Prologue. A Star Falls

“Hey, benefactor.”

That night, the stars were unusually bright.

“If the world doesn’t end, what would you do?”

Lirian, lying lazily on the grass, turned her head and asked.

Whenever the wind carried the acrid scent of smoke, small lights flickered at the bottom of the hill—like stars.

But both of them knew the truth: those were bombs buried in the ground, filled with sacred power to keep the monsters at bay.

And they also knew there weren’t many left.

That those bombs were humanity’s final line of defense.

Eight years. Long if you called it long, short if you called it short.

During that time, the world had been utterly ruined by the monsters called “the Abyss.”

So ruined, in fact, that there were no priests left who could purify them.

“Hm?”

“Don’t say pointless things. Just watch the stars. You said you wanted to.”

“Geez, it’s the last night… can’t I at least ask?”

“There’s no such thing as if. That’s just dreamers playing make-believe.”

Either way, by tomorrow, they’d know the outcome.

When Illei answered in his dry voice, Lirian pouted.

“You’re so cold, benefactor!”

For someone carrying the weight of humanity’s final holy war on her shoulders, she was always oddly cheerful.

Her black hair was messy, and her violet eyes staring up at the starry sky were as pure as a child’s.

This woman was the so-called “Sword Demon.”

Though she doesn’t really look the part.

And truthfully, she wasn’t.

Now, people called her an unmatched genius of the sword, humanity’s hero, the one protecting their last defenses.

But once upon a time, she had been mocked as the “simple-minded princess” because of her childlike behavior.

There must have been a reason behind it, but Illei had never heard her story.

Still, she’s gotten better.

When they first met, Lirian had been mute, unable to speak at all.

But after he patiently talked to her and showed her the world, she began to speak again—though her childish personality remained.

He had tried more than once to find the cause, but in a ruined world like this, there was only so much he could do.

“If something like that really happened—”

“If it did?”

“I’d want to sleep from sunrise until sunset.”

“That actually sounds nice.”

Lirian nodded seriously.

Illei Serebia Leonhardt. He had been born into the noblest and most glorious bloodline.

The last surviving royal. Leader of the Dawnstar Order. Supreme Commander of the Allied Army.

For such a man, it was a humble wish—but Lirian didn’t think it small.

“Then can I sleep next to you?”

Illei clicked his tongue inwardly. Anyone else would’ve been scandalized to hear a woman say that so casually.

“Ow!”

“Stop saying weird things. Get up. It’s almost morning.”

He flicked her forehead lightly and stood up.

And then they saw it—darkness rolling in from afar.

The Abyss Dragon.

The being that had come to bring the world’s end.

Rain poured down on them in an instant, drenching their bodies.

And as the last bomb’s light flickered out, the black, overwhelming creature opened its jaws.

The battlefield, once filled with explosions and screams, was now silent except for the sound of rain.

When he lowered his head, the loose eyepatch slipped off and fell into a puddle.

“Why….”

His left eye had already gone blind. It saw nothing.

But through the blurred vision of his right eye, he saw her—drenched in blood.

Illei pulled Lirian’s unmoving body into his arms, desperate.

“Why…! Why did you do it!”

He screamed.

The woman had saved the man, and died.

That was all.

Hey, benefactor… you know, if the world didn’t end, do you want to know what I wanted to do?

Even as she lay cold, rain-soaked, it was as if she were comforting him instead.

I wanted to build the biggest cabin in the world.

In the final moment of her life, she smiled—brighter than the stars in the sky.

And then… I wanted to live there with the people I love.

She spoke her unfulfilled wish, and closed her eyes.

Illei clenched his teeth, spitting blood with grief.

Nothing has ever worked out in my life.

A lost cause. Trash.

Born the son of the Emperor and Empress of the Holy Empire, he should have been the most blessed of men.

But though he was born with immense holy power, he could never control it.

Even so, he had clawed and fought his way through life, only to be met with the world’s collapse—the birth of the Abyss.

And now, you take her too?

She was the reason he hadn’t gone mad.

Her childish innocence had let him forget, even if just for a moment, that they were standing on a battlefield.

She had been the only reason he hadn’t given up.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Something wet ran down his cheeks—whether rain or blood, he didn’t know.

The gods were cruel bastards.

Not that he’d ever believed in them. If gods existed, would the world be like this?

CRASH!

Lightning split the sky. White light erased everything before his eyes.

The Abyss Dragon opened its jaws once again.

Power gathered there, overwhelming, impossible to resist.

Since the day his name was erased from the imperial records, Illei had never once prayed.

Not once.

“…Damn it, God.”

As his vision turned completely white, he held Lirian close.

“If you really exist—”

In that fading light, he looked down at her.

Without realizing it, he smiled faintly and whispered.

“Please, grant this woman’s wish.”

At least… let her be a little happier in her next life.