Chapter 356
Chapter 356
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 356
Chapter Title: Now Forward (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A slash shot from the ground tore through the sky, cleaving the clouds apart. It had finally sliced off a swath of the heavens themselves. The rent sky. The severed thunderheads. Destel, who had been staring dumbly up at it all, finally let out a hollow chuckle.
Did I just hear that right?
The Ashen Mage had called it a newly born calamity. Its name was Kyle Toven, and it bore the moniker Sword of Reverse Heaven, she had said.
A calamity?
The Hero became a calamity?
It defied all common sense.
But Destel knew better than most that common sense wasn't all that solid a concept on the battlefield. In a place swarming with monsters that defied logic, common sense was little more than a crumbling old rampart, liable to collapse at any moment.
Destel slowly turned her head.
She shifted her gaze from the sky to Raniel, standing directly across from her. It was obvious enough—she didn't seem to be lying. Besides, Destel knew the Ashen Mage wasn't the type to crack jokes like that.
"...You're saying Kyle Toven became a calamity? So that thing over the ruins of the old Seleph Kingdom... that's the bastard Kyle?"
Raniel bit her lip without a word.
The silence was affirmation enough.
Destel rubbed her eyes.
"The beasts gathering there must be because of him too. That's why you're heading that way, and why you carry Kyle's starlight... it all lines up."
The pieces of information clicked together.
Chewing over the conclusion she'd reached, Destel let out a laugh. A hollow chuckle spilled from her open mouth.
"Ha, haha."
The Hero, humanity's hope and called the strongest of all.
And now that same figure would turn his sword on humanity as their enemy. When that sword beam had rocketed toward the sky just moments ago, Destel hadn't been able to think of a single way to counter it head-on.
Humanity's greatest force has become a calamity.
She groaned as she mulled over that single line.
"This is insane."
A vicious joke.
No—it had to be a joke.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
By some stroke of fortune, the sword beam that had shot toward the sky didn't come arcing back down at the front lines. The trembling earth soon settled. The slash had merely rent the heavens—it hadn't been aimed at them.
That was a small mercy, Raniel thought. It meant Kyle hadn't taken any lives yet.
...Kyle's sense of self should still be hanging on. He's not fully transformed into a calamity yet. And unlike my time, at this point in the timeline, Kyle wounded himself at the last moment. We've got a little more breathing room.
That was what the version of herself from the future had said.
Right now, he'll try to kill you.
You—er, I—was the vessel the Demon King had marked out. Now that he's lost that vessel and gained a better one, the Demon King will want you dead.
Because you'll be his biggest obstacle.
Kyle's target would be her.
He won't turn on humanity right away because of his lingering self. But with you, it's different. His malice will be aimed squarely at you.
He'd try to kill her.
She'd known it intellectually, but the thick killing intent wafting over from beyond the horizon still drew a groan from Raniel.
"......"
Unable to sleep, Raniel had stepped out of her tent and knelt in the field, gazing up at the sky. Stars twinkled through the fractured night heavens.
"The plan's set."
As she stared upward, a weary voice came from behind her. She turned to see Destel standing there.
"We'll move according to your request. The knights' morale is down, but once they know you're here, it'll bounce right back. We might not charge, but... holding the line? That we can do."
It wasn't wrong.
Lania van Trias—the one who'd repelled calamities multiple times and was publicly known as the Ashen Mage's successor. With a hero like that on the battlefield, the knights' morale wouldn't be an issue.
"...Thanks."
"No big deal."
Destel let out a short sigh and ruffled her hair roughly. A brief silence. Choosing her words carefully, she slowly spoke up.
"You became a Hero too, huh?"
The question carried layers of meaning.
Raniel nodded without a word.
"...Dragging a retiree back into the seat. Kyle's a real bastard."
"Tell me about it."
"Not gonna ask what happened, but I have to know this since it ties into the plan."
Destel exhaled sharply and said,
"Can you kill him?"
"......"
"Never seen a sword beam like that. He's already monstrously strong, but that? That's another level. A slash that size, sweeping that wide..."
It's beyond human.
Destel muttered as much.
No matter how superhuman a swordsman, on the battlefield, they're just one person. Against endless waves, they weaken inevitably.
But that slash from before was different.
Beyond human limits, beyond any individual's power. Numbers meant nothing against it. The world no longer called someone who dominated the field with a single swing a mere swordsman.
"Isn't that on par with that monster, the Sword of Death Ganikalt?"
The world called such beings monsters.
The Sword of Death was one such existence.
"Can you kill a freak like that...? Can you take him down and come back?"
"There's a chance."
Raniel said calmly.
"Becoming a Hero changed a lot for me. And against him... I've got a shot."
"...Yeah?"
Destel's eyes narrowed.
The odds looked slim, but if she said so, there wasn't much to argue. The conversation lapsed awkwardly. Destel tossed out a sidelong question.
"Hey."
The one she'd wanted to ask for ages.
"You scared?"
"Terrified."
The answer came quick.
"You admit you're scared too?"
"I'm not standing here as a sage."
"Sage?"
"How can someone out front say they're scared? Leaders always have to look ahead. They can't afford weak words like that."
But, she added,
"This isn't that time, is it? Can't you say you're scared now?"
"...You really Raniel?"
Raniel turned. Looking at Destel, she laughed in disbelief.
"What do you even take me for?"
It wasn't accusatory.
Raniel knew now that showing only that side of herself had made this reaction inevitable. Grinning mischievously at the sheepish Destel, Raniel said,
"Can't wrap your head around it, huh."
"Obviously. I'm a coward. No sarcasm—it's just genuinely beyond me."
Empathy, empathy.
Raniel smirked.
It was really simple, after all.
"Just don't wanna regret it."
"...Regret?"
"If I run now saying I'm scared or don't wanna, something truly fucked up happens. Regretting it then would be too late."
She sounded like someone who'd seen the future.
"That's why I'm doing it now. So I don't regret it more later."
"...Still don't get it."
"And you?"
Raniel shot Destel a glance.
"You're the one in charge of this special front line, where anything could happen. In a place like this, where a calamity seems likely. Not scared?"
She pointed straight at the Hero's uniform draped over Destel's shoulders.
"Wearing that, even. You hate that outfit, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"So why are you here? You get teased as a coward no matter what... What's the reason for sticking around?"
"Basic duty."
Destel patted the draped garment.
"Not leading the charge, might run if it gets bad... but staying here's the bare minimum duty. Gotta do that much."
Garahal was dead.
Kyle Toven was missing.
She was all that remained.
"Even a coward like me doesn't wanna turn into trash who shirks duty altogether."
Everyone held the line for their own reasons.
Everyone lived life their own way.
Remembering words Garahal had once shared, Raniel smiled.
"Well, whatever..."
Raniel rose slowly.
Glancing at Destel, she held out her fist.
"Here's hoping it goes well. Destel."
"What's this all of a sudden?"
Looking dubious but playing along, Destel bumped fists. Raniel flashed a faint smile. Under the starlight, her ash-gray hair glimmered.
"Thanks for the cooperation."
With that, Raniel headed back to her tent. Destel blinked, watching her retreating figure for a while.
Really Raniel?
The guy she knew didn't smile so softly. Blinking blankly, Destel finally chuckled hollowly.
It felt like he'd been bewitched by a witch.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
No sun rises in the Demonic Realm.
Thus, day or night, it exudes an oppressively overcast gloom. The knights holding out here must wear down mentally and physically fast, thanks in part to the environment.
A place where the sun never rises.
Where day and night blend into endless murk.
The frontmost front line, dubbed the Demonic Realm.
Knights stand at its very forefront, gripping spears and swords tight, bracing for the massive operation about to begin.
"...That's her."
"Heard the rumors."
And ahead of even them stands one figure. Ash-gray hair cascading down, robe emblazoned with the ashen emblem fluttering—a girl.
Lania van Trias.
The knights know her too, the one the world calls a hero. Petite frame. Slender limbs. She doesn't look the battlefield type. Yet gazing at her back, the knights steel themselves.
A hero fights alongside us.
The blood and sweat we'll shed here aren't meaningless. With her here, whatever she aims to achieve... it all lays the foundation for great feats.
So it has value.
A knight is one who'll stake their life for value and honor. These front-line knights are knights among knights, so they know honor and the values they must uphold.
Clank.
Their armor clanged loudly.
From their ranks stepped one. Destel, in Hero's garb adorned with platinum thread. Behind her, Remia advanced, her golden waves of hair swaying.
They climbed the makeshift watchtowers.
Two towers jutting up.
Each taking one, they readied signal flares for the operation's start. Atop her tower, Destel snapped her fingers.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Mimic: Famed Archer Epta Starlight bow manifests
Starlight bloomed.
Destel's star relic, the Star Mantle, wrapped her shoulders in light. Blinking a couple times to adjust to her suddenly expanded vision, Destel steadied her breath.
Famed Archer, Epta.
A Hero who wielded the bow, raised by elves. The elf king Orbel taught her elven archery, showed her moonlit arrows, and gave her the chance to mimic them with starlight.
Starlight mimicking moonlight arrows.
Said to be usable only by divine archers, Epta mimicked it masterfully. She swept battlefields with platinum arrows woven from starlight.
A swarm of stars embroidering the field.
Like rain of falling stars—thus its name, Meteor Shower. Destel assumed the stance to mimic that legendary Hero's technique.
Flash.
A bow of stars formed in her hand, string drawn, platinum arrow nocked. Though Destel had never learned archery, her form now as she drew the string was near perfect.
The Star Mantle even borrowed the target's experience. Epta's archery, honed through hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of shots—Destel mimicked it all.
Twing.
Destel released the fully drawn string.
A streak of starlight shot skyward. The arrow, fired at an angle, flashed brilliantly upon hitting the clouds.
Screeeeeeee!
The arrow split.
One became dozens, hundreds, thousands—a rain of arrows poured down. Toward the warped Demonic Realm, scattering flashes as they ravaged it. The beasts' screams shook the realm.
"—————!"
With roars, the beasts surged forth.
Hundreds swept away by Meteor Shower, yet their numbers didn't thin. A black wave, truly.
The operation began.
Knights bellowed war cries, raising spears and swords. They secured the sharpened barricades. Then, another arrow soared skyward—not from Destel.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Divine Archer: Remia Moonlight Arrow launches
Divine Archer, Remia.
Her arrow.
Not platinum starlight, but a moonlit arrow suffused with soft lunar glow. The original that Famed Archer Epta had mimicked.
The arrow pierced clouds, rising like a moon itself.
Arcing down from the clouds, it's no longer just an arrow. Split and splitting again, it's moonlight incarnate.
Flash!
Nearly thousands of silver-white rays poured onto the onrushing beasts. Not for piercing a single foe, but sweeping multitudes. One application of Moonlight Arrows: Moonlight.
Meteor Shower, icon of Famed Archer Epta.
Moonlight, the technique it originated from.
Beasts pierced by silver-white flashes sprayed blood and fell. More surged, but Moonlight carved a temporary gap. Nocking her next arrow, Remia glanced at Raniel.
Now.
Raniel didn't hear Remia's mutter. But she knew this was the perfect moment anyway.
Step.
Raniel took one step forward.
The instant her foot hit ground, ash dust billowed around her. The instantly released spell accelerated her body beyond limits.
Swish.
Remnants of burning mana scattered as ash. But it wasn't just ash swirling.
Tick, tick-tick.
Platinum motes rose around her body. Hidden by ash but unmistakable starlight. Starlight bloomed amid the ash, flickering as it enveloped and reinforced her.
Crack.
The ground split from where she stepped. Seeing the starlight bloom before her eyes, Raniel thought of Kyle. The back she'd always seen rose in her mind.
As she recalled it,
Raniel chanted inwardly.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Acceleration Body surges beyond limits
Her form vanished in an instant. The knights watching her back, Destel scanning with enhanced far-sight, even Remia—all missed Raniel's movement for that split second.
KABOOOOOM!
The delayed earth-shattering roar brought a gale. As knights instinctively shut their eyes, Remia and Destel stared wide. And so they saw it.
The onrushing beasts evaporating in a heartbeat.
A single line piercing the black wave of beasts. Nothing left in its wake but heaps of ash.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇