After leaving Dawn's camp, he found dusk already waiting outside.

How long had it been since he'd looked up at the Sky like this, at ease? The afterglow spread through the rolling sea of clouds, where pale gold and red blended into one brilliant mass.

Even when he left Dawn in the past, his mind had always been tangled in complicated training plans and strategies for assaulting the Demon King Citadel. He never had the spare thought to notice the scenery around him. Only now, as he slowed down little by little, did he realize how much he had missed.

His gaze crossed the horizon. Behind that intricate curtain of sunset light, were those people's hopeful eyes still hidden there?

Those who had died before him had gone to their deaths with open hearts, staking all their hope on him.

What a sly bunch.

Li Wei really wanted to drag them back out and curse them out. Beating them up would've been fine too.

He suddenly pressed a hand to his chest again.

That green, lazy boy who had first transmigrated into this crappy other world had only wanted one simple thing: to go home. Somewhere along the way, that wish had twisted beyond recognition.

It felt like it had happened long before he killed his first crowned Demon Lord. Long before the starting point of his road. From the moment those sacrifices began, Li Wei had already been molded into the shape of this world.

This era had placed too much on him.

All that growth. All the grace he had received. All the feelings gathered around him.

Those hopes projected onto him. That protection everyone expected from him...

They had always weighed on him so heavily that he could barely breathe.

Somehow, slaying the Demon Lord had become the destiny of his entire life.

He had taken the guiding light from his teacher's hand, and with it, the mission he was meant to bear.

Everything for humanity's future.

But still...

He really had reached his limit, hadn't he?

By his own strength alone, he had reversed the decline of the entire human world against the Demon Lord.

He had led humanity to kill the Demon Lord of Annihilation and destroy one of the seven Demon King Citadels.

Humanity now had resources, enough courage, and enough strength to launch a full counteroffensive against the remaining Demon King Citadels.

Everything looked like it was on the rise. At this point, it really did seem like it didn't matter whether he was there or not.

It was like a game of LoL. You'd carried forever, crushed your lane, secured all four drakes, Baron, and Elder too. The gold was basically even now. If your team took it from here, they shouldn't be able to lose, right?

No way the guy I stomped could still stomp my teammates, right?

Besides, he'd lost his panel and his power. He couldn't stay on the front line against the Demon Lord anyway.

Without noticing, the road he had to walk had already reached its end.

Li Wei lazily turned these thoughts over in his head.

Taking advantage of this rare stretch of free time, he wandered aimlessly down streets he had never walked before. He watched the scenery for a long while. Only when night was about to fall did he return to his little home and close the door behind him.

He'd thought he might finally get a good night's sleep for once.

Yet before the door could fully shut, a hand jammed into the gap and forcefully shoved it back open.

"You sure made me wait."

Outside the reopened door stood a tall figure clad in black armor.

Under the already dim night, the man's pitch-black armor seemed to swallow every trace of light.

Li Wei looked at the man outside. His gaze swept over the heavy armor, and he already had a guess about where this guy came from.

A member of the Iron Guard Legion under the Chosen Hero known as Dragonbane.

The Chosen Hero bearing the title Dragonbane had completely surpassed Vivian. He was a Sequence existence at the eighth rank, while she was only sixth.

Li Wei only paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not buying anything. You can stop pitching."

The man outside, who had been sneering, nearly lost control of his expression.

"You think I look like a salesman?"

he snarled.

"If you're standing at someone's door this late and not selling something, then what, you're here to pick a fight?" Li Wei asked curiously. "Besides, hasn't your Iron Guard been selling victory bonds lately?"

The man paused, then said coldly, "That's business for the underlings."

"Though I may be unworthy, I am still the vice commander of the Third Garrison Legion of the Iron Guard."

His tone was flippant and arrogant, his posture openly lofty.

Li Wei nodded in agreement. "You are pretty unworthy. At your age, I'd already killed more than one Demon Lord army commander."

Veins bulged on the man's forehead. He showed a twisted sort of smile.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Then that's really impressive. So tell me, what kind of state is our former strongest Chosen Hero in these days?"

"Could it be that a few years ago you were the strongest, but now you're trash without even a panel? And Dawn kicked you out too?"

Li Wei paused, then suddenly stared at the man in thought.

His departure from Dawn had only just happened.

The man didn't care about being examined. He kept sneering.

"Come to think of it, that title of strongest of yours is pretty debatable too, isn't it?"

"What first kill do you even have?"

He grinned with undisguised malice.

"The head of the Demon Lord of Annihilation was cut down by our Iron Guard leader together with several other Sequence Heroes. Even if we're talking about the title of strongest, it'd have to be chosen from among them."

"Talking to me like this... have you already prepared yourself for a failed sales pitch?" Li Wei asked, still unaffected by the mockery.

"I told you I'm not here to sell anything!!"

The man finally snapped. With a cold snort, he spoke in a commanding tone.

"Lord Dragonbane's assault on a Demon King Citadel has stalled. He needs your divine armament, Divine Retribution of Usurped Sin."

At that, Li Wei's gaze shifted slightly. His voice stayed calm.

"Anything I could offer others, I already gave away long ago. As for Divine Retribution of Usurped Sin, it was shattered to pieces in my final battle."

"That's only your side of the story," the man said coldly.

"You say you gave everything away, but not long ago, didn't you hand the divine sword Veiled Moon to Vivian and make her who she is now?"

"Our Lord Dragonbane has far greater potential than that young lady. If he defeats Immovable, he wouldn't mind adding your name to the merit record."

Li Wei's expression turned serious in a way it rarely did. He looked at the man and suddenly asked, "Did Dragonbane send you? Why didn't he come see me himself?"

"Heh."

The man's eyes flickered. "Lord Dragonbane commands affairs from afar. How could he have that kind of spare time?"

"If he doesn't have time, then there's nothing more to say. You can tell him this for me. Even if Divine Retribution of Usurped Sin still existed, I wouldn't give it to him. Even if he really used it to break through the officers' defenses, what then? Rush straight to the Demon Lord and die?"

"How Lord Dragonbane deals with the Demon Lord is not something a commoner like you needs to worry about." The man's tone turned colder. "Maybe I was too polite earlier. You seem to have misunderstood something."

"I'm not here to discuss this. I'm here to inform you. After giving up Dawn's contract and losing Dawn's protection... you're nothing but a stray dog now."

By this point, the chill and madness in his voice were no longer hidden.

Clearly, he had set his sights on Li Wei long ago. Earlier today, or perhaps even earlier than that. He had simply been waiting for his chance.

Then, all at once, a huge surge of magic power erupted from his body.

Thud.

A pressure so solid it felt tangible shook the space around them. The air seemed to tremble, displaying the man's strength.

Li Wei's pupils suddenly lost focus a little, as if he could barely withstand the pressure.

"How pitiful. The once strongest..." The man couldn't help mocking him. "Without that pathetic protection, this is all you amount to now."

But after saying that, he saw a strange, complicated look appear on Li Wei's face as he looked at him again.

Only then did the man realize that Li Wei's dazed stare just now had been fixed behind him the whole time.

"Why don't you turn around?" Li Wei said softly.

"Heh. You think I'd fall for a child's tri—"

Before he could finish, a dull pfft rang out.

His body was still standing there.

But the head on his neck had already vanished.

The nameless heavy armor disappeared in an instant.

As the headless corpse blocking the doorway crashed heavily to the ground, the thick shadow covering Li Wei was dragged away with it. It was like a curtain being pulled back on a stage, welcoming the true lead's entrance.

"My, my."

"Picking a fight with even the strongest Chosen Hero, talking all that big game... I thought he'd be impressive. Turns out he couldn't even take a hit."

Along with that childish voice, a blood-red glow slowly spread out.

A silver-haired loli in a crimson dress, barely over four and a half feet tall, descended abruptly like moonlight poured from liquid mercury.

When the girl reached the doorway, every trace of blood left from the nameless armored man was swallowed by the shadow at her feet. In the end, even the corpse sank into it and vanished completely, leaving not a single trace behind.

Li Wei silently looked at the silver-haired loli standing in the doorway, hazy like the glow of a blood moon.

The Queen of Origin Blood, Tsukika.

She was known as the weakest among the Seven Crowns, yet also the most troublesome one of all: the Undying Demon Lord.

"We finally meet again."

"My strongest~ Chosen Hero♥~"

The silver-haired loli lifted the hem of her blood-red dress, stepped one white-stockinged foot back and crossed it behind the other, then gave a slight curtsy.

That hazy crimson glow silently closed the door.

Like a Domain, it spread through the entire room.