“I’m going to clear this damn game and go back to where I belong.”
El Cid slowly looked around at Yurnet, Nisled, and the heroes present.
“They seem to follow you.”
“They are their own people, and I am my own person. I don’t belong here.”
“Neither do I. The place I belong...”
El Cid trailed off.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you saying the place you belong isn’t Earth?”
El Cid didn’t answer.
“Idiot.”
“....”
“You’ve done enough. It seems like your comrades are clinging to you, but haven’t you tried hard enough? You gave it your all, but it didn’t work out. So, the contract is over. You should go back. Are you going to stay here and die together with them? That bitch is probably hoping I’ll kill you. Are you planning to dance in the palm of her hand?”
“Haha.”
El Cid began to laugh.
“Yes, my friend. That’s what I liked about you. Even when you had nothing, you were daring. You were different from the other users who only took from me. You always gave me a hard time, every single day.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I received too much.”
El Cid smiled.
“Our adventure was...”
El Cid turned around, as if he were looking at his comrades.
At one time, he did have them.
Like the troops who charged against tens of thousands.
But now, there was nothing behind him.
Just the cold, metallic deck of Brynhildr 01.
“Eternal.”
Click.
El Cid flicked his wolf fur coat, and at the same time, drew his two swords.
“....!”
I raised my hand as Nisled tried to leap forward.
A signal to stop.
‘Tizona and Colada.’
These were the two longswords that symbolized Laskanda El Cid.
The swords, worn from fierce battles, were cracked, and the blades were damaged in several places.
Yet, they still shone brightly.
Thunk.
El Cid drove the two swords into the deck.
And then, he stood still.
“....”
I could tell what that meant.
‘He’s gone mad.’
I couldn’t understand it.
He was probably in a situation similar to mine.
Just as I was thrown into Townia, he must have been summoned to Dorado without knowing why.
‘Received too much?’
“I recalled the first battle. The battlefield, where blood and sweat, life and death, raged.”
“Yes, I received so much.”
“Memories so nasty and happy that I could never forget them. And it was the same afterward. I repeated near-death experiences countless times, and I had to watch people I knew lying in a pool of their own blood far too often. That nightmare continues even now.”
“Are you serious?”
Silence.
El Cid stared at me with his clear gray eyes.
I realized then that no more words would reach him.
Wooong.
As I waved my hand, the soundproof spell vanished with a faint ripple.
‘Stupid fool.’
I had tried to save his life because he had helped me before, but he rejected it himself.
I never forget a favor or a grudge.
But now it was all for nothing.
Step.
I turned my back on him and walked away.
There was nothing more I could do.
“Do you understand your sins?”
A voice, heavy with murderous intent, cut through the air.
I narrowed my eyes.
From the opposite side of the deck where El Cid stood, someone was walking forward.
She was wearing a martial arts uniform with the character ‘Force’ written on the chest.
Her once silky black hair was now disheveled, and her jet-black eyes were burning with hatred.
“A wicked and vile man. It wasn’t enough for you to kill the disciples and the head of Muryeon, so you desecrated and mocked them.”
Wiryung slowly drew her sword from its scabbard.
The blue-steel sword, with its tassels, glinted in the light.
“Just to clear a path... you... you...”
With an expression that was hard to tell if she was smiling or crying, Wiryung pointed her sword at El Cid.
“There were children among the disciples who didn’t even know how to hold a sword, an old man who loved old stories, and a maiden who was engaged to a young man. Apologize. Apologize! Bow your head to the ground and apologize to them, for they ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) are weeping in their graves!”
“I...”
El Cid smiled.
“I won’t apologize.”
Wiryung lunged forward like a flying arrow.
It ended in an instant.
Even as the tip of Wiryung’s sword pierced his heart, El Cid did not let go of the swords he had planted in the deck.
“Go to hell.”
Wiryung pulled out her sword.
At the same time, El Cid’s head fell to the ground.