I Quit the Hero’s Party Chapter 513

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What are you planning to do with them?

The owner of the ten thousand horses asked the warrior a question. As the owner of an abandoned race, or as their representative. Raniel had an obligation to answer that question. And, the answer should not have been as light as it is now.

Raniel exhaled.

I exhaled and closed my mouth.

“······.”

The hero and warrior of humanity remained silent.

She knows too. He may be a hero and a warrior to mankind, but to demons, he is like a nightmare. She was not unaware of the fact that in their eyes she was nothing but their slayer.

‘No matter how noble the intentions were,…’

That fact does not change.

Even so, Raniel could not bow his head towards the races abandoned by the stars. Because those who died and were broken by them are placed on her shoulders.

I can’t be a hero for them.

It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

It is a denial of the life one has lived, and an insult to the lives of those who died at their hands. As long as Raniel was human, this was something that could not be compromised.

‘but.’

We can’t leave them alone.

That’s why Raniel opened his mouth and spoke.

“Of all their wishes, it’s the only thing I can fulfill.”

Do the best you can.

“I plan to give you rest.”

Rest (安息). Or Buddhahood, or jeeryeong.

“I give rest to those who will suffer forever, neither dead nor alive. That is my answer.”

“is it.”

The queen laughed bitterly at Raniel’s answer.

She turned her head and saw the writhing spirits beyond the border of the flames. Remembering their whispers, she opened her mouth.

“Do you know that? Raniel.”

Acriel said.

“I have listened to their voices for a very long time, two thousand years. I have become their king and lived among them.”

The Demon King, the owner of ten thousand demons, spoke.

“Their wish was to live in a world without stars. They just wanted an ordinary life. An ordinary life where they would not have to fight against humanity, and who would not be cursed by the stars.”

“······.”

“It can’t come true as long as there are stars. It can’t come true as long as there are humans blessed by the stars. That’s why I hated them all and just tried to bury them.”

Humanity, the stars, everything.

The queen muttered.

“That is a wrong wish. Even if we bury them all and create a world just for ourselves, humanity will become an abandoned race and point its sword at the demons.”

History will repeat itself again.

The situation is the same, just infinitely.

“That must have been the madman’s goal.”

An era of endlessly repeating chaos.

Curses and curses, hatred and hatred mixed together to tear the world apart. That is the world the madman wanted. Knowing that fact, the queen let out a long breath.

“This shouldn’t happen. It has to end.”

She looked beyond the flames.

I smiled bitterly as I looked at the vengeful spirits who had become a part of me. She turned her head and looked at Raniel.

“Warrior.”

A hero, not Raniel.

“I know where you are headed beyond your original wife. The answer was in the story you told me.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. You will change the world at the end of the road. I bet you will. Am I wrong?”

Raniel shook his head.

The queen continued.

“Then promise me and them one thing.”

The owner of the abandoned ones spoke.

“If they are reborn in a world changed by your hands… provide a land for them. At least a land where they can live freely.”

It was not an easy promise.

However, it wasn’t a difficult task at all.

“If they don’t want to kill humans… yes, I will.”

“I’m sorry. I think I took their side in the end.”

Perhaps, it was something that could not be ignored.

Because I have listened to the whispers of those who were ruined by me for over a thousand years. Raniel laughed bitterly at the queen’s mutterings.

“I understand. It’s bound to happen.”

Raniel slowly stood up.

Hwareuk.

When she opened her hand, flames erupted from her palm. The burning gray flames burn the soul. Burning it down and returning it to its original flow. That was the answer that Raniel found, and it was also the answer that he himself from the future found.

‘···The Goddess of Ash said she found it too late and that it had no meaning in her time.’

Because of the time that the goddess of ash lived, and because of her failures, Raniel was able to come this far. Raniel pondered the answer he received from her.

回 (回)

Mana of retrograde reversal.

With this mana, Raniel returned the souls of those who had been encroached upon by the shadows. The apostate, the Ganicalt, and the queen in front of me. Of course, they couldn’t go back to the circular cycle.

‘Because my soul is so broken.’

For a long time, it was mixed with things that were not its own.

Even if the broken and polluted soul was restored, it would only crumble. They themselves didn’t want to go back.

‘but···.’

Raniel saw vengeful spirits swarming beyond.

These are people who have been ruined by a madman and have only spoken curses their entire lives. Although it was a vicious poison that festered and festered, they did not mix with anything else.

So, they can choose.

‘Go back, or sleep forever.’

The choice was theirs.

Even though he thought about it like that, Raniel could hardly move away. He had a question that haunted him until the very end.

…I ask myself as a hero.

Is this really the role of a warrior?

You, who have paid for the blood shed by mankind, do you think giving rest to the shadows is the right choice? Isn’t the right thing for you to do by burning them to death in as painful a way as possible?

Raniel could not answer that question right away.

Because she is also human.

She suffered because she couldn’t always be perfect. What pulled Raniel out of that agony was not enlightenment, but external stimulation.

Shut up.

Someone grabbed Raniel’s arm. Raniel looked behind him, narrowing his eyes. Acriel was standing there. She opened her mouth while holding Raniel’s arm.

“You are a warrior.”

“···yes?”

“You are a warrior for humanity, and a hero who must stand on humanity’s side. This is a role you should not play.”

Raniel slightly trembled his shoulders.

As if my inner thoughts were being pierced.

The queen laughed bitterly at that sight.

“Would you mind handing over the flames? I’m about to do my final part.”

“What is that…”

“I am the last queen of Arcadia, but I am also their king. That is an undeniable fact.”

Acriel Clen Cartedia.

“I am not saying this because I am stained with the shadows. This is a decision made by me personally and by Archriel Clen Arcadia. Even if it was forced, I was their king and the blade that represented their anger.”

so that.

“It should be my role to comfort them and give them rest. Will you please let me put an end to my life with my own hands?”

Raniel hesitated.

He hesitated, but the moment he met the queen’s eyes, Raniel let out a long breath and spoke. Because she didn’t seem like she could be persuaded.

“hand.”

The queen extended her hand towards Raniel.

Flames fell from Raniel’s fingertips. The dropped flames fell like water droplets onto the queen’s palm. The falling flames were contained in the queen’s palm.

“Aha, indeed…”

she laughed

“It’s hot.”

“It must be hot. It’s fire.”

“I feel like my soul is burning. It’s hot, but not unbearable. It’s just the right amount of warmth.”

she smiled

“Thank you. For handing over this role to me.”

Thank you, La.

Raniel was silent for a moment.

I think you should be the one to say those words. Raniel thought it was best to burn them with fire. However, I had doubts about whether it was the perfect choice. That was natural.

That could be salvation in some form.

Is it right that the person who slaughtered them, and the person who carries those who were slaughtered by them on their backs… saves them? It was contradictory.

‘Just as the queen said…’

Because that was a role that he, a warrior, should not have played.

That’s why Raniel hesitated. Until the very end. Did the queen read that hesitation? Or, maybe she just wanted to end my life with her own hands.

‘I don’t know which one.’

Probably both.

So Raniel could only guess.

“···Are you sure you want to do this?”

Raniel glanced beyond the flames.

There is a lot of resentment out there. Cursing words are echoing. Raniel hoped that the queen would at least meet the end as a human being and in praise.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

But the queen didn’t want that.

“I’ve received enough praise. I’ve heard so many good stories. Now that I realize how beautiful my life has been, that’s enough for me, kid.”

The first and last queen of Arcadia.

A human who has lived a longer life than an elf spoke.

“I was saved, by you, by the will of my subjects who led me here, by everything…”

She let out a long breath.

“So, now it’s time to do my duty.”

As the queen of Arcadia who destroyed the devil.

As a king who carries the curse of the abandoned.

“You walk your own way.”

Acriel looked at Raniel and smiled.

“I hope that at the end of the road, you will get the answer you want.”

She turned her head.

I crossed the border of fire and took a step into the darkness filled with vengeful spirits. Looking at her back, Raniel slowly bowed her head in respect.

To the Queen of Arcadia.

To those who fulfilled their duties until the very end.

Acriel walked.

She walked with the flame in her hand and with strength in her hand to keep the flame from flowing. Her writhing spirits began to rush towards her from all around her. They couldn’t bear to scratch Acriel.

Because they are their own masters.

Because he is their one and only king.

Instead of scratching, he hovered around her and whispered. That whisper is a language that no one can understand. Although it was a language that could only be heard as noise… Acriel could clearly understand the voice.

Death, just death.

I wish everyone felt this pain.

It hurts, it hurts so much.

It was a scream. The screams of those who have suffered endlessly. The Queen laughed bitterly as she listened to the screams that sometimes made others scream, and sometimes darkened someone’s soul.

“okay.”

Akriel slowly brought the flame in his hand towards his chest. A fire ignited in her heart. She became a fire and began to burn.

“I see.”

The queen walked as a flame.

Those hovering around her slowly began to burn. The queen stroked them, listening to their voices. The enemy’s vengeful spirit burned away as soon as she touched it.

“I know your pain.”

I have no choice but to know.

I became one with you and wandered around for some time.

“I became your hands and scratched the world. I became your feet and ran through the world. I became your anger and sang. I became your tears and just shed.”

so that.

“I was your king.”

I was you.

“It’s been a long time, kids.”

The queen stroked the vengeful spirits.

More vengeful spirits approached her. Perhaps the queen was their mother, not their master. The queen gently stroked the children who could not help but scream.

“The end is coming. A warm end.”

Pain, resentment, and curses all burned up in flames.

The burning enemy spirits did not reject the queen’s touch. They were their own masters, not anyone else’s. Because among the many, many things, they were the only ones who listened to their voices.

In the burning flames, the vengeful spirits will choose.

Will I forget everything and be reborn on this earth?

Or reject everything and go to rest. Many people choose the latter, but some of them choose the former. Either way is fine. The queen listened to their stories so they could choose.

Listening to the story.

Helping them make their choices.

The queen became a single flame and walked in the darkness. She wasn’t lonely. She wasn’t terrible either. She had no regrets. As she looked back on the paths she had taken, she smiled. She was able to laugh at the end.

There are subjects who sacrificed their lives for him.

There is a subject who founded a country for himself.

There is a subject who endured for a thousand years to save himself.

And, there was a later person who came here to convey their will.

She realized that so many people had lived for her. She realized that her life was not meaningless. That was enough for her. That fact alone would be enough for her to smile and close her eyes.

“Let’s go.”

The owner of ten thousand horses walked.

The one taking steps was the Queen of Arcadia.

“To the end, or to another beginning.”

The fire burned.

The queen walked while putting out the flames. What the soul that crumbles in flames chooses is the same as the purpose of its life that the soul first engraved. A way to fulfill one’s responsibilities as a monarch. Royal road.

The beginning and the end are the same.

The one who lived as a king until the last moment faced death as a king. She burned like a fire, never turning away from those who followed her.

Hwareuk.

Fire enveloped the darkness.

The vengeful spirits approached the flames like moths to fire, like children looking for their mother. And so everything burns. The last thing they uttered after screaming for a thousand years was someone’s name.

Ah, Archriel…

Our master.

The vengeful spirits burst into flames, shouting the name of the one who was king, mother, and master.

The shade burned away.

The demon king was consumed by gentle flames. Kyle watched the burning flames in fascination. The fire was not strong. It was soft and beautiful.

Hwareuk.

The rising flames reached the sky.

The shadows that covered the sky burned. The darkness subsided and the sky slowly began to return to its original color. The blue sky appeared between the flying ashes.

“ah···.”

Kyle sighed.

The sun shone through the blue sky. Sunlight shone on the cursed land that had been swallowed up in darkness for a thousand years. The shadow burned with the falling sunlight.

■■, ■■■■···.

■■■■ ■■■■■■.

The shadow whispered, wrapped in fire.

Kyle didn’t understand the whisper, but he knew it wasn’t a scream. Soon, ashes flew. Pure white ash.

Pure white ash. Sunshine shining down. Beautiful flames.

The death of the shadow that had colored the world black for a thousand years was paradoxically beautiful.

fantasy,