One day, when that day comes, let’s have a drink.
With those words, Kyle closed his eyes.
The one who closed his eyes had a very peaceful expression. As I stared at the guy fast asleep, I slumped down on a seat.
“Ugh, I’m gonna die.”
My whole body ached.
Forget standing on my two feet; even breathing was a struggle. This damn fool must have stabbed me quite a bit. It was hard to find a place that wasn’t hurting.
“How the hell did I win…?”
I mumbled that and chuckled softly.
Leaning against the wall, I looked up at the sunlight streaming down. The shining light meant that this place was no longer a Phantom Territory.
…It seems like we really cleared it out.
The moment I pushed the shadows away from Kyle’s heart, I saw it. The scene where muddy waves overflowed in all directions. The tumultuous muck could no longer engulf Kyle’s body and soared skyward.
‘The black curtain that blocked the sky.’
With the endlessly extending drape, the shadows vanished somewhere. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it went, but I had a guess.
The temple of shadows.
Deeper than here.
The massive temple at the very center of the Phantom Territory. That must have been where the First Hero party, led by Ganikalt, faced the Demon Lord.
‘And…’
There would be Death’s Blade too.
What was guarding the temple was none other than Death’s Blade, Ganikalt. Remembering that monster, I let out a long sigh.
Apostate, Gletus.
Death’s Blade, Ganikalt.
Great Mage, the First Light.
The false god, the shadows.
To put it bluntly, these four were the remaining foes left for me. A tiny image of a skull cap flickered in the corner of my mind, but that didn’t seem to be much of a problem.
In the end, there were four left.
You might think that nothing has changed since the beginning, but the important thing was their state. A lot had happened over the past few years.
The most Hero-like hero, Galahal.
The strongest hero, Kyle Toven.
Thanks to these two, all the calamities had flaws. The apostate lost all the beasts he had gathered and received irrecoverable wounds. Death’s Blade’s weaknesses became apparent. The shadows lost not only their divinity but also their immortality.
‘From unassailable disasters…’
Now, they had become beings that could be killed. They were no longer perfect beings. They had become beings that bled, were wounded, and could be killed, and the significance of that was profound.
Centuries of struggle.
It meant that the day was approaching to put an end to the long battle humanity had fought. And if someone were to put that end, it would likely be me, I instinctively felt.
‘The strongest Hero.’
The title Kyle held.
And now, it should be mine.
As I mulled that over, I closed my eyes. Slowly catching my breath, I opened them again.
Right, I shouldn’t just stand here.
“Ugh!”
Bouncing back up with a jolt.
I managed to stand on my feet, but it was only for a moment. With a thud, my ankle twisted at an odd angle. Face planting on the ground, I breathed a sigh as my cheek met the floor.
“Feels nice and refreshing…”
Feeling the coolness of the floor on my face, I rummaged through my pocket. I had to signal the success of the mission, so I thought about firing a flare.
“………”
I glanced at the flare I pulled from my pocket.
More accurately, what was left of it.
The shattered flare looked like it might struggle to serve its purpose. I sighed and clapped my hands together. Well, honestly, if I came out of that mess unscathed, that would have been stranger.
So, what now?
I had to take the guy sleeping over there back, but I simply couldn’t muster any strength into my body. The last spell I had used to save him drained my mana to the bottom, and I was even experiencing mana exhaustion.
…This is a bit dangerous.
Not only was I unable to muster any strength, but my fingertips were turning cold. My senses were fading. Just as I was feeling a sense of impending crisis due to my deteriorating condition…
-This way, this way!
A faint voice drifted from above my head.
Unable to stand, I rolled over, looking up at the ceiling. To me, being in the basement, it was the ceiling, but in a church, that would be the floor.
“This way!”
“I’m coming, so don’t rush me! I’m also, huff, trying to, huff get to the floor…”
In a completely shattered place with no foothold left, someone was gesturing enthusiastically. The sunlight glinted off some embarrassingly cheap blonde hair. I recognized the owner of that cheap-looking hair very well.
“…Ear Girl?”
“…!”
As if she had heard my mumbling, Remia, with her sensitive hearing, quickly turned her head to look at me. Then her eyes widened as she shouted.
“You’re alive?!”
As if a corpse would talk.
I nearly snapped back, but I forced a bitter smile and replied to Remia’s question.
“I’m barely hanging in there.”
So please do hurry up and save me.
I really feel like I’m gonna die.
Adding that, Remia sighed in relief, muttering thankfully. Soon, Destel arrived together with Remia, coming down to the basement.
“What the hell is all this…?”
After glancing at the signs of battle, Destel let out a laugh, seemingly defeated. And then, Remia…
“………”
Bowed her head deeply in front of the sleeping Kyle. After a moment of silence, Remia turned her head to look at me.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah. You better pay me back later, okay?”
“Of course…”
“Don’t take my joking seriously.”
Can’t even make a joke now.
Muttering that, I let out a long breath. Then, I called Destel, who was wandering around, observing the deep cuts engraved everywhere.
“Hey, Destel.”
“Yeah. Did you call?”
“Could you carry me? I seriously can’t get up. As you can see, my ankle is wrecked…”
“Yeah, well…”
Destel started walking toward me but suddenly froze, shaking his head.
“No, think about it, that might be a bit much.”
“…What? You can’t even lend a hand? Is it because I pulled your collar and slapped you back then? Even in this situation?”
What a petty grudge.
“Dude, you deserved it back then…”
“It’s not that. Your clothes are… No, forget it.”
With a deep sigh, Destel turned his attention toward Kyle. He lifted the limp Kyle onto his back and gestured to Remia.
“Archer. You take care of the Ashen Mage. I’ll handle this guy Kyle.”
Remia nodded and approached me. In that moment, my complexion turned pale. There was a reason I called Destel instead of Remia.
“Hey, wait, Remia.”
“Just stay still.”
“No, wait…”
This Ear Girl has zero consideration for the patient. That means less than even Sara. When I was aided by Remia before, I thought, ‘Is this Ear Girl trying to kill me?’
And that thought…
“Oops.”
“AAAAAH! Hey! Don’t grab my arm!”
“Just hold still!”
“AAAAAH! YAAAAA!”
“Don’t yell in my ear! It’ll ring!”
“Arm! Arm! AAAAAAH!”
Even after several years, nothing had changed.
Screaming and ultimately unable to withstand the pain, my consciousness was cut off. Just before I blacked out, I muttered in a crawling voice.
“The culprit is… the Ear Girl…”
“Can’t you please keep that mouth shut?”
Would you keep quiet if you were me?
2.
After three days and nights of treatment, Raniel finally managed to raise her body. By the time she regained consciousness, most of the situation had already settled.
All the gathered beasts had scattered.
From the moment Raniel pushed away the shadows, the beasts began to weaken rapidly, and the beasts, having lost their target, scattered here and there. As a result, the special front was dismantled, with everyone returning to their original places.
Preparing for the return of the special front.
Raniel visited Destel’s barracks to hear an explanation. He summarized the situation in succinct terms.
“I talked it over with the Knights Order Leader.”
They coordinated the story.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened between you and Kyle… but we covered up the fact that Kyle became a calamity.”
Then how did they explain it?
Many knights had seen Kyle returning with Raniel. Raniel asked him how they would explain it to them, and Destel replied.
“A large-scale outbreak of beasts. The massive energy that shot into the sky that the knights saw combined with it. We somewhat coordinated that. The reason for the large-scale beast outbreak was at the old site of the Kingdom of Selef… and the hero, Kyle Toven, tried to execute a solo operation.”
In the end, they defeated the enemies, but communications with Kyle had been cut off. And to rescue Kyle, an operation was conducted…
“And you, known as the descendant of the Ashen Mage, rescued Kyle.”
“Well played with the script.”
“Who knows how accurate it is. So, what exactly did that guy fight to become a calamity? I mean, how can a hero turn into a calamity…”
Raniel smiled and answered.
“The Demon Lord.”
“…What?”
“He fought the Demon Lord. And he removed the Demon Lord’s immortality. Isn’t he insane?”
…You’re a crazy bastard for fighting and managing to win against such a lunatic.
After that, numerous tales were exchanged.
As the stories began to wind down, Raniel walked out of the barracks. There were still many people she needed to speak with. She had to talk to the Knights Order Leader as well…
“Hey, Raniel.”
Just as she was about to leave.
At Destel’s call, Raniel turned around.
“What… It seems like there’s a lot to explain, so put that aside for now, can I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“What are you going to do from now on?”
A sentence filled with various meanings.
Though he’s alive, Kyle is in a state of unconsciousness. The deep slumbering Kyle cannot stand on the battlefield. In other words, humanity has lost its strongest sword.
Another hero has fallen.
The doomsday theorists will sing about the end again, and countless people will tremble in fear. The symbol has vanished, and Destel, who cannot become a symbol, asked Raniel this.
Are you going to fill that void?
At that question, Raniel smiled bitterly.
That was also the story she had to share with the Knights Order Leader who had come this far. The story would take a long time, but in the end, the answer was one.
“I have to become a hero.”
Raniel added.
“A hero who symbolizes victory.”
*
I had a long conversation with the Knights Order Leader.
I remembered the old man Heinkel, who chattered till my ears fell off, and shuddered.
That old man, he caught on, for sure.
He probably figured out that I was Raniel.
He didn’t say anything, but in between he called me ‘Raniel’ instead of ‘Rania.’ Being a man who doesn’t make mistakes, he probably gave me the impression of ‘I know everything’ while pretending to act like he didn’t.
“Man, you sly old man.”
But he probably intended to be considerate.
Heinkel said to freely decide the timing to announce it to the world. He also mentioned that he would announce news related to Kyle at that time.
I had no intention of dragging it out.
As soon as the conquest as a hero was accomplished, I planned to reveal everything and start my work as a hero. However, it seemed it would take some time longer than I expected to prepare the conquest.
“So, you mean this?”
“Yes.”
“Did you say you wanted it made resembling this design? No, setting the design aside, how do you plan to reproduce the functionality embedded in this…”
“Please take care of it.”
“No, well, there’s something else.”
“Please do your best.”
“………”
When I submitted the design I had thought through without a hint of hesitation, the ‘Robe of the First Ashen Tower Master,’ the response came back that it would take quite a bit of time.
But I couldn’t back down on this.
I had a dream about the conquest too.
After all, a mage’s robe must be stylish to have some style. Now that I was a hero, I thought I should start taking style a bit seriously.
“Human.”
As I walked between the barracks, looking forward to the finished conquest, a familiar voice caught my ear. I turned my head with a sigh. There was only one species that called me ‘human’ like that.
Of course, she didn’t say it as harshly as before.
It seemed my title was solidified as ‘human’ for her. Responding to that title, I smiled and replied.
“What’s up, Ear Girl?”
The Archery Master, Remia.
Leaning against the carriage, Remia looked at me and smiled. She lightly tapped the carriage and spoke.
“I just wanted to say goodbye before heading back.”
