The Extra Can't be A Hero

Chapter 259 259: The Tale of Amon the Great (1)

Amon drifted aimlessly within the vast expanse of his dreams, like a lone vessel set adrift upon an endless ocean.

There was no wind, no current—only the weightless pull of memory drawing him deeper into the abyss.

Images from his past as Number 23 rose from the depths, one after another, unrelenting and vivid. He saw again the faces of the countless lives he had extinguished, the crimson haze of battlefields, the echo of cries that refused to fade. And among them were the ones he had cared for… their final moments forever etched into the fabric of his mind.

Each memory struck him like a wave, tearing through the fragile dam that shielded his sanity. When he had been Number 23, a living weapon forged by the Empire's cruelty, his mind had done what it must to survive. It had built walls—thick, unyielding barriers—to suppress his humanity, to dull the agony of conscience as he carried out unspeakable orders.

To the Empire, he had been nothing more than a tool, a perfect construct of obedience and death.

Yet the truth was far more cruel.

The machinery that kept him functional was not theirs; it was his own mind's desperate creation. His psyche had divided itself, sealing away compassion, regret, and fear, leaving behind only the cold efficiency of a weapon.

Now, as those walls cracked and the memories bled through, Amon was forced to confront what he had become—not just the monster the Empire made, but the man who had allowed himself to be hollowed out to survive.

'Survive? No, I didn't just want to survive.'

Amon recalled the motives behind his actions. At any time, he could have left the Empire. He could have denounced the evils they committed and turned into a rebel. He could have sided with the Alliance, defeating his makers.

Or…

He could have just ended the Transcendental War with his own unique powers.

But he didn't.

He chose not to.

Why?

'Because… I wished for a hero.'

Amon's yearning stemmed from something innate. He hoped that there would have been someone to save him, just as Nixon did. He wished… for a hero.

But there was something Amon, no, Number 23 had overlooked.

'I should have been my own hero.'

The reason for his existence, the reason why he was born as a Transcendent, and the meaning of his wretched life… he had got it all wrong in the first place.

'It's too late now… The people I killed, the families I tore apart, the world I destroyed… They won't come back.'

Amon wasn't like Yue. He couldn't regress in time. Even if he could, would the sins he'd committed be washed clean?

No, they would stay on him like a burning tattoo, reminding him that he had lived a life of a wretched fool.

'From the beginning… why was I born?'

As Amon relived his memories as Number 23 time and time again, that same question remained at the forefront of his mind.

Why was he born on Earth?

His parents abandoned him, his country controlled him, and everything he held dear was ripped away from him.

The only time he did something of note… was when he saved his men during the final battle that took his life. He protected someone else of his own volition, and regained some pieces of his lost humanity. At the very end of his life… he wasn't Number 23, the weapon. But an actual human being.

As for why he chose to do that?

[Bright.]

Amon lifted the book in his hand. The final volume that he managed to read, and was unable to finish. [Bright] wasn't a mere figment of someone's imagination, but a real story, a story that he'd been living.

The world centred around Leon Bright, but the truth of the matter was… Amon was every bit a protagonist as Leon was. Amon didn't transmigrate into the world of [Bright]... he was always meant to be here.

And so, the letters on the book began to fade away. The golden print melted off, and a new title emerged on the leathery book cover. Amon's hand shook as he wiped off the ink and read the letters loud and clear.

[The Tale of Amon the Great.]

Amon's fingers shook as he began to flip the pages of the book.

Just as how [Bright] was the tale of Leon Bright, the hero who saved the world, [The Tale of Amon the Great] was the story of how Amon saved the world.

From his beginnings as Number 23, to how he fought tirelessly and alone against the Demon Cult. To how he saved Yue Elune from turning into a villain and how he single-handedly shouldered the burden of the world, preventing all of the Calamities with just a single blade.

Amon read through the story as cold realisation sank in.

'These aren't mere stories… but what really happened… in an alternate timeline.'

[Bright] and [The Tale of Amon the Great] were both records… records that were written by a higher power, one that transcended the world and the divine alike. And that's when Amon remembered the one entity that neither Yue nor he could figure out.

'The Mysterious Grimoire.'

The Mysterious Grimoire was an artefact in Yue's possession. Neither of them knew how it came into existence, but that tome held the secrets to Yue's regression, the records of the Demon Cult, and now… the origin of how Amon's soul transmigrated.

And as Amon finally figured that out, he sensed a familiar fragrance enter his subconscious.

No, that presence had always been there. Amon had just been unable to sense her while he was wallowing in his grief and regrets.

The woman descended like an immortal fairy bathed in moonlight, her figure draped in a soft silver glow. Her hair shimmered like spun snow, and her ruby eyes gleamed with a beauty that seemed almost unearthly—an existence caught between dream and divinity, veiled in ethereal mist.

A whirlwind of emotions flickered across her face—fear, relief, and above all… love.

Her crimson eyes brimmed with tears as she finally surrendered to her heart, throwing herself into Amon's embrace. Her voice broke into a wail, raw and trembling, the sound of a soul that had endured too much for far too long.

"Amon!"

"... Yue."

Yue's warmth was transmitted into Amon's fragile and unmended heart, unknowingly bringing mist to his eyes too. Biting on the bottom of his lip, he couldn't bear to wrap his arms around her tender waist, only faintly whimpering:

"Yue… I'm a monster."

"No, you're Amon the Great."

"..."

Amon didn't answer, and he allowed his memories to flow once more. He chose the most heinous of crimes: the time when he massacred an entire village, the instance when he killed the innocent who surrendered, and even the scenes of Amon the Great, when he barged right into Yue's home and attempted to murder her.

Before he chose to walk his current path, before he chose to emulate the Hero.

Amon was a wretched being who deserved to die.

But Yue didn't care.

"Yue, even after seeing this… even after knowing my past… do you really think that I'm great?"

"Amon… you're such a fool."

"A fool? Yes, I am a fool."

Amon was a fool for thinking he could become the hero. After all of his sins… he wasn't much better than the Demon Cult.

"Yes, you're a fool… But, you're my fool." Yue looked up at her lover with a rosy hue in her eyes.

"You're my fool, my lover, and my hero."

"Hero? Even after all that, you can call me a hero?"

"Your past is irrelevant to my feelings. Amon, let me ask you this… why do you wish to be a hero? Why did you yearn for one?"

"I… I wanted to be free. I wanted to find meaning in my existence. And… I wanted to have the power to protect those I held dear… and I didn't want a repeat of what happened to Nixon."

"You know it well."

Yue smiled, relieved that she no longer needed to explain Amon's own emotions to him. Though Nirvana had driven him to collapse, the unravelling of the seal within his mind had also freed him… it allowed him to feel once more, to be human again.

For the first time in a long while, he could look inward and truly understand himself. And through that self-awareness, his mind continued to grow, to mature beyond what it once was.

"I can't judge your previous life as Number 23. I can't even commend you for everything you did during my original timeline. But, there's one thing I can say… Amon, you are great."

"Yue… Why do you treat me as such?"

Amon raised the book in his hands as his voice was tinged with a light reproach.

"I'm not the same person you fell in love with! I'm not the Amon the Great in this story! I'm just…"

Before Amon could finish his outburst, Yue's slender fingers touched his lip, preventing him from breaking even further. She held the despondent young man in her arms as her moist lips separated.

"I knew that from the beginning. I didn't fall in love with you because of your past, but despite it. I chose to come back in time, not to save humanity, but to spend my future with you."

Tightening her embrace as if Amon were the most precious treasure in the world, Yue continued to pour her heart out.

"You are not Number 23, nor are you the same Amon from Amon the Great. Neither am I the same Yue Elune who turned into a villain in [Bright] nor the Yue who stood faithfully by Amon the Great. We are now our own people… in our own timeline."

Yue raised her head from Amon's chest and stared right into his flickering, golden eyes.

"And we'll write our own story."

"..."

"Don't let your past define you, Amon. If you have sinned, atone for it! If you want to be a hero, go for it! Nothing is holding you back!"

"..."

"And whatever you choose… I will always be by your side… loving you."

Amon remained silent for a while, letting the memories that had haunted him slowly dissolve like morning dew beneath the sun. Clarity returned to his mind as the traces of demonic mana were purified, leaving him with a rare sense of calm.

And then, for the first time, colour flooded his face.

His heart pounded faster than it ever had before, and he found himself unable to meet Yue's gaze. Her beauty overwhelmed him, stealing the air from his lungs.

Flustered, he turned his head away and muttered in protest, voice trembling with embarrassment:

"Why should I love you?"

Yue didn't even have time to process the adorable scene of the man she loved acting like a virgin maiden. She gently cupped his cheek and lovingly replied:

"Hehe, you silly… You already do."