I Became the Mastermind Who Betrays the Heroines

Chapter 52 - A Miracle Story (2)

The Red Sword Saint, Kyle Stroban.

He was a hero of the continent who led the Great Crusade against the cultists, a figure who had written dozens of glorious pages in history.

A star that reached the highest night sky.

He had slain countless dark magicians and illuminated the chaotic Empire with brilliant light.

And at the end of the war, he had fallen in battle, fighting valiantly to the last.

Such a noble path had earned him the Empire’s attention.

People mourned his tragic end, calling him “The Fallen Star,” commemorating the hero’s unfortunate demise.

A classic tale of a great man’s life.

But…

That wasn’t the whole story.

Beyond the screen, there were always tales the audience didn’t know.

Kyle Stroban was no exception.

There were plenty of untold stories.

—I saved the continent... but I couldn\'t protect the things that truly mattered.

The man had a family.

A beautiful wife and a daughter he would have died for.

He had taken up the sword to protect them, but that choice had only pushed his once-happy family into the depths of hell.

It was like a living nightmare.

—I ruined everything.

Kyle had led the crusade from the front lines.

His power was overwhelming.

Seeing that they could not face him directly, the dark magicians concocted a plan to bring the star down.

They kidnapped the people he loved.

—Lay down your weapons and surrender.

—If you want to save your wife and daughter, you’d best do as we say.

He couldn’t defy their demands.

The star fell without resistance.

The man was captured without putting up a fight.

The cultists locked Kyle away in a place no one would ever find, using him for torture and as a subject for dark magic experiments.

They never told him if his family was alive or dead.

Kyle could only endure.

Clinging to the hope that his loved ones might still be alive.

—How do you feel now, Sword Saint?

—You stood in our way for so long, and now, here you are on the opposite side.

—Try to endure it, if you can.

Time passed in agony.

He was stabbed, cut, and torn apart. It was more torture than experimentation.

As he was tormented by hands full of malice, even his once unyielding will began to crumble.

Then, someone appeared.

—I’ve come to reclaim you, Red Sword Saint.

A boy with dark blond hair and narrow eyes.

He had infiltrated the facility and swiftly slaughtered the cultists before leisurely approaching the iron bars where Kyle was imprisoned.

The boy’s ominous gaze scanned Kyle’s condition.

—You haven’t turned into a monster yet.

—I was worried I’d arrived too late… but I suppose I should be relieved.

—It would’ve been quite a hassle if you had ended up as a stage boss.

The boy muttered to himself, saying incomprehensible things as he casually cut through the iron bars and freed Kyle.

He quietly supported the man, who was sprawled on the ground.

It was as if he intended to help Kyle escape from this place.

—Let’s go.

The wounded beast was rescued.

Leaving the devastated facility behind, the boy took the fallen man somewhere.

And there, Kyle was reunited with someone he had never dreamed of seeing again.

His wife, who had been kidnapped.

—I found her in a branch of the cultists outside Imperial territory.

—I saved her while wiping out the remnants of the cultists.

—As you can see, she’s badly hurt… but she’s healthy enough to recover fully.

—She was lucky.

Kyle clung to his wife, sobbing.

His heart, once hardened, crumbled in weakness.

And into that fragile gap, the snake slithered.

The once brilliant hero was tempted by the snake’s treacherous whispers.

—From now on, serve me.

—And I will grant you everything you desire.

The voice was calm.

Although he appeared to be a boy of about sixteen, his sinister smile was tinged with the cunning of an adult.

The snake whispered an offer that couldn’t be refused.

—Even your daughter, if you wish.

—I don’t know how long it will take… but I’ll definitely bring her back.

—The half of your world that you lost.

Kyle couldn’t resist.

—I am your master now.

From that day forward, the hero began serving a new god.

***

The promise was finally fulfilled.

At a moment he never expected.

—I’ve brought back your lost daughter… just as I promised.

The boy with the narrow eyes smiled softly.

Behind him, a massive lump of flesh squirmed.

<Aah, aaah…?>

A grotesque cry escaped from its five-pronged mouth.

Hundreds of tentacles sprouted from its body, and its skin was studded with an equally grotesque number of eyes.

Sharp teeth jutted out like thorns.

Its hideous appearance made Kyle’s brow furrow instinctively.

But…

Kyle couldn’t look away.

In fact, he stared blankly at the dying creature, his gaze frozen.

Perhaps it was a form of instinct.

"…"

No matter how twisted the form, a parent will always recognize their child.

It’s a kind of instinct, a primal recognition not based on clues or logic, but on the searing emotions that well up from within.

As a father, Kyle was no different.

<Aaaah…>

The daughter he had once loved so dearly.

His mind rejected the notion, but his heart pounded violently in his chest.

How could a father not recognize their own child?

"…Eileen?"

A single word caught in his throat.

It was a name he hadn’t spoken in so long, and the sound of it now was painful.

His breath faltered.

Kyle realized it.

<Aaah…?>

The creature in front of him was indeed his daughter.

His breathing hitched, his body freezing in place as he gazed at the grotesque figure.

"…"

His crimson eyes blinked slowly.

The many eyes on the creature’s body… they resembled his own red eyes.

Kyle was certain that the pupils he was seeing had once belonged to his daughter.

After a moment of stillness, Kyle began to walk.

Slowly, he approached the monster.

His lips, which had been chewed to the point of tearing, dripped with crimson blood.

His steps were hollow.

"Eileen… my daughter."

Thud.

At last, his legs gave out.

Kyle fell to his knees in front of the writhing tentacles, collapsing to the ground.

Dry tears flowed down his cheeks.

"How much I’ve missed you…"

He had known the truth.

After his daughter was kidnapped by dark magicians, he had prepared himself for the worst.

Night after sleepless night, he had steeled his resolve.

But…

"…To think you would return to me like this."

The actual pain of seeing it with his own eyes was on another level entirely.

Faced with a daughter who had once been human, but could no longer be called one, Kyle clenched his fists.

It felt as though a cold spike had pierced his heart.

Life was so cruel.

What had he survived for, only to see his child in this state?

"I really… really wanted to see you."

His voice, now tinged with moisture, cracked as he spoke.

It seemed as if his sanity would snap at any moment, but Kyle forced his eyes wide open with all his strength.

There was still something he had to do.

It was a duty he had to fulfill himself.

A responsibility he couldn’t entrust to anyone else.

<Aaaah, aaah…>

Eileen groaned in pain.

Her cries, sounding like she could no longer bear it, were pitiful and sorrowful.

Kyle wanted to grant her peace.

Ssshhhkk.

Kyle drew the sword hanging at his waist.

Tentacles were reflected in the cold blade’s surface.

The father, standing silent for a long moment, finally raised the sword toward his daughter.

It was a brutal scene.

"Now, rest."

My pitiful child.

You’ve already paid the price for living, so how could the world possibly understand your pain?

But as you came into this world through me.

I will also be the one to send you off.

"Don’t forgive this wretched father."

The sword gleamed precariously.

The grim scene was about to unfold.

"Please stop."

Someone stepped in, preventing the strike.

A shadow held Kyle’s arm in place, keeping it from moving.

When he turned around, he saw the snake smiling.

The boy asked quietly.

"After all the trouble to bring her back, why are you in such a hurry to send her off?"

"Captain."

Kyle stifled his sobs and responded.

"If she continues like this, she’ll only know pain. I want her to finally be at peace."

"I want that too."

"Then… please, let her go."

The transparent red eyes gazed at the snake.

Tears trickled down the sorrow-filled pupils.

"I want to end this with my own hands."

"Oh dear… it seems you misunderstood what I said."

"Pardon?"

"I’m someone who keeps my promises. Do you think I would claim to have fulfilled it with such a half-baked conclusion?"

"What do you mean…?"

"Just watch."

The snake gently pushed the man back.

Then, placing his hand on the massive tentacles, darkness began to swirl around them.

The scattered shadows gathered at a single point, converging at the boy’s fingertips in a sharp flash.

At the same time, the snake let out a chant.

"Shatter."

Crash!

A sound like glass breaking echoed in the air.

Immediately, black cracks formed in the air, surrounding the enormous monster.

The scene fragmented into countless pieces.

Kyle, momentarily startled, watched in confusion.

The snake, who had been standing with his eyes half-closed, suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Rewind."

Snap!

Between the boy’s half-shut eyelids, his pupils were revealed—white and glowing with an ethereal light.

As his gaze swept across the room, a shadowy darkness engulfed the entire space.

The world was swallowed by blackness for a few moments.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Enough."

Snap!

With another snap of the boy’s fingers, the darkness faded, and light returned to the room.

The cracks that had spread across the space were gone, as if they had never existed.

"Captain? What in the world did you—ah?"

Kyle, still dazed, glanced around frantically.

His eyes soon fell upon something—or rather, someone—that made him freeze in place.

The grotesque monster had vanished completely.

And in its place lay a single girl.

"…"

Delicate, refined features. Shoulder-length red hair. Eyes gently closed in peaceful slumber.

She looked exactly the same as he remembered.

Kyle stared in stunned disbelief.

It was as if he were seeing an illusion, a mere figment of his imagination.

The snake, smiling faintly, spoke softly to him.

"I have kept my promise."

Eileen was lying there, without a single wound on her body.

Kyle, trembling, reached out and checked his daughter’s pulse with unsteady hands.

She was alive.

He could feel her warmth against his fingertips. The vivid sensation made him realize that what he was seeing was no dream.

The father embraced his daughter’s body tightly.

"Eileen…!"

The snake smiled quietly.

"She’s alive. She’s really alive… My God..."

"She’s merely exhausted from the ordeal. She’ll wake up healthy in a day or so."

"Aah…!"

It was a story straight out of a miracle.

A world that had been shattered into pieces was finally whole again.

With tears streaming down his face, the man bowed his head deeply.

"Aah, Captain…"

He raised the sword he had been holding, planting the blade firmly into the ground before clasping his hands around it.

It was the posture of a knight swearing fealty to his lord.

The hero spoke, his voice trembling with overwhelming emotion.

"My God."

It was a proclamation of fervent devotion, filled with deep gratitude.

All the members in the room, witnesses to the miracle, followed suit and knelt beside him.

They had all seen the impossible unfold.

Kyle clasped his hands together, his voice shaking as he offered a solemn prayer to the one who had granted this gift.

In reverence for the sacred miracle.

"All is according to your will."

And in that moment, the rest of the congregation joined in the prayer.

"All is according to your will."

Even as the faithful murmured their prayers, the God they worshipped stood quietly, a faint smile lingering on his lips.

What the boy was thinking, however, was only this:

‘I’m glad it’s a happy ending.’

Wishing for the happiness of others.

Perhaps, in his heart, he was far too soft.

***

Meanwhile…

Irene had been watching the entire scene unfold.

She had been mesmerized by the second miracle she had witnessed, but soon her attention was drawn to something else.

The snake had begun to cough lightly.

"Cough..."

A soft sound echoed from his throat as the boy covered his mouth.

A dark red stain appeared on the white glove he wore.

He had coughed up blood.

"Huh…?"

Irene unintentionally let out a small sound of surprise.

She hadn’t expected to see this and was caught off guard, but the boy calmly wiped the blood from his mouth as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

"…"

None of the other members seemed to notice.

They were all kneeling, heads bowed, eyes closed in prayer.

Only Irene had noticed.

Snap!

The snake snapped his fingers, quietly erasing the bloodstains from his glove.

After briefly glancing around, he met Irene’s gaze and smiled softly.

"Shh."

He placed a finger to his lips.

It seemed he was asking her to keep it a secret.

Irene didn’t react—she just stood there, eyes wide in shock, staring at the boy with narrow eyes.