I finished my speech and turned around.

My companions were wearing rather complicated expressions.

Neril, who had withdrawn her magic and was catching her breath, spoke.

“Phew. I didn’t think you would actually confess you were an fake hero.”

“You all told me to do whatever I wanted.”

“I’m not criticizing. I actually think it suits you.”

She smiled faintly.

“It’s just a strange feeling. We worked so desperately to hide the fact that ‘You were a fake hero,’ and you just announced it yourself to the entire continent.”

“Well. If this succeeds, we won’t have to keep hiding it anymore.”

“Mide.”

“I will go around proudly declaring I’m a fake hero. Maybe I will shout it every time I enter a territory, ‘The fake hero Mide has arrived!’”

Everyone burst into laughter.

The most cheerful was Serein, who wiped away tears as she said,

“I do feel relieved. You don’t know how hard it was for me, since I have never been good at hiding what I really feel.”

Offense cut in.

“Oh-ho. So that’s how it was. First I’m hearing of it.”

“Hmph. If you have got something to say, just say it.”

“I just did. That this is the first I have heard of it.”

“……”

“Well, I agree about feeling relieved. Same here. It’s a strange sensation.”

Adwin picked up the words.

“Even the phrase ‘fake hero’ is a bit misleading. Like you said, if a hero is someone chosen by humanity, then you’re the real hero.”

“Right. By that standard, Kaeld is the fake.”

“Anyway, my heart feels a lot lighter. Whether this works or not, I don’t think I will regret it.”

At that moment…

Lisel, who had been smiling contentedly, suddenly widened her eyes.

She stared somewhere with her mouth agape.

“Uh…”

“What is it?”

“L-look over there!”

She pointed at the sky.

All of us lifted our heads at once.

Ah.

Aaaah!

Trail spoke in a voice thick with emotion.

[It’s a blue sky.]

That’s right.

The storm clouds had vanished without a trace.

The downpour hammering against the barrier spell had disappeared as if it had never been.

All that remained was a clear sky.

The warm sunlight we had missed so dearly.

“Hhk.”

Someone let out a sob.

“You’re crying? Lisel?”

“Serein, you’re crying too.”

“No I’m not. It’s just that water is coming out of my eyes.”

“Sniff… Father, Ophelia, Agril. We did it.”

“Adwin. Don’t blow your nose on my clothes.”

“Snff! Okay, I won’t.”

“You just did.”

Shff.

Beside me, Neril stood shoulder to shoulder.

Her face was already covered with tears.

Back before my regression, when I first met her, I could never have imagined such an expression.

The Witch of Carnage could never have worn it.

“Mide.”

But it suited the Saint of Compulsion perfectly.

“Your face is a mess.”

“Like you’re any better.”

“Ugh, really. I can’t believe myself, crying like this at my age.”

“What’s wrong with mentioning age first? Come here.”

I pulled Neril into my arms.

I felt her tears soaking my clothes.

Even as she kept crying, she mumbled in a muffled voice,

“Fame. What’s your fame like now?”

Click.

Before I could even ask, Trail brought up the screen.

[Ahahaha! Uhhhuuhh.]

‘Make up your mind, cry or laugh, not both.’

[I’m not crying! Snrk.]

Peering over Neril’s hair, I checked the display.

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 764,500

Adin Press / Total Fame: 700,100

I had already overtaken him.

And that wasn’t the end.

Just like I had seen back in the Imperium’s chamber, the numbers were changing at a terrifying pace.

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 812,100

Adin Press / Total Fame: 670,200

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 899,800

Adin Press / Total Fame: 610,400

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 954,500

Adin Press / Total Fame: 540,400

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 1,000,200

Adin Press / Total Fame: 480,500

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 1,190,800

Adin Press / Total Fame: 410,500

And at last…

Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 1,220,900

Adin Press / Total Fame: 390,500

Right before this whole incident, my fame had been in the 400,000 range.

Adin’s had been in the low 1,200,000s.

Now the tables were completely turned.

Adin had fallen below my former fame.

I had surpassed Adin’s past fame.

My chest trembled.

Soon the fluctuations stopped.

And a new message appeared.

Ding! You have gained 521,100 Fame Points.

Fame Points needed for next level: 1,220,900/500,000

Your name is echoing across every territory on the continent. (All points collected!)

Neril Slane thinks of you as ‘My Hero.’

Xenia Seide thinks of you as ‘The Hero Who Defeated God.’

Offense Dake thinks of you as ‘The Hero Who Will Be Remembered in Legend.’

Adwin Ayn thinks of you as ‘A Righteous and Warm Hero.’

Lisel Vint thinks of you as ‘The Hero Who Will Save Humanity.’

Serein Magnus thinks of you as ‘The Hero Who Never Falters.’

This was the final settlement for this event.

No longer did the interface bother recording which territory I had passed through.

There was no need.

My fame now resounded across the entire continent.

[At last, you have made it here.]

‘Trail. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you.’

[Don’t say that. Don’t credit me for just the Eye of Omniscience. This was thanks to all of us.]

He was right.

Perhaps sensing my feelings, Neril asked from within my embrace,

“Mide? What’s wrong?”

“I… I have surpassed Adin’s fame.”

“W-what?”

“You all must have gone up a lot too. We will check later.”

But right now, there was something I wanted to do.

I looked at Neril in my arms.

“This was possible because you helped me steel my resolve.”

“No. I just played a part at the start. You are the one who finished it.”

“Without that start, nothing could have happened.”

“Mide.”

“Come to think of it, I have never once said this to you.”

Sfft.

I placed my hand against her cheek.

“I truly love you.”

“…!”

“Don’t ever leave me. Stay with me forever.”

Neril couldn’t even reply, she just nodded frantically.

I pressed my lips to hers.

From behind, the noise of my party members reached me.

“Seriously. Do you really have to do that at such a moving moment?”

“It’s exactly because it’s such a moment that you feel like doing it. You will understand someday, Serein.”

“I would rather keep my mouth shut.”

“Heh. I won’t be fooled anymore. Such an act alone can’t make a baby.”

“Adwin, I think there’s still a lot you don’t know.”

“Agreed. You have grown up halfway.”

Their chatter sounded like a beautiful melody.

Soon, I pulled my lips away.

And I said to Neril, whose face was bright red,

“Once more?”

“S-stop that! Honestly, what are you even doing when everyone is right here?”

I smirked and let her go lightly.

Neril hurriedly pulled away from me and wiped her face in a rush.

I looked up at the sky.

“When we first went to the starting point, I asked Adin something.”

Xenia asked,

“What was it?”

“I asked him, ‘If I surpass even the fame of the Celestial God, what happens to you?’”

“Pfft. Did he answer?”

“No. He just threw a tantrum.”

But now, I think I know the answer.

Serein spoke cynically.

“Well, no wonder he lost his temper. He will stop being a god. And now it has actually happened.”

“Yeah. He must have fallen right off that so called golden throne.”

Everyone’s faces lit up with satisfaction.

Mine was surely the same.

My chest swelled, I couldn’t stay still.

I drew in a deep breath.

Then I raised my fist to the sky and shouted,

“Didn’t I say it before? Once I become a hero, I will erase your name! How does it feel, Adin Press?!”

----------------------------------------

Adin’s golden throne vanished.

He had truly fallen down to the ground.

Thud.

He placed his hand against the earth.

That act alone was a huge shock to Adin.

“Uuugh… uaaagh.”

The divine radiance that had made Adin into a giant began to fade.

He grew smaller and smaller, more pitiful by the second.

In the end, what remained was only an old man.

“Uaaaaaaah!”

Adin clutched at his snow-white hair, tearing at it.

His bloodshot eyes were the very picture of madness.

Foaming at the mouth, he screamed,

“So this is what it has come to! Velosian! Velosian!”

There was a depth of madness in Adin’s cry that could hardly be fathomed.

Kaeld shuddered in horror, taking a step back.

At that moment, Velosian’s voice came.

“…I truly have no excuse.”

“This isn’t something you can brush aside with pathetic words like that!”

“……”

“Do you not know why I betrayed Impelium? I wanted to be the greatest. I wanted to be loved forever by all!”

The most dramatic fulfillment of that wish had been becoming the Celestial God.

Humans fear gods, and they also revere them.

The fear and admiration in people’s eyes had brought Adin joy.

He had been happy like that for so very long.

Until just recently.

“This is all your fault. Your responsibility!”

“……”

“I told you, didn’t I? That the loss of faith itself was an anomaly. But you ignored me and tried some so called psychological warfare using that fool.”

“I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”

“That’s exactly why excuses won’t cut it!”

Drool dribbled from Adin’s mouth, now completely deranged.

He didn’t even think to wipe it, and just kept ranting.

“G-give it back.”

“……”

“Give it back. Make me a god again! It was your failed strategy that reduced me to this, so take responsibility!”

“That’s impossible. Humanity has turned away from the Celestial God.”

Velosian let out a long sigh.

“I wasn’t in any position to act high and mighty with Idria either, it seems.”

“Forget the self-reflection! Just fix this!”

“I already told you, it’s impossible. Your fame now is barely in the high three-hundred thousands.”

With a heavy heart, Velosian went on.

“Meanwhile, Mide has surpassed 1.2 million.”

“Th-that’s…”

“Yes. That was originally your fame. Now Mide is no different from a god.”

“……!”

“Of course, not a Celestial God. That one would never use his fame to force humanity’s love like you did.”

That was the greatest difference between Mide and Adin.

The difference between a “fake god” and a “true hero.”

Adin spoke,

“Isn’t… isn’t there some way?”

“……”

“At this point, why not go seek out Impelium?”

“What are you saying? Impelium is already dead.”

“Even now you spout such nonsense? He lives! Mide must have received his help somehow.”

Velosian frowned deeply, his face clearly displeased.

But Adin didn’t notice.

“Let’s find Impelium. We will apologize to him.”

“……”

“We will apologize… and beg him, with his mysterious power, to put me back on the throne of the Celestial God.”

“Have you truly lost your mind, Adin?”

“Graaah! Don’t call me that name! I am not Adin. I am God. An omnipotent God!”

Velosian decided to withdraw his attention from him.

Leave a madman to rant to himself.

Better to take this moment to gather his own thoughts.

‘This is dangerous.’

Through this incident, Mide had seized over 1.2 million fame.

His party members must have gained a fair amount of fame as well.

Worse still, they had mastered the method of turning fame into power.

‘Adin was right about at least one thing. Mide has received help from Impelium.’

Impelium must still be alive.

But where? How?

No, there was something more important than that.

‘Now, even I can’t possibly defeat Mide as he is. At least not outside the special room.’

What should I do?

How can I overcome this obstacle?

Velosian’s eyes narrowed.

He looked at the madly babbling Adin.

‘Wait a moment…’

This one.

Isn’t he useless now?

TL: Who do you guys think is the main and final antagonist of this story? Idria or Velosian?

Support on Patreon

Rate on NovelUpdates