<You...you...those words...>
“Yes, you said them to me before. It’s what you said before the regression and right before you killed me. I thought there was no other phrase more fitting for a hero to say to a villain on his last breath. How is it? Does it feel good? I said them like you did in the exact situation you wished to say those words. Isn’t this the scenario you dreamed of?”
<Y-You...!>
“Ah, but I suppose it doesn’t really fit the current situation this time,” Zich said with a bright smile on his face. “Since there’s no ‘next time’ for you.”
Glen’s face stiffened.
<N-Next...time...?>
“Yes, after this time.”
<It will...start...again...if I...die...>
“It’s impossible now. I told you before. You can’t regress anymore.”
<No....no....>
“Do you plan to keep denying it? I suppose you have the freedom to do so. It would only hurt my mouth to keep explaining, and I don’t plan on trying. You’d know once you experience it—though, of course, you wouldn’t even be able to tell if I was right or wrong after it happens. That’s what death is, right?”
<D...Death...?>
The word ‘death’ popped up into Glen’s mind, and his cheeks twitched. Although Glen fought Zich like the days he still had his regression ability after receiving a huge amount of mana, it wasn’t as if he had overcome the reality that he had no more opportunities yet. His heart was still stuck in the time when he shuddered in fear in front of Zich even as his powers exceeded Zich's. Slowly, the fear from that time began to creep up back to him.
“Yes, die. It will be the end of your life.”
<...I...don’t want to...>
“There’s no point in saying that now. Furthermore, you are the one who always forced your thoughts onto others no matter their situation until now. Even if you say you don’t want to, your words hold no persuasive power.”
<Don’t...make...me laugh...! I-I....!>
“What do you mean? As you wish, this is a situation where the hero wins, and the worst villain loses. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
<I...I am the... hero...>
“As I said many times now, the hero is me. It’s all because of you. Just accept it now, villain. You will miserably meet your end here while failing to achieve your dreams. Accept that everything you’ve done for so long has now become meaningless.”
<No...no way...>
“Come to think of it, you gave cool nicknames to me, Walwiss Dwayne, and Til. Since you controlled all of us as you wished, I will acknowledge you as a Demon Lord. Then, what kind of Demon Lord should I call you? The Demon Lord of Losers? Or Demon Lord of Bugs or Stupidity? Ah, I think ‘The Demon Lord Who Can’t Regress Anymore’ is also a good title.”
<No...no...ahh...ahhhh...!> Glen floundered. Yet, Zich was still pressing down on his chest with his foot, and Glen only managed to slightly lift his hips from the ground. Mana fluctuated around Glen again, but Zich nullified it all before it took solid form. It was an excellent display of fantastical mana detection skills and great precision.
<Let...goo...goooooo...!>
“I don’t want to,” Zich replied firmly to Glen, who was flapping his arms and legs around.
“Are you still not done yet?” Walwiss approached Zich from behind and asked. When Zich turned around, he realized that the rest of his party was gathered near him.
“You came, sir?”
“Yes. I thought the battle was almost over and came to check it out. Am I perhaps, a hindrance?”
“It’s fine. This guy doesn’t have any more strength to do anything.”
“For that to be the case, the mana in his surroundings is still rather fearsome...”
As if he hadn’t given up yet, Glen was still moving the mana in his surroundings wildly, to the point that Zich and Glen’s conversation couldn’t be heard at a slight distance. Yet, this mana also crumpled under Windur before it could fully materialize.
Zich shrugged.
“This guy can’t cause any more harm. He’s basically powerless.”
“That’s true,” Walwiss said, but in his heart, he felt a sense of awe. Besides Zich, Walwiss’ mana detection skills were most outstanding within the party. He felt chills from the mana fluctuating around them, but the streams of mana that Zich shot out from time to time completely nullified the flow of this mana. It was a skill that even a great mage like Walwiss didn't know where to start learning.
<...Aine...Le...ona...>
“Ugh, that guy. He’s calling my name again.”
“...Honestly, it makes me feel disgusted.”
Leona and Lubella looked down on Glen in a disgruntled manner.
“I’m grateful that guy doesn’t think of us as potential companions.”
“...Certainly, sir.”
On the other hand, Walwiss and Til were relieved to see that Glen perfectly saw them as enemies. Nevertheless, it was true that they also had bad feelings about Glen, and Walwiss asked, “Why don’t you put an end to this soon?”
“I will.” Zich had already played around with Glen enough. Furthermore, he also had to go meet someone. Windur once more pointed at Glen. Everyone was waiting for the villain’s end.
Glen looked up at Zich and his companions. This was the scenery he had dreamed of. After gathering the perfect party, he would defeat the last Demon Lord, Zich. The only difference was that the person who should be lying on the ground was Zich and the person standing should be him. Furthermore, the ends of Zich’s strange sword were aimed at him, along with Zich's words that he had no more opportunities.
<I...don’t...want to...!>
Glen kept resisting. Yet, Zich’s foot that was pressing down against his heart didn’t budge. Zich’s companions continued to look at him coldly. No one had sympathy for him even at this point.
<...I...I...am...a hero...!>
Crack!
“Kuh!” Windur’s blades dug deep into Glen’s neck. He let out a short groan, and blood poured out of his throat.
Zing! Zich pulled Windur back, leaving a clean, crisp wound.
“Kugh! Kugh!” After getting his tongue sliced and being unable to breathe properly, incoherent groans seeped out Glen’s mouth.
<No...nooo...!>
Glen’s vitality slowly disappeared. No matter how great the amount of mana he had, it couldn’t hold onto his disappearing life.
<Ai...ne...let...me...live...!>
Glen extended his hands toward Lubella. With Lubella’s holy magic, she would be able to heal this kind of injury easily. However, Lubella didn’t budge at all. Her cool gaze perfectly reflected how she felt about Glen.
<No...this...can’t be...!>
Ziiing! Glen gathered his mana once again. However, Zich’s mana destroyed it once again. Glen tried to block the wound in his throat with mana as his last desperate attempt, but Zich also blocked that. Death was drawing near, and he was reaching the end of his incredibly long life.
<I...I...>
His body began to slowly lose its vitality.
<Wanted...a...perfect...life...>
Glen’s words became mumbled to the point that they became incomprehensible. It had already become impossible for him to control enough mana for him to speak. Even the cluster of mana that Glen had created with his last remaining strength could not be converted into physical force, and it repeatedly spun around a center point and scattered. It was evident that he was losing his ability to control mana.
“...Grrk! Grrrk...!” The groans coming out of his mouth also slowly died away, and soon, all of Glen’s movements stopped.
Ssssssh! The enormous mana that surrounded Glen also began to fade away and eventually disappeared.
This was the end of a selfish man who had turned back time and sacrificed countless people to walk his path of glory.
Lubella walked over to Zich’s side. “Is it over?”
“Yes.”
Zich turned around and left Glen’s body behind.
“What are we going to do with the body?” Walwiss asked.
“I don’t really care what happens to it. If we leave it here, won’t it disappear on its own? Whether it’s eaten by animals or his corps rots away—time will solve it.”
“That’s true. Considering what he did, he doesn’t deserve a proper funeral.”
“Can’t we just throw it in the lake?” Leona offered a suggestion, but Lubella immediately objected to it.
“That’s the Bellid’s funeral method. There’s absolutely no need to dispose of his body in accordance with the customs of insects.”
“This guy was just trying to use the Bellids and wasn’t an actual Bellid himself, but if that’s your opinion, let’s not use that method.” There was no need to offend Lubella with the matter of disposing of Glen's body.
“Well, I don’t care either, and I just said it as a suggestion, but shouldn’t we at least remove his body from here? Considering the condition of the island, I think this place will be flooded soon.”
Since Zich and Glen had fought in the same area until the very end, the place where Glen’s body was already far lower than the surface of the lake. The only reason why it hadn’t already flooded the area was that the lake water was filling the pits closer to the lake first, but it was only a matter of time before the lake water overflowed, as the rim surrounding the pits was also lower than the surface of the lake.
“...Should I move it to higher ground?” Til stepped forward as if he was going to carry Glen’s body like luggage right away.
“There’s no reason to work that hard. Isn’t it fine as long as it doesn’t sink underwater?” Walwiss answered.
Walwiss made a large fire ball and threw it at Glen’s body. The high temperature burned Glen’s body rapidly. It didn’t take long for it to turn into a handful of ash. Compared to how long he had existed, it was astoundingly brief.
Swish! When the fire went out, Walwiss brought out some wind. A small gust of wind raised Glen’s ashes high in the sky. “This is good enough, right?’
“Yes, it’s been handled neatly.” Lubella expressed great satisfaction with Walwiss’ method, which was completely different from a Bellid’s funeral. Like this, Glen completely disappeared from the world without even leaving his corpse behind.
“Then it’s all over now.” Walwiss looked around. The island’s appearance was truly disastrous, and their battle with Glen had submerged about two-thirds of the island. The enormous tower, which used to be in the center of the island, was now completely shattered, and only pieces of it remained on the island and on the lake’s surface. Moreover, monster bodies littered the whole island. The monsters waiting on the island had left behind their corpses, but any traces of Ultel and his subordinates couldn’t even be found anymore.
“Yes, you’re right! The leader of the Bellids, his collaborators and subordinates, and the monsters are all gone. We won!” Lubella raised her arms and shouted.
“...Yeah, we won.” Leona’s face also brightened up as the reality of victory finally sunk in.
However, Til still looked a bit disgruntled. “...I don't think we did much at the end...”
“Don’t pay attention to those small details. It’s not like we just played around. We’ve done enough.”
“Of course. All of you have done your share.”
“See, that’s what Zich says.”
It was only after Leona and Zich encouraged him that Til loosened up a little.
“Then let’s go back! There’s no need for us to stay in this dirty ex-Bellid base anymore. Let’s go and sweep the rest of their forces and tell the world good news about the complete destruction of the Bellids!” Lubella shouted.
“We should do as the Saintess says. I want to sleep in a warm bed too. As I age, my joints hurt whenever I camp outside.”
“It’s because you’re not staying fit,” Leona said.
“This blasted elf...!”
The two started arguing as soon as the situation was over and Zich said, “I’ll be moving separately from here on.”
“What?”
“Why?’
Not only Walwiss and Leona, but Lubella and Til also looked at him questioningly. Zich quietly replied, “There’s someone I have to meet.”