The Hero Runa's Awakening (7)
The moment the middle finger went up, the believers swarmed toward me like moths to a flame. In each of their hands was a dagger wreathed in demonic energy. Fortunately, there were no high-ranking apostles among them. They must have believed the Demon King could handle things on his own.
“Guess I’ll have to kill all the small fry first.”
With a wet slice, I slowly began cutting through their necks. One. Two. Three. The bastards showed no fear of death. Even as their heads rolled, they kept lunging forward, stabbing wildly with their blades. They were like puppets who had forgotten fear.
“…No. Maybe they really are puppets.”
“Correct. Goddess’s dog. They are my puppets. Obedient little dolls that move exactly as I wish.”
Creatures stripped of free will, moving only at another’s command. I sliced through every one of their expressionless necks. On the floor, the corpses of Runa’s family and the believers piled up into a single gruesome mountain. It was a wretched sight.
Grid looked at the carnage and laughed.
“If I want something, I take it. If I grow tired of it, I throw it away. Such a simple rule. I’m sure they enjoyed being controlled by me, a Demon King. Don’t you want to move like that too?”
“…Bullshit. More importantly, why did you kill Runa’s family? There was no reason to slaughter all of them.”
The blood on the corpses had not yet coagulated. It hadn’t been long since they were killed. If his goal was to kill Runa, it would have been far better to leave her family alive as bait. But the Demon King of Greed had done no such thing.
“Why did you kill those innocent people?”
“Just to kill time. While waiting for the hero, I needed to entertain myself too, didn’t I, Goddess’s dog?”
“…”
“My desire is ‘eternal life.’ Not a boring, tedious existence. I want to live as a being who always feels pleasure. That’s why I killed them.”
Grid was smiling without a trace of tension. That arrogant, repulsive face. I wanted to drive my fist into it right then and there. Every Demon King seemed to awaken the urge to kill them all.
Clang—
“Hmm? Goddess’s dog. Why did you drop your sword?”
“…I’ll face you properly now.”
I reached into my subspace. That branch should be in here somewhere.
‘Found it.’
A staff made from a branch of the World Tree—one of only three such magic staves in existence. She had crafted it herself. I pulled out the keepsake I had inherited from my mentor, Aina.
I slammed the disgustingly large staff, bigger than my own head, into the ground.
Thud—
Then I shouted.
“Disappear, space.”
And then,
“Be reborn.”
Colorless magical power seeped from the floor and coiled around the space. The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck. The tremors gradually subsided. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, an empty void stretched before me. It was literally nothing.
“Hmm. Goddess’s dog. What is this space?”
“The Void Prison. This prison will not release until one of us is dead.”
A prison with nothing inside. If he wanted to escape, he simply had to kill me. If I wanted to escape, I simply had to kill him. A magic with no retreat. And a magic perfectly suited for sacrifice.
“…She must have felt the same way.”
Perhaps she pitied me for sacrificing myself in this manner. Minerva had given me one last gift. Even in the end, she couldn’t be honest.
[Just die already, Lee Junwoo. Minerva can live perfectly fine on her own. You idiot. Still… I’ll give you a present. See you again.]
[1. Ascend to the realm of Archmage and fight Grid.]
[2. Submit to him.]
Even though I possessed the knowledge of an Archmage, there had been only one reason I could never reach that realm. I lacked sufficient mana. That was all.
But now that Minerva had given me her gift, things were different.
I drove the tip of the staff straight into my own heart.
Schluck—
“…Goddess’s dog. Stabbing a staff into your own heart… Do you have no intention of surviving this place?”
If I was going to die, I would drag him down with me. By embedding the staff in my heart, I could supply mana throughout my entire body. I would not die. My heart was still beating. All thanks to Minerva’s gift.
“…You’re quite something. Then I shall face you as an equal. Goddess’s dog. Consider seeing this form a blessing.”
Squelch—
From behind Grid rose a massive red maw large enough to swallow me whole. It flicked its greedy tongue and licked its lips while staring at me. Just looking at it made me feel sick.
I stared at the sight and deployed magic in both hands.
‘I’m leaving the rest to you, Runa.’
This story had already left my hands. The next page… you will have to turn it yourself.
Why… did something like this have to happen to me…?
“N-no… This is a dream… Right…?”
Someone please tell me it’s a dream. This can’t be real. Please. Please…
“Tell me it’s a dream…”
Reality was cruel. The moment Runa stepped inside the house, what greeted her were the corpses of her family. None of the bodies looked normal. Their eyes were wide open, as if they had died full of resentment.
Runa walked across the blood-soaked floor. Uncle was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, aah… This… isn’t real…”
—What do you mean it isn’t real, Hero?
“This isn’t reality… It can’t be… I must have fallen asleep on the train and had a nightmare…”
—This is reality, Hero. This is your ‘burden.’ Accept it.
What the hell is a hero? What is this burden…? The hallucination spoke in an even clearer voice. Screams begging to be saved echoed alongside it, but Runa was too overwhelmed by the tragedy before her to pay them any mind.
The voice continued speaking to her.
—Hero. Does this still feel like a dream to you?
“It has to be a dream… It can’t be real…”
—Don’t be so weak, Hero. This is ‘reality.’ And you must take responsibility.
“R-responsibility… How do I do that…? C-can I save them…?”
Just before her mind completely collapsed, Runa reached out toward her last spark of hope.
—Even if you fall, I will raise you up again. If you want to save them, pull me out.
“C-can I really… save them…? My family…?”
The thick fog clouding her mind began to clear. A sword shining with golden light appeared before her eyes.
—Now, hurry and pull me out.
“…”
Fine… I’ll pull you out…
Cornered at the edge of a cliff, Runa reached for the sword as if grasping her final lifeline. At that moment, space warped and a person tumbled out of thin air.
“U-Uncle—!! Y-you’re alive—!!”
Before Runa could finish speaking, Lee Junwoo’s body collapsed forward.
Thud—
“H-huh…?”
Runa caught the falling man. Her hands quickly became soaked in blood. Junwoo’s condition was terrible. He looked like he could die at any second.
“Ah… U-Uncle…?”
“Cough… Runa…”
“N-no… Please don’t leave me behind… Uncle… From now on I’ll listen to everything you say… I’ll train hard too… Please… Please don’t die…”
Drip. Drip.
Please don’t die… Don’t leave me all alone…
Tears streaming down her face, Runa pressed her hands over the gaping hole in Junwoo’s chest. But the blood refused to stop. His body was growing colder by the second.
Having sensed his own death, Junwoo gently stroked Runa’s head.
“…Runa. Cough—”
“D-don’t talk—! Your condition—”
“…Runa, listen carefully. These are… my last words…”
“…”
Does it really have to be the last…?
I thought today was going to be a good day… Why did it turn into something so painful?
Tears blurred Runa’s vision. Feeling the warmth of Junwoo’s final touch, she listened to his last will.
“…Even if you open your eyes again. Don’t fall into despair… And.”
It will be hard. It will be painful. But carry the ‘burden.’ You can do it.
Leaving only those words behind, Junwoo slowly closed his eyes.
As if stamping a seal on the fact that he was gone, the voice spoke once more.
—Pull me out, Hero. The Goddess’s Apostle is dead. So pull me out.
“…”
Without a word, Runa reached out. At this point, nothing mattered anymore. Even the hope that things might get better had vanished.
She drew the sword hidden within the fog. Golden light burst forth, but Runa’s eyes remained hollow.
—Congratulations, Hero. You have chosen to bear the burden. To save people. To create a happy world. To protect peace. You have shouldered that burden.
—I will send you back again. Even if you fall, I will raise you up. My name is the Holy Sword ‘Timeless.’ I look forward to working with you.
Along with screams that grew even clearer, the Holy Sword Timeless let out a spine-chilling laugh.
And when she opened her eyes again—
“I-it was a nightmare…!! H-huh…? Where am I? U-Uncle…? Y-you’re alive?!”
Runa was back inside the train.
“U-Uncleee—!! Waaah—!!”
“…Runa, get off. You’re being loud.”
“Hic… U-Uncle… Hic, I thought you were dead… Hic…”
…Did she seriously drink Estia’s Holy Water? Why is she acting like this?
Runa clung to my waist, tears dripping down. Her behavior was extremely unsettling. She looked genuinely terrified. I couldn’t understand what had happened.
“R-Runa…! M-move…! You’re bothering Uncle…!”
“Hic, Hare… I-I’m so scared… Hic… I thought it was all over…”
“G-go away…! D-don’t hug him…! U-Uncle… Please get her off me…”
Had Runa had a nightmare? If so, her reaction was far too intense. She spoke as if she had actually experienced it. Her words felt far too vivid.
“…Runa, don’t wipe your snot on my clothes. It’s dirty.”
“Hic— Don’t say thaaat… Hic… How can I not cry— My whole family died… Hic, and you died too, Uncle…”
“…Wait. I died?”
“Yes… You went inside the house… and fought some weird person…”
“Speak slowly, Runa.”
“Hic, okay…”
Sniffling, Runa explained the situation. How her entire family had been slaughtered. How I had shouted for her to run and closed the door. How I had died with a hole punched through my heart. And how she had pulled out a strange sword.
After piecing the information together, there was only one conclusion.
‘So Runa came back from the future to the past…’
If what she said was true, that had to be the answer. In that future, I had died, and Runa remembered it all. In my opinion, that ability was closer to a curse than a blessing. Having to remember everyone’s deaths and repeatedly experience situations others couldn’t recall… That must be the Hero’s ‘burden.’
The burden of a hero who must sacrifice for others and suffer in their place. The cycle of that yoke had just begun.
As if to confirm my thoughts, Minerva’s question arrived.
Hero Runa, having returned after experiencing Junwoo’s death once. Will you read the book recorded from Runa’s point of view?
[1. Read it.]
[2. Do not read it.]
“So that’s why there were more pages after my death…”
Time regression. Runa had rewound the timeline where her family and I had died. Like winding back the hands of a clock, she had turned time backward.
In that case…
“We don’t have time to stand around like this.”
“…Uncle, do you actually believe Runa’s nonsense…?”
“Exactly. Believing something like that… Uncle really is a bug.”
It’s not nonsense. Runa is telling the truth about something that actually happened.
When we arrived at the station, I spoke to Hare and Saten.
“Both of you wait here for Estia. Runa and I will be back shortly.”
“W-where are you going…?”
“Runa’s house.”
The corpses weren’t old yet. If we moved quickly now, if we arrived in time, we might still be able to save Runa’s family.
“Runa. I will save your family.”
“Yes, Uncle…”
Taking the hand of the determined girl, we ran toward the house. The first time we fought, we probably died at the same time, but…
‘This time will be different.’
Since Minerva must have recorded the battle between the Demon King and me, she would give me the correct answers through her questions. So now, I could finally turn the page that had once been burned black.
The recorded future does not lie.