where was I? I looked around, trying to get my bearings. I was surrounded by cold, rugged stone walls.
I was inside the Kataroff Dungeon.
Right... I remembered now. This was the moment right after I had stepped onto the Teleportation Circle with the Hero's party and ended up all alone in the dungeon.
It seemed my Return by Death had sent me back to this point.