Chapter 1: I'm no hero just a mere passerby

"Help, please! Someone help! Ouch! Please don't kill us." In front of me, there are four individuals – two of them being a mother and a little girl, her daughter. The other two are wolf men, part of the demon lord's second general's army.

Apparently, the mother and daughter duo were caught while escaping through the forest and brought to the center of the city for public execution for escaping prison.

Thousands of people started gathering, circling the center to watch the execution of the mother and daughter.

"Kill me if you want, but please spare my daughter. She's just 3 years old," the mother begged through the cage towards the wolf men. Instead of responding, one of the wolf men angrily swung his iron rod at her hands, which were wrapped around the cage bars. Upon contact, blood spilled on the ground as she screamed loudly from the pain. The crowd watched in horror. Although they didn't want to witness this, they had no choice after the demon lord's army took over the city; they had to oblige to their rules.

Suddenly, a towering wolf man emerged from the onlookers, his face concealed by a dark cloth, revealing only blood-red eyes that exuded a menacing aura.

The other two wolf men, observing his approach, opened the cage beside the mother, where her child was held, and forcibly dragged her outside, holding the young girl upside down in a brutal manner, while the child cried out.

The mother, still in pain with her shattered fingers, screamed for help as she witnessed her daughter's peril. The crowd, feeling helpless, cried along with her as the wolf men reveled in the atmosphere of despair.

"Please, I beg you, kill me! I beg you, leave my daughter! She's still young. Kill me, kill me, you bastards! Kill me, leave my daughter!" The mother, utterly helpless, screamed in a desperate attempt to save her daughter, an impossible plea.

As she screamed, her eyes met mine, freezing at my face. Relief spread upon her face, and in that moment, my heart felt a painful twinge, prompting me to look away.

(Don't look at me like, don't look at me like, I'm a nobody, I'm a loser. Please don't hope for anything, don't look at me with those eyes. Please don't, please don't.)

"Hero, please save my daughter!" she cried for help, seeing me looking away. As the entire crowd turned their attention towards me, their faces mirrored a mix of shock and relief, as expected.

The wolf men cast a brief glance my way before quickly redirecting their attention to their task. The crowd grew confused, wondering why the wolf men were not attacking me.

The child was brought before the towering wolf man, capturing the focus of the crowd once more.

"Hero, why aren't you doing anything? Don't tell me you're scared of them. Save her, you fucking piece of shit!" The mother angrily shouted at me, and I could only helplessly look at her.

The tall wolf man, armed with a large sword, readied himself to strike at the child. Without hesitation, he positioned himself behind her and swiftly swung his sharp sword, piercing through the neck of the three-year-old. Blood gushed from the headless neck, painting the center of the city in red. The onlookers witnessed this horrifying scene; some vomited, while others fainted in shock.

This level of brutality, bordering on insanity, could only be the work of demons – a realization that seared through the minds of the city's people.

This was precisely what the demons aimed for – to implant the fear of their cruelty deep within the human heart.

The wolf men reveled in laughter, holding the severed head of the baby in one hand.

When I gazed at the mother again, her expression was vacant. However, her eyes bore into mine, filled with disappointment, sorrow, and hatred. Though her lips moved silently, I understood the word she conveyed, a term all too familiar to me: "Go die, you worthless coward piece of shit."

Upon uttering those words, she began banging her head against the iron bars, blood spilling from her head. Within a minute, her entire body collapsed with a thud.

As I witnessed this horrifying scene, a small kid tugged at my sleeves, facing me with a simple question, "You are a hero, aren't you? Then why didn't you save those two?"

I stared into the kid's eyes for a brief moment before responding with the same words I've repeated countless times: "I'm no hero, just a mere passerby."