CH 136

A pitch-black darkness swallowed my vision.

I tried to find a single point of light or suck in any sounds by sharpening the senses of my whole body.

The organ performance, which seemed to make the souls of the living crawl, stopped.

The surrounding was calm as if time had stopped.

……Where are you?

Just as I became nervous, even holding my breath, and being wary of my surroundings.

“It’s been a while, Ellet Rodellaine.”

“……”

Back, three steps.

I slowly turned my back.

My eyes which had adapted to the dark separated a human figure from the darkness.

The black-haired man leaned loosely on the altar and looked this way with his chin propped up. It is a silhouette that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

But.

“It’s been a while, isn’t it…?”

“……”

“Well, it’s been a while for me, but it might not be for you.”

The voice that pierced the still air was certainly familiar. As if it is etched somewhere in my brain. While I involuntarily breathed in, the low-pitched tone continued to shake the darkness.

“I’ve been wandering around the Demon World’s garbage dump for three months.”

“……”

“There’s no answer, but I don’t think you’re surprised.”

He released his hand from his chin and looked straight at me. His blood-red red eyes seemed to radiate light on their own even in the dark.

“You know. Who I am.”

“……”

“Tell me.”

It was a threat.

I opened my parched lips and moved my stiff tongue.

“The chaotic evil banished 17 times……Reed.”

“Ah, this was the 17th episode.”

Reed let out a roar of laughter as if it did not matter.

“Go on. It’s not over yet.”

“……”

“Right? Ellet Rodellaine.”

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes gently. The answer he wanted was stuck in my throat and choking me.

“…Right.”

Has anyone ever wondered?

RUWS is a novel that tells the story of the main character in chronological order and the 17th episode was the shortest ever because the Last Boss killed the protagonist as soon as he returned from the 16th episode.

The 17th episode I saw was only three pages.

Even so.

I knew that the 17th episode would end in destruction, and I was also aware of what the Last Boss that appeared in the 17th episode would do.

There is only one reason why this was possible.

My eyes were glued to Reed.

“Reed.”

“……”

“Thesilid Argent.”

“……Aah.”

A savoring exclamation came from his mouth and after a while, his decadently beautiful face painted a pleasing smile filled with joy.

His true name penetrates the truth.

Last Boss, Reed.

He was the protagonist of the 100th episode, who was corrupted by evil.

Chapter 25. Until the World is Saved

It was the 85th episode that Thesilid Argent first saved the world.

The protagonist, who repeated death and regression 84 times, became incomparably stronger than in the first round. He awakened cardinal-class divine power and became an aura master who handles double-digit aura blades.

Because of this strengthened power, he was able to fulfill the condition of ‘saving the world’ given by the Bible of Truth. He defeated all three demon kings who ruled the Demon World and succeeded in sealing ‘Chaos and Evil’, the foundation and apex of the demons.

Finally, the threat of dungeons and demons completely disappeared on the Serentra continent.

Due to the fierce battle, Thesilid’s body rapidly broke down and he lived a life of limited time, but he was satisfied.

Wasn’t this a mission he completed after hundreds of years of painful and lonely struggle?

To him, life was nothing but hardships, struggles, and evil.

His yearning for rest was greater than his will to live. Therefore, he closed his eyes and surrendered his soul to God to savor the eternal rest of sweet death. However.

“……Why?”

Episode 86 had begun.

✠

(Terry’s POV)

I didn’t want to believe it.

I couldn’t believe it.

It couldn’t be like this.

‘Why. Why. Why the hell.’

He dedicated himself as God’s slave for hundreds of years in order to save the world that hates and wants to kill him.

Sublime noble willingness to sacrifice and a sacred sense of duty to the mission had long been worn out together with his emotions. 

He only hoped that the stigma of slavery would disappear and the heavenly decree of return would be lifted.

However, why is only that specific reward not allowed?

‘Could it be a dream?’

Were the memories of saving the world in the last episode just a delusion created by he desperate longing for my own death? Is it like that?

Any self-doubts that had arisen for a moment were immediately dismissed.

Because the body of the 86th episode, which inherited the achievements of the last episode, denied such possibilities.

If so, could it be that the seal of ‘Chaos and Evil’ was not done correctly?

He couldn’t think of anything else. Once the decision was made, what had to be done became clear.

In the 86th episode, he saved the world again.

He did not suffer any life-threatening injuries like in the last episode, probably because it was a battle he had already done once.

He lived longer than last time. If he hadn’t handed over his lifespan for the Saint who had been in an unfortunate accident, he might have fulfilled this round in full, but that was a minor matter to him and he didn’t regret it.

He closed his eyelids, hoping that this time his consciousness would irreversibly subside in the afterworld.

But.

The gap between episodes was less than taking a nap.

He had to face the 87th episode when he opened his eyes with his consciousness fully intact.

‘What did I do wrong this time?’

He blocked various variables and completely sealed the ‘Chaos and Evil’. As befits his third battle, he was now skilled and this time, he died in place of the Saint who was caught up in a trap and was falsely accused because of a power struggle.

As expected, he still had no eternal rest. When he closed and opened his eyes, only his body had been replaced with a new one, but his old mind remained the same. He was now in round 88.

Since it was the fourth time he saved the world, he had many tricks to employ, and world destruction was prevented with minimal damage to allies.

He south for a quick way to die, and with some intuition he went to visit the Saint.

It was a good judgment because the Saint accused Thesilid of heresy. 

As he was about to be burned at the stake, she even showed him kindness, which gave him a sense of incongruity.

“This world needs your death. I’m sorry, and thank you, Sir Thesilid.”

At that moment, the world that hated him could be seen in the face of the Saint kindly smiling at him.

He strongly felt that something was wrong.

So, in the 89th play-through, Thesilid visited the ‘Library of All Things’, which he stopped visiting after the 80th play-through. He used the right to question and answer the truth with hope. 

“How can I stop the regression?”

The Bible of Truth answered.

<You just need to save the world.>

An extremely deceptive answer burned his brain white.

He couldn’t stand it when the reins that bound hundreds of years of rage were released. He destroyed the ‘Library of All Things’ and hacked Demon King Inferinos to pieces. However, this time he did not ‘save’ the world.

He instead commits suicide and comes over to the 90th episode.

He went into the ‘Library of All Things’ again and used his right to get one answer from the Bible of Truth.

“How can I stop the regression?”

The Bible of Truth answered.

<You just need to save the world.>

Same question, same answer.

He went to the next round.

“How can I stop the regression?”

<You just need to save the world.>

Another round passed.

“How can I stop the regression?”

<You just need to save the world.>

The round had passed again. This time he saved the world.

The forced closing of all dungeons started, and he squeezed himself into the collapsing dungeon to use his question ticket.

“How should I…How can I stop regressing?”

<You just need to save the world.>

He couldn’t stand it any longer.

“I saved it! All the dungeons are disappearing right now! But why!”

<You couldn’t save the world>

“Do not be ridiculous! I saved it! I saved this world five times!”

A loud bitter-howling cry, like vomiting blood, splits at the end but it did not echo, as the walls that would reflect his screams collapsed along with time and space.

Soon he was in the next round.

Round 94.

“……”

His eyes, which lost focus and vitality, were barren.

The shallow sea that once shimmered in the light became a pure white salt desert under the gray-blue sky.

In inertia, he once again visited the ‘Library of all things’. There was only one purpose. It was to waste the right to ask questions again.

<Check eligibility. Authorizes the use of seeking an answer from the Bible of Truth.>

“……”

<Those who have come to seek answers that cannot be obtained from God, what are you curious about?>

“……”

His chapped lips moved slightly.

“…Where is Ellet Rodellaine?”

Salt tears drip down his cold cheeks.

“I am…I’m here, Ellet. But you, where the hell are you…?”