"Am I really going to die this time...?"
I muttered as I realized I was lying on the ground in the demon king chamber; a holy sword stabbed straight through my stomach.
Blood poured out of me like water from a broken jar, forming a dark, warm pool beneath me. But I couldn't even feel it anymore.
The pain had been unbearable, but now, it was just cold. My body was shutting down after losing too much blood.
I looked down, barely able to move.
Both of my legs were crushed. My right arm was gone. No wonder I couldn't feel anything.
As I tried to keep my eyes open, I saw someone standing in front of me.
The one who stabbed me.
He was a handsome man, loved by his party, praised by the goddess, and admired by the kingdom.
He looked at me with a grin.
His face… his voice… I could never forget them.
Behind him stood four beautiful women, his party members.
And just like him, I would never forget their faces or their voices.
"I can't believe you sided with a demon, Alex!"
The man who spoke, Isaac Fulco.
He looked at me like I was a traitor after he stabbed me in surprise, even though both of my legs were already crushed.
"Please, ladies, don't come any closer. This traitor might still try something. I'll make sure to finish him off."
Isaac continued, turning his head toward his party members, who looked like they were about to approach, to see me in my final moments.
I couldn't even speak, my mouth muscles were long gone. All I could do was lie there, broken and silent.
Then, suddenly, a voice I haven't heard in two years shouted out in anger.
"Alex! Why would you betray us?! And me !!"
That voice, it was Alice. My childhood friend, the girl I had grown up with.
"Thanks to Isaac, I finally learned the truth about you!"
She continued, her voice filled with rage.
My eyes were heavy, barely able to stay open. But in that moment, I saw Isaac step forward.
He gripped the hilt of his holy sword and slowly pulled it out from my stomach… only to stab it again, this time into my chest.
The blade pushed in, inch by inch, piercing toward my heart.
And just before everything went black, I saw Isaac's face one last time.
He was smiling at me.
That same smile he wore two years ago,
when he and the others walked away and left me behind… to face the Demon King alone.
I wasn't the Hero. I wasn't chosen by the goddess.
However, I was strong, strong enough to fight beside Isaac the chosen hero. Strong enough to protect everyone and the world.
Still… rumors spread.
They said I was tainted by demon power. That I couldn't be trusted.
Until our battle with the Demon King… I was the one who managed to wound the demon king. I damaged him badly, more than any of them could, even Issac the chosen hero.
But just before I could finish him off, Isaac and the girls turned on me.
They fired a powerful magic at my back and left me there to die.
But I didn't die and when I regained my consciousness, the Demon King had already healed while his subordinates arrived and stood around me, watching me like an abandon animal.
I couldn't move. My body was broken. I had no strength left to fight back.
That was when they took me as their prisoner.
For half a year, I was tortured day after day. Treated like nothing more than a toy for their amusement.
They tried to shatter my spirit. To break my will.
To make me one of them.
All because of my power.
Eventually, I agreed.
I pretended to serve them.
I climbed the ranks, slowly, carefully, until I became one of the top commanders in the Demon King's army.
But no matter how far I rose, I was never accepted.
I was human. That was all they needed to hate me.
They set traps, whispered lies, and accused me of being a traitor.
And the Demon King believed them.
He summoned me in a rage. I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen.
So, we fought.
It was a brutal, bloody battle. In the end… I killed him.
But it cost me everything.
Both of my legs were crushed. My right arm was gone. I couldn't move, couldn't heal.
And then, Isaac and his party arrived.
Before I could even speak… he drove his holy sword into my chest.
Now, everything was dark.
After Isaac stabbed my stomach and now my heart, I thought that was the end.
But then… I heard a voice.
Cold. Echoing. Crawling through my mind.
"Revenge."
"Revenge."
"Revenge…"
It wouldn't stop.
The word kept ringing in my head, over and over.
I was already dead.
And yet… I could still hear it.
Then, I opened my eyes.
Somehow, I was lying in a wide farm field, the golden wheat swaying gently in the wind. It looked… familiar. Too familiar.
Slowly, I raised my hand and touched my face. It was warm. My chest rose and fell, I could feel my heartbeat.
I looked around in disbelief.
The view… the wheat fields… the buildings in the distance…
This was my hometown, Endora the village where I was raised..
"What… is going on?"
I muttered softly. My voice sounded clear calm. Not like someone who had just died.
I pushed myself up to my feet, still shaken, and looked down at my body.
I was stronger. Leaner. Healthier than I remembered.
And younger.
Judging by how I looked, and how I felt, I had gone back in time.
Ten years before everything.
I was fifteen again, right before the class bestow crememony.
"Did I really… go back in time?"
I asked myself as I slowly started walking back home, to the church.
As I neared the familiar path, I spotted a figure in the distance, someone I knew all too well.
She had long brown hair and a cute, innocent face. Her body was still slender, not yet developed into the full curves she'd have in a couple more years. But even now, there was a gentle charm in the way she moved, captivating in its own quiet way.
That was the person that I grew up with.
The one who used me, manipulated me, and eventually betrayed me.
None other than, Alice my childhood friend.
I couldn't help but grin.
I remembered everything that she had done to me.
"Ah! Alex, there you are! I've been looking for you!"
She waved at me with that same cheerful smile.
But this time, I wasn't the same Alex she once knew.