"When I hear the word Imperion, at least before today, the word hero is what came to mind!"
Hearing this, even though his body had long since lost strength, Imperion couldn’t help but quiver as his lips unknowingly curved upwards.
"Hahaha! Exactly, hero!"
"And yet! When I try to act as a hero! Why did you all stop me!"
Clenching his fists, Imperion’s facial expression twisted into an emotion that was hard to discern.
Was it anger? Was it sadness? Even Arthur felt he saw a hint of fear in Imperion’s eyes as he spoke.
An emotion he had never seen before in him.
It’s just that before he could understand what was going on, what could make a man such as him afraid,
Imperion’s words continued.
"Arthur, when the mother or child peacefully comes out at night with a smile on their face without fear! That is hope! That is me!!"
"I am the reason that villains fear committing a crime once I set foot in a country."
"I am the reason that the world has not long since been destroyed by war."
"I am the Sword of Damocles that hangs over the world, ensuring that everyone is safe!"
"And if you all realised this, when I do something! Then you wouldn’t stop me and just trust me!"
As he yelled, even though he was practically half dead, the surrounding environment began to tremble under his pressure.
The walls and floor cracked, and the wind howled.
"What!? How does he still have so much power?"
Feeling what was happening, Arthur’s eyes widened in surprise.
Should he say, as expected of the world’s strongest hero?
However, even Arthur still couldn’t understand him.
"Imperion, are you hearing yourself!"
"How would you expect everyone to obey you just because you saved them?"
"Imperion! You aren’t God-!"
"No! You are wrong! I am God!" Interrupting his words, Imperion continued.
"Ever since I was young, I realised that when times really became tough, there was no god in the sky to pray to."
"No angel to answer your prayers!"
"Because of that, from the moment I awakened, the first thing I did was become that god in the sky that people pray to."
"Arthur, you might not realise it! But not only humanity! But all of you need me to save you."
"You need me! You really do!"
Saying this, he seemed to have lost his last touch of energy as his voice slowly began to lower.
"However, it’s too late now, thanks to both of us dying here; there is truly no hope for humanity."
Saying this, with his eyes open and a slight smile on his face, he soon died due to his heavy wounds.
And Arthur, not long after, joined him in death, all the while wondering what made Imperion so crazy and what he was scared of.
And as for the public, with the deaths of two of the world’s strongest and a majority of villains and heroes, they began to get ready as the whole world was about to experience a major upheaval.
...
"Is that it?"
"The only reason I started reading the stupid book is because of Imperion, and now you tell me both he and Lilith died?!"
"What the hell is wrong with you, Author!"
Cursing under his breath, in a small, dark apartment, a dying young man later struggled to breathe as he read the final lines of his favourite book.
The world’s greatest hero is actually a villain!
Glancing at the title again, although somewhat generic, he had unknowingly found himself lost in that very generic world.
With all kinds of heroes, villains, superpowers, and politics, every Chapter always kept him on the edge of his seat as he watched the world unfold.
For him, who had been diagnosed with a deadly disease long ago, only by enthralling himself in this world could he escape the pain that is life.
"Imperion! How could you lose? Even if you weren’t the main character, you were my main character!"
"Unlike all those other heroes who were based on childish ideals. Or pretended to be good just for the fame."
"Only you saw the world for what it was! And yet that damn protagonist, Justice, killed both you and himself!"
The more he thought of it, the angrier Ethan became. As someone who also bore the same name as Imperion, he felt like he understood him.
He himself was a victim of the greed and avarice innate in humanity; it was his years of being exploited in the workforce in toxic environments that led him to his current state.
Humanity on its own is hopeless; only someone like Imperion leading them can humanity have hope.
Thinking of this, Ethan slowly stood up from his bed, and he walked towards a nearby mirror.
Currently, all his hair had fallen off, his eyes sunken due to lack of sleep.
His muscles shrivelled, and his lips were pale from a lack of blood.
Even his once-white eyes had turned yellow, as his jaundice had become worse.
It looked like he could die at any moment.
"Fuck my life!"
"If I had one chance! If I could be like Imperion!"
"Not only would I not lose! But I alone will bullshit a better world, a world where everyone can smile, a world where cases like mine never happen."
"I don’t care if other heroes, whether the government or even God, stand in my way."
"No one has stood in the sky since the beginning, not Imperion, nor the government, no one!"
"However! When I truly ascend! I will truly be the only man in the sky!"
Vowing to himself, Ethan slowly turned to look at his phone.
"9:00 pm, it seems it’s time for my medic-!"
Just before he could finish his words, his heart suddenly contracted, as a sharp pain spread across his body.
"Arghh!"
"Is this the end?"
In an instant, his vision began to blur; it seemed, despite the drugs, his body had come to a limit.
"If there is another life! I wish to be someone as powerful as Imperion!"