The Demon King fell.
For a moment, the battlefield was silent.
Wind swept across the ruined valley, carrying the smell of ash and blood. Broken weapons and torn banners lay scattered across the charred earth. The bodies of knights and monsters alike covered the ground like a grim monument to the war that had just ended.
At the center of it all stood one man.
**Cain.**
The Paladin of Feydrion.
His armor was cracked and stained with blood. His once-brilliant cloak hung in ragged strips behind him. The divine radiance that had always surrounded him flickered weakly now, like the last dying embers of a flame.
But he was still standing.
Before him lay the massive corpse of the Demon King, collapsed against the shattered altar that had once fueled its power.
After years of war…
After countless sacrifices…
The Demon King was finally dead.
Cain let out a slow breath.
"…It's over."
For the first time in years, the battlefield was quiet.
No roars.
No screams.
No clashing steel.
Just silence.
Footsteps crunched softly over the scorched ground behind him.
Cain didn't turn immediately.
He already knew who it was.
"…Seraphina," he said tiredly.
The Saintess stopped a few steps behind him. Her white robes fluttered gently in the wind, somehow untouched by the chaos around them.
Cain allowed himself a faint, exhausted smile.
"We actually did it."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then—
A blade slid through his back.
The steel burst out from his chest, slick with blood.
Cain's breath caught in his throat.
"…Huh?"
The pain arrived a second later.
His body trembled violently as the blade twisted inside him.
It wasn't an ordinary weapon.
The dagger had been soaked in the blood of the Demon King.
The cursed blood seeped into his body instantly.
His mana began draining.
His divine power followed.
The strength that had carried him through years of battle began slipping away like sand through his fingers.
Cain collapsed to one knee, gasping.
"…Seraphina…?"
His voice was barely more than a whisper.
Seraphina stepped forward slowly.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
She pulled the ceremonial dagger from his back, crimson dripping from its edge.
Cain stared at her, disbelief flooding his eyes.
"…Why?"
The Saintess looked down at him quietly.
Then she spoke.
"It is all according to Their will."
Cain's mind struggled to process the words.
The curse continued spreading through his body.
His arms felt heavy.
His vision blurred.
Seraphina raised the blade again.
The wind blew across the empty battlefield.
And then—
The screen went black.
---
**Ending Unlocked**
**The Fallen Hero**
---
"…That's it?"
The words slipped out quietly.
The dark monitor reflected the faint light of the room.
"That's seriously it?"
Fifteen years.
For fifteen years this had been the only thing that kept me from going insane.
The only thing I could do.
The only world I could experience.
And this was the ending?
The hero defeats the Demon King…
Only to get stabbed in the back by the Saintess for some vague reason about "Their will"?
No explanation.
No alternate path.
No second ending.
Just betrayal.
"…What a joke."
I sat quietly in my wheelchair, staring at the screen.
The room around me was silent except for the faint mechanical hum of the equipment nearby.
My legs lay motionless beneath the blanket covering them.
They had been like that for most of my life.
The only world where I could move freely had been the one inside that screen.
Fighting monsters.
Saving kingdoms.
Running across fields that I would never see in real life.
And now even that story had ended.
I let out a quiet breath.
"People say ignorance is bliss."
My eyes drifted toward the dark window beside my bed.
"If that's true…"
A faint, bitter smile formed on my face.
"…maybe blind people are the happiest people in th
e world."
The monitor slowly faded to black.
For the first time in years, I didn't feel like starting the game again.
The room fell completely silent.
And eventually…
The world did too.