Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Reality and Ideal (1)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Bertha Gorge.
The name was familiar to Raniel. She never lingered long in any one battlefield, but she had spent months at a time in Bertha Gorge.
The Black Storm, the Black Dragon Belial.
The gorge where that colossal disaster had made its lair.
Even after several years had passed, the mere mention of Bertha Gorge brought the terrain vividly to mind.
The split gorge.
The high plateau where Belial's nest had been.
And the gorge's entrance, where the black dragon's head had been severed.
"To give a brief overview of the operation..."
Even as Raniel recalled the past, Destel pointed at the map and explained the plan. It was straightforward.
"There's a wyvern nest in Bertha Gorge. Necromancers who produce dragonbone soldiers have set up camp there. It's a facility churning out Demon King's Army troops nonstop."
Destel jabbed at the map. Red dots clustered around Bertha Gorge.
"We're hitting that facility. Dragonbone soldiers, wyverns—they're all tough opponents. Time to wipe them out for good."
"You plan to destroy the necromancers' tower?"
Garahal asked.
Destel nodded.
"Burn the wyvern nest and topple the necromancers' tower. You know why we're doing this, Garahal... and you there."
Destel pointed at Raniel.
"Ever fought wyverns? Dragonbone soldiers? Of course not."
Raniel's eyebrow twitched.
'I've got enough dragonbone scraps I've smashed to build a castle, you bastard.'
She swallowed the retort rising in her throat and nodded for now. Destel outlined the frontline situation and explained the plan's intent.
"Wyverns are tricky. Taking down flying ones is a hassle, and even if you do, the necromancers just collect the bones for more dragonbone soldiers."
A war of attrition would favor the enemy.
Dealing with periodic wyvern raids was a massive pain. Especially for humans who couldn't fly.
"Dragonbone soldiers have high resistance. Magic and holy spells barely work. Twice as tough as regular undead."
Information Raniel knew well.
That was why she'd favored strike spells.
"So we're wiping them out."
Destel said.
"Leave them be, and they'll just keep grinding us down. Pushing the frontlines aggressively lately? All to set up this strike on Bertha Gorge."
The briefing continued for a while longer.
Destel, who said he'd keep it brief, laid out the full flow and details. It was almost overly thorough, prompting Garahal to ask,
"...Isn't the explanation a bit too detailed?"
"What."
Destel shot back.
"Should I keep it vague?"
He pointed at Chloe standing in the corner of the tent.
"You came to learn, right? You're not the type to leak plans, so why hold back?"
"You always held back from me."
"That's 'cause you're always rushing off to save guys I'd ditch. No need this time. Didn't I say it at the start?"
Destel tapped the table.
"You're off the roster for this op. Whatever you do won't affect it. So listen up and decide for yourselves."
Where to go, what to do.
What to choose, what to abandon.
What a hero must do on the battlefield.
"Isn't that why you came to the frontlines? To learn that?"
It wasn't like Destel at all.
Garahal felt a twinge of unease at the sight... but soon realized what it was. While explaining, Destel kept glancing at Chloe.
...I see.
Garahal smirked.
"Understood, Destel."
"And stay away from me if you can. You make me uncomfortable. The knights' stares piss me off too."
"I'll try."
Garahal didn't mind the blatant discomfort. It wasn't new, and he'd expected it ever since punching Destel in the face back then.
He just nodded slightly and left the tent. Chloe followed Garahal out.
"You not going?"
Raniel stayed.
She stared straight at Destel. Her bluish eyes fixed on him. Destel felt an inexplicable chill from them.
Like they pierced right through him.
After a brief silence, Raniel spoke.
"The plan looks solid."
"...Out of nowhere?"
"It's a good plan."
"It has to be. It's all I've got."
Destel tapped his temple.
"Not everyone can be like your brother."
Raniel flinched.
Destel shrugged at her sharp glare, as if demanding what he meant.
"Sorry for bringing up your brother again."
"If you're sorry, don't."
"I have to say this."
Destel narrowed his eyes.
"I get that you admire him, but if I may offer some unsolicited advice..."
His gaze shifted from Raniel to where Chloe had just left.
"Don't force it on that kid."
"What're you talking about?"
"Don't push ideals on her. Let her choose for herself. Forced ideals crumble fast."
They crumble.
Raniel furrowed her brow.
"...What?"
"You know."
Destel said, propping his chin.
"Your brother pushed ideals on someone, and they broke completely. You know who."
Kyle Toven.
Destel muttered.
"Hey."
Suddenly, Destel lurched forward. It took him a moment to realize the girl had grabbed his collar and yanked him close.
"Cut it out."
She was uncharacteristically emotional.
Raniel released him with a shove and left the tent without a word. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
After leaving the tent, Raniel and Garahal headed different ways. Chloe followed Garahal, as prearranged.
"You'll learn from Garahal."
"Learn well."
Garahal stopped in a vast plain dotted with boulders. As he walked toward one, he spoke.
"Chloe."
"Y-yes."
Garahal smiled wryly at her hesitant demeanor and reached back. In his hand was his signature spear.
A long shaft ending in a platinum blade.
"I heard you haven't undergone the trial yet, so no sacred armament."
"Yes, not yet..."
"But you're already wielding starlight."
The scene from the spell training room.
A hero not even an apprentice yet, wielding starlight. Not just wielding—manifesting spells with it.
'When did I first handle the stars?'
As an apprentice hero, he couldn't grasp it.
Only after countless brushes with death on the battlefield did he understand.
So Garahal knew.
How absurd this girl was, how much potential she held.
"What I'll teach you is the unique property of the stars each hero possesses."
That's why he would teach her.
What he'd realized over years of experience.
"Unique property...?"
"Yes. Each hero's starlight has its own trait. Most evident in the sacred armament."
Garahal spun the spear shaft.
"Mine is this holy spear. Destel has a holy castle—though he rarely uses it. Kyle's is a holy sword."
The armament symbolizing a hero.
Holy swords were common, but not universal. Spears or shields for others.
"The sacred armament reveals the star's property."
Garahal slammed the butt into the ground.
The platinum blade's starlight deepened.
"Destel's is imitation, Kyle's acceleration, and mine..."
He turned.
Toward a nearby boulder. He swung the spear at the massive rock. The blade struck hard.
Crack!
The rock shattered on impact.
With each slice and smash, the starlight in the blade grew clearer. After pulverizing the boulder, Garahal gripped the shaft tight.
"Mine is convergence."
The blade blazed white.
Chloe squinted at the blinding light. Garahal hurled the converged spear at a distant boulder.
The blade flickered.
The holy spear drew a straight line and embedded in the rock.
"Gather starlight and release."
Garahal clenched his empty fist.
Boom!
The boulder exploded in a roar. The bursting starlight erased it completely.
"That's how I wield starlight. Even if it's lacking, accumulate it for a decisive blow."
A technique born of countless battles.
A workaround for insufficient starlight. Garahal smiled, demonstrating before Chloe.
"No sacred armament yet, but you handle starlight already. You... you can find yours."
He nodded.
Your own specialty.
"Want to learn?"
Garahal asked.
Chloe nodded slowly. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Raniel had a habit.
Scouting the operation area beforehand. Even after retiring from the frontlines, it persisted.
She headed to Bertha Gorge alone.
She'd done it with Remia before, but solo was no issue. Layers of silence spells made her steps light and soundless.
Crunch.
Crossing the open plain, she neared the gorge. The Demon King's Army hid inside, so the entrance plain was deserted.
A bit farther, and she'd enter the gorge.
But she didn't.
Go too deep, and sharp enemies would notice. No point alerting them.
'Not here to wipe them out anyway.'
Just a quick look.
Wandering the plain aimlessly, Raniel suddenly sighed deeply.
"Hoo..."
Not really scouting.
Her mind was a mess.
Uneasy.
Since facing Destel, unease lingered. Unresolved, nagging.
What was the cause?
Destel annoying her?
Him belittling her from the start?
Or that parting shot echoing in her ears?
...No.
None.
His unexpected cooperation, lack of groveling—none fit.
A different reason gnawed.
"Not everyone can be like your brother."
Destel's self-mocking words.
His bitter laugh reminded her of someone else.
"I can't be like you, Raniel."
"Unlike you, I'm human. Just human."
Kyle's words, with a hollow laugh, as she urged him to rise.
"The me he remembers isn't me now."
"People change. They have to."
"Unlike him, I'm human."
Kyle's chewed-out words at their reunion.
Then Destel's final toss:
"Don't push ideals."
It was her dilemma.
Before Destel spoke, before teaching Chloe, far earlier—when things soured with Kyle.
Ideals.
Raniel looked up at the gorge.
The cracked chasm.
Claw marks scarred the cliffs. Here, she'd bound the rampaging black dragon; Kyle severed its head.
Her most glorious days.
Back then, Kyle fulfilled his hero duties, always aiming higher. Seeking lessons from sword savant Kuntel, never ceasing training.
'If he'd continued.'
Kept growing, training endlessly toward the peak. Raniel had simulated it endlessly these past years.
Kyle had talent.
He was strong. Stronger than anyone.
Even after learning the Four Calamities' truth and hidden history, she believed it. If Kyle kept ascending, slaying the Demon King wasn't impossible.
Via the ideal path.
To the ideal future.
An ideal end.
Not delusion. Raniel was always rational, seeing potential in Kyle through cold calculation.
Seeing it, she demanded he rise.
While others praised his deeds and rested, someone had to push him.
"Get up."
"Get up. Take your sword."
"Take it, damn it."
She gladly bore the duty no one else would.
"And now they tell me not to push ideals."
Raniel muttered.
Her voice was utterly dry.
"Like hell."
Flames ignited in the dryness in an instant.
She growled.
"You think I want to do this?"
Words never shared with anyone.
Buried deep, they forced through her lips. Throat burning, Raniel tousled her hair. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇