I was the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire’s greatest villain. “The Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire wouldn’t be in this pathetic state if it weren’t for you.” Those were the last words from my fiancée—the Chancellor of the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire, a genius born once in a lifetime—before she left for the final battle against the Army of the Demon Sovereign. She died defending the imperial castle to the very end. “Fuck off and die, you idiot!” These were the last words hurled at me by the Grand Magus who had swept through the battlefield, hunting down the Demon Sovereign’s executives. She landed a fatal wound on the Demon Sovereign himself before her own limbs were torn from her body. “You’ve made me realize even Absolute has forsaken us. For that, I am truly grateful.” These were the parting words of the Holy Maiden, a holy woman said to be born only once every few thousand years. She died at the hands of the Demon Sovereign’s forces, fighting to evacuate just one more imperial citizen. The Shadowmancer, my attendant since childhood, had her own dying words for me. She cursed my hideous nature before taking her own life right before my eyes. “…Out of everyone I’ve ever known, you are the most repulsive.” This was the last goodbye from the Princess, the hope of the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire, on the day of the final battle. She resisted the Demon Sovereign until the end, only to be used as a sacrifice in the ritual that turned this continent into Abyss. “Even the vilest demons condemned to Abyss are less foul than you, foolish man.” The Demon Sovereign’s mocking laughter echoed as I willingly surrendered, my hands closing around the Hero's Regalia passed down through my family for generations. His laughter, however, died in his throat, replaced by a shocked mutter as I let the Regalia in my arms erupt. “…Boy, why the hell?” To the Demon Sovereign’s bewildered question, I offered a simple, smiling answer. “…To gain the Providence.” With those words, my eyes fell upon the system window that materialized before me with a low hum, just as the world, and the Demon Sovereign, dissolved around me. [Providence unlocked: Way of the Scapegoat] When I next opened my eyes, I was lying in my old dormitory bed, back in the room I’d slept in the night before I first entered the academy. “Ha… I’m really back…” A glance at the calendar on my desk confirmed it. I had returned to the past. I muttered the words quietly, the reality of it sinking in. [Way of the Scapegoat: An unavoidable fate for you who once destroyed the world. Save the world by staining your name with sin. Accumulated Scapegoat Karma: 0] I stared at the system window, a satisfied smile on my face. It was an achievement earned at great cost, by performing an act that went against my very nature. A sudden pang of hunger finally spurred me from my bed. But as I swung my legs over the side of the mattress, another window flashed into existence before me. I froze mid-motion. [Penalty: The 5 main heroines have awakened their memories of the previous timeline!] “…What is this bullshit?”

Chapter 1: Hated by the Dead