A Sacrifice and a Tragic End for a Peaceful World

Once upon a time, there was a hero and a demon king.
The blond-haired hero had two childhood friends—one with red hair and one with blue—who became his right and left arms, respectively. Together, the three formed a team dedicated to defeating the demon king.
And so, the heroic party marched forward toward world peace.
The blue-haired left arm was an exceptionally cautious type. At all times, he anticipated the worst-case scenario and watched over both the hero and the red-haired friend.
To him, the demon king was of little consequence; he simply couldn't stand by silently as his childhood friend, the hero, was driven by fate. If his friend hadn't been a hero, he would have long ago fled with the two of them to some remote corner of the world.
For the blue-haired man, as long as the red-haired friend and the hero remained alive, nothing else mattered.
With the blue-haired strategist's intellect and the red-haired friend's close-combat support, the heroic party eventually reached the demon king's forces.
But that was where things went wrong.

An aide to the demon king launched a surprise attack from the shadows.

By then, the hero had already been saved.
However, the red-haired friend died—protecting the hero.
It was remarkable speed and strength. And before his mind could fully comprehend it, the hero had already slain the aide.

The red-haired friend was a good person—bright, strong, full of vitality, a bit foolish yet impossible to dislike.
His manner of death was supremely honorable.
In this world, there was no magic to resurrect the dead.
Thus, they parted forever in this tragic event.
The surviving hero and the blue-haired man each underwent completely different transformations.

From then on, the hero grew stronger and stronger.
"If I don't become stronger, I can't protect anyone." "Thanks to that guy, the world has been held together—but now I must save it with my own hands." "Otherwise, I'd never be able to face anyone."
At first, he truly believed these words. But before long, along with his growing strength, he gradually lost his humanity. His emotions became numb, his eyes hollowed out, and a new kind of power emerged: "Nani Power," which prioritized logic above all else.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired man steadily weakened.
Time and again, he pleaded with the hero, begging him to stop—but his pleas were ignored.
He was not allowed to quit.
The hero was no longer human.
Determined not to lose even the hero himself, the blue-haired man spent every night in repentance, continuing to provide tactical support to the heroic party.

Several years after the red-haired friend's death, they finally managed to defeat the demon king.
The world rejoiced and gave thanks.

The hero became the king who ruled the nation.
The blue-haired man became the prime minister of that country.
And the red-haired friend was hailed as a hero for saving the hero.