[Hero's fall and New Identity]

-Demon Lord Palace,

In the middle of a dimly lit and gloomy Throne room,

"Is it *huff* over?"

A breathtakingly handsome messy black-haired man who is surprisingly a hero summoned from another world with a golden eyes that shone in the darkness, tiredly huffed out words as he stood in front of the defeated Demon Lord.

The hero is named Lucas, he's wearing half destroyed armor due to the battle he had with the demon lord. He looked down at the demon lord who killed thousands if not millions including his best friends who is summoned to this world along with him.

Lucas himself had scary expression as if he's won't be satisfied to just let the Demon Lord die. Though Lucas was called 'Hero Among Heroes', he himself is on the verge of being broken inside.

Lucas was summoned to this world 7 years ago along with his best friend 'Anderson' and his childhood friend 'Iris' while they were walking home from school together.

Lucas clenched his fist, enough to draw blood, and spit on the Demon Lord face.

*Ptui*

"Bastard...now what? I've won...but at what cost?"

Lucas muttered, his black hair shadowed his face, hiding his expression.

"I didn't choose to come to this fucked up world...If only..."

Lucas muttered as a lone tear drop from his right eyes.

"K-Keke-"

The defeated Demon Lord that is laying in a miserable state laughed in a low voice but then within a millisecond...Lucas's blank face appeared in front of him along with a punch closely following him

*BAM!!*

Lucas's fist connected to the demon lord face, disfiguring it to a whole new level.

Though Lucas was exhausted, his punch that contained his rage seem to shake the entire castle, debris scattered away from where Lucas punch as if being repelled by a powerful invisible force.

"..."

The demon lord is now silent, barely hanging onto his consciousness. His head didn't explode from the impact is enough to show how durable his body is.

"Haa...Haa...who gave you bastard the permission to talk..."

Lucas controlled his anger and muttered, ignoring the blood that is dripping from his clenched fist. As he didn't imbue any mana to protect his fist earlier, it's not a surprise for him to receive some injury.

"...What do you take life for, exactly? What's so amusing about it?"

The more Lucas apathetically asked, the more suffocating pressure he emits.

"I'm tired of all the shits I've gone through...I'll end everything now, Demon Lord Bullas"

Demon Lord Bullas who's still hanging onto his consciousness suddenly have a funny thought,

'This hero...He is different...He's not cheesy as the heroes from the story...Kekekeke. It seemed that he didn't read children storybook'

Bullas opened his heavy eyes and stared at the Hero who's about to take his head...

'Is he really a hero? I don't think a hero should have those eyes...well, this is the outcome I expected from negotiating with people from this continent...Is wanting peace a sin?...I'm also at fault, I've killed thousands if not millions...including his friend...'

Lucas brought up his holy sword given by the church in the kingdom.

"You know? I've hoped everyday that I would one day wake up and found out that all this is a just a dream..."

Lucas gave a small sad smile, reminiscing about his friends, before infusing most of his mana into the sword and swing it diagonally with the intention to kill.

*FWOM!*

Lucas's sword shone in all seven spectrum colors.

"Farewell bastard"

*Swoosh!*

The slash cut through Bullas' body and the core hidden inside him, and even through the stoned floor. That demonstrated how powerful his slash were.

"..."

Before long, the light generated from Lucas's attack diminished along with Bullas' life.

*Thud*

Lucas fell on his back due to extreme exhaustion.

"..."

'I don't have any powers left. My body hurts, and I don't want to move.'

*FUAM!*

A black mist or to be precise miasma came out of the lifeless body of the Demon Lord and is approaching Lucas.

Lucas knew what this kind of miasma is, it's the kind that corrode one's lifeforce.

Lucas was already too exhausted to even lift a finger, lifting his sword is out of mind, so eliminating the miasma is impossible.

The only thing he could do is watch it approach him.

Lucas had no fear of death, as he still wished that everything that happened is nothing but a dream for him. His loss is too severe and the mental pressure is too much for him to handle.

Lucas just closed his eyes.

As soon as Lucas felt something entered his body through the pores in his body.

An unimaginable pain struck him so hard, he gasped and convulsed for a moment.

"Kuh-"

The pain Lucas is experiencing is enough to put any person into a coma or worse death, it was excruciating, but Lucas endured it with sheer will as he still has a promise to fulfill.

He promised his deceased friends 'Iris' and 'Anderson' to celebrate after he finished everything.

*Clack*

The door to the throne room was suddenly opened and a figure wearing battered black armor came in.

"Lucas!"

He is one of Lucas's party members.

Hearing his comrade voice, Lucas was relieved.

*Tap* *Tap*

The figure's slow step resounded in the quiet throne room.

"...You defeated the Demon Lord. As expected of you, a Hero."

Lucas who's laying on his back motionlessly was bewildered that his comrade didn't call him by his name but the title instead.

The figure stopped beside the unmoving Lucas who's surrounded by black miasma.

"The winner always tell the tales...History is always written by the winners...Isn't it amazing? The Hero Lucas, sacrificed himself to kill the Demon Lord in order to save the world?"

*Shing!*

The figure unsheathe the sword strapped on his hip and point the sharp blade at Lucas.

Lucas was silent for a moment before forcing out words.

"...Hex,...where...are the...other?"

Hex who heard that put on an excited expression.

"You mean that bastard Hein and Mia? Who knows? You can ask this partner of mine."

Hex put on a thinking pose before pointing at the blade he's holding.

"..."

Lucas's gritted his teeth with enough force that seemed to be able to shatter anything.

"Hmm...You are no fun. I thought you're going to make the face 'Iris' make before she died"

"..."

Lucas's eyes widen and uncontrollably shook as he forcefully turned to look at Hex who had a mocking expression.

"Y-You...wha- cough cough!"

Before Lucas could finish his sentence, he suddenly coughed up a few mouthful of blood but his eyes never once stop glaring at Hex.

"Oh...You thought that Iris died due to the battle she had with one of Demon Lord's commanders? I wish I could share my memories with you...HehehaHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"..."

Lucas now had a lifeless and empty eyes.

"You can't blame me though...I was just following orders~ It was just a small sacrifice...for the better future that is~"

*DOOOM*

Lucas emits an incredibly intense bloodlust and oppressive pressure towards Hex.

"Guh- D-Don't worry, I will tell everyone about your heroic tale. Now then, farewell Hero-Sama."

Hex struck down his sword towards Lucas's Heart. Even when facing death, Lucas sharp glare never once leave Hex's face.

"Wait...for me...I'll f-"

Lucas muttered as his life's force diminished, he faded into the darkness.

.

..

***

..

.

Lucas's consciousness was awakened by a man's loud irritated voice.

" -what is the meaning of this? How can this be!?"

"P-please don't shout, darling..."

"Shut up!! What the hell is this trash!?"

"Don't!! Stop, please! He's your child too!!"

Lucas opened his lifeless eyes to see what was happening: the first thing he found was a man wearing noble clothing.

At the same time, he realized that man was holding him up. The man looked at Lucas's face, a hateful expression on his.

"Filthy trash, that's what this is!!"

So snarled the man as he threw Lucas to the beautiful lady standing next to him.

'The hell?'

Lucas cursed as the woman easily caught Lucas in her arms.

That very moment, Lucas finally realized what had happened to him. His body had become very small in size.

'My body shrunk...? No...I turned into a baby'

As Lucas was in his thought, the quarrel continued. The woman was now criticizing the man.

"How could you do such a thing...! You brute!!"

"Silence! I was wrong to expect anything from a woman like you...out!! Leave this place, now!! Take that accursed child and leave immediately!!"

"...understood."

The woman who had caught Lucas walked towards the door, tears falling from her eyes. She put a hand on the doorknob and turned around.

"Goodbye. I loved you, once."

"...please, just go and never come back!!"

The man roared, without even looking at the woman.

The woman, holding Lucas in her arms, wept as she left.

From their exchange, Lucas realized she was his mother and the man was his father.

'So I reincarnated...it's not a dream...'

Lucas thought as he hiddenly stared at the man's back, ignoring the stinging pain in his eyes.

.

.

"Aah...how could this happen...this boy did nothing wrong..."

Outside the room, the woman who held Lucas fell to her knees, crying.

A short while later, a group of people appeared before her.

Lucas looked at them and noticed that they're maids and soldiers just by looking at their costumes.

One of the 'soldiers' called to the woman in a polite manner.

"Milady, please settle down. It is truly regrettable, but you and the child are not allowed to stay in the castle anymore. We shall lead you outside."

Lucas looked at this scene calmly analyzing the situation he's in.

'Am I somewhat of a trash to be thrown outside now? What a cliché Hero to zero situation...'

It was still a mystery for Lucas, however, why his mother was in tears, or why his father was so angry with him. The adults continued to talk.

A male soldier addressed the woman.

"Let us go. The airship is ready to depart. We should be able to leave without anyone noticing now."

"Where are you going to take us!?"

The soldier fell silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

"...my deepest apologies, milady. I cannot say that"

"Is that so...very well. I will not resist, so please, do not harm this child."

One of the soldiers reacted loudly to the mother's words.

"Harm...? How can you say that, milady!? We have sworn our loyalty to the kingdom! You are the royal consort, thus we serve you as we serve His Majesty. Please do not say such sad things..."

"Because I am the royal consort...you say. Can you also swear your loyalty to this child then?"

The mother quietly looked at Lucas.

The soldier bit on his lower lip then looked away from the mother and continued.

"...I am truly sorry, but that child...regrettably, that child cannot qualify as royalty..."

'So I'm a royalty...and you say I'm not qualify? You're just a mere soldier imbecile...Who are you to judge?'

Lucas now understood the situation.

"He cannot qualify as a member of the royal family? This child is my son!! He was born from the king and me...!"

The woman interrupted the soldier's words, agitated, but the latter voiced a cruel sentence.

"His Majesty has personally stated as much, milady. But even before that, He has claimed to have only one son, Prince Gilbert who's born two months prior."

"No...he can't..."

The woman fell to her knees.

"Milady...we must be on our way."

"Don't touch me!! I will walk by myself!"

The soldier extended a hand towards the woman, but she pushed it away forcefully.

The soldier lowered his head, respecting her wishes. Lucas didn't want to stay still without doing anything so he reached for her body with his tiny arms, trying to console her.

'...You've done enough lady...I respect that'

"..."

Lucas was bewildered as no sound came out of his mouth even though he tried to let out a sound.

'Hmm'

The mother's expression grew softer, as she started talking to her child.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you can sleep, dear...mommy was too loud and woke you up? I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

The mother, Lucas in her arms, followed the soldiers out of the castle.

'What a fucked up day today is...and curse this weak body!'

Lucas, unable to stay awake any longer, fell into a deep sleep.

***

Some time later...

When Lucas woke up, he thought he was outside. He looked up and found his mother's face.

Her face seemed so distraught the last time he saw her, but now the light of a strong resolve shone in her eyes - she was looking straight ahead.

Lucas followed her gaze and found a large residence.

'Ma'am...Woman'

Lucas tried speaking but no sound came out.

"..."

Lucas then reach his tiny arm towards his mother to notice her that he's awake.

"Oh dear...did I wake you up? Look, this is our new home."

"..."

Lucas didn't say anything as he stared at the residence, uninterested.

The residence was certainly not new, but it had a very dignified and modern appearance.

Lucas was in the residence's spacious gardens. In the distance, he could see iron fences, taller than a human adult, surrounding the area.

The mother started walking, carrying Lucas with her, and opened a door inside the residence.

Inside, a large group of people seemed to be waiting for them. They were probably the residence's servants: most of them seemed to be in their thirties or forties, with the youngest in their early thirties. Some of the men had quite well-built physiques, suggesting that they were soldiers before starting to work as servants.

Lucas was uninterested by the rows of servants, but, his mother seemed to be a little intimidated by them. Her expression and tone of voice betrayed her worry.

"Who are you all...?"

A gray-haired man, possibly the servants' representative, stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"We have been eagerly expecting you, milady. We have been charged with the maintenance and management of this residence. As per His Majesty's orders, we vow to serve you."

"He did...? Do you know about this child too?"

The mother's expression became clouded, out of concern for Lucas. The gray-haired man then smiled kindly.

"We have. Many of us are in the same situation as that child, in fact. So please do not worry: no one here would ever think of causing him any harm."

'...Lies. They're in the same situation as me? What exactly does that mean...? Were they abandoned?'

Lucas could point out some lies.

"...Is that so...that is good to hear."

The mother breathed a sigh of relief.

The gray-haired man then continued speaking.

"Please come this way, Milady. A room has been prepared for the child as well."

"There is a child's room, in a residence like this? Yes, please show me."

"With pleasure, Milady."

The mother headed towards the child's room, Lucas in her arms. Inside, she carefully laid him down on the bed, and Lucas quickly fell asleep.

Lucas's first day in the new world thus came to an end...

***

When Lucas woke up, once again he found his mother with him.

"...?"

Lucas touched his mother's waist.

"Oh my, you're already up, dear?"

The mother, startled a bit, before gently picked up Lucas in her arms.

Lucas tried to say 'good morning', but...

"..."

...as usual, no sound came out but his mouth moved.

He recalled that he was still a newborn. He could only use his body language to express himself at this point, but his mother seemed to think he just wanted to play.

"...Good boy, good boy~"

"..."

Seeing Lucas moving his mouth up and down as if to speak, the mother just cheered for whatever Lucas trying to do. Before long, Lucas gave up on voicing out sound.

Lucas looked up at his mother, the dissatisfaction clearly showing on his face, and she smiled warmly, putting him back on the bed. She then playfully poked his cheeks.

"..."

Lucas just wiggled around to find a comfortable position.

"My, aren't we very energetic today? You looked a bit sick yesterday, so I was worried, but..."

The mother then seemed to remember something.

"I should give you a name, now that I think about it. Let's see...how about Luna? It sounds like a girl's name, it's so lovely!"

"..."

Lucas blankly stared at his mother as if saying 'Are you serious? Do I look like a girl to you?' and his mother cocked her head to the side, looking troubled.

"Oh? I wonder if it's not to your liking. In that case...Henry? Bob?"

"..."

Lucas closed his eyes, to show his mother that he denied.

"No? Hmm...Magi?...Magnus?"

"..."

Lucas opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and smiled after hearing the last name as he liked it.

"Eh? Magnus? Do you like the name Magnus?"

"..."

Lucas forced out a smile and flailed his arms around in response while also trying to make a sound.

"Oh my~ you seem to like it a lot. Okay then, you are now 'Magnus Aznárez Asura'. Anyways, my little Magnus, it's still nappy time. Sweet dreams~"

His mother kissed Lucas or now Magnus's forehead, then left the room.

Magnus, alone in the room, started thinking.

'Magnus Aznárez Asura...From Asura Kingdom. So did I regressed or reincarnated into the future then?...Anyways, it would be good if I were to regress.'

While laying down on his back, Magnus closed his eyes and meditate.

Darkness is all Magnus see...

After a few hours of meditation...

Magnus is finally able to see his mana core...

'What's this?'

Magnus was confused...

Inside his main mana core, he saw all familiar magic affinities' cores he had in his time as a Hero.

Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Space, Time, Light, and Anti-Magic But there's an addition affinity in it, Darkness. He basically had aptitude to all affinity now. In his time as a hero, the title 'Hero among Heroes' he gained was because of this bizarre stats.

He noticed that three of the cores that surrounds him are being tied by some kind of chains. It's the Space, Time, and Light's core.

'Are those...being suppressed?'

Magnus guessed, if his hypothesis is correct then his overall strength would drop by a large margin as during his time as a hero, his specialty is Time and Space magic. He could stop time for two minutes and teleport or cut space using space affinity. Even though, many powerful individuals during that time are capable of countering and disrupting the stopped time, he's still almost unbeatable.

Anyways, in his subconscious state, Magnus tried touching the chain in curiosity that tied a distorting purplish black core, responsible for space affinity.

As soon as his hand came in contact with it.

*FWOOSH*

He was ejected out of his subconscious state by facing a strong repelling force and coughed up blood.

"Aeah!"

Magnus didn't care about coughing blood but it was his first time hearing his voice, though it was a weird sound.

*Clank*

The door to his room is slowly opened and a very beautiful woman with soft flowing snow-white hair came in, she's Magnus's mother.

"...!? Magnus! What happened!? Are you okay!? Hurt anywhere!?"

As soon as she spotted her son and saw blood on his mouth and clothes, she started panicking and scared.

She held Magnus in her embrace and rushed out of the room.

'...You worry too much mother.'

Magnus wanted to console his mother but he couldn't speak.

'This is going to be some long years...'

"Healer! Get me healer this instant!"

'...Haa'

.

.

"As I said milady, it's just his curse acting up"

"R-Really?...Can you cure him then?"

'A curse huh? Are those chains some kind of curse...?'

The female healer sighed as she politely answered.

"Milady, my profession is neither a priest nor a saint who could uncursed curse. I can't undo curses, milady. I'm sorry for my lack of abilities..."

"I-Is that so..."

Magnus's mom was dejected. She knew that her son was cursed and on top of that he had no aptitude for any magic affinities which people would consider a commoner to be more respectable than him without even batting an eye.

The king or her husband seeing that Magnus had no future, didn't even consider Magnus his son from then on, he even called his own son 'trash'...which is an unforgivable act.

'Mother, you worry too much...Haa'

Magnus after being healed...? was bored of listening to adults just laid his head on his mother's warm and soft bre- chest! and sleep as he didn't get an ounce of sleep yet.

"As I was saying milad-"

The healer was suddenly interrupted by Magnus's mother.

"Shuu. My baby is asleep"

She gestured the healer to be quiet by using touching her lip with her index finger. With that Magnus's mother walked out of the infirmary towards her room with Magnus in her arm sleeping peacefully.

***

The following couple of weeks after reincarnating was a new kind of torture for Magnus. He had little to no motor control over his limbs except being able to wave them around, and even that got tiring quickly. He realized all too grudgingly that babies don't really get to control their fingers all that much. In his free time, he could only meditate while laying on his back like a baby...well, he's a baby.

Anyways, Magnus also discovered an interesting fact, like when you place your finger on a baby's palm, they don't grab it because they like you, they grab it because it's like getting hit in the funny bone; it's a reflex.

On the bright side, one of the few perks that Magnus became happily accustomed to was being breastfed by his mother.

Don't judge him yet, he had no ulterior motives whatsoever. It's just that breast milk tasted a lot better than baby formula and has better nutritional value...that's it.

Magnus's mother stayed with him almost 24/7 as she's worried about the curse that is inflicted on her son by someone.

Magnus's free time is only 6 hours which he used it to increase his mana quality by purifying it inside him as he had found out that he inherited all his previous potential stats as a hero, so his future mana capacity will not be a problem as his future mana's capacity as it will be huge...'extremely' at that.

Being with his mother also has its benefits as his mother often read different books for him. He had already grasped where he is.

In simple, he's reincarnated into the future much to his dismay...900 years to be exact as there's a tales about three brave summoned heroes from another world with the name, Lucas, among the trios. That tale was published around 900 years ago.

The story was twisted and modified far from the truth and reality. The one responsible for it seemed to be that son of a dog called 'Hex'.

The tales of Hero among Heroes, Lucas, started with the day he was summoned along with his two friends, Saint Iris, and Archmage Anderson. The story didn't mention the death of Iris and Anderson, but they did mentioned the honorable last fight that Lucas and his 'right-hand man' Hex, joined force and fought with the Demon Lord together. Lastly, Lucas sacrificed himself to save Hex and the world from Demon Lord Bullas.

The first thought that came in Magnus's head is 'What genus and species of bullshit is this?'

He didn't show any reaction when he heard his tales...on the exterior that is. As his mother was in front of him at that time, he couldn't get angry at the happy ending...right?

On the contrary to the exterior, inside, anger boils up in him. Like when people say, 'When anger boils up, take the pot off the heat and open the lid. You Gotta let that steam dissipate safely into the ether'. That's what Magnus wanted to do, but his way of letting out steam is different...he promised himself to give Hex's grave a visit later in the future...