I Came Back from the Dead, Quit Being a Holy Hero, and Just Wanna Shake My Hips in a Harem - Chapter 10; Side Lily

Side Lily – The Hero’s Epithet

Lily Alshiana still held faint fragments of the Hero’s memories.

Though to her, they only came as dreams—

So she assumed they were nothing more than fantasies, sparked by her deep longing to one day meet the true Hero.

Even before she arrived in the trade city of Granule, she’d had that dream again.

In it, a young man appeared.

He had the essence of a Hero—so much that it almost hurt to look at him.

An overwhelming affinity for holy magic.

A power that surged when the odds were stacked against him.

A will to fight, burning with righteous fury whenever someone was in danger.

He wasn’t just a Hero—

He was the very image of the legendary ones from old.

And above all—his swordsmanship was second to none.

Even back when he was just a rookie adventurer, the talent was undeniable.

If it came down to pure close combat, Lily was sure of it:

It was only a matter of time before he’d be ranked among the top five swordsmen in the entire world.

That “someday”?

It came way faster than expected.

The skill he displayed wasn’t human.

It was divine—like he’d been personally blessed by the goddess herself.

Unmatched swordsmanship didn’t mean just defeating monsters or other warriors.

It meant not even gods or demons could stand against him in a duel.

When he once slayed a dragon using nothing but a fruit knife, Lily knew—

One day, that young man would even slice through Demon King Chronova’s magic like paper.

Sure, he could be a little arrogant.

He lacked polish.

And yeah, sometimes he acted like a complete clown.

But all of that?

Totally fixable.

Until the day he stood tall as a true Hero—

Lily had made up her mind.

She would teach him everything she knew.

The Hero of Pure White Porcelain.

At some point, people started calling the young man that.

His swordplay was so elegant, it left onlookers breathless.

And the way he cut down enemies—clean, precise, not even a drop of blood touching him—

Before his foes even realized they’d been sliced…

It felt divine. Like a miracle.

As if holy light had taken human form and descended upon the world.

A righteous Hero. A sacred Hero.

The kind of Hero everyone dreamed of.

And in that radiant brilliance… Lily finally understood why she’d been born.

And yet—

Seeing how far he’d come since the first day they met…

She realized just how heavy the burden she’d placed on him truly was.

That’s why she made her decision:

She would always put his life above her own.

That’s where the dream always ended.

His face… his silhouette… would quietly fade into mist.

(A divine revelation…? No. Probably just another wishful dream.)

To keep from being crushed under the weight of a cruel, unfair world—

She clung to that shining light.

But to Lily, that dream didn’t inspire strength.

It only reminded her how weak she still was.

So she never talked about it.

Not even once.

“—Sacred Mark—Cell Overdrive (Heal Blast).”

A massive bat came dive-bombing from the night sky—

And she exploded it on the spot.

Chunks of meat and blood rained like a storm.

The battlefield reeked of death.

But Lily figured Haruya was probably out there somewhere, going wild and raising hell like always.

Still—

What came out of Lily’s mouth next…

Was surprisingly not what you’d expect.

“So beautiful…”

Haruya’s swordplay was utterly breathtaking.

It flowed like a brush painting across a canvas—graceful, fluid—

Yet struck with the speed and force of lightning.

Every movement was sharp, exact—zero waste, zero hesitation.

The villagers charging him had their weapons shredded mid-swing—

Like his blade had a will of its own, pulling them in, slicing them apart before they even knew what happened.

For every strike they threw,

Haruya answered with ten more—without breaking a sweat.

And even with all that speed and ferocity,

There wasn’t a single trace of struggle in his expression.

His sword moved like it had been touched by the goddess herself—

A divine dance that stole the breath of anyone watching.

Even when a Silver Wolf lunged at him from behind—

Haruya didn’t bother turning.

He just casually swept his blade—

So fast, the beast didn’t even realize it had died.

It kept running a few more steps… and then dropped.

That’s when Lily noticed something odd.

(He hasn’t been splattered with a single drop of blood…?)

No monster blood.

No human blood.

Nothing.

Even though he’d been striking down the villagers left and right—

Even though he’d clearly used his sword—

There was no gore. No mess.

The villagers he’d hit either dropped their weapons or crumpled like broken puppets—

But none of them had been fatally cut.

(Wait… was he only slicing their tendons? In all that chaos, and at that speed…?)

Unbelievable.

Was that even something a human could do?

To move that fast—

To land those exact, surgical hits without harming anything else—

It felt… impossible.

Lily hadn’t even seen the wounds.

But somehow…

She knew.

There was barely any blood.

And with proper healing, those injuries would recover completely.

She could feel it in her gut.

“The Hero of Pure White Porcelain…”

Lily found herself whispering the title before she even realized it.

Bathed in moonlight.

Surrounded by monsters.

Untouched by time.

Haruya stood there like he was absorbing the entire world into his presence.

It felt like everything—the moon, the monsters, even reality itself—

Had paused just to watch him.

At that moment, Haruya was dead center in the world’s spotlight.

(So beautiful… I didn’t know someone this breathtaking could actually exist…)

Her heart stirred.

She was just about to shower him with every poetic compliment she could come up with—

But then…

Haruya unleashed the most obnoxious grin imaginable.

“Bwahaha‼ This is the power of primal survival instinct! The holy desire to get freakin’ laid‼”

“…Tch.”

Lily almost hurled every insult in her vocabulary at him on the spot—

But decided to hold off.

Y’know, since they were still technically in the middle of a battle.

(Is there still time to re-educate him? Maybe? …Hmm…)

Yeah, no. Probably not.

She sighed and gave him the look.

That man had made up his mind.

He was going to build a harem.

With terrifying determination.

For just a second, the image of Haruya in the moonlight overlapped with the dream Hero from her visions.

“Hahaha~! Any loser-tier, bottom-of-the-barrel parasite monsters hiding in these villagers? Wanna get wiped out by trash like me!?”

…Yeah, no.

Definitely not the same guy.

Apparently, Haruya’s taunt hit a nerve, because—

From the fallen villagers, a thick black mist began to rise.

It swirled upward…

Gathering into one massive, gas-like creature.

“Wait—all of them?!”

The black gas twisted and churned like a living storm.

“Humans! Humans! Getting shown up by trash like youuuuuu!”

“Wow, a trash-tier monster made of literal gas? That’s comedy gold.”

“You’ve seen our true form—we are the mighty Lagion! Don’t think you’ll die easy, you filthy human trash!”

The monster—now calling itself Lagion—writhed like it was on the verge of a full-blown tantrum.

Lily, gripping her sacred staff tight, had never heard of a monster by that name.

And judging by the formless, swirling body…

She figured swordplay wouldn’t be much help against something made of gas anyway.

Lagion must’ve figured the same.

The black mist swelled, coiling around Haruya—

Trying to engulf him completely.

“Lord Haruya! Get behind me, now!”

She moved to cast a sacred barrier—

But Haruya didn’t move.

Instead, he smiled. Calm. Reassuring.

And somehow…

That was enough to make Lily believe everything would be fine.

She snapped back to focus and raised her staff—

Only to realize it was already too late.

“Filthy human! I’ll melt your meat and bones into sludge!”

The gas surged toward him—

And Haruya, completely unfazed, lowered into a stance and drew his sword.

Riiiinng—

A chime-like sound echoed softly through the night.

Then—before anyone even noticed—

Haruya had already swung his blade sideways.

“Humans are so dumb! Sooo dumb! You can’t cut all of us with a—WAIT WHATTTT⁉⁉⁉”

Lagion’s body split clean in half.

The black mist trembled—

Then burst apart into the night sky,

Scattering like smoke in the wind.

No regeneration.

No encore.

Just gone.

“Why why whyyyyy⁉⁉⁉”

“Dude, why wouldn’t gas be slashable? I mean—it’s gas. Of course it can be cut.”

“Gaahh! I just got mocked by an actual idiot!!”

Meanwhile, Lily had a very reasonable thought:

Yeah no, gas isn’t normally something you can just… slice in half.

(Lord Haruya’s sword is completely ordinary. No enchantments, no glowing runes… Did he infuse it with life energy? Or is that just raw, absurd sword skill?)

And Haruya?

He just stood there like, “Yup. Slicing gas. Totally normal.”

Realizing it was on the verge of actual death, Lagion panicked and spread its mist even wider.

“No no no no‼ Why am I losing to this piece of trash‼‼‼”

“Fwahaha~! Yep, that’s me! Good ol’ Grade-A Trash, reporting for duty~!”

“Ugh…! If only I had a better host! A stronger body! Not you!”

Lagion suddenly cut itself off mid-rant.

Lily caught it right away—

It remembered someone else it could try to possess.

She instantly began preparing a purification spell—just in case the gas made a move.

But then—

“Yo, come on now. Your dream host is standing right here.”

Haruya leaned in and taunted it even harder.

Lily blinked.

Completely lost.

This… was not the plan.

Meanwhile, Lagion’s voice trembled with pure revulsion.

“T-t-there’s no way I’d ever fuse with someone as revolting as you! NEVER‼”

“Hmm? Ah, gotcha—you’re scared. Classic gas-bag coward behavior.”

“……Fine‼ Don’t you dare regret this, you walking pile of waste‼‼‼”

The gas floating in the air suddenly swirled together—

Condensing into a dark little ball that shot straight toward Haruya’s mouth like a missile.

It zipped in.

Right down the hatch.

Lagion had invaded his body.

Haruya’s body started shaking violently—

And Lily froze, too stunned to even speak.

Then—

Haruya let out a loud, victorious laugh.

“We won, we won, we totally won! Victory belongs to us pathetic humans! I mean—trash humans! I mea—”

But just as Lagion was settling in, getting all cozy inside—

Haruya casually flipped his sword around…

And jammed it straight into his own stomach.

The blade punched clean through—

Straight out his back.

He dropped to his knees, coughing up blood.

And with that blood came a thick black cloud of smoke—

Lagion’s final, pitiful scream echoing into the night:

“No… no way… NOOOOOOOOOOO…!”

Lily heard it loud and clear as the last of the parasite dissolved into the dark.

“You absolute moron. You knew host damage gets passed on to you, right? What kind of idiot tries to possess someone head-on?”

Haruya let out a lazy exhale like, “Welp, all done here.”

Lily, wide-eyed and panicked, rushed to his side.

“Lord Haruya!? Are you insane!?

“How about, ‘Are you okay?’ instead?”

“…You appear to be… alive, at least.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not okay. I just stabbed myself! This hurts like CRAZY!”

He grinned like a total idiot.

Lily honestly couldn’t tell if that was bravery or pure, weaponized stupidity.

Probably both.

(He might really become the Hero who brings light to the world…)

It didn’t feel like just a hopeful hunch anymore—

Lily felt something closer to certainty.

Though at the same time…

She also had a sinking suspicion he’d never become the kind of Hero she’d always pictured.

“That was way too reckless, Lord Haruya.”

“Nah, not really. I could only pull it off ‘cause I had a priestess backing me up.”

“…So you trusted in your companion’s strength?”

“Bingo.”

Haruya grinned, even with blood still dripping from his mouth.

But that smile…

It felt like he was trying to cover something up.

And Lily picked up on it immediately.

“Wait. Did you throw yourself in harm’s way because you thought I might get possessed instead?”

“Ehh?! I-I mean… uh…”

Haruya’s eyes immediately started darting around like crazy.

There it was again.

That suspicious eye-drift he always did when he was lying…

“Weren’t you the one yelling about saving yourself just a minute ago?”

“…Okay, but when I threw myself in front—how did that make you feel?”

“Pretty annoyed, actually.”

“Exactly! That’s the emotion I was going for!”

Lily let out a mental sigh.

(You totally just made that up on the spot. Maybe this guy really was the type to act first and think… never.)

“What a handful you are.”

Without even realizing it, Lily smiled. 

She didn’t notice it herself—

But Haruya did.

Now he just stood there, dumbfounded.

Completely speechless.

Staring at her like she’d just punched him in the soul.

“What’s wrong, Lord Haruya?”

“………………No, uh… you’re just… really cute.”

Haruya had thrown around the word “cute” plenty of times before—

But this time, Lily could tell…

He actually meant it.

She felt it.

But honestly?

She didn’t really care.

“Well then, I’m going to pull the sword out for treatment. I’ll do it in one go.”

“Wait—wait, hold on! Gimme a few more seconds! Like… ten! Ten seconds, please!!”

“As you wish. One, two… ten!”

A very undignified scream tore through the quiet night.

Definitely not the kind of sound you’d expect from the so-called Hero of Light.

But even if he was nothing like that radiant, idealized Hero from her dreams—

Lily found herself smiling softly again.

Because she’d realized something:

There was another kind of light, too.

One that came from someone like Haruya.