The Hero Appointment Ceremony (2)

In… and out…

Kenis drew one steadying breath after another as she faced the mirror. The young woman reflected there, clad head to toe in pure white armor, wore an awkward expression as she twisted a lock of her hair around her finger.

I never thought I'd wear armor this magnificent…

The suit was white from shoulder to greave, its surfaces broken only by ornate gold inlay. The Holy Kingdom had commissioned it in a rush specifically for the Hero Appointment Ceremony — forged for Kenis alone. Unless another Hero appeared, it would remain her ceremonial armor and no one else's.

She bent her arm experimentally. The joints answered with a soft metallic clink. The armor was so thin and light it barely felt like she was wearing anything at all — a piece built for comfort and spectacle rather than the rigors of the field.

"It almost seems a waste to use armor like this just for a ceremony…"

Kenis turned this way and that, murmuring to herself as she studied her reflection.

A firm knock sounded at the door.

"Kenis. I'm coming in."

Demonic opened the door and their eyes met. For an instant his eyes went wide. Kenis thought she saw something flicker in those stern pupils — and then, as if nothing had happened, he spoke in his usual flat tone.

"Hmph. It suits you well enough. Come along. The ceremony is about to begin."

"Y-yes, sir! Right away."

Kenis hurried after him. With every step the choir's hymn grew clearer, swelling through the halls.

A pure, rising chorus — the blended voices of girls and boys — drifted softly through the entire Pantheon.

A song offered to the great gods, and to the Hero they had chosen.

When at last she reached the main doors of the Pantheon, a vast throng erupted in a single roar of welcome.

The sound hit like a physical wave.

"Kenis!! Kenis—!!"

From the ceremonial gates outward, people packed the square so densely that the far edge of the crowd was lost to sight, and every one of them was shouting her name.

The roar left her ears ringing. For a moment Kenis could only stand there, dazed.

A light shove landed between her shoulder blades. Demonic.

"Go, Kenis."

She turned, eyes still unsteady. Demonic gave a faint smile and jerked his chin toward the waiting aisle.

"You need to walk."

On trembling legs, Kenis started forward. She fixed her gaze straight ahead and forced her breathing into a rhythm.

In… out… in…

Step by careful step.

The first was shaky, uncertain.

The second still trembled.

The third found its balance and carried her onward.

From the fourth step on, she did not waver again.

Kenis walked with her head high, eyes on what lay ahead. Watching that straight-backed figure recede, Demonic allowed himself a quiet snort of laughter.

The spitting image of her mother.

Blood really did tell.

Kenis walked the length of the aisle and sank to one knee before the High Priest, who waited in solemn stillness.

The moment her knee touched the stone, the crowd fell silent. Quiet settled over the great temple like a held breath.

"Be humble before the gods."

Kenis bowed her head low.

"In succession to the Five Gods, a Sixth has descended to look upon a world fallen into chaos."

"And as that god's proxy, Kenis — you have been chosen!"

"Kenis! Do you swear that you will not abide injustice, and that you will fight for the weak?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear that you will always raise your shield for the righteous, and turn your sword against the wicked?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear that you will not be swayed by corrupt temptation, and that you will hold humility and faith as the treasures of your heart?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear that you will destroy evil and defend the good?"

Memory rose unbidden — the moment she had been helpless before the Lich's malice, able only to scream. Cale and Hans, frozen solid at a flick of the Lich's hand. Precious people lost for nothing.

Never again. She would never let that happen to anyone else.

"…I swear."

"Then from this moment forth, you are the great warrior appointed by the gods, the Hero of the weak. Fulfill that duty as you must!"

The High Priest's rough hands drew Kenis to her feet. He took the divine sword carefully by both edges of the blade and held it out to her.

"With this sword, destroy evil."

Kenis looked down at the weapon in silence. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠holy blade glimmered with violet light, as if urging her on. She still had no certain answer as to why the gods had chosen her.

She had only ever been an apprentice holy knight who happened to fight a little better than her peers.

But if someone had to stand at the front — if someone had to face evil head-on —

If that someone had to be her —

Then she would fight there willingly.

Steel sang as she took the sword and thrust it high toward the sky.

The crowd exploded.

A mad, rolling wave of cheers answered her. As if replying in kind, Kenis poured holy power into the blade.

The sword drank it in and blazed, brighter and brighter. Kenis lifted it higher still.

Higher, so that it might be seen from the ends of the earth. Brighter still!

So that the innocent crushed beneath evil might lift their faces from the dirt and see it.

So that those lost in the fog of despair might take it for a lighthouse and find their way.

What Kenis raised aloft was the vanguard against evil — and a torch for the weak.

And so a single girl became a Hero.

At that same hour, at the far northern edge of the continent, in the ducal territory of Montegros—

Even in that barren land ringed by dungeons that endlessly spawned magic beasts and by savage mountain ranges, where winter claimed eight months of every year, human beings had put down roots.

A shaft whistled through the air.

It struck home with a heavy thud.

"One's headed your way!"

The first settlers had fought the brutal weather itself, and had clawed out human territory from magic beasts that came at them day and night without rest.

A blade hissed.

Generation after generation of that endless struggle had left the people of Montegros every bit as rough and foul-tempered as the climate and the beasts they lived among.

And among them, one house was famous for being the foulest-tempered of all.

"Hey, you bastards — you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠planning to do this properly, or you want a magic beast to punch a hole through your skull?"

"S-sorry, ma'am—!"

A massive ape-beast lay crumpled on the ground, its body mapped with deep wounds. The worst of them split its skull wide enough for a grown man to fit his arm through; gray brain matter oozed from the gap.

A woman planted one boot on the fallen beast's head and calmly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wiped brain and blood from the broad head of her axe.

"Ugh, seriously. Got blood on it again."

Her black hair, tied back in a single tail, stirred in the cold wind. She grumbled as she cleaned the blade, but the corner of her mouth kept curling upward, as if she were enjoying herself.

"So. Where's the nest for these bastards?"

"Ah— the scouts say they came down out of the mountains."

Her brow furrowed. The man instinctively hunched his shoulders and watched her face for weather.

"Came down from the mountains again? Winter's almost here. What the hell is going on up there?"

"That… I don't really know. Sorry…"

"Forget it. It's not like only one or two idiots have gone up that mountain and died. I'm just pissed off about it."

She narrowed her eyes and stared toward the distant peaks.

"Something completely screwed is happening on that godforsaken mountain again. I can feel it…"

She chewed a fingernail, lost in a thought that clearly did not please her.

The reverie broke when a man came running with a letter in hand.

"My lady! A letter from the Holy City of Civitas has arrived!"

"Oh? Already? Faster than I expected. Well, what does it— no. Just give it here."

She snatched the letter from his hand, tore the envelope open without ceremony, and scanned the contents at speed.

The further her eyes traveled down the page, the wider and brighter her smile grew. The men standing nearby made no effort to hide their unease.

Whenever she smiled like that — truly, genuinely delighted — something was about to explode.

The black-haired woman split into a grin so wide it looked ready to tear her face, and then she threw her head back and laughed.

"Ahahahaha! That little bitch is finally coming back!"

She swung the axe in wild, exuberant arcs she made no attempt to control. What remained of the already-ruined ape-beast came apart in chunks and went tumbling across the ground.

The men, expressions carefully blank, backed off to a safer distance and watched.

"What's set her off this time?"

"You don't know? She had a massive fight with her not too long ago…"

They dropped their voices and muttered among themselves.

Whether the woman heard them or not made no difference. She was cheerfully reducing the ape-beast to confetti.

I was swimming through the cosmos. Shooting stars brushed my fingertips and shattered, streaking away toward the edge of sight. I swam after them in an easy glide.

Multicolored stars burned in every direction. I could drift freely along the Milky Way. A woman swam beside me; our hands were linked, and together we could fly anywhere at all.

Bzzzt.

Bzzzt.

"…Ah."

I must have been dreaming. It had been a really good dream — the kind that left a warm residue — but the details were already gone.

"Ugh… what time is it…"

I groped across the nightstand, found my phone, and thumbed it on.

Light detonated in my face.

"Gah—! Son of a—!"

The screen's full brightness punched straight into my eyes. I scrambled the brightness down and tried again.

"Three-forty? You've got to be kidding me."

I had gone to bed at midnight. That meant I had slept less than four hours. Why on earth was I awake this early?

Bzzzt.

Bzzzt.

The phone shuddered against my palm. Who was messaging me at this hour? I unlocked it and checked.

"Game alarms? Why are there so many…?"

Dozens of push notifications from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the idle game were stacked on top of one another.

What the hell was going on?