*

〈 360th Chapter 〉 Disaster, and the Hero (3)

*

Thud!

Death approaches.

Raniel’s eyes shook, but it was only for a moment. Even while losing her sense of direction, Raniel dashed toward somewhere. A place that was revealed as everything turned upside down. Information she had known long ago.

“This church was modeled after the ‘Main Church’ in Arcadia,” Cardi had said. Naturally, it was constructed in the same way… and undoubtedly, the ‘basement’ that existed in the Main Church was also present here.

“…Ugh!”

Raniel threw herself toward the hole she had previously left in the ground. It was an evasive method she could use only once, something she had wanted to save, but this was not a time to be sparing.

Crash!

A loud noise reverberated above her head. As she fell into the basement, Raniel looked up. Everything was rising toward the sky, entangled in the sword energy. It was truly Yeocheon (??).

Rustle.

There was no time to be surprised at the slash.

Kyle, as if having seen Raniel fleeing, began to shred the church’s floor. The thick walls were sliced into dozens of pieces, causing the floor to collapse. From Raniel’s perspective, that was the ceiling.

With the collapsing ceiling, Kyle descended.

Standing on the debris of the wall he had severed, Kyle set his stance. In a falling situation, on an unstable footing. However, the Sword Master delivered his best strike. Kyle swung his sword. The tip of the sword did not waver at all.

Swish!

The net-like blade of sword energy surged toward the falling Raniel. Creeeak, biting her lip, Raniel unleashed her stocked spells chaotically.

Flame eruption.

Ash powder explosion.

Dozens, hundreds of needles shot out.

Despite spewing countless spells, it was only a delaying tactic. The sword energy sliced through everything it touched, tightening its grip on Raniel’s breath. Gritting her teeth, Raniel spun in mid-air, turning her body.

A vast basement.

Thirty-seven pillars stood there.

Wrapping the chains she had pulled out with all her might around a pillar, Raniel yanked on the chains. She zoomed toward the pillar at high speed, just barely evading the sword energy.

Thud!

Landing against the pillar, Raniel’s body was battered. She couldn’t completely avoid the sword energy, and her body was cut all over. While she was recovering, she had already been overexerted, so the speed wasn’t fast.

Tap.

In contrast to the ugly landing of Raniel, Kyle landed lightly on the floor. He looked up at Raniel, who was hanging by the pillar. Unlike the battered Raniel, Kyle was unscathed.

‘…Damn bastard.’

Raniel clenched her lips.

To defeat Kyle, she needed something that could block that damn sword. That had been true even before Kyle became a disaster. Raniel and Kyle’s compatibility was the worst.

Raniel could not block Kyle’s sword.

Thus, the choices given to Raniel were to evade or to dig in and preemptively stop that strike. But right now, even the latter was impossible. No matter how fast she was…

‘The moment I get caught.’

It would all be over.

The moment she was caught while he swung his sword, she would have to part with part of her body. So what on earth should she do?

…In fact, she knew the answer.

Something that could block anything, something that could never break, was something Raniel could now possess. The relic of the Star. Now that she was a Hero, it was something she could obtain.

‘But.’

For some reason, that didn’t appear for Raniel. She wasn’t unqualified as a hero. She managed everything excluding that. Raniel was missing something, and because of that missing something, she was unable to receive the relic of the Star.

She couldn’t tell what was missing.

Unbeknownst, Raniel had to continue fighting. Kicking off from the pillar, Raniel lunged in. Unleashing spells and pressing Kyle with her physical abilities. In the end, speed was the only thing she could rely on to surpass him.

However, even that began to reach its limit.

Kyle slowly began to keep pace with Raniel’s speed. With her current state, despite becoming this way, Kyle’s movements were becoming faster and more precise, as if he intended to grow further…

No wasted movements.

Utilizing the superhuman specialty of foresight.

With all of it, Kyle began to catch up with Raniel. The number of unavoidable attacks increased. Blood flowed from Raniel’s body.

Rustle.

Kyle’s sword, now accelerating, swept over the area. Dozens and dozens of blades of energy, massive sword energy, poured out like a technique of a superhuman. Kyle showcased everything he had as if boasting of his achieved level.

She evaded. Dodging and evading again and again.

Desperately fleeing, Raniel was on the lookout for an opportunity. But she couldn’t do that indefinitely. The stock that she had loaded in hundreds and thousands was already nearing its end.

Schwing!

Her overworked body reached its limits. The increasing wounds meant that her rapid healing couldn’t keep up. Raniel was slowing down, while Kyle was speeding up. Raniel bled, and Kyle’s sword tip was stained with blood.

She was being pushed back.

Continuously being forced back.

As Raniel stumbled backward, her back hit against a pillar. She looked ahead. Kyle was already running toward her with his sword extended, faster than her.

There was no way to evade.

“…Damn it.”

Thud.

Raniel’s vision turned red.

2.

Kyle— no, ‘Kyle’ could only exist in front of the Ashen. While chasing the Ashen, Kyle was just Kyle. The shadow continued to shout at Kyle to kill the Ashen. But Kyle didn’t want that.

The Ashen kept fluttering before his eyes.

Ashen dust swirled around. The ash took on a human form and stood before Kyle. It took its stance against him. Kyle thought, Ah, what’s this? It’s Raniel.

“What’s wrong? Raniel?”

The ash didn’t speak.

Silently maintaining its stance. It seemed poised to charge at any moment.

Ah, I see.

You want to fight like back then.

Kyle smirked and lifted his sword. At first, it was a sharp-edged, genuine blade, but as he closed his eyes and opened them again, it had turned into a wooden sword. Closing his eyes once more and reopening them caused the surroundings to change.

It was a training ground.

The training ground where he had learned swordsmanship from Uncle Kuntel.

And it was the very place where he had occasionally sparred with Raniel. So that’s it. Am I dreaming? In his semi-dazed state, Kyle prepared to swing his sword.

Thud, Raniel lunged in.

In an instant, Kyle couldn’t follow that movement and tumbled to the ground. That girl seriously means to hit me. His cheek stung. So you want a real fight, huh? Kyle got up with a grin.

“This may surprise you, but I have good stamina, Raniel.”

Go on, hit me. I’ll withstand it and throw one back at you.

Kyle charged at Raniel, swinging his sword. For some reason, his body moved well. Even the movements of Raniel, which he could initially not catch, he could start to match gradually.

“Hmm?”

At some point, Raniel began to flee.

Sometimes she would employ unique tactics. She would think of creative strategies. Was this one of those? As he chased Raniel, Kyle swung his sword.

Whoosh, fwoosh!

Swinging the sword proudly.

For some reason, many sword techniques came to his mind. Kyle mimicked them. Raniel, who had always been ahead of him. He wanted to show her how much stronger he had become.

How capable he was.

Now he wanted to ask if he could stand in the same place as her again. Yes, really, he owed you a lot. Now that he had grown strong, he thought he could repay that debt.

“Really.”

He swung his sword but could not touch her.

Raniel narrowly evaded. Even now, with how much stronger he had become, he still struggled to even get close to her.

“Really, you are something else.”

It had always been like that.

Because of you, I could become a hero. Because you always forged ahead, I could follow behind you. So, Kyle thought.

“Once, at least.”

Just once, if possible.

“I wanted to surpass you.”

I wanted to go forward past you.

I wanted to look at places beyond you, not the same scenery. Call it a petty rivalry if you must. Perhaps it’s an immature dream of a child wanting to become a hero from a fairy tale.

Still, sincerely, he wished for that.

Now that he was strong enough, Kyle thought he might be able to do it. So, with all his might, Kyle charged ahead.

Thud!

He slammed down on the ground and steadied himself.

Thus, Kyle displayed the best strike he could execute. He swung the wooden sword toward Raniel, who had been cornered and could not flee.

“I’ve finally reached you.”

Kyle thought it was his most perfect strike to date. Even he was amazed at the quality of it.

*

Thud.

Raniel looked at the sword that pierced her heart. A blade stained red. The sword that penetrated her heart shot out from her back and embedded itself in the pillar.

Kiiiiiiing!

The repressed sword energy burst forth from the blade.

The energy sliced through everything it touched, tearing into Raniel’s body. Her body jerked as blood gushed out from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, flooding out uncontrollably.

“Cough, ugh.”

The blood that gushed out drenched Kyle’s blade. Kyle swung the sword sideways. The blade that pierced Raniel’s heart shattered her ribs and burst outwards.

Crash, crash!

It wasn’t just Raniel who was cut by the sword energy. The pillar she was leaning against was also engulfed by the sword energy and collapsed. The falling pillar engulfed Raniel.

Boom. Thud.

As the dust settled, Kyle looked down at his feet. Raniel was obscured beneath the tomb-like rubble of the pillar. The only thing visible was the flow of blood through the cracks of the debris.

No more Ashen was visible.

3.

Thud.

In her fading senses, Raniel felt something fall above her head. It was a piece of stone debris. But even that feeling soon faded away.

All her senses dimmed.

She didn’t even feel pain anymore.

Something kept pouring from her mouth, but she couldn’t tell what it was. The red-tinged vision was gradually becoming hazy. The sensation of strength leaving her body.

Raniel recognized that feeling.

It was death.

The death she thought was far away was now approaching. Before she knew it, it was right before her. In her fading consciousness, Raniel focused on the only sense that still seemed intact. She could at least hear sounds.

Thud.

Footsteps of someone.

The sound of a sword scraping against the ground. That sound receded into the distance. It must be Kyle.

‘Does he think I’m dead…?’

Is he going further away?

Having come this far, now he was about to fade away again. That guy was hard to hold onto. For some reason, Raniel laughed.

Did I once say I wanted to be like that?

Did I say I wanted to be like me?

Recalling Kyle’s utterance, Raniel bit down on her lip. Reflecting now, it seemed funny. Raniel had no idea how she appeared in Kyle’s eyes. But Kyle wouldn’t know either.

How Raniel saw Kyle.

Raniel had no dreams.

She had no ideal self she wished to become.

She lived solely by obligation. Nothing she did was out of desire, she hadn’t become what she wanted, but became a Wise One because she had to, because she was meant to be.

Raniel hated herself for that.

Because her life had been lived out of obligation, when she looked back on it, she had described it as ‘like hell’. That’s why Raniel reflected herself through Kyle. Unlike her, who had lost her dreams, she wished for the guy who progressed towards his dream to succeed.

Then maybe I could become something too.

Everything seemed like it would have meaning.

Yet, in the end, look where I am.

‘I am.’

What had I wished for?

Now I’m on the brink of losing a second life.

Once again destined to end my life while being incomplete.

Before the approaching death, for the first time, Raniel pondered what she had wanted to become. What she truly longed for. What leaked out between her lips was her heartfelt desire, a thought she had never considered before.

The Ashen Mage spoke of her wish.

The Star heard that wish.

The Star is a being that answers human wishes.

As the starlight surged, it responded to the Ashen Mage’s longing. It reignited the embers of the burnt ash. In that moment, the missing piece as a Hero was filled.

And that appeared before Raniel.

Something that could never break.

Something symbolic of a Hero.

It was the relic of the Star.

*