Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

EP.74 Worthless Toy

The desolate land of humanity.

No, should we call it the land of the past now?

Humanity has vanished from this world.

The Demon Lord, the demon race, and… the fallen hero made it so.

On that land where everything had crumbled, the fallen hero Rain looked up at the sky.

Clear.

The sky was so clear, indifferent to everything.

Rain thought to himself.

Chirp chirp! Chirp!

Beyond the ruined city, grass was growing, and peaceful bird sounds could be heard from the surroundings.

A gentle breeze blew pleasantly, and warm sunlight shone down on this peaceful afternoon.

The world is so peaceful.

Despite having gone through a tremendous war that wiped out all of humanity.

No, perhaps because of that war.

Whatever the case, hero Rain’s goal had been achieved.

Now the demon race had become the rulers of this world.

The demon race knelt before the massive being known as the Demon Lord, pledging eternal peace and prosperity.

‘With this, with this it’s done, right?’

He had confidence.

The confidence that peace would come with the extinction of humanity.

That belief did not waver.

What wavered was merely his heart.

‘It’s already too late. Everything is over.’

Of course, thinking such thoughts was already too late, but still.

“Hero.”

At that moment, a familiar voice called out to him from behind.

“Demon Lord.”

It was the Demon Lord.

The one who had worked together with Rain to achieve peace.

The very one who had led him down this path.

“Are you alright?”

Rain couldn’t easily answer her question.

His mental state was such that he couldn’t even lie and say he was fine.

But in the end, he had to overcome it.

And after overcoming it, he had to do the last remaining task.

“I’m fine. I still have enough strength left to do the final task.”

The hero said so, with a faint smile.

And then he raised his blackened holy sword high.

“…?!”

Before the Demon Lord, startled by the hero’s sudden action, could stop him.

The hero immediately reversed his grip on the sword and plunged it into his own stomach.

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Squelch─!!

“Ra…

The shocked Demon Lord rushed over in a panic.

As she tried to grab the hilt to quickly pull out the holy sword.

Zap!!

As if refusing to be touched by anyone but its master, the holy sword emitted powerful magic, repelling Tureglo’s hand.

“Kyaa!”

Though thrown back, Tureglo continued to attempt to pull out the sword nonetheless.

She tried using healing magic, and even attacked the sword directly with offensive magic.

But she couldn’t pull out the sword.

The hero was firmly gripping the sword, pushing it deep enough to pierce through his stomach.

Splurt!

“Cough!!”

Blood gushed out from Rain’s mouth and his pierced stomach.

And then, due to the special ability of the black holy sword, his body began to crumble gradually starting from the pierced area.

Crumble─

“Ra, Rain! Rain!! Why, why did you do this!!”

Demon Lord Tureglo screamed, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

An emotion beyond just lamenting his death.

It was clearly ‘love’.

“Hehe….”

Of course, Rain knew this fact as well.

That she loved him, and that he loved her too.

That’s why, to keep his promise with her.

For the perfect peace of the world, he did this now.

“Humanity, cough! All of it… must be eliminated. That was, the condition… hack! The condition.”

The last remaining human.

Himself, the fallen hero Rain.

He thought that his existence would eventually disrupt the peace.

The demon race that followed strength.

And the fallen hero with power equal to the Demon Lord.

Moreover, in this war to exterminate humanity, he had played the most active role.

As the war dragged on, there were even those among the demon race who trusted and followed Rain more than the Demon Lord.

Two massive suns inevitably create conflict.

One sun had to be extinguished.

And the sun to be extinguished had to be himself, the last remaining human.

He knew this better than anyone else.

“No, that’s not true! There must be another way! Even now, if we pull out the sword and heal…”

Tureglo, unable to accept reality, spoke of finding another way.

But Rain shook his head.

This is the best way now.

It’s the surest method.

He told her so with eyes moist with tears.

If it were possible, he too wanted to be with her forever.

Though they were of different races, he wanted to nurture their love beautifully and live peacefully.

But that dream was, as the saying goes, just a dream.

He knew it was an unattainable goal.

“S

Crumble─

Hero Rain, just like King As whom he regarded as a father.

Apologized one last time and vanished into dust.

Clang!

The holy sword that fell to the ground.

As if to say its job was done now that its master had departed, the blackness that had tainted it disappeared, and it returned to its original pure white form.

“Ah, aah… Uwaaaaah!”

And the Demon Lord Tureglo left behind, no… the mere woman who had lost the man she loved.

Wept loudly enough to shake the world.

#

There’s no pain.

It’s peaceful.

That’s how Rain felt.

He couldn’t feel the pain of the sword wound that had pierced his stomach, nor the pain of his entire body that had been slowly crumbling away.

‘Am I dead?’

The afterlife.

He thought he had become a soul.

As he was thinking that,

[ So the finale is completed by killing oneself. It was quite an interesting ending. ]

Someone’s voice was heard.

A familiar voice resonating directly in his head.

‘Yad-Thaddag?’

He could easily remember that it was Yad-Thaddag, the outside entity who had offered to help them and revealed the truth of this world.

“Then is this the outside world? Have I come to the outside after dying?”

To Rain’s question, Yad-Thaddag’s voice answered.

[ No, this is my void space, same as before. I’ve revived you here. I became a bit curious about how you’d react if I told you the real truth. ]

“Re-revived, you say?”

Hearing those words, Rain hurriedly felt his own body.

It was real.

He had substance.

‘I’m sure I died… Can an outer god so casually resurrect humans like this?’

With what resolve and thoughts he had chosen to end his life.

Being brought back so easily made him feel a bit empty.

Anyway, that aside.

“The real truth, you say. Are there more things hidden behind it?”

To his question, Yad-Thaddag laughed.

[ Kukukuk. You still don’t understand? The creator, outer god, beings of equal status, the dream you had, sudden changes in your state of mind, corruption of the psyche… Really, you don’t get it? ]

Rain, who had been staring blankly as if he couldn’t make sense of it at all.

Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to him.

‘Huh? Come to think of it, why… why did I think of exterminating humanity? Surely there must have been other ways. Even if it took more time, a peaceful method…’

At that moment, he remembered.

The dream he had then.

Yad-Thaddag who appeared there.

‘Carry out your will. You are the ‘Guardian of Peace’ created by the will of the universe. The peace you envision is the peace the world desires.’

That’s what he had said.

At the moment when he thought that eliminating humanity might be the easiest way.

As if encouraging that very idea.

As if that was the right choice.

And he had also said.

‘Your will is the will of the universe. Move in the direction you believe is most right. If it’s difficult to decide alone, it wouldn’t be bad to seek advice from someone you trust around you.’

Ask the Demon Lord.

But thinking about it, the existence known as the Demon Lord is ultimately created by the creator.

An existence meant to destroy humanity and the world.

Of course, there’s no way they would refuse a proposal to push away humanity for peace and take peace for themselves.

‘Was everything… guided?’

That thought suddenly struck him.

What if everything had been guided?

Revealing the truth of the world to the Demon Lord.

Making them draw in the hero.

After making them cooperate like that, making the hero exterminate humanity and destroy the world once for the sake of peace.

If all of it… had been made to flow according to intention?

“Why on earth…?”

Rain asks.

Why did you do it, he asks.

No, he already knew the answer to that.

The creator, outer god, beings of equal status, the dream you had, sudden changes in your state of mind, corruption of the psyche…

In other words, Yad-Thaddag wasn’t an entity that suddenly intervened to help them.

He was just the creator of this world who made everything flow according to his intentions…

It was him all along.

[ You’ve finally realized it. The ‘real truth’. ]

He said, as if intrigued.

He was observing Rain’s reaction.

Would he despair? Go insane? Or unexpectedly remain calm?

An air of expectation could be felt even by Rain.

“…Why?”

His first action upon learning the truth was a question.

Why did you do such a thing?

Why, after creating a cruel world full of nothing but war, did you go to such lengths?

He couldn’t understand at all.

To that question, the creator answered.

[ I was curious. I wondered if it was possible to guide the mind of an adversary in a certain direction to make them destroy their own universe. That kind of curiosity. ]

It was mere curiosity, he said.

It was just to satisfy his own trivial intellectual desire, he said.

[ I didn’t think you’d go as far as to kill yourself at the end, you know. I thought you’d have a happy ending living well with that Demon Lord. That’s why I revived you. I became a bit curious about how someone like you would react when learning the real truth. ]

“Ha, hahaha.”

A toy.

It’s truly just a toy.

Something that can be played with anytime, fixed anytime, and bought anew anytime.

Such a trivial and small toy.

Himself, the Demon Lord, and all the people who died.

In front of this absurd existence called an outer god, that’s all the value they amount to.

“Uahahahaha! Ahahahaha!”

The moment he realized this, Hero Rain burst into laughter as if he had gone insane.