Betrayed by His Party, a Failed Healing Mage Revived Past Demon Lords Out of Spite and They Were All Overpowered Beautiful Girls - 1

Chapter 1: The Healing Mage Is Betrayed

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The Holy Sword of the hero Albert, who had been granted divine protection by the goddess, pierced the Demon Lord’s heart and took her life.

“Haah, haah… I finally defeated you, Demon Lord!!”

“Magnificent, Hero-dono!!”

“As expected of you!”

“Not bad at all!!”

“I believed Albert-sama would see it through!!”

For the past several hundred years, an achievement no one had been able to accomplish was praised by the beautiful girls who were his companions. I joined in as well.

“S-so amazing, Albert!!”

“Yeah. I made it this far safely thanks to you too, Valsh.”

“Eh, no, I didn’t really…”

My name is Valsh.

I came from the same orphanage as Albert, and I was formerly the healer of the hero’s party. After a Saintess, an expert in healing magic, joined the party, I had been handling baggage, chores, and support during battles. People around town called me things like “the parasite of the hero’s party” or “the hero’s lackey,” but…

They could say whatever they wanted. As long as I could be of use to Albert and the others, I didn’t need anything else.

“Man, seriously. Having you around really helps.”

“—Huh?”

I doubted my own eyes. Albert had driven the Holy Sword he held straight into my stomach. A massive amount of blood spilled from my mouth.

“W-why…?”

“Why do you think I kept protecting a useless, dropout healer like you even after a Saintess—an expert in healing magic—joined the party?”

Albert pulled out the Holy Sword and lightly shook off the blood clinging to it.

“So you’d die in the final battle against the Demon Lord.”

“I… don’t understand…”

“It’s not that complicated. In any story, if it ends happily ever after, people forget it right away, right? That’s why it needs to become a story that leaves a wound in people’s hearts, something they won’t forget.”

I couldn’t understand what he—what this guy—had been saying all along. Weren’t we companions? It was true that ever since the Saintess joined, I hadn’t been active as a healer. But I had supported the hero’s party, supported Albert, in all kinds of ways—managing supplies, doing laundry, cooking, negotiating with merchants. And Albert had always smiled and said, “You really help me out.”

“You remember, right? The story we read together at the orphanage long ago? The hero who defeated an evil god? A story we don’t even know is real.”

“A hero…?”

“For ten or twenty years, no one will forget me. But what about a hundred years later? A thousand? My name probably won’t even remain. That’s why it needs to be a story people won’t forget once they hear it, one they’ll want to tell their children and grandchildren.”

“For something like that…?”

At my question, Albert flew into a rage and stomped hard on my wound.

“Gah!?”

“For something like that? Of course it’s important!! Humans die someday. That’s why we keep living by remaining in people’s memories!! That becomes proof we lived!!”

I desperately tried to push his foot away, but I couldn’t match his strength. At this rate, I would die. In a panic, I cast healing magic on my wound, but it didn’t heal.

“Hahaha!! Did you forget? Wounds inflicted by this Holy Sword can’t be healed even with the highest-level healing magic!! There’s nothing a dropout healer like you can do!!”

Albert mocked my resistance. If I could use the high-grade potion in my bag, even a wound from the Holy Sword could—

“Oops.”

“Gah!?”

“Not letting you. Still resisting till the end, huh.”

Albert snatched the potion from me and, as if to follow up, drove the Holy Sword into my stomach again.

“Come on, hurry up and die.”

“S-someone, help…”

Instinctively, I reached out to the other members of the hero’s party for help. But none of them met my eyes. No, not only did they avoid my gaze. They actually laughed at me as I lay dying.

“Tougher than I expected.”

“Hero-sama, just because he’s your childhood friend, you’re going too easy on him.”

“Just kill him already. It’s pitiful.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I should have realized it the moment Albert stabbed me with the Holy Sword in front of everyone. From the very beginning, everyone in the hero’s party had been in on it with Albert. It seemed they had known in advance that I would be killed.

“W-wait, what is the Hero-sama doing!?”

A beautiful girl with glossy long black hair, clearly shaken, ran over to me. Her name was Alicia. An expert in healing magic, she was a one-of-a-kind existence blessed by the goddess with power even greater than that of the hero Albert. She was kind and trusting, the kind of girl who made you worry a little.

Flustered and panicking, Alicia rushed to my side and cast healing magic on my wound. Maybe, unlike the others, she hadn’t known Albert was trying to kill me. However, there was no sign of my wound closing.

“Ah, that guy seemed to be controlled by the Demon Lord. Give up, Alicia. It’s sad for me too, but it can’t be helped.”

“Please don’t say such nonsense!! You were just talking about proof of living a moment ago!!”

“Y-you… shouldn’t, Alicia-san…”

If she defied Albert here—

“Tch. I was thinking of making you my woman since you’re pretty, but if I leave you alive, you’ll just cause trouble later.”

“Huh?”

The next moment, the Holy Sword burst out from Alicia’s chest. It seemed her heart had been pierced from behind. Alicia coughed up a large amount of blood and collapsed over me, losing consciousness.

“See you, worthless Valsh. I’ll tell the story of your and the Saintess’s deaths as a tragedy with tears in my eyes, hahaha!!”

Laughing loudly, Albert walked away. To me, he looked no different from a demon, and the women following behind him were the same.

“—At least… Alicia-san…”

I forced my body up and cast healing magic on Alicia. I might be a failure, but before Alicia joined the party, I had supported everyone as a healer. If I poured in all the magic power I had, maybe I could save Alicia at least. With that hope, I cast healing magic, but nothing happened. That could only mean Alicia had already passed away.

『Listen, you foolish apprentice. Never use that power. Don’t tell anyone you can use it either. It will disrupt the laws of the world.』

My master’s last words suddenly crossed my mind. But at this point, I didn’t care anymore. I decided to use my trump card.

“—Revival Magic: Re-Raise Dead!!”

It was magic that revived the dead. Something I had learned by secretly deciphering an ancient grimoire my master possessed. The reason I was called a failed healer was because I had spent too much time mastering this magic and could only use low-level healing spells. In other words, this was the magic I had spent most of my life learning.

With this, I could save Alicia!!

However, reality was cruel, and Alicia showed no sign of waking up.

“Why…!?”

Her wound had closed. Yet she didn’t wake, as if she were merely asleep. Could it be that the powerful divine protection granted to a Saintess was rejecting revival magic that twisted the laws of the world?

“Hah… haha… I really am useless…”

Anger started to well up inside me.

If that’s how it was, then I’d go all the way and be truly useless. I’d carry out the greatest act of spite I could.

“Haah… haah… guh…”

Crawling along the ground, I headed toward the center of the great hall. There lay the Demon Lord’s corpse. Even knowing she was humanity’s enemy, she was so beautiful it took your breath away. The Demon Lord was a girl with long golden hair reaching below her knees. I touched her body and activated revival magic.

“Come back from the depths of hell and kill Albert for me.”

As if responding to my words, the Demon Lord slowly lifted her eyelids. Her crimson eyes stared intently at me.

“…Revival magic, is it? I question how a mere human can use forbidden magic that twists the laws of the world…”

The girl’s hand touched my cheek. It was as cold as ice, yet somehow comforting.

“I must repay the debt of being saved. If you become my subordinate, I shall save you.”

“…o…kay…”

“I couldn’t hear you clearly, so I’ll consider it a provisional contract. —chomp”

Saying that, the Demon Lord bit into my neck.

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