The Hero's Sword (2)
The wind whispered through the open fields—
Countless white daisies bloomed across the vast plain, dancing in the breeze.
Amid their swaying celebration, a black-haired man lay perfectly still.
The brilliant sunlight slowly pried his eyelids open.
'Huh...?'
The man opened his eyes.
A blue sky.
White flowers.
A warm breeze.
Everything felt utterly foreign.
'Didn't I just get hit by a truck?'
There was no trace of the truck, not even a road. Nothing.
The horizon stretched endlessly over the wide fields, everything laid out with an overwhelming horizontal weight.
'What is this? Does a place like this even exist in Korea...?'
At the end of his dazed gaze, atop a gently rising hill, something like a stick caught his eye.
The man approached.
'A sword...?'
It stood there carelessly embedded in the ground.
Beneath it, a simple stone tablet read:
Hero's Sword
There was no further explanation.
Thud.
Pam collapsed inside the prison cell.
"Th-that's..."
She remembered it too.
"The Hero's Sword!?"
The days when she hadn't known how to bestow it, so she'd spent coins just to scratch a note-like message onto a rock. The time when both she and Julian had been clumsy and inexperienced. The symbol of that era had appeared before her eyes once again.
"Lady Pam... is that sword exactly the same one?"
"I can't be sure. Not from here."
Pam found it difficult to confirm with absolute certainty.
"It doesn't matter what kind of sword it is. What's important is that the story can describe it as the 'Hero's Sword.' The concept itself carries power."
"Huh? What kind of power?"
"Heroes can never truly adapt when they first cross into a story. They come from a world without mana in the atmosphere. Their very constitution is different. Their bodies can't fully handle mana. It's like trying to pour water into a vessel that has no bottom."
"Then... does receiving the Hero's Sword create that vessel?"
"Exactly. And an infinite one at that. It's the foundation every hero shares."
That was correct.
The common trait shared by all heroes.
No matter the trials in their growth, there was no limit.
An infinitely large vessel.
Depending on how they accumulated mana and power within it, they could even kill the Demon King with a single blow.
"A body that hasn't gathered even a single speck of mana suddenly becomes an enormous vessel. That creates a massive hole in the sea of mana. Imagine a calm ocean-like puddle suddenly developing a huge crater. What happens?"
"Uh... that's hard..."
"The water would get sucked in, right?"
"Ah...!"
"Yes. That's how a hero becomes the center of that world."
"Gasp...!?"
Ham was stunned.
The center?
Could Julian become the center of this world once more?
Wasn't that the ending Pam had always wanted?
Yet now that it was happening, Pam felt only doubt.
"This is too dangerous."
It was because of the Constellations.
"If more than a certain number of Constellations learn Julian's true identity... if they realize he was the protagonist in other places as well... the Fourth Wall will collapse."
"!"
Ham's eyes widened.
The Fourth Wall.
The final stronghold that must never break in any story board.
If it collapsed, everything would end.
That wall was like Earth's ozone layer.
If they took the full force of the Constellations' gazes—powerful ultraviolet rays with no protection whatsoever—no one would survive.
No human could defeat the sun.
"Not even Julian."
It applied to him too.
No, precisely because it was Julian, it was even worse.
He was already far too close to the sun.
Meanwhile, Belzerak covered her eyes and frowned.
'What is this light?'
A burst of light had exploded without warning.
Completely sudden. From an entirely unexpected place, in a way that defied understanding.
'My illusion?'
Along with the light, all of Belzerak's illusions vanished.
Huh?
Belzerak smirked.
"Who intervened? How cute."
She assumed one of the mages watching the hero's battle had stepped in.
But the mages' support unit hadn't even arrived yet.
"Anyway, my mirage can be recreated at any—"
Her words were cut short.
The music of the great villain echoes across the world.
The nobles whispered among themselves.
"This is... the phenomenon known as 'resonant hallucination.'"
Someone recited knowledge from an old tome.
"Resonant hallucination?"
"When the same hallucination is heard by everyone... it occurs when a true hero appears..."
"A true... hero?"
Their gazes slowly turned toward the spot where the light had exploded.
When one spoke of a hero here, there was only one possibility.
Step. Step.
Julian the hero emerged from the hazy dust.
In his hand was a sword different from before.
"Th-that sword...!?"
The nobles reacted first.
"This must be the goddess aiding us!"
"It's the power of the oracle! The Hero's Sword has descended!"
They had recognized that the Hero's Sword had been bestowed.
"...The Hero's Sword?"
Belzerak's face hardened.
'Completely different.'
This was not the same person as before.
The way he walked with the sword at his waist, completely at ease. It felt familiar somehow.
Some emotion engraved in her body stirred.
'No way.'
Her body was freezing up.
'Fear?'
A high-ranking demon like her was feeling fear.
Fear was supposed to be her reason for existing.
Yet here she was, feeling it instead.
"Who... are you?"
A faint smile curved Junil's lips at Belzerak's question.
'If you're going to ask, I have no choice but to answer.'
He lifted his chin and thumped his chest.
Thump!
"This great one is Julian!"
To the Constellations it was nothing more than an absurdly confident pose.
"That's just your name... wait, what?"
Julian.
Only then did Belzerak remember.
The hero who had brutally torn her apart when she manifested roughly a hundred years ago. The only hero who had driven the Demon King to the brink.
Hadn't that one's name also been Julian?
Grind...
'There's no way this guy is that guy, right?'
His appearance was completely different, so she had assumed it was mere coincidence that they shared a name. Heroes' names were often reused, after all.
But who was she?
The Demon of Deception.
Faking an expression was easy.
She laughed even more brightly instead.
"Ah~ Julian? What a lovely name. It's the name of one of our comrades."
"......?"
Blending in among humans was her specialty.
There was no way she wouldn't know that rumor.
If there was a good rumor like this, of course a demon would use it.
"If not for Julian's hard work over these long years, we wouldn't have been able to resurrect like this~"
The ministers began murmuring among themselves again.
So the rumor had been true.
"I can't let you die an easy death."
Shhhhh...
Killing intent spread out, pressing down on the air of the banquet hall.
Belzerak's knees trembled faintly.
"H-ha...? Just because you destroyed one mirage, aren't you getting a little too cocky?"
She didn't even realize she was stuttering.
She was simply using every ounce of strength to act tough.
"S-something like you... if I use proper illusion magic, it'll be over in no time!"
Belzerak's entire body blazed with pink magi.
Kwaaaaaaaa...!
Black smoke surged up on a completely different scale from before.
Giant black flowers bloomed everywhere, radiating an obviously lethal aura.
"Die trapped in eternal—"
Srrrng.
Junil had simply raised his sword.
At least, that's how it looked to Belzerak.
But—
"Huh?"
Kwagwagwagwang!
All the black flowers around them exploded.
"......!"
She couldn't tell what had cut them or how it had happened.
'I couldn't see a single thing.'
She couldn't follow it at all.
With a flourish, Junil adjusted his grip on the sword and walked forward slowly.
Completely different from before, when he had staked everything on speed.
Step. Step.
With every step he took, Belzerak felt her breath tightening.
"Illusion magic? Go ahead and use those cheap tricks some more."
Fully freed from his restrictions, Junil wanted to savor this power to the fullest.
'I'll convert it straight into viewership ratings.'
As if following Junil's intentions, Belzerak glared and deployed her magic again.
"Cheap tricks!? I was going easy on you and now you act all high and mighty, human!?"
This time it wasn't illusion magic, but proper demonic attack.
Tang!
The black magi wrapped around a whip and burrowed into the ground.
Right after, black magi surged up from beneath Junil's feet.
Shiiiik—
The whip traveled underground and rose like thorns.
Its movements were so free and unpredictable.
Yet Junil dodged as if taking a leisurely stroll.
"Too slow."
Whoooong!
Though they surged up with tremendous force, every whip missed.
Whiiiing!
Whiing!
No matter how many times she tried, the result was the same.
"Wh-what the hell!"
Belzerak could no longer hide her emotions.
Her face twisted, her wings spread wide, and her true form emerged.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Her figure scattered in an instant.
Paht!
It was a speed battle once again.
If the fight dragged on any longer, her defeat seemed all too certain.
The same behavior as the initial Junil.
She became a single bullet and shot toward him.
"I said you're slow."
Instead of dodging, Junil raised his palm upward.
Grab—
"!?"
Belzerak's face was caught in his grip.
Junil grinned and lowered his stance.
"Chokeslam~"
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Belzerak's head slammed into the ground and was ground apart.
The Constellations weren't the only ones shocked by the sight.
"I-impossible."
"Such a relaxed suppression... against a high-ranking demon!?"
"He's not even using the sword!"
Belzerak, humiliatingly buried in the ground.
"Ugh..."
Her lower body, protruding above the earth, trembled violently.
She had taken real damage.
Not physical damage.
'This... this bastard is toying with me!?'
The mental shock of being toyed with.
But this was only the beginning.
"Soccer kick~"
Baaaaaaaang!
Junil's kick slammed into Belzerak's abdomen, sending her flying into the ceiling.
"Kugh...!"
"It's not over yet!?"
Paht!
Junil instantly followed her to the ceiling and shouted.
"Ji~ gun."
He focused mana on his finger and pressed it firmly between Belzerak's wide eyes.
Baaaaang!
Thud!
Belzerak's body slammed into the floor and bounced back up.
"Khaaaak...!"
Just when it seemed to be over.
"Rope rebound~"
Thump—
Junil kicked off the ceiling and charged in.
"Crossline, you bastard!"
——Kwaaaang!
Belzerak's neck was properly caught on Junil's arm as she was slammed into the ground once more.
After landing on top of Belzerak.
"Ji~ gun!"
Finger strikes rained down.
Kwaang!
"Ji~ gun!"
Kwagwang!
The continuous finger strikes continued.
The Hero's Sword remained sheathed at his waist. He hadn't even swung it properly.
"Ji~ gun!"
The gap was so vast it went beyond overwhelming and became bleak.
To think she couldn't even withstand the tip of the hero's finger.
Kwaaaaaang!
"Kugh!"
The ground was being carved into the shape of Belzerak as she was helplessly beaten.
Was this really the same high-ranking demon who had threatened everyone just moments ago?
"I-is that... okay?"
"Is this illusion magic?"
"Isn't that guy the demon?"
"Ah! It must be illusion magic that swaps bodies!"
The ministers even began to suspect that Junil was the demon.
That their bodies had been switched.
But Junil had a reason for doing this.
"Speak the truth, Belzerak. The truth about the great hero Julian."
"I-I already said it! That guy is a lovable comrade—"
Swoosh.
Junil raised his finger again.
This time it was the middle finger.
It somehow looked like it would hurt like hell.
"Middle finger~ gun?"
"N-no..."
"Thumb~"
"I understand."
Belzerak lost all will to fight at the threat of the thumb gun.
She opened her mouth to speak.
"That hero—"
"As for that traitor bastard, I know more about him than anyone else on the continent?"
Red flowers bloomed everywhere.