I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

14 – Woocheon, the hero’s companion, half-human, half-demon, dies!

By a hair’s breadth.

It was just that close.

The difference between me and the demon who introduced himself as ‘Clavis Aurea’, the Golden Key, was just that slight.

However, I could not overcome that difference.

The dungeon was seething with a heat so intense that not even a spell of rain could cool it, and the muscles throughout my body were left trembling, drained of their strength from withstanding the shockwave. The power of that demon incessantly grew stronger as its seal was unraveled.

I lacked even the strength to take a single step.

Though the goddess had chosen me as the hero, granting me the power to prevail over trials—

I was not strong enough to endure that power. I was merely… a girl who had lost her parents and burst into tears.

“All the brethren betrayed by the oppressor will awaken! This is a great joy! Praise in the face of such delight!”

Not even the swordsmanship said to herald the return of the legendary hero, the twisted blessing of growing stronger through adversity, the vow made while holding the holy sword before the goddess, nor the promise to ensure no more lives were lost…

Nothing held the weight, even of a feather’s worth of value.

If it all meant nothing in the end.

“Rain… run away…”

“…”

I wanted to save at least one person. I didn’t want anyone else to die because of me.

The dungeon doors remained open. If I were to turn and run now, I wouldn’t die just yet. There was no reason for Rain to die here with me.

“That demon… it doesn’t even pay us any attention, right…?”

“Hero.”

Don’t call me a hero.

“I will buy you time to recover.”

Why aren’t you running away?

“The only power that can harm that demon is yours, hero.”

I can’t win.

“I trust you.”

…

“Darkness, the curtain of the polar night where even the sun falls into silence.”

The magic Rain unfolded enveloped my body. The world around me darkened, and I felt as though I was cradled in the comforting arms of a soothing cradle.

A demon’s magic wrought not from mana, but from demonic energy, different from the cooling spell I had used before.

The hero’s power coursing through my veins rebelled against that demonic energy, shining a golden light. The twisted blessing of becoming stronger through hardship was greedily devouring the helpless prey.

The hero’s power, the natural predator of demonic energy. Even if the spell was meant to protect me, such a compromise was not allowed by the hero’s power.

The hero’s power, solely to kill demons. The goddess’s blessing, strictly to oppose evil.

That was true even for Rain, who was half-human, half-demon. My goddess… did not permit compromise.

One odd thing, however—

This veil, even as it was being devoured by the warrior’s power, continued to protect me. The magic power was more than Ucheon, who is only half-human and half-demon, could bear. What on earth was happening outside?

Around the time when the warrior’s magic-devouring power had somewhat recovered…

The veil lifted, revealing the dungeon filled with intense heat.

Something was melting in the lava.

Something humanoid, its skin all dissolved away.

Someone from whom a magical presence emanated.

It finally melted away into the lava and disappeared.

– “I will believe.”

Along with a despair that felt like being thrust into the abyss.

A terrible pain throbbed in my heart.

As if mocking my despair, the blessing of the shining goddess, that also consumed the pain, was felt.

I swung my sword.

The lava that had been rising from the dungeon’s depths scattered.

Before the spattered lava could touch the ground again, my sword was already swinging.

Even the shell-like volcanic rock was so easily sliced apart. There was no more hesitation in swinging my sword. I had hesitated three times; any more whining would’ve been far too much.

『What is this – !』

Urgency was felt in the previously calm voice of the demon.

The demon screamed. The scream was so pleasant to my ears that I swung my sword again over it.

『All the locks have already melted! Every suppressed brother will awaken! No matter how much the minion of the oppressor struggles, it’s meaningless – !』

What does it matter if it’s meaningless?

When I lost my mother, when I lost my teacher, when I lost my comrades.

I swung my sword repeatedly in meaningless regret in the face of an irreversible despair. That was the blessing I received from the goddess.

This cursed power, forged through adversity.

It was a curse’s prophecy that I would inevitably suffer.

From the very beginning, it was so.

Thus, there was only one thing I could do.

Vengeance.

Not to protect, but to swing my sword for what I could not protect.

I realized that too late.

So I won’t make that mistake again.

Forever.

After the defeat of the demon, the dungeon that was previously bathed in the heat of magma began to cool down.

Where once the orange glow of magma illuminated the rocks like a sunset, now only a grey cold remained.

A man sat there, lost in thought, reminiscing about another man named Woocheon.

The sound of Woocheon’s first lie to me still echoed in my ears.

– “If it meant saving me by sacrificing yourself, would you do it?”

– “I would save you, the hero.”

That was clearly a lie.

“It was a lie… wasn’t it? It wasn’t me… you were the one… who was meant to live… you liar…”

Woocheon was a brave soul. He was capable of giving up his life not solely for me, but for others as well. This was evident when we first saw a dark wizard in a warehouse. He was the man who would fearlessly confront the dark wizard, even when I was lost in fear.

Even if I wasn’t there.

Woocheon would always charge forward, committed to doing what had to be done.

So, my question was meaningless from the beginning.

Woocheon…

He was far more of a hero than I could have ever been.

“Sniff… hic… sob… wail…”

Tears began falling before I noticed.

Then I started crying, like a child, without the ability to hold back the tears.

Memories of our time together rushed back.

Memories of him teaching me how to cook, how to haggle for items, how to explore and navigate…

In those memories, Woocheon was consistently teaching me something. Even when he was doing all the things I couldn’t, he always taught me, hoping one day I would be able to do them by myself.

It was as if he knew he would one day vanish.

Why didn’t I realize it?

Why didn’t I notice?

Why, despite knowing what kind of person Woocheon was…

The realization that his words—his promise to die for me—were false did not foster doubt within me.

Why, despite knowing well that Ucheon was indeed someone worthy of giving his life for me, had I turned a blind eye to that fact?

Knowing full well that this terrible curse bestowed by the goddess would one day leave me in solitude.

Why?

“…Because Ucheon was half-human, half-demon.”

The hero’s senses, almost painfully acute to magical energy, kept whispering that Ucheon, by my side, was an enemy.

In truth, I knew.

I knew that each time I harnessed the hero’s power, it harmed Ucheon, too.

– “Ucheon, you look a bit pale. Are you alright?”

– “It’s no problem.”

Even while knowing that Ucheon was enduring pain to help me, I pretended not to notice.

I didn’t want to succumb to loneliness again, didn’t want to let go of this warmth, just as a loneliness-prone child torments a hamster clutched in their hand.

I callously turned away from the suffering Ucheon would endure. Even if Ucheon was hurt, I wanted him by my side. Even if it caused Ucheon pain, I wanted him to act for me. Every time Ucheon writhed in agony, though I worried for him, I oddly felt a sense of satisfaction.

This selfish emotion I wouldn’t dare harbor towards another person, I found it easy to indulge in with Ucheon, who, being half-human, half-demon, instinctively repulsed me.

Which is why regretting it now seems so absurd.

So.

“I’m sorry…”

I’m sorry, Ucheon.

Really…

I’m sorry…

*

I barely survived.

It was a stroke of luck that the dungeon core activated suddenly. It seems that one of the demons is trying to use this abandoned dungeon again. Since I wasn’t pretending to be one of the Four Heavenly Kings for show, I could easily access the dungeon core.

I did wonder briefly why I was still registered as one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Are those bastards in the demon king’s castle screwing things up again now that I’m not around? Anyway, thanks to that, I could immediately draw on the dungeon core’s magic power. Thank you, you lazy fools.

I used the dungeon core’s magic power to protect the hero and summoned the dungeon boss to charge at the demons. I pray for the brave boss’s soul as he melted into the lava.

Somehow, that’s how I bought the hero some time to recover. I hid myself in the dungeon administrator’s room and escaped the danger. I also owe thanks to the dark wizards. Making an obvious hideout in the dungeon boss’s room allowed me to survive.

It was indeed a stroke of phenomenal good fortune, with one lucky coincidence stacked upon another.

The dormant dungeon core’s activation, the still-valid authority of the Four Heavenly Kings, a demon’s resurrection within the dungeon boss’ chamber, and the hero’s sudden growth, to name a few.

Somewhat baffling how all these coincidences could align so perfectly.

In such times, should one pray to the goddess or to the demon lord? It seemed that even those gods, who were half-hearted discriminators between demon and human, did their job right every once in a while.

Anyway, thank you, divine beings!

Since the hero’s deficiencies were now expedited through training, there wasn’t much to worry about.

So, it’s really time.

Time for retirement.

I’ll hide away in an organization branch until the hero defeats the demon lord. After that victory, I’ll take my severance pay from the organization and retire to the countryside.

All for a comfortable life in old age!