The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

I led Rubia toward the center of the village.

Fortunately, Rubia's wounds were gradually healing.

However, my mood showed no signs of improving.

I still didn’t understand Rubia.

“What were you thinking, trying to die like that?”

The coldest voice my body could muster escaped my lips.

“I told you, I won’t die. I can’t die…”

No, that’s not true.

Rubia wasn’t someone who couldn’t die.

The setting I saw for Rubia in the game didn’t have her as immortal.

If she gave up, she could die at any time.

If she gave up everything, she could die immediately.

That Rubia was still alive meant one thing.

No matter how much she claimed to hate everything, to curse the world...

She still liked this world.

There was still something she couldn’t let go of.

“Noah…?”

“Yes.”

Rubia was frustrated.

I hated her.

She was foolish.

Stupid.

She hated the world.

She hated people.

She didn’t want to save anyone.

She’d been betrayed.

And again, betrayed.

So why doesn’t she give up?

Of course, Rubia shouldn’t give up.

I want her to keep going.

I want her to stay unbroken.

But still…

I kind of wish she would give up.

I wish she valued herself more.

I didn’t want her to die abandoned like my father did.

Heroes...

Shouldn’t die like that.

They should live forever.

They should remain in people’s memories.

They shouldn’t be forgotten.

“Why… why are you angry at me?”

I split the head of a goblin in front of me.

The one behind it, I tore apart at the torso, and the one beside it, I hacked off its arms and legs.

“I’m not angry.”

The deafening cry of the orc was unbearable.

I shoved the greatsword into its mouth.

Again. Again. Again. Again.

I kept stabbing until there was no sound.

I felt the brain matter splatter on my hand, still holding Rubia’s.

“Ugh... Noah...!”

I roughly wiped it off on my clothes.

And then, I went forward again.

Toward the center of the village.

Every time I encountered a monster.

I decapitated, split torsos, ripped off limbs.

I picked up their weapons, throwing them, stabbing, and slicing.

My head, now a mess, sought the screams of the villagers.

I obsessively sought them.

I extended my Giga Sense and pictured it in my mind.

The dead appeared.

Corpses.

Limbs.

Chunks of flesh with no shape left.

The nausea rose.

I erased them from my mind.

I searched for the living.

I visualized those who could be saved.

It was an ironic situation, where I was covered in blood, and children mistook me for a monster.

I tried to save as many people as possible.

Every person I passed, I sent them to safety.

I reached the center of the village and extended my Giga Sense.

Some adventurers were still hunting monsters.

Had they been pushed back when their formation collapsed, forced to retreat?

Or was it because they couldn’t overcome the guilt of fleeing and stayed behind?

I didn’t know.

I gripped Rubia’s hand tightly.

“Were there adventurers who stayed until the end?”

“A few... not even 20. I told them to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because they would die. As you saw...”

I squeezed Rubia’s hand.

Harder.

I squeezed until Rubia groaned.

“Does it hurt...?”

“Ugh... It hurts...! Why are you doing this...!”

“Why did you do that, when you know you’re hurting like everyone else?”

I squeezed harder.

So hard that Rubia’s hand could have broken.

But Rubia didn’t get angry.

Her voice remained soft.

As if it wasn’t my fault.

She spoke gently.

“Noah... Ugh, you did the same. To protect me... You were badly injured...”

“Why would I do something like that?”

There’s a reason I have to protect you.

Until I hear the answer I’m still looking for.

Until I solve the question my father left me.

But.

You’re not the answer, are you?

“As I told you before, Noah... You’re my milestone.”

Again.

Another reminder of the past.

Another reminder of my parents.

You casually say those words.

It stings.

I loosened my grip.

Rubia’s hand pulled away carefully.

She gently touched her hand, but didn’t look away from me.

I guess she doesn’t resent me.

I swung the greatsword at the orc charging at Rubia.

Its innards, blood, and flesh splattered onto Rubia.

Rubia gagged, trembling.

“Ugh... Noah... Be more careful…”

“Sorry.”

I did it on purpose.

Out of spite.

Out of irritation.

I hated that Rubia had made me like this.

I expanded my Giga Sense.

I saw Luchi and Heinzel slowly walking from the south.

Ahead of them, an adventurer, who seemed to be at the gold rank, was hunting monsters.

The screams of the villagers echoed.

They screamed, asking why they were late.

Telling them to save their children.

To save their parents.

To save their families.

The screams of those who said they died because of them filled the air.

All the blame was directed at the remaining adventurers.

Luchi and Heinzel let it go as if they were used to it.

But the gold-ranked adventurer couldn’t.

Little by little.

The despair of the villagers was spreading.

“There was a gold-ranked adventurer?”

“Ah... Yes. He stayed until the very end...”

“Still, they abandoned Rubia and ran away.”

“I told them to leave. That person did nothing wrong.”

I quickly swung the greatsword to strike down the approaching monster.

Its insides soaked the ground.

“Rubia.”

I hope Rubia doesn’t start feeling strange.

I hope she doesn’t break after seeing the person she’s chasing destroyed.

Even if that person dies, I hope she can think they died like a fool.

Unlike me in the past.

I hope she doesn’t live in hardship.

And.

In the end.

I hope she gives me the answer.

“Yes...?”

So, tell me.

I’m not sacrificing for others.

I’m acting because of my stubbornness.

“I have to save people.”

Rubia tilted her head.

“It’s not hero syndrome. It’s not about justice. I don’t want to either. It’s scary. But…”

How should I explain this?

The mental illness my father left me.

Obsession.

Shackles.

Despair.

Fear.

Sadness.

Relief.

Duty.

Hope.

All these things mixed together.

“It’s my... reason for existing.”

This isn’t the pure feeling of justice.

It’s filthy, sticky.

Ashes clinging to me.

A stubborn obsession, a wrong obsession.

“So, don’t feel guilty... or responsible. This isn’t a pure wish to save people. It’s just... Ah, forget it.”

Luchi and Heinzel waved at us as they approached.

“You won’t die. Stop making a fuss.”

I left the escort to Heinzel and Luchi.

“The person next to you. The one who said they would protect you forever.”

I closed my eyes and expanded my Giga Sense.

“See what they can do. And.”

The entire village appeared before me.

The monsters were drawn.

Thousands of them.

The damn adventurers hadn’t even killed half.

The bodies, muscles, blood vessels, the blood flowing through them.

An orc swinging its axe with its arm muscles.

Luchi’s movements cutting through it.

A goblin running with its leg muscles.

Heinzel smashing its head.

The quickened pulse of the excited adventurers as they killed the monsters.

The movements of creatures were drawn.

I felt the premonitions of every movement.

“Don’t die. Don’t even think about dying. Don’t break, live forever.”

I charged at the monsters.

Crushing a goblin’s head underfoot.

I entered the midst of thousands of monsters.

I read the movements of their muscles.

Dodging with minimal movement.

Striking at their weakest points.

Their weaknesses.

I swung the greatsword.

But I couldn’t feel the satisfaction.

Yet, it cut through.

I rushed to the next monster.

I parried its attack, then swung down.

Still no satisfaction.

I couldn’t feel the heartbeat of the monster.

I moistened my dry lips, continuing my actions.

The blood-stained greatsword danced.

The orc’s axe.

The club.

The hands.

The arms.

The legs.

The heads.

The intestines.

All of it rose into the air, mixing.

The villagers’ screams were drowned by the monsters’ cries.

The village’s despair was covered by the monsters’ deaths.

Again, the greatsword swung.

My legs moved.

My body was thrown.

I moved before I thought.

Thinking while moving.

I swung the greatsword.

I swallowed the blood.

A goblin’s spear lodged into my thigh.

The blade cut through, crushing the goblin’s skull.

The orc’s axe shattered my shoulder.

I stepped on its arm, climbing up its body, and shoved the greatsword into its mouth.

I kicked the hilt of the axe.

The elite orc’s head, along with its spine, was ripped out.

I landed with the greatsword down.

Dozens of goblins exploded.

My insides churned.

I felt like I was about to collapse.

The blood kept flowing.

My dry throat was wet.

My leg bones cracked.

It made me think of even more efficient movements.

I swung the greatsword.

I killed the monsters.

Killing and killing.

My mind was burning up.

My body screamed.

Thanks to that, I didn’t lose consciousness.

Gradually, my Giga Sense narrowed.

The image blurred.

One more.

One more.

One drop of blood more.

I moved my body.

An orc’s fist hit me.

I tumbled on the ground, spitting out blood.

My ribs cracked.

It pierced my lungs.

I couldn’t breathe.

I took out a potion and drank it.

I shoved the regurgitating potion back in with the blood.

I grabbed the greatsword.

I bit into the hundreds of monsters charging like a wave.

Until the ground was visible.

Until the wave stopped.

Until everything was settled.

My body didn’t rest.

I swung the greatsword toward their weaknesses.

Until no weakness could be drawn.

Everywhere was still filled with monsters.

Then.

I just needed to swing the greatsword.

I focused on my body.

Making every movement efficient.

No waste was allowed.

I drew the most efficient path and moved.

I swung the greatsword.

Until nothing obstructed me.

Until no blood stained my body.

I relentlessly scattered everything.

I no longer felt the weight of the greatsword.

I couldn’t feel it through my Giga Sense.

I couldn’t feel it with my body.

Everything was broken, shattered.

All that remained was the hilt.

Yet I swung it.

And then.

It didn’t reach a monster.

It reached Rubia’s embrace.

I was held.

I fell.

I wanted to hear Rubia’s voice.

But.

I didn’t hear it.

I didn’t hear the screams of the people.

Nor the despair, the pain.

I didn’t hear the monsters’ howls.

All that I heard.

Was Rubia’s sobs, endlessly.

I smiled faintly.

I wiped away Rubia’s tears.

And then.

For Luchi and Heinzel to hear.

I squeezed my throat that couldn’t speak, and said.

“I’m number one... So... buy me dinner.”

With those words, my consciousness faded.