*
In chapter 356, “Now Forward (4)”, a powerful strike was launched from the ground into the sky, splitting the clouds. Somehow, a piece of the sky was severed. The divided heavens and the torn dark clouds. Destel, who had been staring blankly at the sky, let out a hollow laugh.
“What did I just hear?”
“The newly reborn disaster,” said the Ashen Mage. The name of the disaster is Kyle Toven, and she mentioned that he’s known by the alias, Sword of Yeocheon.
“A disaster?”
The hero has become a disaster?
That’s hard to comprehend.
However, Destel knows that “common sense” isn’t a solid concept on the battlefield. In a place teeming with monsters that defy logic, “common sense” can crumble like an old castle wall at any moment.
Destel slowly turned her head.
She shifted her gaze from the sky to focus on Raniel, standing across from her. Of course, she didn’t seem to be lying. Destel knew that the Ashen Mage wasn’t someone who would joke like this.
“…Are you saying that Kyle Toven has become a disaster? So, that scoundrel over at the ruins of the Kingdom of Selef is Kyle?”
Raniel silently bit her lip.
The silence was affirmation.
Destel wiped her eyes.
“So, the gathering of the beasts is also because of Kyle. And the reason you’re trying to go there, and the fact that you carry Kyle’s starlight… they must be of the same context.”
Information interlocked.
Grinning as she processed the conclusion, a hollow chuckle escaped Destel’s lips.
“Ha, ha.”
The hero, hailed as humanity’s hope and strongest warrior.
Now that figure would raise a sword against humanity as its enemy. As she faced the deadly strike that had been shot at the sky moments ago, Destel could think of no way to respond.
“The strongest force humanity possesses has become a disaster.”
She groaned over that single line.
“This is maddening.”
It’s a cruel joke.
No, it had to be a joke.
2.
Fortunately, the deadly strike that had shot towards the sky didn’t come raining down on the front lines. The ground that had been shaking soon calmed. The strike merely split the sky and did not come flying toward them.
That’s a relief, Raniel thought. It means Kyle hasn’t taken anyone’s life yet.
“…Kyle’s ego will still be intact. He hasn’t completely become a disaster. Moreover, unlike my time, the Kyle in this time frame injured himself at the last moment. There might be a little more leeway.”
That’s what her self from the future had said.
“He will try to kill you immediately.”
“I mean, you were the vessel that the Demon Lord had marked. Now that he has lost that vessel and gained a better one, the Demon Lord will try to eliminate you.”
“He will think you are the most troublesome.”
Kyle’s target will be you.
“Because of the remaining ego, he may not immediately turn against humanity, but your case will be a bit different. Kyle’s hostility will be directed solely at you.”
He will try to kill you.
Although she knew this was coming, Raniel winced at the murderous intent that crossed through the distance.
“……”
Unable to sleep, Raniel stepped outside the tent and knelt on the field, gazing at the sky. The split night sky glistened with stars.
“Our plan has been set.”
As she stared at the sky, a tired voice came from behind her. Turning around, she saw Destel standing there.
“I’ll move according to your request. The morale of the knights is low, but knowing that you are here should raise their spirits. They might not charge, but they should at least hold this place.”
That wasn’t incorrect.
Raniel, referred to as Rania van Trias, had repelled disasters multiple times and was known publicly as the Ashen Mage’s successor. If a hero like her was present on the battlefield, the knights’ morale wouldn’t be an issue.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
Destel sighed and ruffled her hair. After a brief silence, she slowly opened her mouth while choosing her words carefully.
“Have you become a hero?”
The question encompassed multiple meanings.
Raniel nodded silently.
“…Dragging a retired one back into the fray, that Kyle is something else.”
“Indeed.”
“I don’t intend to ask what happened, but I have to ask this. It’s related to the operation.”
After taking a brief breath, Destel spoke.
“Can you kill him??”
“……”
“I’ve never seen such a deadly strike. Even though he’s already terrifyingly strong, that was on another level. A strike of that size and range…”
That isn’t the realm of humans.
Destel mumbled.
No matter how superhuman a knight might be, on the battlefield, a knight is just an individual. They become weak in the face of overwhelming numbers.
Yet, the strike she just witnessed was different.
It wasn’t within the human domain, nor was it power an individual should possess. Against such a strike, numbers become meaningless. The world no longer calls those who dominate the battlefield “knights.”
“Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade, is almost on par with that monster, right? Isn’t he?”
That’s what people call monsters.
The Death’s Blade was such an existence.
“Can you kill someone so unreasonable? Can you come back alive afterwards?”
“There’s a possibility.”
Raniel spoke calmly.
“I’ve changed a lot since becoming a hero. And, against him… I have a fighting chance.”
“…Is that so?”
Destel’s eyes narrowed.
That chance appeared significantly slim, but if she says so, there’s nothing this side can argue. The conversation fell silent, awkwardness hanging in the air as Destel casually asked a question.
“It’s about you.”
The question she had been wanting to ask for a long time.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“I’m scared.”
The reply came quickly.
“You actually say you’re scared?”
“I’m not standing here as the Wise One.”
“The Wise One?”
“How can someone in front of others say they’re scared? The one at the forefront must always look ahead. Weak words like ‘I’m scared’ can’t be spoken.”
But, she continued.
“Not right now. Isn’t it okay to say you’re scared now?”
“…Is that really you, Raniel?”
Raniel turned to face Destel, laughing incredulously.
“What on earth do you see me as?”
Destel understood that her reaction was inevitable given how she had presented herself. She smiled mischievously at the flustered Destel.
“You seem to think I’m unfathomable.”
“Of course, I can’t understand. I’m a coward. I’m not being sarcastic; it’s genuinely incomprehensible to me.”
Incomprehension, eh?
A little chuckle escaped Raniel.
It was really a simple story.
“I do it because I feel like I’ll regret it.”
“…Regret?”
“If I run away saying I’m scared and don’t want to do it, something truly ridiculous will happen. If that future comes and I regret it, it’ll be too late.”
Her tone sounded like someone who had seen the future.
“So I’m doing this now. I don’t want to regret it more later.”
“…I still don’t quite understand.”
“And what about you?”
Raniel gave Destel a sideways glance.
“You’re also sitting here, the top commander on this specialized frontline where anything might happen. In a battlefield where the likelihood of a disaster is high. Aren’t you scared?”
She pointed at the hero’s armor Destel was draped in.
“Especially while wearing that armor, even though you usually don’t wear it?”
“That’s true.”
“Why are you here then? You could be ridiculed for being a coward no matter what you do… So, why endure it here?”
“It’s a minimum duty.”
Destel tapped her shoulder, where her armor rested.
“I don’t plan to take the lead, and I might run away, but at the very least, being here is my minimum duty. I should fulfill at least that.”
Galahal is dead.
Kyle Toven is reported missing.
The only one left is herself.
“No matter how much of a coward I am, I don’t want to become a trash that neglects even their duty.”
Everyone stands firm on the battlefield for their own reasons.
They live their lives in their own ways.
Remembering the words Galahal once told her, Raniel smiled.
“Well…”
Raniel slowly rose from her spot.
Glancing at Destel, she extended her fist.
“Let’s work well together, Destel.”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
Destel’s expression was one of reluctance, but she returned the fist bump. With a light touch, Raniel wore a faint smile. Her ash-colored hair sparkled under the starlight.
“Thanks for the cooperation.”
Leaving those words behind, Raniel walked back to her tent. Destel blinked, watching her retreating figure for some time.
Is that really Raniel?
The one she knew never smiled so softly like that? After staring blankly for a while, Destel let out a hollow laugh.
It felt as if she had been bewitched by a witch.
3.
The Phantom Territory (??) sees no sun rise.
Thus, the Phantom Territory exudes a dreary and dark atmosphere, whether it’s day or night. This environment contributed to the rapid deterioration of the knights’ mental and physical states as they kept watch in the Phantom Territory.
A place where the sun does not rise.
A place that is dark year-round, day and night.
The frontline known as the Phantom Territory.
At the very forefront, knights stand ready. They clutched their spears and swords, preparing for the soon-to-begin large-scale operation.
“…That’s it.”
“What I’ve only heard rumors about.”
And there was someone standing even further ahead of them. With flowing ash-colored hair and a robe emblazoned with symbols of ash, stood the girl.
Rania van Trias.
The knights recognized the girl who was called a hero by the world. A petite figure. Slender limbs. She didn’t seem to fit the battlefield. However, witnessing her figure from behind, the knights steeled their resolve.
The hero stands with us.
The blood and sweat we will shed here are not meaningless. With a hero at our side, as long as she strives to achieve something… everything becomes the cornerstone for great deeds.
Thus, it holds value.
A knight refers to someone who is willing to sacrifice even their life for value and honor. The knights standing on the front lines are the knights among knights, as they understand the honor and values they must pursue.
Clank.
The clanking of their armor echoed loudly.
Someone stepped out from their ranks. Dressed in the platinum-colored armor of a hero was Destel, followed closely by Remia, with golden hair waving behind her.
They ascended the temporarily established watchtower.
Two towering watchtowers.
The two took their places in each tower, preparing the signal flare to announce the beginning of the operation. Destel, standing atop the tower, snapped her fingers.
Mimicking, the Archery Master, Epta.
Starlight bloomed.
The special weapon of starlight that Destel possessed, a glamour shard (??), enveloped Destel’s shoulder. Adjusting to the suddenly expanded field of vision, Destel blinked a couple of times before calming her breath.
Archery Master, Epta.
A hero who used a bow. She was nurtured by elves. The elven king, Orbel, taught her elven archery and showed her moonlight arrows, allowing her the opportunity to imitate starlight arrows.
Moonlight arrows, originally usable only by the Archery Master, were brilliantly imitated by Epta. She swept the battlefield with platinum arrows woven from starlight.
The multitude of stars adorned the battlefield.
The technique named Meteor Shower (??) derived from how the stars fell like rain. Destel took her position, aiming to mimic the hero’s technique for history.
Swish.
A bow made of stars appeared in Destel’s hands, along with a bowstring and platinum arrows. Though Destel had never learned to handle a bow, her posture was near-perfect as she pulled back the bowstring.
Her glamour shard (??) borrows even the experiences of the object being imitated. Destel even mimicked Epta’s archery, honed by shooting arrows hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of times.
Whoosh.
Destel released the fully drawn bowstring.
A single beam of starlight shot toward the sky. As the arrow arched toward the clouds, a dazzling flash erupted upon contact.
BAM!
The arrow split apart.
One arrow transformed into dozens, hundreds, thousands of arrows, pouring down like a rain of arrows. The arrows that cascaded down toward the twisted Phantom Territory scattered sparks, shaking the territory. The screeches of beasts echoed as the territory trembled.
「—————!」
With that roar, the beasts began to emerge.
Even those swept away by the meteor shower numbered in the hundreds, yet the count of beasts didn’t seem to decrease at all. It was truly akin to a black wave.
The operation had begun.
The knights let out battle cries and readied their swords. They firmly fixed their sharpened defenses. And then, another arrow shot into the sky. This time, it was not Destel who released it.
The Archery Master, Remia.
It was the arrow she released.
That arrow wasn’t a platinum arrow woven from starlight. It was a moonlight arrow imbued with a gentle glow. It was the original arrow mimicked by the Archery Master Epta.
The moonlight arrow, released while scattering moonlight toward the sky.
Piercing the clouds, the arrow soared high, resembling a single moon. What fell from the clouds, tracing a parabola, was no longer an arrow. The split arrows instead resembled moonlight.
Flash!
The silvery-white beams poured down upon the encroaching beasts. It was a technique not aimed at piercing a single strong foe but designed to sweep away many targets. One of the variations of the moonlight arrow is named Moonlight (??).
The meteor shower, which had been the symbol of the Archery Master Epta.
The original technique that bore that name was Moonlight.
The beasts pierced by the silvery beams fell, spilling blood as they collapsed. Though the beasts kept surging in, a temporary gap was created from the onslaught of moonlight. Drawing another bowstring, Remia looked at Raniel.
Now’s the time.
Though she whispered that, Raniel couldn’t hear Remia’s voice. However, even without hearing it, Raniel knew that this was the optimal moment.
Tap.
Raniel took a step forward.
The moment her foot touched the ground, ash particles erupted around her. The released spell accelerated her beyond limits in an instant.
Swish.
The remnants of the mana burned into ash swirled chaotically. However, it wasn’t only ash particles that whirled.
Tick, tick, tick.
Platinum particles blossomed above her body. They were hidden by the swirling ash, but they were undoubtedly starlight. The starlight swirled in the ash, winding around her body and enhancing her power.
Boom!
The ground cracked where she stepped. Seeing the starlight blooming before her eyes, Raniel recalled Kyle. The silhouetted figure of Kyle she had always seen resurfaced in her mind.
While imagining him,
Raniel murmured inwardly.
Acceleration (??).
In an instant, her new form vanished. The knights watching from behind, along with Destel, whose precognitive vision had been heightened, and even Remia missed Raniel’s movement for just a moment.
BOOM!!!
With a deafening sound of the ground bursting, a great wind rushed forth. While the knights instinctively closed their eyes, Remia and Destel remained vigilant. Thus, they were able to witness it.
The instant the encroaching beasts were obliterated.
They saw a line piercing through the black tide made of beasts; they were left with nothing but ash.
*
