〈 Chapter 361 〉 Disaster and Hero (4)

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Approaching death, fading mind.

At the end of life, Raniel spoke her wish for the first time. No one heard her voice, but the Star paid attention to her desire. Because that was the very reason for the Star’s existence.

The Star is a being that answers to the origin.

The concept underlying the Star began to move.

The constellations swayed. The stars embroidered in the night sky moved noisily. Thus, the aligned constellation was one that no one had seen before.

For those living in ‘this era,’ it was a first.

However, for him, watching the sky from a distant place, it was not the first time. A mage who lived in a time long before ancient times looked at the sky and chuckled.

“… Indeed, I was not wrong to be with you, you wretched friend, Star.”

2.

In the blurred consciousness, a voice was heard.

I listened to that voice.

Even amid the approaching death, even in the dimming sensations, that voice stood out clearly.

【What do you wish for?】

Wish for something?

【Yes, wish for something.】

【Countless people live with dreams. Even if they lose something precious, even if the world nears destruction, even if there isn’t a place to close their eyes, even if they don’t have time to sleep, people dream.】

Dream.

【Dream, desire, hope.】

【People live by taking dreams as a guidepost. Just before life shatters, they speak of dreams as if screaming. Like a lingering attachment.】

What does that even mean right now?

【I am a being that answers to that dream.】

【A hope that will shatter if left alone, a scream that will scatter—I am a being that answers that. I am a god (?), listening to their stories. I engraved rules on the world to respond to that.】

So, the voice whispered.

【Say it once more.】

【Your dream.】

【I don’t have much time left, but I can spare some time to listen to your scream.】

A dream, a desired self.

I slowly searched my memories.

I looked back at the path I had walked. In a life lived out of duty, did I have something I truly wished for? What did I mutter just a moment ago?

The voice did not rush me.

It waited for me to organize my thoughts. In a seemingly halted moment, I stared at my hands with blurry eyes. Though I had been pinned beneath a pillar, I stretched my hands forward.

As if trying to grab something.

Even covered in blood, even after coming this far, I reached out to clutch something. Looking at it, I burst into laughter.

“I don’t know, either.”

I don’t know what I want to be.

My father told me that I’d find the answer as I lived. Time is plentiful, so he urged me to think slowly.

“No matter how much I live, I just don’t know. I just lived as I was drawn. And then, I found myself bound by responsibilities, so I had no time to dream.”

I really didn’t have any.

I had no desired self to become, only a self that had to be. Because I couldn’t turn my back on that, I’ve lived like this.

“… But maybe, now I could have one.”

I looked at my outstretched hand.

The wish that came to mind in my last moment was one I recalled again. It was the image of Kyle, who had been babbling endlessly.

「A symbol of victory, a hero.」

「No matter what adversity comes, even if nonsensical enemies arrive, it’s someone who will surely defeat them and bring back victory. Just like the heroes in fairy tales. I want to be that kind of being.」

The symbol of victory—perhaps, in a way, I had achieved that dream. Kyle smiled while looking at his Holy Sword.

But Kyle could no longer be a symbol.

Kyle was broken. His path ended here. At the end of his path, he entrusted all of himself to me. Thus, he gifted me a second life. He recklessly placed his life upon mine. That wretched brat.

So, my life is not solely my own.

“… What I wish is.”

I opened my mouth and thought.

This too might be an obligation.

Perhaps I was being pushed by guilt, shackled by duty, thinking I had to do this. However, I decided not to think that way.

… He said he wanted to become like me.

He looked at me, seeing the hero he longed for. And at the end, he chose to entrust his life and dream to me.

The dream he entrusted to me.

The dream he saw in me.

Even if it were merely an illusion, I hope he achieves it. Even at this point, I still wish for it. Unlike me, who has lost all dreams, he moves forward with one, and I was reflecting on myself alongside him.

So, if that’s the case, ultimately.

“I will be a hero. The hero he dreamed of.”

I will only answer that wish.

Perhaps this line of thought arose from an obsession to respond to duty and sacrifice. But I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.

“A real hero.”

Let’s imagine a true hero, not a wise one acting out of lack. Let’s try to become the hero he wanted, if only once. That was my wish.

Then his choice too.

The life he entrusted to me.

All of it will not be meaningless. It’ll gain meaning. I truly wished for it.

【That is not your dream, is it?】

“No, it’s what I wish for.”

【Isn’t this not a wish, but a self that must be?】

“Maybe so. But there’s no rule that duty and dreams are always different.”

I smiled.

“I want to. For the first time, I thought that.”

【… Is that so?】

And I heard it.

The voice seemed to chuckle in disbelief.

【Even the scream shouted at the end is not what you wish for, but a wish of others. You must truly be quite broken.】

“I’m telling you, it’s what I wish for.”

【Alright, let’s agree on that. If that’s what you say, then it is.】

The voice continued, laughing.

【Grab it.】

Something appeared before my outstretched hand.

It was a dazzling glow of platinum. The moment I grasped it, the voice sounded a bit clearer.

【I hope you achieve what you wish.】

【Struggle with all your might, junior.】

With that voice, the time that had come to a standstill began to flow again. No more voices were heard. It felt like a dream, but the warmth felt in the grasp of my hand proved this was not a dream.

What I gripped was the particle of a Star.

Moments later, the starlight exploded like fire.

3.

The nature of the Star’s armament is not predetermined.

It generally takes the form of a weapon, but not all Star armaments are like that. For example, Destel’s armament was that of a castle (??).

What was given to him, who dreamed of becoming an actor, was an armament for mimicking and imitating others, meant for acting. Thus, sometimes a Star bestows an armament related to ‘one’s own desired appearance.’

Then, what about Raniel van Trias?

What armament was bestowed upon her, who desired to become what Kyle longed for? The moment she looked at it, she couldn’t help but laugh. It was something far too familiar to her.

It was the Balance.

But the form of that balance was different from what Raniel knew. It was not a balance that granted anything. It was a balance that dealt with only a single transaction, one meant solely for Raniel. She unconsciously understood what that single transaction was.

Temporary enhancement.

Gaining immense power temporarily.

Realizing the level of that enhancement, Raniel smiled bitterly. She had to laugh. Once, she had to sacrifice half her lifespan to obtain this power.

‘Is this what you think is a symbol of victory?’

Is this what you longed to see in me?

Yes, perhaps it was the most vividly imprinted in her mind. Gazing at the emerging Balance, Raniel whispered inwardly. That she would pay the price.

The starlight drained from her broken body.

The escaping starlight brought the tilted balance to horizontal. The price was paid. Looking at the balanced scale, Raniel spoke out loud.

“I’ll make a deal.”

The words she had shouted countless times.

Words she had shouted many times for victory.

To definitely win, she again spoke those words.

Flash.

The Balance shattered into starlight.

The bursting starlight seeped into Raniel’s body. It filled her pierced heart. Thump, thump, and her heart began to beat again.

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Now, what am I supposed to do?

It was just the moment when Kyle, having lost his purpose, turned his back and took a few steps.

Flash.

A flash erupted behind him.

Kyle turned around. Light was seeping out from the pile of stones. The brilliant starlight he had lost. Kyle squinted at the rushing platinum-colored starlight.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, the pile of stones erupted. Thud, thud,* she slowly rose from between the falling debris.

PLOP.

Blood dripped down.

A pierced heart, mutilated organs. It wouldn’t be strange to die immediately, yet she somehow stood on two feet as if such a sight didn’t suit her.

“Cough.”

Spitting out dark-red blood, she swept her hair back. Her blue eyes sparkled in the darkness. Those blue eyes were ringed with platinum.

Tick, tickedy-tick!

Kyle could not gauge the amount of starlight flickering around her. An immense amount of starlight that couldn’t be covered by anything.

“Hey, Kyle.”

Raniel opened her mouth.

She smiled at Kyle, who was gazing at her.

“Back then, when we fought, I lost.”

She had fought Kyle multiple times.

She had been defeated multiple times.

In the first place, it had never been a fight she sought to win. It had been a fight to persuade him why a strong being like him wouldn’t give up. But now it was different.

“I can’t lose now.”

I am here as a hero.

I want to stand here in the form you desired.

And the hero you wanted to become… is someone who never loses, no matter the situation.

“A hero must be a symbol of victory.”

That’s the hero you dreamed of.

That’s the dream you entrusted to me.

“Isn’t that right, Kyle?”

So, I absolutely won’t lose.

Raniel slammed her foot down. She took her stance. Bursting starlight enveloped her body. An amount of starlight bright enough to illuminate the surroundings began to restore her. A recovery that exceeded not only human limits but even the limits of a hero.

Flinch.

The moment Kyle saw Raniel surrounded by massive amounts of starlight, he frowned. His subconscious, shrouded in shadow, reacted to the situation.

That’s the sight of Raniel he had seen before.

When she had sacrificed her lifespan to bind the Demon Lord, when she contained immense starlight in her body—she looked exactly like that now. Subconsciously recalling that sight, Kyle slowly took his stance.

Unlike the time he fled.

Now, he too was going to show Raniel that he had changed, holding his sword tightly, preparing his posture. The shadow seeping from his pierced heart flowed down to the ground.

A moment of silence.

Immediately, starlight and shadow collided.

The hero and the disaster clashed.

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