The Demon King, who had waged war against humanity for many long years, has finally died.
Yes, he died.
The problem is, I’m on the verge of dying too, having fought against him.
Barely able to move my neck as my strength fades, I look at the part of my body where the gaping wound is.
I feel like I’m about to die any second now.
“It’s a fatal wound anyway. Damn it, this sucks.”
If only that hero bastard had been useful, this wouldn’t have happened.
It’s all the fault of that useless hero and those women with him.
***
The Demon King appeared in the world.
For many years, humanity had been at war with the Demon King.
The king formed a Hero Party and commanded them to defeat the Demon King.
The Hero Party advanced toward the Demon King’s domain like a storm.
Eugene, the hero chosen by the Holy Sword, wielded the sword to crush the demonic beasts.
Syria, the saintess blessed by the goddess, healed the party with her divine power.
Ella, the noble elf of the Great Forest, purified the demonic beasts with the power of spirits.
Noah, the wizard from the Land of Ruin, devoured the demonic beasts with the power of shadows.
The Hero Party finally arrived at the Demon King’s domain.
They thought everything would end once they dealt with the Demon King.
That was until I, the wizard, spoke up.
When I spoke up out of frustration, the hero’s face twisted.
“All you do is play around and freeload, you useless hero, and your lovers No. 1 and No. 2.”
Even the elf and the saintess grimaced at my words.
Eugene, clearly irritated, finally spoke up.
“Yeah, you sure know how to talk. To put it bluntly, you’re just upset that you’re more famous than me, the hero. You always step up before I do. Do you want to take my place as the hero?”
Is this really the time to be saying such things, with the Demon King as our enemy?
Shouldn’t we be fighting for the sake of humanity?
“You’re right. You don’t fit in with our party of the noble elf and the hero.”
“Why are you leaving me out? Noah, does it make sense that I, the saintess, should work together with someone who controls such dark powers as you do?”
“Damn it. My words may be harsh, but at least I speak the truth. You must’ve forgotten how every time we stopped by a village, you were too busy having fun while I had to save the villagers on the brink of death.”
“How can you talk to the hero like that?”
Of course, his women stood in front of me, defending him.
This is the problem in any world—a bunch of airheaded women and some hero bastard swinging his sword around however he pleases.
“Hero, my ass. Hey, you village girl from the forest. Do you think you’ve become someone important just because you’ve tasted the hero’s junk and flaunted your power around?”
“What? Wh-what are you talking about?”
“You call yourself a saintess? Are you really a saintess? Or are you just a succubus disguised as a priest? My ears are rotting from constantly hearing you moan under the hero every single night.”
“H-how dare you speak to a saintess like that!? Calling me a succubus!”
I’m just stating the facts.
“I may be harsh, but the truth needs to be told. I didn’t act out because I wanted to. I stepped up because you lot did nothing.”
***
Ah, I still remember it clearly.
From far away, I could hear people screaming, ‘Help us, hero!’ But this guy was inside his tent, going at it with the elf and the saintess.
“I didn’t want to say this, but since you did nothing, I was the one who wielded the sword, shot the arrows, and did all the dirty work. Do you even know? The Imperial Sword Guild asked me to become one of their officers. I had to do everything myself to the point where a wizard like me had to learn swordsmanship!”
Right now, I’m at a level where I could pass a swordsmanship test and earn the title of Swordmaster, for crying out loud!
My job is as a wizard, but I got the Swordmaster title first!
“You were trying to steal credit by doing everything, weren’t you?
You even healed people, which is supposed to be my role, just so you could get all the glory!”
“Hey, you idiot! How many times did I tell you? The villagers were dying! Heal them! But what did you do? You were rolling around with the hero! If I hadn’t healed those people, they would’ve died. It’s not just once or twice. “
“Do you know what the people I saved started calling me?”
“The High Priest! I’m a wizard, but they call me the High Priest, damn it!”
I’m a wizard, but I’m being called the Swordmaster and High Priest! Isn’t that saying everything?
The elf, at least, is sharp enough to glare at me, but that’s fine.
They even call me the Divine Archer.
I’m not being called a Grand Sage or a Great Mage, but instead, I’m being called Swordmaster, Divine Archer, and High Priest.
And the saintess is sitting there, acting like she can refute me.
I seriously wonder how she even became a saintess.
If she was really chosen by the goddess, then the goddess must be just as brainless.
“What? My position? Why did I wield a sword? It was so that there would be traces of the demonic beasts the hero killed and proof of the arrows the elf shot. You idiots! Don’t you know that if the party’s evaluation drops, we’ll lose our support?”
Even the state isn’t that stupid.
Don’t you need to earn your keep to be paid?
These blockheads had nothing to say, so they just glared at me.
“Hey, I’ll be honest. I can’t keep doing this with you guys anymore. What’s the point of me nagging you over and over? Honestly, I don’t think you can beat the Demon King with your strength. You know it too, don’t you? That’s why you’re just sitting back and enjoying yourselves.”
“So, what’s your point?”
I smirked and pointed at those blockhead women with my finger.
“I’m kicking you out. You, the dumbass hero, and his gang of useless women.”
Without bothering to name them, I expelled the hero and those worthless women.
***
With that, I, now a solo party without a hero, rushed toward the Demon King’s castle.
The fact that I hadn’t taken out the Four Heavenly Kings was an issue, but they were in other regions, and they wouldn’t have expected me to come alone.
It was the same strategy as a direct assault on the capital in a war.
The problem is something happened that I didn’t expect.
That brings us to now.
***
“Ha, damn it, this really sucks.”
I let out a hollow laugh while looking at the gaping hole in my stomach.
Here I am, a guy who’s called everything from Grand Mage to Swordmaster, High Priest, and Divine Archer, about to die in this place.
Still, I think I did pretty well, considering I fought the Demon King one-on-one.
At least I managed to cut off the Demon King’s head in the end.
I turned my head slightly.
In the corner of the shattered Demon King’s castle, I could see the Demon King’s head lying on the ground.
His head rolling around was proof that the war between humans and demons had finally come to an end.
‘Ha. Haha. Damn it. All I can do is curse.’
I had fought him to the end, and in the last moment, his neck was severed by my shadow.
But still, he was the Demon King.
His attack had pierced straight through my stomach.
‘Couldn’t he have died a bit more gracefully?’
But there’s no point in cursing the Demon King.
I probably could have blocked the attack if I’d known it was coming.
“This shitty world.”
It’s too late to heal now.
‘Now that I think about it, am I just going to die a pointless death here?’
Honestly speaking, those blockheads are still going to run around pretending to be the hero’s party, making a mess everywhere they go.
‘Let’s defeat the Demon King together!’
When Eugene first came to me, I cursed him out with every word I knew.
That useless guy was always wasting the support funds, so I really struggled to manage the remaining money and use it efficiently.
‘Maybe they’ll go around boasting that they were the ones who defeated the Demon King.’
Or perhaps they’ll laugh at my death.
Either way, those idiots know my strength, so they’re probably waiting in front of the Demon King’s castle just in case something happens to me.
Then, they’ll snatch up the achievement of defeating the Demon King.
‘Those bastards. I wish they’d all just drop dead.’
I might turn into an evil spirit when I die.
‘And if I do, I’ll definitely curse the hero.’
With that thought, my vision went black.