The Villain has Perished

'Where did I go wrong?'

Orca thought as he stared at Sol. He understood that Sol wasn't responsible for the upcoming destruction of the forest.

The large tribes would declare war on others in the future even if Sol didn't appear. After all, monsters were greedy and battle enthusiasts by nature. Though they acted civilized their inherent nature couldn't be changed. Sol's actions only served to start the war sooner than later.

But Orca still couldn't forgive Sol.

'If only the chieftain and others listened to me, ' grieved Orca.

Today, after Sol launched the flare in the sky and left Orca, Orca had returned to the tribe immediately.

He went to the chieftain's residence to warn them again about Sol's cruel personality. But instead, they tied him and threw him into the chest. The Orc chieftain had been planning to kill him after pinning the blame for Sol's actions on him.

The elders of the orc tribe couldn't tell everyone that they had purposely let the war happen. Thus, they were going to use Orca as scapegoat.

'How many will survive…?'

Yet Orca didn't want revenge on his tribe. He only wanted them to continue living, even if that came at the cost of his life.

Suddenly Sol's voice shook Orca out of his thoughts.

"Work for me and I'll save your village." The fiend who was responsible for everything whispered the sweet words to entice him.

Orca felt his blood boil and raged. "Stop lying! You are the only one who cannot say that! You have no right to make fun of us!"

A small pool of blood appeared beneath Orca. His wrists and ankles were bleeding heavily from trying to break free from the vines.

"You don't want to help your village?"

Sol didn't pay heed to Orca's outburst. Instead, he spoke sweetly, his words were like honey dipped in poison.

"Maybe I was right? Although you say you want to save your brethren the truth is actually the opposite. Deep in your heart, you want them to die because they mistreated you for being weak."

"...." Orca flinched and he bit his lips.

"Why aren't you answering? Don't tell me…. I was right."

~ First Orca's escape route was cut ~

"No! I-I want to save them! I'll do anything for that! But… but I know, you are lying."

Orca never had any chances to kill Sol. The human never slept and was always surrounded by his summoned creatures. He was stronger than Orca. It didn't help that Sol never ate anything Orca gave him.

Yes, Orca never had any chances to kill Sol. But then why was his resolve shaking? Sol's words resonated deep inside his heart.

Seeing Orca's frail mental state, the fiend continued, "Isn't that an excuse? You can say all you want but deep down inside you were also wishing for me to succeed. You wanted to see those who denied you despair."

"No! No! No! No! No!...n-no"

The treant binding Orca retreated and placed him on the ground. However, Orca didn't try to attack Sol. He was clutching his head and shaking it vehemently.

"I-i'm not like that. I d-don't want revenge…."

~ Then he gave Orca a way out of the situation ~

"Then isn't it fine?" Sol crouched and stared Orca in the eyes. "Work for me and I'll save your brethren."

Orca gulped heavily.

"If someone truly wants to save their loved one, they would even make a deal with the devil," Sol spoke softly, as if explaining to a child. "You shouldn't hesitate. You aren't doing anything wrong. It's me who is in the wrong here. Orca you are a hero who is sacrificing himself to save his tribe."

~ And lastly, a sweet excuse to accept that offer. ~

"I don't have any choice… sacrificing myself?"

"Indeed, you can't save others yourself. But you still want to. So, you'll accept my proposal, won't you? If I'm lying, you can always refuse in the future."

Sol smiled innocently and extended his arm toward Orca.

"Take my hand, if you truly want to save everyone."

Orca was overwhelmed by guilt and failed to recognize Sol's ill intentions. In his heart, Orca understood that all along he had been trying to let Sol succeed. His actions of informing the orc tribe were a farce to make himself seem like a victim.

But Orca couldn't accept that his true self was so heinous. Struggling with desperation and denial, he accepted Sol's hand in a heartbeat.

Even in those moments, Orca wanted to think that he was accepting Sol's hand to save his tribe, when instead it was to hide his true self that wanted to let those who mistreated him die.

Unknown to Orca, a line appeared in Sol's vision.

|| Conditions have been met ||

|| The target has accepted his destiny to serve under you ||

|| Skill 'Contract' Level 1 triggered ||

|| Binding contractee ||

"You did good. You can rest now."

As if Sol's words were salvation, Orca who had lost too much blood lost his consciousness.

|| Contract formed ||

Sol stared at the unconscious Orca coldly. He had understood Orca's true self, that wanted to seem like a benevolent person, when in truth Orca was selfish.

The disparity between Orca's true self and the self he showed to others was clear as day to Sol, but he didn't think that Orca was in the wrong.

Being selfish was normal. Instead, those kind people were wrong. They would stupidly sacrifice themselves for others and be happy about it.

Sol would never become like that. He lived that way in his 2nd life and reaped the results. That was why…

"I'll live the way I want to. I won't follow the good, or the evil. I don't care about Apocalypses that are coming, nor do I want to help others.

All I want is a haven for myself where I can live in comfort and have all the fun I want."

Saying those words, Sol turned around to leave the room.

"I should start with meeting the Griffin."