How did I get the Bad Ending?

It was in the middle of the night when I suddenly woke up. Sleepily, I left my room and searched for the toilet. Obviously, because it was already deep in the night, it was dark. That was even more of a reason why I was able to notice it immediately.

Every single party member had their own room, which they closed. And yet, Alice's room was the only room whose door was slightly open, allowing the moonlight that shone through the room's window to enter my field of vision.

"...doing this...?"

I recognized Alice's voice. But it was weirdly weak—almost as if she was out of breath.

It wasn't exactly the right thing to do, but out of curiosity, I chose to walk to her door carefully. I continued to eavesdrop. The things said were mostly inaudible, but I noticed that two people were in the room.

Who would visit Alice at this hour and why? It couldn't be a lover because Alice was as dense as any other protagonist of other stories.

"..."

After I arrived at the door, I took a peek through the small opening. And it didn't take long until I slammed the whole door open.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted in rage.

I usually acted after thinking about my actions, but this time, I let my instincts take over.

"You..."

The one who spoke up first was Jean.

"Kageyama...?" Alice muttered faintly.

Alice's blood trickled down the silver sword that pierced her chest.

"JEAN!!!"

I couldn't form complete sentences anymore. Instead, I rushed to Jean, who had a tight grip on the same sword that stabbed Alice. I attempted to tackle him, however, in a swift motion, Jean stepped aside while pulling out the sword.

"Ugh...!"

I crashed against the wall clumsily and before I could get up, my body reacted to Alice, who was tossed to me.

"A-Alice!"

No... Please...

I held her in my trembling arms. Her body turned cold and didn't respond. Only her warm blood continued to gush out of her wound. The cold eyes that stared at demons with killing intent were just cold now—void of anything else.

"The hero is dead, my liege."

With a tightened chest and the feeling of having a frog stuck in my throat, I looked up to Jean.

"I apologize for not greeting you sooner, but I sincerely hope that you can understand my situation."

"W-what are you talking about...?!"

Too much was going on. I pulled the motionless Alice closer to me as I noticed my breath getting ragged.

At the same time, I heard noises outside the room.

"Seems like the others are heading towards us, my liege."

I didn't like this... Not at all... The way Jean talked to me. The way he smiled at me. And the way he treated me like his superior.

Jean, don't tell me... Are you-

"Guys, can you be quiet...?" Sophia said sleepily when she left her room.

"..."

I stared into the eyes of the smiling demon in front of me. He, who accompanied Alice and the others on their journey to defeat the Demon King and bonded with them until they became close comrades and friends, was nothing more than a demon. A devilish demon. Someone who deceived everyone with his fake smile.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my liege. I am Jean, one of the three generals." he declared, bowing to me politely.

Then, we turned our attention to the exit as we both sensed the footsteps of the others coming closer.

"Jean...!" I grumbled through my gritting teeth.

I was weak and useless. My stats sucked and my skill was ineffective against him. I could only bark.

[Am I saved now...?]

What? Was that just Alice's voice? Why did I perceive her voice inside my head?

[I suppose I am satisfied with this result.]

Following her, another voice rang inside my head. This time, it was a voice belonging to a grumpy man.

"Again, please excuse me. This may be rude, but there's still one thing for me to do." Jean stated without changing his smiling face.

He raised his sword into the air.

"You're killing your king...?" I said with a mocking grin.

"..."

But Jean didn't reply. And unfortunately, it was that damn smile that my eyes perceived before my vision turned black. Damnit... I didn't want it to end like this...!

"This is not the end, hero...! Someone else will replace me soon..!"

"Just die already, demon."

Hm? Once more, I heard the voices that talked inside my head. However, they sounded real.

"...?"

Slowly, I opened my eyes only to see a familiar azure sky and looked around.

"No way..." I muttered in disbelief.

Everything was like back then. The nonexistent clothes on me. The place I woke up at. And the people. Furthermore, it felt too real.

My gaze was locked onto the blonde girl who pulled out her black sword from a demon whose figure was turning into fine black particles and swept away by a breeze.

"Alice..."

The moment I called out to her faintly, she turned her attention to me.

"!"

And immediately, she threw her sword in my direction. I rolled away, but the moment I got up, I felt something cold pressing against my throat again. Just like back then.

"It seems like he was right."

"I-it's really you, Alice...!"

Seeing her standing in front of me made the sight of her dying moments seem like a bad dream.

"I don't know why you know my name, but..."

Well, she was indeed alive, however, I guess I was stuck in yet another problem.

"Don't you dare utter my name, new Demon King."

I didn't know why and how, but it looked like I returned to the day when I woke up in the world of Tales of Tasia.