Today, a summit between the monarchs of the Nohitant Kingdom and the Saubel Empire was held in Noyuld, the second-largest city in the empire, located near the border between the two nations.
However, the [Hero]—Felix Roots Kreutzer—suddenly appeared at the venue and proceeded to slaughter the kingdom's delegation one after another without mercy.
"Haa... haa... haa... Haha... So this is the difference, huh... I figured since Orun beat you and I managed to put up a decent fight against him, in the worst case I could at least buy enough time for His Majesty and the civil officials to escape..."
The building where the summit had taken place was already reduced to a mountain of rubble. Warren, slumped against a broken wall, muttered in a feeble voice.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and the armor he wore was crumpled and battered—describing him as covered in wounds from head to toe was entirely accurate.
"..."
And the one responsible for putting Warren in this state—Felix—looked down at him with cold eyes devoid of any emotion.
The empire's side had quickly evacuated the moment Felix appeared, while on the kingdom's side, everyone except Warren had been turned into corpses.
Naturally, the city had fallen into pandemonium, but the silver lining was that Warren had managed to send his most trusted subordinate racing toward the royal capital amid the chaos.
"...I never dreamed you'd resort to something this shortsighted... Are you satisfied now? Having slaughtered all of us?"
Warren called out to Felix in a taunting tone.
But Felix showed no reaction whatsoever to Warren's words and slowly raised his sword.
(Ah, what a pathetic way to go. Well, honestly, I should've died ten years ago anyway... Dying itself doesn't matter. —But failing to protect His Majesty... that's something I'll regret forever. To let the man who gave my life meaning die like this... I'm a total failure as a guard...)
As he gazed at the sword approaching him, Warren was filled with regret.
"—Wait."
Just as Warren closed his eyes, accepting the inescapable death, a man's voice rang out from somewhere.
Obeying the voice, Felix halted his sword.
When Warren opened his eyes again, he glanced at the blade now right in front of him before shifting his gaze toward the source of the voice—and his eyes widened in shock.
"Long time no see, Warren."
The man addressing him wore bright red robes and approached the two of them slowly, a cold sneer on his face.
As the man drew near, Felix lowered his sword and moved behind him, out of his line of sight.
"Gary..."
Warren murmured, still stunned.
"Man, how pathetic. Ten years ago you were leading us... and now look at you—nothing but a shadow of your former self!"
The man Warren called Gary spoke down to him in a contemptuous tone.
His name was Gary O'Leary.
Originally a member of "Golden Echoes", he—like Warren back then—was one of those called [Hero].
"Why are you... here...?"
"Hey, hey, you know I'm with the Cyclamen Order, right? This whole operation was put under my command. Me—a high-ranking member of the Order!"
The direct reason "Golden Echoes" disbanded was the attack by Amuntsāsu.
With only five members against more than twenty enemies, two of their comrades were killed in the assault.
Outnumbered and outmatched, Warren, Albert, and Gary should have died on the spot too.
But they survived—saved by a certain man.
And Gary became utterly devoted to the man who saved his life, following him from that day on.
"This whole operation...?"
"...That's right. Didn't you find it strange that the king came so carelessly into the empire? He came here because he was following our will. To use his life as the spark to ignite an era of war!"
(It's true there were several inexplicable points about His Majesty's actions this time. But coming here knowing he'd die? That's impossible...! His Majesty was doing everything he could to avoid war with the empire.)
"You've got that 'impossible' look on your face. How narrow-minded. Your view of the world is way too limited, Warren! This world revolves around Lady Beria! Whatever she desires, the world bends to make it happen!"
Gary then launched into a long, fervent speech about how sublime and exalted Beria Sans—the person he idolized—was, his eyes burning with madness.
"...Your personality's changed way too much."
Gary had originally been introverted, but no amount of time over ten years could explain how far the current Gary deviated from the one in Warren's memory.
"Ah, yeah. I've changed! Right now, I truly feel it—the decision I made that day to follow Lady Beria was the right one! Because you're about to die. That means I'll be the last surviving member of "Golden Echoes"!"
Hearing Gary's rant, Warren felt everything was utterly ridiculous and opened his mouth.
"...So? What do you want, showing up in front of someone who's about to die?"
"I'm generous, you know. Swear loyalty to me, and I'll spare you. The current me has the power to bend even the [Hero] to my will. If you want to jump on the winning side, I'll show you mercy and save you."
"—I'll pass. The old you might've been worth considering, but serving someone like you now? I'd rather die."
Warren rejected Gary's offer with a fearless grin.
In his mind, he muttered, 'I don't have any reason to keep living anyway.'
"How foolish, Warren. But don't worry. When I accomplish a feat great enough to go down in history, I'll throw in a little bonus and spread the word that I once had a subordinate called "Golden Echoes". That way, even you lot can leave your names in history!"
(...Who's the fool here? "Golden Echoes" is already etched in history as the first party of humanity to reach the ninety-third floor of the southern great labyrinth. No matter what you achieve from now on, that fact won't change. —Speaking of the great labyrinth, I promised Orun I'd hear his report once he conquered it... Looks like I won't be able to keep that promise. Well, if there's an afterlife, maybe I'll at least watch him conquer the labyrinth from there.)
As those thoughts crossed Warren's mind, an explosion from [Super Explosion Explode] engulfed him, and he fell into a sleep from which he would never awaken.
"Hahaha! He's dead! All of "Golden Echoes"—the ones who looked down on me—are dead! I'm the winner! They're the losers! Ahahahaha!"
In the midst of the rubble and the corpses of the Nohitant Kingdom's people, Gary laughed maniacally.
Tears welled in his eyes, though he didn't understand why.
"...You're still here? Go back to the imperial capital and follow Ozwald-san's orders."
Once Gary regained his composure from laughing, he issued instructions to Felix, who had been standing nearby.
"Now then, time for me to get to my next task. This is a direct order from Lady Beria. The complete elimination of the Nohitant Kingdom's royal family—must be accomplished without fail!"
Muttering that as Felix began to move away, Gary set off toward the royal capital of the Nohitant Kingdom.