Prologue
“UGRAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
I grimaced, flinching away from the beast’s savage roar. It was covered in wounds, drenched in its own blood, yet still it rampaged: king of all monsters, the Archfiend. Before it had earned that title, it was just another human—a remarkably kindhearted one, at that.
I heard a gulp; it took me a moment to realize that sound had come from my own throat. The hilt of my sword was wrapped with cloth to prevent blood from making it too slippery, but try as I might, I couldn’t stop the tip of my blade from trembling. Whether my hands shook with fear or revulsion at the idea of facing off against him, I couldn’t say. If it was the latter, perhaps I could think of it as a sign that there was still some hope left for my own humanity.
“Koh...!”
I heard a pained voice call my name. It was Alexion, a knight and member of the fellowship that accompanied me on my long journey of salvation. He and my other companions were already gravely injured. I hadn’t heard the other two’s voices in some time, but I didn’t have the leeway to check if they were dead or merely unconscious. I kept my gaze firmly locked on the Archfiend as I flashed a quick hand sign at Alexion, ordering him to retreat.
I knew I’d be killed if I showed the slightest of openings, but of course not even the minuscule lapse in attention needed to send a single hand sign escaped the Archfiend. Its eyes narrowed in a glare full of bloodlust and it unleashed another terrible roar, powerful enough to shake the earth itself.
“Ugh... Oh hell, that’s—”
My eyes widened as the Archfiend brought its hands together, manifesting an orb of magical energy. As it expanded, the surrounding rubble was reduced to dust—I could literally tell at a glance that I’d be finished if I let it so much as touch me.
“GRAAAHHHH!”
It launched the orb straight at me without the slightest hint of hesitation. If I were to dodge, the orb would slam directly into my friends, who lay fallen behind me. There was no time to think—I had to act.
“Extension Blast!”
I swung my holy sword, carving a perfectly horizontal line through the air. The stroke of my blade formed its own magical blast that shot forward, colliding with the Archfiend’s orb and exploding violently. I’d slain countless foes with this attack in the past, and yet the most it could do was cancel out the Archfiend’s spell. But still, I pressed on.
“Haaaaaah!”
I dashed through the smoke screen raised by the blast, pumping pure magic through my veins, and closed into point-blank range in the blink of an eye. With that, the battle was decided. All I had to do was bring my blade down in one final stroke, and it would all be over. That was all it would take—or so I thought.
“GRAAAAAH!”
“Ugh?! Aaaah!”
The Archfiend’s hand flashed out at the last second. Long, razor-sharp claws (it certainly didn’t have those back when it was a human) pierced my shoulder. Blinding, intense pain shot through me, wracking my entire body like an electrical current. It was so excruciating that I’d have surely passed out if it weren’t for the divine protection afforded to me as a Hero.
It hurt, it burned, my hands shook, and my mind was numb—but I just couldn’t stop. I was a Hero, and it was my duty to cast down the enemies of humanity and lead the world to peace.
I could at least be thankful that my left shoulder had been impaled, leaving my dominant arm still functional. At the very least, I could still swing my sword. My left arm was done for, but I managed to use its last ounce of strength to catch the Archfiend’s hand in a death grip.
“GRAAAH?!”
It swung its arm wildly, trying to shake me off, but I wasn’t about to relinquish my grip that easily. I knew that my arm would be useless the moment I loosened my hold. I wouldn’t be able to get close to the Archfiend, much less grab on to it again.
“I’m never letting you go, Balrog!”
I called out the name I had known the monster by when it was still human. Balrog had believed that the power of magic could bring salvation to people across the world. He would pour himself into developing new spells with all the joy and enthusiasm of a child with a brand-new toy, working himself to the bone for the sake of his family and the people precious to him. He had been my best friend.
But in the end, his aspirations were trampled. Everything he loved was stolen away, everyone he treasured brutally, cruelly, and gruesomely slain by humanity’s avarice. In all his rage and grief, Balrog fell, his body twisted by his own magic into the perversion of nature he was today. His mind crumbled to pieces, replaced with an overpowering desire to end mankind.
Most likely, my voice could no longer reach him—why would it? Mine was the voice of the man who failed to protect everything beloved to him. But still, I persisted.
“I’ll end this... I’ll end you, no matter what!”
“GRAAAAAUGH?!”
“I’ll never let go! I never should’ve left you on your own... You taught me that people can be warm and kind, even in this horrible, miserable world. But I... I couldn’t be there for you when you were suffering. I couldn’t be there when you needed me! I refuse to have any regrets like that ever again!”
I was crying, and as my vision blurred and wavered it felt like my consciousness was dangling by a fraying thread. Even so, I hung on for dear life, the strength of my feelings granting me the power I needed to keep going.
“I wanted to save you, but I don’t have that sort of power. Destruction’s all I’m good for; turning a monster back into a human’s beyond me. But that doesn’t matter. I want to save you anyway... So I’ll do everything I can!”
—Koh.
I heard his voice. The voice he used to speak with.
—Thank you.
“GRAAAAAAHHHHH!”
But he spoke no longer. All he could do was scream—an ugly, bestial wail of anguish, grief, rage, despair, and a thousand other intermingled emotions. His scream drove me forward, and I let myself be carried away by the momentum, leaping towards him and swinging my holy sword in a selfless daze. My blade struck true and I cleaved through the Archfiend’s head—Balrog’s head—splitting it and his entire body clean in two.
—Now I can finally be with Lyra again.
Balrog’s body began to crumble away, dissolving into dust. He would die as all demons do.
—Sorry to burden you with this.
“Dammit, you idiot...”
I staggered forward, collapsing onto the mountain of dust that had once been Balrog. How ironic that his ashes would cushion my fall, sparing me the pain of a hard landing.
“I’m a Hero.”
I wept. My tears were ceaseless, uncontrollable.
“So this was my duty.”
I could no longer hear his voice. I didn’t even know if he’d really been speaking to me, or if it was just a figment of my imagination.
“Why...? Why’d you have to become a damn Archfiend?!”
The tears clouded my vision. Blood still flowed from my countless injuries and I was barely clinging to consciousness. Nevertheless, I understood all too clearly: I just killed my best friend.
Archfiend or not, monster or not, he was still my best friend.
And I killed him...with my own two hands.
