Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Fall - 2
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Kaild stroked his chin.
“Do you believe in fate?”
“What?”
“The world has everything set from the moment you’re born. Heroes, emperors, nobles, commoners—everyone’s destined to live that way.”
“...”
“And I’m destined to become the hero. No one can change that fate.”
“...”
“Haha. I’m not great with words, so I can’t explain it any fancier. Just keep that in mind.”
Neril gaped at him in disbelief.
The mood sank for a moment.
Adwin, sensing the tension, spoke to Risel.
“Um, miss? The pretty one.”
“...! M-Me?”
“Yeah, miss. Can you show me your spirits? I’m so curious about those mysterious beings no one knows about.”
“Uh, um. No. They don’t like showing themselves to humans.”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
“If I can convince them later, I’ll show you sometime.”
“Really? Thank you! And please speak casually.”
“Oh, no. I’m more comfortable this way...”
Quite the heartwarming conversation.
Kaild furrowed his brow, clearly displeased.
I glanced at Offense across from me.
“Given the mood, shouldn’t the rest of us chat too?”
“No.”
“Got it. Never mind, then.”
And so two hours passed like that.
“We’re almost there.”
As Jenia spoke, Agril’s speed gradually slowed.
Good. Now comes the important part.
Under our ironclad plan, Risel would be kidnapped without a hitch.
[Ironclad plan? You mean just kicking those three off?]
‘Simple plans are the best.’
[There’s a limit to simplicity.]
I ignored him and casually rested my hand on my sword hilt.
That’s when it happened.
“Hoo.”
Crack.
Kaild suddenly stood, stretching his body.
The sounds from his joints felt ominously foreboding.
“Maide. When do we start?”
“Huh? Start what?”
“The Risel kidnapping plan.”
The next moment.
I drew on every ounce of patience and experience I’d built up in my life to keep my expression steady.
Then, I deliberately tilted my head in feigned confusion.
“Kidnap Risel? Me?”
“Heh. Impressive.”
“I’m impressive in many ways, but what this time?”
“That shamelessness. I asked out of the blue, and you make that face? Incredible.”
At this point, I had no choice but to admit I was caught.
My companions slowly rose and gathered behind me.
Naturally, Offense and Serein headed toward Kaild.
Serein spoke.
“Mr. Kaild. What do you mean? Kidnapping?”
“Just as it sounds. Maide’s group plans to kidnap Risel and head back to Tetra territory.”
“Huh? Why on earth?”
“Because a second earthquake will hit there.”
This time, it was hard to hide my expression.
Twitch.
The corner of my mouth trembled.
[Shit. How the hell did this happen?]
‘I was just about to ask you the same. What’s going on?’
[Yeah, no idea.]
‘I think I get it.’
[Why ask, then?]
‘The path to becoming a hero.’
Kaild could see the path to becoming a hero.
I still didn’t know exactly what that meant or what he saw, but he’d clearly figured it out with that.
That there were more earthquakes left.
Maybe even that the next one would dwarf the first.
‘The path to becoming a hero... That’s no ordinary trick.’
Anyway, things had come to this. Time to settle it with strength.
I said,
“You predicted the second earthquake—why come all this way so nicely?”
“When you offered to let us ride Agril and see us off, a good idea hit me.”
“...”
“How about we drop you off here and take Agril for ourselves?”
Serein cried out in surprise.
“W-Wait. No one can control Agril except its permitted owner!”
“Right. So you need to get permission now.”
“Me?”
“Agril runs on divine power, according to records. In terms of pure divine power, you outshine that holy knight over there. You can definitely wield it.”
Jenia’s face twisted.
Serein shouted desperately.
“Wait, wait! Jenia, don’t misunderstand. I’ve never heard anything like this!”
Kaild replied indifferently.
“I’m telling you now.”
“But why reveal a plan like this now? Why are you always...!”
“Serein.”
Kaild stared at her calmly, coldly.
Under that piercing gaze, Serein quickly shut her mouth.
“In a situation like this, you want to nitpick? I’ve felt it before—you lack awareness as a member of the hero’s party.”
“Ugh.”
That’s when it happened.
[Can everyone hear me?]
Adwin’s voice.
[Whoa? Adwin?]
[We can hear. How are you doing this?]
[Through your souls. I finally succeeded with the spell recently.]
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
‘He’s already mastered this technique to this level!’
Soul-based secret party communication usually only became possible right before the Demon King quest.
Who’d have thought he could already handle multi-person simultaneous comms, not just one-on-one.
[Truly impressive.]
[Th-Thank you. So, what now?]
I thought for a moment, then replied.
[All-out fight’s our only option.]
[...]
[Neril, you take Offense. Bind him so he can’t join the fight—make it look like force majeure.]
Neril gave a slight nod.
I continued issuing orders.
[Jenia, you handle Serein. She’s weak on offense, so she’ll try a divine power contest. It won’t be easy, but I’m counting on you.]
Jenia nodded next.
Adwin asked.
[Bro. What about me?]
[Connect Offense’s soul too.]
Everyone’s faces changed.
But with the situation urgent, Adwin soon complied.
I spoke to Offense.
[Offense. Don’t let on. Just listen.]
[...]
[Join us now.]
[What’s that supposed to mean?]
I swallowed hard.
[I don’t know what this ‘path to hero’ thing is exactly, but it’s enough to predict the second earthquake.]
[But it didn’t seem that specific. Otherwise, my double-agent gig would’ve been busted ages ago.]
I shook my head.
[No, it would’ve been busted just like this.]
[What? Then why...]
[Who knows. Maybe there’s a penalty, or he didn’t see you as enough of a threat. But if you screw him over now, even Kaild’s patience will hit its limit.]
[Evidence?]
[Gut feeling. And my gut’s never wrong, even if it’s random.]
Sweat beaded on Offense’s face.
[I know that well enough. So?]
[The flashier the betrayal, the better, right?]
[Heh. What do you want me to do?]
[Here’s the plan...]
I explained the simple strategy.
Offense gave a subtle nod, signaling he understood.
With all preparations done, I quickly bit down on the Withering Jewel.
That’s when Kaild spoke.
“Strategy meeting over?”
“What strategy meeting?”
“There’s a record of a past necromancer hero who could hold secret talks through souls. Didn’t expect the kid to pull it off, though.”
“You knew and waited?”
“Yeah. A parting gift.”
He smoothly unfolded his arms.
“Maide Mohan. I’ll kill you here.”
“...”
“I don’t really want to kill the others, but if I kill you, they’ll charge in risking death. If it comes to that, I’ll kill them too, regrettably.”
“Stop pissing me off.”
“I always planned for eight members in my hero party, including me. I’ll find replacements for those three.”
Shing.
He drew his sword.
It gleamed menacingly in the moonlight.
“So die in peace. I’ll take down the Demon King.”
“Hey. Before we fight, one word.”
“What?”
I grinned and continued.
“You couldn’t beat the Demon King even if the sky split in two.”
I know. I saw it.
Ta.
I kicked off Agril’s back and charged.
‘Quick Dash!’
A charge like the duel in the training grounds recently.
But this time, full throttle from the start.
My muscles, swollen from the Withering Jewel, propelled me at a speed that even surprised me.
“As expected, that’s your full power!”
Clang.
Kaild swung wildly.
I hadn’t fully set my stance, so a thin cut appeared on his neck.
“Why didn’t you go all out last time?”
“Thought I could win without it.”
“You must’ve underestimated me bad.”
“You underestimated me too, so call it even.”
He grinned.
“Heh. Fair. And this time, I won’t.”
Thud.
Guh.
The next instant, his kick slammed into my gut.
When? I was guarding fully!
I staggered back ten steps, swallowing the rising nausea.
[That’s not nausea! Blood’s coming from your mouth. Internal damage.]
‘Shut up. It’s embarrassing.’
By then, Kaild had sheathed his previous sword and drawn the fake hero’s sword.
Dangerous.
“Hmm. First time using it in combat.”
“Hey. That’s cheating.”
“I like cheating!”
This time, Kaild charged.
Whether from the hero’s sword or his own skill, his movements were on another level from what I’d seen before.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
His sword paths were bizarre.
Sometimes textbook knightly precision, other times more erratic than a grizzled mercenary.
The common thread? All insanely hard to block or dodge.
“Urk.”
Clang! Clang.
I twisted my body acrobatically, leaping across Agril’s back.
Need more distance.
I flipped backward, landing on Agril’s wing.
“Maide! Urk.”
“Sorry. But you can’t afford to get distracted against me!”
In the brief lull, I glanced around. Jenia and Serein were locked in a pure divine power struggle.
Not giving her time to unleash the holy sword’s spells, huh.
Serein’s sharp, alright.
‘How’s Neril?’
[I’ll update you on the others. You focus on Kaild.]
‘Thanks.’
Kaild was swinging his sword up and down wildly.
“Not coming?”
“Just catching my breath.”
“Can’t wait. Perfect, I wanted to test something.”
He pressed his index and middle fingers to the fake hero’s sword.
What? What’s he doing?
Huh?
Slowly, very slowly, Kaild dragged the sword from top to bottom.
That instant, my hairs stood on end, and I hurriedly pulled back.
Slash!
A bit late— a straight slash carved across my chest.
Blood sprayed into the air.
“Maide!”
“I’m fine! It’s shallow. Focus on your fight.”
“Urk.”
I quickly rummaged in my bag for a potion.
Smeared it roughly on the wound as I thought.
‘What the hell was that just now?’
Never seen a technique like it, even before regression.
It was like slicing space with the sword...
Slicing space?
A chill ran down my spine.
Space manipulation is Idria’s domain.
And the sword Kaild held was the fake hero’s sword.
‘I see. The fake hero’s sword was prepared by Idria.’
As if reading my mind, Kaild spoke.
“This hero’s sword holds some very useful techniques.”
Yeah.
Slicing a foot in front of him, but hitting me dozens of meters away—that had to be a space-cutting ability.
‘Similar to my space rip, but...’
Unlike my technique, which needed ages of prep and mental strain, this seemed unlimited, no cost.
“No need to run around tediously. Like this.”
Kaild lightly dragged the sword downward.
Ankle!
I leaped up hastily.
A faint afterimage whisked past where I’d stood.
“How do you even dodge that? You’re one hell of a guy.”
He raised his sword for a plain thrust.
His blade seemed right at my nose.
‘Tch. Quick Dash.’
I twisted off my sheath as a foothold, aiming to land back on the wing.
But Kaild’s space slash followed, as if waiting.
‘Damn. Gut alone won’t cut it forever.’
[Hey, do something. No new techniques?]
‘I have some, but can’t get the stance right!’
That’s when it happened.
[Long time no see. You look busy.]
A familiar voice.
The second hero. Epithet: Sword Incarnate.
‘Lady Repia?’