What’s your definition of a void?

What could exist inside a void if light itself couldn’t pierce the darkest dark?

Do creatures that had adapted to the darkness live there?

Does some entity live there that kidnaps the unfortunate souls that fall inside?

No.

What lived in a void—an empty space—was one’s regrets, your trauma and every single mistake you ever made.

Even something as non-threatening as stealing someone’s pencil is an example of regret. It doesn’t matter what you did, if it negatively influences others and triggers regret then you shall be reminded of what you did.

The possibilities of what you’ll see are endless. No being can decide what you’ll see. Not even gods who created your mortal form.

You’re left alone with your thoughts, with no one there to share them with.

What happens when your ears can’t funnel sound around you when there’s none to speak of?

You’re forced to remember your regrets. This was very similar to a white room.

White torture or white room torture does not directly attack the body: by assaulting the five senses or the psychological integrity of a person, it remains invisible to the naked eye but leaves indelible psychological traces.

A void without sound, smell, a physical form and no life was exactly the same.

Of course, everyone had different reactions to this void. Those who sinned are more likely to succumb to their regrets while the goodhearted few see nothing. What you’ll see as your regrets differ from the next person. You could even see none at all if you don’t regret the things you’ve done.

Did you kill a cat? Perhaps you might see a re-enactment of your deed.

Maybe you did something that didn’t make you happy if only you chose wisely. You might see your life if you hadn’t chosen that something.

“….?”

Arnold noticed that he wasn’t falling into the darkness anymore.

The Elf girl was nowhere to be seen.

He was standing on a grassy plain by his lonesome self. A cold breeze swept against his dark blue hair. It travelled through his clothes and sent a chill up his spine.

He looked around but saw nothing besides hilly plains with forests. There were some animals walking around but none of them seemed to notice him.

He couldn’t see their faces since all of them were turned away from him for some reason.

Arnold noticed a rabbit running up to him.

Its head was facing down until it got to him.

“!?”

His eyes widened and goosebumps rose on his skin.

The rabbit had Nait’s face. Not just that but it had the exact expression Nait had on his face when he died.

His eyes were opened but no light was within those eyes. His mouth was twisted into a grimace.

That. Revived. Soul. Isn’t. Mine. It. Robbed. My. Body. Now. I. Am. No One. I. Am. No One!

A booming voice screamed in Arnold’s ear even though the rabbit was so small.

Arnold blinked and noticed that the rabbit’s face was back to normal. It sniffed him before hopping away.

“What was that…” he held his face in his hand, “Is my insomnia causing hallucinations?”

The void’s effects was making the hallucinations worse it seems.

Arnold looked around to see where he was.

He noticed someone nearby even though the figure wasn’t there before.

It was a man.

He was in a wheelchair.

His dark blue hair was long and resembled the hair of a woman and his blue eyes were as bright as the sky above.

He… looked like Arnold?

He definitely resembled Arnold but seemed much older.

This man had no legs and only one arm.

“You’re… me?” Arnold stepped closer.

‘Did this abyss somehow link our worlds together? I know that something like that is possible but I didn’t expect a space pocket to be capable of that.’

Space pockets didn’t have both space and time properties. That would be absurd. But… maybe there are exceptions.

“You? No, I’m not you. At least not anymore.” The older version of Arnold looked at him like he was trash, “You’re a disgrace to the warlord powerful enough to overthrow demon lords. Do you know how much I had to sacrifice to get this powerful? But look what happened to me in the end because I always hesitated like you.”

He opened his robe’s chest area, revealing a hole where his heart was supposed to be. A small kindle of white flames was burning inside that hole.

Aether. That was what was keeping him alive.

The older him seemed to notice his stare. “What? Are you curious? I’m sure you are. I had Aether as my main form of combat but I still had much to learn and haven’t even touched the peak of this power. I wasn’t even close to it. Thus, it could never match up to the power of the Holy Sword of Song and Light.”

“What… What did this to you?”

“The Demon King. She told me that I could never be the hero. I knew that but was I supposed to let her invade my world and take everything I’ve fought for, everything I’ve bled for? But I was naïve. It doesn’t matter how strong I was, I could never defeat her. Divine power was the only thing that could stop her. Alas it is something that’s out of my reach. However, even that hero, Arthur was powerless against that monster that’s beyond comprehension.”

“Huh?”

Arthur? Hero?

“Hold on. What do you mean when you said Arthur is the hero? How did that happen?”

“I thought you were supposed to be an omniscient being from another world. You don’t even know that Arthur became the hero?”

Arnold knew already that things wouldn’t be the same as it was in the game but he didn’t expect Arthur, a side character to become a hero and not Luke. Why did the story change so drastically in the old Arnold’s world?

Of course, that wasn’t to say that the Arthur in his world will become the one destined to slay Arsnoria.

Arnold met Arthur and his sister the day a vassal household of the main branch came to introduce their new heir. The previous one died so they had to adopt a boy to inherit the household.

Marcus’ great-uncle was old so he couldn’t make another child.

Arthur was a weak boy. He couldn’t defend himself against anyone, even children younger than himself. He was bullied by the noble boys relentlessly. They just wouldn’t miss a chance to mess with him.

Arnold hated seeing such a disgusting weakling who was going to inherit a great House affiliated with the Berkley House.

The Tivurgian Family were part of the stronger families of the empire. They had a strong private army that answers only to Marcus von Berkley. The Berkley Household already had thousands of soldiers and several hundred knights but the alliance with the Tivurgian strengthened the military power the Household had.

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Marcus’ great-uncle ruled the household. He lost his eldest son in a battle many years ago so he needed a replacement. Given how he despised sending his family out to war after losing his only son, he wanted to adopt a child, regardless of what their abilities were or if they could fight or not. All the household needed was a healthy boy. The boy could be educated to take over the house.

Arnold confronted that boy one day with sword in hand:

“Fight me.”

Of course, the boy was scared.

Not minding that, Arnold punched him.

Yet he refused to fight.

Arnold punched him again.

Yet he refused.

However, the third punch seemed to awaken something in him.

It was probably the will to not lose.

Despite picking up that sword and trying to fight Arnold, he was mercilessly beaten down by the much younger Arnold. This was because Arnold had already began his aura training so he was much stronger.

All Arthur had was his fast reflexes which didn’t amount to much once the battle dragged on. Arnold was superior when it came to prolonged combat.

Arnold told Arthur to fight him every day.

There was still no progress.

Arthur was still weaker.

The point of him telling Arthur to fight wasn’t to win against Arnold but to become brave enough to fight anyone who tried to bully him. Arnold hoped the idiot would get it. In the end, he did.

“What… are these memories?”

Why could Arnold suddenly remember everything from his childhood? Didn’t that transmigrator, Liam, take it all away from him when he took over his body?

He could remember everything from Arnold’s childhood:

He remembered how he shared his first kiss with Olivia when they were 10.

He remembered how he was almost assassinated four times during his childhood.

He could remember the first day he met Victoria.

These vivid memories were so clear that he could recall every moment, every emotion he felt throughout his younger life.

‘I… I can see everything…’

“Those are my memories. I couldn’t quite give them to you when you first came to this world since a force was keeping me away. But the abyss broke that link between you and that force. These memories are now yours. Well, I can’t give you all the memories.” said the older Arnold.

Something else flashed in Arnold’s mind.

He saw gigantic roots growing out of the sky and upside-down trees.

He saw the collapse of the Intermid border.

He saw the emergence of the Demon King and the three Demon Lords.

Everything else that he remembered from the game flashed right past his eyes in fragments. He couldn’t see them all since they appeared and disappeared so fast.

“Ugh! Ugh!” Arnold clutched his head.

The sheer amount of knowledge was sending waves of pain through his head. Calling it a headache was being cute. It felt like his head was being struck with a dull weapon.

“Do you know who always stood against all the calamities that came even before the Demon King?”

“….”

“Me. The hero was a weakling who couldn’t even defeat a demon lord. I found out only later on that Luke was supposed to inherit that title but died too early to unlock all his power. Laughable, isn’t it? There was no party of Transcendents like myself to stand up against Arsnoria.”

“The Hero Party was never formed?”

“No. Lauran pursued the arcane as an elite mage after I released her. Flora lived as a mute wife after being sold off to a foreign noble. Angelica was locked up and tortured by Augustus after he found out that she wanted to escape her cage(the tower she resides in). She killed herself by biting her tongue and suffocating to death. Alitus lived a normal life with his family after the war. Olivia bought herself a villa in the countryside and became a general who leads the empire’s soldiers in the shadow. And finally, Luke… Well, he had somewhat of a happy ending. He married Norn and moved to another country where he became one of the strongest knights on the continent, never finding out that he was special. The Hero Party—that was supposed to defeat the Demon King—never happened as you intended it to happen.”

“What…? What about Luke and Flora? He was supposed to meet her at the Adventurer’s Guild. Did that never happen?”

“It did but love was the reason the two went their separate ways.”

‘I fucking knew it. That little horny bastard is in love with two women.’ Arnold remembered that day he parted ways with Flora with Luke. Luke seemed so alone when he parted ways with Flora.

It wasn’t strange to love two people at once but it was certainly an uncommon thing.

“Luke had to decide: Cut ties with Flora—who he developed feelings for—or Norn, his first love. The only thing that he and Flora had in common was their love for fighting. He fell for her beauty and saw her as an older sister. He chose his childhood friend over Flora in the end.”

Arnold looked at his older self with a blank expression.

It sounded absurd. Shouldn’t destiny have brought them all together?

“Then there’s me, the guy who swore to dominate the world with his power. I ended up saving everyone’s asses every time. Quite ironic. The hero only became strong enough to protect everyone once he got his holy sword. What about me, the guy who saved everyone while the hero was off training somewhere secluded from the rest of the world? Look what I got. I gained no recognition. No money. No fame. No wife, no children. I only got this.”

He looked down at his body.

“The hero was the one who gained it all. Now I’m just a ghost. He can enjoy his life after obtaining world peace. My aether is useless without legs and two arms. No… I’m useless.”

“That… That can’t be real.”

“Oh, but it is, Liam.”

“The hero was supposed to be Luke... Arnold was supposed to be one of the final bosses. Luke killed Arnold along with his companions and goes on to fight the Demon King. That should’ve been the way things transpired in your world.”

This wasn’t to say that there was only one ending, though. Does Arthur become the protagonist when Luke dies? Does the game continue even after Luke dies? Did the Star Beast still destroy the world regardless of the pain and suffering the Hero Party went through to save it?

Arnold had so many questions.

“That’s what you thought would’ve happened. Of course, a small event in the present can influence the future. Your intervention increased the chances of the Hero Party coming together. Of course, I’m not saying that things would’ve gone differently but there’s still that small possibility.”

Luke was going to become Duke Berkley.

Olivia was going to become a Divine Beast Tamer after she met Neguard.

Lauran was going to become an Archmage candidate with Adrianna’s help.

Flora was going to fight at Luke’s side and train him to become the greatest swordsman in the entire world.

There were more people who needed to join the Hero Party but that

Two figures suddenly emerged next to the crippled older Arnold.

“Huh…?”

They looked exactly the same age as crippled Arnold. However, their clothing and appearance differed immensely from one another.

The one on the right donned full-body white armour and had a golden sword on his hip. He looked exactly like a holy knight who protects the weak against evil.

The left one was wearing a long black robe. He had long silver hair and completely white pupils in his black eyes. His appearance resembled demon lord Arnold a lot. He even had a protruding horn out of the side of his head. A sinister aura surrounded this man.

Arnold noticed something on that person’s left hand index finger. It was a ring of a skull with demonic horns. In the skull’s open mouth was a small ball.

On the ball was a certain number—4.

Arnold recognized that ring all too well.

It was a ring given to only the highest hierarchy of demons—a Demon Lord chosen by Arsnoria Vlur Daemon.

‘This can’t be… I’m going to become a demon lord?’

Of course, deep down he knew he’ll have to confront this inevitable future. The Demon Kings selects not only demons but also factors to become their four demon lords. The possibility that he’ll meet the Demon King one day was very high since fate forces him to.

He wasn’t the factor of any normal demon lord out of the thousands that existed.

He was the factor of the strongest demon lord to ever exist.

The demon lord’s name was Oriel. He was from the Greater Demon species known as the Seirs, who were also known as the strongest fighting force of the demon world, surpassing every major clan of greater demons in overall strength.

“What is this…?” Arnold asked while glancing between the two figures repeatedly.

“These are the paths you’ll be forced to take.”

“Paths?”

“When the situation calls for it then you’ll be forced to take either this one,” he pointed to his right, “or this one,” he pointed to his left, “Choosing both at once will require sacrifices.”

The demon lord on the left looked like evil incarnate. His eyes were devoid of life and his body radiated death and suffering.

The other one was the complete opposite. His smile was so confident that anyone would trust him with their lives during times of danger. He exuded such powerful charisma from that smile alone.

The two figures vanished like smoke.

“The feeling of saving people feels familiar, doesn’t it? You felt it when you saved that orphanage from that monster.”

“You were watching me…?”

“I’m the subconscious of your future self so I have seen everything you’ve done until now. Tell me, how did it feel to kill that boy with your own hands?”

“!!”

The scene of Arnold piercing Nait’s stomach with his Sword Intent flashed in his head.

Arnold felt nothing during that moment. All he wanted at that moment was to get rid of any obstacle in his way. It didn’t matter if it was a woman or child, if they found out that he was the culprit then he had to get rid of them.

Of course, Nait’s case was a little special since the boy was revived. One’s lifeforce is connected to your memories so if your lifeforce was disturbed even slightly then a fragment of your memory is taken away. This was one of the many reasons why it was important to never use magic or skills that drain your lifeforce.

Arnold hoped that Nait would forget everything he heard once his lifeforce was forced back into his body. Hopefully no one had pointed out that Arnold was the culprit behind that monster wave.

If Nait got his memories back then Arnold’s hard work will be for nothing. His suffering will also be for nothing.

Older Arnold’s words resonated again:

“… how did it feel to kill that boy with your hands?”

“I hated it…”

“…”

“But it was necessary for my goal.”

“If that’s the case then why can’t you overcome the fact that you killed that boy? That rabbit you just saw was the embodiment of your regrets. You saw the real Nait, not the one the world replaced. That boy walking around in your world only has Nait’s memories but he will never be the one you killed. He will never have the same joy. He will strive for his goal, becoming a hero with no other purpose in life. Tell me, what difference is there between killing people yourself and ordering others to kill people? The blood is still on your hands. If you’re feeling bad because you killed an innocent boy but ordered the murders of strangers then you’re nothing but a psychopath.”

“….”

“No matter. My business with you is done.” the older Arnold was slowly fading away from the ground up.

“What? Wait a second!” Arnold called out to him in a hurry, “Which path did you choose in the end!?”

He mentioned that he had to confront the enemies that the Hero had to face. Yet he still wanted world domination. Did he choose the left one or the right one?

In other words, did he fight to save people or to kill?

“That’s irrelevant. You’re not like me. And you never will be. That dragon within you will never be set free.”

He vanished after he finished speaking.

A lingering voice swept past Arnold’s ear:

Remember one last thing, don’t trust Victoria like I did...