Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: Hero, Galrahal (1)
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The air trembled.
Demonic energy scattered in all directions. Mana twisted into bizarre shapes. The stench of blood mingled man and beast. The scent of death pierced the nostrils. The woman who had betrayed the god reeked of it.
"I'll save you all soon enough."
Flowing white hair billowed.
Green eyes devoid of light.
The once-saint apostate smiled.
Her voice echoed through the air. Raniel gritted her teeth, feeling suffocated. Instinct told her everything.
This was the apostate in her complete form.
No restraints bound her body. The quaking air and overwhelming pressure crushing the area were on another level from that night in the city.
Tick, tick.
Space itself began to tear, unable to withstand her presence. That was a calamity. Beings that warped the natural order just by existing.
Grind.
Raniel ground her teeth and took a step forward.
She swung her clenched fist toward the apostate. Circuits etched into the back of her hand ignited, flashing blue.
But the fist never reached.
Craaack!
A passage swallowed by sewage.
Beyond the opaque barrier blocking it, Raniel's fist halted. The spells she unleashed fared no better, scattering on impact.
"Useless."
The apostate laughed from beyond the membrane.
"You know this already, don't you? This is the Star's Trial."
The Star's Trial.
A trial permitted only to those bearing the star—the heroes.
"No mere human without blessing could interfere. Give up, child."
Those without the star could not affect the space beyond the passage. That was the trial's absolute rule.
The apostate chuckled, turning her back on Raniel and stepping away. Chloe, clutched in her grasp, reached out toward Raniel—but her hand never made contact.
Grip.
Raniel bit her lip, glaring at the apostate's retreating figure. Bloodshot eyes burned. Nails dug into her clenched fist, drawing blood.
Soon, the sewage consuming the passage bubbled.
The gateway to the Star's Trial began to close. Raniel extended her hand, seizing the passage's frame. Crunch—her fingers cracked loudly.
Whoosh.
Massive mana burned away, warping space around her fingers. The closing passage collided with the distortion, halting its shrink.
But that was it.
She could hold the passage open but not advance beyond. Unblessed by the star, lacking its light, she could not interfere with that space.
Spells wouldn't reach.
This damned trial rejected her very body.
In this moment, only one path emerged.
A way for the unchosen to embrace the star.
A way to seize forbidden power.
Raniel knew it.
'But...'
Even so, could she defeat the apostate?
Could she fell her alone? And if she did, releasing this held space—what of her, with no way back?
Too many uncertainties.
A moment's hesitation, a moment's doubt.
But it didn't last. Action first. Raniel steeled herself and extended her remaining hand.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Balance." A platinum scale materialized.
Raniel's final chance appeared before her.
As she reached for it—
Grip.
Someone seized her wrist.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Galrahal?"
Raniel glared at Galrahal gripping her wrist.
"Let go."
She urged desperately, but he merely shook his head.
"I'll go."
He said quietly.
Raniel bit her lip hard.
"...You can't."
She continued, head bowed.
"If you go, you'll die."
Unlike her, with even a slim chance of survival. The moment he entered, death was certain. Not just from scant remaining lifespan.
Cruel words for him, but necessary now.
"You're not enough."
Not enough.
His power fell woefully short.
Galrahal nodded at her words, as if he'd known all along.
Still, he didn't release her wrist.
"Didn't you hear me? You'll die if you go."
"Maybe."
"It's not a maybe. You'll definitely die. So let go, now. Galrahal."
Galrahal smiled bitterly.
"Raniel."
Raniel looked up.
Meeting his gaze, she suddenly realized. No matter her words, they wouldn't reach him.
"I am the Hero."
Those eyes had already decided.
"A Hero must not turn from those who seek aid."
Countless words and phrases flashed through Raniel's mind, then vanished.
You already achieved your dream.
I want to write your story.
I'm afraid of death.
Many surfaced, but all halted at his next words.
"I want to remain a Hero until the end."
Raniel let her arm drop.
The scale faded, and only then did Galrahal release her wrist. He stepped before the passage in its stead.
He gripped his holy spear and assumed position.
Gazing at him—like a hero from a fairy tale—Raniel asked,
"Are you going to die?"
"No."
Galrahal smiled.
"I'm going to save her."
2.
The apostate was utterly delighted in this moment.
For defiling the star-chosen child. For avenging herself on the star. Perhaps for reuniting with the long-awaited Cardi.
All these truths filled her with joy, and she laughed.
With a smile, she spoke.
"You wouldn't understand, poor child."
The apostate whispered to Chloe.
"What the star did to you and me."
To Chloe, too terrified to meet her eyes, she continued.
"The souls you and I—and the first guide—were born with. Their value... You could never know."
Only after betraying the star did she learn.
Facing the truth, the apostate felt profound betrayal. That led to faith in the shadows. The first saintess served the star no more.
"A false god, an antiquated one dragged forth by human hands in ancient times. Don't believe in it, child. You were betrayed by faith."
This child before her wouldn't know.
She'd meet death ignorant. Pitiable, yet pleasing. Ignorance might be the greatest bliss.
The apostate walked the vast expanse.
This endless white space was where she'd once faced the god's trial. God had tested her, and passing proved her worth to the divine.
Centuries later, time for proof again. To affirm her righteousness, she walked.
'Almost there.'
Seizing this child's body would free her from all bonds. She'd meet the first ashen one she'd yearned for over centuries.
"Wait for me, Armiel."
Smiling, the apostate proceeded.
After a few steps, she turned silently.
She sensed presence.
Someone new had entered the space.
The intruder's form unseen, but predictable.
"Ashen."
The pitiable child reaching for the star despite lacking its light. The human burning her lifespan to shine. Would she dazzle again?
Elated, the apostate watched.
Then, confirming the intruder, her gaze iced over. The one she desired wasn't there.
"...What are you?"
An unfamiliar human.
Someone she'd met once, but so ordinary, forgotten.
"Galrahal."
A mere human declared.
"The Hero."
3.
Galrahal walked.
His steps lighter than ever. The holy spear, always heavy, now felt featherlight. Amid that lightness, he pressed on.
"......"
The apostate's gaze upon him was frigid beyond measure. Contrary to expectation, no ashen. Just an ordinary human.
A hero chosen by the star, yet... she felt no thrill.
She'd seen countless heroes over centuries, knelt them before her. To her, heroes were mere humans cursed by the star. Worthless without it.
She recognized only one.
Ganicalt van Galatric.
The hero who'd shone without the star. Others paled. Irritated, she flicked her hand dismissively.
Void tore, demons poured forth.
Dozens surged like waves, engulfing Galrahal. Swallowed, he vanished. As she turned—
Flash.
Lightning pierced the black tide.
Demons scattered with the blaze. Treading corpses, Galrahal advanced, blood streaming.
Torn voids spewed more demons endlessly. Numbers swelled. Yet Galrahal never halted, pushing forward.
One step, another.
Falling, pushed back, bleeding—he walked. At some point, the apostate stopped, watching.
"......"
Her eyes narrowed.
There: Galrahal mauled by demons, hurled down by reaper claws. Tossed repeatedly.
Yet rising repeatedly.
Bleeding, he rose and approached her. She halted an emerging armored dragon with a gesture.
"Child."
The apostate spoke.
"What drives you to rise again?"
Interest flickered in her eyes.
"You can't reach me. You know that. So why rise? Why persist knowing it's impossible?"
Galrahal gave no answer.
His step forward was reply enough.
"Just dismissing the small fry, and you're already battered. Don't bite off more than you can chew."
The rifts widened.
Within writhed her elite—burdens even for superhumans. Five armored dragons tore through.
"You'll die."
They encircled her.
"Will you keep coming?"
Galrahal walked silently.
A smile tugged her lips.
A shattered world.
A ruined land ruled by an obsolete god.
In such a world, this human struggling before encroaching death—how beautiful? Once a saintess, she adored such souls.
"Child."
She whispered softly.
"Is it necessary to go that far?"
Galrahal halted.
His breaths ragged. Mauled ankle throbbed. His proud four-tailed cloak, shredded beyond recognition.
He was crumbling.
Starlight enveloped him faintly, but too dim to heal wounds. Pointing, she burst laughing.
"Starlight, loathsome starlight."
Betrayed early by the star, she sneered.
"Child, you're not blessed. The opposite. You're cursed by the star."
Sneer. Mockery. Pity.
"It's a curse. A horrific one."
"It's a curse. We've been toyed with by the star."
Words once whispered by a comrade.
Chosen, thus burdened with duty; chosen, thus suffering. They echoed in Galrahal's ears.
Not wrong.
Living as hero, he'd witnessed countless deaths. Felt comrades' loss. Tasted endless grief, mind and body frayed in brutal fields.
Undeniably harsh.
"Chosen by the star, forced into this life. Even the end painful. You'll die accomplishing nothing."
Harsh, but meaningful.
Thud.
Galrahal slammed his spear shaft down.
The impact buried her words. Leaning on it, he straightened. Lifted his bowed head.
"Not once."
He said.
"Not once have I thought the power the star gave me a curse."
This was blessing.
"Because of the star's blessing."
So heavy.
With this blessing, this power.
"I could save so many."
He became the hero.
The admired legend, dream fulfilled.
"If this isn't a blessing, what is?"
Galrahal smiled.
Bleeding, yet smiling.
Lighter, more at peace than ever.
"...You."
His smile flustered her.
"Out of your mind?"
No more words deserved reply.
Galrahal exhaled sharply. Gripped the shaft fiercely. It gleamed platinum.
He sensed it.
This, his final stage.
Where he'd burn his life.
Resolved, he cried to the void.
"O star."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ A scale rose before Galrahal. "I offer it."
To the star demanding price, he shouted.
"Everything I have."
The final trade complete, the scale shattered.
The star answered the human's wish.
Starlight overflowed.
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