Chapter 69 – The Departure

The divine aura sputtered like a cheap neon sign in a rainstorm.

Gold and green light flickered across the clearing.

It cast long, jagged shadows against the trees that hadn’t been incinerated yet.

Loki hovered a few inches off the scorched grass.

His cape was limp.

His horns were crooked.

He looked like a birthday candle that had given up on the wish.

I checked my nails again.

Still clean.

Still boring.

“You are impossible.”

Loki’s voice didn’t boom this time.

It whined.

It sounded like a dial-up modem trying to connect to a server that didn’t exist anymore.

“I am a constant. I am the narrative anchor. You just have bad pacing.”

“Pacing.”

He spat the word.

A glob of glowing green ichor hit the dirt.

It sizzled.

“I offered you the world. I offered you chaos. I offered you a plot twist that would shatter the heavens.”

I kicked a pebble at his floating boot.

It bounced off the gold plating with a hollow dink.

“You offered me a genre shift. We were doing a gritty revenge fantasy. You tried to turn it into a high-fantasy divine war epic. It’s jarring.”

Loki descended.

His boots touched the earth.

The grass didn’t die this time.

It just bent under his weight like normal grass.

He looked tired.

He looked like he had just pulled a double shift at the plot factory and the machine had broken down.

“You… you truly feel nothing.”

He stared into my eyes.

He was searching for a spark.

A glimmer of fear.

A hint of awe.

Even a little bit of suppressed rage.

He found a void.

He found the empty, static-filled channel of a TV tuned to a dead station.

“I feel hungry. And a little disappointed. I really thought we were going to rob that guild outpost.”

“The outpost.”

He laughed.

It was a brittle sound.

Like dry leaves crumbling in a fist.

“I reveal the secrets of the cosmos. I manifest my true form. And you are worried about a petty heist.”

“It was my heist. It was personal. You wouldn’t get it.”

Loki stepped back.

The golden armor began to flake away.

It dissolved into motes of light that drifted upward into the canopy.

The emerald scales faded.

The cape turned into mist.

He was shrinking.

Not physically.

But metaphysically.

His presence was retreating from the narrative.

He was writing himself out of the scene.

“I cannot break you.”

His voice was fading.

It sounded like it was coming from underwater.

“Because you are already shattered in a way I cannot comprehend. You see the strings. You see the stage.”

“I just read a lot of manga. It’s not that deep.”

“It is terrifying.”

He began to shimmer.

His outline blurred.

The reality warping effect around us snapped back into place.

The sky turned blue again.

The birds started chirping.

They sounded confused.

“You are the most terrifying mortal I have ever met.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Great. Another title. Add it to the pile. Is there a badge for that.”

“Goodbye, Ryuuji Sato.”

He was transparent now.

A ghost of a god.

“I go to find a hero who actually appreciates a good monologue. I go to find a story that makes sense.”

“Good luck with that. The writing in this world is trash.”

“I know.”

He smiled.

It was a sad smile.

The smile of an artist whose masterpiece had just been used as a coaster.

“That is why I liked you.”

And then he was gone.

No explosion.

No thunderclap.

Just a soft pop.

Like a soap bubble bursting.

I was alone in the clearing.

Again.

I looked around at the destruction.

Scorched earth.

Shattered trees.

A crater where he had landed.

It looked like a bomb had gone off.

Or a very intense magical duel.

“Well.”

I adjusted my pack.

“That was a waste of time.”

I had lost my sidekick.

I had lost my villain.

I had lost my ride back to town.

And I was definitely going to be late for dinner.

My stomach grumbled.

It was the only sound in the forest.

I kicked a piece of charred wood.

It crumbled into ash.

“Stupid god. Stupid plot. Stupid genre.”

I sat down on a stump that wasn’t on fire.

I put my head in my hands.

This was supposed to be my arc.

My solo development.

Now I was just a guy sitting in a crater.

Waiting for the inevitable.

And the inevitable was loud.

I heard them before I saw them.

Crashing through the underbrush.

Shouting names.

Panic.

“Ryuuji!”

It was Kenji.

Of course it was Kenji.

He burst into the clearing like a golden retriever who had heard a treat bag open.

His sword was drawn.

His armor was gleaming.

He looked heroic.

He looked worried.

He looked exhausted.

“Ryuuji! Are you okay!”

He skidded to a halt.

His eyes went wide.

He saw the crater.

He saw the burns.

He saw the residual magical energy crackling in the air.

“What… what happened here.”

Daisuke crashed through the bushes a second later.

He was panting.

He held his massive axe like a baseball bat.

He saw the destruction.

He grunted.

It was a grunt of profound concern.

And then came Reina.

She didn’t crash.

She didn’t run.

She glided out of the shadows like a predator emerging from the deep.

Her dagger was in her hand.

Her eyes were scanning everything.

The blast marks.

The fading divine particles.

Me.

Especially me.

She walked over to me.

She didn’t ask if I was okay.

She grabbed my face.

She tilted my head side to side.

Checking for scratches.

Checking for bruises.

Checking for signs of divine corruption.

“You’re unhurt.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a diagnosis.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

I pulled away gently.

“Just tired.”

“Where is he.”

Her voice was ice.

“Where is Leo.”

I sighed.

I pointed at the sky.

“Gone.”

“Gone?”

Kenji stepped forward.

He sheathed his sword.

He looked confused.

“What do you mean gone. Did he run away.”

“Sort of.”

I stood up.

I brushed ash off my pants.

I had to spin this.

I had to make this sound pathetic.

I had to make myself look like a victim of circumstances.

Not a guy who bullied a god into quitting.

“He wasn’t who he said he was.”

Reina’s eyes narrowed.

She looked at the crater.

She touched the scorched earth with the tip of her boot.

“This isn’t normal magic. This feels… ancient. Heavy.”

She looked at me.

Her gaze was intense.

“He wasn’t a rogue, was he.”

“No.”

I rubbed the back of my neck.

“He was… something else. Something powerful.”

“A demon.”

Reina said the word with absolute conviction.

She nodded to herself.

She was building a narrative.

She was connecting dots that didn’t exist.

“I knew it. I smelled the sulfur on him. I saw the way he looked at you. Hungry.”

“He wasn’t hungry. He was just dramatic.”

“A demon in disguise.”

She ignored me.

She was on a roll.

She paced around the crater.

“He infiltrated us. He tried to get close to you. He tried to corrupt you.”

I froze.

Okay.

That was actually accurate.

Scary accurate.

“But he failed.”

She stopped in front of me.

She looked up into my eyes.

Her expression softened.

It went from murderous to adoring.

“You saw through him. Didn’t you.”

“I mean. Kind of. He had horns.”

“You resisted his lies. You stood your ground against a creature of darkness.”

“He was actually a creature of chaos. But sure.”

Reina turned to Kenji.

“Do you see this. Do you understand what happened.”

Kenji looked around.

He looked at the devastation.

He looked at me standing in the middle of it.

Looking bored.

Looking annoyed.

His brain started to work.

I could see the gears turning.

I could see the hero worship ramping up.

“You… you fought him.”

Kenji whispered.

“No. I didn’t fight him. We talked.”

“You banished him.”

“I annoyed him.”

“You exorcised him!”

Kenji shouted.

He threw his hands in the air.

“Leo was a demon lord! And Ryuuji defeated him single-handedly! Without even drawing a weapon!”

I groaned.

“Kenji. Please. Stop.”

“Look at the damage! Look at the power level required to do this!”

He gestured at a tree that had been split down the middle by lightning.

“And you’re just standing here. Not a scratch. Not a drop of sweat.”

“I’m sweating on the inside.”

“It’s incredible.”

He grabbed my shoulders.

He shook me.

“You sensed the evil in him. You brought him out here to protect the town. To protect us.”

“I brought him out here to plan a robbery.”

“You sacrificed your own safety to confront a monster!”

Daisuke walked over.

He clapped a massive hand on my back.

It almost drove me into the dirt.

He nodded.

Solemn.

Respectful.

“God Slayer.”

He grunted the words.

My blood ran cold.

“What.”

“God Slayer.”

Daisuke pointed at the residual light fading into the sky.

“That was divine energy. Not demonic.”

He looked at me.

His eyes were filled with a terrifying level of awe.

“You faced a God. And you won.”

Reina froze.

She looked at the light.

She tasted the air.

Her eyes went wide.

“He’s right.”

She whispered.

“That wasn’t a demon. That was raw divinity. That was a celestial being.”

She turned back to me.

She looked like she was about to faint.

Or build a shrine.

Probably both.

“Ryuuji-kun.”

Her voice trembled.

“You didn’t just save us from a monster. You saved us from the whims of the gods.”

“He was just a guy with a complex! He had a cape!”

“You stood before the divine. You looked eternity in the eye.”

She took my hand.

She pressed it to her cheek.

“And you told it to leave.”

“I told him he was cringe! That’s different!”

“It’s authority.”

She closed her eyes.

“It’s absolute, unshakeable authority. Even the gods bow to you.”

I looked at Kenji.

He was beaming.

He was practically glowing with pride.

“My best friend. A God Slayer. I knew you were special Ryuuji. But this… this is legendary.”

I looked at Daisuke.

He was carving a notch into his axe handle.

A new legend.

A new title.

I looked at the crater.

I looked at the empty space where my revenge plot used to be.

I had lost my villain.

Again.

I had lost my chance to be an outcast.

Again.

And now I had a new reputation.

God Slayer.

It was the most overpowered, main character, high-fantasy title imaginable.

It was a disaster.

It was a catastrophe.

It was my life.

“Can we just go back to the inn.”

My voice was flat.

Defeated.

“I’m hungry. And I want to forget this ever happened.”

“Of course!”

Kenji slapped my back again.

“The hero needs his rest! The God Slayer needs his feast!”

“Stop calling me that.”

“We will tell everyone! The town needs to know!”

“No. They really don’t.”

“They will sing songs about this day!”

I started walking.

I walked away from the crater.

I walked away from the scene of the crime.

Reina walked beside me.

She was humming.

It was a happy tune.

Terrifyingly happy.

“I’m so glad he’s gone.”

She whispered.

“I didn’t like him. He was too close to you.”

“He was a god, Reina.”

“He was competition.”

She squeezed my hand.

“And now he knows his place.”

I shuddered.

This woman scared away a deity.

Technically I did it.

But she would have done it too.

With a knife.

We walked back through the darkening forest.

The shadows lengthened.

The world felt small again.

Mundane.

But the damage was done.

The rumor mill was already spinning in Kenji’s head.

By morning, the whole town would know.

By noon, the kingdom would know.

Ryuuji Sato.

The boy who scolded a god.

The man who rejected divinity because he was bored.

It was going to ruin everything.

People would come to me for blessings.

Kings would ask for my counsel.

Monsters would run away before I could even brood at them.

My edgy lifestyle was dead.

It had been smote.

I looked up at the first stars appearing in the sky.

I wondered if Loki was watching.

I wondered if he was laughing.

Probably not.

He was probably writing a bad review of my character arc on some celestial forum.

‘Zero stars. Protagonist is unresponsive to divine intervention. Would not recommend.’

I sighed.

“I hate this genre.”

“What was that Ryuuji?”

Kenji asked.

“Nothing. Just practicing my victory speech.”

“Oh! Can I hear it?”

“No. It’s internal. It’s brooding.”

“Classic Ryuuji.”

We broke through the tree line.

The lights of Olvido twinkled in the distance.

It looked peaceful.

It looked safe.

It was a trap.

A trap made of kindness and misunderstandings.

And I was walking right back into it.

Because that’s what heroes do.

Apparently.

Even the ones who just want to watch the world burn a little bit.

Just a tiny bit.

As a treat.

I adjusted my pack.

I lowered my head.

I walked toward the lights.

God Slayer.

Unbelievable.

I really needed a drink.

Two drinks.

Maybe the whole keg.

It was going to be a long night.