I led Rubia towards the center of the village.
Fortunately, Rubia's wounds were slowly healing.
But my mood showed no signs of improving at all.
I still couldn't understand Rubia.
"What were you thinking? What if you died doing that?"
My voice came out cold, as harsh as this body could manage.
"I told you already. I won't die. I can't die..."
That's wrong.
Rubia isn't incapable of dying.
The Rubia I knew from the game didn't have immortality as part of her story.
She could die whenever she gave up.
If she lost everything, she could die immediately.
So the fact that Rubia was still alive like this...
Even if she went around saying she hated everything, that she resented the world...
It meant that deep down, she still liked this world.
It meant she still had lingering attachments.
"Noah...?"
"Yes?"
Rubia annoyed me.
I was frustrated with her.
She was stubborn.
So foolish.
She claimed to hate the world.
She said she didn't care for people anymore.
She said she didn't want to save anyone.
Yet after all that betrayal, all that hurt—
Why hadn't she given up?
Of course, I didn't want her to give up.
I wanted her to keep going.
I wanted her not to break.
But at the same time, I wished she would give up.
I wanted her to value herself more.
I didn't want her to die like my father did—
Abandoned by everyone, left to perish.
A hero shouldn't die like that.
They should live on forever,
Etched into people's memories.
They shouldn't be forgotten.
"Why... why are you angry with me?"
I cleaved the head of a goblin in half as it approached.
I tore apart its body, and then the one next to it.
I hacked at the limbs of the others nearby.
"I'm not angry."
The roar of an orc filled the air, and I shoved my greatsword into its mouth.
Over and over, I stabbed until no sound came from it.
Brains splattered across Rubia's hand as I held hers tightly.
"Ugh... Noah...!"
I wiped the mess off on my clothes.
Then I moved forward again, heading for the center of the village.
Each time a monster crossed my path, I cut off its head, tore through its waist, and ripped off its limbs.
I picked up weapons dropped by the monsters and threw them, stabbed them, and slashed them.
My mind, now broken beyond repair, searched for the screams of the villagers.
I searched for them with a kind of obsession,
Spreading out my senses, drawing a map of them in my head.
I saw the dead.
The bodies.
The severed limbs.
The masses of flesh no longer resembling people.
A wave of nausea welled up inside me, but I erased the image from my mind.
I searched for the living instead.
I focused on those who could still be saved.
Even though I came to save people,
There were many who mistook me for a monster, drenched in blood as I was.
I rescued as many as I could,
Guiding them to safety, every last one I encountered on my way.
Finally, we reached the center of the village, and I spread out my senses once more.
There were still a few adventurers left, hunting the remaining monsters.
Were they trying to defend the village gate and were forced to retreat?
Or were they staying out of guilt because they couldn't handle the shame of running away?
I didn't know.
I gripped Rubia's hand tighter.
"Were there any adventurers who stayed until the very end?"
"A few... less than twenty. But I told them to leave."
"Why?"
"Because they would die. Like I said before, I don't die... as you've seen."
I squeezed Rubia's hand even tighter,
Hard enough that she groaned in pain.
"And if I do this... doesn't it hurt?"
"Ugh... Y-Yes, it hurts...! Why are you doing this...?"
"You feel pain just like anyone else, so why would you do something like that?"
I squeezed even harder, to the point where Rubia's hand could have been crushed.
But Rubia didn't get angry at all.
Her voice remained gentle,
As if to tell me it wasn't my fault.
Warm, comforting words.
"You did the same, Noah. You got hurt so badly trying to protect me."
"And why do you think you're worth getting hurt for?"
I have a reason for protecting you.
Until I find the answer I've been searching for—
The answer my father left me with—
You have to stay alive.
But you...
You're different.
"As I said before, Noah, you're... my guiding star."
Again.
Again she says things that remind me of my parents.
Of the things my father and mother used to say.
It was painful.
I released her hand.
Rubia carefully pulled her hand away,
But she never took her eyes off me.
It seemed like she didn't hold any resentment towards me.
An orc rushed at Rubia, and I swung my greatsword at it.
Its guts, blood, and flesh splattered all over Rubia.
She gagged and shivered.
"Ugh... Noah... Could you take it easy, please?"
"Ah, sorry."
I did it on purpose.
Because I was annoyed.
Because she irritated me... for no reason.
I was frustrated with Rubia for making me feel this way.
I expanded my senses again.
I could see Luchi and Heinzel slowly making their way towards us from the south.
Ahead of them, a gold-ranked adventurer was fighting the monsters.
The cries of the villagers echoed all around.
They screamed, demanding to know why we arrived so late.
Telling us to save their children, their parents, their families.
Their anger, having nowhere else to go, was directed at the remaining adventurers.
Luchi and Heinzel seemed unfazed, as if they were used to this kind of thing.
But the gold-ranked adventurer wasn't.
The despair of the villagers was starting to overwhelm them.
"So, there's still a gold-ranked adventurer left."
"Yes... He's one of the few who stayed until the end."
"But in the end, he ran away and left you behind."
"I told him to leave. He didn't do anything wrong."
I swung my greatsword roughly, slicing through another monster that charged at us.
Its guts spilled across the ground.
"Rubia."
I hoped that Rubia wouldn't be consumed by bitterness.
I hoped she wouldn't break from seeing the people she admired crumble.
I hoped she wouldn't end up like me,
Trapped in a life of pain and hardship.
And in the end,
I hoped she'd be able to give me the answer I've been seeking.
"Yes...?"
So she needs to hear this.
That I'm not doing this for the sake of others.
That I'm only doing it because of my own stubbornness.
"I have to save people."
Rubia tilted her head, confused.
"It's not some hero complex. It's not a sense of justice. I don't want to do it. I'm scared. But..."
How should I explain this?
The mental illness,
The obsession,
The chains,
The despair,
The fear,
The sadness,
The relief,
The duty,
The hope—
Everything that my father and mother left behind.
A twisted mix of it all.
"It's the reason for my existence."
This isn't some noble sense of justice.
It's a filthy, clinging obsession,
Covered in the ashes of despair.
"So don't... don't feel responsible or guilty. I'm not doing this out of a pure desire to save anyone. This is just... Ah, forget it."
Luchi and Heinzel were getting closer, waving at us.
"I'm not going to die. So stop worrying."
I left Rubia's protection to Luchi and Heinzel.
"Just watch what the person next to you—the one who promised to protect you for life—is capable of."
I closed my eyes and extended my senses.
The entire village came into view.
I mapped out the monsters.
Thousands of monsters.
The adventurers had barely killed half of them.
Thousands of monsters flooded into my mind.
I could see their bodies, their muscles, their veins, and the blood flowing within them.
I could see the orc raising its arm, preparing to strike.
I could see Luchi's movements as he cut it down.
I could see the goblin charging at me.
I saw Heinzel crush its head.
The heartbeat of the frenzied adventurers sped up as they killed the monsters.
I could see the movement of every living thing.
I could feel the forewarning of every attack.
"Don't die. Don't even think about dying. Keep fighting and live."
I stomped on a goblin's head as I charged into the swarm of monsters. I read the movement of their muscles, dodging with minimal effort and striking their weakest points with my greatsword.
I couldn't feel the impact, but I knew I had struck true. I moved on to the next monster, deflecting attacks and cutting them down.
There was still no sense of impact. Even as their heartbeats stopped, I felt nothing.
I licked my dry lips and continued my movements.
My blood-soaked greatsword raged through the battlefield. An orc's axe, a club, a hand, an arm, a leg, guts—all of it flew through the air and mixed together.
The cries of the villagers were drowned out by the screams of the monsters. The despair of the village was smothered by the deaths of the monsters.
I swung my greatsword again, stepping forward, throwing my body into the fight.
I moved before I could think. I thought while I moved.
I scattered the greatsword, swallowing the blood droplets.
A goblin's spear pierced my thigh. I swung my sword in a crescent arc, crushing the goblin's head.
An orc's axe shattered my shoulder. My outstretched left hand gouged out its eyes and scrambled its brain.
I swung the orc's body around as a weapon, sending goblins flying.
I stepped back, parrying all the attacks. My back hit a pillar.
There was nowhere to retreat.
I thought back to how I had once brought down a wall.
In a brief moment, dozens of spears, swords, fists, and claws came rushing at me.
Luchi's unique skill cut through them all.
I focused on my senses. I focused on my instincts.
I found the weak points and slashed at them.
The building collapsed. The ground caved in.
The building's debris rained down on me.
I mapped out my movements, figuring out the most efficient way to move in this situation.
Following that path, I swung my greatsword. The falling rubble was all cut down, deflected, and scattered.
The shards of debris tore through the monsters, causing them to burst apart.
I inhaled sharply and stomped hard on the ground. The acrid dust tore through my lungs.
I swung my greatsword, and it met their weak points.
Tearing, cutting, and bursting.
Every part of the monsters soaked the ground.
An elite orc's hammer swung down.
I couldn't dodge it. I couldn't deflect it. I couldn't parry it.
I recreated Luchi's movement in my head and mimicked it with my body. My muscles moved just as his would.
I tilted my greatsword and let the hammer's force flow past me like water.
The hammer struck the ground beside me.
I climbed up its arm and rammed my greatsword into its mouth.
I kicked the hilt of the sword, ripping the elite orc's head and spine out.
I landed on the ground, driving my sword down.
Dozens of goblins exploded.
My stomach churned. I barely held onto my fading consciousness.
Blood rose from my throat, moistening my parched lips.
The bones in my legs cracked. I adjusted to a more efficient movement.
I swung my greatsword. I killed the monsters. I killed and killed.
My mind was burning up. My entire body screamed in pain.
But that kept me awake.
Gradually, my senses dimmed. The picture became blurry.
One more. I needed to kill just one more.
One more drop of blood.
I forced my body to move.
An orc's fist slammed into my body, sending me rolling across the ground as I coughed up blood.
My ribs were shattered. They pierced my lungs.
I couldn't breathe.
I pulled out a potion and swallowed it.
The potion mixed with blood surged back up, but I forced it down again.
I grabbed my greatsword.
I swung into the horde of hundreds of monsters that surged at me like a wave.
It swung my greatsword at their weak points.
Slowly I could no longer sense their weak points. The area was still full of monsters.
But that didn't matter.
I just had to keep swinging my sword.
I focused my senses inward, controlling my body.
I moved it in the most efficient way possible.
I drew the most efficient path and followed it.
I swung my greatsword.
Until there was nothing left around me. Until there was no more blood splattering on me.
I relentlessly poured everything I had into the fight.
The weight of my greatsword became imperceptible.
I could no longer sense anything through my senses.
Everything had broken. Everything had shattered.
All that remained was the sword's hilt.
But still, I kept swinging.
Then, instead of striking monsters, my greatsword met something else.
Rubia's arms.
I collapsed into her.
Fell into her embrace.
I wanted to hear her voice.
But I couldn't hear anything.
The screams of the villagers, the despair, the pain.
Even the roars of the monsters.
All I could hear was the endless sound of Rubia's sobbing.
I smiled faintly, wiping away her tears.
And then, straining my voice so Luchi and Heinzel could hear, I spoke.
"I'm... first place... So, buy me... jelly."
With those words, my consciousness faded away.