The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 399: Farewell (1)

It doesn’t hurt.

Whoever said sacrifice was noble?

“What a joke, seriously.”

Lloyd chuckled with a calm smile.

Now that he had done this.

Now that he had died once and come back to life for someone else’s sake.

The idea of sacrifice being noble just seemed absurd.

“Turns out, it’s not a big deal at all.”

His chest felt numb.

No, to be honest, he didn’t feel anything at all.

When the King of Hell’s massive scythe pierced him, he was genuinely terrified.

But now that he had resurrected and stood up, he felt no sensation whatsoever.

It didn’t hurt at all.

And it wasn’t just his imagination.

It was as if he had consumed the finest painkiller extract for every meal, feeling no pain whatsoever.

Javier was looking up at him with a shocked face.

His eyes were wide open.

As if trying to find something to say.

But he seemed utterly speechless.

His mouth agape in disbelief.

Which made Lloyd laugh even more.

“Surprised, aren’t you?”

Squelch!

Lloyd asked Javier, pulling the King of Hell closer with both hands.

The giant, sharp blade of the King of Hell’s scythe, which had pierced Lloyd from behind, now drove deeper into the King of Hell’s back.

It tore through his abdomen and protruded out.

The King of Hell’s body trembled violently with shock.

Thick, dark energy leaked out.

But he couldn’t fall or kneel.

Because Lloyd wouldn’t allow it.

“…Why?”

The King of Hell barely managed to ask him.

A satisfied smile naturally spread across Lloyd’s face.

“Dragon King’s Premium Membership. It includes resurrection benefits. Thankfully, it worked.”

“Y-You… then…”

“Yes, that’s right. This was the plan all along.”

Dark energy gushed from the King of Hell’s pierced stomach.

But Lloyd held on more tenaciously.

He pulled harder.

Making sure the King of Hell couldn’t escape.

Like a bug pinned by a tack, writhing in vain.

“Argh!”

“Does it hurt? I figured it would. I read about this somewhere before. It was kindly mentioned in *The Iron-Blooded Knight*.”

“The Iron-Blooded…?”

“Yeah. You know it, right? It says the only way to harm a lich.”

“No… it can’t be…”

“That’s right. A lich can only be harmed by their own weapon. Otherwise, they recover from any attack and are naturally immortal. So, to inflict meaningful damage on a lich, you have to seize their weapon and use it against them.”

“But you… that’s impossible…”

“Yeah. Normally, it’s impossible. Anyone who grabs a lich’s weapon suffers irreparable soul damage and goes mad.”

“But you…”

“I did it. I’m fine. Like this.”

He glanced down.

At the scythe piercing through his chest and stabbing into the King of Hell’s back.

Seeing it gave him a chilling feeling.

Which made him smile even more brightly.

“I didn’t grab it with my hands, did I?”

“Y-You…!”

“Oh, come on. Don’t bother trying to push it out.”

The King of Hell thrashed violently.

Lloyd tightened his grip on the King’s neck and ribs.

Then the King swung his arm.

He struck Lloyd’s face with his elbow.

Boom!

It landed a solid hit.

But it didn’t hurt at all.

Normally, his face would have caved in and been smashed.

“It tickles.”

No, it didn’t even tickle.

He didn’t feel any impact at all.

Boom! Crunch! Crack!

The elbows kept coming.

Watching it made Lloyd laugh again.

“Wow. The Dragon King’s Premium Resurrection is something else.”

It was the real deal.

It was perfect.

Honestly, even when he asked his final question to the Orb of Truth and got an answer, he was skeptical.

He had doubted it, wondering if it could really be true.

But now that he had resurrected and experienced it?

“The effect… it was real.”

Suddenly, he remembered.

The last question he asked the Orb of Truth.

The answer the Orb of Truth had given him.

How he should kill the King of Hell.

The contents of that answer came back to him.

“Resurrection benefits from the Dragon King’s Premium Membership. It doesn’t just bring you back to life. From the moment you’re resurrected, for five minutes, you get absolute protection and recovery magic in any situation.”

Thinking about it, it made sense.

For example, if someone drowned and was resurrected underwater?

Without protective magic?

“They’d just drown again, flailing helplessly as soon as they came back to life.”

Or if someone died in a fire and was resurrected at the scene?

Without protective or recovery magic?

“They’d inhale smoke and suffocate again or writhe in pain from severe burns until they died of shock.”

So, the five minutes of absolute protection and recovery magic.

That was bonus time and service given to let the resurrected escape the hostile environment that had killed them.

Thanks to that, Lloyd was now…

Enjoying the service to the fullest.

“Ugh! Argh!”

Boom! Thud! Crack!

The King of Hell thrashed like a trapped beast.

Trying desperately to shake Lloyd off.

Hitting with his elbows.

Smashing his face with the back of his head.

But thanks to the absolute protection magic, Lloyd felt nothing.

“It’s not working.”

Lloyd tightened his grip and pulled the King of Hell closer.

It seemed the King of Hell realized his struggles were in vain.

“Grr…”

He grabbed the scythe protruding through his stomach.

He seemed intent on breaking the blade.

But unfortunately.

That attempt had already been anticipated by Lloyd.

“Futile!”

Watching the King of Hell grasp the scythe, Lloyd shouted.

At the same time, a message appeared before his eyes.

**Ding!**

[Activating Mana Heart Skill Special Option ⑥: Initiating Attack Design.]

[Loading data for Slot 1: “Futile Attempt.”]

[250 RP has been consumed as the cost for using the option.]

[Current RP in possession: 7,718]

In that instant.

“What…?”

The King of Hell’s hand, which was trying to break the scythe, froze.

Another message appeared in front of Lloyd’s eyes.

[The target designated by the Attack Design is resisting.]

[The attack design is being nullified due to the powerful will and authority of the mythical being.]

[The application time of the attack design option has been reduced to 1/10.]

[However, as Slot 1: “Futile Attempt” is designed for a 0.2-second duration, there is no problem.]

[Slot 1: “Futile Attempt” data has been applied to reality.]

As the message concluded.

The King of Hell’s hands, which had been gripping the scythe, slid forward as if slipping.

The sharp scythe blade gleamed.

Slash!

“Argh!”

Four fingers, except for the thumb, on the King of Hell’s right hand.

The thumb on his left hand was cut off without hesitation.

And those fingers didn’t regenerate.

“Kim Suho! You bastard!”

The King of Hell’s shout, filled with rage.

Lloyd couldn’t help but laugh.

Good thing he had prepared the attack design in advance.

Good thing he had saved it for a decisive moment.

Praising himself.

He pulled the King of Hell even closer.

The King’s angry shouts grew louder.

“How dare you!”

Boom! Thud!

Black magic shockwaves erupted from the King of Hell’s body.

Normally, it was a spell that would shatter his entire body on impact.

But thanks to the absolute defense magic granted by resurrection, it had no effect.

“How long do you think you can hold out like this?”

Of course, Lloyd knew.

The absolute defense magic had about four minutes left.

Now, it was time to head towards the end.

“So… let’s go together!”

Lloyd pulled the King of Hell closer.

He took a step back.

Slowly.

With force.

Step by step.

Dragging the King of Hell along, both of them impaled by the scythe.

**Ding!**

[Activating Skill Special Option ③: Power-Saving Mode (Modified).]

[You can maintain a weakened state of the Asrahan Swordsmanship technique even in extreme exhaustion.]

[Current mana amplification rate: 25%]

Screeech…!

The faintly spinning three-fold circle lent him strength.

Perhaps due to the severe damage inflicted by his own scythe.

The King of Hell, despite struggling, was slowly being dragged along.

“Do you think… you can… defeat me with this?”

“Yes. I think I can.”

“How dare you! What makes you think you can?”

The King of Hell’s roar grew fiercer.

Lloyd chuckled at his reaction.

“It’s not that I have anything to believe in.”

There was no reason or need to reveal his plan prematurely.

He didn’t want to risk messing things up at the last minute.

So he made some vague remarks and continued dragging the King along.

Steadily.

Relentlessly.

He moved step by step.

Towards the edge of the wide platform.

Towards the target point there.

Only then did the King of Hell seem to grasp Lloyd’s intent.

“Kim Suho?”

For the first time, the King of Hell showed a hint of confusion.

“Could it be?”

Lloyd sensed him trying to turn around in a hurry.

He gripped the King’s neck tightly.

“Let’s not. Just go quietly.”

“Wait, wait! Kim Suho!”

The King of Hell’s thrashing intensified.

A series of black magic shockwaves exploded.

Meteors fell around them, exploding fiercely.

But with the absolute defense magic still active for another three minutes, it was more than enough.

Enough time to drag the King of Hell to the final destination.

And enough time to say his last words to Javier.

“Right, Javier?”

He lifted his head.

He cast his gaze.

Far away.

He could see Javier, collapsed on the ground.

Javier was desperately trying to crawl towards him.

As if he wanted to shout, “Don’t do this.”

As if he wanted to stop him, somehow.

But he seemed too weak to even shout.

Yet, he was still trying to reach him.

Desperately sending a pleading look.

Seeing this made Lloyd smile.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to do this either. I really hated this option. I even hoped, somehow, that there might be another way. But…”

There wasn’t.

This was the only way from the beginning.

His misplaced hope had only brought everyone here to suffer.

“So, after thinking it over, this is the only way.”

Javier’s lips moved faintly.

He was calling Lloyd’s name.

He could see it, hear it, and feel it.

Yes, I know how you feel.

But what else can I do?

“This is the right thing to do. It seems like this is as far as I can go. If I keep holding on, if I stubbornly endure, I fear it’ll only bring more suffering to everyone around me. And I can’t bear that.”

He laughed.

To be honest, he wanted to live longer.

In Frontera, which had become his home.

With everyone who laughed and chatted together.

To live a simple, unremarkable life, comfortably.

But now he understood.

Even that was a selfish wish.

An overreaching hope, an arrogant desire.

“Of course, at first, I wanted to deny it. Why wouldn’t I? I wanted to keep living. But no matter how I think about it, even if we survive this moment, I have no confidence in facing the next wave of fate’s restoration…”

Even if he killed the King of Hell here.

Even if they managed to get through this restoration of fate unscathed.

Another restoration of fate would surely begin.

On a larger scale than now.

In a much more severe form.

It would come, plunging everyone around him into misery.

“I can’t stand that. I’m scared. To be honest, I don’t think I can handle it anymore. After all, this is all happening because of me. But making the Count and his wife, and you, all suffer just so I can live comfortably… that’s just wrong. That’s what really… scares me.”

He pulled the King of Hell even harder.

He took a step back.

“So, I think this is it. If it really comes down to a choice between the two, if either you or I have to disappear for this to end, then I think it should be me who goes. You were here from the start. I was the one who intervened. And yet, I stubbornly refused to leave and stayed until now…”

Without realizing it.

His eyes grew hot.

But he tried his best to smile.

So Javier wouldn’t feel as sad.

So maybe Javier would feel a little less guilty.

“That’s why I’m saying this. When the Queen wakes up, please tell her. Thank her for her proposal. Tell her I was happy. And I’m sorry for leaving like this. And thanks to you… it’s been fun. From a worthless, moldy little room in a rundown boarding house in another dimension, in another world, my life was probably… the most meaningful, fun, and happiest time spent with you.”

Was Javier crying?

Or was it him?

Why did his vision keep blurring?

“Thank you for being with me during those times. So, I have no regrets. I got to live, didn’t I? You, and everyone, will remember, right? As long as you don’t forget the days we spent together, as long as you think of me from time to time, it’s like I’m still alive in your memory. So…”

I’ll live on in those memories.

I’ll be satisfied with that.

Setting aside vain hopes and presumptuous desires.

Considering the past few years a miraculous fortune.

With all his might.

He pulled the King of Hell closer.

Took his final step back.

The King of Hell flailed and shouted something.

But Lloyd could no longer hear it.

Behind them, the Gate of Reincarnation shimmered.

Together.

They leapt into it.

“Goodbye.”

(TL Note : Lloyd… )