...This is the Way the World Ends…

The arduous trek took nearly three days, all carriages going from city to city were out of service. He had his warthog of course but with the terrain they had to go through it didn't help much. With him was all of his party, the recent temporary additions, Claire, Iris and a contingent of Knights. The other forces hadn't arrived yet but the fact was irrelevant, they would have to assault the Demon King's castle. "Aurdel, are you absolutely sure that this is the only way to do this?" Yunyun asked, extreme worry and nervousness in her voice.

"Out of the ways I'm sure of? Absolutely. This plan is the only one that poses the least risk to all of you, I'm the only one in danger if it fails."

"T-that doesn't make it right!"

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Right and necessary aren't the same thing, I've learned that lesson far too many times. And this is necessary no matter what. The Demon King must fall, and this is the way to do it."

Aurdel climbed into the Warthog and sat down in the driver's seat, taking everything in for a moment. The reason he was going alone to destroy the barrier with the barrier breaker was because he didn't want to risk the lives of anyone else. If he died, then so be it. But if anything happened to the others? He wouldn't forgive himself. This would at least give them a chance to get away if he failed. Underneath his armor and clothes he padded his body with several layers of material, something important he could use if things really came down to the wire. He was ready to die. He turned on the engine and strapped himself in. Because he was making this charge he dismounted the gun from the back of the hog, they'd be able to use it if anything happened. He closed his eyes and prepared himself, grabbing his helmet from the passenger seat with his hand free from the steering wheel. "A-Aurdel!" Yunyun ran over to the driver's side of the Warthog at the last moment.

"What is it-?" She jumped up to wrap her in his arms, giving him a kiss on the cheek with tears in her eyes.

"Please, make it back." After a moment she let go. He knew what he'd said about promises, what other people had said. But…

"I'll make it back," he slid the helmet onto his head and looked out at the hillside in front of them and towards the Demon King's castle off in the distance, All he had to do was cross that large distance in a short amount of time and touch the barrier with the barrier breaker. He closed his eyes one last time, then opened them again. Go, a voice in the back of his head said. He stepped on the pedal and the Warthog blazed off from the hillside they'd stood upon and in the direction of the Demon King's castle. Because he was going downhill he was going to use this opportunity to gain speed, to make the journey as quickly as possible. The air around the warthog broke as it flew down the hillside. He was on flat grass now, going over a hundred miles an hour. Normally this vehicle wasn't meant for speeds like this but he'd set it up so it'd weather the storm. He began crossing the large stretch of land between the castle and the hillside.

That was when something bad happened.

A large mote of magical energy formed at one of the spires on the Demon King's castle, then it shot out and fired towards him. Barely missing him it struck the grass the Warthog had just been in, completely obliterating it with immense power. What the hell was this? He hadn't heard of this! Was it some kind of super weapon? Some extremely powerful guard singularly standing at the spire to throw him down. Regardless, it wasn't good for him. Another blast rang out, striking near to his left and throwing a cloud of dirt and dust into his face. Because of the helmet it didn't necessarily phase as it would have, but it certainly presented a problem. Even from here he could tell that his companions weren't exactly thrilled with him taking the risk of his life here. Blast and blast of magic came his way. Damnit, this wasn't good. It would have been wrong of him to assume that there wouldn't be anyone guarding the castle, and he hadn't, but he hadn't expected anything like this. This was different. He swerved the Warthog towards the left, the blast landed at his right. He could already imagine what the others were saying but he had no choice except to press on.

If he turned back now he was throwing away their chance to take down the Demon King once and for all, any element of surprise in the assault would be lost and the next time they tried it they would be completely wiped out. But besides that was the fact that if he did try to turn back he would lose too much speed, and he would be hit. Given what he had padded underneath his armor he didn't want that to happen, at least not yet. So he would just keep going. His foot sat on the gas pedal, pressing it to the floor with the engine he'd built roaring. Consecutive blasts were ringing out and striking the area all around him, blazing past and leaving craters. The field began to catch fire from the detonations and it burned brightly as he pressed on. Avoiding the blasts was the most he could do for now. Then he ramped off of a hill, flying through the air. A blast out and struck the very bottom of the Warthog, he could tell the rear tires were seared by it.

When the Warthog hit the ground the rear tires exploded, jolting him forward. He had to keep going. Scraping along he kept his foot on the gas. He swerved to the right, a blast came from the left and blew off the mirror and plating from that side. He swerved again to the opposite direction, the right side was blown apart. He ducked, a blast tore through the windshield and destroyed the very top of the Warthog. His ears were ringing in the few moments he had afterwards. Then an abnormal amount of time passed before the next shot, he had no idea when or where it would fire. Then it did. It was a direct hit towards the front of the Warthog, the engine block he'd so painstakingly made was completely obliterated. The vehicle was launched forward with the rear going over the front, his head slamming into the steering wheel and giving him a minor headache. Then it landed back on the ground, and his head hit the seat rest. The hog was completely totalled, unusable until he found time after this battle to fix it.

"Go." The voice in the back of his head was back, pushing him. "Go, they're counting on you. You told them that you'd make it back, so go. Don't let them down." He opened his eyes and undid the seatbelt, falling to the ground beneath the Warthog. He used freeze to put out the smoldering grass around him, then took it all in for a moment. Then after that he grabbed from the barrier breaker from the glove box and clutched it to his chest. Crouched down he flipped the Warthog back over to face the castle, he could at least use it as a temporary distraction. He gave it a heave and rolled it forward as he stayed close to the ground to avoid being seen at least for now. The next blast came soon after and torched the warthog, that was when his full out sprint began. In theory he was very capable of running much faster than the Warthog, all the Spartans were, but pushing himself past those limits he had wasn't easy nor was it safe. The last time he'd done something like that was at the fight with Beldia. And he'd wanted to save that energy and vigor for the actual fight, but he had no choice.

His legs moved like a blur across the field as he ran towards the castle, the explosions continuing. One blast came at him, he sidestepped it and it detonated behind him. He reached higher and higher speeds, he could feel the stress on his legs growing with every passing moment. Two more blasts came almost simultaneously, he barely managed to avoid. He could feel them as he ran, the heat washing over his back. A few more moments passed and he could feel his Achilles tendon tearing, it was unsustainable. But he pushed through. The next blast that came from him was one he could avoid, it went straight for him. "Wind Curtain!" He used the Advanced Magic he'd been taught to redirect the blast away from himself, using it to also give a slight boost to his speed as he ran. It exploded above him, the sparks flying down. He was almost there now.

The last hurdle he had to face before he was able to physically reach the barrier was the rock face that the Demon King's castle was built on. He was moving too quickly to be able to stop fast enough and get into a climbing ready position on the wall, nor could he move quickly enough to avoid being blasted while he was on the wall. But then he had an idea. "Tornado!" He cast the spell in front of himself and ran straight into the tornado he'd made, using it to propel himself into the air and go soaring over the rock face. He was able to see where the blasts were coming from now given the elevation, a spire atop the castle. He narrowly avoided being hit mid-air as he came down, rolling onto the ground to avoid completely breaking his legs. He had to take a breath before he sat up, he'd tired himself out relatively quickly. But then he stood up and took the barrier breaker.

He approached the semi-translucent barrier that surrounded the castle, one was able to peer through and see what it looks like but was unable to pass through. Time to put an end to that. He pressed the barrier breaker against the barrier and both began to glow. All around where he placed it cracks began to form and spread out, reaching higher and higher into the massive barrier. A minute passed, then it shattered. LIke glass it fell apart with a shimmer, clattering towards the ground before disappearing. Immediately after he heard the sound of the weapon he'd dismounted firing. He didn't need to look to see what it'd hit. He heard the sound of crumbling stone from outside, the spire had been struck. A few seconds later the whole thing came crashing down and smashed to pieces on the inside of the Demon King's castle. As soon as he could he began chanting teleportation magic and pulled the Battle Rifle off his back, opening fire as Undead and Demons began to file out to attack.

Luckily he wouldn't have to fight long as by the time he'd gunned down the first wave of bodies coming towards him he'd finished chanting the magic, "Teleport!" With that he appeared back at the top of the large hill where he'd started. And immediately, he was ambushed by his crying companions. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm here." He could understand their worry, it'd looked very much likely to them that he'd died when the Warthog was struck by the magic from the castle. He looked over, he could see smoke rising from where the spire had stood. But there was also a large army of Demons and Undead coming out from the castle.

"Aurdel," Iris said from behind the small circle of sobbing around him, "The others arrived while you were performing your run, they saw it. They're all here." And he looked out towards them all. There were hundreds… No, thousands of people here. It was quite possibly the largest combined army the world had ever seen of real people. There were professional Knights and mages from a large variety of nations, each one sporting their nations color and coat of arms. Foremost was those of the Kingdom of Belzerg, and at the helm of that army was quite obviously the King and the Prince. And like he'd asked Aqua, there was a small army of Axis cultists too. Not all of them looked like they were Priests but it was what it was, they were all extremely fanatical and most likely prepared to die for their Goddess. But then there was all the adventurers. He could see every face that he recognized from his guild and more, with large groups of people from other guilds scattered around the country. But the one that stood out among them the most was Dust, sitting atop the Dragon that he'd tamed some time ago.

"We're with you, all the way."


"Spartan."

"Yes Colonel?"

Colonel Menteith put a hand on his shoulder, "There's one more thing that I want you to do, before you leave."
"And what's that sir?"

"Follow me son," the old Colonel led him out of the HQ and towards the staging area, "I want you to hear something before you leave, something important." He followed him through the base. "Do you know about hope son?"

"I know what it means sir, driving yourself keep going every day despite the losses because you know that it will get better."

"Good," the Colonel patted him on the back, "But you know what's true about our soldiers, don't you?"

"That not everyone has hope, not everyone can work themselves up into that state to keep going," the Colonel's eyes softened after his answer.

"Right, and I think that I know that better than most after all I've been through with my boys," he waved his hand out towards all of the men standing in the staging area. "They've all served the time, more than enough. They've seen their battles, their blood spilled, but they keep going. Do you know why?" He paused, "It's because there needs to be someone to give them hope, the hope to keep going. That's what I've done for them, and that's what I want you to be. This war will be won by people like you, so don't let me down."

"Yes sir."


He remembered the conversation, he remembered the Colonel's words. He wouldn't let him down. He stepped out in view of all those who were gathered. "Aqua, make sure they can all hear me."

"Versatile Entertainer!" She cast a support spell on him that would allow him to project his voice out much further.

"Let no one here question our place in history. That we are all gathered here right now, at this point in time, is not a coincidence or accident. It is our fate. And this war is our birthright, our legacy. You were all born to fight the Demon King, and you, my fellow soldiers, were born for this very day. Today the enemy will hear the roar of humanity, and they will fear us!" His voice thundered outwards, it was heard by all there were. After a very brief moment, there was a thunderous battlecry back to him.

"Down with the Demon King, the Demon King will fall!"

"Down with the Demon King, the Demon King will fall!" And so began the stampede, after healing his leg he charged down the hill and led the way towards the Demon King's castle, preparing to fight the army in front of them. It was an army of Demons, Devils and Undead comparable to their own, if not larger. Leading the army was the daughter of the Demon King, her who bruised after the last battle and seeking a crushing and ultimate victory over their forces. But where she and her father hoped for victory in numbers, he would only show them defeat in overwhelming force. He had his sword drawn in one hand, a large shield on the other. The two armies crashed together. Aurdel swung straight into battle with all of the others, cutting a group of Demons and Undead in half.

He would have had Megumin open up with her Explosion, but because he wanted her to save it until the Demon King came out he'd given her another weapon. After having Aqua buff her enough to be able to carry it he'd given her an M41 Rocket Launcher and the rockets to use it. He could hear the chaos from here as she unloaded into all the enemies she found in her path. Yunyun powered through groups of Undead and Demons with her magic, fighting alongside the other Crimson Demons that were absolutely demolishing them. There were explosions, lightning, tornadoes, wall of fire and all other matters of magic going off, carving a path of destruction. They were definitely the largest of the threats presented to the Demon King's army here. Wiz herself would be a close second to that title. After seeing how kind she was and comparing her to his wife, Clementine, he… He really couldn't describe how it looked. He was freezing and annihilating vast parts of the enemy army just by herself, it's no wonder she'd been considered one of the best Archwizards in the country.

Aqua and her cultists meanwhile assaulted the Demons and Undead relentlessly with holy water, soaps and purification magic, exercising then en masse. It was actually almost scary how effectively and how vigorously they were doing it, something he never thought he would have said before but now found himself saying exactly that. Iris fought alongside her brother, father along with Claire and Iris, each one of them immensely powerful in their own right. Iris and her family especially caused large amounts of damage to the enemy army, they all seemed to have those same extremely powerful abilities. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" They even fired some of them off in sync, obliterating in a huge singular attack. It was hard to believe that this country needed heroes like him with rulers like those. Anatalia attacked, her fur turned red, with some of her own people, binding and tearing through those that they encountered. They too were almost scary with how effectively they worked, despite how nice they could look. Darkness, Six and Everest were all leading and supporting the professional soldiers and Knights, leading them into the battle.

While Darkness couldn't really hit anything, Six and Everest were hyper-lethal in their fighting. The former simply charged through large groups of enemies, gunning them down with Assault Rifle in hand and constantly switching out mags. It was hard to believe a Spartan like him could have died on Reach. But then again, so had he. He was in no real place to judge. Everest meanwhile was quite literally charging through groups of enemies, bashing them, tearing them apart with her beak and slashing them with her talons. She even occasionally picked them up and threw them across the battlefield, essentially creating a bowling bowl effect against anyone who was behind them and knocking them down. Dust in the meanwhile was leading the adventurers of Axel and any others who were willing to follow him off the back of the Dragon he'd tamed, performing strafing runs on the enemy army with clouds of fire and burning them alive. And if he wasn't doing that then he was making the Dragon land to blow the enemies away with it's ridiculous wing and tail strength, sending them flying after those blows.

He himself performed admirably, he- "Muhahaha! Did thou really forget about moi?" Yes, actually, he'd entirely forgotten about Vanir. Wiz, like Vanir had said previously, decided to join the battle against the Demon King. Why exactly he'd chosen to do so was a mystery to all of them, he wouldn't gain anything in particular by doing so. But he fought anyway. He summoned his own mini army of explosive dirt dolls, driving them into the enemy line and causing them to explode. The whole battlefield was filled with a general air of chaos as the battle raged on. Aurdel sliced through hordes of Demons and even a few Devils, the royal family and Wiz obliterated swathes of enemies alongside the large beasts like Ogres, Aqua and her cult wiped out unholy creatures, Everest and Six kept the lines steady and Anatalia brought an unseen ferocity.

"Damn you!" A woman's voice screamed out towards him, "You just had to go out and ruin everything my father had been working towards!"

He turned and the woman slashed straight at him, he raised his shield to block the blow. The woman was the Demon King's daughter, the last of his alive loyal Generals. She was young and beautiful, strong too. Unfortunately she was on the wrong side of this conflict and didn't show any signs of seeing what was wrong with what her father was doing to the world. She kept coming at him with her greatsword, slashing again and again from every angle that she could find. She was certainly strong like the other Generals he'd faced, Beldia especially came to mind given the sword. But even so she wasn't in any position to really challenge him, he'd surpassed those bars long ago after the encounter with that man. He still didn't even know that man's name. And even though he'd tried to kill him, he'd still done him a great service with the power that he seemed to give him.

Aurdel struck straight back at the Demon King's daughter, pressuring her with his weapon. Every whack that he took threw her off balance more and more and was pushing her through her own forces. It even got to the point that the only thing between her and that blade hitting her or her weapon was the enemies that got in its way, preventing him from landing the blow. And he could feel the fear starting to overtake her. When she'd first approached and attacked him she was full of anger and hatred, filled with the desire and drive to kill him no matter what it took. But it's not like he needed some special power to read that, he could see that all in her eyes. Her eyes were trembling now as she constantly took step back after step back, her hands holding the sword even beginning to tremble as she tried to throw back his attacks.

Slowly but surely he kept pushing her back, her guard breaking several times but quickly reforming soon after. A crack then suddenly appeared in the blade of her sword, her expression had panic now. The next time he swung and she used her blade to meet him, the sword shattered. Bits of metal flew in both directions, embedding into their clothing and any exposed sections of skin on their body. She shook as she now only held the hilt of the destroyed weapon in her hands. Out of nowhere immense confidence filled her and she charged straight for him, attacking him with punches and kicks as quickly as she could. Most missed, the ones that didn't ended up striking his chest though to little effect. Even with her strength she wasn't able to really present any serious threat to him, nor could most of the enemies here. So he took hold of her with one arm, clamping down and causing her to squirm in an attempt to break his grip. Then he speared his sword through her abdomen. The life left her eyes and she went limp.

But the words of another man came to mind: Aurdel killed his enemy, but he did not hate them. After removing the sword from her body he gently laid her to the ground, closing her eyes and folding her arms onto her lap. A second passed before he went back to battle. Switching to his M90 he blasted Demons and Undead apart, anything that came in his way. His mission here was to kill the Demon King and to save the world, he couldn't let anything get in his way of doing that. But in his mind he felt like there was something off, something bad coming his way. That feeling was justified. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a large charging figure, one as tall as him if not taller. It was the Demon King. He cleared a path through his own men and the enemy, killing anything that didn't move out of the way for him. In his hands was a massive greatsword, a large claymore to be more accurate. To wield a blade that looked to be about twelve feet long meant he had immense arm strength, that fact was no less evident given that he was carrying it with just one arm.

The Demon King charged straight for Aurdel at immense speeds, those comparable to his own. Anything that came in his way was obliterated. Aurdel quickly switched back to his sword and shield, preparing himself as the Demon King took a wide swing towards him and then blocking it with his own sword. The pressure he felt on his arms was immense, but he was able to hold it off. "Do you know what I'm sick of?" the Demon King asked, "I'm sick of you heroes." He brought his free hand down in the form of a hammer fist, aiming for Aurdel but being stopped by his shield. Sparks flew from that alone as he applied further pressure, he could feel it in his spine. "I'm sick of all the moral grandstanding that you busybodies come here with, one after another, thinking that you know what's right for the world. Do you know why I think that?" He brought his fist and sword down again, slamming on Aurdel, "Because I was one of them, I was one of those suckers that she sent here. Now look at me."

"Sounds hypocritical to me," Aurdel grit through his teeth, throwing him back with a push kick. "You're the reason we get sent here now, you're part of the problem."

"Sure I am, but who's is the one that chose to fight my armies? Who is the one that chose to kill my Generals? And who is the one that chose to attack my castle and kill my daughter? Tell me." There was pain behind that last one, Aurdel didn't answer. Instead he threw his own series of strikes, each one being blocked by the Demon King with his massive blade. Clearly he wasn't impressed with Aurdel's efforts. "You don't need to answer the question, since we both know the answer." He threw down his sword and charged at Aurdel again, this time instead of trying to slam him he grabbing Aurdel sword and shield, shattering them in an iron that they were forced to physically brawl with each other. Aurdel threw another kick before attempting to cover and advance, only to be stopped by the Demon King staying completely still. Like a mountain he was unmoving and offered no quarter. "You can fight, but so can I." The Demon King threw several knees, driving them into Aurdel's stomach and chest causing him to release the grip on the back of his neck.

Aurdel stumbled back into a ready position, "Before you leave this world I'll make sure to show you what hell is like, hero." The Demon King charged at him again, throwing several hooks and straight punches Aurdel's way. He was able to block most but ended up being struck several times on his left shoulder. Aurdel then attacked him, driving several strikes into the man's gut. He then threw an elbow and a hammer fist to the Demon King's face, his nose now bleeding. "You're strong, but," he advanced on Aurdel and dealt a series of strikes, hammering his helmet over and over. Eventually the helmet went flying off, "But you're nothing but a man, a man dressed like he knows what he's doing."

"And what's wrong with that?" Aurdel charged back in, the two large men grappling with each other. The ground underneath their feet cracked and wind flew out as they fought.

Those around them were blown away from the force of their fighting, unable to get anywhere near them. Then the Demon King pulled out a dagger, attempting to stab it into Aurdel. Because of how thick his armor was he wasn't able to get through to any of his more vital organs, so instead he went for Aurdel's arms. He stabbed deep into Aurdel's left arm repeatedly, drawing blood. He forced him to back off. "I know you'd fight dirty, so I do the same."

"You're damn right I do," Aurdel pulled out his M90. Then he opened fire, blasting towards the Demon King who'd begun to run to avoid the shots. He was able to avoid a few but eight hit him, the pellets tearing through his armor.

"That was good, but you're mistaken if you think something as little as that is going to take me down." Aurdel watched as the holes that he'd shot into the Demon King's armor repaired themselves, it was like he hadn't put a scratch on him. "This armor is cursed, something like that won't do you any good."

The Demon King charged straight for him again, he tackled Aurdel. When he hit the ground there was impact from the force, Aurdel raised his hands to defend as the Demon King began to pound him. Each time he hit it was like being hit full force by a truck, if it weren't for his augmentations and his armor then his bones were sure to have broken much earlier on in the fight. But Aurdel managed to grab hold on the Demon King's right arm, swiping it to his right and managing to throw him off. Aurdel got up as quickly as he could, driving a fist into the man's face and then planting a boot on his stomach. The Demon King grabbed his leg and threw him off, Aurdel skidding across the ground. But Aurdel stood up and looked around. They were all in position. "You will die here, then so will everyone else. I will put an end to this endless war."

"No, no you won't." The Demon King charged at Aurdel one last time, raising both fists in preparation to hammer him into the ground.

"S-such strength~!" When the Demon King did bring both his fists down he found them stopped in their tracks, both Aurdel and Darkness had negated his blows. Darkness fell backwards holding herself, mostly in pleasure. But it gave another opening. Everest leaped in and the two of them struck the Demon King together, throwing him back with strong uppercuts.

Then came Aqua, "God Blow!" Together they punched the Demon King straight in the face. That time they'd done serious damage to the Demon King. He stumbled and had trouble trying to stay standing up.

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" Iris, her family and Aurdel let out a massive combined blast, Iris having managed to teach him the skill before all this battle had gone down.

Anatalia leapt forward, "Bind!" The two of them locked the Demon King up with some of the strongest rope this world had ever seen, ones he'd spent his time making.

"Cursed Crystal Prison!" Wiz stepped forward and the two of them let out blasts of magic, encasing the Demon King in a mountain of ice.

"Light of Saber!" He and Yunyun worked together to make a singular and powerful spell, cutting clean through the center of the ice and downwards. Dust kicked up as it went through and hit the ground. There was only one person left.

"Megumin, let's do this," and she stepped forward. "Darkness blacker than blacker, darker than dark, I beseech thee! Lend me your power in this very moment, lend me that which will strike down even the strongest of foes! Take the form of an intangible distortion and burst forth! Explosion!" And together they let out the largest Explosion this world had ever seen, blasting the ice mountain that encased the Demon King.

A mushroom like cloud formed in the air above it, a practical dust storm formed from their action alone. And most of those who hadn't planted themself firmly and behind cover were blown away by the sheer winds that it produced. But eventually it all began to clear and they were able to start seeing the battlefield again. "Did… Did we get him?" Megumin asked, coughing from all of the dust."

There were cheers all around him, from the Knights and adventurers. "Hurrah! The Demon King is-!" A Knight began to shout, before a sword flew out of the remaining cloud of dust. He fell skewed to the ground. The chanting stopped and everyone looked to the cloud of dust.

"No way…" Yunyun muttered, watching it.

"That was strong, but that's still not enough," the Demon King shouted. His armor was torn to bits and he was bleeding all over from the attacks they'd thrown at him, but his armor just reformed. It looked like it even began to integrate with his body, growing into the wounds.

"How… How are we supposed to defeat someone like that?!" Iris cried, even the Prince and the King was despairing at it. Everyone looked at the Demon King in fear, how could they defeat someone like that?

"I've spent thousands of years in that castle, preparing for the day like this. Did you really think that I would allow myself to be defeated?" He charged towards Iris and her family, "I'll kill you all and then this kingdom will fall!" They prepared to fight him but Aurdel tackled the Demon King, grabbing him and forcing him to stop.

"Run! All of you!" None of them wanted to leave him. Not here, not now. "I said run, the only one who can do anything now is me!" The Demon King elbowed his face hard and repeatedly, but Aurdel was able to tough through it.

Hesitantly the other began to run, the battlefield beginning to clear. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The Demon King shouted at him, "Do you think you're going to defeat me?! Do you think you'll win this battle?! Do you think you'll live like some hero?!" He watched as the most hesitant of them all left, those being his party. There were tears in all of their eyes, even Aqua. But to her it looked like the reality of what was about to happen was most clear. That Goddess…

"No, I won't live like a hero. I won't win this battle either. But they will, and I will kill you." He drove the Demon King forward, breaking that immeasurable force he fought before. The ground shook underneath them and they fought each other. Eventually Aurdel managed to land a hit, one that sent the Demon King flying backwards and into one of the walls of the castle. He blew straight through, the stone around the hole crumbling.

Aurdel leapt through to follow him. The halls were dark before, but with the holes he'd just put in to this castle there was vast amounts of light shining in. He practically flew through with how quickly he was moving, rolling onto the ground and up into a fighting stance. He found the Demon King on the ground, stumbling and holding his head as he then stood up. "You're insane, you're dying for a world that isn't your own. For a cause that isn't your own. You have nothing here, you have no reason to fight for any of those people."

"No, you're wrong. And if you haven't realized that fact then you were always wrong, you never really defeated the Demon King that came before you." Aurdel sprinted forward and drove his fists into the Demon King's chestplate, each one hitting with more immense force than the last. "I had things in my last life, so do I have here." He slammed hooked his right fist across the Demon King's face, then his left and switched again and again and again. "I have a home, I have friends, I have family, I have everything that I need!"

And he threw the Demon King back again, smashing through another wall. But this time the Demon King got up quicker and attacked Aurdel, "You have those things, but ask yourself if you truly care for them!" He drove his fists into Aurdel's gut, striking over and over. Aurdel coughed up blood with every strike. His clothes were torn and his armor was beginning to break. "Do your companions really care for you, or do they care for your power?!" The Demon King grabbed him by his throat and threw him into a table, crushing it and sliding across the floor. "Do they care for your money?!" He picked up the fallen chandelier and tossed it at Aurdel, Aurdel rolling to avoid it from hitting him. "Or do they only care about your power?!" There was the most vigor in that shout as the Demon King picked up a battle axe and threw it, embedding itself into Aurdel's chest. Aurdel fell back against the wall. "I'll tell you what it is, it's all of those things. That's what it was for me, that's what it is for you!" He ran to Aurdel and stomped on his left hand that lay on the ground, the armor shattering and his bones breaking.

"They use you, they use you for their own ends and they toss you away like trash!" The Demon King stomped on his left leg, breaking it too. "And I know that because it happened to me, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else!" He kicked Aurdel in the chin, forcing his head and neck up nearly snapping.

"So what, you'll kill any hero that comes to kill you?" He spit out, blood dripping out of his mouth.

"I'll kill anyone that stands in my way!" And he kicked Aurdel in the chest, Aurdel spit out a tooth and more blood. But then he began to laugh. "What is so funny?!"

"You said that you'll show me what hell looks like… but I don't think you've ever seen it for yourself…"There was a wide grin on Aurdel's face, his eyes filled with strength, "So why don't I give you an education?!" Aurdel sprung up from the wall, the axe still lodged in him, with his right leg and grabbed the threat of the Demon King. He began to choke him. "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO SEE WHAT HELL IS LIKE!" And he slammed backwards, throwing him into the throne that stood at the center of the room.

One of the plates that made up Aurdel's armor fell off, the padding underneath was revealed. "What in God's name is that?!" The Demon King shouted, raising a finger to point at him.

"That, my friend, is C-12, one of the most deadly explosives known to man. A small four by four by four inch cube is enough to level a five story in mere seconds. And this, what I'm wearing under my armor, is a full body suit of the stuff. All that I'm wearing is enough to level half of a small mountain, take a guess what it'll do to you!" And the Demon King was frozen with fear, falling back into his chair. Aurdel pulled out the axe from his chest.

"D-don't! You wouldn't dare do this! You wouldn't throw away your life!"

"Throw away my life? Who decided that's what it was? I've died for my causes once before, and I'm willing to die for them again." He closed his eyes and he mentally prepared himself to push the trigger, "Now, are you?"

Yunyun and everyone else was watching the fight take place in the castle from afar, the impacts of their fighting could even be seen from outside. The entire area shook as parts of the castle fell apart and hit the ground. The one thing that she hoped, the one thing that everyone hoped, was that he would win, and that he walked out alive. There were too many things that she wanted to say, too many things that she wanted to do. She couldn't bear the thought of-

The area was rocked by a huge explosion, one comparable to what Megumin and Aurdel had cast earlier. But this time it came from the castle. She watched as the entire castle was blown outwards from the inside, huge chunks of stone and even entire sections going flying from where they'd been placed. They had to shield their eyes as all the dust and debris came flying through the air.

When the dust and debris cleared they could see that the entire castle was blown apart, only rubble sat where it once stood. But that meant... "Aurdel!" She shouted. With tears in her eyes she ran back towards the ruins of the castle, looking for him. Everyone else came with her.

"I'm using Enemy Detection, but I don't see him," Anatalia said, searching worriedly. Aqua looked somber, as if she believed he was dead. She couldn't believe that.

"P-please…! Keep looking!" They kept searching around, going through whatever rubble they could. That was when they heard a hand burst out of the stone, "Aurdel?!" But when she looked over it wasn't him who was bursting out of the stone. It was… "No… no way…" The Demon King. He crawled out from under the stone, his armor completely destroyed.

"Yunyun! Wait!" Darkness shouted as she ran towards him.

"Where is he?!" She shouted, grabbing him and shaking him, "Where is Aurdel?!"

The Demon King let out a gasp, "He was right… He did die… But he did kill me…" And the Demon King fell to dust in her hands. She fell to her knees, trembling.

"He… he can't... " She struggled to say it. But she didn't have to. She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Aqua. And the look on her face… her face… Her heart broke in two. "Aurdel!" She wailed, slamming his fists on the ground. How could this happen?! Why to them?! Why to him?! Why did things have to be this way?!


"Long time no see, Eris."

"Long time no see, Aurdel," Eris looked extremely somber. "You've completed your quest, you've defeated the Demon King. You left the world a far better place than it was when you came, paying the ultimate sacrifice to do so."

"And my companions?"

"Your companions… Your companions mourn your loss at this moment," even Eris seemed like she was taking his death extremely hard.

"Then... that's good," he sighed out, "It'll be safe for them now." Eris turned her head away for a moment, then looked back to him.

"As promised you've earned your one wish, your one wish for anything at all. Anything that you want will be given to you, no matter what it is."

"Anything?"

"Absolutely anything. You can wish for the peaceful life you always wanted, the happy life you always wanted for yourself."

"No," he shook his head.

"No?" She didn't know how to respond to that.

"I want you to give one wish each to my companions, the same kind of wish that you would have granted me." He looked up towards the ceiling, towards the light that had brought him to that world some time ago now. "I want them to know that even if I'm dead now, I'll always be with them. No matter what they go through, I'll be there."