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Chapter 355: Moving Forward (3)
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Hero Galahal is dead.
Hero Kyle Toven is missing.
The astronomers of the Royal Capital express that “Hero Kyle Toven is alive” since the constellations are intact, but even they are not sure. They are just tired of repeating that something is wrong with Kyle’s star.
The large-scale movement of beasts.
The emergence of concentrated zones of beasts.
The rapid demonic transformation of the land.
Amidst the countless bizarre phenomena occurring now, there is only one hero who can respond, excluding trainees. The world is pointing at one human.
The coward Destel.
The hero who survived after running away and running away.
He did not shy away from the public’s gaze, despite his nickname “coward” being entirely unfit for a hero. He moved silently towards the Special Front. However, what he received in return was mockery.
Someone is saying that he finally found a place to die after running away and away.
While heroes of your generation are achieving great feats, what are you going to do? The world asks Destel.
Criticism, laughter, mockery.
Destel does not listen to those voices he has grown accustomed to. He simply brushes it off. He has no intention of rebuttal anyway.
“What a ridiculous matter.”
Destel thinks so himself.
Things have become quite laughable.
In the end, what he has to do does not change.
Even the so-called Special Front is nothing more than the whim of disasters. The battlefield is maintained, retreated, and advanced due to their whims.
In such a ‘special’ battlefield, his role is nothing more than a symbol.
He does not have the strength to confront disasters. If even one of those horrifying disasters were to come pushing in, he would not be able to stop it. So, he can only pray nothing happens.
“…I was thinking that way.”
Destel sighed.
“Since you’ve come all the way here, it doesn’t seem easy to pass by. It seems something has happened again.”
As he sighed and turned his gaze, a girl stands there. With ashen hair flowing down and wearing the same robe as her brother.
Rania van Trias.
Indeed, no matter how many times he sees her, her appearance does not adapt. A girl with a soft impression entirely unfit for the battlefield. But Destel now knows her abilities.
The successor of the Ashen Mage, Raniel.
The mage who inherited all the magic from him.
She possesses a skill comparable to the Ashen Mage, and she also has sufficient evidence to support that skill. She invariably shows up at crucial moments, as if that is where she should be.
“The fact that you’re here means…”
Destel let out another long sigh.
“Something is about to happen here.”
Rania van Trias.
When she requested to visit her assigned place, the Eastern Zero Front, Destel was certain.
Something is there.
In that place swarming with beasts.
At the site of the former Kingdom of Selef, known to have once seen the appearance of the Demon Lord… something is wriggling there.
And it certainly won’t be light.
“Well, whatever it is…”
With a tap, Destel knocked on the table.
“First, I need to hear the story. There must be a reason you came all the way here. Do you know anything about those bizarre phenomena?”
Inside the command tent.
Destel looked at the two guests who had come to see him, the Archery Master Remia and the heir of Ashen, Rania van Trias. Just as he was about to say, “Say whatever you want,” she interjected.
“Before we get into the story, I have something to say.”
“Something to say?”
“Yeah. Information that you need to know. It’s important to know this for our conversation to proceed smoothly…”
A brief hesitation and fluttering lips.
With her demeanor suggesting that what she was about to say was exceedingly important, Destel slowly nodded his head.
“What is it?”
Despite looking like this, he’s a commander who has been through many trials and tribulations on the battlefield.
No matter what he hears, he wouldn’t be flustered…
“I am Raniel van Trias.”
She said it with certainty…
“…”
Destel blinked.
“I know. You’re Rania van Trias.”
“No, I said I’m Raniel.”
“What?”
“…I’m not Rania; I’m Raniel.”
No matter how much he blinked and rubbed his eyes, the girl standing in front of him wouldn’t change. Destel tapped his ears and responded.
“Uh, um. I know you want to be like your brother, but saying it like that is a bit…”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Now that I think about it, you were also offended when I mentioned your brother last time, right? I understand you want to resemble him, but still, saying you are him is rather… isn’t it?”
Rania, suddenly labeled as an impersonator, blushed.
With her lips pressed tightly, Rania continued.
“No, it’s not about my brother… I am Raniel. I’m Raniel van Trias. The Ashen Mage. It’s not an assumption; it’s the truth.”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Then this is even more serious.”
Is something wrong with her head?
Destel’s gaze seemed to imply that. Rania’s face turned entirely red. Normally, most characters would have noticed first, so she rarely had to bring up this embarrassing fact herself.
With her head hanging low, Rania barely extended a finger to point at her own face.
“I am… Raniel…”
“Rania I know isn’t a girl?”
“Guh…”
Kuh! Destel was about to phrase it just then when Remia, standing next to Rania, sighed and added.
“Yeah, it’s complicated.”
Destel shifted his bewildered expression between the two. Following this, Rania continued her persuasion for quite some time…
“Are you seriously doing this on purpose? Are you taking revenge for slapping me back then? Is that what it is?”
Finally, reaching her limits of patience, she held onto Destel’s collar and was able to convince him that she is Raniel.
2.
“No, usually, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Destel sighed as he tidied his disheveled collar. After a long explanation, it was only then that Destel reluctantly came to accept it, casting a dubious glance at Rania.
So, this girl is that Raniel?
It’s hard to wrap his head around that information.
The Raniel Destel remembers was a mage so deadly she could kill with just a look. A hero with such an unyielding sense of justice that she would drain the blood of those around her without fail.
But what about this girl?
‘She looks harmless, but…’
She has vulnerabilities. She carries humanity.
Destel remembers Rania’s flustered state he saw in the battlefield last time. He recalls the disheveled look on her face when Galahal died.
“Have you changed that much since I last saw you?”
“Don’t try too hard to think of something to say. I mean it.”
Destel’s remark was thrown in a double-meaning fashion, but Rania interpreted it as referring to her appearance.
“Huh… ”
Rania pressed her brows together and sighed, as if lamenting her current situation.
“Just knowing that I’m Raniel is enough. It’ll make our conversation easier. It’ll instill some trust in the information I’ll be sharing.”
“That’s true.”
“First, to state my business…”
Rania pointed at a section of the map scattered chaotically in the tent. The area was marked with a large red cross.
“Former site of the Kingdom of Selef.”
The path leading there is entirely colored crimson. This means it’s completely blocked by beasts. Fixing her gaze on the red, Rania said.
“I must make it there. Absolutely. So I would like your cooperation in breaking the path.”
“…You want me to break through that?”
Destel frowned.
“Have you not seen all those beasts swarming around? If you haven’t seen it, that’s why you’re saying this. Hey, there are more beasts than land to put your foot on! How do you…”
“I’m not saying to clear it all.”
Rania shook her head.
“I’ll be the only one passing through that way. Distracting the beasts is enough.”
“You’re saying you’ll go alone?”
“I have to go alone.”
“Are you off to commit suicide or something?”
Destel spat out casually.
“No matter how great a mage you are, going through there alone is suicidal. Maybe Kyle could manage it relying on his regeneration…”
As soon as the name Kyle was mentioned, Rania’s expression hardened. Destel couldn’t finish his sentence due to the sudden darkening of her face.
“…Is something wrong with Kyle?”
Destel is a man who is perceptive.
He instinctively knew he shouldn’t have asked, yet he fell into temptation and voiced the question. In response, Rania simply snapped her fingers.
Snap.
Mana ignited from her finger.
Tic, tic sparked the igniting mana with something rising over it. Platinum starlight. The moment Destel saw that starlight, his gaze shook widely.
The starlight symbolizes a hero.
And Destel knows whose that starlight is. As it is his skill to imitate the starlight of the deceased hero, he has the insight to recognize it at a glance.
“This is Kyle’s…”
Destel gulped dryly.
“Kyle, could it be…”
“He’s alive. For now.”
A sentence filled with many implications.
As Destel opened his mouth to question the meaning of that statement, Rania’s exceptionally serious expression forced him to swallow the questions rising in his throat.
“…Continue explaining. About the plan.”
“He has regeneration power like Kyle. He has physical abilities to charge through. So, I’m not going to commit suicide. It’s not that easy to die.”
It’s because it’s no longer just her own life at risk. She ingested the rest of that thought in silence as Rania clenched her fists.
“When I charge in, concentrate your firepower to create an opening for me. And from the moment I step in, block the beasts that will start rampaging over me.”
“…That doesn’t sound easy.”
“It’s not easy, which is why I’m asking.”
Rania pointed to Remia, who was standing beside her.
“This ear thief… uh, I mean, Remia will cooperate. While she may not be effective against strong enemies, she’s useful when the beasts swarm in hordes.”
“Useful? Is that it? ”
Remia narrowed her eyes.
She looked as if questioning what Rania had said while sitting in a carriage earlier.
“Why do I have to tell you that I’m just as useful? Why are you or Destel] so eager for praise? Are you just fishing for compliments?”
“Yeah, I’m kind of craving it lately.”
Remia chuckled lightly, grasping at the air. Her slender fingers caught a shimmering moonlight arrow.
“Commander.”
Remia glanced at Destel and flicked the moonlight arrow. Remia’s hair shimmered gold under the gentle moonlight.
“You understand its power, right? The original technique of the famous archer Epta is the Moonlight Arrow. The warrior who was directly taught by the Elven King Orbel was Epta.”
The legendary archer known as Epta.
Destel had imitated her famed technique of Moonlight Arrow on the battlefield several times. Even diluted imitates of that technique were expected to be devastating.
Surely if the Archery Master cooperated, the Ashen Mage’s request wouldn’t be an impossible task.
‘While it’s not impossible…’
There remains an unsettling feeling.
Destel regarded Rania with narrowed eyes.
“I understand the overall plan. I know you’re going to move ahead alone, but…”
With a tap,
Destel pointed his finger at the map on the table. It was the location of the former Kingdom of Selef that Rania had indicated. Tapping on the spot where the beasts were guarding, he continued.
“What exactly is there?”
A horde of beasts is gathered.
The number of beasts has amassed to the extent it could form a new frontline. The mindless beasts instinctively protect the site of the former Kingdom of Selef.
And the Ashen Mage…
For some reason, she, who carries the starlight of Kyle, is set on heading there, as if there’s an absolute reason she must go. Destel zeroed in on that reasoning.
“You know something, don’t you?”
“… ”
Rania remained silent.
She merely bit her lips as if she didn’t want to speak. However, Destel would not pull back. As the commander of the Special Front, he had to hear the core of the operation.
The breathless silence was finally broken by Rania.
With a long exhale, she hesitantly managed to spit out one word.
“A new disaster.”
Rania spoke.
“A new disaster will be born there. It isn’t complete yet, but once it is, it will be the worst threat. The cocoon of that disaster is there.”
“…A new disaster?”
It hasn’t occurred in the last several centuries.
As Destel opened his mouth to inquire further, a rumble echoed, shaking the ground.
3.
Immediately after the ground quaked.
“Commander!”
“…Report!”
“…Captain, I report!”
A flurry of transmissions poured toward Destel.
Zsch! Zsch! The frantic transmissions shouted to look outside immediately. Destel leaped from his seat and rushed outside the tent.
“What is that?”
“…Ah.”
“Something… tremendous…”
Not only Destel stepped outside.
Soldiers, one by one, emerged in confusion, staring in a certain direction. The fear was visibly etched in their eyes.
“… ”
Destel also slowly raised his head toward the place they were looking. The grotesquely distorted cliff. The destroyed forest. Though the land undergoes demonic transformation that limited visibility distance, he could still see the sky.
The sky tainted black.
Something was soaring toward that sky.
From a distance, it appeared as a dot, but the vibrations were palpably felt. As the trembling earth caused Destel to stumble back to his feet, he closed his eyes and opened them again.
Imitation, the renowned archer Epta.
The moment the intent of swords (???) manifested with light, Destel’s vision expanded. Temporarily imitating the far sight, he gazed across a wide distance, beyond the cliff.
What soared were trees, stone pillars, mounds of dirt.
And… structures akin to watchtowers.
Rumors say that the structures of the royal castle remain intact at the former site of the Kingdom of Selef. While uncertain, he speculated that those massive structures thrown into the sky could very well be it.
But why are they soaring toward the sky?
Destel squinted his eyes further.
That’s when he could finally see it. Something was uprooting the remnants of the destroyed kingdom—the structures, the debris, the trees—and throwing them into the sky.
It is a massive sword intent (???).
Only the best of the best, the masters of the sword reach the domain of sword intent. But could that even be referred to as sword intent? The manifestation that towers into the sky without an end, both in length and thickness, resembles a colossal castle wall.
The castle wall, like a gigantic wave.
It’s casting everything on the land upward into the sky. Structures that rose against the sword intent crumbled into dust the moment they touched the sky.
“What is that…”
Destel could barely suppress the weakening of his legs as he turned back. There stood Rania, who had just stepped out of the tent.
“That’s…”
“That is the new disaster.”
Pressing her lips tightly, Rania snapped her fingers.
In an instant, a barrier was erected around Destel and Rania. A barrier that keeps their voices from leaking out. Inside, Rania slowly opened her mouth.
“Disaster, Kyle Toven.”
The goddess from thirteen years into the future spoke.
“The Sword of Yeocheon, Kyle Toven.”
The sword of Yeocheon (???).
Muttering the name that would cling to the disaster, Rania smiled bitterly. Her face twisted. When that massive sword intent shot toward the sky, Rania heard a bizarre voice.
“Kill.”
“Kill the Ashen.”
Rania had become capable of hearing the voice of God.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that this voice was that of the Shade. And also the fact that the Shade had noticed her existence.
“It seems the Shade has caught on to my arrival.”
Rania let out a pained smile.
An expression that seemed ready to break at any moment.
Kyle was calling her name.
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