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Henry had felt pressured to go all-out in order to take care of the situation flawlessly, but it seemed that he had gone overboard. He looked up again as he covered his mouth with his collar.

‘That weakling Vegarus couldn’t even withstand one attack? To think this is the one who had caused all those problems… Tch, how is this possible?’

Henry reprimanded Vegarus in his mind. Even if he said that out loud, the Demon King no longer had a head to hear his words.

Besides Vegarus, most of the demons that had been around him were either dead or severely injured. All of this had happened because of the magic Henry had cast to destroy the Demon King’s Hatred.

However, an unexpected side effect had risen from Henry’s fight—the punitive army had lost their purpose. They had made it this far because they had been determined to take down the Demon King and the demon army, but now they no longer had a reason to fight.

“Henry,” Golden called with a dumbfounded expression.

This was the first time Golden called Henry’s name ever since he had come back in time. Henry had thought that he would feel all sorts of emotions, and perhaps even cry, when this happened, but given the situation they were in, he was surprisingly impassive.

Henry knew why Golden was calling him. He was not only an Archmage, but also Chief of Staff to the punitive army. However, he himself hadn’t expected Vegarus to go down like that.

After contemplating for a moment, Henry said, “Let’s just take care of the remaining ones and go back.”

“What? You want to end it like this?”

“Then what do you suppose we do? We can’t say we caught the Demon King, since we obviously didn’t. I mean, of course, we can claim that you’ve slain it and have the people worship you as a god or something. But all lies come to light eventually. Let’s not get greedy here.”

“Ugh, that’s a shame. I was so excited about this chance to slay the Demon King.”

“Well, if you\'re disappointed, why don’t you cut off its feet or something? Take part of him as a trophy.”

“Yeah, that’s be a good idea.”

“I’ll take care of his body, so just take care of the rest of demons and beasts.”

No one objected when Golden accepted the suggestion of the chief of staff, and all the soldiers quickly proceeded with their next task.

Henry walked toward the Demon Realm Gap. He could see beyond it purple and black waves of magic, intertwining and swirling into a web of death.

‘I don’t even want to think about how much I hated this thing in the past…’

The issue with the Demon Realm Gap was that as long as it existed, no matter how many Demon Kings they defeated, another would always emerge. In addition, it also allowed demons and demonic beasts into the human world, which took the lives of hundreds and thousands of innocent soldiers from Caliburn Fortress every year.

Henry narrowed his eyes and looked at the gap with an angry expression as though he couldn’t comprehend why this accursed thing in front of him even existed.

‘I can’t believe this piece of shit causes dimensional disasters.’

Part of Henry wanted to close the gap that instant, but he knew very well that he couldn’t do so. He still remembered everything about the dimensional powers he had received from the Demon God, but he needed divine power to use that knowledge, and unfortunately, that power was among the things he had given up in order to go back in time.

‘I guess guarding it is the best thing I can do for now…’

Henry was disappointed with this conclusion. It was a real shame that he couldn’t do anything to stop the unnecessary sacrifices, even though he knew what ought to be done. It wasn’t like he could go back on his promise with the King of Gods.

Henry had made a decision, and he had to live with it.

‘One day though… One day!’

Henry’s eyes suddenly glinted with a fierce determination as he stared at the gap. He then turned his gaze to see everyone else, who were diligently taking care of the remaining threats.

‘Everything that’s happened was for the best. Let’s just leave it at that.’

Henry did feel a bit sorry for stealing his friend’s achievement, but he decided not to worry about it too much. Even though he couldn’t give Golden the legendary feat of taking down the Demon King, he had in fact saved his life, which was a lot more precious than some achievement.

Of course, Golden wouldn’t know anything about this.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s prepare to head back!”

“Yes, sir!”

Seeing that the troops were almost done picking up the straggling monsters, Golden ordered everyone to prepare to return to their camp, but he did so with a rather disappointed expression.

Of course, he was the only one who was disappointed, for the soldiers were glad to hear his order. After all, they had been extremely apprehensive about facing the Demon King, but he had died inexplicably and unexpectedly, and they had also managed to kill the last of his army—two birds with one stone.

They had preserved their lives and honor with little to no effort.

The punitive army started retreating with Henry and Golden in the lead. Among them were some of the people who had been on Henry’s side during the continental conquest. Henry hadn’t seen them in ages, for they had died a long time ago. Only after looking at them did Henry fully realize that he had gone back in time, and he was conflicted.

These people next to him were the people he had longed to see for the longest time, but at the same time, they were also the people he felt so sorry for. That was also part of the reason Henry had vowed to himself not to repeat a single mistake in his plan and live solely for his own happiness and their safety.

‘Is this the true beginning?’

The Demon King was dead, and the risk of receiving his curse was gone. Saving his friend from dying in vain was the first and greatest part of Henry’s plan. In fact, he almost couldn’t believe how great this start was.

But just as he was about to commend himself, Henry reminded himself once again that he had only taken the first step.

***

After departing from the First District, the punitive army eventually found themselves in the Ninth District. Beyond this area was a camp that had been fighting the demonic beasts for a long time for the well-being of the continent.

It was Caliburn Fortress.

At this time, Caliburn was not a formal military camp supported by imperial soldiers; it was more like a provisional paramilitary unit. The soldiers at Caliburn made a living by receiving rations from nearby countries. However, despite their modest income, they risked their lives more than anyone else to protect the continent.

That was why Golden, in the past timeline, had met with the chief of Caliburn and promised that once an empire was established, he would immediately make them part of the regular imperial army after defeating the Demon King.

And now, in current timeline, he was here to fulfill that honorable promise. History was repeating itself.

“Thank you, King-Emperor.”

During this period, Caliburn was classified as a base rather than a fortress, which was why it was known as Caliburn Base instead of Caliburn Fortress. Consequently, Dexter Caliburn, the current chief of Caliburn Base, knelt down and showed his respect to Golden.

Just like before, Golden had promised Dexter Caliburn that Caliburn would be incorporated into the regular army.

“Now that we’ve stopped the Demon King, we’ll move to the center of the continent and establish a new country to represent it. When that time comes, I will share that glory with you. Until then, I’ll leave you with food, weapons, and alcohol. Please use those resources to boost the morale of the soldiers, even though it might not seem like much.”

“Thank you, King-Emperor!”

Just as Henry had advised him, Golden donated all of the remaining military rations to Caliburn. His army could get more supplies anyway.

Golden then pulled out his sword and bestowed Dexter with a title by ceremoniously placing the tip of his blade on each of his shoulders and then on his head.

“You have upheld the will of your honored ancestors and contributed to the well-being of the continent through your noble spirit of sacrifice. Therefore, I, Golden Jackson Edward, Emperor of the Unified Empire, hereby recognize you as Supreme Commander of the Caliburn Army. I shall also appoint you as a count of the new nation I will establish.”

“King-Emperor…!”

“You don’t need to feel indebted for this. The turbulent times are over, and peace has finally arrived on the continent. So from now on, I will be doing my best to fix things to how they were supposed to be. Dexter Caliburn, you are merely the first step in correcting my mistakes.”

Golden had bestowed a title upon Dexter, even though the empire had not yet been officially founded. However, there was unanimous agreement that Golden would be the emperor who would rule over the entire continent. Dexter also believed that, so he shed tears of joy.

Dexter reflected on the years of suffering due to the disservice that began with his ancestors. However, his sacrifices were no longer just sources of pain; they were now honorable achievements, recognized across the entire continent.

“Henry.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you mind cutting off the Demon King’s left foot?”

“His left foot?”

“Yeah, it’s my first time bestowing a title, so there should be at least some gift that goes with it.”

“Good idea.”

Henry chuckled when he realized that Golden was going to give away Vegarus’ left foot as a gift. He found it amusing because he couldn’t remember Golden wanting to do something like that in the past timeline. After all, he couldn’t have thought of any gifts, since he had been busy receiving treatment from priests after getting cursed.

‘Hmm, I can tell that history’s already changing.’

Changing the past meant that the future would also change, significantly altering the course of history. Henry once again realized the magnitude of what the King of Gods had done for him by rewinding time.

“I’ll leave it here.”

Henry took out the foot from his subspace. It didn’t let off any particular smell, like that of blood or rotten flesh, because Henry had preserved it with his magic.

Dexter’s expression contorted with shock as he saw the foot that was as large as him. He then responded with a solemn expression as though he was receiving the most precious gift in his entire life.

“I will keep it as an heirloom, my King-Emperor. Oh, forgive me… Your Majesty!”

At this, Golden smirked, feeling that this new title had a nice ring to it.

With that, the punitive force left Caliburn after their leader praised the efforts of the soldiers, including Dexter, one last time.

***

The punitive army moved to their next destination, Lindbergh Field. The capital of the new empire would be here, in the center of the continent.

Henry and Golden had wandered around for days on end before finding this region. The reason they wanted Lindbergh to be the capital was simple.

Firstly, Lindbergh offered an excellent geographical advantage, as being located in the center of the continent allowed for quick responses to any problems that arose. Moreover, the fields in Lindbergh were great for agriculture thanks to the nearby granaries.

There was also a great river flowing nearby, which seemed more than sufficient to supply the residents with enough drinkable water.

Henry had a lot of concerns when making his plan. Before, Arthus abandoned this region and moved the capital to his homeland after the Eurasian Empire collapsed. And so, Henry’s apprehension about that crucial event had caused him to think about choosing another region as the capital.

However, it seemed too late to consider another location now. Many people were already here, waiting for Golden and working on the construction of the capital, so he knew that changing the region was no longer an option.

Thus, Henry had no other choice but to make his peace with it.

‘No, Lindbergh is a good region. Besides, nothing’s happened yet.’

Henry continued to contemplate on how he could make Lindbergh better throughout the entire trip, and soon enough, Lindbergh finally came into view.

“I can finally see it,” said Golden cheerily.

Henry now knew that Golden’s dream would truly be fulfilled once he settled down here and established a country.

But then…

“Father!”

He saw someone waving enthusiastically at the top of a tall hill. He seemed like a little boy from afar, and Henry narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at the child. As soon as he realized whom he was looking at, his squinting turned into a frown.

“Silver?” Henry said with a deep sigh.