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"No! No! This can't be! You can't die!"
"Impossible! How can this be!? This is a dream, right? Tell it is! No! I don't believe it!"
"God! God! Our God is dead!"
"It's over! It's all over for us!"
Mournful wails and unwilling roars resounded on the demon's side. Their world started falling apart upon witnessing the death of their god at the hands of the enemy leader.
The battle was incredibly one-sided. From start to finish, the Demon God never had any advantages. The human leader was just too obscenely strong. He wields power that directly opposed their very existence. It was unfair, disgusting, and vile. Yet no matter how unwilling they were, they had to face the truth.
They lost this war. It's all over for them. Today marks the extinction of their kind, and nothing will change that.
On the other hand, humans were celebrating.
So were hyped. So clenched their fists and roared in relief and refreshnt. Others cried due to their overwhelming emotions, and only a few managed to get themselves under control.
They won. They really won. The Sun Sage pulled through. He killed the Demon God and brought them true freedom from the demons that opressed them for hundreds of years.
This ti, there's no next ti. This isn't a temporary peace or false freedom. This one's real. After they killed all the remaining demons here, which they'd certainly do soon, Pri Earth and humans will no longer have to live in fear and pressure.
Cedric did sothing that their ancestors have been dreaming about since the dawn of the invasion. And he surely did a much better job than they could ever possibly hope.
Because, you see, Cedric could've easily waged this war alone. And he could've won all by himself. After all, he's way too strong, especially after his ti in the Tower of Prodigies. He could've been the real hero of humanity; he could've had people singing praises about him for thousands of years to co; he could've even been the new god of humanity.
But instead of showing off his might and waging a war all by himself, he chose to include others in the battle. He knew that this isn't a battle he alone must fight. Sure, he could've done so, but this is everybody's fight.
He wasn't the only one affected by the invasion of demons. He wasn't the only one who lost his loved ones due to their oppression. He isn't the only one who suffered imnsely because of their existence.
This isn't a personal vendetta. This was a fight, a war that all humans should be involved in.
So instead of ending it all by himself, he bid his ti. He supplied knowledge, ideas, resources, and chances for others to prosper as well. He gave them the ans to stand up for themselves, made them realize that there was hope, and taught them how to fight.
He changed the status quo. He brought them results and continued providing ans for their independence.
This allowed them to progress at an imnse pace, eventually catching up with their enemies. Cedric himself stayed on the sidelines and watched how others contributed to this war. He only fought the leader of their enemies and didn't interfere with the developnt of his people, forcing them to think to themselves and be truly independent.
All of this was to build the foundations for humanity's stellar future. Because their road certainly doesn't end here.
And as Cedric withdrew from the battlefield and returned their surroundings to their previous form, Everybody found themselves returning to reality as well.
"BROTHERS! THE DEMON GOD IS DEAD! KILLED BY OUR SUN SAGE! TRUE FREEDOM IS RIGHT AT OUR FINGERTIPS! CO! LET'S WELCO IT WITH OPEN ARMS AND A WIDE SMILE ON OUR FACES!
KILL THE REMAINING DEMONS!!"
"KILL!!!!"
Their resolve shook the entire solar system. All the remaining demons were horrified and did their best to flee. Most of them didn't even dare to think about revenge; they knew that they're too weak for that, and humanity's montum was at an all-ti high.
But fleeing was just a fancy dream for them—a luxury they can't afford anymore. Their fleet is gone. Pri Earth isn't a place they could go to anymore. All that's left of them was the vast expanse of the cosmos, but treading it blind was certain death as well, especially since most of them can't survive the vacuum of space without a special suit or a ship to ferry them.
The most important part, though, is that humans won't let them leave. Sobody already knew precisely how many of them were left and had spread this information to everybody. They will count their kills from now on to make sure they won't miss even a single one.
So, the extinction of the Demon Race and the Space Pirates that have oppressed humans for hundreds of years was finally concluding, and everybody who participated in this war was very eager to see this ending.
anwhile, Cedric wore a calm expression as he sensed what's happening around him.
He already returned to Pri Earth and landed precisely at the sa exact spot where his legend started.
The risk managent centers were a thing of the past now. All of them have been repurposed into sothing else. All of the staff were sent sowhere else, and all of its prisoners were rehabilitated in more ways than one.
There had been many branches of the RMC, but the one at the Black Thread City remained empty. Cedric bought it and the surrounding land. He never stepped foot in it since he bought it, but now he did.
Everything was covered in dust but still looked the sa as it did back then. Even the room he had looked the sa exact way as he left it many years ago.
Cedric's eyes glazed for a mont. His mories began replaying themselves in his mind. He recalled Harold, his best mate in this prison, who turned out to be a traitor. He rembered Old Bull, the sa guy who helped him be the person he is now. He rembered his fellow inmates who have turned crazy; most of them have returned to civilization now and changed greatly after rehab.
He rembered his struggles, his hard work, and all the blood, sweat, and tears he shed in this place just to carve out a small piece of space for himself in this cruel world. He rembered dying in more ways than one to achieve what others could do naturally.
But his important mory here was him inheriting the eyes of the godking because that was when life turned around.
Thinking about that mont, he couldn't help but caress his eyes.
All of this—his successful turnover, his rehabilitation, his rise to fa and strength, all the way to him making huge changes to the world—all of it began the mont he inherited these eyes.
'I've worked hard.'
'This...this should be enough to prove that I'm worthy of these eyes, right? '
'I was lucky, sure. But I've worked hard to prove that I deserve this too.'
He already knew the answer to this. He already t the residual will of the gods before. That person assured him that he is indeed worthy and that, if anything, he was glad that it was Cedric who inherited his remains.
But Cedric still carried traces of doubt even then. He just couldn't rest easy until he actually proved sothing that makes him worthy of inheriting these eyes.
That changes now, though.
All of his self-doubt and uncertainty dissipated as he stood here. He did achieve sothing great. He worked hard for it. He proved sothing. And he is worthy of this lucky chance.
From now on, he will no longer doubt that.
As he blinks. He felt and saw sothing. He saw shadows of familiar faces surrounding him. It's his family.
They were standing next to him. His father was patting his back, his mother was ruffling his hair, and his siblings were hugging his thighs. All of them were smiling at him, seemingly comforting him and praising him for a job well done.
Cedric felt the corners of his eyes sting. He didn't want to blink because he knew that once he did, all of this would end. Lord knows how he missed them dearly, but he had to accept that he'd no longer see them again.
Even if it were possible to revive them, he wouldn't. He would rather have them enter the cycle of reincarnation instead of being selfish. His family ended rather prematurely, but all of his fond mories of them will stay forever and ever with him.
And that's enough for Cedric.
"Thank you."
Cedric took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As expected, the mont he did so, the ghosts disappeared. It didn't make him sad anymore, just lancholy.
A slight smile appeared on his face. Then, for the first ti in a long while, Cedric lied down on the sa rotten and dusty bed of his old room in this old prison.
He closed his eyes and slept peacefully.
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