What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?

"Then let him go first. Because... what's wrong with helping others while doing what you love? A happy adventure, going into dungeons to defeat monsters, finding treasure, and if you can save the world without even realizing it, wouldn't that be great?"

Compared to the serious Azer, Simmel clearly had his own theories.

This conversation was clearly not the first time it had taken place, prompting Aize to simply sigh and give up on saying anything more.

Just as he was about to shut up, he remembered something and subconsciously said, "But, if we could defeat the Demon King faster, we could help more people more quickly, right? And..."

"and?"

"I heard that a terrifying demon race has appeared in the north. It fell from the sky like a meteorite and attacked the rear of the empire. In a series of indiscriminate attacks, it killed many imperial nobles and even razed three cities to the ground, causing at least 100,000 casualties."

Aize's words were very serious, but Ash's expression was somewhat subtle upon hearing them.

Because...this is clearly referring to him.

Even without horns, his appearance from the sky was enough to make people mistake him for a demon. In such a chaotic battlefield, they couldn't see many distinguishing features.

Although he was certain that he had never destroyed the city, the rumors seemed to be exaggerated on purpose, probably to increase the sense of urgency, just as Vlame wanted to trick him into becoming a hero, in order to attract more people to become heroes and go to the front line to fight the Demon King's army.

Regardless, during this casual conversation, he temporarily infiltrated the hero's party as a passerby.

........

......

...

(PS: It's the beginning of the month! Please refresh the list of blades and monthly tickets~~ Last month, I didn't even make it onto the monthly ticket list, let alone the new book list. Please save this book.... Also, a new reward has been added: 100 blades will get you an extra chapter.)

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years From Now On: Chapter Fifty-Six: Paving the Way - Necessary Sacrifices

I joined the hero's party under somewhat strange circumstances, and quite some time has passed in the blink of an eye, but... the good things I imagined didn't happen.

Just as Frillian said, without any encounters with beautiful girls, it was quite boring and leisurely.

Rather than rushing to save the world, it's more like Ash initially guessed that it was basically a sightseeing trip, traveling around and exploring dungeons along the way.

Although it's far from the tense and exciting part of the story, it's not bad either.

However... in reality, the leisurely days did not last long. Ash suddenly thought of something, and one day, he said he had urgent business to attend to, briefly said goodbye to everyone, flew back to the north, and took Linne with him.

He let the child go with him to see it and record it—the fighting style of Frank, the Hero of the South.

As the strongest human warrior, Frank's futuristic vision cannot be replicated, but his close-quarters combat skills are strong enough that he can still stand at the top even without futuristic vision.

Having accomplished all this, he sent Linne back, then said goodbye to Frank. He planned to spend his time sightseeing with Frilian and the others during his free time, just to relax, but...

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave, let's have a drink first?" Frank was inexplicably enthusiastic, dragging him to a pub where they drank all night. And in the dead of night, after a hearty meal and drinks...

"My friend, that's all for now, goodbye!"

Frank shook his cloak, then turned and walked away with a hearty smile. Ash watched him go, and he waved goodbye without looking back before disappearing into the quiet streets of the night.

"Huh... something feels off?"

Ash finished his drink in his glass, shook his head, and stood up again.

Before he could even leave, he noticed a note next to Frank's chair.

Frank left a letter for some reason, and asked him to go to his hometown. It seemed to be a letter left by Schulahat in the hut where Schulahat used to live when he was practicing asceticism with him.

"...Two roughnecks actually pulled this stunt?" Ash was a little dumbfounded, but he didn't pay much attention and just slowly returned to the southern countries from the north.

And following the directions, they found the parchment wrapped in a wooden box in that small house.

First of all, by the time you see this, we have all perished.

This is not a sudden change, but rather a long echo of destiny; to some extent, it can also be called fate.

This battle is not just for you, but more for the future of the demon race a thousand years from now. Also, although you are still young, you are enough to defeat ordinary great demons, but now is not the time for you to ascend the throne.

In the world of demons, the strong are respected. Without earth-shattering power, no one will submit. The expeditionary teams and hero squads that humans have organized will also see you as a thorn in their side and vow to eliminate you as soon as possible.

Therefore, if you are eager to ascend the throne when the Demon King falls, you will inevitably face a full-scale war that will engulf the entire world, including the demon race itself.

You need to spend more time reflecting and building up your strength—this is a lonely and long journey that requires extraordinary patience to quietly accumulate power until the time is right... Remember this.

"What... is all this?" Ash was dumbfounded as he looked at the parchment in his hand.

He understood the message perfectly: foolishly waiting for the Demon King to die before going up... If he couldn't fight the whole world, he would definitely die immediately, and he certainly didn't have the fighting power of that Demon King.

But what truly shocked him was... that these two strongest beings, second only to the Demon King and Celia, were suddenly about to die?

No, he's dead now?

..........................

At the same time Ash was reading the parchment, in the northern lands...

Shurahart's blade pierced Frank's back, and Frank, who was also covered in wounds, rushed into Shurahart's arms and stabbed him in the heart with his sword.

Almost simultaneously, they inflicted fatal wounds on each other, and at that very moment, they both tacitly stopped fighting and temporarily separated.

“...This is goodbye forever.” Shurahart murmured silently, gazing up at the sky, but quickly turned his gaze to the swaying man in front of him: “As expected... our first real meeting... was bound to end like this.”

"Ha, ha... There's no way... If this is the case... that demon king will always be a demon king."

In Frank's vision of the future, every time Frillien's team defeated a truly powerful Demon, it was with extremely close calls... although they actually didn't even encounter three.

Let's not discuss Aura, but the Seven Sages' immortal Beze was originally going to trap them completely with a barrier, and Frilian was even waiting to die, but in the end she died because of underestimation.

The corrupt sage Guval and his allies were no match for him, and before they could defeat him, they could only devise a plan to seal him away.

If he doesn't make sacrifices and defeats enough great demons... they simply won't be able to reach the Demon King.

In this chaotic battlefield, apart from Aura, who could not be found, a great demon comparable to the Seven Sages of the Collapse was brought in to assist them. All the other Sages of the Collapse were present, and it seemed that they could easily flatten a country.

Even with eight attacking one, three of the Beng Xian were still killed on the spot by Frank, and some even perished together with Shurahart.

This is exactly what he meant by "paving the way," whether it was for Frilian or Ash—and now he is fulfilling his promise.

Shurahart and Frank looked at each other in silence, but quickly mustered their last bit of strength and, covered in blood, clashed together again.

Bah! !

The clash of swords sparked fierce sparks and astonishing shockwaves.

No one could count how many intertwined sword flashes and shadows there were.

Despite both having suffered fatal injuries, the two seemed poised to resume their deadly struggle, but in the next moment, it was unclear who pushed whom, and the two fell off the cliff together.

"This is... a necessary sacrifice, isn't it?" The azure sky murmured unconsciously as Frank fell.

“You could say that…” Almost immediately afterward, Shurahart quietly closed his eyes.

At the same moment the two fell, the cliff above them collapsed, sending countless clumps of sand and soil surging up onto them.

Despite being able to see the future, the two still chose to compromise at this moment and embrace this future that had been predicted countless times.

Or could it be called fate?

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years From Now On: Chapter Fifty-Seven - A Greeting from Five Hundred Years Ago

Under the gray sky.

The drizzle dampened the town that Ash had built himself, nestled beneath the snowfield.

Thanks to the silver mines on the snowfield, the town has become increasingly prosperous. However, the residents here hurry by on this rainy day, giving it a sense of desolation reminiscent of its early days five hundred years ago.

Walking on the oldest street in town, seeing familiar scenes and memories flooding back, Ash just couldn't bring himself to get up.

Everything that happened here was too trivial. The only thing I remember is that this is where my first friend, Cathy, met me.

And now, having already few friends, he suddenly has only Frillie left... and he doesn't even know if the elf Millie is still alive.

"Life is truly unpredictable... It should have been like this, but could you have foreseen that you would ultimately choose to perish together?" His friend's death brought a sense of indescribable melancholy to his heart.

This made him unconsciously return to this familiar street before going to the hero's party... Just like people sometimes have an inexplicable urge to return to their hometown, this town, to some extent, was similar to his former village, his hometown.

Although, the person from the past cannot possibly still exist.

"Even so, it's really boring here. Sigh... Come to think of it, even if I'm stronger than before and can do more things, what meaning would it really have for me if I really became the Demon King?"

He didn't actually have a strong desire for power; he preferred a free and unrestrained life to the lonely feeling of being at the top.

At most, I just hope to take care of the people I know, but... old friends are like fallen leaves in the wind, always withering away.

By now, it seems there's nothing left to wither away, to make new friends... Demons have such strange personalities, and humans die too quickly.

"...But I think I can understand what Cathy said before." Ash muttered to himself, looking up at the gray sky, but he couldn't remember what his first friend looked like.

Five hundred years have passed for the world, and several decades have passed for him.

Just as he was feeling melancholy and preparing to leave and never return, the window next to him was suddenly opened.

"You, you are... could you be Ash...?"

"Ok??"