"Come on Shin'en, pick up the pace. We have to kill the demon king today," a tall, jacked man in golden armor barked at Shin (Shin'en).
"On my way," Shin scurried and caught up to the party.
Shin was a part of the heroes' party, although he was the most hated member. He grew up in poverty and was bullied in his childhood.
He lived in the orphanage from the age of 6 until last year, on his 18th birthday, when he was kicked out.
He eventually managed to become a member of the heroes' party after awakening with two magical attributes: fire and wind.
With this, he was welcomed into the heroes' party by the goddess, along with 7 other individuals.
Although he was the only one who possessed two different magical attributes, he had the smallest mana pool among them.
This led to the goddess's disgust at his wasted potential, which in turn led to the hero party and the goddess abusing him and treating him like worthless garbage.
The 8 heroes walked through the empty halls of the demon castle towards the demon king's throne room.
The tension between them was dense as Shin looked at all of them, his eyes fidgeted, shooting quick glances at each.
After some time, they reached the demon king's throne room. They stood before the door.
"Well, it's about time we end this war." The man in golden armor pushed the large doors open.
Inside, there was nothing. A pitch-dark abyss. Shin's heart began to beat faster upon seeing the darkness. A hand touched his shoulder. Shin glanced up to see that it was the leader of their party.
Shin was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the leader hurled him into the room. Shin fell onto the floor. He looked over his shoulder and saw all his party members smiling at him.
"About damn time."
"Don't know how much longer I could've tolerated him." Some members of the party mocked.
Others began laughing at him as the party leader slowly closed the door. "It's nothing personal. Just following the goddess's commands." He shut the doors.
"Well, now that it's taken care of, let's go kill the 4th general and get back in time to finish off the king." The group walked off in the opposite direction.
The leader stopped and glanced at the doors. Worry filled his body before he reluctantly walked off.
Shin sat there in the darkness, disappointed. "And these are supposed to be the representatives of humanity," he said in a hoarse voice as he stood up, tears welling in his eyes.
"Very evil indeed, young one," a voice called out in the darkness.
Without hesitation, Shin unsheathed his sword and set it ablaze with flame magic. He tried to illuminate the room with it.
He frantically waved his sword around, trying to find where the voice came from. Unease washed over him as he pointed his sword right in front of him.
Shin's eyes grew wide as his arms went limp, his face pale. All hope of living drained from him.
A mangled, half-beast, half-human, arachnid face smiled at him with an eerie grin and endless rows of jagged teeth.
"What... never seen a demon before?" the voice called out again. It came from the face in front of him.