Chapter 1
Something that spreads from a place far beyond reach, before anyone can do anything about it.
The process may differ, but the result is always the same.
People called such things disasters.
The black wave that shattered the top of the Demon King’s castle and surged up to the very end of the sky, then began spreading across the entire continent.
Calling that chilling torrent of demonic energy a “disaster” might have been only natural.
“We couldn’t stop it…”
The Hero had only one goal.
To defeat the Demon King and prevent the world from being tainted by demonic energy.
So many had staked their lives for that one purpose.
“Did you truly believe you could stop me?”
The arrogant, cruel voice hammered the unwanted truth into reality.
The Demon King’s voice rang out right behind him, but the Hero could no longer draw his sword.
For the holy sword had already been shattered.
“Pathetic. I thought you were my only worthy opponent.”
The Demon King, Daerex.
The one who had broken the boundary between life and death, returned from the grave, and stretched out his hand in vengeance against the world.
By destroying even the Hero’s holy sword, Daerex had broken his final chain and transcended the path of Demon King, becoming something greater—a Demon God.
The Hero’s instincts screamed at him.
Do not provoke him. Even the slightest move of his hand would mean death.
But was there any choice besides fighting?
Escape was impossible. Even if he grovelled pathetically to beg for his life, a world consumed by demonic energy would become a literal hell.
There was no choice.
Even if there had been, the Hero’s decision would not have changed.
The next moment, a dagger that had moments ago hung from his belt was clutched in his hand.
His wounded body moved with impossible swiftness.
Not willing to waste this final chance, the Hero mustered every ounce of strength and lunged the dagger toward Daerex’s throat—
But before it could reach him—
The dagger turned to ash and scattered away.
Impossible…!
It was only natural. No mere human tool could ever harm one who had ascended to godhood.
Despair flashed across the Hero’s eyes.
“Shameful. That I ever struggled against such a thing…”
Four pairs of grotesque black wings spread open from Daerex’s back.
The sheer gust from them cracked the stone floor of the Demon King’s castle apart.
“Kuh!”
Just enduring without collapsing felt like his body would be torn apart. The Hero shouted with effort.
“Where… where are you going!?”
“The Heavens. I have no more business on the surface.”
The Hero’s eyes trembled with despair.
The Heavens—the dwelling place of the Creator Goddess.
He could not allow Daerex to reach there.
“Come back, Daerex! Face me! I said now—!”
His desperate cry broke off with blood.
He coughed violently, vomiting dark red blood onto the floor.
Even the Hero’s body was being corroded by the spreading demonic energy.
“Khuek, kuhuk!”
“The time for battle has already passed.”
Enduring the searing pain consuming his body, the Hero raised his head with difficulty.
Daerex floated in the air, the light at his back.
Though his face should have been shadowed, somehow the Hero felt their eyes meet.
“It is time to end everything.”
“At the end… nothing will remain! Not even you!”
“Yes. That is my wish.”
The Hero flinched.
Daerex turned away from him, no longer interested.
“Die with the weight of your helplessness, Hero Marcell.”
With those words, Daerex vanished.
At the same time, the Hero’s vision turned red, blood filling his eyes as the demonic energy consumed him.
Marcell wept crimson tears.
He had failed.
Because he was weak. Because he lacked strength.
All his journey, all the countless sacrifices, had come to nothing.
Just as he was about to surrender everything to the overwhelming despair—
A radiant light enveloped his body, filling him with new vitality.
“…!”
Light platinum hair that swayed as she walked.
A small frame that often made others mistake her age.
Eyes that never ceased to shine, no matter the situation.
Saintess Isabel walked toward him, untainted by the torrent of demonic energy.
“Isabel… you’re alive…”
“Yes, Hero.”
Her words were plain truth.
Even half-blind, her body charred black, she could still say she lived.
Even so, Isabel smiled and eased his pain.
“Isabel, I…”
Marcell choked out his words.
He had wanted to bring news of victory.
To defeat the Demon King and restore the world.
But that was only a wish.
In reality, he had failed—so miserably.
Unable to meet her eyes, Marcell lowered his head.
Then, suddenly—
Isabel’s hand reached into his vision.
“Take my hand. I’ll help you up!”
Her bright, unwavering voice felt out of place in such despair.
Marcell stared blankly for a moment.
Then slowly reached out, grasping her hand.
She truly meant to support him.
But Isabel’s body was in no state to support anyone else either.
In the end, the two half-dragged themselves across the Demon King’s castle lobby together.
Even they found the sight pitiful.
“Haaah…”
“You did well, Isabel.”
They stopped at the castle’s wide balcony.
There, without further words, they lay side by side and looked up.
The sky was neither bright blue nor black.
It was foully stained by demonic energy, streaked and blotched, with a violet rift torn open as Daerex ripped through dimensions.
The fissure pulsed silently, growing larger.
The end of the world painted across the sky.
“Isabel. Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine. What about you, Hero?”
Marcell parted his lips, then clenched his teeth shut.
He felt unworthy to say anything.
“I’m sorry, Isabel. I should have finished this…”
“Hero.”
“So many died just to bring me before the Demon King, but in the end, I…”
“It’s alright, Hero!”
Isabel shouted brightly.
Then she coughed blood.
Marcell froze in terror that she might die on the spot.
Thankfully, she only spat out some dark blood and endured.
And she had no intention of dying.
“It’s alright. I can fix this.”
Marcell doubted his ears.
No mistake—she had said “fix.”
“Fix…?”
“Yes! I can fix everything, Hero.”
Isabel smiled radiantly.
Unbelievable.
The land was already tainted. The Demon King had begun invading the Heavens.
Exactly what the Goddess Sunia had feared most.
Daerex would kill the Creator with his new power, and the world would collapse without its god.
How could Isabel, a mere human saintess, hope to fix that?
“The Goddess has answered. She will send me back to the past, before all of this began, so that I can save everyone with my own strength.”
Marcell’s eyes widened.
“Back… to the past?”
If she truly meant before all this, it would not be a matter of a few days or months.
It would have to be years.
Could the Goddess truly grant such a miracle?
Hope swelled within him, but unease too.
Something felt off—an ominous twinge he always felt whenever Isabel said something absurd.
Then he realized.
She had said, “with my own strength.”
What did that mean?
Isabel clenched her small fist and declared:
“Hero, I’ll return to the past. Please cheer me on!”
A dreamlike claim.
If it were true, the countless deaths could be undone, the tragedy prevented.
But the unease remained.
Marcell asked carefully:
“You…?”
Isabel nodded with a smile.
“Can’t I… go instead? This failure is my responsibility…”
“You can’t, Hero. Only a saintess can. This miracle comes directly from the Goddess.”
“I see…”
Marcell lowered his head.
His expression was unreadable—half smiling, half weeping.
“I see…”
Far above, in the deepest part of Heaven—the Divine Realm.
There, I was watching the world’s end beside the Goddess.
…
[The translation continues through your POV character, the “Watcher,” meeting the Goddess Sunia, learning that Isabel will be sent back, his protests that she is an idiot, Sunia’s plea for him to become her Unique Angel to guide Isabel, and finally Daerex invading Heaven itself and fatally wounding the Goddess. At the last moment, with no other choice, the Watcher agrees to help Isabel. Sunia, smiling faintly through her pain, unleashes her final light— and the narrator loses consciousness.]
