I Got Reincarnated Into a Game I Was a Top-Ranker in and I Became the Leader of a Villain Group That Will Destroy This Shitty Country - 102

Chapter 102: The Sacrificial Pawn of Fate

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“Wait?! Are you really okay?! The light definitely disappeared back then…?!”

“Nia-san!”

From beside her, Nia could hear the sound of Chloe and Alwyn. Upon opening her eyes, she saw Chloe, looking clearly in panic. Chloe was cupping her cheeks with both hands. Nia stared at Chloe for a moment before offering Chloe a gentle smile. 

“….Nia!!”

And within the next moment, she was hugged tightly by Chloe. It was almost painful, even. Feeling the warmth of her beloved best friend, Nia turned her gaze forward. There, she was Kaltz. Kaltz was laying on the ground while being shrouded in darkness.

“…Grrr…”

“Chloe, that’s…”

“…Yeah.”

Chloe nodded as she released Nia from her tight embrace. Smoke-like wisps were rising from Kaltz’s body. There was a cracked cube inside his torn body. The cube that had been pierced by the holy sword. The cube was glowing faintly in white. It seemed to represent Kaltz’s life, that could vanish at any moment now. 

“Kaltz-san…”

Alwyn’s quiet voice seemed to echo. Indeed. Kaltz was beyond saving. The world within the holy sword. It was the world where trapped souls intertwined and that world had been destroyed by Nia. Kaltz’s soul was perishing, along with that world. A body without a soul wouldn’t be able to move. And as a proof of this, the holy sword began to crack little by little. 

“Ah! The holy sword…!”

Light was leaking from the holy sword before the blade gradually turned to dust. Particles of light drifted from the hilt into the air. The holy sword crumbled away, as if the sword was mourning for the souls trapped within it. The once glowing blade eventually vanished, leaving only Kaltz’s lifeless body behind. All four of them, including Nia, approached the shell of the hero. 

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

No one said anything. They just watched as Kaltz was wasting away. His body had been burned black from head to toe. The only light could be seen from his body was the lingering life force left in the cube. However, there was no hope left for Kaltz. The light from the cube was diminishing. It was the end of his life. Kaltz just laid motionless there. 

Taking a deep sigh, Chloe took out a knife. But then…

“Kaltz-san…”

Alwyn knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his head.

“I tried to respect you, but I couldn’t do so until the end… I tried to believe in you, but you made it so horribly difficult to do…”

“…”

“…”

“You turned your eyes away from the misfortune of others and shut yourself away from the world, colluding yourself with your own beliefs. You called forth death… So, so many deaths… I don’t think I can forgive you, Kaltz-san.”

The voice, once that of his comrade, resonated quietly. Alwyn closed her eyes and spoke her parting words. 

“Goodbye, our enemy.”

Alwyn whispered. Her voice was laced with deep sadness and with that, the light from the cube also vanished. The shell of the hero laid there, motionless with his eyes wide-open from resentment. Alwyn gently closed his eyelids, marking the absolute end of the hero. The hero, now an enemy, was dead. And yet, the war didn’t come to an end. 

From afar, they could hear the sound of the army’s footsteps, accompanied by clouds of dust. A massive amount of soldiers were approaching. All four of them exchanged glances and nodded. 

“The war is just beginning.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right.”

At Nia’s words, Alwyn and Brien braced themselves. The intense battle, where they would need to pour everything they had, was yet to come.

“Let’s win this, everyone.”

Chloe’s voice resounded crystal clear. The four heroes stared at their enemy. Their determination could be seen in their pose. 

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“Wh-Why…?!?!?!”

The second prince, Adolf, could feel it. He could feel that his greatest creation had just died. 

“E-Even though…! Cough! Cough..!! Everything…!! For that guy…!!”

Yes. He had poured all of his everything on that cube. From the moment Adolf decided to launch an attack, the cubes he had strategically placed around the castle had become useless. This was before he had sold half of his soul. He had converged all of the life force within those cubes and infused it into a massive cube, creating an almost immortal hero. The life of those unnecessary soldiers had become a feed for Kaltz and yet… Despite all of that effort, Kaltz died this easily. Far too easily. Kaltz didn’t even get to put up a real right yet. Adolf was beyond frustrated. 

“Phaaahhh!!? Guhh, cough…!!”

He coughed up another spat of black blood. Piercing pain shot through his entire body, as if he were being skewered from within. Writhing in agony, the Crown Prince slipped from his throne. With his bloodshot eyes wide open, he thought to himself. 

At this rate, I’m going to go back to my old weak self. I would become a weakling, who was ignored and ridiculed by my father, my big brother and the other nobles… A piece of trash on the roadside….

That was his only driving force. He wanted to bask in the omnipotence feeling, something he had never felt before. He wanted to paint the world in the colors of his choosing. He didn’t want to revert to his old self. A useless boy who couldn’t do anything. In order to achieve that, he had sold his soul for it. He cursed his father and his big brother and endured all the pain just for it.

“I… I…!!”

But it turned out, all of his sacrifice was for naught. What if everything was just an illusion…? What about it then? What would he do if he was faced with reality? What would he do if actually, he was still the same weak child from the past? What if nothing changed no matter how hard he struggled?

He refused to accept it. He absolutely refused to accept it. That vengeful spirit drove his voice to grow louder.

“Yo-YOU BASTARDDDDDDDDDD!!!”

He fell from the throne and then he stared at himself, who was writhing grotesquely on the ground. Seeing a monster that hardly looked like a human, the prince shouted again. 

“Yo-You bastard…!! I-I will… win…!!”

“Ahhh~ This won’t do. His mind is starting to break down on itself~”

“Wh-What…?! Gah! Cough!!”

“Well, I guess it’s only natural for him to snap when pain and inferiority complex assaulted you at the same time. To be fair, I already expected this outcome the moment you sold half of your soul.”

“Ugh..!!”

“You’re just the sacrificial pawn of fate. Do you really think everything will go smoothly according to your wishes?”

The monster—the Guide— began to speak calmly while gripping the Crown Prince’s head with its fingers. 

“Did you really think you would get a bright future after selling your soul to a demon? You poor soul… Forever trapped in the past.”

“Gah…!!”

“You only sought for broken pleasure. You wanted to get revenge on your family, revenge on the world and look down on everything. You wanted to relish in your pride, as if you had become a god… You had no faith or strong ideology. You’re nothing but a pitiful villain.”

Gradually, the Guide’s thick fingers dug deeper into the Crown Prince’s head. Amidst his fading consciousness, the Crown Prince felt like something within his head was about to explode.

“In your next life, don’t let the dice of fate roll over, okay? Well, that is, if there’s a next one for you.”

And then, the Crown Prince’s head splattered. Blood spewed everywhere. With his head crushed to pulp, the Crown Prince’s body quickly lost all its strength. The Guide slowly stood up while gripping the corpse with a burst head in both hands. Then, he gently placed the body next to the large pedestal behind him, next to the king and the actual Crown Prince of his country. The two of them were still bleeding from their pitch-black eyes. 

“Now then. Shall we finally bring everything to an end?”

The only thing remaining was the climax of the story.

“It is time to return this world to its original fate.”

The Guide’s job was to guide the world toward its predetermined ending. The monster, born for that purpose, slowly stepped out of the audience chamber.

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