I think what we're seeing here is two heroes' journeys getting compressed into one. In the previous reality where Albus was the hero, the Red Blight was also present but not recognized as the Demon Lord's attack because at that point his revival hadn't become known. At that early stage, the hero Rayman went on his heroic quest (ending the Red Blight) and succeeded at the cost of his life. He was simply never recognized as a hero because he wasn't the flashy great magical fighter fighting the Demon Lord. This time things got accelerated and Albus has to accompany the earlier unrecognized hero who is now recognized as a true hero thanks to the revised timeline.