The enormous doors of the imperial castle burst open, splintering wood and metal across the marble floor.
The explosion's thunderous boom reverberated throughout the grand hall.
I stood there in the rubble, my dark figure against the faint light coming through the broken doorway.
A mountain of dead bodies stretched out into the distance behind me, a terrifying sea of lifeless bodies.
I saw the system window hovering before my eyes.
-----------------------------
[Enemies Killed]
2,101,298,481 / 2,101,298,492
-----------------------------
Ten years.
It had been ten years since I was transmigrated into this world—a world of magic and monsters. And finally, I was almost done. I could go back to my original world.
My expression was grim and determined as I took a deep breath and stepped into the lavish hallway.
I was almost there. Almost done.
The castle was a monument of elegance.
The walls were lined with tall columns that were adorned with crimson and gold banners. Chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, many of which were cracked or broken, their shards scattered across the floor.
However, I didn't care about the grandeur; my attention was on the path ahead.
Twelve black-armored soldiers suddenly charged at me, their faces hidden behind dark helmets.
One of them yelled, "Protect the emperor!"
"Keep the line in! We must not allow him to pass!" yelled another.
They functioned as one cohesive unit, a steel wall committed to defending their emperor.
But I didn't flinch.
I brought up my weapon, a massive, curved blade attached to a long chain. A crescent pendulum.
"Take him down!" a soldier to my left cried, raising his sword.
However, I was faster. The blade from my weapon swung out in a wide arc with a flick of my wrist and cut cleanly through the armor of the nearest soldier.
Before he could respond, he fell to the ground, blood pouring from his body. The blade responded quickly, slicing through a second soldier who had tried to surround me.
"T...This is not possible! "He's too fucking fast!" exclaimed a desperate one of them.
"Withdraw! Another cried out, realizing their fate and screaming, "Fall back!"
With effortless precision, my blade tore through armor, flesh, and bone as the chain twisted and turned.
I moved with utmost efficiency, barely changing position while my weapon did its job. It looped and curved around me, slicing through my enemies like paper.
Their weapons clattered to the ground ineffectually as the soldiers fell one by one. Blood stained the marble floor, but I didn't even care as I walked across it.
My gaze was fixed on the massive double doors at the end of the hall—the entrance to the throne room. The final step.
* * *
The final group of royal guards collapsed, their bodies collapsing on the blood-soaked marble floor.
I flicked the blood off my blade, and the chain ratcheted as the crescent-shaped weapon came back to me.
-----------------------------
[Enemies Killed]
2,101,298,490 / 2,101,298,492
-----------------------------
The throne room was a short distance away from me, as the grand double doors loomed ahead.
With a heavy push, I opened the doors, their creaking hinges protesting against the force.
The throne room was huge, a testament to the power and wealth of the empire. The polished floor reflected the torches' flickering light and created a mirror-like shine in the room.
At the far end, on an elevated platform, sat the emperor.
His head was crowned with a twisted crown, and was dressed in regal robes.
His eyes were filled with a mixture of disbelief and fear as he locked onto me, his expression cold. Beside the throne stood a man in a elaborate armor, his hand resting on a shining sword.
The emperor's voice reverberated throughout the enormous hall.
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"Crimson Reaper," he said in an apprehensive yet skeptical tone. "Why are you doing this? Why have you wiped out entire races, destroyed entire kingdoms, and slaughtered billions of people? A world once full of life has been turned into a barren land of corpses by you."
Despite his contempt, his words were filled with horror, as if he was gazing at a monster, and perhaps, he was.
"You alone have done this," the emperor continued, his voice shaking slightly. "Every living being, every monster, everything that breathed in this world… you killed them all."
As I heard his words, I felt something inside of me growing, something dark and twisted. And then, suddenly, I started laughing. I didn't know why.
I laughed so loudly in the throne room that it echoed like a manic. I could hardly recognize the sound of my laugh; it seemed to belong to someone else.
"Why?" In between bursts of laughter, I repeated, barely able to get the word out. There was a hollow silence as the laughter subsided.
I cocked my head, acting as though I hadn't given the question much thought before.
"Why am I acting in this way?" I murmured, more to myself than to anyone else.
I raised my head to face the emperor, my expression emotionless.
"I'm not sure," I uttered. "I have no idea why."
Without another word, I lunged forward, ready to close this last chapter, my blade spinning through the air.
But the man that was standing beside the throne moved quickly before I could get to the emperor.
In the faint light, his sword flashed and collided with my blade with an unbearable clang.
The sheer force of the collision caused the air itself to tremble, sending a shockwave through the room.
The man's ferocious and determined gaze met mine, and I realized that this wouldn't be as simple as the others.
The loud bang of our weapons colliding sent shivers through the floor due to their sheer force. The man who had obstructed my path and I met eyes, his expression a mixture of barely suppressed fury and determination.
"So you must be the hero everyone was talking about," I said, maintaining my composure in spite of the raging storm around us. "The one who was destined to defeat the Demon Lord."
The hero's grip tightened around his sword as his eyes narrowed.
"The Demon Lord that I ended up killing," I said, uttering the words almost without thinking. I could see the rage light up in his eyes at what I said.
"You, you MONSTER!" The hero spat, his angry voice quivering. "You destroyed everything!! People's lives, peace, THE WORLD!!"
I remained silent. I flicked my wrist, causing my weapon—the blade with a crescent shape—to spin through the air in his direction.
As our weapons collided once more, the hero parried with his sword, the force of his block sending sparks flying.
The hero charged forward, a flurry of accurate blows flying from his sword that gleamed in the low light. I gracefully and methodically danced around his attacks.
He was forced to remain on guard as my Crescent Pendulum swung its blade in wide arcs as it twisted through the air.
The hero let out a shout as his sword started to glow, sending brilliant waves of light out from it. The sword's radiance seemed to fill the entire room, the air crackling with its power.
"Oh?" I muttered as I ducked under another strong blow, slightly intrigued. "That must be the holy sword that everyone spoke of."
With a slash, the light from the hero's blade split the air. I sidestepped as the attack sliced through the stone floor, narrowly missing me by inches.
"What was its name again? Excalibur or something?"
My casual tone caused the hero's face to contort in anger, and he lunged forward, his sword seeming to be at the height of its power as it shone even brighter.
But still...
"It's still just a sword"
I swung my Crescent Pendulum to block his blow. With a metallic hiss, the chain encircled his blade and was secured by the crescent-shaped blade.
I yanked the chain and the hero's sword slipped from his grasp, his eyes widened in shock.
I twisted the chain with a quick, accurate motion that cracked his sword and caused the sacred blade to splinter under the pressure.
"T...THE EXACLIBUR!!"
Gazing at the shattered remnants of his once-powerful weapon, the hero stumbled and spoke in a tone tinged with incredulity.
I cut through the air with a clean, wide arc with my crescent blade before he could even comprehend what had just happened.
The hero's head was severed from his body, and after a brief period of silence, it rolled across the floor and stopped at the foot of the throne.
His corpse collapsed to the ground, causing blood to gather around it.
Beside him, the shattered remnants of Excalibur rattled pointlessly.
For a brief moment, I stood there and gazed down at the fallen hero before returning my attention to the emperor, who was now staring at me with a mixture of horror and despair.
I started to approach him, my footsteps resonating throughout the large, deserted throne room. With a serene and resigned demeanor, the emperor appeared to have already come to terms with his destiny as I approached.
"So you're the last one left," I uttered as I stopped in front of the throne, my weapon still dripping with the blood of those who had dared to stand in my way.
The emperor gave a small nod, his expression expressionless.
"It appears to be so," he answered in a steady, almost cold tone. "Crimson Reaper, I always knew this day would come. Even with that knowledge, though, I can't help but ask. Was it all worth it?"
I fixed my unreadable gaze on him. "Worth it? Destroying the world? I don't know." I said. "But there was no other option."
With a sigh, the emperor looked past me at the remains of his once-mighty empire. "You've killed them all," he murmured. "Every beast, every monster, every man, woman, and child. The whole world reduced to nothing more than dead bodies."
"Yes," I answered plainly. "I completed the task at hand."
The emperor briefly closed his eyes while twitching his lips in a faint, bitter smile. Silently, he asked, "Then there's nothing left to say, is there? Go ahead. Put an end to it."
I raised my weapon, making it flicker in the flickering torchlight. "Goodbye," I said, my voice emotionless.
With haste, I lowered the crescent blade and cut straight through the emperor's throat. His body slumped forward, lifeless, and his head rolled off the throne and hit the floor with a dull thud.
Blood swelled around the throne, mingling my blood with that of the heroes and all the countless others I had slain.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, the familiar blue system window suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
-------------------------
[Enemies Killed]
2,101,298,492 / 2,101,298,492
-------------------------
[Mission Cleared!]
[You have exterminated every living thing in this world]
[You can now go back to your world.]
A sense of finality descended upon me as I gazed at the words displayed on the screen. It was completed. I was the one that killed this world, and now it was dead.
I inhaled deeply before saying the words that would put an end to everything.
"I accept."
As soon as I said those words a portal—a whirling whirlwind of light and shadow—formed in front of me.
It pulsated with energy, crackling with the ability to return me to my rightful place.
For a brief moment, I stood there, gazing into the portal as my mind wandered back over the previous ten years. Ten years in this lifetime. Ten years of ceaseless fighting, unrelenting slaughter, and bloodshed. I had killed all the people. I had turned a vibrant world into a wasteland of corpses.
And I was going home at last.
I moved forward, sensing the portal's pull as I got closer. No hesitation or second thoughts were present. This was the reason I had battled and persevered for these many years.
I took one last look at the destroyed throne room before entering the portal.
The light devoured everything, and the world of death and destruction disappeared behind me.