The rush of information had already passed the limit of what I could understand.
I did not understand anything, and as I sat there on my knees in a daze, Alto noticed me.
“What is it, showing that foolish face? Do you not understand yet? You were tricked by us.”
“Tricked…?”
“Ah, that is right. Did you think it was a glitch that only you were left behind outside the barrier? But too bad, this was an item that would not activate unless there was no user outside the barrier from the beginning—that is the kind of item it was.”
Explained up to that point, my head understood before my heart did.
The transfer crystal had a disadvantage, and Alto knew it from the start.
On top of that, he kept it a secret only from me.
In other words, this betrayal was not something he suddenly thought of on the spot.
It was a planned thing that had been assumed beforehand.
“Since when…?”
“Huh?”
“Since when were you tricking me?”
“You care about that? Alright, it will take a little longer until the transfer, so I will tell you. Well, it would be a lie to say I was not looking forward to this moment, anyway.”
After that prelude, Alto told me.
Words that were completely unexpected to me—and utterly humiliating.
“You wanted to know since when we were tricking you, right? The answer is simple. From the beginning in-other-words, from the time we made monsters attack your village!”
“…………What?”
My brain refused to understand.
It was words that were too hard to believe.
Alto made monsters attack my hometown?
In other words, the ones who killed my precious family and friends were them!
“Why did you do such a thing?!”
Consumed by anger, I strongly accused Alto.
However, Alto did not even show a sign of confusion, and he opened his mouth with a flippant smile.
“Do not be so hasty, I will tell you in order. At that time, we, the Dawn Guardians, were chasing a B-rank monster called the Hungry Drake. It was a troublesome opponent, and because of its trait of gaining more power the hungrier it was, we struggled to defeat it.”
After taking a breath, Alto continued.
“At that time, we found a village. Yes, your village. That was when we had a genius idea. If it gets stronger the hungrier it is, we just needed to fill its stomach first.”
“No way, you used that…”
“That is right. We lured the Hungry Drake to your village and made it fill its stomach by eating the villagers. After that, as you know—after all the villagers except you died, we brilliantly defeated that weakened monster.”
“That’s, ridiculous…”
In other words, I was wrong from the beginning.
Far from resenting the enemies who killed my precious family, I kept mistaking them for benefactors.
Alto and the others knew that and hid it all along.
Not only that, they put me in the party and—
“That’s right! Then why did you invite me to the party?! From Alto’s perspective, a person who might be a witness should have been dealt with on the spot—”
“Ah, that is simple. It was because you had a unique skill.”
“Wh—you mean [Infinite Regeneration]? But if so, I should have explained that it was a useless skill…”
Even if it was a unique skill, there should have been no merit in taking someone with a useless skill as a companion.
Thinking that, I asked the question, but Alto waved his hands left and right.
“Ah, no, no. That is not it. Some noble in this country, for some reason, will buy unique skills at a high price. Good grief, I do not understand what rich people think… but to us, it is definitely a seed for profit. As a condition, it had to be someone whose level exceeded 100, so we raised you from scratch.”
“You never thought of me as a comrade from the beginning…”
“Ha, of course. Right, everyone?”
At Alto’s words, the other three also nodded.
“That’s right. Do you know how troublesome it is to guide someone without talent? There were times I wanted to kill you, slowpoke, more than once or twice.”
“The humiliation of being laughed at by those around you just because there is one incompetent person in the party cannot be expressed in words. Even for a huge amount of money… this past year, I could not stand the embarrassment.”
“You, who smiled innocently without understanding anything, were very miserable.”
Galen, Sierra, Cedric.
The true feelings directed at me by everyone I had thought of as precious comrades until now.
Finally, Alto spoke again.
“Well, since I am cutting you off here, we cannot get the reward anymore, but… I am glad you were useful at the very least in the end, Shin. Thanks to you, my companions’ and my lives are saved.”
—Ah, so that was it.
I was the only one who thought of everyone as comrades from the beginning.
I.
I—
I felt a sensation as if something was welling up from the bottom of my heart.
However, right before I became aware of the true nature of that feeling, it happened.
“Ruaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Wh—!?”
Suddenly, a huge shadow fell as if to cover me up.
The true nature of that shadow was a Necro Demon.
Perhaps its damage had recovered while they were talking, but the Necro Demon had approached behind me before I knew it, and it swung a pitch-black greatsword high up.
“Tch—”
I tried to dodge reflexively, but the result was merciless.
Although I managed to avoid a direct hit, the tip of the greatsword lightly touched my right shoulder—and just with that, my right arm was slashed off like a fragile doll.
“A-Aaaahhhhhh!”
A burning pain attacked from the cut surface.
That pain, which was undoubtedly the highest-class pain I had ever felt since I was born, instantly washed away any room to think from my head.
Withing in pain, I could only roll miserably on the spot.
Seeing me like that, everyone inside the barrier looked at me with contempt.
“To writhe in agony enough to drive you crazy from the pain of just having one arm blown off… How pathetic.”
Warrior Galen, who always talked to me about the importance of mental strength, muttered that.
“That expression of crawling on the ground like a maggot while enduring the pain… It is too ugly. It makes me want to curse the past when we were in the same party, even if only temporarily.”
Saint Sierra, who was confident in her beauty and valued elegance, expressed contempt like that.
“To expose your misery and die without understanding anything… I actually feel sympathy.”
Sage Cedric, who prioritized intellect and pride more than anyone else and kept practicing it, sighed like that.
Receiving their words—at the edge of death, I finally understood.
The name of this emotion welling up endlessly from the depths of my stomach.
“…………I will do it.”
“…Hm? Did you say something?”
This is hatred.
—And murderous intent.
“I will kill you! Absolutely… all of you!!”
The maximum passion I could put out right now.
Alto—no, Alto showed a slightly blank expression after receiving it, and then immediately burst into laughter.
“Ahaha! I wondered what you would say at death’s door, but to think it is a death threat! You are too miserable, Shin. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are going to die right here—”
Thud, thud.
Making a heavy, loud noise, the Necro Demon approached me.
Behind it, the barrier surrounding Alto and the others was growing brighter.
At last, the transfer activated.
“See ya, Shin. Well, do not feel so down. You dying is just bad luck.”
At the same time Alto finally told me that, the barrier shone exceptionally bright.
And when that light faded, Alto and the others were no longer there.
The transfer must have succeeded.
Only I and the extra boss Necro Demon remained.
There was no way a method for me to survive from this situation could exist.
Even so, I continued to burn with hatred until the very end.
“Grruaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
A roar.
And a powerful swing.
Gripping the greatsword with both hands, the Necro Demon swung down its strong arm from back to front.
The greatsword, swung with ridiculous power, advanced while easily crushing the ground, and struck my crawling body with all its might.
“Gahaah!”
Taking the full-strength blow, my body was blown away at the speed and momentum of a cannonball, just a step away from being smashed to pieces.
Not to mention the large hall, it easily flew across the corridor extending in between, flying straight toward the boss room.
In the middle of that, I saw it.
The HP bar that had been slightly remaining finally hit 0 completely.
(Ah… am I going to die here?)
Having repeatedly smashed into the floor of the room and stopped, I continued to think with a hazy head.
HP hits 0, the body reaches its limit—yet even then, only the hatred did not run out.
(I will never, ever accept that.)
At death’s door, I vowed once again.
(Until the time I take revenge on those guys… I will absolutely—!)
However, reality was merciless.
Despite that enthusiasm, I finally lost consciousness.
—At that instant, I felt like I heard a system sound.
Target’s death confirmed.
All conditions have been met.
Unique skill [Infinite Regeneration] is evolving.
Soul regeneration will now take place.
(Soul regeneration…?)
At that time, I had no way of knowing.
The awakening of the useless skill [Infinite Regeneration] that occurred simultaneously with death.
That this event would lead me to become the strongest existence in the world.
—Revenge has not even begun yet.