From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 268. The End of a Tragedy Pt. 4

It was only after some time passed that Lee Jun-Kyeong had come to his senses. By that point, the Demon King had already disappeared.

He had been so flustered because of what the Demon King had said.

‘You’ve arrived, Son of Heimdall and Athena.’

‘Little nephew.’

“I…” Lee Jun-Kyeong muttered blankly. “I’m Hyung’s son?”

That was something that he had never once imagined. To think the Demon King would say that he was Heimdall’s son. It took him quite a while to accept it, and by the time he had, the only person who could explain anything had already disappeared.

“...”

The Demon King had disappeared quite some time ago, saying that he was going to go hunting for the Sponsors.

BANG!

Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly shook himself out of his musing as he saw flames rising from far away and heard the explosions.

“I have to go.”

He had to go to the Demon King. It wasn’t because he had any intention of following his words like a dog. No, he had to take him down.

Furthermore, he had to hear his story.

Bang!

Suddenly, Lee Jun-Kyeong was also bounding through the air.

***

“Heimdall!” Athena called out.

The Hunter’s mana was disappearing at a rapid rate. However, maybe because of his vast reserves of mana, or possibly because of some special reason or another, he seemed to be losing his mana at a slower rate than the others.

“Agh…did I pass out?”

Heimdall came to his senses at the sound of Athena's voice.

“Don’t make that expression. It’s just some mana,” Heimdall said with a faint smile.

Only then did Athena's expression relax a little. Soon, she realized her own situation and shook her head.

“It looks like not everyone has lost their mana yet…” Heimdall said, looking around.

Hunters were falling while the Hunters standing next to them, caring for them, looked even more out of place. Not everyone had lost their mana yet.

"Athena,” Heimdall said while being held in Athena's arms. “I’m sorry, but can I just stay like this for a little while? I can’t move.”

Thud.

Despite his request, Athena abandoned him, dropping him to the ground. As Heimdall fell, he smiled and shifted so that he was sitting down. However, it seemed as though his words weren’t lies, as his entire body was shaking.

“You asked about Jun-Kyeong’s identity.” Heimdall began to speak, his expression blank. “You’re right. Not just anyone can become the Demon King's successor. That person had to be qualified and had to have the power to inherit the Book of the Demon King because not just anyone would be able to handle it and possess the power contained within it.”

As Heimdall spoke, Athena continued to look at him. It seemed as though Zeus hadn’t lost his mana yet.

“However, finding a child who fit that criteria was tricky. Even the Demon King, who wandered through eternity, felt as though there wasn’t a single child who met those conditions.”

“...”

“So, he made one.”

Athena raised her eyes after hearing that.

“He decided to create a child with the most potential.”

“Then, is Lee Jun-Kyeong…is he the Demon King’s child?”

Heimdall shook his head with a bitter smile in response to Athena's question.

"No."

"Then…?”

Thump. Thump.

Athena felt her heart begin to beat violently.

“Even if that child were to be born, if that child didn’t grow properly, then everything would be in vain. Moreover, he needed someone who could properly raise that child.” Heimdall, on the other hand, didn’t answer Athena’s question right away. “Especially after the Paradise of Eden was established in his absence. He needed parents who would protect and nurture the child.”

Heimdall laughed even more bitterly. “He chose me.”

“...”

“I didn’t want to accept it. Moreover, my refusal wasn’t because of my relationship with him or an issue with his cause, morality, or even sacrifice.”

Athena's heart beat even harder.

“It was because I realized that the Demon King has already gone beyond humanity and righteousness. He was no longer the person I used to know.”

"So what…so what…! Speak up, Heimdall!”

“At one point, he told me.”

Anger flashed in Heimdall's eyes, the aura exuding from him too sinister to be thought of as coming from an ordinary human who had lost their mana.

“Before Eden was erected. Before he entered Gehenna…”

“...”

“Before the final fight began!” Heimdall raised his voice, “The Demon King handed me a child in a sack.”

Clench.

Athena clenched her hands.

“He told me that it was Athena’s child.”

“W…what?”

“Moreover, he gave me some of his abilities, too. So that I could raise the child for eons until he succeeded.”

He looked up at the sky.

Drip.

Tears were flowing from his eyes.

“There was a timeline where you and I were together.” He continued to speak slowly, “The world might have been horrid, but you and I were happy. But, in that timeline, we were able to discover it.”

Thud.

Athena fell to the ground.

“That we’ve become unable to have children.”

“S…stop…”

“The Demon King told you what happened to us during that timeline, and there, you made your choice.”

“Stop it!”

“You made a contract so that you could bear our child, and the Demon King would raise that child as his successor.”

“No, that’s not possible!” Athena rushed out and grabbed Heimdall by the collar. "I! I…!”

Her face was covered in tears. “No matter how I was, how I could be, I would never… I would never have subjected my child to this life.”

“I know,” Heimdall said calmly while Athena was shaking him by the collar. “He tricked you. Everything had ended in that timeline, and you would have been able to hold that child in your arms without any worries.”

“But…to think that I would…”

“Didn’t I tell you? He tricked you.” Heimdall laughed, but the sorrow hidden within it was sadder than anything else. “It wasn’t that you had accepted his bargain. The Demon King—he just arbitrarily stole your ovum and created a child through the powers of the source.”

Athena trembled, her hand gripping the collar.

“We were just caught up in something he had no choice over.”

“...”

“I remember every timeline. Because of the powers that the Demon King gave me.” Heimdall pursed his lips. “I remember every single time our child died.”

***

Crack!

The Arm of Surtr grabbed the giant’s heart and pulled it out as the empty cavity left behind began to burn.

The giant struggled in pain, its huge hand trying to crush Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was engulfed in flames.

“If you don’t use the powers of the source, it won’t die.”

A sharp voice rang in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s ear, and it was only then that he came to his senses and dodged. As he looked at the Sponsor’s body, he could see that the burning body was regenerating faster than it could burn. Lee Jun-Kyeong spun, and as he was spinning like a top, he came into contact with the giant.

“...!”

He could see the giant’s shocked pupils.

“Good, good. That’s how you do it.”

The Demon King’s voice could be heard again. As Lee Jun-Kyeong came to his senses, an earthquake happened.

BOOM!

While floating in the air, Lee Jun-Kyeong looked blankly at the fallen giant.

“I…a Sponsor…”

He had taken one down. It wasn’t a dead corpse or one that had been forcibly brought back to life by the powers of the source. He had just taken down a complete Sponsor.

“You did well. Your understanding of the powers of the source is higher than I thought.”

When he heard the voice again, Lee Jun-Kyeong came to his senses once again and looked around his vicinity.

“...”

Three of the giants that were around them had already fallen as the Demon King disappeared once again.

BANG!

Another explosion occurred in the distance as by the time Lee Jun-Kyeong had taken one down, the Demon King had defeated the other giants and moved on. Lee Jun-Kyeong threw himself forward without any further delay. Moving quickly, he quickly approached the Demon King and the giants—no, the Sponsors.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes slowly turned blood red.

‘The Sponsors…’

He hadn’t realized when they were dead—that there was this intense anger hidden inside of him.

“The Sponsors!” However, his anger had awakened just as he had knocked down a Sponsor. “It’s all because of you bastards…!”

Although he had come to Gehenna to defeat the Demon King, the Sponsors were the true cause of this chaos. Saeynkaed had told him. It was all part of a long, long game that the Sponsors had been playing. They were the cause of the eternity of pain that the Demon King had to go through.

“AGH!!!”

Furthermore, these culprits, who had plunged his world into this chaos, were now before his eyes. On top of it all, he had the power to take revenge on them.

“Good! Blow them up even more!” the Demon King said.

“Shut up!” Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted as he transformed his arms into Surtr’s.

“You have realized the true nature of your transformation. The body of a giant is a symbol of power. It is a vessel that can fully accept your terrifying strength.”

The Demon King’s voice buzzed in his ears. However, Lee Jun-Kyeong ignored him and moved on.

Squelch!

Another body split before him.

“It’s still not enough. If you continue as is, you’ll just die. Don’t underestimate your power.”

The giants fell, one by one.

“You are already complete.”

“AGH!!!!!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong began to ignite as his body began to swell. With a colossal body, he ran wild as if he had gone insane.

“Have you ever wondered why you’re Heimdall’s child?” The Demon King’s voice became more and more like a whisper. “It’s because I decided it to be.”

“AGH!!!!!!!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong waved his arms as if he had completely lost his senses. With every swing of his arm, an explosion occurred as if volcanoes were erupting.

BOOM!!!!

Within the chaos, the colossal flame giant began to rampage as if it would destroy everything.

***

“I resisted at first,” Heimdall said. “I tried to run away with the child.”

His voice sounded sad.

“There was a time when I thought I could live in hiding for the rest of my life,” he said, the tears running down his face, never stopping. “However, it was all to no avail.”

He looked directly at Athena.

“No matter what path I chose, you would always be taken over by your Sponsor and come chasing after me and the child.”

Athena covered her mouth.

“Moreover, the Demon King refused to allow the child to grow properly.” Heimdall continued, “When I had tried to run away from the fate that he had set for us, he showed me.”

“...”

“Even if I didn’t fulfill my role, the child would still have to return to the past and perform his assigned role.” Heimdall clenched his fists. “Thus, the unprepared child would always return to the past and soon die.”

“Then, why not…when he returned to the past…why not escape…”

“If we did that, the Demon King would come and tear us apart.”

“...”

“I only realized it after a while,” Heimdall said weakly.

“All I could do was prepare my child properly,” he sobbed, tears flooding from his eyes.

Before she knew it, Athena was also crying as if she couldn’t bear it anymore.

“But this time, it will all end because Jun-Kyeong is already complete.

He felt ashamed. He was ashamed because there was nothing he could do for his child. All he could do was watch the child fulfill his own destiny. There was only one single thing he could be grateful for.

‘At least you and Jun-Kyeong don’t remember any of it.’

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