Chapter 92 : Despair

Kalian opened his eyes.

A deep pain surged through his entire body, but checking his surroundings came first.

It was an unfamiliar place.

The cheap bed and blanket, the wooden structure, and the windowless design suggested it was an inn.

“You’ve finally woken up.”

A familiar woman entered the room.

It was Maria, the maid who always stayed by Wade’s side.

As always, she was dressed in her maid uniform, carrying a tray with a simple meal.

Kalian asked, “What happened? Where are Wade and Victoria?”

“You slept like the dead for five days and just woke up now.”

“Are Wade and Victoria alive?”

“The war is over. Neither side won—it just faded out.”

Crash.

Kalian overturned the tray Maria had brought and jumped out of bed.

He couldn’t hold back his anger.

But it wasn’t Maria he was mad at—it was himself.

He was furious and disappointed in his own powerlessness.

He thought he understood why Maria kept avoiding his questions, but he still pressed on.

“So… what happened to them?”

Maria looked at him, then quietly answered as she cleaned up the spilled food.

“They’re gone. They were caught in the explosion and disappeared.”

“That’s impossible. Victoria is the Demon King, and Wade is the strongest person I know. There’s no way they died that easily.”

“It’s not about strength. No one could have survived that explosion—not even a god.”

“That’s ridiculous. Are you sure? They could be unconscious somewhere nearby. Isn’t that possible?”

Before Kalian fell into Maria’s shadow, he had seen the magical crystals raining down from the sky.

With that amount, it was clear that the entire Demon King’s castle would have been vaporized, no matter what anyone did.

But he refused to accept it.

“Maria, let’s go check.”

“Check where?”

“The Demon King’s castle. Wade or Victoria might have survived. They could be barely holding on, waiting for someone to save them.”

“…Alright. If that will give you peace of mind.”

Disguising their identities, Kalian and Maria crossed the border once more.

This time, not for war, but to find Wade and Victoria.

On their way to the Demon King’s castle, they encountered many demons.

The demons were repairing the walls and buildings damaged by the war, but surprisingly, the atmosphere wasn’t one of despair.

Seeing this, Kalian realized that the war had truly ended.

If that was the case, then maybe Wade and Victoria had also survived.

“…Ah.”

But the moment they reached their destination, reality hit him like a knife.

The Demon King’s castle was gone.

All that remained was a vast, empty wasteland.

There were no people, no demons, not even corpses.

Not a single blade of grass or a fragment of stone—just an endless void stretching to the horizon.

The place where the Demon King’s castle had stood was now nothing but sand.

There was no sign of the fierce battle, no trace of his friends’ sacrifice.

“The castle, the surroundings, even the underground treasure vault—everything is gone.”

“Because of this, the great noble houses, having lost their reason to fight, decided to retreat. The war, and the bloodshed between humans and demons, finally ended.”

“This was it? This was the way to stop the war?”

Kalian collapsed to the ground.

He had imagined a better way.

A way that wouldn’t require Wade’s sacrifice.

If he had known it would end like this, he wouldn’t have tried to stop the war.

He wouldn’t have pretended to be noble, pretending it was for everyone’s sake.

After confirming that nothing remained, Kalian returned to the Empire.

He headed to Arcana.

The place where he had spent joyful days with his friends.

A place filled with cherished memories, despite all the hardships.

But he could no longer enter as a student.

Because Kalian Bright was now known as a traitor—someone who had joined hands with the Demon King and raised his sword against the noble houses.

“Officially, you are dead.”

Maria explained in a calm voice.

“You were officially declared dead in the explosion that day. Your identity, your title—everything is gone. The Bright family managed to escape execution, but returning there won’t be easy.”

“So, you’re saying I need to start a new life now.”

Kalian let her words pass through one ear and out the other.

Instead, he took in the familiar sights of Arcana.

With his hood and magic concealing his identity, no one recognized him.

People—students, even female students who used to swarm around him—walked past without a second glance.

Normally, the place would have been bustling with noise.

Had Arcana always been this quiet?

—”Alright, form a line! A line!”

For a moment, he thought he heard Wade’s voice.

He could almost see Wade, shamelessly using Kalian’s name to charm money out of the female students.

“Here, take this.”

Maria held out a pouch.

Inside was a heavy collection of precious jewels.

“Master prepared this for you. This should be more than enough to start a new life.”

“Haha… Is this all money he scammed off the girls? Hahaha… ha… hngh…”

Kalian tried to laugh but failed.

He couldn’t stop the tears from spilling out.

Everything in the world was gone, and this was all that remained.

He didn’t want jewels.

He wanted his friend.

After that, Kalian did nothing.

He couldn’t bring himself to use the jewels Wade had left behind, but he also had no desire to work or do anything meaningful.

He simply sat in the streets of the slums, letting time pass.

Whether it rained, snowed, or he became covered in filth, he didn’t care.

He just wanted to sit there and rot away.

“Hey, miss, what are you doing here?”

At some point, people started gathering around.

Not because of Kalian—because of Maria.

Unlike him, Maria was always clean, still wearing her immaculate maid uniform.

Her presence in the slums was too unusual.

The fact that she had stood there for months became a problem in itself.

Soon, the two of them were known as the “Beggar and the Beauty,” becoming a local spectacle.

Unable to bear it any longer, Kalian spoke up.

“Maria, I’ll be fine, so you should go somewhere else. Live your own life.”

“I can’t do that. It was Master’s last request that I stay by your side.”

“Then at least change clothes…? You stand out too much.”

“No.”

In the end, because of her, Kalian had to leave the slums.

Even when he did nothing, people would throw money and food at him, constantly striking up conversations—there was simply no way to die quietly there.

Instead, he decided to live, if only a little more properly.

He hid his face and name and became a mercenary.

He carefully chose which requests to accept, only taking those that aligned with his own sense of morality.

The income was more than enough.

Even though he was selective, his skill was unrivaled among mercenaries.

Nearly two years had passed since Wade’s death.

Several times, Kalian thought about reaching out to Serena, Evelyn, Elia, and Lumia—those who knew the truth.

But he didn’t.

He had no idea what kind of trouble his involvement might cause them.

So instead, he just kept tabs on how they were doing.

Serena and Elia’s families had risen to the ranks of the Great Houses.

They had prepared thoroughly for the post-war era, fully aware that the war would end, and as a result, their influence grew even greater than before.

Evelyn’s Rose family, already powerful, had now become untouchable.

As the empire leaned toward centralization, the royal family’s significance increased.

However, all key positions in the royal court had been taken over by the Rose family.

Meanwhile, Lumia, thanks to her wartime achievements and ever-growing talents, became a hero of the empire and was granted a duchy.

“I’m really glad everything worked out for them.”

Kalian sat at a table outdoors.

From here, he could see both the imperial capital and Arcana at a glance.

The wind rustled through the grass and flowers on the hilltop where he and Maria had set up their meal.

On good weather days, they would come outside their cabin to eat while admiring the view.

“I’ve gotten used to this simple life. You have too, haven’t you?”

“I suppose so.”

“I’m always grateful to you, you know. If I were alone, I wouldn’t have been able to cook, let alone keep things clean.”

“It’s nothing special.”

Maria shook her head.

Kalian looked down at the empire once more and spoke.

“Today marks two years since Wade left.”

“Yes.”

“Did you prepare anything for him? A prayer, perhaps? Or maybe visiting the Silver Rain family wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“I’m always by your side, Lord Kalian, so I don’t have time for that. Besides, there’s no need.”

“Don’t be like that.”

Kalian put down his utensils.

“I appreciate everything you do, but today is Wade’s memorial day. Even you must want to honor him, at least today.”

“Last year, we just let the day pass as if nothing happened. But this time, I can’t allow that. Go. Take some time to remember and reflect on Wade.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. Are you worried I won’t be able to eat properly if you step away for a while? Don’t worry about me. I’ll handle the dishes and laundry.”

“If you insist, then… alright.”

Maria rose from her seat.

“I’ll return before the night is over.”

She bowed politely to Kalian before leaving.

By the time Kalian stuffed his mouth with bread and nodded in response, she was already gone.

He slowly chewed and swallowed, then finished off the rest of the dishes on the table.

After clearing every plate, he spoke.

“Maria.”

No one responded to his call from atop the hill.

He called her name several times, but after receiving no answer, he got up and cleaned up the table.

Then, after washing the dishes in the cabin where he had lived for nearly a year, he retrieved something from an old box tucked away in the corner.

A rope.

“Let’s go.”

After leaving a simple note for Maria, he stepped outside.

There was no need to go far.

The area had plenty of suitable trees.

He just needed to find a place deep in the forest where no one would stumble upon him.

A place where sunlight barely reached, where only the wind blew, a place where no one would come.

Finding a suitable tree, he tied the rope around a sturdy branch, forming a loop just big enough for one person’s head.

Should he have brought a chair? No, there was no need. He could just use mana to float.

Once everything was ready, he used mana to lift himself, placed his neck inside the loop, and then let go of the mana holding him up.

The sensation of floating disappeared as his body sank.

His neck tightened, and his fall came to an abrupt halt.

His body swayed slightly like a hanging pendulum.

Looking back, his life had been utterly pitiful.

He sacrificed everything to move forward, only to end up sacrificing the person most precious to him in the end—a life of endless greed.

For two years, he had pondered over it countless times, but no matter how much he thought about it, he had no right or reason to continue living.

His consciousness grew hazy as he retraced his memories.

Being bullied by girls for reasons he didn’t understand, spending his days as a coward.

Then, suddenly, a boy just as young as him—yet far from childish—appeared. Wade.

Wade approached him without hesitation, became close in an instant, and then started giving him ridiculous tasks.

At the time, it was miserable, but now, in hindsight, it had all been necessary.

Wade turned Kalian into a proper person, a true knight.

He even enrolled in the academy just to help cure Kalian’s fear of women and introduced him to many meaningful relationships.

He was Kalian’s first friend, his brother, his father, and his mentor.

Kalian had always wanted to be strong and courageous like Wade.

If one of them had to die, it should have been him—not Wade.

Hic.

“Hic…”

As he reflected on his life, Kalian accepted the darkness closing in on his consciousness.

Thud.

But suddenly, he fell.

Having relaxed his entire body, he collapsed to the ground like a fool.

What happened?

Did the rope snap?

He had made sure to use a sturdy one in case something like this happened.

“After going through all the trouble to save you, why the hell are you being so pathetic?”

A voice—a voice he had longed to hear.

A voice that should not exist in this world anymore.

That teasing yet rude tone…

A voice he had prayed to hear just one more time.

Kalian, as if enchanted, slowly lifted his head.

There, Wade stood, gazing down at him with a familiar smile.