The Young Hero took one last look at it.

The Castle where he had trained to the point of blood and tears and where he had gone through numerous hardships.Where he had learned the meaning of love and family.

This could be the last time he saw it.

Sigh

He was scared, his lips quivered and his hands trembled ever so slightly.

'I must do this' he resolved himself ' As the Hero of this Kingdom i will protect its peace and protect all of the inhabitants of the world'.

His unfocused and tired eyes became hardened and fierce. He felt like he was finally ready.

The Journey he had been preparing for so long, looked like it was finally starting. All the pain he had gone through, his best friend, his mother, his sister and his village.

All long gone.

Everything due to the Demon Lord's cruel plan to destroy the Torera Kingdom and gradually kill all humans.

Yet he still had things he cherished, he left every last one of his personal belongings at the castle for the off chance he didn't come back.They were too close to his heart to be destroyed or even to be left in his old village.

They were his sister's favourite toy bear, cute and innocent. His mothers favourite bracelet, golden and shiny, showing her shining elegance and finally his long dead father's sword, which was given by his father before passed away. He had trained with it for all of his life until he was granted the holy sword by the Church of the Goddess.

He was no longer the weak crybaby from his childhood who needed his fathers comfort and protection.

He turned around and abandoned his last drops of doubt with his first step out of the city.

The Lone Hero had finally departed.

All the places he passed through he had managed to free from the grasps of the Demons. Be they big, small, humanoid, monstrous and even magical, he and his sword cut them all down.

His last village had even been the biggest victory against the Demon army for the past 50 years.

But he knew it was not over.

It would only end when the Demon Lord was slain, the one who started all this pain and suffering. His hatred for evil carried him from one place to another, purging it whenever he saw a chance.

Unknowingly in his rage he had reached the Demon Lord's Castle.It was a disgusting sight to see.

It's walls were coloured pitch black ,tainted by the magic power emanating from the Demon Lord, its pearly white walls long forgotten. The ceiling was rotten, with holes and darker spots ,but he didn't want to waste precious time any longer so he started walking in the direction of the decrepit castle.

As he passed through the unfertile and barren land he felt a dying power, unlike what he had expected, it seemed as though the Demon Lord was losing power. The Hero wondered if it could be a trap as he neared the castle doors. Getting into a battle ready mentality he prepared himself for ambushes as he slowly pushed the tall wooden doors open.

creak

He immediately became alert at the loud sound of the door and quickly got into a defensive stance. He waited, and waited yet nothing happened.

This perplexed him, how is he supposed to think that the place where the Demon Lord resided had no defenses.It was simply impossible.

The further into the Castle the more enraged he became.

Did the demons think that their Lord had no need for defenses because they knew he would win or was it because they underestimated humanity so much that they did not even think of the possibility of them attacking the castle?

Both possibilities made him mad with rage. He looked at the door he felt the power coming from with a mad glint in his eyes before he spoke.

"COME OUT DEMON! I AM THE HERO OF THE HUMANS AND I HAVE COME TO DEFEAT YOU!" his voice filled with rage and impatience echoed throught the corridors.

He waited for a few minutes yet he heard no answer.

"DO YOU NOT HEAR ME" the hero yelled again

No response.

He felt mocked, made a fool out of.

He could not contain it anymore.

He held his sword up high and brought it down with thundering force in the direction of the door.

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SMASH

A loud smashing sound was heard as the door and the wall itself were blown away. He walked inside in an attack position but prepared himself for any attacks . He couldn't see a thing, his blow seemed to have kicked up a large cloud of dust that now blocked his sight,yet he was unbothered as he had fought many other enemies in the dark with almost no vision of them.

He was ready and so he started approaching the dark figure he could barely see.

It was in front of what looked like a bright red curtain so the strong contrast made it easier to see it. Its armor looked as though it belonged to a knight, but he saw no sword.

Again, he felt himself being mocked.

Looked down upon.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and charged at it.

The Holy Sword coming into contact with dark armor made a loud clang. The Dark figure had defended his blow with just a finger.

He was being looked down on again. He hated that feeling the most.

"What?!"

He launched a flurry of attacks, getting faster and stronger each time.

He was going to overpower his enemy no matter what.

His enemy didn't stop protecting himself, yet it wasn't attacking.

Again.

clang

clang

clang

clang

clang

After almost 30 minutes in he felt it.

The Demon Lord was growing weaker in the midst of their battle.

It was dying.

Why had it not died yet?

Had it not caused enough suffering?

Did it want to live and continue spreading pain?

"Please just die", the hero muttered under his breath.

The Demon in front of him gave a guttural laugh as he opened his arms to let himself be hit by the blows of the s̴̱͗ă̷͙v̶͙͑i̸͙̾ō̴̡ȕ̶̯r̷̻̈ ̷̫̉o̶̖͠f̷̰̆ ̴̜̾l̴͕̐i̷͉͝g̶͈̍h̷̺̿t̵͎̄.

"Please just die" he repeated

clang

clang

Pieces of the armor of the Demon Started falling to the floor and splatters of blood started jumping onto the skin of the Hero. "pleAse juSt diE", he repeated once more with a slightly more distorted voice.

The dark blood kept spilling onto his skin, gradually making it darker."p̶̩͋L̴̪̾ė̷̺ạ̶͐s̵̡̀ë̸̬́ ̷͇͌j̵͉̎Ṵ̶̆S̶̠̕t̸̜͋ ̸̺̏d̴̥̀ì̵̫Ẽ̵̥" he repeated again but this time with a very deep and more guttural distorted voice.

clang

clang

clang

The H̶͎͗̉e̸̖͔̞̽͗̇ȑ̵̼͊o̶̙̥͂͗̀ noticed his power had started increasing in a rapid pace.

He was happy, his efforts were paying off. Finally.

The Demon Lord was weak, it stood no chance in front of his power. Surely the Goddess was giving him the powers needed to purge the ultimate evil.

Surely that was the reason....right?

With little effort he had done it. The Demon Lord was defeated, on his knees. His armor full of holes with the only place left undamaged being the helmet.

It was adamant in protecting it but the Ȟ̶̢͈̱͖͙̽̏̈̌̈́e̶̜͔̭̜͊̓r̸̦͉͋͒̅̏͊o̸͕̭͋ did not care if it wanted to die with its helmet on. It would die all the same.

Just as he was about to deal the final blow he heard a voice. A Human like voice was coming from the demon. "What is that sword?" it said

Our H̶͙͖̥̜̥̻̣̪̮̯̾̆̽̕͘͝e̶̢̧̧̧̥̗̱̹̺̋̾̐̈́͋̇͂͝ŗ̷̢̧̜͚̟͈̯̣̏̒̆̾͗̄̍̈͑̀͐͠o̵̢̟̜͙͙̬̻͋͂͐̾͌ did not care for his Human voice, he knew demons were good deceivers. He positioned himself to the side of the fallen demon and held his sword as high as he could.

This was the end.

He swung down.

With a melancholic voice the Demon said its last words..."That was not the sword I gave you"

The head rolled onto the damp and rotten wooden floor.

The stench from the blood seemed to have grown stronger with those words.

The whole room was completely still.

No sounds could be heard and not even the birds sang, the barren landscape outside contributed to the splitting silence even more.

The Lone survivor's heart seemed to have stopped.

He looked at the red curtain and could see it was damaged but what added shock to his reaction was that behind it ....he could see a familiar bear.

"....."

He started to walk towards it.

It felt as if every step he took lasted an infinity, but he still reached it. He gripped the cloth of the curtain and ripped it off.

"no"

"no"

"no"

"No"

"nO"

"NO"

"NO"

The only word heard in that room was "no" for hours on end.

His Family was in the painting, yet one figure was unfamiliar to him.

Why? Why torment him more? Was this a sick joke?

The Demon King was occupying the place his father should have been in.

"That's n-n-not t-true" he said as his fierce eyes had gone wide and tired.

His lips quivered and his whole body started to shake. He was not ready, yet he still turned around. The first step he took towards the head brought all the doubt and fear back.

He hesitated.

But he persisted and slowly but surely moved forward.

With the head was now at his feet he fell to his knees and slowly grabbed the head with his shaking hands.

He slowly took the helmet off of it and… started bawling.

It was his Father. He still had the warmest of smiles on his face. That was unfair.

How could he die smiling knowing what he did.

What he made our family go through.

What he made me go through.

The Survivor cried until he was out of energy. He was too tired to cry. Looking at the painting he realized it had changed. It was the cursed armor next to… was that his wife, the Princess? And who was the little girl with his mothers bracelet and his sister's toy bear next to her?

His head hurt, he could not think. He had to rest.

Getting up, he grabbed his sword and was about to sheath it when he heard a low noise. He looked around but could not find anything.

"Listen to me Son of Darkness" said the voice. His eyes snapped towards the decapitated head, it was talking. How?

"The Cycle must continue" it said

"Wha-"

Just as he was about to question the head he started to fall asleep. He felt dizzy and tired. No matter how much he fought against it he felt as though it was a losing battle. He eventually fell forwards, but before hitting the ground he felt the Holy Sword go through his chest. He didn't even manage to yell before he blacked out.

...

When he came to he heard screams. What did he do to get screamed at right in the morning? He had bought the diapers and he was sure of it. He got up and noticed he was in dark armor.

"What?.."

He looked to his right and noticed he was still in the room where he had fought his father in.

"What is happening?...."

He went next to the now repaired curtain and carefully opened it.It was him.He was the one next to his lover. Was that their daughter? How was she a child in the painting? She had not even been born yet.

"DO YOU NOT HEAR ME"

The screams again.

He closed the curtains and wondered why the screams sounded familiar.It was like.. he had said it himself. Suddenly a powerful gust of wind broke the front door and the wall, kicking up the dust.

'What…'

He was sure he did the exact same thing.He could see clearly through the dust as if he had new eyes. He saw a woman. He knew who she was, after all he had seen her face in the painting.

She was his daughter.

'Ah, i see. This is the Cycle. Such a Tiring Journey for it to only be repeated'