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I Got a New Skill Every Time I Was Exiled, and After 100 Different Worlds, I Was Unmatched (Web Novel) - Chapter 349: Within That Conflict and Decision Lies Value Greater Than Gold
Chapter 349: Within That Conflict and Decision Lies Value Greater Than Gold
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
Third Person POV“Ginta, do you… understand what you’re doing?”
Since they met, it’s been about four months and a bit. Not an incredibly long time, but the moments they’ve spent together have been intense. Because of that, Ginta had started to feel like a close friend to Ed.
However, this supposed friend now had a sword pointed at him, and a cold gaze directed his way. This fact almost made Ginta want to retract his steps, and doubts began to arise within him.
(What am I really doing, Gyo!? But…)
“I-I understand… probably.”
“Probably? You…”
“I can’t help it, Gyo! I don’t really know myself, but I just can’t accept that kind of ending! I mean, this person has been working so hard all alone in this dark place to protect our world, right? But for their ending to be like this, it’s just too cruel, Gyo!”
Pitiful. If Ginta’s emotions toward the Demon King could be expressed, that phrase would probably fit the best. Continuing efforts unrecognized by anyone and vanishing from the world without anyone knowing—it was just too sad.
Although there was a vast difference between their situations, for Ginta, an underage apprentice treasure hunter who had struggled to gain recognition from his family, it evoked a certain sympathy.
“It’s not okay to just discard this person, Gyo. This person deserves acknowledgement, Gyo! So if Ed plans to do something about this person… I’ll protect them, Gyo!”
With determined eyes, Ginta faced Ed. But from Ed’s perspective, although he didn’t lower his poised sword, his expression seemed somewhat troubled.
“Well, even if you say that… Let me confirm again, though. Even if I don’t end it here, that person will die soon. And when that happens, the entire world will end along with them. Are you saying you’re willing to commit a grand suicide involving your family and the entire world?”
“There’s no way, Gyo! I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my family to die!”
“Then what’s your plan? Do you have some other way?”
“That’s… I don’t have one, Gyo… But, if I think about it now—”
“Thinking now? Something that even after thinking for thousands of years here no one couldn’t come up with? You expect a convenient solution to just flash into your mind while this person is still alive? That’s seriously underestimating the world, isn’t it?”
“Gyoooo… B-but…”
“That’s enough.”
As Ginta stumbled over his words, the Demon King spoke from behind him. Despite the intense pain still afflicting his body due to the god’s fragment, his expression remained calm.
“It’s enough, Ginta. I appreciate your feelings, but I must end it here.”
“But! But, why…”
“Even if all my kin were to perish, my desire to protect this world remains genuine. Therefore, I beg of you, Ginta. You, the beloved child of Nuoh who accepted me. Please accept my resolution to protect the world.”
“G-Guuh… Ugh, uuuuuhhhhh!”
Grimacing, gritting his teeth to the point of shattering, a moan of the soul escaped Ginta’s throat. As his clenched fist, causing blood to ooze, loosened, the spear he had held tightly slowly clattered to the ground.
“I… am… powerless. I can’t reach the hero I admired that day…!”
“Haha, it’s not like that.”
Ed casually patted Ginta’s hunched shoulders and passed by. Closing his eyes, he turned towards the resigned Demon King. Ed’s black sword swung—
First Person POV
“Phew… it is over.”
“………………………Huh?
At least, as Ginta tried to etch the last image of the great king into his memory and turned around, instead of the man released from the god’s fragment, sitting bewildered on the throne, resembling a friend, there stood—
“What the…?”
“Why am I alive?”
Beside me, Ginta, with a wide-open mouth, trembled uncontrollably, while the man who was once the Demon King in front of us shot a quizzical glance. But that was unexpected. I shrugged slightly, smiling wryly, as I responded.
“Why? Isn’t it obvious? I said I’d end this situation, not kill anyone.”
“What, what, what…”
“What does that mean?”
“Just as it sounds. The god’s fragment within you, I did indeed put an end to it.. But they were so deeply embedded that it was impossible to separate just the shards, so it feels like I’ve put an end to the entirety of the Demon King’s power. Man, what a huge loss. I managed to recover somewhat, but… will this really return properly?”
Can one’s own power be damaged by one’s own power? The answer is, of course, “yes.” But as for whether the wounds will heal, that’s hard to say. For an ordinary person, maybe, but I am the Demon King Of The End, End Roll.
Well, even if it doesn’t return, it’s just a fraction of a hundred. Compared to the reward in front of me… I’ll just scoff at that fee.
“Wait, that’s not the answer. If the power was recovered, why am I still alive?”
“You said it yourself earlier, didn’t you? Besides the Demon King’s power, there was the body given by Nuoh or something. That’s why you survived, because that part remains. Oh, but since the Demon King’s power is gone, from now on, you’ll age and die like an ordinary human, right? After that… I wonder? How your soul will circulate, I don’t know, but maybe you’ll be treated like any other human? Unless Nuoh intervenes.”
“…So, that means I’ve become an ordinary human?”
“Yeah. Well, please bear with that much.”
Eternal youth, immortality, all of that, I took it all away. Considering the origin, it’s hard to say it’s ‘safely saved’… but as I smirked, the former Demon King cried, covering his face with both hands.
“Bear with it!? Endure… Oh, could it be, that I can live as a human… as an ordinary human!?”
It’s kind of embarrassing to see my crying face. But without time to dwell on that feeling, Ginta grabbed me.
“Ed, Ed! Was this your plan from the beginning, Gyo?”
“Huh? Yeah, pretty much.”
“Then why didn’t you say so from the start, Gyo? I look like a total idiot, Gyo!”
“Rather, you look exactly like one.”
“Gyo! This is embarrassing, too embarrassing! I wish there was a hole to hide in, Gyo! Come to think of it, you never said anything, but Tia, could you have known?”
“Me? I didn’t know the ending, but it’s Ed, after all. I thought he’d come up with something good.”
“Gyo! This feels like I was completely played! It’s terrible, Gyo, I’ve been toyed with!”
“No, no, that wasn’t the intention. Hey, Ginta?”
“What? You’re planning to make fun of me again, Gyo?”
Tia smiled brightly, but Ginta’s face turned into an expression akin to the end of the world, overflowing with resentment. I placed my hand on Ginta’s shoulder and tried to speak, but he skillfully averted his face with a sullen attitude.
Despite that demeanor, I managed a slight wry smile and addressed him with genuine respect.
“I didn’t explain things in detail, so you earnestly agonized over that situation and made a decision. Don’t ever forget those feelings, the conflicts. By doing that, you can truly become a hero. Not just someone grandiose that others glorify as a hero, but a true hero who fights to protect what truly matters.”
“Ed…!”
Shock filled Ginta’s face, followed by tears welling up in his eyes. Finally, he tightly embraced me and burst into tears.
‘”Gyoooo! Ed, you’re really my best friend, Gyoo! Not just some sly, sore loser trying to look tough, Gyooo!”
“Haha… did you really think of me that way?”
“Gyoooo! Gyoooo!”
“’Hey, Ginta, about my question… well, guess it can’t be helped.”
“Fufu, Ed, you sure are popular, huh?”
Under Tia’s watchful smile, I gently patted Gyo’s back. I don’t have a hobby of being popular with men, but… well, sometimes this kind of thing isn’t so bad.
And so, the crisis of world collapse, along with the hero who caused it, was avoided without anyone knowing.
