The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
“Stupid… stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid—-!!!!!!”
A man’s scream echoed through the dark dungeon chamber.
Pain, despair, rage, and hatred.
His handsome face contorted with every negative emotion, Gerald Vader continued to howl like a mad dog.
His sword was broken, his body covered in wounds.
His claws, clawing at the stone floor as he crawled, were torn away.
His belly was ripped open, his entrails torn to shreds.
He didn’t know how many ribs were broken.
Blood, dark red, spilled from every orifice—his mouth, eyes, ears, nose—forming a warm pool on the cold stone floor.
“This me, this me, this me, this me~!!!!!!”
The scream turned to a curse. Gerald’s bloodshot eyes fixed on the boy who had looked down on him, despised him, mocked him—and now sought to end him.
A boy with golden hair, seemingly timid, yet with a fierce light burning in his eyes.
“You’ve lost, Gerald. The ambush, taking someone hostage, forcing a child to choose rescue or continued battle by unleashing monsters… You’ve maximized the ‘blessing’ you were granted. This is your way—the way of the ‘Heretic Knight’.”
The boy spoke quietly, looking down at Gerald.
He gripped the blood-stained sword in his hand tightly, its edge grinding against his palm.
“But… now that the ‘Hawk King’s Blessing’ has awakened, your blade will never reach me.”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Don’t look down on me! Don’t pity me! Don’t sympathize with me! “
Ignoring the blood spilling onto the floor, Gerald screamed.
He clawed at the cold stone floor, trying desperately to inch closer to strangle the boy.
Shards of nail and spatters of blood flew through the air.
But Gerald’s body never drew nearer to the boy.
A massive boulder crushed his lower half.
The power of the boy, whose ‘Protection’ had awakened, was terrifying.
A sword strike, swift as lightning, sliced through Gerald’s abdomen. The force of the attack then blew his body away, slamming it into the dungeon wall.
The impact caused part of the dungeon ceiling and walls to collapse and crumble.
Gerald, immobilized by the intense damage, had his lower body mercilessly crushed beneath a massive pile of earth and rock.
“Your actions up until now are unforgivable. Countless… dozens of classmates, senpais… died devoured by monsters in this ‘Demon Realm’. If you hadn’t interfered with your petty meddling, those lives could have been saved.”
For the first time, a dark emotion surfaced in the boy’s eyes.
It was hatred and contempt… and the intense hue of murderous intent.
“Among them was my master… Instructor Alissa. You killed her. Your so-called petty schemes killed your own sister.”
The boy’s face contorted.
Suppressing the emotions welling up, he continued in a voice cold as ice.
“Their screams, their cries for help, above all, the voice of my Master—whispering my name and yours as she breathed her last in my arms… it clings to my ears, refusing to leave.”
After saying this in a trembling voice, the boy turned his back on Gerald.
He roughly wiped his face with his sleeve, then swung his sword, flicking away the blood—Gerald’s blood that clung to it.
“But… your scream alone, I’m certain I won’t hear. …And that very thing is the burden I must bear.”
“W-wait… the fight… isn’t over yet—”
Gerald reached out a trembling hand toward the boy.
But it would never reach him.
“Wait—”
“Gerald Vader. You die here.”
Leaving those words behind, the boy departed the hall.
Only the faint darkness and silence remained around Gerald.
But even that lasted only a moment.
Squelch. Squelch.
Something wet was slithering, crawling closer.
Gerald’s eyes, accustomed to the darkness, instantly recognized what it was.
“Hii…”
He gasped involuntarily.
A massive mass of flesh was slowly approaching, writhing and squelching.
Abyss Crawler.
A type of worm-like monster inhabiting the dungeon, a ‘cleaner’ that devours immobilized animals and carrion to maintain the dungeon’s environment.
Under normal circumstances, it was a worthless trash mob he wouldn’t give a second thought to.
But Gerald was near death.
Without a sword, his lower body already numb.
Which meant that right now, the target of its ‘cleaning’ was… himself.
Once it got close enough to Gerald, it ripped open its mucous membrane-like body surface with a wide gape.
Its maw stretched wide enough to swallow an adult whole, its interior densely packed with fine teeth, saliva dripping from them.
It slowly closed over Gerald.
“Dammit, I’m still alive! Stop… Stop itttttttt”
But to the monster, a dying and immobile Gerald was nothing more than prey.
Gerald’s scream was slowly swallowed by the monster’s mouth…
――――
The world froze.
‘I’m sorry.’
A small voice echoed through the frozen world.
A whisper, a murmur, the trembling voice of a girl.
‘I’m sorry.’
The girl’s voice echoed again.
‘I’m sorry’
‘I’m sorry’
‘I’m sorry’
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—’
In the world where everything had stopped, words of apology echoed over and over.
‘Your death cannot be avoided. The ‘Blessing of Rebellion’ cannot overturn fate.’
‘Time and again’
‘Time and time again’
‘I tried again and again and again and again, but it still didn’t work.’
‘With each repetition, your soul becomes tainted, worn away.’
‘With each attempt, you transform into a distorted being, scattering curses.’
“My ‘blessing’ can grant you another chance, but I can only watch.”
“I cannot bring back the gentle you from those days.”
“Moreover, the number of attempts possible… considering my magic power, it’s already…”
The girl’s voice trembled slightly.
After a brief pause, her voice continued.
“So… I’ve decided to use my final power and gamble on another method.”
“I don’t know if this method is right.”
“But to save you… I felt this was the only way.”
It was a voice filled with resolve, yet calm.
“So rest assured, and redo your ‘end’.”
With that voice, the world began to move.
No screams, no cries could be heard anymore.
And then—
Triggered by the death of the Heretic Knight Gerald Vader, the ‘Blessing of Rebellion’ pushed all causality back into the past.
“I love you.”
The voice, reaching no one, was swallowed by the surging torrent of time… and vanished instantly.