Casillum Conquest (6)
Only by bringing down one could countless sacrifices be justified.
Two heroes. One knight who could match their skill.
Even the kingdom's greatest power—the trio—had barely secured victory after throwing everything into the fight.
No, from the very start of the battle, I knew we were facing an opponent we could never win against.
It would have been smarter to run, but we didn't have the chance.
One was already this formidable, yet two of the strongest caliber appeared simultaneously.
What if they showed up before an ally who had already exhausted all his strength?
The sword shattered.
All power spent.
Even using a Sign wouldn't matter against the right opponent.
The Calamity Witch, Carteia.
And the Hero Slayer, Valtuar.
Just facing the two of them made me realize something.
It felt like my heart was being gently sliced open by a blade sharpened to razor precision.
It wasn't some bloated, abstract terror like Loktur's.
These were sharp weapons.
Standing before them alone felt like being flayed alive.
I and Luke froze in instinctive fear.
Carteia watched us with a cold, detached smile, then glanced at the monster lying at our feet.
"You turned Loktur into this?"
Her hollow, cloudy violet eyes fixed on Lucas.
Lucas stood there gripping his sword, on high alert.
"The strategy was flawless.
Thanks to that, we endured serious sacrifices just to reach this far.
I couldn't leave Loktur alive.
"
He had small horns compared to other demons and skin that resembled humans.
Everything else was hidden beneath his tattered hood.
His voice was downcast, almost melancholic, unlike his words.
Yet in those hollow eyes, Lucas clearly saw hatred and resentment.
"You don't need to be careful.
You're the kind of kids who can die without regret.
Since your fate is sealed anyway, why not die painlessly?
"
The blade was carving deeper into my soul.
Death loomed right in front of me.
It was watching me from every direction, with no escape.
"Kingdom troops... kingdom troops...
"
I pulled a signal flare from my pocket.
I pressed the button, but no response came.
The flare I was supposed to fire when the kingdom troops entered never even lit up.
"Look up."
Carteia said, pointing toward the sky beyond the distant fortress walls.
Time had surely passed.
Even without seeing the sun, dawn should have been rising here.
But the red light remained unchanged.
It was only then that I understood—it wasn't sunlight.
"I am light that burns lives.
Beautiful."
Flames flickered.
That crimson glow was the eerie light spewing from the knights' encampment, devouring it whole.
It could be seen and felt even beyond the walls.
Human bodies were being consumed as fuel for this infernal fire.
Lives of countless knights, soldiers, and mages were extinguishing.
Even Uncle Drexel, that annoying Roan...
"Ah... ah...
"
It was hopeless.
I, Rigel, and Luke were all swallowed by despair.
The future ahead was nothing but death.
It felt so empty, like a pointless slaughter.
Like an animal in a slaughterhouse, forced to wait for death without resistance.
"Rigel, Luke."
A single voice dragged my sinking consciousness back up.
The Hero, Lucas, stared at the two Calamities, steeling his resolve.
Two swords had shattered.
What remained was only his own blade.
His arm muscles looked like they might tear from the overwhelming blessings.
His breath was ragged, his heart about to burst.
The instant he saw the armor standing before him, his arms started trembling with distant fear.
But he cleared his mind.
With his head emptied of all distractions—even fear—Lucas gripped his sword with both hands.
This was the moment he'd waited his whole life for.
At the same time, the instinct that had hoped it never came, and the realization that the time to make a decision had arrived.
Many emotions overlapped.
"Rigel, Luke."
At those words, Rigel snapped out of his daze beside him.
He glanced at Luke, who was only a short distance away, still lost in panic.
Rigel placed a hand on Luke's shoulder.
"Rigel.
Take care of Luke."
He thought it would be the end.
Seeing this scene now as the final moment of Rigel and Luke, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Rigel realized the weight of those words and looked confused.
His expression twisted as he stared at Lucas.
"What are you saying...
"
"You said the time to retire had come, didn't you?
Listen to my final request."
Lucas forced a smile.
For a moment—only a moment—Rigel met his eyes and clenched his teeth, then dashed forward.
"...Who else but me right now?"
He picked up the fallen Luke and ran toward the wall.
From now on, it was his turn.
Two deaths were watching him.
But only one was approaching.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The sound of heavy armor interlocking echoed.
The black armor stood right in front of him.
Only when Lucas looked up did he realize just how massive it was.
"Hero Slayer, Valtuar."
"Hero, Lucas."
They knew each other.
Twenty years ago, Valtuar had been the senior hero who slew the two previous heroes.
And the one Valtuar couldn't kill that day was Lucas.
"You feel hatred toward me?"
"No, fear.
Same as twenty years ago."
Humans can't feel hatred toward a disaster or calamity.
How could one resent something on the level of natural disaster?
That day, two heroes died, and Lucas blamed and blamed his weak self.
Only now did he finally get the chance—to fight against a disaster and settle his own weakness.
Valtuar raised a giant black greatsword as large as his body with one hand.
"A hero, what a pitiful fate."
Fighting Valtuar was inevitable for a hero chosen by the gods.
For twenty years, he had never forgotten that moment, never taken his eyes off it.
He had prepared all his techniques and body for this instant.
To cut the resentment toward his weak self.
To deny the version of himself who couldn't even move from fear.
'I can't defeat a calamity.'
But I can endure.
Only for what I must do, Lucas burned his life away.
Valtuar's arm moved.
Lucas kicked off forward.
The ground where he had just stood was pulverized.
He kept charging ahead.
Time was ticking.
He didn't stop for anything to fulfill his wish.
'Seniors, are you watching?'
His footwork was as fast as the cutting sword strikes.
Strikes he couldn't fully dodge tore his clothes and sliced his skin.
Blood sprayed with every hit.
'It's terrifying.
Knowing death is right in front of me is truly terrifying.'
His body screamed not to move forward.
The fear of being alive told him to turn back right now.
But he had to go.
He forced his creaking body to move.
Numbing his instincts, he jerked forward.
Even knowing he couldn't win, he had to face the blade head-on.
That was what a knight did.
And that was what a hero did.
People didn't call someone a hero if they just ran from death.
That was exactly his duty.
Scary, trembling, but a hero who carried all humanity.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The shockwave from the slash swept past.
Just touching the wind tore his leather armor and snapped his belt.
Even the shockwave alone made his knees crack.
One moment of weakness and he would be flung away.
But... he had touched it.
The range to launch a slash was close enough that swinging his sword would hit.
Lucas reached that distance.
With a giant greatsword, close range meant he was faster.
Lucas dove in first and struck with all his blessings.
That moment.
Valtuar caught the huge greatsword with both hands.
His arms didn't even move visibly after that.
When I came to, I was standing far from Valtuar, rolling on the ground.
Just barely—truly just barely—blocked the strike.
But the price was horrific.
My hand was tattered, on the verge of breaking.
The sword was cracked and about to shatter.
"Just like them, you have become a sun setting in defeat."
"...Setting sun."
Definitely.
A body past its prime, starting to decline.
An aging body that couldn't properly wield the blessings of a hero.
If Luke and Rigel were rising suns, I was the setting sun.
That meant twilight.
"It's a shame.
Can't shine on the world any longer."
I was about to fall.
My life was ending.
Lucas gripped the broken sword again.
"No.
I'm not sorry."
Lucas smiled.
Only now did he fully understand his mission.
As a hero, he had clearly realized the true meaning of what he must do right now.
"When twilight descends, the sun sets."
Lucas felt death hanging right in front of him.
There was no way to avoid it.
"But when the sun sets, dawn comes.
If I can light two dawns with just my one life, that's enough."
So he chose to jump into death headfirst.
Lucas picked the path of glory—ending his life in a blaze of light.
With his own life, making two suns rise.
Lucas gripped the sword with both hands.
Though blessings no longer gathered, he stood with a burning presence stronger than ever.
Valtuar, seeming to acknowledge it, took the same stance.
Death had taken form.
The hero's duty was complete.
So the time had come for Lucas the human to achieve his wish.
He thrust the sword in his hands forward.
A split second later, the broken blade hovered in the air.
Lucas's sword.
SHWAAAK!
Valtuar's blade sliced through Lucas's body.
Red blood flowed down, and Lucas knelt.
"...
"
Just before his upper body collapsed, Lucas looked up at the armor.
With a satisfied smile, a hero of an era fell.
Valtuar gazed at Lucas's motionless corpse.
The black armor's finger pointed at the chest plate.
At its tip was a large scar engraved in the armor.
"...Excellent.
Hero."
Valtuar lowered his head to the hero, showing respect.
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