“W-well played,” she muttered before falling backwards.
Jacob ran up to Enyo as she fell to a knee and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine,” Enyo said through grit teeth. “Holding Durandal hurt more than I thought it would.”
“I meant the wound on your torso.”
“Oh. That’s fine. I’m healing it. It just hurts.”
“I imagine it would,” Durandal quipped from where he was sticking out of Lust’s chest.
“Not helping,” Jacob and Enyo said at the same time.
“Heh… you two are such a unique pair,” a pained, raspy voice said. They looked at the body lying before them. Lust’s chest rose and fell. More blood spilled out from around Durandal. It bubbled like a fountain. Even though she must have been in excruciating pain, she was smiling. “A hero and the destroyer of a Dark Lord, and the one who is supposed to have given birth to the next Dark Lord. He-he-he, I’ve never heard of something so absurd, so amusing. Thank you.”
Jacob frowned as he stood up and walked over to Lust. “Why are you thanking us? I don’t understand you.”
“Few people do.” Blood-stained teeth revealed themselves when she peeled back her lips. “I am old, Hero. I’ve lived for nearly six centuries. When you get to be my age, you fear boredom more than you do death.”
Lust coughed. More blood welled up in her mouth, forcing her to turn her head and spit it out.
“When I… when I heard that the Dark Lady had gone off with the hero, I was so happy. It was the first time this has ever happened. I-it was different. Interesting. Exciting. For the first time in several centuries, my blood began boiling.”
Enyo had healed herself by this point. Her footsteps came from behind him as she walked up to stand by his side. He reached out. She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his.
Lust grinned as if she could see what they were doing, even though her eyes were dimming. “I wanted to amuse myself. I wanted to see how far I could take this, how far you would go. I wanted… something different… and maybe… maybe I also wanted a fitting end.” Lust closed her eyes and sighed. “I can’t think of a more deserving end than being slain by the two of you.”
He and Enyo remained silent as Lust’s breathing stilled, as her body relaxed. Another moment passed. Jacob reached out, clasped his fingers around Durandal’s hilt, and pulled the blade free. The sword, perhaps sensing his emotions, remained silent.
“I don’t like that she’s smiling in death,” Enyo said.
“Neither do I,” Jacob admitted.
“I hate even more that I understand how she feels.”
“I can’t say the same. We humans generally don’t live more than seventy years.”
“I guess that’s true.” Enyo paused to look at him. “Does this mean it’s over?”
Jacob thought about that for a moment before slowly nodding.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s over.”
EPILOGUE
RETURN HOME
Two months after the battle and Alyssium was still in the process of recovering. There was a lot that went into repairing the damage that had been done to the city, but of course, not everything could be repaired. Many people had lost their lives. They were still counting the number of fatalities. It seemed as if more dead were being found every day.
The Alyssium knights were working hard toward finding the survivors and rendering aid. The magicians who’d survived had built a makeshift hospital, where they worked alongside doctors to help heal the physical damage that had been inflicted upon Alyssium’s citizens.
Nothing could be done to heal the scars on the people’s hearts. Only time could heal that.
During that time, Enyo and Jacob helped out where they could. A lot of people were wary of them. It was understandable. Until this moment, Jacob had been considered a traitor and Enyo was a member of the Dark Clan. However, as time passed, Enyo and Jacob continued to help, finding people who’d been buried under rubble, healing them on the spot, and the people eventually accepted them, however warily.
It wouldn’t change the ultimate outcome or Jacob’s feeling toward these people, but it was something.
Jacob had worked his hardest to help save the people of Alyssium, not because he believed it was his duty, but to make up for his sin. Lust had attacked Alyssium because of him and Enyo. This was their fault, even if no one but the two of them knew it.
He and Enyo had their own problems to deal with during that time. Enyo hadn’t been able to deal with Fellis’s death for the longest time. She’d worked herself to exhaustion every day by saving people, so at night she would pass out before she could consider doing otherwise. Yet even that didn’t stop the nightmares. Every night, Enyo would wake up screaming. Every night, Jacob would hold her as she fell asleep crying out her sorrow.
It would be a long time before she recovered from Fellis’s death, though she stopped crying a week after the battle.
That morning, he and Enyo woke up to the rising sun shining through their window. The soft bed underneath them was so comfortable. He wished he could’ve fallen back asleep, but they had things to do. Opening his eyes, he looked down at Enyo, who was snuggling against his chest. Her naked body rested against his.
Last night was the first time they’d had sex since the battle. He hadn’t wanted to push Enyo, or take advantage of her emotional state. The previous night was the first time that she had initiated anything.
Stroking her hair, he watched Enyo until she slowly stirred awake. It was adorable how the first thing she did was look up, her hair in disarray and her eyes half-lidded. She blinked several times. Her eyes slowly gained alacrity as she stared at him, and then, like clouds breaking apart after a storm, her face lit up in a small but wonderful smile.
“Morning,” she mumbled as she leaned in, giving him a soft kiss that he was more than happy to reciprocate.
Jacob placed his hand against her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
“How did you sleep?”
“Better,” she sighed.
Jacob rubbed his thumb against her soft skin as Enyo hummed. He slid his hand to the back of her head, fingers threading through her soft, pink hair. Enyo didn’t wait for him to pull her to him. She leaned in to give him another kiss.
Had this been any other day, he would have allowed this moment to escalate, to give into his desire. Today, they couldn’t afford to.
“Today’s the day,” he said.
“Yeah,” Enyo said softly. “We’re leaving today, huh?”
“That’s right. We should probably get ready.”
“Right…”
Since they didn’t have time to spend in bed, he and Enyo climbed out and got dressed. Jacob pulled on his pants, stepped into his boots, and threw on his shirt. He looked over at Enyo. She’d already put on her shorts, sleeveless shirt, and heeled boots. Her appearance reminded him of a pirate almost, especially after she strapped the daggers around her hips.
Exiting the room, the first thing that greeted them was Durandal trying to tell Listy a dirty joke. “Jack and Jill went up the hill and did it in the water. Jack slipped. His condom ripped, and they ended up having a daughter. What do you think? Isn’t it great?”
Listy said nothing, but her right eyebrow was twitching.
“Stop bothering Listy with your foul jokes, D.”
“Hmph! I don’t want to hear anything from you, Partner. You kicked me out last night!”
“Enyo and I had private matters to attend to last night,” Jacob said emotionlessly. “There was no way I was going to let you see that, you dirty old sword.”
“How could you not let me watch? We’re partners! Partners are supposed to share everything!”
“We’re not sharing our sex life with you,” Enyo said in a voice so dry deserts would have been jealous. “This is one matter where being Jacob’s partner gets you nothing.”
“Whatever happened to bros b
efore hoes?”
Listy coughed into her hand. “Are you two ready to leave? Alice and Kindness are already waiting for you.”
Jacob strapped Durandal around his shoulder. “We’re ready.”
“Then follow me.”
The otherworld gate was located in the basement below the castle. It had, fortunately, been left unscathed during the battle, perhaps because it was located in a secure chamber several dozen meters beneath Avant Heim.
They stood within a massive room. It was round, making Jacob feel like they were stuck in a giant cylinder. Dark gray walls covered in cracks were lit up with fairy lamps. In the center of the room was the otherworld gate, a giant circular device made of steel and glowing with strange lights. Jacob couldn’t say for sure, but for whatever reason, he thought that the device looked far too advanced to be something from this world.
In front of the otherworld gate was a podium, and a slot was situated in the center of that podium. It was the lock that the otherworld gate key went into.
Alice and Kindness were standing by the otherworld gate. Kindness was smiling, though it was tinged with melancholy. Alice’s lips trembled, but there was a determined glint in her eyes, as if she was prepared to see this through to the end.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?” Alice asked.
Jacob shook his head. “Enyo and I have spoken about this at length. I don’t belong here, I never did, and Enyo no longer wants anything to do with this world.”
Squeezing Jacob’s hand, Enyo added, “We’d like to start anew. Given our history with this world, it would be hard to begin a new life here.”
Alice took a deep breath, and then she smiled. It was a fake smile—the fakest one he’d ever seen from her. This parting hurt her, but that wasn’t going to change his mind. Once upon a time, it might have, but now there was nothing left for him to consider.
“I hope… I hope you two have a happy live together,” Alice said.
“Thank you,” Jacob and Enyo said at the same time. Alice sighed.
Kindness came up and grabbed both of their conjoined hands. Her smile was a lot more vibrant than Alice’s.
“Thank you for all of your help. You never owed us anything, but you agreed to lend us your strength anyway. I’ll never forget you two for as long as I live.”
“We’ll never forget you either,” Enyo said in a heartfelt voice. “I hope you’ll be able to live a life free of war from now on.”
“So do I,” Kindness admitted.
Jacob looked around, a frown growing on his face. “I noticed that Freya isn’t here.”
“You know how she is,” Alice said with a sigh. “That woman can never stay in any one place for too long.”
Jacob nodded. “True.”
There was little left to be said. Kindness placed the otherworld gate key into the lock, twisting it. The podium lit up. Strange symbols appeared on a spot that had originally been blank. They reminded him of the computer graphics back in his old world, though he didn’t recognize the symbols being shone. Soon enough, the otherworld gate lit up as well, glowing a light blue as a sphere of crackling energy appeared within the gate’s center. It expanded, swelling until it fit in the circle like a ball inside of a ring. Then it flattened.
An image had appeared. It was blurry. Jacob could barely make it out, but what he saw was enough. The shapes of the buildings, even in their blurriness, were easily recognizable.
He looked at Enyo. “Are you sure about this? There’s no telling if this will work, you know.”
“I know.” Her grip on his hand tightened. “And I’m sure. Just make sure you don’t let go of me.”
“Never,” Jacob agreed.
Their goodbyes already said, Alice, Kindness, and Listy stepped away. He and Enyo took in a deep breath as they stared at the gateway that led to his world.
As one, they stepped into the portal.
Jacob wasn’t sure if he could describe how it felt stepping through the otherworld gate. The hairs on his neck prickled, his skin broke out into goosebumps, and his eyesight became filled with white. There was a strange sense of weightlessness that made his stomach drop into his feet. For a moment, he was worried about falling into an abyss.
Then it was all over. The world returned to normal, but it was not the world that he’d spent the last several years in.
He was standing in an alley, large walls looming above him on either side. Sights, sounds, and scents that were nostalgic but no longer familiar filled his nose. Outside of the alley, people dressed in clothing far different from the one’s living in Terrasole walked past the gap.
The hand that he held was shaking.
“J-Jacob?”
He turned his head. Enyo was still with him, still there. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then he saw the wide-eyed look on her face. She was in shock.
“I-is this…?”
“Yes,” Jacob said. “I believe we’ve made it.”
“Oh…”
Enyo looked around, blinking several times. Then she pinched herself.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure I’m not dreaming.”
“Uh-huh…” Since it looked like Enyo wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon, Jacob tugged her along. “Come on.”
Enyo walked slightly behind him, still dazed, as he led her out of the alley and into the sun. He was blinded for a moment. A feminine gasp told him that Enyo wasn’t. He blinked the spots from his vision, and then looked around.
The road was paved black. People wearing familiar but strange clothes walked across the sidewalk—business suits, shorts, sneakers, baseball caps, and so on. Large contraptions on four wheels drove down the street, similar to chariots but so completely different. Signs written in a different language than Terrasole’s sat against buildings that were too symmetrical to have been crafted by hand. Enyo looked at all of this with eyes that reminded him of a child’s.
“Jacob… those chariots are moving without a horse.”
“Those aren’t chariots. Those are cars.”
“Cars?”
“That’s right.”
“Those are the things you told me about before, aren’t they?”
“They are.”
“Oh…”
Jacob looked at all the people walking past them. In return, the people looked at him and Enyo oddly, probably because of their strange clothes and Enyo’s unusual appearance. Pointed ears, pink hair, and pink eyes were not natural in this world.
He glanced back at Enyo. She was still clearly shocked, still letting her head twist around like she didn’t have a spine.
“Jacob?”
“Yes?”
Enyo looked at him, vestiges of panic in her eyes. “I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long, of leaving my old world behind for a new one, of living a new life with you.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“But now that it has actually happened, I don’t know what to do,” she confessed. Her eyes shook as she held his gaze, seeking reassurance in this strange world that she knew nothing about. “Jacob, what… what do we do now?”
He loved how she said “we.”
Turning around so he was facing Enyo, he took her hands in his and held them to his chest. He gave her a reassuring smile before kissing her on the lips. When he pulled back, he looked into her eyes, which had calmed down and said…
“Now? Now all we have to do is live.”
-Fin…
AFTERWORD
Hey everyone. If you are here, then it means you have finished my two volume light novel series, Journey of a Betrayed Hero. I want to thank everyone who read this story. I hope you all enjoyed it. However, I now have a confession to make.
It was brought to my attention that my previous volume had a lot of errors in it. Well, I looked at my book again, and I realized something really embarrassing.
I used the wrong manuscript.
I think I accidentally uploaded the rough dra
ft instead of the final copy, so what everyone got was basically unedited and raw.
I am very sorry. I cannot even begin to apologize enough for this mistake.
I have since uploaded the correct manuscript for both kindle and paperback. If you bought the paperback on Amazon, you can download a FREE kindle copy using the kindle matchbook. If you bought the kindle version, you should be able to update your current version.
Saying that, it’s not like the story itself is any different from the original. It just has better grammar and a few problem areas with story continuity were fixed.
There isn’t much to say about this series. The story for Journey of a Betrayed Hero was very short and to the point. I didn’t add any RPG, harem, or side story elements like most isekai because I felt like they would detract from my story and make it longer than it needed to be. I usually write long series, so this short and sweet story is very different from what I’m used to, but I think it was a good exercise to try something different.
Once again, I would like to thank my artist for helping me complete this. Aisoretto was literally the third artist I hired to help me out here. I really love his artwork. It has a very light novel aesthetic, which I believe works well for this particular series.
I also want to thank my editor and proofreaders. This version of the manuscript IS the actual edited version, so there is no need to say anything more. While I’m certain some errors will always slip through the cracks, I’m confident this one reads better than my last volume did when I first published it.
Finally, I would like to thank you readers for being so awesome and buying my books! If I wasn’t an introverted nerd with a fear of people, I’d give all of you a big hug!
Before I go, I just wanted to ask if everyone who enjoyed reading this story could leave a review. You don’t have to, but every review helps put this book in front of more readers.
Thank you all, and I hope you will be around to read whatever stories I publish next!
~Brandon Varnell
www.patreon.com/BrandonVarnell
Journey of a Betrayed Hero- Volume 2 Page 21