It has been a few hours since we left the village. Everyone seemed to calm down from their panic and the dread coming for us and the young man seemed to be sleeping beside me. I don't know if they have any clocks or anything to tell time (especially since my watch seemed to be out of sync with this world's timezone), but I know the sky was starting to get darker as I saw no sun in the sky and gray clouds coming towards us. The main problem was where was the Demon Border and if the soldiers knew where they were going. I supposed they already knew, but it would probably be because they had already been there or not all of them survived once they arrived and leave immediately.

As I wondered what was happening next, I felt the cart stop and several horses neighed outside. Then, one of the head soldiers came up to our cart.

"Heads up. We're not at the Border yet. Just going to deal with some Adventurers outside," the soldiers explained. "Don't even think about leaving here unless I say so!"

That was all he could say before he left the cart again. Guess he wasn't the type to quip or insult us as tools or meatshields. Still, I was curious about the Adventurers that he mentioned. That seemed to come out of a typical isekai light novel story. He said all of us couldn't leave the cart or else. But he didn't say we couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation. Thankfully, one of the soldiers was a bit loud and I could hear some other voices behind the cart.

"Hey, kids! Don't you know it's dangerous to cross here?!" One of the soldiers shouted, as expected. "Over there is the Demon Border! You won't able to get out of there alive if you plan to recklessly go there as a shortcut to...wherever you go."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, my good man. But you should have known that we're one of the Hero parties who were sent to scout outside the Border," a young man's voice answered. It didn't sound like the one who recently became a Hero back in God's domain.

"O-Oh! One of the Scout Heroes?! Oh, I'm the one who should be sorry! I didn't get the memo until now. I supposed you're heading back to the capital, correct?"

"Yeah. Mostly to report what we found there. Are you planning to go there, sir?"

"Yes. We're assigned for a subjugation mission to defeat the demons leaking through the Border."

I could hear the young man's voice gasping at the soldier's answer. "You sure about that? We saw some strong ones that almost killed one of our mages. You should head the other way if you value your life."

"Nah, we're not worried. In fact, we brought several people from another world to help us with the mission."

In other words, leave us to be the baits to the boss-level demons while they deal with the small fries.

"I see. Guess the king is already well-prepared for the leaks. Well, be careful out there. We're going to report about you once we get to the capital."

"Oh, we will. And we'll make sure we will succeed on our mission for you and the king."

Like he ever wanted to complete this mission for his kingdom. This guy has no shame in sacrificing humans to satisfy the Heroes and the monarchy. Regardless, I couldn't do anything to stop the said Heroes from leaving. I could hear some of us starting to panic. It seemed that his loud mouth woke them up with a reminder of their impending death. Although the young man from before also woke up, I could sense a bit of his bloodlust in his eyes. Still, I just remained silent as I could feel the cart moving again, waiting for that day.

----------------------------------------

A few hours passed and now, it was almost nighttime. The cart stopped again and this time, we were allowed to leave and take a wooden shield from the other to prepare for the fight that would spell our deaths. Some of us were still shaking in fear while some were screaming their heads to let them die already. Either way, nothing was going to change. Thankfully, my briefcase has two extra straps that I could use as a backpack as I stood in line with a shield in hand. Then, I waited patiently as I saw the general of this army step forward in front of a pair of small towers that were supposed to be the outpost for this Border.

"Alright, you useless others! Listen up!" The general ordered with the loudest voice that would rival one of the soldiers from earlier. "Today, we marched to the Demon Border! While we can't step into it due to its harmful effects on us humans, we can at least deal with the one fleeing from the Border. Of course, you others have no place in the army due to your lackluster blessings, so be happy you might be able to contribute something to our cause."

In other words, you guys get the credit for killing the demons while we die as baits. How majestic of you, general...

"Anyways, the commander did give you some equipment to aid you. I don't know if a wooden shield might help you survive the first wave, but it might be enough for you all to start praying for mercy to our almighty God of Creation."

God of Creation... I don't know if that was the same god who planted us here on meat shield duty, but I know who can blame for all the mess we're in right now.

"It might be a while for the demons to come out though, so you should start doing whatever you want if you still want to kill any remaining time here. Make some regrets, fuck some girl, or do anything you can do in an hour. I don't mind scoring a fe-"

"General! We have a problem!"

Finally, something to break his pathetic speech. Honestly, he's so shameless at every evil act he mentioned. But enough about the general, what was going on there? The soldier rushing to him seemed very agitated as I saw him covered in sweat while holding a telescope.

"What's wrong? If it's another rowdy bunch, just tell them to..."

"No, sir! It's an emergency!" The soldier interrupted. "T-The outpost... I-It's been breached by demons!!!"

Those words were enough to shake everyone including the general and me to the core. How was that possible? They keep telling us that by the time we got here, the demons won't attack us until nighttime and the sky above us was still orange. What's going on?

"Already?! We barely have the expendables ready for the attack! If you're lying about this..."

"H-How can I be lying right now?! I saw three of the wall guards died from them a-and...they're heading right in this very camp!"

Terrific. I could hear many otherworlders start to scream in horror and panic at the news. If this keeps up, the whole position would break out in chaos. The general may be a pain in the ass, but he's the only one who could keep most of us in line right now.

"Settle down, you useless others! Don't start panicking unless I say so! Now, why don't you stop screaming and start m-"

SLASH!!!

It was too fast for me to see what happened next. But all I could see with my naked eyes was blood spilled from the guts that flew out after the claws of a red humanoid abomination cut him down from his waist in half with its black claws and the horrified expression the soldier left as his head was caught in the crossfire before the remains of his body unceremoniously dropped on the ground. Everything was silent after that. It only took a few seconds for us to stare at the gory scene along with the abomination staring right at us. That was until one of us started to scream.

"We're gonna die! We're all gonna die!!!!"

At that point, the order has broken. Chaos erupted at all sides as many otherworlders started fleeing from the demon while the soldiers tried to regain what was left of the broken order. As for the large monster that they called a "demon", it started to pounce at one of the fleeing people and started mauling him until he was nothing but a puddle of blood and gore I couldn't describe without throwing up. It got worse when I looked up and saw several winged humanoid creatures like it flying above the orange sky and started diving toward our direction to join the massacre. I would expect that the general and his army would get their comeuppance for the heinous deeds they did with us being useless otherworlders as their excuse. But the fact that we would be ambushed by demons that we do not know was out of my guess completely.

"Hey, uncle! What the heck are you doing?!" I gasped out of my thoughts and turned to see the young man again. He didn't seem to panic like the others, but I could tell from his eyes that he was also caught off-guard by the demons' sudden appearances. "We have to start running from the demons before the soldiers get us!"

He's right. It was a shame to leave the others behind to the claws and fangs of those demons. But we're only humans and there was no way both of us could save most of them. I still have my doubts, but since he has a combat job class that seemed doable, I should follow his call for now. First off, I scanned around the area for any openings we can use to escape. Not only that, we need to find some weapons for us to defend against the demons and maybe, some of the soldiers trying to stop us.

"Hey! Where do you two think you're going, others?!"

Ugh... Speaking of which, we turned around to see one of the soldiers who were still standing. Yet this one has less blood spilled around his armor and was wielding a sword and shield. I also noticed his arms were shaking, probably from fear. "Y-You're not going anywhere until you help us distract those demons!"

I groaned. How stupid this guy was?

"Have you seen the battlefield right now?" I said. "It doesn't seem like they have no preference for either noble, soldier, or otherworlders! Your plan to turn us into meat shields isn't working at all!"

"Don't act like you know everything! You're nothing but a useless otherworlder with no Job Class and you have nothing to prove that you can help us and the Heroes summoned here to help us defeat the Demon Lord! If you really want to be useful to us, then go out there and die alr- URGH!"

For once, that young man was useful as I watched him punch his gut before snatching his sword and kicking him a few feet away.

"Why don't you say that right after you try fighting a demon without your sword, you f***er!"

I sighed as the young man made a gesture I rather not mentioned out of disgust. Regardless, he got what he asked for and I found the opening while that soldier made that lame, but insulting speech.

"Come on. I think we can find some armor from those dead soldiers," I said to the young man. "Follow me."

We quickly rushed through the chaos without turning back. It's disgusting to disturb corpses, but considering most of them were douchebags, I didn't hesitate to help him salvage some armor pieces for the young man and me to wear. Eventually, we were fully equipped with salvaged metal armor. It wasn't much, but it should be enough to protect us for now.

"Are you sure you're going to wear that over your suit, pops?" He asked. "You don't seem to have the same skill as me."

"It's better than running through the mob of demons naked," I answered. "I'm trusting you can protect us until we're a few feet away from the Demon Border."

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"Just leave it to me, pops!"

I wished he would stop calling me "pops", but now was not the time for that. I honestly didn't trust him completely and there was a chance he would act like those cowardly soldiers. But I need to survive. I didn't agree with being transported into another world just to die here. I wanted to live just to get away from my old shitty past. I wanted to get away from my trauma and abuse like this.

Without any second thoughts, I followed the young man through the battlefield while watching him cut down many demons coming our way. True to his skill's name, [Speed Adaptability], I could only see him as blurs when he sped through different directions to take down several demons and block their claws with his wooden shield. After an hour of running, we noticed the sky becoming more blue than gray, a sign that we were almost far away from the Border. What was even lucky was that there were several horses (somehow coming from the soldiers who dropped off from that area before walking to the Border on foot for some reason) waiting for us. Well, it wasn't "several" anymore as we saw most of the horses were dead with some being eaten by the demons that the young man killed along the way. All that was left was a lone horse tied to a nearby tree as it tried to run away from the chaos.

"Looks like one of us has to take the horse, but..." I turned around and saw several demons noticing us as they rushed in our direction. "Another should distract them while the other uses the momentum of the horse to defeat them."

"So what's your suggestion, pops? That I have to take the horse?"

I shook my head at the young man. Again, I still don't trust this guy and I don't know what he would do if I let him take the horse. So I have a plan. I'll take the horse and use its speed to help the young man while he would take care of the demons on foot. That way, the demons' numbers should be small enough for us to esc-

It will never work.

Huh? Wait, was that...

It doesn't matter who will take the horse. He will betray you either way.

Betray...me? Wait, how did y-

But you can let him go. Do that, and you will have an advantage.

Huh?! What the hell are you saying right now?

Do you want to survive? Give up the horse and get out of here!

But... I...

Give up the horse. It's not worth it.

Not...worth it... Not...

Yes, you have other ways to survive. Trust me and follow my voice. Give it up.

Give up...the...

"Hey, pops! Earth to pops!"

I gasped. Huh? What was I doing?

"What are you spacing out for?! The demons are getting closer any second now! I need that plan of yours right about now!"

Right, plan, plan. The plan was...

"I'll take your suggestion, so you should take the horse."

I can see the young man's eyes widen at my suggestion. "Wait, are you sure? I-I thought you said..."

"I know what I said, but I had some second thoughts." Honestly, I have had no second thoughts until now. I don't know why, but I just did for some reason. "I trust you can ride the horse to get us out of here, correct?"

"U-Uh... Yeah, of course. In fact, you can ride on the back if you want!"

I wish I could say "yes", but why am I feeling uneasy about his offer? I only responded by picking up a sword dropped by a dead soldier nearby and said, "I'll deal with those demons by myself. You need to get some help from those Adventurers they mentioned! Just go!"

"R-Right... Just hang on, pops! Help is on the way!" With that, he took off in the other direction. As soon as I turned around, I gasped to see the young man raise a certain finger and shouted, "Not! Thanks for the horse, you dumba-"

Before I could get angry, a demon suddenly swoop in and quickly cut down the horse's head and half of the young man's upper body. It happened so fast that I almost froze if it wasn't for the demons coming toward me. What would happen if I took the horse? What would happen if I ride with him? Would he kick me out of the horse out of spite? Did all of that abuse cause him to become selfish enough to betray me?

I only groaned as I dodged an attack from one of the demons. All I know was that the young man was nothing but a cruel idiot and there was nothing I could do to change it. This world itself was cruel and it was every man for themselves. All I had to do was to survive. Run away as fast as I can, not knowing what direction I took. Try to kill as many demons along the way even without any skills or Job Classes.

I am honestly at my wit's end. I spent an hour running, fighting, and surviving. And eventually, I ended back where I started, the outpost now filled with corpses being eaten by demons with some flying above me. I'm all alone. I don't know if my sword could aid me for long as I noticed cracks forming on the blade. Just how tough were these demons?! I doubt they were worse than them.

ROAAAARRRRRRR!!!

And why the hell did I jinx that?!

I was about to hyperventilate at what has landed right in front of me. This one seemed to be larger than the demons I encountered, but it has a dark coloration compared to its red skin and has four horns on its head. I also noticed it has scythe-like spikes growing out from its wrists. Something about this monster made my arms and legs tremble and my jaw dropped. I never lose my composure even when I was verbally abused by my company bosses. Yet this so-called demon managed to break through my emotional numbness the moment I made eye contact with it. Just what the hell was this monster?! Why am I starting to feel fear when I saw it?! Was this part of the demon's power or was it because I was ill-prepared to face such a monstrosity?!

Or maybe... Was it because I couldn't escape my death after all?

No, dammit! I couldn't accept this! I didn't accept being transported to this other world just to die! I don't want to die like this!

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die! I don't want to die!

I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!

Forget logic! I had to act now! I gripped the sword's handle very tightly and quickly charged at the demon as I raised it as high as I could. I'm not a swordsman and I am not good at kendo. So if anything to survive longer, I might as well try to stop it...

ROOOOAAAAARRR!!!

Or not. The demon's roar was like a mixture of a lion and a dragon. It was strong enough to not only disarm me but enough to push me to a tree behind me. With that, I'm all out of options.

I couldn't do anything but chuckle dryly at my impending fate. Was this because I have nothing to contribute in both worlds? Was this because the person who called themselves "God" saw me as inept? Was this because I have no blessing or a Hero?

In the end, I was nothing to them. Not to my family. Not to my so-called friends. Not to my colleagues back at that shitty company.

I am nothing but a useless man. And someone like me should die in the end.

No, you're not.

I am, you dumb voice. I don't have anything to fight against that monster. And that sword was useless as a toothpick.

Then what about that ring?

...Huh? How do you know about it?

Does it matter? Does it even matter where it came from?

What the hell are you saying?!

I'm saying that ring is your lifeline. Even if you don't use it, it's meaningless to give it to you in the first place.

The ring...is my lifeline?

All I can say is this. You are the only one who can use that ring. Even if you give it away beforehand, it will be useless in the end.

I was speechless at this revelation. Even if I give it away, I'm still suspicious of the potential powers it possessed...

Forget the specifics, you idiot! And you being all useless? It's all rubbish!

Rubbish? How the hell...

Stop right there! Why does someone think of you as useless? All because of your shitty parents who focus on someone else than a so-called useless son? All because of that company you've mentioned? Everyone you've mentioned is all rubbish! Even the young man who betrayed you! No matter what you say to everyone, it's false. Your beliefs are rubbish! A man who thinks of himself as useless is rubbish!

Rubbish... I'm...rubbish? I grit my teeth at the thought of it.

"What the hell do you know?!" I screamed out loud, unable to keep these thoughts and my emotions to myself for long. "Do you think I enjoyed being bullied, neglected, and abused by everyone I know for so long?! I'm not like everyone else! I'm not like the Heroes who had good lives back home before they were summoned to save the world and those other isekai missions they do! Even if a shitty guy like me didn't get anything from being in this shitty world! I am nothing to this world along with my own! In the end, I'm only expendable to the kingdom and God's eyes! I'm just a pawn waiting for his death and nothing can change that. Not even this useless ring."

There was silence. Was that enough to prove that voice I couldn't do anything in the end?

Heh... I knew it. Even without that voice acting as my conscious, there was nothing...

And that's why the ring chose you.

Huh?

Even a man who called himself "useless" can be chosen. Someone like you can leave your dreadful life behind. If you listen carefully, the ring will able to erase what you call a shitty life behind.

Before I could ask, I felt something in my pocket grew lighter. I looked down and saw the ring suddenly float right in front of me. The purple gem embedded in the silver band started to glow, creating something like a purple barrier around it as it raise right in front of my face. The demon was still approaching, yet I was too entranced by the ring to notice it right now.

However, there is a price. If you accept, the “you” from the dreadful life will disappear forever. That includes everything that forged your identity and the humanity set upon you.

My...humanity...

Despite the latter's cost, you can still regain it. However, at this point, you lost the concept of your own humanity and empathy. If you truly want to rediscover yourself, then will you risk losing yourself to start again?

Empathy... How can I even use it in a world where everyone used you as pawns and sacrifices and betrayed each other on a daily basis? How am I supposed to "rediscover" myself if I die like this?

Do you want to die as a meal for the demons? Do you want to die thinking every abuser and bullies they said is right?

My abusers...and bullies...?

You realized you have emotions, right? You have the right to get angry at the people who ruined your life back home, right? Stop lying to yourself so you can be a sycophant to your tormentors!

...You're right. Everything you said was true.

"I'm angry at my parents," I spoke up. "I'm angry at my shitty boss for everything I had to endure. I'm angry at the so-called God who placed me in the worst fantasy world I've landed! I'm angry at that young man who tried to abandon me to the demons! I'm angry at myself for letting all of this happen!"

I didn't know whether I did it because of the voice's urging or because my anger burst out from my heart after so long. But I quickly grabbed the ring floating right in front of me as I couldn't contain any remaining emotion I bottled up for so long.

So do you want to risk everything? For the sake of your new life in another world?

I turned around and saw that the demon was right in front of me. I was scared just by the sight of it before and yet now, I felt no reason why I was even hesitant to fight against this monstrosity. It's like the burden I couldn't explain lifted right off my chest. Was this because I'm not dreading every day what happens when I meet my so-called family, friends, and colleagues? Was this because... Was it because I'm free?

I'm...free. I'm free from my world.

Haha... Why didn't I think of that before? I cracked a smile just thinking of those two words.

"If it means my freedom from my dreadful life, I'm willing to give up my humanity to have a new life here," I declared as I stared at the ring, cracking a grin at the thought of freeing myself from my past. "Besides, I don't care if I relinquish my humanity. I'm going to die alone here anyway."

With what I assumed to be my last deep breath, I put on the ring on the middle finger of my left hand and closed my eyes for the last time. If I want to die, I might as well die fighting with whatever the ring offered me.

It's alright. You will never be alone before and after your death.

Not anymore.

...

[You have equipped the [Anima Cecidit Ring].]

[All effects within the accessory have now been activated. All [Talents] have been unlocked within the [Anima Cecidit Ring].]

[Because of your compatibility with this accessory, you have unlocked the talent, [Demon Knowledge].]

[Now that you equipped the [Anima Cecidit Ring], the granted skill, [God Lock], has been unlocked.]

[You have now granted the title, [The Man Who Defied Fate].]

[You have now granted the title, [The Man Who Surrendered Humanity].]

[You are now allowed in the [Demon Territory].]

[You have one new message]

...

[NOTICE]

[Welcome to our world, (36$!<]

[Reformatting...]

[NOTICE]

[Welcome to our world, future [Demi-Fiend].]