Chapter 43

In the Tomb of Heroes were the characters I had raised with my own hands.

At the same time, the members of The Black Snake were there, remembering them.

The protagonists of the previous game, the heroes of this world, whose appearance and background I had created.

It was just a game.

It was supposed to be a game.

Rainwater trickled down the ceiling of the collapsed factory overhead. I lowered my head and looked at the people there.

My loyal, unquestioning men who trusted me as Rain Gray.

Funny, when I'm the one they should hate more than anyone.

And yet-it was still everything to me, or maybe more.

Wordlessly, I pulled out a cigarette and popped it into my mouth, the ground at my feet littered with cigarette butts. I didn't know how many cigarettes, or how many packs.

I thought about what I needed to do next.

I thought about the 18 heroes I'd encountered at the mausoleum, including the "New Hero" who hadn't yet made an appearance, as well as those who had.

The first encounter at the tomb is only a prelude.

As the leader of the Black Snake, I knew what I had to do.

Even if I am a 'fake' Rain Gray—In fact, the more fake I am, the more I have to do.

One day, I was suddenly thrown into a life called 'Rain Gray', and I am tired of wandering around looking for meaning or answers that I no longer know exist.

When I inadvertently realized it, when I looked back, I saw them following me on the wandering road. They were always there. I was fooled like a fool.

I didn't want to end their trust, their loyalty, their lives in the face of such a fake, with a lie that looked so good, so deceptive.

I didn't want to let them be denied a belief that was so foolish as to be righteous even if it meant hiding the truth, killing the lie and turning the fake into the real.

To repay the loyalty shown to me by those who risked their lives without question, for the sake of a name that was now my everything.

And for the sake of Aria and Alice, who stood by my side- I needed to be real.

The real Rain Gray, the leader of the Black Snake, the leader of the villain organization.

And, as he wished, I would erase my stain on this world, without leaving a trace.

Even if it meant the end of the world, I didn't care. I will do what must be done as an enemy of the world.

The heroes I raised with my own hands were the beginning.

*

I became the leader of a villain organization

*

"Can I eat?"

We appeared there, as usual, on a night when the rising moon shone pale.

"...Wait, Alice."

Aria whispered beside her, her voice soothing, and I walked wordlessly between them toward the man kneeling before us, begging.

"Please, please, forgive me, I really don't know anything!"

"I heard that...you were the last to help 'dispose' of the woman."

"Well, yes, I certainly did help embalm her, except for the grafting of new skin, but overall the decomposition wasn't too bad, and she was such a good 'death knight' that-"

"Go on."

"Yes!"

Saying that, I took the cigarette from his arms and put it in my mouth.

The man shook his head languidly, then began shooting words out of a rapid-fire cannon in a gibberish-like manner.

"At first I thought she was one of those 'death knights' they train in the army! Then, as soon as she disappeared, they suddenly swooped in-"

The man was the Duchy's undertaker, and in the Duchy of Germania, the undertaker's job is not just to bury the dead.

"Who were they?"

"Oh, it was the Duchy's secret police! There was also someone else who looked suspicious! Apparently, the Death Knight is wanted, so I had to pass on what I know....."

After I finished, the undertaker looked at us in horror. Apparently, that was as much information as he could give us.

"Okay."

I said and turned away, losing interest in him.

"Can I eat?"

"Don't eat."

I replied to Alice, who simultaneously tore her mouth open in a ghoulish fashion.

"Ugh, okay...."

Alice looks at her food regretfully, but doesn't argue with me. Only then does the undertaker glance around and start running away, never looking back.

"Good girl, Alice. You've been a good girl."

"Yes, Alice is a good, well-behaved young lady!"

"Hoo-hoo, yes, you are a fine, beautiful young lady."

Aria smiles as she says this and Alice can't help but giggle at Aria's compliments.

"It's a coincidence that the Holy Maiden and Sword Lady are together."

"... I didn't realize they were both being hunted so closely."

"Well, if they're acting together, they're doubling the number of people tracking them."

Aria said.

"The Duchy covets the Sword Lady as a death knight, and the Holy Kingdom clings to the holy maiden in order to grasp at straws."

The strongest knight in the Holy Kingdom, Sir Roland, is dead but it didn't stop there, Lord Menton of the Eleven Knights was killed, and the kingdom's most elite knightly organization was literally slaughtered on an international stage, in full view of the world, at the hands of our Black Snake.

Our actions that day at the World Military Exhibition left an indelible scar on the 'world'.

It was an act of international terrorism on an unprecedented scale, in full view of the world.

The hardest one hit by it was the Holy Kingdom.

With a fatal gap in national power, the Holy Kingdom has descended into uncontrollable chaos, and to repair it, the nation is once again betting its life on securing the Holy Maiden.

And now, it was time for me to hear from her.

'When the time is right, I will come back for my uniform with an answer.'

To take back the uniform that symbolized the "black snake" on her shoulder.

Eighteen heroes we met that day at the mausoleum.

There's no doubt that each and every one of them is a force to be reckoned with. In fact, one-on-one, I'd say they have the clear advantage.

Even for me, since I am not at the top level of Aria or Golden Lord, I am definitely at a disadvantage.

They're my heroes, not anyone else's.

There's no doubt about the strength of each of them.

The hero of the previous game, single-handedly killed two snakes: Romeo the playwright, Juliet the tragedian.

It would be suicidal to fight the heroes fair and square.

For that to happen, we needed new faces.

Instead of being a loyal member led by the hand of Rain Gray, whom I do not know, a new force that will willingly join us, led by the hand of the current 'Rain Gray' and the Holy Maiden who graces the cover, and is likely to be at the heart of the story is the power that I need.

As Rain Gray, I was confident that by now, the Holy Maiden Jeanne is waiting for my answer more than anyone else.

"As long as the Duchy and the Holy Kingdom are conducting a joint investigation, we cannot delay."

"Yes, sir."

The Holy Maiden Jeanne and the Immortal Swordswoman with her are not far away.

*

The knights from the Holy Kingdom and the secret police of the Duchy of Germania were after two women wandering in the shadows of the serpent.

For the Duchy, they needed to recover the Death Knight, a masterpiece of a necromancer.

The Holy Kingdom needed the Holy Maiden to unite a nation that had been torn apart since that day.

As a result Holy Maiden Jeanne never got a night's rest.

Not to mention Alina, an immortal swordswoman who never needs to sleep thanks to her dead body.

And in a country where everyone watches everyone else, even if you didn't want to stand out, you couldn't.

'I wonder what happened.'

Alina thought as she walked through the dark tunnels beneath the sewers, alongside another rushing river.

There was none of the beauty or nobility of the woman who had once been called the Princess of Swords, for she is dead.

Dead with the man she loved, determined to die for the justice he believed in.

It had to be the end but death was not the end.

What she was left with was an eternity of life, where even death was not allowed.

She realized that even peaceful self-determination was not the answer, not when she was pursued by the duchy that somehow saw her 'value'.

In front of this cursed fire, she felt like she had gone to hell.

On that day, even the justice she had rightly believed she could never regret was precariously shaken.

"Alina."

Then, a voice spoke in front of her.

And there, too, stood a holy maiden with a stained black coat draped over her shoulders, a shadow of her former purity and beauty.

"Before you, I sense the presence of the crusaders."

"!"

Suddenly, Alina realizes that she, too, can sense them beyond the sewer tunnels, in front of her and behind her.

There is nowhere to retreat so, as always, she grabs her sword along with the holy maiden who no longer hesitates to cut people.

"Nu, who is it!"

It was then.

In the distance, among the knights who hadn't yet come into view, came a cry and it didn't take long for the cry to turn into a scream.

As soon as she heard the echoing screams, she realized that the man had come.