After the Legend

"From that moment on, there was no hope left..." Leichina murmured as he watched the blue-brown snowflakes drifting through the sky.

Those blue-brown snowflakes were the curse left behind after Demon King Rosa Kevin was slain by the Hero Ocast. Ten years ago, Hero Ocast had led a party of several thousand people to subjugate Demon King Rosa Kevin, who had hidden herself in Elrina Forest. That party, made up of bards, warriors, priests, thieves, paladins, mages, forest priests, herbalists, and archers, had fought its way through countless hardships and slain the four Demon Kings who had divided the world at the time—but when the old Demon Kings were killed, new ones were born.

Like an endless cycle of cause and effect, ten years later, new Heroes had once again set out to subjugate new Demon Kings. But for Leichina and ordinary people like him, the only thing they gained—or perhaps the only thing the Heroes left them—was a curse...

"Leichina, what are you looking at out there? It's already snowing black snow. Get inside!" The one speaking was Leichina's older sister, Fanafuna. Seeing that Leichina was still standing on the grass, Fanafuna limped out of the house. Large patches of tumors and dead flesh covered her feet. Those tumors and dead flesh had appeared because, when Rosa Kevin was slain years ago, she had accidentally come into contact with Rosa Kevin's blood.

"I was just... looking at the snowflakes. Sister Fanafuna, do you think white snow will ever fall again?" Leichina looked toward Fanafuna with his blind left eye.

"I don't know!" Fanafuna grabbed Leichina's left hand and shouted, "Stop talking about that. Hurry up and wash yourself with clean water, or you'll get sick easily."

"No." Leichina struggled and replied stubbornly, "I'm sick of this already. I don't want to keep living like this..."

Smack— Fanafuna viciously slapped Leichina across the face. There were no unnecessary words between them. This was not the first time Leichina had tried to harm himself. He had made several dangerous attempts before, but Fanafuna had stopped every one of them. She forcibly dragged her younger brother into the house where they lived.

Splash— A basin of clear, clean water was dumped over Leichina's head. Some of the brown snow stuck to his hair and body flowed into the ground with the water, while the rest melted and clung to his skin.

"It hurts!" Leichina hugged his withered body and cried, "Sister Fanafuna, stop washing me! It hurts so much!" The snowflakes melting on his body still emitted faint green glimmers.

"If it hurts, don't do such stupid things again! If you don't wash quickly, your illness will only get worse." Fanafuna scooped another basin of clear water from the vat and poured it over Leichina's head and body. As the water in the vat grew scarcer, the green light on Leichina's body gradually weakened.

"Sister Fanafuna... why... why won't you let me die sooner..." Leichina said weakly as he lay on the ground. The piercing pain in his abdomen gnawed away at his mind. Crying and wailing were probably the only things he could do now.

"I'm going out to buy some clean water. Rest well here." Fanafuna spoke without expression. Every time Leichina harmed himself, there would be a long "recovery period." During that time, he would not hurt himself again. Only by relying on that period could Fanafuna travel to a distant town to buy clean food and daily necessities.

"Sister Fanafuna... why don't you just die!" Leichina cursed before breaking into a violent coughing fit. His weak body could not move for the time being. Fanafuna did not take his words to heart. She took a fairly clean towel from the bedroom and gently wiped Leichina's small body. Afraid of hurting him, she slowly covered him with a quilt that had been patched countless times. Then, she took the few remaining silver coins from a compartment beneath the bed, wrapped them in cloth, and only dared to leave the house after the brown snow stopped.

Fanafuna walked across the cursed land. There was not a trace of life on the road. Thick green sludge covered the ground like festering sores. Rosa Kevin's curse had eroded all of Elrina Forest and the surrounding villages. Fanafuna's parents had died in the plague caused after Rosa Kevin was slain, while the tumors on Fanafuna's own body had been caused by accidentally drinking water cursed by Rosa Kevin.

"Hey! Fanafuna, heading out of the village?" Denolan, the village baker, greeted Fanafuna. Like Fanafuna, Denolan had lost family members to the plague caused by Rosa Kevin. But unlike Fanafuna, Denolan was fortunate enough that his mother was still alive.

"Ah, yes~" Fanafuna nodded.

"Want to go together?" Denolan stammered slightly. "I happen to be going to town to buy some flour too..."

"Sure." There was no extra expression on Fanafuna's face.

The places where the black snow had fallen were marked by things resembling human faces, while the rotten trees lining both sides of the road twisted into all kinds of horrifying shapes. Fanafuna and Denolan walked safely along the road leading to town.

"I..." After they had walked for some time, Denolan finally looked at Fanafuna and asked, "Have you... ever thought about leaving this village, Fanafuna?"

"No. What about you, Denolan?" Fanafuna looked at Denolan just as quietly. After the two stared at each other wordlessly for a while, Fanafuna spoke again. "Have you thought about it, Denolan?"

"Me?" Denolan nodded lightly. "I plan to leave this cursed village after my mother dies. This village is so terrifying that even monsters can't survive here. I want to leave... at the very least, move to a nearby town. You..."

"Very well. Then I'll see you off on the day you leave." Fanafuna ignored Denolan and continued walking forward on her own.

"You won't leave with me, Fanafuna?" Denolan stopped where he was and shouted after her. "There's no future in staying in this cursed village!"

"Oh." Fanafuna did not even turn around as she continued toward town.

"It hurts!" Several hours after Fanafuna left, Leichina finally regained a little strength. Rosa Kevin's curse began acting up from within his organs, and waves of intense pain wrapped around his liver and appendix. Leichina raised his head. Outside the window, the brown snow was falling harder and harder.

"Looks like Sister Fanafuna won't be coming back these next few days." Leichina muttered.

As he looked at the decayed trees, Leichina felt a trace of envy. "If only I were one of those trees. They can't move, can't feel pain, have no senses, and no... family..." Just as Leichina was thinking this—

Knock, knock, knock! Violent pounding rang out from outside the door.

"Is anyone in there?" An old and ridiculous voice called from outside. It sounded like an old woman.

"That doesn't sound like Sister Fanafuna..." Leichina shouted, "There's someone inside!"

"Uh... why did that sound like you were taking a dump... but..." The person outside let out a long sigh. "Good heavens, there's finally someone! I've walked all this way, and this is the only place where I got any response. The snow outside is terrible, and worst of all, I'm barely wearing anything. Kid, can you open the door and let me in? Let me put on some clothes too, and give me a bowl of hot soup while you're at it... I'm freezing to death!!!"

The person outside was as talkative as a chatterbox, but as Leichina looked at the brown blizzard beyond the window, he grew suspicious. "Who are you? With such heavy black snow outside, how could you possibly..."

Bang— Leichina's front door crashed down. Countless brown snowflakes flew into his house like scraps of paper. Before long, snow had blocked the doorway, and a completely naked body appeared before Leichina's eyes.

"Uh... I didn't... no, your door was just... old..." the hunched, fat person stammered. "I used a little strength, and it fell down..."

"You..." Leichina felt a sharp pain in his eyes. "There's a wardrobe in the bedroom at the back. There are some clothes my grandmother wore before she died. Hurry up and put something on!... You're really making me sick!"

"Young man... could you not be so blunt? You're hurting my feelings..." The hunched person picked up Leichina's front door from the ground and, with her back turned to him, forcefully reattached it.

"Can't you put on clothes first? I'm really uncomfortable looking at you like this, Grandma!!"

"What a difficult kid!" The person sat in front of Leichina with her legs curled beneath her, exposing a bottomless black hole directly before his eyes. "You know, more than ten years ago, countless people dreamed of seeing my true face. Now that you have the honor of witnessing my noble and perfect body, you should feel honored."

"Pfft—" Leichina felt his illness worsen considerably. In a weak voice, he said, "Grandma, I haven't even agreed to let you into my house. If you break in like this, I can sue you for trespassing. I can have soldiers arrest you and throw you into prison... understand?"

"Understood... understood..." The uninvited guest entered the bedroom, took out two pieces of clothing, put them on casually, then sat cross-legged in front of Leichina. The rolls of fat on her legs dealt a devastating blow to Leichina's mind.

"Where did those clothes you're wearing... come from?" Leichina closed his eyes, recalling the clothes on the old woman. They looked strangely familiar. "Those clothes are... Sister Fanafuna's..."

"I think they look pretty good... Short sleeves, a short skirt, with butterflies and flowers on them... They suit me quite well..."

"You crazy old woman... take them off! Take them off right now! What if you stretch them until they tear?! Sister Fanafuna definitely won't be happy! Hurry up!!" Leichina nearly jumped up from the ground in anger.

"What a stingy little brat..." The uninvited guest rubbed her broad belly and wrinkled thighs before dejectedly returning to the bedroom.

"I think... this outfit suits me rather well... ah." The uninvited guest struck poses before the mirror. Butterflies and lilies were embroidered on the tight-fitting clothes, while the extremely short skirt was meant specifically to draw men's attention. The outfit was indeed beautiful, but it was only suitable for a young woman in her twenties.

"Beautiful miss, what is your name..." The uninvited guest spoke to the mirror, then gently lifted the short skirt that she had nearly burst through. A great deal of fat and wrinkles spilled out from beneath it. She picked up another short-sleeved shirt from the side, half-covered her face, and imitated a noble princess. "I am the daughter of the ancient gods... Rosa. Do not fall in love..."

Riiip— Fanafuna's dress was stretched apart completely, and broken threads and glass decorations scattered all over the floor.

"Grandma, what are you doing in there?" Hearing the noise, Leichina asked toward the bedroom. "Are you touching Sister Fanafuna's things again?"

"Uh... no! Absolutely not!" Rosa marched out of the bedroom. This time, she had not put on the wrong clothes. She sat elegantly in front of Leichina, carrying herself with the bearing of nobility.

"Foolish mortal, standing before you is the strongest Demon King, the youngest daughter of the earth, Lord of Decay, the ancient evil god who devoured seven worlds—Rosa Lafipia Ulyes Kevin. Upon learning my true name, you should feel honored. Tell me your lowly name first. Should I descend upon this place, I shall grant you supreme glory."

Leichina said, "Um... Grandma, can you speak normally? I can't understand what you're saying..."

"Tch! A little brat from some backwater village who knows nothing of refinement." Rosa cleared her throat and said, "My name is Rosa Lafipia Ulyes Kevin, the Demon King who devoured seven worlds. I'm a little short on money right now and need to stay at your house. Once I'm doing better, I'll grant you supreme glory and treasure. Of course, if you're willing to offer me some financial assistance, I wouldn't refuse it. Naturally, financial support will also earn you even more wealth in the future. Though it's only a suggestion, I'm doing this for your own good."

"I still don't understand!" Leichina sat up from the floor, wrapped in his quilt. "Can you talk normally, you old hag!"

"Uh... well... I'm a Demon King down on her luck. Could you take me in for a while? If I regain my power, I'll repay you. It would be even better if you could spare me something to eat. I haven't eaten anything for days."

"There's food, but it's cursed." Leichina replied irritably. "Eat it if you want, but let me warn you first: you can't eat too much of it. If you eat too much at once, you'll die immediately." Supporting himself on the old table and chairs, Leichina slowly climbed to his feet.

Before Rosa Kevin was slain, Leichina's family had run an inn. They specialized in receiving adventurers who came from all over to Elrina Forest to hunt monsters. Before Rosa Kevin was killed, Elrina Forest had been extraordinarily prosperous. Large numbers of rare magical beasts frequently appeared there, driving the economies of several nearby villages and cities. Accessory shops, weapon shops, inns, taverns, red-light districts... it had everything. But after nearly two centuries of prosperity, the entire region entered decline. Once Rosa Kevin was slain, the nearby villages became ghost villages, and Canfor, the large city closest to Elrina Forest, regressed into a small town from two hundred years ago in just ten short years.

But Leichina's village had suffered the worst, because it was closest to Elrina Forest. When Rosa Kevin was slain, enormous amounts of poisonous blood poured from the sky. The gathering that had originally been prepared to celebrate Rosa Kevin's destruction instantly became a living hell.

Hundreds of villagers died directly from Rosa Kevin's poisonous blood. The remaining villagers either left the village or died in the plague caused by the blood. Leichina's parents had died in that plague. In the years that followed, the water and soil were entirely contaminated by the poisonous blood, and even the food they grew carried a curse.

"Hey! Old hag, catch!" Leichina pulled a palm-sized potato from behind the broken front desk and threw it to Rosa. The potato glowed green, and there seemed to be a human face growing on its skin.

"The land here is cursed. Even food grown here can only barely be eaten after being purified with holy water..."

"Huh?" Rosa immediately bit into the potato in her hand, skin, dirt, and all, and swallowed it whole.

"You... spit it out!! You'll die if you eat food from here directly!" Leichina shouted anxiously.

"Really?" Rosa took another bite of the potato, chewed it once, then swallowed. "So eating this thing can kill you."

"Is something wrong with your brain?! I told you it would kill you, and you still ate it!" In his panic, Leichina hurriedly snatched the potato from Rosa's hand. Looking at the potato that had already been eaten three-quarters of the way through, Leichina said in frustration, "If Sister Fanafuna finds a dead person in the house, she'll scold me to death!"

"Urgh—" Rosa acted as though nothing had happened. After letting out a full belch, she wiped her mouth and said, "Raw potatoes taste awful. They'd be much better sliced thin, fried in oil, and sprinkled with salt."

"If they taste bad, why did you eat so much?! And where am I supposed to find clean salt and oil?! Fried potatoes, seriously?!" Leichina felt his head beginning to ache too.

"Forget it... I'm hungry anyway." With that, Leichina wrapped himself in the quilt and led Rosa to the second floor of the inn. The second and third floors had originally been guest rooms, but there had been no guests for too long, and the third floor had fallen into disrepair. They used the second floor as a storage room for food contaminated by the curse.

He opened the room nearest the stairs on the second floor. Scattered wheat and potatoes were piled inside, and the room was filled with ominous evil energy.

"Grandma, stay outside. This wheat and these potatoes are all cursed. An old person like you could easily run into trouble if you go in." With that, Leichina covered his head with the quilt and crouched as he entered the room.

"Yes... it should be this... I think I found it..." Leichina kept himself covered by the quilt as his thin hand reached forward. Because too much cursed grain had been stored there, the room was now filled with poisonous gas. An ordinary person entering without any protection could easily be poisoned to death, but fortunately, the poison gas was light. As long as one moved forward while crouching, there would not be much danger.

"This should be enough. Grandma, help me close the door in a moment..." Leichina crawled backward out of the room with a small bundle of wheat stalks and two potatoes. But when he poked his head out from beneath the quilt, he discovered that Rosa had vanished.

"Grandma? Where are you?" Leichina looked around, but could not find Rosa anywhere.

"I'm here." Rosa was already standing beside the large pot in front of the inn's first-floor fireplace, stirring the soup inside with an oak spoon. "Want some potato porridge? I just made it."

"Um... where did you get the potatoes and wheat?"

"I took them from that room where you store food. It was only two or three steps away, so why did you make it so complicated?" With that, Rosa scooped up a mouthful of soup from the pot and drank it.

"It's so bland... It would be better with salt and pepper... though ham and beef would be even better." Rosa ladled out a small bowl of porridge. "Kid, this one is yours."

"I... can I even drink this porridge..." Blue floating matter drifted on Rosa's porridge, and the potato chunks in it all looked like human faces. If one lowered one's head and listened carefully, one could even hear people wailing from within the porridge.

"You... didn't purify this porridge with holy water, did you..."

"What holy water? Wouldn't adding the church's holy water to such a good pot of porridge ruin it?" Rosa said as she lifted the pot hanging over the fireplace.

Gulp, gulp, gulp... An entire pot of potatoes and porridge went into Rosa's mouth.

"Um... what exactly are you?" Leichina asked as he looked at the porridge in his hand.

"Didn't I already tell you? I am the strongest Demon King—the evil god Rosa Kevin."