Editor : Amethyst00



'Now's my chance.'

Watching the clash between Kyle and Erebos, Nyx swiftly began to slip away from the battlefield.

She had to avoid annihilation at all costs. She had to persist—had to survive—until the day her wish was fulfilled.

The moment that thought crossed her mind—

FLASH—! KRAKKA-KRAK-KRAKOOM—!

Pillars of radiant light rained down from the sky like spears, crashing down all around her.

Nyx's face stiffened as the spears of light encircled her.

Step—step—

Then came footsteps. Each step echoed louder than it should have, unnaturally clear.

The world fell silent, as if that sound alone had consumed the battlefield.

A woman emerged—her beauty transcending that of a goddess. Her presence—overwhelming enough to seem as if it weighed upon the world itself.

"And you are?"

"The Wise Queen. Lysinas."

"Ah… so you're the dragon the gods once named the King of the World."

Nyx smiled sweetly.

"Did you come to help your comrade? Then surely, stopping me is the wrong choice, isn't it?"

"No."

Lysinas shook her head.

"I came to eradicate you."

Nyx's eye twitched.

"Isn't that grotesque thing the bigger threat right now?"

"That's why I brought someone to handle him. The one and only natural enemy of the evil god."

"Ha. And they call you the Wise Queen… how utterly foolish."

Nyx let out a scoffing laugh.

"What do you expect that walking corpse to do?"

Her voice dripped with mockery.

Walking corpse. She wasn't wrong.

"You've dulled his pain with your illusion magic, haven't you? But that so-called Hero of the Beginning—he's already at his limit. He won't last long."

The Kyle who stood now had crossed over from the final chapter. He had defeated Erebos after a harrowing battle.

But the price… was his life.

It wasn't just that his body had been pushed to the brink— the wounds he'd suffered were beyond healing.

The flame of calamity, that cursed fire, still burned him from within.

Even Lysinas's healing magic couldn't mend that.

No… there may not be a single being in this world who could heal those wounds.

All Lysinas could do was slow the loss of Kyle's strength, and dull his pain with illusion magic.

It wasn't true recovery. Just enough support to let him keep moving.

A fragile, desperate measure.

And yet—

"So what?"

"What…?"

"Who are you to judge Kyle's limits?"

Lysinas's eyes flashed.

"You said he won't last long? Nonsense."

Because she knew.

More than anyone.

That man would never give up.

Because she believed. With all her being.

That he would work a miracle. That he would make the impossible… possible.

Because—

"Kyle is the beginning!"

Defying the end—that was the fate he had embraced.

Which meant her path was clear.

"You, I'll deal with."

"Ha! And you are what the world calls its savior? Pathetic! Erebos will burn everything to ash, true—but I am different! I offer a world that will last forever! How can you not see the flame of calamity is the greater threat?! I'm not the priority here—!"

"I don't care about dead worlds!"

WHHHHRRRRRRMMM—

Dark mana surged from Lysinas's body.

It snaked along her shadow— and in an instant, lashed out to bind Nyx in place.

"What we wanted was a world filled with infinite possibility! A living world!"

It was for that wish that Kyle had faced Erebos. And still did.

"The future you offer… is no different than the ash-strewn ruin Erebos would leave behind. You, too, are an unforgivable existence."

Lysinas raised a hand and pointed it at Nyx.

"That's why I will erase you from this world."

"Foolish lizard!"

Nyx's voice trembled with venom and fury.

"Was that supposed to provoke me, you miserable failure?!"

Lysinas gave her a scornful smirk—

Snap—!

KRAKKA-KRAK-KRAKOOM! KRUNCH—!

The shadows binding Nyx tore into her form, shredding the evil god's body.

Simultaneously, brilliant particles of light erupted from all sides and pierced through her.

"You worthless mortals—!"

Nyx's scream rang out, steeped in wrath and hatred.

Her eyes met Lysinas's.

And even Nyx—goddess of frozen death— felt a chill from that icy, emotionless gaze.

Shivering in terror, she tried to flee— but Lysinas raised her palm—

Sssshhh—

Nyx, her mouth now sealed shut, began to thrash in desperation.

CRACK—! CRUNCH—!

And then Lysinas clenched her fist.

Nyx's body shattered into fragments.

"I'll make sure you're destroyed so thoroughly… that even oblivion would seem a mercy."

bl

Erebos's gaze coolly assessed Kyle's current strength.

'The Hero of the Beginning… from the very end.'

It was unmistakable—this was the hero who had struck him down, moments before death.

But—

'He is not omnipotent.'

During their final battle, Kyle had been a monster bordering on godhood. Even Erebos—after absorbing all evil gods and burning the world to become the strongest flame—had been overwhelmed by him.

The strength that had once sent shivers down Erebos's spine… It hadn't been Kyle's own power.

'It was merely borrowed.'

[The aura of the Brave.]

[The flames of the Divine Blacksmith.]

[The mana of the Poet of the Star.]

[The heart of the Wise Queen.]

All of it had been poured into the vessel called the Hero of the Beginning. That's what had made such impossible power possible.

But it hadn't been his.

It was all temporary—powers meant to be used once and vanish.

And Kyle had spent it all.

What remained now… were dregs.

The man before Erebos was no longer the strongest hero. He was merely a dying one.

If it came down to power alone, even with only half of his strength recovered, Erebos was overwhelmingly superior.

And yet—

'…How is he still fighting like this?'

Kyle's body was clinging to life, yet he continued to face his limits—and kept breaking through them.

'Yes… he was never someone I could understand.'

Erebos gave up trying to comprehend the source of Kyle's power.

'Even back then, 5,000 years ago… I couldn't understand him. That's why I lost.'

So he would do the same now—stop trying to understand.

There was only one thing he needed to do:

'Crush the Hero of the Beginning.'

FWOOOOSH—!

Black flame surged to the tip of Erebos's blade.

CLAAAANG—!

Their swords clashed.

WHOOOM—!

A wave of black fire rushed toward Kyle.

Kyle gritted his teeth—

WHRRRRMMM—!

Golden aura erupted from his body. But it was no longer the brilliant blaze it once was.

It flickered weakly—unstable, ready to extinguish at any moment.

'Aaron's power is completely gone from me!'

He had answered Lysinas's summons and crossed time and space.

But that didn't change the truth: he had been a man on the brink of death when the final battle ended.

The vessel called Kyle, Hero of the Beginning, was now hollow.

He summoned his gray aura.

And with that, he began to lose ground.

WHOOOSH—!

Black flame slashed toward him.

He countered with Dweno's flame— but it flickered feebly, nearly extinguished.

The word limit screamed in his head.

'Yes… a limit.'

It was a miracle he was still breathing at all.

But Kyle didn't care.

CRACK—!

The sword in his hands snapped.

'I'll be like this soon, too.'

But… not yet.

"Persistent, for a fake!"

Erebos snarled.

Kyle scoffed.

"You still haven't learned, huh? Even after I broke you into six pieces, you didn't get it!"

Mocking him, Kyle leapt back to put distance between them.

'A weapon… I need a weapon.'

This was a battlefield—countless weapons lay scattered.

But not just any weapon would do.

He needed something that could withstand Erebos's power.

As Kyle scanned desperately—

WHOOSH—!

He heard something slice through the air near his ear.

He instinctively reached out—

THWACK—!

Something familiar landed in his grip.

'Postéritas?'

The sword Dweno had crafted for him.

The same blade that had burned out its lifespan in the battle against Erebos.

It had returned—whole.

Kyle gave a bitter smirk.

'So, you're a fake too?'

Just another replica that existed in this Hero's World.

'A fake…'

He wondered— Did this battle even have meaning?

He had already reincarnated.

What stood here now was a fake, built from memories and records of the past.

His body burned.

A searing pain, like his brain was boiling, racked him.

Why endure this pain?

'…Because.'

Kyle clenched his teeth, swallowing the blood rising in his throat.

Whether he was fake or not didn't matter.

What mattered—was that this was the moment to fight.

'Besides… I've been given a second life.'

Lysinas had shown him.

A vision of hope, in a world he'd thought was lost to despair.

He had been reincarnated.

'So I'll endure!'

The Kyle of the future wouldn't give up.

WHRRRRMMM—!

Gray magic swirled across his body.

'Fake or not… I'll do what I can!'

As he reaffirmed his resolve—

Three figures appeared in his field of vision.

'Two humans… and an elf?'

Three mages floated high in the sky.

Kyle frowned in confusion—

["Lord Kyle?!"]

A voice rang in his head—urgent, magical.

It was the elf mage, Lunia.

["Can you launch Erebos this way?!"]

"You've got a plan?"

["Yes!"]

"Then I'll give it a shot."

Kyle crouched low.

Focused all remaining strength into his legs.

CRACK—!

With an explosive leap, Kyle rocketed forward.

Charging toward Erebos, he clenched his jaw and poured his power into his blade.

At the moment of impact—

Kyle struck upward with all his might.

BOOM!

Erebos was launched skyward at terrifying speed.

"Tch… pointless flailing…"

Erebos smirked— but then froze.

'This power…?'

His eyes widened in shock.

'No… it can't be?!'