The pale void stretched endlessly, empty and boundless.
Gerard woke up at some unknown time, looking around in confusion.
He felt a bit lost and took a deep breath.
But…………… there was no trace of Emilia’s scent here, which left him deeply disappointed.
He then lay back down, motionless, thinking this might be the fleeting scenes before death.
In reality, it was the gods’ desperate scheme to reclaim the Hero’s power quickly. They planned to use Gerard again—the disgraced hero.
If Hakimi completely absorbed the Hero’s power, that would truly be the end.
So they had to pull out this dead, useless Gerard to hold the line for a while. Maybe it would have some miraculous effect.
After all, there was no one else more suitable. He was the only one who could recover the Hero’s power at the moment.
The only problem was that his body had been burnt to ashes. To return to the real world, they had to first reshape his body.
For the gods, this wasn’t too difficult, but it went against the world’s will.
Resurrecting someone who died—especially a heavyweight hero—was incredibly hard.
Previously, the so-called resurrection of heroes was actually forcing a thread of life to remain while the gods continuously reshaped their bodies.
Two things that looked the same but were actually completely different—one might be dead, the other really dead. How could they be the same?
Now… they had to help Gerard come back to life, to the real world, but the cost was enormous.
The gods themselves might end up destroyed if they weren’t careful.
They had to be extremely cautious, for what they were about to do defied the world’s will—the very primordial laws maintaining this continent.
Even gods could no longer disobey these laws, but now they had to. They needed to stop Sieg.
Otherwise, the only ending would be destruction. The prophecy was just too terrifying.
These gods hoped to explain the situation quickly, to avoid wasting time.
【Gerard, you’re awake. This should be the first time we’re speaking face to face.】
The gods spoke, holy light illuminating the space like a thousand voices speaking simultaneously, each with a different tone, merging into a unique harmony.
“Who are you? I’m dead, aren’t I? What’s going on? Is this some kind of afterlife flash? Well, I am dead. It’s just a pity I never got Emilia’s forgiveness. Sigh.”
Gerard immediately stood up and shouted around him, bursting out a flood of questions.
But he quickly calmed down.
It was as if he understood everything—his expression vacant, he gave a dazed smile.
He was already dead after all. The last moment in his memory was dying in a hideous state.
The gods didn’t care about his monologue. They had no intention of idle chat, their tone even carried commands.
【Gerard, we can give you a chance to be resurrected, but we hope you’ll cherish this rare opportunity. Also, we need you…】
It was obvious Gerard never took them seriously.
He still thought all this was just a fantasy, and resumed shouting loudly to himself.
He completely treated it as an outlet for his emotions and suddenly began a heartfelt confession.
Each sentence came from his soul—he truly loved Emilia, more than Obito loved Rin. He was so passionate it would move anyone to tears or cause dogs to flee.
Covering one eye, his tone melancholic.
“I love Emilia, I love you so much. It’s just a pity I never had the chance to be by your side again. But… I hope you remember me. I know I wronged you, truly sorry. I’m just a worthless loser.”
【Gerard the Hero, you first.】
“But Emilia, I’m not willing. I really, really am not willing! Aaaaaahhh! I love you so much! I regret it so deeply, I regret not holding you close, betraying you aaaaahhhh!”
【Let’s talk first, okay? Let’s not mention Emilia for now. We all know how much you love her, truly. What we have to discuss next is important—it concerns your resurrection.】
Clearly, Gerard was deaf to everything.
He wept bitterly, lost in his own feelings.
He mostly accepted that he was dead, and the voices were just hallucinations.
Engaging was a waste of time and energy.
He didn’t know when this dream would end.
He decided to take this chance to say everything he wanted—otherwise, he’d never get the opportunity again. He didn’t want that~~
“Emilia…………… Emilia, you are my life.”
【Alright then, Gerard. Since you love Emilia so much, your resurrected form will be modeled after her. You have no objections, right? If you do, speak up—no, respond to us.】
The gods gradually lost patience, even started threatening.
Gerard, drunk on his own feelings, only had to reply once to break this crisis, but he didn’t take it seriously.
He ignored them and only shouted louder, as if competing.
“Emilia, Emilia, aaaaahhh! I shouldn’t have listened to those nobles and women! I didn’t expect it—I was bewitched and deceived! I hate it, hate DR…”
【Alright, then we have nothing more to say to you. Since that’s the case, Gerard, you must remember when you return, reclaim your power by any means necessary. That’s your only chance to win Emilia back.】
It was obvious Gerard heard this, but he began talking nonsense again, consumed by regret.
“Yes, I must win Emilia back. But I have no chance anymore, sigh… no chance. I hope that so-called Demon King Hakimi can make her happy. After all, I gave him all my power—it’s the only good thing I could do before I died.”
[…]
The gods were utterly speechless now.
They stopped talking and began imitating Gerard’s self-talking style.
Admittedly, it was efficient and avoided the trouble of communication between gods and humans.
【Alright, starting now, you will be resurrected. This is your final chance—please cherish it. You will be resurrected modeled after Emilia, but it won’t be an exact copy. You might be an inferior clone, but with the divinity we provide, many issues can be compensated. That’s all.】
【Farewell, Hero. Good luck. Please don’t die so embarrassingly again—it’s just too clownish. Really, even if we give it our all, we can’t stop you from dying. We gods are helpless. In thousands of years, no hero has been as troublesome as you.】
“Emilia……………”
Gerard, who had been lost in self-indulgence, suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath him.
He gave a slight smile, said nothing more, opened his arms to the void, and welcomed death’s arrival.
He didn’t know where he would go next.
His gaze lowered with a hint of despair.
Probably hell—where else could there be?
What kind of hero was he? Just a man who lived to satisfy selfish desires.
So let it end this way.
Thank you, Emilia. Thank you for caring for someone like me… goodbye.
He closed his eyes, tears falling, and his body softly landed on grass, feeling a strange texture.
Gerard opened his sapphire-blue eyes, confused and puzzled, staring at the clear blue sky.
There was nothing in sight, yet it felt like there was everything.
Familiar yet loathed voices echoed in his ears.
“Emilia, why are you here? Didn’t you just go to talk to Duke Orlay? What are you doing? Whatever, come with me…”
Naturally, this was outside the Demon King’s castle where Sieg was hunting.
With no food left, he had no choice but to hunt monsters to eat.
Hopefully, they wouldn’t kill him. Hopefully.
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