The True Form of the Myers Heir
An inexplicable tightness gripped her chest. Hestia and Elisha raced toward the place thick with miasma. Every monster that stood in their way fell like withered leaves before the Hero's Holy Sword and the Regressor's spear.
"Are you certain this is the right direction?"
"The miasma is growing thicker by the moment. It's definitely this way."
Hestia had no way of knowing, but in truth this was an event Elisha had lived through countless times. Following the direction where the miasma thickened was correct, yet even without sensing it she had long since memorized the route.
"Just a little farther and... Look, doesn't the area around here feel strange?"
"Hmm...?"
Just as she said, the red energy swirling in the air created an unmistakably ominous atmosphere.
"I've been wondering for a while—what exactly is that? It doesn't seem like ordinary miasma..."
"It's accumulated miasma that's bursting forth all at once. Hardly a normal natural phenomenon."
"Which means..."
"Exactly. Someone did this on purpose."
It was a difficult story to believe. The Academy housed two Transcendents, one of whom was a member of the Great Pioneers. The headmaster could also wield powerful authority inside the barrier-covered Academy. What madman would dare commit an act of terror in a place guarded by two Transcendents? It was something only the tiniest fraction of lunatics would even dream of.
"I cannot understand it. What reason could such a powerful being have for targeting the Academy?"
"Let me be clear first—the culprit is someone who doesn't even reach the headmaster's feet. Definitely not a Transcendent."
"......?"
"If the headmaster had been in normal condition, none of this would have happened... It's all because of that bastard..."
"...Is there not another person present?"
"You probably weren't interested, but Paern has stepped away for now."
Some parts still felt off, but after the explanation Hestia understood well enough. Growing curious about the identity of the one behind the incident, she asked Elisha just in case.
"Do you know who the culprit is, Elisha?"
"Karl Myers."
"......?"
"First time hearing the name?"
"...Yes."
The Myers family was certainly well-known, but only by ordinary standards. Among the Academy where promising talents from across the world gathered, they could hardly be considered top-tier. Even though a student from the Myers family shared their class, Elisha assumed the odds of Hestia remembering were low.
"Myers... Myers...?"
Hestia kept repeating the word, lost in thought, when something suddenly seemed to click.
"...Now that you mention it, during the sparring matches... I believe there was a similar name right after mine."
"Huh? Wait, you remembered? The guy named Pascal you saw back then is connected to this too."
"As I thought... He is from the same Myers family as this Karl?"
"Father and son. I don't know the full details myself..."
Given Elisha's personality—quick to lose interest once an incident was safely resolved—she had never bothered to investigate the Myers family in depth.
"But it's a little strange..."
Elisha opened her mouth with a light smile.
"You actually remembered that sparring match? I thought you weren't interested."
"......?"
For the briefest instant a chilling gleam seemed to flash in her eyes, but it was so fleeting that Hestia dismissed it as a trick of the light. She thought of her first friend, the one she had been meeting less and less often lately. Back during the sparring he had been her only friend, so she had paid attention to him without realizing it. Just as she was about to tell Elisha the truth...
Suddenly feeling that same inexplicable tightness, she gave a different answer instead.
"It was... right after my turn, and the match left quite an impression, so I remembered it."
"Ah, well... It really was an unusually memorable match."
Even trying to recall it now, the memory was hazy, but Elisha had sensed something special about that fight as well, so she did not press further.
Hestia let out a deep, silent sigh of relief. Then another thought occurred to her and she asked carefully.
"Did you also find that match impressive, Elisha?"
"Hm? Oh, that too, but... I was just concentrating because I wanted to watch closely."
"......"
Even though the reply seemed to say it was nothing and not to worry, all sorts of thoughts raced through Hestia's mind. She chose the most plausible one and gave a small inner nod.
It's probably... because of Pascal Myers, who is connected to this incident...
Hestia watched in silence as Elisha walked ahead with strangely buoyant steps.
Around the time Hestia and Elisha were drawing near the core, Pascal Myers stood alone guarding the activated core. The miasma had grown so dense that even the monsters spawned from it avoided the area, yet Pascal remained stubbornly at his post.
"Cough...!"
Dark crimson blood spilled from his lips with the cough. He had believed the Myers family's innate bloodline, familiar with miasma, would let him endure, but he could feel his body steadily approaching its limit. He collapsed heavily beside the red pedestal and sighed.
It's... almost finished, isn't it...?
He had long since fulfilled the family head's command to activate the core and sacrifice the dagger. There was no longer any reason to remain, and he had not intended to stay long. Yet in the end Pascal had chosen to remain here. The variables that kept nagging at him made it impossible to leave.
The students who might obstruct his father's plan... the Hero and the Saintess, the woman with sky-blue hair, and even the vaguely remembered figure whose identity he could not discern...
Without orders from the headmaster, those unpredictable students would surely prove far more troublesome than the passively moving professors. If any of them appeared before him, Pascal intended to block them with his life on the line. Though he was nowhere near their level, he calculated that the thick miasma encircling the core would allow him to draw them into a battlefield overwhelmingly in his favor.
I thought it was a decision made after careful deliberation... but was it all pointless...?
Yet in the end no one appeared before Pascal, and the only thing that grew stronger was the curse engraved in his blood.
"Ha, hahaha. How stupid..."
He let out a hollow laugh. Had he been too obsessed with the single thought of doing it for the family? If only he had thought just a little deeper... Pascal bitterly regretted his choice.
Is this the right path?
We're almost there.
He smiled quietly, feeling the miasma seep fully into his defenseless body.
Still...
I'm glad it wasn't completely meaningless...
Hearing the faint voices of conversation drifting from afar, he slowly crawled toward the core.
A sudden headache struck. Hestia, who had been following Elisha, clutched her temple.
"Ugh, this is..."
It felt as though someone had slipped into her mind and kept whispering—an intensely unpleasant sensation. As she steadied her breathing and tried to compose herself, Elisha murmured softly beside her.
"A space saturated with miasma... Looks like we've arrived at the right spot."
Unlike Hestia, who struggled to adapt, Elisha showed no signs of being affected at all. Mental strength surpassing even the Hero's was astonishing to the point of fear.
"Elisha..."
Just as Hestia, now wanting to know more about her, opened her mouth—
Crunch!
An ominous sound reverberated through the entire forest. A spine-chilling noise like something being chewed to pieces...
Only then did Hestia realize the miasma that had spread so widely around them had gone rigid, as if time itself had stopped.
"The miasma...!"
She had witnessed this phenomenon through a few high-level experts before. It meant someone of considerable realm had begun exerting dominance over the area.
"He's starting to control it properly now. Let's move faster."
Elisha increased her pace. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Hestia sped up to match her.
The farther they advanced, the denser the miasma grew, and the voices filled with countless people's hatred and resentment became clearer. The pair carved their way through a space that felt forged from death itself and halted where the stench of blood was strongest.
"...?!"
At the shocking sight that filled her vision, Hestia clamped her mouth shut. Creatures of every kind lay withered and dead. Having slain many monsters as the Hero, she was accustomed to corpses, yet she had rarely seen so many completely drained of life force at once.
"Is this... the work of a vampire?"
"Well... they do share the habit of drinking others' blood."
"...?"
Just as Hestia was about to ask for a clearer explanation at Elisha's meaningful remark—
Crunch!
Once again the sound of something being finely chewed echoed.
Feeling a chill race down her spine, Hestia rolled away on pure animal instinct. At the same instant—
Boom!
A massive dark-red hand slammed into the spot where she had stood.
"Hestia! Get over here, quickly!"
"Urk...!"
At Elisha's sharp command she rolled again.
Bang!
Another hand crashed down where she had been—the same enormous dark-red hand as before. Elisha ran to her side as she belatedly rose.
"Are you all right? You're not hurt?"
"Yes, I am fine, but... what exactly is that...?"
"Miasma given physical form. It must have noticed us getting close."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a gigantic shape emerged from the dark-red mist. A giant whose entire body was coated in crimson-black. The arm that had attacked Hestia belonged to it.
While Hestia kept her tension high against the clearly threatening figure, Elisha remained perfectly calm, as though she had been expecting it.
Get... out...!
A groan-like voice leaked from the giant's mouth. Only then, certain it was no ordinary monster, Hestia asked Elisha.
"Don't tell me... that is the one called Karl Myers?"
"No, he hasn't arrived yet."
"Pardon? Then...?"
"Pascal Myers. The son of the Karl I mentioned earlier. He was used by his father and ended up like this."
The giant's dark-red skin oozed miasma. It seemed far stronger than during the sparring match, yet an overwhelmingly powerful curse emanated from it. As Hestia studied the transformed Pascal closely, Elisha walked past her.
"I have no intention of dragging this out. There's still another opponent we need to deal with..."
She gripped her spear tightly and looked at Hestia with firm resolve.
"So let's finish this quickly and rest, even if only for a moment."
"...Understood."
The moment the reply left her lips, Elisha charged toward the dark-red giant.