CH 210

Third Person POV

“Cough… Cough… Ed?”

Suddenly blown away with a strong force, Lunaritia raised her body while coughing. She immediately noticed that Ed, who she was supposed to be holding, was not there, and started to panic. But her gaze was caught by something that appeared around the Demon King Tree in front of her…

“What… is that…?”

“Oooooh…”

Something red was pouring out from the Demon King Tree’s body. It was fluttering in the air like cotton, and slowly falling to the ground.

“Red… snow…?”

A voice, not her own, was heard nearby. When she hurriedly turned her gaze there, Harris, who had been pinned down by Ed, was getting up.

“Ed! Harris-san!”

“Lunaritia… I’m fine. But he needs…”

“Ed!”

Ed, who has been rolled over carelessly by Harris, was clearly in a bad state. His right arm was bent in a direction ignoring the joint’s range of movement, and both legs were bent in an odd way. In addition, his whole body was twitching, and if left alone, he would probably die in about 30 minutes.

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“Wait, I’ll… uh”

Lunaritia, who rushed to such a Ed, herself was by no means unharmed. Even though she was not beaten, but just pushed with an arm, she was blown away with a force exceeding that of a person. There’s a dull pain deep in her stomach and cold sweat on her forehead, but still, Lunaritia prioritizes Ed and takes out a small glass bottle with a strict seal from the [ Single Bank].

It’s a special healing potion entrusted to her by Riel, a hero and a holy woman. It’s a valuable item with only three left, but Lunaritia cuts the seal without hesitation and pours half into Ed’s mouth, and sprinkles the remaining half on his arm and legs. But…

“—– Ahhhh!?”

“Ed!? Why are you in pain!?”

As if reacting to it, Ed lets out a voice of agony. The divine power eroding Ed was affected by the power of Riel, the hero, and began to rampage violently. There’s no way Lunaritia would know that.

“What should I do, what should I…”

“Lunaritia!”

“Eh!? Kyaa!?”

To a bewildered Lunaritia, Harris shouted sharply. Before she knew it, the range of the red snowfall was getting closer, and Lunaritia held Ed and hastily leapt away from the spot. The emptied glass bottle rolls on the ground, and a single red snowflake gently fell on it.

“………………!?”

In that instant, cracks formed on the surface of the bottle in no time, and it decayed and crumbled soon after. While she was taken aback by the sight, Ed, who she was holding in her arms, let out a small voice.

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“Ti… a…”

“Ed!? The healing potion we got from Riel isn’t working! What should I do!?”

“Nor… mal… one…”

“Normal? You mean, use the normal ones that are sold regularly? I got it.”

Saying so, Lunaritia takes out the most effective recovery potion sold in the market from the [Single Bank], and poured half of it into Ed’s mouth and sprinkled the remaining half on his arm and legs just like before. This time, Ed did not seem to be in pain, and his breathing seems to have calmed down a bit.

“Kuh… haa… sorry, it will take a while to recover… you need to run now…”

“Run away…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ed.”

Against Ed’s warning, Harris, who had been standing over him, retorted.

“We finally made it this far. There’s no way we have the option to run away now, right?”

“Harris-san… touching that is… it’s not good…..”

“It does indeed seem like a considerable troublesome power. However…”

Harris, turning his face away from Ed and facing back towards the Demon King Tree, stepped towards it. Ed, understanding the recklessness of this act, raised his voice in vain.

“You shouldn’t! If you do something like that…”

“Hey, Ed. I am relieved.”

Ignoring Ed’s pleas, Harris did not stop his stride.

“I was practically brought here by you guys. I was thinking about what I would do if I just ended up being the one to give the finishing blow to the Winter Demon King without any notable performance… but it seems like there is still a proper stage left for me.”

“Harris… san…!”

“Don’t stop me. This is what I wished for, my fight.”

Harris’ body entered the realm of red snow. The snow quietly piled up on his head and arms, and at the same time, strength rapidly drained from his body.

“Gu… I see, so this is the power.”

This is the essence of the power of the Demon King Of The End, which leads everything it touches to the end. The red of demise that carries its existence to an inevitable end, regardless of whether there is life.

“Snow of the end… haha, fitting for my last moment.”

With each step forward, Harris could feel his remaining life accelerating towards its end. But even so, his feet do not stop. Rather, there’s no reason to stop. For Harris, consuming his own lifespan to defeat the Demon King was nothing.

(Twenty years… it’s been a long time…)

He had been walking towards this point with just the thought of defeating the enemy of his deceased wife and daughter. Ten years of preparation and ten years of a lonely journey. Harris’s body, now at 55 years old, was nearing its limit despite its hero’s resilience.

However, the Demon King, who was supposed to be far away, was now in sight of Harris. There was no hesitation or reluctance, as he could approach the Demon King just by giving him his remaining life.

“Demon King, you, the Winter Demon King who ended the world.”

With each step, disregarding his body that was rapidly aging, Harris pulled out his sword from his hip in front of the Demon King he finally reached. The once beautifully forged steel sword began to rust the moment it touched the red snow, and was now barely a shadow of its former self.

“You certainly ended everything. And I will end soon too. Your ambition has been fulfilled, and all life will disappear from this world.”

Just by standing there, red snow was pouring down, and just taking a breath now required all his strength. Yet Harris, with a hand that was now nothing more than skin and bones, held the sword and positioned himself to thrust it in just by falling over.

“But I won’t let you remain. I will end you, the one who took my wife and daughter!”

He poured strength into the hand holding the hilt. Just that action alone made the bones in his fingertips creak, and his body was about to crumble from his feet, but Harris’s soul, just before it burned out, resisted the snow of the end with its last heat. He yelled out the name he once admired as he leaned his body forward.

“MY NAME IS HARRIS! THE LAST HERO OF THIS WORLD! THE ONE WHO WILL PUT AN END TO THIS WINTER!”

The tip of the rusted sword crumbled. But golden light emanated from Harris’s body, lodging in the sword. The shining sword pierced the body of the Demon King Tree as if being sucked in without any resistance.

“Oooooooooooooooooooo…”

The body of the Demon King disappeared into particles of light. Without watching this until the end, Harris’s body also fell to the ground.

(Ah, it’s white..…)

Harris’s vision, which should have been red, was dyed completely white before he realized it. From beyond that familiar sight, he saw his wife and daughter, exactly as they were when he laid them to rest in the snow, approaching him.

“Maria…… Misha…… I….. I…..”

Harris firmly embraced his daughter, who cheerfully rushed towards him. His wife was smiling warmly next to them, and something that was remaining in his frozen body finally left.

“Now…… we can be together…… forever…”

And thus, Harris, becoming the same as his family… his body crumbled to dust, being swept away by the wind towards the distant sea.