To Hell With Being a Hero!

It continued. After getting his upper body dissolved by an acidic substance, Emmanuel’s torso shot up from his lower body and formed anew like a picture being drawn. Yeriel, who hadn’t left even proper remains after getting mercilessly bombed, came into being again like a puzzle.

“…Eh?” Yeriel blinked hard seeing the twilight-colored earth around her and was surprised that she was alive.

“Ha! Ah! Urgggh!” It seemed Yunael still felt the sensation of getting eaten alive, and while sitting on the ground, she frantically massaged her recovered legs. Apoline woke up with only her torso remaining and screamed when her arms and legs flew toward her and stuck back into place. Teresa, who had been in a similar situation as Apoline, also screamed as her bitten-off head reattached itself to her body. Following them, Hawa, Eshnunna, and Evelyn were likewise revived.

It didn’t happen only to the Seven Stars members, but also to humanity at large, the Cassiubia League, and even the Cassiubia Mountain Range’s main force. The Last Dragon looked around in a daze.

“…I can’t believe it.” Alice’s mouth gaped open while witnessing all the changes happening around her. As someone who was bestowed with the authority to rewind time as a descendant of a god, she knew how amazing what was happening was. This wasn’t simple regression. A normal regression would’ve also brought back their enemies since time was fair to all, but that wasn’t the case this time.

‘It’s not regression,’ Alice thought, and she didn’t even have the vocabulary to describe the situation exactly. She could only make a rough guess that this was something that far surpassed her existence and understanding.

Some time later, the revived individuals began to get up one by one. Then, they looked toward the one that had revived them and conjured what could only be called a miracle. The light flowing out of the man didn’t stop. It was lingering in one particular place and repeatedly rotating. Though it was spinning harder there than it had at any other spot, it got no response. A couple of people cautiously approached the target of the light before stopping, realizing that was where Chi-Hyun had turned to light and scattered.

—Why…

While pouring out all his power, Chi-Woo’s face fell a bit. He had tried to revive the dead Chi-Hyun earlier than anyone else, yet nothing happened. No matter how much infinite power he poured out, the light simply spun.

—Why!

Chi-Woo couldn’t understand it at first, but upon reflection, he could get to an explanation. The prerequisites couldn’t be met in the first place. Even though he was the absolute causality, he couldn’t manipulate a cause that didn’t exist and change the result. To revive Chi-Hyun, Chi-Woo needed to nullify the cause that led to Chi-Hyun’s death, yet there was no cause to nullify. Causes and results didn’t come to being by themselves; someone needed to trigger an event to complete them. But if this ‘someone’ didn’t exist, there was no cause or result. Though Chi-Hyun definitely died, the truth of his end had disappeared.

‘It’s because what Chi-Hyun wagered on wasn’t…just his life or existence.’ It was his fate’s past, present, and future. In every sense of the word, Chi-Hyun had given up all of himself for Chi-Woo. As a result, Chi-Hyun became someone who didn’t exist in the future, present, and even the past. Thus, unlike other people, not even his corpse remained; and he only existed inside the memories of those who knew him. Accordingly, the result didn’t change even if Chi-Woo reverted time. It was because not even regression would bring what had disappeared in all points of time back into existence.

Of course, there were other methods. Though Chi-Woo couldn’t revive Chi-Hyun, he could create a new one out of his memories. If it was any other person than Chi-Hyun, he would’ve just done that.

‘But…’ Chi-Woo hesitated. Even though the thought had crossed his mind, something held him back and made him hesitate. Right before Chi-Hyun left and turned into light, he had looked calm and serene—light-hearted, even, as if he was relieved to finally be free from the repetitive life and let go of the burden he had carried for a long time. Thus, Chi-Woo wondered how his action would be any different from getting rid of a broken doll and buying a new one, and whether or not he would be able to consider the newly created doll as his brother and treat him the same as before. Furthermore, how would his parents accept this truth? And above all, would his brother truly want and wish for that? What if he didn’t? Would Chi-Woo have to erase his brother with his own hands then?

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his head. Then, the loops that had been calmly rotating began to destabilize and fluctuate wildly—so much so that the entire planet, Liber, shook.

“Ah!” Sensing the great current of energy, Flora yelped and jumped into Chi-Woo’s arms. It was then Chi-Woo recollected himself and held Flora. He breathed in and out to calm himself, and the tremor gradually settled until the flow of the world stabilized again. He had almost wavered. Since he hadn’t awakened through a normal set of processes, there was a chance that things could run out of control any time. Chi-Woo managed to calm himself and let out the breath he was holding.

“Teacher…” Ru Amuh called out after seeing Chi-Woo’s weakly drooping shoulders. He had a sympathetic look on his face.

Ruff… Wallie cautiously approached Chi-Woo and rubbed against his legs. Chi-Woo didn’t know it himself, but his legs had been shaking for some time now, as if they were going to give out any moment. Chi-Woo closed his eyes. Yes, he shouldn’t make the decision now. He needed some more time to think so he would make a decision that he didn’t regret. In order to do that, he needed to organize things here. Chi-Woo then finally recalled his brother’s final words and spoke up.

“Let’s go,” he said in a low voice. “To where…everything should be.”

Flaaaaaash! Soon afterward, the whole battlefield became swept by a dazzling light.

***

The light that flowed out of Chi-Woo’s loops didn’t just cover the battlefield. It spread across Liber and filled every corner, including the void where Liber’s god resided.

—Is this his decision?

The White Horse General said in a calm voice.

—It’s a dangerous power.

Mamiya shuddered while sensing what was happening on Liber.

—How could he wield such a dangerous power…it’s too dangerous, but…

Chi-Woo could easily wield such a vast amount of energy that he could change the planet’s history—in other words, cause and result—according to his will. It would be a lie if Mamiya said that he didn’t feel any sort of anxiety about the new structure and order that would be set in place. However, he needed to acknowledge that a will greater than the universe’s will had come to being.

—I can’t help but feel…a sense of awe.

And if Chi-Woo, who had such a will, was a better existence than the universe, Mamiya also felt hopeful and expectant. Soon, a white light began to bloom from the center of the gods. It was the light that had once shone brilliantly over Liber but faded with the Sernitas’ invasion. Thanks to one person’s mercy, it was shining brightly again. It was Liber’s main god, Elephatalia’s light.

***

Eshnunna couldn’t hide her confusion and shock when she opened her eyes. All the companions that had been with her a moment ago had disappeared. Furthermore, she was at a place she had never seen before. It was unfamiliar yet familiar, as if she was in a dream that she only reminisced about. After staring blankly around her for a while, she raised her head and saw a city. It wasn’t a castle that had fallen into ruin with only remnants of age and destruction left as proof of its former glory, nor was it a worn-out city that stood with only the bare minimum rebuilt. It was the great capital of Salem—small but once boasted of great strength and power.

Furthermore, there was quite a commotion going around in this capital city. Even though she was outside, she could hear the buzz coming from there. People sounded stunned but also overjoyed. She heard cries and cheers simultaneously, and as soon as she heard these sounds, Eshnunna ran without thinking. She ran without rest to confirm what she was hearing. And after passing the castle gates that had existed only in her memories, she saw a street full of people and brimming with vitality.

Everyone was rushing outside, hugging each other and crying tears of joy. However, Eshnunna still couldn’t believe what was happening and simply ran in a daze. Thus, after passing everything, she ran inside the palace and finally stopped. It was because she spotted a woman and a man hugging each other with a boy. They were the people Eshnunna had desperately yearned to see and only dreamed of meeting. She opened her mouth and said, “Ah, Father…” She was about to say more, but all she could muster was, “M-Mother…” Tears flooded her eyes, and her voice didn’t come out properly from her throat.

Meanwhile, the boy who was hugging his parents turned around, and his eyes widened after seeing Eshnunna. With a bright smile, he greeted her. Eshnunna couldn’t hold back any longer then.

“Yohan…!” she yelled and ran to them.

***

Hawa hid herself some distance away from where she had been dropped. Then, she warily stared at the now revived Shahnaz members, including Shakira. They looked befuddled by the situation and stroked each other’s faces to confirm that they were truly alive. Hawa glanced at each of them and tilted her head. It was because she didn’t see her sister, who was her competition and had tried to kill her after being possessed by an evil spirit while she was alive. It was as if someone had left out her sister specifically while reviving everyone else. Hawa pondered whether Chi-Woo had intended this or not when she turned to another direction.

“What happened? At that time, we definitely—”

“Ah, I don’t know either! So shut up for a sec! By the way, where is Young Master—”

Then, she blinked hard seeing a group of heroes come out of the bushes.

***

It was the same for Wallie. After being sent somewhere, Wallie surveyed his surroundings and came to the conclusion that he was in a forest that he had never been before. And for some reason, there were members of his species all over the place, including the famed Hurodivitnru, whose name was well-known even in the Hala Forest. This was the revival of the fenrirs, who had been wiped out after their lone battle against the Demon Empire. Thus, Wallie reunited with the kin he had been certain that he would never meet again.

All the fenrirs, including Hurodivitnru, looked toward Wallie. Wallie also calmly looked back at them. Then, after staring at each other for a bit, Wallie turned around with no regret. Hurodivitnuru didn’t stop him either. Since he was born as a fenrir, he needed to decide how he was going to live on his own. Though he was the child she had given birth to, Wallie had chosen his own way of living the moment he received a name. Thus, Hurodivitnru let Wallie go because she knew that the place Wallie needed to return to wasn’t here, but somewhere else.

It was quite harsh that he was returning as soon as he met his kin, but Wallie didn’t have many grievances or regrets. He was already satisfied that he had gotten to meet them once. While running across the endless, vibrant green forest that had once been a wasteland, Wallie could sense that the barren, dying world was overflowing with vitality and moving more vigorously than ever.