Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Hero's Descendant
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Not even the faintest breath could be heard.
No small movements could be felt.
It was sunk in a very deep sleep.
Along with the space it had created.
Its expression, lost in a sleep from which it could not awaken itself, looked utterly serene.
As if wishing for the stagnation of time to last forever.
As if desiring to be trapped here eternally, never to wake.
However, its wish was shattered.
By the gentle air currents brushing its skin.
The halted time began to move once more.
Thump.
Along with its heart.
The small being lying atop the neatly folded cloak opened its eyes.
"Nngh."
As it stretched, wings as vibrant as the stained glass of a grand cathedral fluttered along its arms.
A fairy.
The tiny being called by that name by someone began to savor the newly resumed flow of time once more.
But only for a moment.
The fairy gazed vacantly into the empty air with hollow eyes.
"In the end, even this respite ends. Even this moment."
The fairy voiced its doubt.
Who could it be.
Who woke me.
Who came to this place.
"It couldn't possibly be you, could it."
The fairy caressed the cloak beneath it with a wistful touch.
Its face, chasing memories, was dyed in a rainbow of emotions.
Smiling as if pleased, then letting out a wistful sigh.
Then nodding calmly, only to twist its features in fury.
"Your successor, you say..."
The fairy clenched its tiny fist with all its might.
A ferocious energy swept through the surroundings, at odds with its delicate motion.
"To replace you... As if that's even possible..."
At last, the fairy stared straight ahead.
Toward the entrance to the space it had created.
Toward the uninvited guest who had been summoned there.
"I absolutely refuse to accept it."
"Everyone's late. At this rate, that old man's gonna turn into a grandpa."
Rishir cracked his usual flippant joke to calm his nerves.
His companions, who had told him to go ahead and wait, hadn't shown up no matter how long he waited.
The First Hero's legacy.
Considerable time had passed since it had swallowed them in light and hurled them into another space.
The others still hadn't arrived, with no sign of them coming.
Rishir desperately hoped someone—anyone—would break this awkward silence soon.
-These inferior worms!? When you shine brighter than the sun itself, my lord!!! To be weeded out for failing to keep up with such a lord!?
His wish was granted.
A grayish-white fire spirit had appeared at some point and yelled in frustration.
"Ha."
Rishir let out an involuntary chuckle.
Even in this situation, the spirits from his inner world(?) were steadfastly by his side, unchanged.
Rishir suddenly thought.
'No way. Are my party members fixed to these guys? Is that why I got separated from the others who aren't party members?'
Then he immediately shook his head.
'What is this, a game? As if.'
It was a foolish line of thinking, even to him.
Of course, it wasn't entirely meaningless.
"Hearing your voice is nice, Dangleon. Feels reassuring to have you here even in this mess, I guess?"
The presence of the spirits sticking by him unwaveringly even in this sudden crisis!
Realizing this anew, Rishir felt the anxiety he'd felt until moments ago fade.
-R-Reassuring!?! RAAAAAH!!!
A strange glow was added to the dim cavern interior.
The grayish-white fireball blazed fiercely.
-What utmost honor!!! For my lord to rely on me!!! I, the warm flame Dangleon, your true comrade!!! I swear on my existence to perfectly fill the void left by those worms!!!
With the forward view illuminated by Dangleon's outburst.
Rishir stepped forward, thinking it was perfect timing.
He judged that continuing to wait silently for his companions wasn't wise.
Moreover—
His instinct, honed by experience thus far, was speaking to him.
'Maybe. The others are fine. Maybe I'm the only one caught in that 'thing's' power.'
So.
No need to worry about the others.
Focus on resolving my current situation for now.
Rishir reached that conclusion.
His steps, now free of hesitation, crossed the dark cavern repeatedly.
Soon, he reached the entrance at the cavern's end.
-Hmmm!!! My lord!!! This bodes ill!!! Even my radiant flames can't pierce that darkness!?!
Dangleon shone light on the passage beyond the entrance once, then cried out.
As it said, the passage beyond was filled with impenetrable darkness and an eerie aura.
And it was narrow.
Narrow enough for only one person to pass.
-My lord!!! I've had a brilliant idea!!!
"Oh. Let's hear it, shining bulb Dangleon."
-A plan you'll be satisfied with, as it finds use for those pathetic worms! Wait a bit longer for them to arrive, then send them through first to check if it's safe! Like tossing a torch into a deep pit!
"Oh, now that's fucking genius~?"
Rishir said that, then threw himself into the entrance.
He didn't entirely dismiss Dangleon's words as nonsense.
He briefly imagined the situation with his companions, as the light spirit(?) suggested.
If he were with his companions—
How would they handle this narrow passage only one could fit through?
That was the conclusion—and action—that came to mind.
Rishir was the type to take the lead and bear responsibility in such situations.
-My lord!?! Please reconsider— What if something bad happens—...!
The spirit(?) panicked and tried to stop him from behind—
"It's fine. I can handle it. Probably."
His confidence—tinged with slight unease, thus feeling all the more firm—convinced the spirit(?).
It was the resolve to recognize the danger and willingly face it.
-!!!
The grayish-white fireball burned even brighter.
Just as the spirit was about to follow without hesitation.
"Huh!?"
-What!?
Rishir and Dangleon looked around in surprise.
The opposite end of the endless dark passage began filling with light.
At the same time, the cramped passage rapidly expanded.
"Suddenly?"
Rishir braced himself for any contingency, but nothing he feared happened in the end.
"...What? What the hell happened?"
-Ah! My lord! I realized it!!!
"Oh, figured something out!?"
-This cramped space is filled with your majestic presence, my lord!!!
"...No, that's impressive. Do you come up with lines like that in advance? Or improv on the spot?"
Rishir marveled—not really marveling—as he advanced through the passage.
The Holy Sword's master raised the Holy Sword aloft.
Thereupon, it emitted a sacred glow, beginning to drive back the darkness spread before them.
"...Too dark."
But it wasn't enough.
The darkness and unknown within the passage couldn't be fully illuminated even by the Holy Sword's light.
"Guess someone has to go check it out—"
As one companion spoke, the Holy Sword's master immediately raised his hand.
"No!"
The companions stopped the Holy Sword's master—
And the Holy Sword's master calmed his companions.
That it'd be fine.
That nothing would happen.
"Nothing my ass! How do you know!? You know what's waiting in there!?"
"..."
However, that courage only appeared as recklessness to his companions.
The Holy Sword's master ultimately failed to convince them.
"Too narrow... If we go as a group, we'll hinder each other in an emergency."
"Go with spacing?"
"Still no. No matter how I think, one person stepping up is best."
"Then—"
The companions decided on an order, with the Holy Sword's master last.
The reason was simple.
"If something happens to you, it's really over!"
One by one.
The companions headed beyond the passage in turn.
The Holy Sword's master could only watch, trusting his companions.
Once the last companion vanished beyond the passage—
As the Holy Sword's master truly began writhing in anxiety.
"Ah."
A sigh of relief escaped.
The passage interior brightened and expanded simultaneously, revealing his companions.
The Holy Sword's master gave his companions a humble smile.
As expected.
He couldn't do without his companions.
"What the hell is this now?"
Rishir, reaching the end of the passage and entering a new space, chuckled.
Something was waiting for him in the spacious cavern reminiscent of a training hall.
Clank.
An ominous black armor that seemed to swallow light—
The knight clad in it lunged at him with sword drawn.
"...Huh?"
Rishir's expression turned serious.
The sword the knight held looked familiar somehow.
"Demon sword... No. Not that."
Upon closer look, it wasn't a demon sword.
However, that blade was undoubtedly brimming with vast, ominous energy rivaling a demon sword.
Shwaaaaa—
The black armor and sword resonated, emitting an eerie noise like wind through dry branches.
The ominous aura, vivid enough to see, seemed to scream with intent.
Draw a sword worthy to oppose this.
Face it with that sacred blade.
The Holy Sword.
Rishir suddenly recalled that this was a place—or trial—prepared for the hero.
He looked down at his hand.
"...Oh."
Rishir let out a playful chuckle.
A familiar weight.
There, instead of the Holy Sword, a blue lotus was gripped as if it were the most natural thing.
"Eh, doesn't matter."
But he didn't mind much.
Rishir charged at the black knight without hesitation.
"Hah... Hah..."
The Holy Sword's master and his companions gasped for breath.
Before them lay the fallen black knight.
"That was close..."
One companion muttered, looking down at it.
That black knight had driven their group back with its sinister, domineering power and aura, too much to handle.
"Just thinking about it is dizzying. If not for the Holy Sword...—"
What saved them from crisis was that great blade.
The sacred energy inherent to the Holy Sword!
Without it, the black knight would have caused more than mere struggle—a horrific outcome.
"..."
The Holy Sword's master nodded in agreement, offering another humble smile.
As expected.
He was nothing without this Holy Sword.
"Holy Sword's master."
Then.
A dreamy voice drifted like petals on the wind.
Toward the direction it came from, a tiny being floated in the air.
A fairy.
The Holy Sword's master instantly recognized it and couldn't hide his shock.
For good reason.
That fairy was the First Hero's—...
"Shuyen!"
The Holy Sword's master called that name with emotion.
The name remembered as the First Hero's companion.
Was it welcoming him, the hero's successor, as the hero's companion?
"I ask you."
No.
The spirit spoke in a dry tone.
"What are you."
Its gaze from above was harsh, as if outright denying the other.
"What meaning is there in you without companions or Holy Sword."
"...!"
The Holy Sword's master couldn't reply to that icy voice.
-My lord!!! As expected of my lord!!!
The spirit(?) shouted nonstop to assert its presence.
It had to.
"Whew..."
Rishir's battle with the black knight.
It had repeatedly tried to intervene and help during that, but in the end, Rishir won with his own power alone.
To begin with.
That fight wasn't something the spirit(?) could assist with.
The black armor and sword possessed an inscrutable sturdiness that withstood any magic or power.
Rishir's unique power.
Its overwhelming purification ability!
Only that could neutralize the power dwelling in the black sword and armor.
"Hm..."
After the battle.
Rishir was lost in thought.
'I can feel some intent in the dungeon(?) layout, but...'
He never forgot this was a place reached via the First Hero's legacy.
The confusion stemmed from that.
The passage pierced far too easily.
The obstacle neutralized far too simply.
'No clue what the intent really is...'
In any case, a win was a win.
Satisfied, Rishir took a brief rest, then moved forward without delay.
"Holy Sword's master."
"Huh?"
A dreamy voice like stars scattering on the wind came then.
A fairy.
The mysterious being that had appeared gazed down at Rishir from above.
With a contemptuous look denying the other's existence.
"I ask y—..."
Her words cut off midway.
The fairy's gaze wandered around him.
Soon.
The fairy scowled fiercely, expressing confusion.
"Where'd they go?"
"?"
"Your Holy Sword and companions!"
At the fairy's sudden interrogation, Rishir looked exasperated.
'You guys are the ones who ditched them...'