Two months later…
Cold.
That was the first thing I felt.
A biting, merciless cold that crawled under my skin and wrapped itself around my bones. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was a world drowned in white. Snow stretched endlessly in every direction, swallowing the mountains, the sky, the air… even the sound. Nothing moved. Nothing lived.
And then I felt it — the thick, dried blood on my clothes, the sting of countless wounds across my body.
You might be wondering what happened.
Honestly… even I don't know.
One moment, I remember the battlefield — the Demon King, his army, the chaos, the roar of clashing powers.
And the next moment… I opened my eyes, bleeding, freezing, alone on the side of a mountain.
These past two months…
They were the fiercest, most brutal months of my life.
And the last memory I hold is the battle — the moment everything changed.
Did we lose?
Did the world fall?
Where is everyone?
Why am I like this…?
There was only one way to find out.
I forced my trembling lips to move. My throat felt like it had been shredded.
"…Come forth."
A whisper.
A command I'd spoken thousands of times.
But this time…
Nothing happened.
No surge of black aura.
No soldiers.
Not even Saigo Karna — my right-hand man who never left my side.
My heart dropped.
I tried again.
"Come forth…"
"Come forth…"
Each repetition cracked a deeper piece inside me.
"Please… Come forth…"
The wind swallowed my words.
I pressed my bloody hand into the snow and screamed, desperate, breaking:
"Plz… plz… Someone… COME FOOOOORTHHHH!"
The mountains stared back in silence.
No response.
No power.
No soldiers.
Nothing.
The truth stabbed deeper than any wound on my body.
I was alone. Powerless. Defeated.
The weight of it crushed me. All the battles, all the struggles, all the sacrifices — and yet here I was, crying in the snow like a broken child.
I lost my army.
I lost my love…
I lost the woman I wanted to protect.
I lost everything.
And now… I had even lost myself.
Fatigue wrapped around my consciousness like chains. My limbs turned numb. My breath grew faint.
I couldn't feel my hands… my legs… anything.
Slowly, painfully…
I sank into unconsciousness.
---
In my sleep…
A voice echoed from somewhere beyond the darkness.
"Yoo… you look miserable for someone who is supposed to be called my Successor…
The King of Three Worlds…
The Forbidden Successor."
From the shadows, I stepped out.
Not the weakened version lying in the snow — but the real me.
The original.
The true owner of the power I had inherited.
A darker, stronger, unshaken version of myself.
He smirked.
"Hey there, me. Look what you've done to yourself. You still call yourself the Hero who wants to protect this world? The kingdom of the girl you love?"
He leaned closer, voice mocking but somehow painfully honest.
"That's funny… because right now you can't even blink. You couldn't even protect yourself. So tell me—how the fuck are you planning to protect your loved ones? This world?"
His words broke something inside me.
I couldn't stop the tears.
I cried, truly cried, like everything inside me was shattering.
"What could I have done…?"
My voice trembled.
"I was no match for them. I wasn't strong enough. I never intended to lose — but I did. I'm sorry… I know now I wasn't suitable for this job. You should've chosen someone else. Someone better."
Silence.
Then he sighed — not in disappointment, but something gentler.
He showed his real form… the real "Crish."
"Listen."
His voice softened, but the weight remained.
"I am, was, and will never be wrong for choosing you as my Successor. I chose you because you are me — just from a different timeline."
He stepped forward, eyes burning with ancient memory.
"Remember the last time we met? I told you I was the son of the Demon King, Lucifero."
He smirked.
"Well… judging by everything you've been through in the last two months, I don't even need to explain it anymore."
I clenched my fists, shaking.
"Yes… I did suffer."
The memories twisted in my chest.
"I cried… I screamed… I broke. But this isn't the end, right? Tell me it's not the end. Will I really not be able to protect anyone…?"
He laughed — loud, rough, almost proud.
"Hahahaha… you think too much. But you're not wrong either. Things may have ended badly… but I don't regret choosing you. Not even for a second."
Hope flickered in me.
I stepped closer, desperate.
"Then… isn't there any way? Any way we can regain our powers? Fight back again? Maybe… maybe this time we can win. Please… tell me there is a way!"
He stopped.
Turned.
And for the first time, his expression softened completely.
"You don't even remember how you lost your power, do you?"
He smiled faintly.
"And let me correct you — it's not my power anymore. I'm already dead. Everything is yours now."
As he walked toward me, I whispered:
"Then… the gods, the lineage, all these things… tell me what they truly are."
He shook his head.
"You'll know eventually."
Then he placed his hand on my head.
And suddenly — every memory since the moment I arrived in this world rushed through my mind like a storm.
One by one.
One by one.
Each moment flashing in perfect clarity.
And then—
The memory of when my powers were raised to 70%.
---
Back to the past… where the story was left.
The spell had been cast.
Every soldier, every commander had vanished — sent away on the battlefield.
Only Tsukiko and I remained in the silent room.
The air felt heavy. Too heavy.
Tsukiko had finally stopped crying, but her eyes were swollen, her breaths still shaky. I myself didn't know what to say or do. Despair filled not just our eyes… but the entire hall.
But a promise was a promise.
I turned toward her.
"Hey… Tsukiko."
She looked up, her eyes trembling.
"I know many things have happened in these past three days since I came here," I said quietly. "And as I promised… I will take revenge for you. They made you cry. Now they will cry. They will pay for everything."
Her gentle eyes shimmered again, but this time… not from fear.
From hope.
She ran toward me — fast, desperate — and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me like I was the last light left in her world.
Like I was the only one she could rely on.
Like I was her final hope.
I held her close.
And the future waited.
To be continued…