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HELHEIM SCANS
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The hero's party safely returned to Avalon.
Along the way, they spotted elite demons hastily heading toward the stake, but they were not delayed by them.
"What on earth is happening...?"
"Protect the core!"
"How could mere humans touch the great core of the demon world...?"The demons were in a complete panic, rushing toward the stake.
They must have been desperate to stop the explosion.
However, as Larze had declared, no such luck existed for them.
The explosion occurred precisely at the scheduled time, and unless they were exceptionally quick-witted, they were likely all caught in the blast.
"Perhaps only the demon commanders survived."
Thanks to this, there were no further pursuits.
Additionally, as expected, there were no disturbances as they passed through the 49th sector.
The demonic energy had already dissipated.
There were no monster hordes blocking their path.
It seemed they planned to conserve their forces and confront them in the 50th sector.
...So, this is truly the final battle now.
The hero turned his gaze toward the image showing the outside.
At the edge of his view, the Demon King's castle slowly came into sight.
It was the first stake ever planted in this world.
It was difficult to clearly discern its appearance just by looking, as a barrier, as dark red as dried blood, surrounded it.
However, the hero, who had seen the castle once before through Zero's memories, remembered its form vividly—a bizarre structure that seemed it should not exist even in nightmares.
"I completely understand if you're lost in thought, but could you spare a moment?"
The hero looked at Mother Ghost.
Taking his gaze as permission, she began speaking without delay.
"Then, I’ll report the damage."
Avalon suffered considerable damage while facing the elite demons without its main force.
First of all, there wasn't much left of the deck equipment.
A few video orbs, the main cannon, and six turrets—most of the turrets were destroyed.
The technicians were running around on the deck, trying to repair as much as possible, but it was uncertain if they could fix even one more before arrival.
"...Next."
The next report was on casualties.
Half of the elves and northern tribes guarding the main hatch had died.
Some of the royal guards, Shadows, and imperial knights assisting with defense also perished.
Additionally, four members of the Dawn Knights, who had been defending the endless tracks on the ground, were killed.
According to Ban’s report, the desperate demons launched near-suicidal assaults on the endless tracks, and the fallen knights willingly sacrificed themselves to stop them.
Now, only fourteen Dawn Knights remained.
Arpheus's confidants all perished.
Just before entering the captain's quarters, the hero had seen Arpheus muttering, with a bitter expression,
"Thank you for following a deficient leader like me," as he looked at his subordinates covered in white cloth.
Several magicians from the Tower, who had overexerted themselves in the engine room, were teetering on the brink of death from mana depletion.
Injuries were rampant, and Barun, who was in charge of treatment, hadn’t left the infirmary.
Mother Ghost finished the report quickly and in a businesslike tone.
"As harsh as it may sound..."
"Yes, the damage is less than expected."
"Yes, indeed. We are in a very favorable situation."
Far more survived than their initial goal of half.
If they hadn't detonated the core and continued fighting until the final battle in the 50th sector, where all the demonic energy had gathered, they would have been half-destroyed before the Demon King's descent.
So, the strategy was correct.
And it succeeded.
"......"
But the hero couldn’t simply be pleased.
Nor could he feel sorrow.
"...Good job. You may leave now."
"Yes."
Mother Ghost paused as she was about to leave the captain’s quarters and looked back at the hero.
He was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed.
Suddenly, she realized that an emotion she would never understand was swirling inside him.
"Shall I put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door for you?"
The hero slightly opened one eye and smiled faintly.
"Please do."
.
.
.
The faint sound of the fortress operating filled the captain's quarters for a while.
It was equally quiet outside.
One hour to the entrance of the 50th sector.
Thirty minutes until the scheduled assembly.
Everyone was likely spending time on their own.
...The hero was no different.
"......"
Step—
After sitting still for a while, the hero slowly got up and approached a mirror in the corner of the captain's quarters.
He then set aside his true appearance, which he had maintained throughout the operation, and assumed the form of Ted.
A familiar face reflected in the mirror: ash-colored hair and eyes, a peculiar atmosphere combining an innately warm nature with the coldness forged by his role as a hero.
The memory of standing in front of the mirror after first replicating him naturally came to mind.
"...I think I can replicate you easily enough."
When he showed such confidence, Ted smiled for the first time.
"I hope you can."
Looking back now, it was a ridiculous notion, but he really believed it at the time.
Back then, Ted was quite a dull person.
His speech, demeanor, habits, even his minor gestures—all were static and simple.
So the hero had arrogantly thought he could quickly play the perfect double.
‘But...’
The hero reached out to touch the mirror.
‘Ten years wasn’t enough.’
It had been about ten years since he first met Ted.
It had been four years since he decided to become the real hero.
The hero let out a dry laugh.
‘...Only four years.’
He had truly run without rest.
Looking back, those were years of such intense and dense experiences that it felt suffocating.
The hero quietly spoke while gazing into the mirror as he reflected on those memories.
"In the end, I came in your place."
...I came in your place.
With your comrades, with the bonds forged through what you gave me, and standing before the dream you had.
The hero turned his gaze to the Demon King’s castle, staring at it quietly.
Nothing would feel like a waste if he could be here with Ted.
If only he could show Ted that his dedication and suffering had finally borne fruit.
If only he could show that nothing Ted did was in vain... just that.
‘Then, what kind of expression would you have made?’
At the very least, it would’ve been an expression so splendid that the sorrowful face he last saw would be forgotten in an instant.
Because of this, the hero couldn't easily take his eyes off the mirror.
[…In the end, you still act like a human.]
"......"
[If you're a doppelganger, think like one.]
Before the hero could ask about the strange words, the voice continued.
[Do you think you came here in place of that human? Not a chance.]
The voice spoke calmly, as if stating an obvious fact.
[You were brought here.]
...An audacious thought that only a doppelganger could entertain.
The hero could only laugh bitterly.
"Is that so?"
[Yes, so stop dwelling on that friend of yours inside you. A formidable foe awaits you just ahead.]
The hero slowly averted his gaze from the mirror.
"That's an unusually good point."
[I've always made good points.]
Knock, knock—
The sound of knocking was heard just as their conversation was wrapping up.
Only one person would knock despite the "Do Not Disturb" sign.
"Eupehmia."
"You...?"
Euphemia was momentarily surprised to see him in Ted's form.
Then, as if she was about to say something, she opened her mouth... but ended up smiling faintly instead.
"Are you going to fight in that form?"
The hero hesitated before shaking his head and releasing his polymorph.
"No. I want to fight as myself."
"Yes, I think that's the right choice."
Euphemia said as she reached out and lightly grasped the hero's wrist.
"It's time to go. Everyone's gathered."
"Is it that time already?"
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HELHEIM SCANS
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"Yes, the main character shouldn't be absent from such an occasion."
"You..."
A sense of déjà vu.
She had said it to him at the victory celebration after Ted's death, as she sent him onto the stage.
She was the emperor who smiled slyly, perhaps choosing the same words deliberately.
"Let's go to the end of this long deception."
Indeed.
The hero firmly grasped her hand in return.
It was time to bring everyone to a happy ending.
* * *
At the edge of the 50th sector.
The Demon King's castle, shrouded in a crimson barrier, stood as the backdrop for the assembled demon army.
The Malekia's legion, the minions of pain, presented their ironclad, highly regenerative bodies at the front.
Behind them stood the undead army that Theo had absorbed from Yol.
The sound of bones creaking echoed simultaneously.
The green glow emanating from their empty eye sockets shone eerily in the darkness.
Malekia and Theo had not yet shown themselves.
They were likely pouring all their efforts into completing the descent ritual in the Demon King's castle.
Instead, the 4th and 5th commanders, who had barely escaped the explosion of the 48th sector, stood at the forefront, glaring coldly at the approaching Avalon.
The total strength of the enemy forces was estimated to be around 30,000.
And they were all enhanced by the dark magic.
...Hostile gazes filled with malice poured onto the approaching Avalon as if they had physical weight.
On the other hand, the assault unit was barely 200 strong.
They stood on the deck, perfectly aligned, facing the demon army.
In ten minutes, they would collide with the enemy's vanguard.
The man at the front spoke at that moment.
"Avalon, prepare for the final battle."
[Final battle mode activated.]
[Switching all systems to maximum output. Preparing for direct combat with the enemy. Switching to melee mode, initiating close combat systems.]
A clear voice resounded.
[Best of luck to everyone.]
Even with all the turrets destroyed, Avalon was far from useless.
Whirrrrr—!
The debris of the destroyed turrets detached and were discarded to the ground.
In their place, various barricades, camouflage nets, smoke generators, and bunkers took over.
Avalon was being fortified for close combat.
"Everyone, to your positions!"
Without hesitation, the assault unit members ran to their designated spots, while the hero watched them with hollow eyes.
"......"
There was no need to explain the final operation again.
Everyone was already thoroughly familiar with it.
They would penetrate the enemy's core and send him into the Demon King's castle.
After he breached the castle, they would guard the entrance with their lives.
...It was a simple and straightforward plan.
The hero let out a low sigh.
"Listen, everyone."
It wasn't a loud voice.
It was a voice that could easily be drowned out by the sound of Avalon's engines and the distant roars of the monsters.
But the assault unit members all turned their gazes to the hero.
No, they had been watching him from the start.
"I've been watching over you all for hundreds of years."
The hero's words, revealing his inhuman nature once more, brought a flicker of surprise to the assault unit's eyes.
"I've witnessed the pain your parents endured during those long years."
But as his next words followed, the curiosity quickly subsided.
"It was no different from what their parents had to endure. And the generation before that was no exception either."
"......"
"What has your life been like?"
The hero didn't wait for an answer.
There was no need to speak; it was clear their lives had been filled with pain.
Each of them stood there, having overcome their own sorrows.
Euphemia, the children, the Knights of Dawn, and all the other members of the assault unit were no different.
They were here after leaving behind sorrows they shouldn't have had to bear.
Srring—
The hero raised the black sword, Black Hope, high into the sky.
Whoosh—
A surge of powerful magic erupted, and white flames engulfed the blade.
Black Hope shone brightly like a torch against the pitch-black sky of the demon world.
"The time has come to break that chain of evil."
The suffering would end with this generation.
"So that no more unjust sorrows and wounds remain."
Barun, who had silently walked onto the deck, recited the creed of the Knights of Dawn.
"...We shall become the dawn that dispels the cold night cast over this world."
Srring—
The sound of metal echoed across the deck simultaneously.
Everyone gripped their weapons tighter, their eyes fixed on the hero.
The hero met each of their gazes and recalled the words of a certain someone that had lingered in his ears for the past four years.
"Please, Ted Redymer, bring a future for humanity."
...Was he watching him?
The hero looked at Hope, which shone with a radiant light.
Beyond the flickering light, the towering Demon King's castle loomed.
But now, there was no longer any fear or hesitation.
It felt like a fireball was rising up his throat.
The hero shouted in the loudest voice he could muster.
"For the glorious future that awaits us!"
...And for his noble friend, who fell too soon.
At his shout, the assault unit eagerly responded with a collective roar, raising their weapons.
"For the Empire!"
"For Her Majesty the Emperor!"
"Our leader is watching!"
"Father!"
"...Kids! Are you watching!"
The hero lifted his head.
A surge of exhilaration washed over him.
The enemy was already within reach.
The sound of growling monsters, the clamor, the barrage of magic bullets, and the towering Demon King's castle.
Amidst it all, the hero felt as though he finally heard the long-awaited answer.
"You can see this through to the end."
And then the vanguard of the demon army crashed onto the deck like a wave.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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