Deep within the forest, a big roar erupted. Roar enough to send shivers down the spine of any being.
Every creature within the vicinity shuddered and instinctively ran away from the danger.
That roar was none other than the dragon's roar. But what was fascinating about this scene was that this same dragon was breathing its last breath.
Dragon loomed over a 20-foot-tall covering vast field of area, but it was fascinating that he was tattered beyond what one would imagine, his blood spilling all over his scales, his eyes slowly dimming from their once fearful gaze.
Even in his last breath, the dragon made its last roar, which was enough to send terror to any being who witnessed this, and finally, with a big thud, he fell.
A loud rumble was heard by every nearby creature.
If one looks carefully, then they would see a man standing near the fallen dragon, who was once mankind's biggest fear, with no change in his expression, as if he had lost his expression.
That very man was none other than Ryan, the strongest swordsman that mankind has ever witnessed in history.
Ryan stood there with his sword piercing the dragon's throat.
From nearby, he saw the dragon taking away its last breath, and yet he didn't blink an eye at this. The scene was enough to send any man's terrors down their throat.
"Sigh, finally, your end has come. You must have felt how brave I must be to come and fight you alone." Ryan said to the dragon as it took its last breath.
After a while, Ryan added, "I don't want to take the burdens of others on my shoulders. I, too, want to live a normal life with friends and family. But, alas, life didn't give me such a chance."
Suddenly, a small gem emerged from the dragon, and it started revolving around Ryan. The gem went inside Ryan as if it were originally part of his body.
Despite being called the strongest swordsman to ever live, he had to go through a long battle to defeat the dragon. He was tattered, his armor was broken, and his sword had worn out.
He took a step and fell down on the nearby rock.
"It looks like my time has also come. I will finally be able to join you, Lucy," Ryan whispered to himself.
He was also in his last breath, having defeated the dragon that mankind fears. He had sustained a great deal of damage himself; his half-immortal core was on the verge of breaking away.
Suddenly, Ryan started hearing small steps. Even though he had sustained a great deal of damage and had almost lost all his energy, he could still see from afar that they were his teammates.
He thought, "I don't have any meaning to my life; the sword that I practice so much doesn't spark the same as it once did. Nor do I have any purpose to live; the dragon that once terrorized the people is now dead."
"Don't come here, leave me here," Ryan shouted loud enough to be heard from miles away.
As if they didn't hear anything, they kept on coming near him.
"I said don't come here, can't you hear me!" Ryan angrily lashed out, nearly vomiting blood from anger.
As the distance neared, they finally revealed themselves. Ryan knew who they were.
They were his cherished teammates that he had fought life-and-death battles with countless times.
"My dear friend, why do you want us to not come near you? Do you fear that we might kill you in this weakened state of yours? How funny you are, my friend. Kekekeke," the former sword saint, an old man in his fifties, jokingly said.
"Wow, wow, what a sight to behold! The strongest swordsman has finally fallen down," Juggernaut, A big, bulky guy amusingly said.
"Shit! I myself wanted to kill him, but it looks like there is no point in it now," the 7th circle magician, having a thin build, said angrily.
Despite seeing this, he had no change in expression, as though he had expected this from the beginning.
From the very beginning, he knew how the world was; he was abandoned by his parents when he was small.
He grew up in a small orphanage.
Ryan grew up seeing how the strong would always bully the weak.
He who grew up in such a situation from the get-go knew the workings of society. But he didn't expect that the comrades that he once fought with together would come for his life.
The biggest irony was that he himself was on his last breath, yet fate had some other plan.
"I knew this would happen someday, but I didn't know that you would be the ones to betray me, hahaha," Ryan started laughing loudly.
They started fearing seeing this side of Ryan; they thought he would be in disbelief and lose all his spirit.
But to their surprise, he was laughing.
"Bastards, go and thrash your sword to my heart, pierce it with all your strength," Ryan angrily lashed out towards them.
Before letting them hit him, he held his worn-out sword tightly.
He moved so swiftly that in the blink of an eye, he appeared before the magician and cut off his hand, separating him from his magic staff.
"Ahhh! Ahhhh! My hand! My hand! You bastard!" The magician cried.
Then swiftly, he cut his neck; it all happened in just a few moments. Juggernaut and the former sword saint felt their hearts gripping tight, and their throats went dry.
They came here thinking he was exhausted and would be an easy target, but it was all wrong.
They saw Ryan coming towards them, and before the former sword saint could do anything, he saw blood spilling out of his heart.
The former sword saint collapses on the ground, lifeless.
Ryan coughs blood from pushing himself beyond his limit.
But he didn't stop there and attacked Juggernaut, and while trying to slice him up, Juggernaut defended himself with his huge shield. Ryan was pushed back.
"Bastard, you have lost now; you are tired beyond repair. I will send you to him…" Before Juggernaut could finish his words, he felt his neck being cut swiftly.
At that very end, Ryan burned all his life force and cut Juggernaut's neck.
Ryan let go of the sword, and with a thud, he fell to his knees.
Emotions started flooding him; he had kept them under.
The gate to his emotion has finally been broken. He felt so much guilt and sadness.
People saw him as an invisible force, but only he knew how he was keeping himself moving.
As if finally time had come to bid the world farewell, Ryan closed his eyes, thinking how unfair life was to him, that even in his last breath, he couldn't die happily.
His body fell to the ground, and the eerie atmosphere became quiet.
Slowly, Ryan lost consciousness, and he died.
A miracle happened, as if fate were seeing from far away and playing its part.