Once the Curse of Reversed Likability Was Lifted, My Party Members Became Unbearably Heavy once the Curse of Reversed Likability Was Lifted, My Party Members Became Unbearably Heavy
Beyond the collapsing canopy, light began to pierce the sky that should have been shrouded in darkness. Black lightning scorched the surroundings, melting the stone walls of the Demon King’s castle.
Within the charred air, Amagi Ren knelt.
His left arm had been blown off in the previous attack. He had barely managed to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn’t hold for long. The hand gripping his sword trembled. His left eye had also lost nearly all its sight.
Still, he had to stand.
As long as those bastards were still alive.
“…This is the end.”
His voice was hoarse as he raised his blood-soaked sword.
Before him stood the “King,” himself covered in wounds.
A single streak of light shot across the giant’s chest.
──ZUBAT.
A death throe roar shook the sky.
The Demon King collapsed, and the darkness enveloping the world faded away without a sound.
Ren exhaled.
It was over. He thought he had finally protected everything.
But as the Demon King drew his last breath, he twisted his lips into a smile.
“It is deeply regrettable… But, Hero, I shall grant you suffering worse than hell itself.”
Black light exploded, and Ren felt the air warp around him.
In that instant, the black mist released by the Demon King enveloped Ren’s body. Burning pain.
Unable to stand, he collapsed—and then he heard his comrades’ voices.
“Ren sama!? Wait, we’ll heal you now!”
“No, Celia! That black light… something’s wrong with it!”
“…It feels bad… Everyone, don’t get closer!”
The moment they tried to rush forward, the black mist exploded.
The castle floor cracked open, revealing his figure engulfed in black flames.
And then—when he opened his eyes, something had changed irrevocably.
The black flames surrounding him vanished. Just as Ren tried to rush back to his comrades…
“Stay back!!”
Rina raised her sword, taking a step back from Ren.
“How could I have ever… associated with someone as evil as you? It makes me sick.”
Noel’s gaze fixed on him, filled with utter contempt, as if looking upon filth.
“H-hey, what’s wrong with you guys? Ugh…”
A near-fatal wound twisted Ren’s expression.
“I’m sorry, Celia… Could you cast a healing spell? My left arm might be beyond repair, but…”
“Hehe, serves you right. Why should I, of all people, use the sacred magic of a saint on someone like you? You’re better off just rotting away out here.”
“…H-hey, what’s going on? Wh-what are you all talking about?”
Ren felt something was off and looked at the back of his right hand. A black mark pulsed, something writhing beneath his skin. His heart ached. A voice whispered deep within his head.
—Everyone in the world will come to hate you.
Ren understood instinctively.
This is a curse. To make every human in this world hate me.
Ren’s mouth twisted into a faint smile.
The forced grin was terribly lonely.
“…It’s fine. I’m okay now.
See? Everyone’s alive. We saved the world. That’s enough, right?”
Ren said it as if convincing himself.
“I’ll finish you off now!”
With someone’s shout behind him, Ren thrust his sword into the ground.
He began running across the rubble, his boots soaked in blood.
“If I become evil, you all—the people of this world—can live happily.”
“So—this is fine.”
No one answered.
Only the sound of the world rejecting him remained.
Within the collapsing Demon King’s Castle,
Amagi Ren quietly vanished somewhere.
—And so, the hero’s tale drew to a close.