Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: True Hero - 1
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When I came to my senses, Impellium was right in front of me.
“…….”
“…….”
We stared blankly at each other for a moment.
But soon, the memory from right before I fell asleep resurfaced.
A chill ran down my spine, and I said,
“Did I fall asleep?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t Impellium who answered.
Trail was already standing beside me.
He scratched his head.
“I didn’t expect you to call me here too.”
“You didn’t have anything left to do there anyway.”
“True, but… now I’m getting some seriously dirty looks because of it.”
Impellium chuckled as he looked at me.
I let out a deep sigh.
“Phew.”
“Sorry.”
“Nah. I get what you and the others were thinking.”
Rustle.
At my response, Impellium shifted his posture.
In a tone like he was interrogating me, he asked,
“You’re giving up more easily than I thought?”
“Huh?”
“You went all the way to the underworld to save Serein.”
“…….”
“And that’s not all. To stop your party from getting massacred by Velosian, you even gave up retirement—the most precious thing to you.”
His voice somehow sounded stern.
Staring straight into my eyes, Impellium continued.
“A hero who cherished his comrades like that seems to be giving up too easily this time.”
“…….”
“Are you doing it because you think it’s already too late? If you want, I can wake you up right now.”
“…….”
“If you wake up now, you can still make it in time. Time to stop Neril.”
I pondered his question for a moment.
But then I shook my head.
“No. It’s fine.”
“Hmm. Mind if I ask why?”
“With Serein or the fight against Velosian, it was about protecting the party from the enemy’s schemes and brute force. But this time, a party member is volunteering to sacrifice herself for me.”
“…….”
“How could I possibly stop that? What right do I have?”
I couldn’t stop it.
No, I shouldn’t.
I understood Neril’s feelings.
“She’s hinted at it so many times indirectly. That she doesn’t want to be a burden to me.”
“…….”
“Neril is giving up her most precious wish for my sake. If I argue against it anymore, that would just be insulting her.”
“Maide.”
“I just hope her wish isn’t too grand.”
With that, I placed my hand over my eyes.
They felt hot for some reason.
That was when Impellium chuckled.
“Just testing you.”
“……?”
“Sorry for making things awkward.”
“What? You were testing me?”
“Yeah. Unless you had some better plan, blindly ignoring a comrade’s resolve without any countermeasure isn’t the attitude of a hero.”
He continued slowly.
“This incident is a turning point no matter how you look at it. If it goes well, you and your party will gain unprecedented fame. But if it fails…”
“We’ll sink all the way to rock bottom.”
“Mm. And your failure would mean the end of the world. I was worried you might make an emotional choice despite understanding that, but it seems my concern was unfounded.”
I replied somewhat curtly.
“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Back when Serein collapsed.”
“Oh, right.”
“Why do you keep testing me like this?”
“If I upset you, I apologize. As compensation—though it’s a stretch—I’ll tell you some ear-perking good news.”
I chuckled.
What good news could perk my ears at a time like this?
But Impellium’s next words made me jump to my feet.
“Neril doesn’t have to give up her wish.”
“W-what?”
“Want to see?”
Snap.
Impellium snapped his fingers.
A massive screen unfurled, filling one side of the room.
It was far larger than Trail’s Eye of Omniscience.
No grade notifications or anything.
“This is…”
“Be grateful. You’re seeing the highest grade Eye of Omniscience. The true ‘Eye of Omniscience’ that can reveal secrets even more hidden than S-grade.”
“……!”
“Well, the secret we’re seeing this time is only about B-grade. Anyway, let’s watch slowly.”
I focused on the screen, veins bulging in my eyes.
Neril was holding a familiar object in her hand.
‘The Branch of Corruption!’
The core of one of the three great demon kings, capable of altering the properties of various magics and spells.
It was what Neril had created to perform the Great Purification ritual ‘without cost.’
Crack.
She snapped the branch with all her might.
“Is that even possible? Using fame without giving up anything?”
Creak.
Impellium leaned back in his chair.
“That branch has been refined over and over. It was already improved when first made, but especially in the last week, Neril and the other party members threw everything they had into researching it.”
“……No wonder they all looked so worn out.”
“A genius of her caliber researching a demon king’s core produced impressive results. Just now, Neril tricked the laws of the world with that branch.”
“…….”
“But there’s a limit, of course. The Branch of Corruption can’t fool the world forever.”
He closed his eyes briefly, as if calculating.
Soon, a specific timeframe came from his mouth.
“It’ll last about a month.”
“A month?”
“After a month, if Neril wants to convert her fame to power at 100% again, she’ll have to snap the branch once more.”
A bit disappointing, but I didn’t show it.
I should be grateful even for a month.
Impellium asked,
“Anyway, feeling relieved now?”
“Yeah. Now that I am, I’m curious about something. What was Neril planning to give up?”
“You shouldn’t ask me that. Confirm it with her later. You already have a hunch anyway.”
“…….”
“And right now, there’s something even more worth wondering about.”
He nodded toward the screen pointedly.
My companions were moving inside it.
If it’s the Eye of Omniscience, time should be stopped.
Does that mean everything’s already over in reality?
That thought put my mind even more at ease.
I leaned back in my chair, mimicking Impellium.
In the screen, Offense approached with the pure spirit marble.
He used his signature sorcery.
And spoke in my voice.
-Everyone, this is Maide Mohan.
I know exactly how you’re all feeling right now.
You must be tired of placing expectations on me.
I’m well aware of the dire straits you’re in through various routes.
I understand the despair where not even a peaceful life is possible, and your very lives are threatened.
In such a situation, just asking you to trust me would be too extravagant.
Hmm.
I got that far.
But what exactly was he planning to do?
That was when.
Rustle.
Neril pulled a spellbook from her bosom.
She formed hand seals, then tapped the cover.
The pages flipped rapidly and stopped at a certain one.
She nodded at Offense.
Meaning preparations were ready.
Offense nodded and continued.
-I was wrong.
A hero is a being who protects humanity.
Yet I’ve been obsessed only with mudslinging fights against Kaild.
That wasn’t right.
The first thing I should have done was stop this downpour.
The words were correct, but without diminishing the Heavenly God’s power, that’s impossible.
As if reading my thoughts, Offense continued.
-The reason I couldn’t is simple. I lacked the power.
But with what little power I have, I can show you an illusion.
An illusion of the rain stopping and a rainbow rising.
If you believe in me, it will soon become reality.
Please enjoy this illusion, however briefly.
And make that illusion into reality.
With your power.
That was when.
I saw Neril’s lips moving.
Whispering the incantation so her voice wouldn’t carry through the communication orb.
“Dorr Ascane.”
Dorr Ascane?
-Now, let’s watch together.
The tiresome downpour stopping, the dark clouds parting!
Whoosh.
The spellbook glowed.
Lightning flashed through my mind.
“Trail. That was Neril’s trump card?”
“Yeah. Dorr Ascane.”
“That magic is…”
“Yeah. The one used to lure Patrick and extract the gem from his eye when the black sun rose over the capital.”
Right.
As Neril had explained, it wasn’t some amateur illusion magic.
Perfect reality.
The target perceives the illusion shown by Dorr Ascane as complete reality.
Even if their body is soaked by the downpour, they accept the clear sky and fine weather after the rain as real.
“Su-sure, with that magic… No, but this time the targets are the entire continent.”
“That’s exactly why Neril steeled her resolve. To use her fame as power.”
“She cast that on the entire continent? Even with Neril’s high fame, is that possible?”
Instead of answering, Trail nodded toward the screen pointedly.
Jenia and Serein were clinging to her back.
Just like when facing Adin before, absorbing all their holy power and converting it to mana.
Impellium stroked his chin with interest.
“Neril’s fame is the highest among your party. Adding those two’s holy power makes it just barely possible.”
“…….”
“It was a huge gamble for Neril too. She didn’t know exactly how much power her fame could produce. And yet she went for it…”
He chuckled.
“She must really want to make you the hero.”
Heat rushed to my face.
Impellium snapped his fingers again.
“Huh?”
Countless windows appeared, covering the room’s walls.
Multiple Eyes of Omniscience?
“I’ve got about 40 up.”
“Forty… then…”
“The number of territories on the continent. Why not watch and see if Neril’s gamble paid off?”
“We could just compare Adin’s fame and mine numerically.”
“Getting used to just checking numbers is a bad habit. Numbers show the result, but not the process that led there.”
It felt like a seasoned teacher imparting life lessons to a student.
I nodded in agreement and focused on the screens on the walls.
First, they all had one thing in common.
The territory folk everywhere were spreading their arms toward the sky, cheering.
“Ooooh. The rain’s finally stopped.”
“I’m not seeing things, right? You see it too?”
“Sniff sniff. Sir Maide, thank you so much.”
“Calm down. He said it’s an illusion.”
“But the rain really stopped?”
“Wait. Does that mean Sir Maide is greater than the Heavenly God?”
“W-well.”
“He is for us! Way better than that guy who threatens world destruction if we don’t obey.”
“H-hey. Watch your mouth. That could bring big trouble.”
That was the general vibe.
But looking elsewhere, there were opinions like this too.
“It’s nice and all…”
“Yeah. But isn’t this bad? What if the Heavenly God really gets angry?”
“He sent a flood; next might be fire.”
“Wonder if Sir Maide can stop that too.”
“Sigh. Damn, I really don’t know anymore.”
“It’s an illusion to begin with. Even the hero can’t do anything about the Heavenly God.”
As expected.
Even if I stopped the flood, it’d only be for ‘this divine punishment.’
If the Heavenly God rolled up his sleeves for real, how far could Hero Maide resist?
With their lives on the line, such worries were natural.
Plus, Offense had nailed it as an illusion in the speech.
No wonder the continentals were trembling in fear.
That was when Trail cautiously spoke up.
“There was a bit of debate when writing this speech.”
“Hm?”
“Whether we needed to volunteer that the clear sky was an illusion. This magic imprints complete reality on the targets anyway.”
“…….”
“So why not just declare Maide Mohan stopped the downpour, and everyone would believe it.”
I looked at Trail.
He scratched his cheek and continued.
“But after much discussion, we agreed honesty was best.”
“Why?”
“Mm. Felt like the better choice. Hard to explain specifically. In your terms, it was intuition.”
“You did great.”
I would’ve done the same.
As Trail said, this was a golden chance to package it as the hero stopping the downpour.
But gobbling up that tempting bait felt like it would lead to disaster.
I pointed at the screen.
“See? It doesn’t look good.”
“What? Everyone’s praising your name.”
“Yeah. While their bodies are still drenched in the downpour.”
“…….”
“I’ve pulled a lot of scams so far, but this feels different.”
That was when.
Clap clap.
Impellium clapped.
Trail and I turned to him simultaneously.
He stopped clapping and asked,
“Did that just slip out?”
“Huh?”
“Was it intuition, not calm calculation?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then you definitely qualify.”
He grinned.
“As you said, you’ve spread countless lies until now. But they were lies that didn’t empower Idria.”
“……Why?”
“The laws of the world liked your lies.”
“What do you mean?”
“They overall guided humanity in a better direction. The laws always turn based on whether it’s good or bad for humans.”
Incomprehensible words.
Impellium continued as if talking to himself, not expecting me to understand.
“This time is different from before. Shouting your name that the rain stopped while soaked to the bone. How massive a deception is that?”
“……Even if it’s deception, stopping the downpour through it would guide humanity better, right?”
“It might seem that way short-term. But the world judged it as setting humanity back in the long run.”
“You talk like you heard it directly from ‘the world’ itself.”
He chuckled.
“Anyway, if you hadn’t been honest in this speech, Idria would’ve gained tremendous power. Impressively intuiting that.”
Huh.
I hadn’t thought that far.
Impellium kept marveling.
“And your party all grasped that point without teaching. Truly great comrades. I’m envious.”
“…….”
“So, what should you do now? I’d like your opinion.”
His tone wasn’t mocking.
Genuinely curious expression.
I thought quietly, then asked Trail,
“How are Adin’s and my fame now?”