Chapter 1: Subjugating the Demon King
About 100 years ago, the demon race appeared on this continent of Fortuna.
Commanding the hordes of monsters was the Demon King Meizars, who possessed seven heads and seven tails.
Demon King Meizars employed seven great armies, destroying the nations of humankind one after another.
To oppose him, 108 Lesser Heroes were chosen from all the countries.
With the resolve to die, they set out for the Demon King’s Castle.
Their journey was so arduous that by the time they reached the castle, their numbers had been reduced to less than half.
But the heroes wrung out every last drop of their courage and wisdom, and at last, they reached the Demon King’s Castle.
There to meet them was a countless swarm of monsters.
The Demon King had anticipated humanity’s resistance and had left powerful monsters behind in his stronghold.
With every step they took through the Demon King’s Castle, the heroes’ numbers dwindled.
When they finally reached the Demon King’s throne room, only seven remained.
They would later come to be known as the “Seven Heroes,” but among them, Renas von Lichtat was in a class all his own.
—Which is me, by the way.
I, Renas von Lichtat, am the second son of a poor noble family, and I served as the leader of the Seven Heroes.
I was the one who managed to lead those heroes, every one of whom was eccentric in more ways than one.
Sometimes I encouraged them, sometimes I spurred them on, and side-by-side, we cut down the monsters, survived the grueling journey, and fought continuously on the front lines.
The other Seven Heroes would later recall that without me, they would never have reached the Demon King’s throne room, nor would they have survived.
—And that defeating the Demon King would have been impossible, too.
Fighting with the fury of a lion from a mythological scroll, I succeeded in plunging my sword into Demon King Meizars’s heart.
Meizars, who had taken the form of a giant dragon, revealed a hidden eighth tail at the moment of his death and unleashed one final strike.
Having focused every fiber of my being on killing Meizars, I was unable to avoid that blow.
“—Well done, Hero Renas. To think one who could kill me would ever appear. However, I, the Demon King Meizars, will not die alone. I will take you with me.”
With his heart pierced, Demon King Meizars spoke those last words and breathed his last.
Looking at Meizars’s tail, I saw a poison-like substance seeping out.
I remembered the existence of the world’s most powerful poison, known as the Demon King’s Cursed Venom.
Their joy at defeating the Demon King was short-lived. Recalling the impending death of the leader who had guided them, the heroes rushed over to me in a panic.
“Renas!”
The female warrior took me in her arms and shook me, asking if I was alright, but I calmly shot back.
“Are you trying to kill me, muscle-brain? The poison will spread…”
“Hah, right.”
The fact that she just dropped me on the ground was proof that her brain was made of muscle, but she didn’t mean any harm, so I couldn’t bring myself to be angry.
I looked calmly at the Priest.
“Think you can detoxify it?”
The Priest calmly looked at the wound, made a grim face, and shook his head.
It seemed even a master of healing magic was helpless.
The Demon King’s Cursed Venom was just that powerful.
“Well, can’t be helped. I guess this is fate.”
As I muttered this as if it were someone else’s problem, the elf girl, a spirit user, hugged me with tears in her eyes.
“…Please. Don’t die.”
When a beautiful princess like her tells you not to die, you have no choice but to obey.
I tried to find some way to live, turning to the Sage, who was known as the wisest among us.
“Old Man Sage, can anything be done?”
“Nothing at all.”
The Sage answered instantly, but then continued.
“Curing the Demon King’s Cursed Venom is impossible. You will simply rot away while writhing in agony.”
“What a rosy future.”
“However, even if we can’t cure it now, we don’t know what will be possible in 100 years.”
“Meaning?”
“I will begin researching a cure for the Demon King’s Cursed Venom, starting now.”
“So I just have to wait for 100 years, writhing in agony?”
“There’s no need for that. I’m going to freeze you in ice right now.”
“I see, cryopreservation.”
I understood, but being told I was about to be frozen in ice wasn’t exactly thrilling.
It seemed my companions felt the same way.
The female warrior protested.
“So you’re saying the next time we see Renas will be in 100 years!?”
“That is correct.”
“I don’t want that! We fought through this long, hard journey together with Renas!”
“That’s right. We shared the hardship of defeating the Demon King with Renas. We want to share in the glory that comes after, too.”
The Thief of the Seven Heroes argued as well, but it was an emotional plea.
If the debate dragged on here, my body would rot away and I would die.
—In fact, the signs were already there.
My lungs felt like they were being crushed, and my vision was distorting.
The one who understood my condition better than anyone was Fina, the elven spirit user. She cut off our companions’ words, squeezed my hand, and pleaded with the Sage.
“Sage Murdock, please. Please, I beg you, save the life of my beloved Renas.”
A single tear traced a path down Fina’s cheek.
She was my lover, and like a wife to me. Since she had made the decision, the other Seven Heroes had no reason to object.
The female warrior blew her nose with a loud “SNIFF,” and said,
“This isn’t goodbye, you hear? In 100 years, my descendant will meet you, Renas. If she’s a beauty like me, you can make her your mistress for all I care.”
The middle-aged Priest said,
“Renas von Lichtat, leader of the Seven Heroes, your great deeds shall be told in our temple for all eternity.”
The cynical Thief remarked,
“The journey with you was fun. See ya later.”
The other members of the Seven Heroes each offered their own words before turning their gazes to Sage Murdock.
As all eyes fell on him, he gave a firm nod and began to chant a spell.
A forbidden spell known as “Thousand-Year Extreme Ice.”
As he chanted, the surrounding temperature gradually grew colder.
Soon, frost began to form on my body as it was subjected to the extreme cold.
Ice clung to me, accumulating layer by layer.
My consciousness began to fade along with it, but before it did, I looked at the seven companions I had fought alongside.
Each had a distinctive face, and they were a memorable bunch.
There were times they were hateful and times they pissed me off, but now, those were all fond memories.
I knew I would likely never see most of them again, but I prayed to the gods.
For their health and happiness—
For their glory and prosperity—
As I closed my eyes with that prayer, the last thing my vision captured was, of course, my beloved Fina.
She was an elf, a member of a long-lived race.
I was certain that I could meet her again in 100 years, but the thought of not seeing her for so long was still painful. No, for me, who would be frozen, it would be but an instant, but she would have to wait for 100 long years.
She would be lonely and heartbroken. To be honest, I felt terrible for making the person I loved feel that way, which is precisely why I chose these final words.
“Whether it’s 100 years from now, or 1000 years from now, I’ll keep loving you forever.”
Hearing those words, Fina’s face lit up with a smile like a blooming flower.
“I will wait for you, for 1000 years or even 10,000 years,” she said.
In that instant, my memory ceased. It seemed my brain had been perfectly frozen.
