Chapter 91 : Goodbye

“Are you curious about the shocking truth?”

Alcatraz grinned playfully.

When I glared at him, he simply shrugged.

“Please understand. This is the first time someone has listened to my story so intently, so I just want to savor the moment a little.”

“Keep talking.”

“How long has it been since I last told someone about my past? Roughly calculating… it’s been over ten thousand years.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll continue the story, so don’t get too mad.”

He resumed speaking.

“The shocking truth I realized when I arrived at the setting of the ‘original story’ was… that nothing had changed.”

“Nothing changed?”

“Yes. It was exactly the same as the original I knew. Do you understand what that means? No matter how much effort I put in for tens of thousands of years, I had absolutely no impact on the world.”

That day, as he witnessed the original story unfold exactly as he remembered, Alcatraz had this thought:

He had struggled and fought for so long, yet the course of the original story had not shifted at all.

Then what had everything he’d done amounted to?

Would the world have been the same even if he had never existed?

Or—was he merely a part of the original story all along?

Was his sense of free will nothing but an illusion?

Had the tens of thousands of years he had lived only served as a sacrifice to create this world?

He had no way of knowing the answer.

All he knew was that when he reached that realization, he couldn’t stop laughing.

No matter what happened to him, no matter what he felt, he just kept laughing.

He didn’t even know why.

Was it to forget the pain?

Or was his own situation just too ridiculous?

From then on, he wandered the world, playing ‘small pranks.’

Just enough to amuse himself without shattering the world or disrupting the original storyline.

After all, no matter what he did, the world would never change.

Perhaps, even those pranks were not of his own will.

But after living like that for a long time, one day, he noticed something strange.

The world had begun to change.

He watched as the seeds of destruction that had spread across the continent began disappearing one by one, and for the first time in a long while, he felt excitement.

“That’s when I had a thought: ‘Maybe there’s someone else who came from outside, like me.’ So, I did everything I could to make myself noticeable, hoping to meet that person.”

“No way.”

“Yes, that’s right. I interfered with key events and characters in the original story. And in doing so, I found you.”

Alcatraz twirled around and pointed at me.

“The childhood friend of the protagonist, Kalian. At first, I thought you were just an insignificant character… but the more I observed, the more peculiar you seemed. No one had ever been followed so closely by the protagonist like you.”

“When did you start watching me?”

“The first thing I did when I realized the world was changing was to find Kalian. Anyone who knew the original story would have sought out the protagonist first. That’s when I found you.”

That meant he had been observing me since I was around fifteen.

All the strange things I had experienced over the years—some of them must have been his doing.

BOOM!

As I stood face-to-face with Alcatraz, two figures suddenly crashed into the ground outside.

Kalian and Victoria.

They were both covered in serious wounds, barely able to stand.

Kalian managed to speak with difficulty.

“Wade, I’m here.”

“Why do you look like that?”

“There was trouble with the patriarchs. They’re fighting the Four Heavenly Kings right now.”

So, this was the result of their battle with the patriarchs.

I had expected some conflict since we were siding with the Demon King, but I hadn’t anticipated them getting hurt this badly.

This complicates things.

My original plan was to kill Alcatraz before they arrived, but I had taken too much time.

“We were having such an enjoyable conversation… but now, intruders have appeared.”

Alcatraz shook his head in disappointment.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good time for a change of pace, since I was almost done telling my past anyway. Besides, I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal?”

“Yes.”

He extended his hand toward me with a polite smile.

“Wade, now that you know my true identity, I’m sure your perspective has changed. So, I ask you once again… Will you join me?”

“That again?”

“You and I are the only ones in this world who can truly understand each other. If I have you, I need nothing else.”

“I will stop destroying the world. I will spare those two. The war between demons and humans will end.

So… take my hand.”

Smack.

I struck his outstretched arm away.

Alcatraz stared blankly at his vanished arm.

“Huh? What does this mean?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking? It means I’m rejecting you.”

“Rejecting me? Why?”

“Why would I join hands with a lunatic like you? Who knows what kind of crazy thing you’ll do next?”

Alcatraz listened to my words blankly before shifting his gaze toward Kalian and Victoria.

He stared at them for a moment before speaking.

“I don’t understand. I’m a real person. So why are you siding with a mere illusion?”

“This isn’t an illusionary world. The time you and I spent together was all real.”

“You’re just blinded by a fake. Let me… help you come to your senses.”

Another Alcatraz suddenly appeared beside Kalian and Victoria.

He reached out toward Kalian.

Crack!

I swung to knock his arm away.

Or at least, I tried to—

But instead, my own arm twisted out of control.

Reacting quickly, I kicked Alcatraz with my foot.

“So you’ve been hiding tricks like this too, huh?”

“I’m starting to get serious now. I don’t care about anyone else, but Kalian… I have to kill him.”

Alcatraz, who had been pushed back a few steps, lunged toward Kalian again.

I regenerated my lost arm and blocked him.

This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

Had he really been hiding his true power?

He was using magic I’d never seen before, coating his attacks in unfamiliar spells.

My body was shattered and regenerated dozens of times.

Even when I used clones and various spells, I could barely hold him back.

And the more we fought, the stronger Alcatraz became.

Even while going all out, I realized—this was getting impossible.

In the end, I decided to use my last resort, the one thing I had been saving until the very end.

“Enough, Alcatraz.”

I pulled something out from my coat.

It was a magic crystal.

Alcatraz paused, his gaze shifting between my face and the crystal in my hand.

“Are you planning to blow yourself up?”

“Yeah.”

“It has quite the capacity, but even that won’t be enough to kill me.”

“This isn’t meant for an explosion. It’s a detonator.”

“A… detonator?”

I pointed toward the sky.

The ruined Demon King’s castle, shattered by our battle, exposed the open sky above.

High above, waiting in position, were numerous floating fortresses.

And at that moment, they began their attack.

But they weren’t dropping soldiers or golems.

What rained down from the sky—

Was magic crystals.

Each one radiated a dangerous glow, forming a shining galaxy in the air.

Serena had gathered them from all over the world, using every bit of her family’s wealth and influence for this very moment.

Each crystal contained enough power to level a building.

And now, they were all descending.

Everything around us would be obliterated.

Alcatraz, understanding the situation, laughed.

“Haha… So this is what you were planning. I knew you were up to something… but I didn’t expect this.”

“With this much power, even I wouldn’t be able to survive.”

“But are you sure about this? If those fall, not only will I die—you and Kalian will die too.”

“The only ones dying here… are you and me.”

“You must have a way to save Kalian, then. In that case, I can’t just sit back and let this happen.”

Alcatraz lunged toward Kalian.

I blocked his path, but he tore into me as he spoke.

“Why are you going this far? I could be your true companion. We could end this peacefully.”

“This is the best ending.”

“Is it my face? My gender? Tell me. I can change anything.”

“I don’t need it.”

“I’ll give you everything I have… Just please… take my hand. I’ve waited tens of thousands of years—I can’t die like this.

Not like this—!”

His hand pierced through my chest.

With one hand, he tore out my heart and, keeping his hand inside my chest, pleaded.

“There’s still time. We don’t have to die here.”

“No, we must die here. Outsiders should disappear into the background of the story.”

I didn’t regenerate my body. Instead, I grabbed Alcatraz.

Then, I conjured mana spears in all directions, impaling both of our bodies.

To prevent him from escaping anywhere else.

Now, I just had to make sure Kalian and Victoria got out safely.

Swish

But before I could send them away, a spear rose from the ground, aiming for Kalian.

Damn it, I wasn’t in a condition to protect him anymore.

Crash!

The spear struck.
But not Kalian—Victoria.

Victoria took the spear in his place just before it could hit him.

Fortunately, it didn’t pierce through her completely.

She must have had enough leeway compared to

Kalian, as she successfully blocked it by gathering mana.

“Hahaha.”

Alcatraz, whose final attack had been thwarted, let out a meaningful laugh.

And I immediately understood what that laugh meant.

Fwoosh!

Victoria’s body, having blocked the spear, was suddenly lifted into the air and flung out of the Demon King’s castle—far beyond my reach.

“Victoriaaa!”

Kalian screamed in the direction where she had vanished, but she never returned.

Alcatraz spoke playfully.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t get Kalian, but this will do. Now, you won’t be able to save Victoria. Even if Kalian survives, he’ll have lost both of his most precious people.”

“You bastard… you fight dirty until the end.”

“You ignored me every time, after all.”

The magic crystals rained down like a storm, now just moments away.

The ignition crystal at my feet glowed brighter and brighter, nearing its limit.

I shouted.

“Maria!”

A shadow surged from the ground toward Kalian.

A hand extended from within the darkness and grabbed his wrist.

“N-no, wait!”

Kalian struggled, desperately clutching the ground to resist being pulled in.

He looked at me with fear in his eyes.

“Wade! Come with me!”

“I can’t. I have to hold him down.”

“Who cares what happens to him?! You don’t have to die here! Please, just come with me… I’m begging you!”

I wanted to say something as I looked at his desperate face, but I kept all my unnecessary words inside.

“Maria, hurry.”

“Wait…!”

Kalian, who had been holding on, was finally swallowed into the shadows.

In the blink of an eye, the shadows disappeared from the Demon King’s castle.

Now, only Alcatraz and I remained.

We looked up at the magic crystals descending from the sky.

Alcatraz spoke.

“When I think about it… this isn’t so bad. Dying together with you doesn’t seem like a terrible choice.”

“Is that so?”

“If things had been different… If I had approached you differently, could we have been something other than enemies?”

“Maybe. But it’s pointless now.”

I looked at him.

There was something lonely about him.

“If we meet in the next life, I’ll be anything you want—your friend, your lover, whatever.”

“What…?”

“Let’s just live a normal life next time, Alcatraz.”

“…”

Hearing my words, he quietly smiled.

The world was dyed in light.