Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The Hero Drops the Sun - 1
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Light pours down from the black sun.
I rushed outside in a panic, but it was already affecting some of the more faint-hearted folks.
“Gahhhh!”
“M-My arm!”
“Hey! Your face looks weird!”
“You’re one to talk. What’s wrong with your eyes!”
“W-What the hell is that? A black sun?”
“Waaah. Mommy. I’m scared.”
“S-Someone help me! My legs won’t move!”
What a total mess.
I clicked my tongue.
“All that effort developing a new technique, and it’s gone to waste.”
“What do we do? At this rate, everyone’s gonna turn into monsters.”
“For now, amp up my voice with some magic.”
“Uh, o-okay.”
Whoosh. Thud.
I leaped up to the tallest building nearby.
My companions hurried after me and lined up behind.
Seeing Neril forming hand seals, I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
“Everyone, stay calm and listen up!”
Neril must’ve gone all out with her spell, because my voice boomed across the entire vast capital.
I could see everyone down below looking up at us.
“That black sun’s gonna turn you all into monsters!”
“Gasp! Monsters?”
“Isn’t that one of the Three Great Demon Kings’...”
“Who’s that guy?”
“Is that Kaild?”
Who said that last one? Come out here.
First things first, I should probably introduce myself.
I drew in a deep breath and shouted again.
“I’m Maide Mohan, a mercenary by trade!”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd again.
“Maide Mohan? Who’s that?”
“Oh! The Unyielding Sword Emperor.”
“Wait. I heard from a merchant buddy that a hero showed up up north too?”
“Now that you mention it, yeah, there was talk...”
“A hero from the north? Not Kaild?”
I could see hope slowly dawning in the eyes of the citizens.
Perfect.
[Not good. You idiot. How could you just throw your name out there like that?]
‘Huh?’
[If you can’t drop that black sun, what’s the point of making your name known? You might just end up looking like a cocky fool who got crushed.]
‘You’ve got a point. Still, it’s occupational habit. Can’t help it.’
[Good grief.]
Trail sounded like he was pounding his chest in frustration.
That’s when someone shouted out.
“Maide! Please save us!”
“If it’s turning people into monsters, that’s demon king power, right? Aren’t you the hero, Maide?”
“Yeah! Hero! Please save us!”
“Maide! Maide!”
Yeah.
That’s why my name’s Maide—shut up for a sec.
I’m thinking here.
I gathered my thoughts quickly and shouted.
“First off, everyone get inside a building right now! You need to avoid that light as much as possible!”
“...!”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean you can relax. Direct sunlight’s the worst, but that light penetrates buildings too, so some of it’ll still reach you.”
“Th-Then what do we...”
“My companions and I will handle it!”
At those words, my companions behind me jumped in surprise.
Neril spoke up.
“Hey. Aren’t you shooting off your mouth a bit much?”
“Yeah.”
“No, you can’t just agree!”
“But the words are out. Now I’ve gotta turn this bluff into reality, even if it kills me. No backing down.”
Neril pinched the bridge of her nose.
I said.
“No guarantees it’ll work, but I do have a flash of inspiration.”
“What is it?”
“Hm. Let me wrap this up first.”
I looked down again and yelled.
“What are you waiting for? You wanna turn into monsters or what!”
“Gasp.”
“Leave it to me and take cover!”
Rustle rustle.
Chaos erupted across the capital.
Everyone panicked and fled into buildings.
Not sure if they’ll all fit, but it just needs to be temporary.
[Temporary?]
‘Just watch.’
I turned to my party members.
“Lemme explain the plan quick. First, we gotta track down a few people.”
“Huh?”
“Forgot? Patrick used the Withering Jewel embedded in my eye to turn some key figures in the capital into monsters. They’re not starting from the same point as the civilians down there.”
At my words, Jenia’s face went pale as a sheet.
“So it’s like slapping me when I’m already crying?”
“Uh... not sure if that’s the perfect analogy in this situation, but yeah, gets the point across.”
“What about my father?”
“Pretty high chance, yeah.”
“...”
“Go check.”
“...Pardon?”
“It’s fine. Go see your father.”
She bit her lip hard.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but Jenia shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“Jenia.”
I placed a hand firmly on her shoulder.
“I’m telling you to go—for my sake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Records say even a regular farmer turns strong enough to slice through multiple trained soldiers once monsterized. And Dame’s third in the empire’s ranks.”
“...”
“You can’t even imagine the damage. If you stop him, it’ll do wonders for my reputation.”
Jenia stayed silent for a long while.
But then she wiped her tears and flashed a gentle smile.
“You don’t need to make excuses like that.”
“It’s not an excuse.”
“...Maide. Thank you. Truly.”
“No, I’m telling you, it’s for me.”
“You know, I already planned to do my utmost to help you since joining this party. But starting today.”
She spoke deliberately, word by word.
“I’ll devote my life to helping you, Maide.”
“...”
“You’re the continent’s hero, but you’re my personal hero too.”
She stepped back two paces and bowed deeply.
Then she addressed the party.
“I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
Neril smirked and replied.
“You’ll probably be back to find it all over.”
“Hehe. Yeah. I believe you.”
Thud.
Jenia kicked off the rooftop and leaped away.
She vanished in an instant.
Offens scratched his head before speaking.
“This is awkward. I can practically picture how Kaild would’ve handled this. The comparison’s so stark it’s embarrassing.”
“Enough. Anyway, I’ve got a favor to ask you too.”
“Hm. Dame aside, some other officials got monsterized too, right?”
“Yeah. If they’re out in the open, knock ’em out and stuff ’em in a building. Not the same one as the regular citizens.”
“So they might be too far gone even for that.”
“Yeah. Hope not.”
“I’ll hurry. But no need to cram ’em in buildings, I think.”
With that, he began slipping into his own shadow.
“Thanks to Idria, my shadows doubled. Got ridiculous hiding spots now.”
“I’ll pass on your thanks to Idria later.”
“Heh heh.”
With Offens gone too, only Neril, Adwin, and I remained.
Adwin glanced around cautiously before asking.
“What about us?”
“We drop the black sun.”
“Yeah, but how?”
“I’m throwing my sword. You both saw this technique before, right? Back when we fought Kaild?”
In that battle atop Agril’s back, I’d used it to punch a hole through his gut.
Sword Throw.
“That technique? What’s it gonna do? Can it even reach up there?”
“Barely? It looks like a sun, but it’s not at actual solar altitude.”
“If it’s barely, just use spatial slash like Kaild did. Gotta be built into that fake hero’s sword.”
I chuckled and drew the fake hero’s sword.
Then, like Kaild had done atop Agril, I pressed my index and middle fingers to the blade.
Nothing happened.
I’d expected as much.
I showed the sword to Neril and said.
“I can’t use the spatial slash in this fake sword. None of its built-in techniques work for me.”
“Why, why not?”
“Idria made it.”
“...Oh.”
“It’s a sword Idria prepped for Kaild. No way she’d let anyone who grabs it use spatial slash.”
To me, this fake hero’s sword was just sharper and tougher than average.
Neril bit her lip.
I continued, soothing her.
“Don’t worry. My technique can still work. Long as it connects.”
Neril and Adwin blinked in unison.
Neril said.
“Wait. ‘Long as it connects’? What, like shooting down a bird...”
“Of course just connecting wouldn’t cut it. That’s why, Neril—enchant my sword with your Decomposition magic.”
Neril’s mouth fell open.
I pressed on.
“Decomposition doesn’t have to be a spear, right?”
“N-No, but that’s the easiest shape to visualize... Wait, do you even know what Decomposition does?”
“I do.”
“Then how can you say that? Enchant your sword with Decomposition, and the sword itself’ll decompose.”
“That’s where Bion comes in, right?”
At my words, quick-on-the-uptake Adwin hurriedly summoned Bion’s soul into his body.
Moments later, Bion’s voice rang out.
“Putting me in and out whenever... What kinda treatment is this? I was a hero, you know.”
“Sorry. It’s an emergency.”
“Sigh. Anyway, I get the situation. Decomposition—you developed that yourself, Neril?”
Neril nodded sullenly.
“Yeah.”
“Impressive. Developing new magic takes genius beyond measure.”
“No big deal.”
“Try forming the seals. Don’t activate it.”
Neril hesitated before saying.
“I’ll do it, but this isn’t a spell you cast on objects.”
“Just try. Forgot who I am?”
“...Father of Mana.”
“In destructive power, I don’t touch Iori’s toes, but in finesse of control, I daresay I match him.”
Not match—vastly superior.
I swallowed a snicker.
Swish.
Neril moved her hands.
Bion watched intently, then clapped lightly.
“Aha. Brilliant concept. Why didn’t I think of this in life?”
“F-Fine, it worked. No need for the praise—it’s weird.”
“But your seal order has some fat. Try it like this?”
Using Adwin’s body, he demonstrated the seals.
Focusing, I could tell the sequence differed from Neril’s.
Magic’s not my forte—I had no clue what the difference meant.
Soon admiration lit up Neril’s face.
“Indeed... Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Ho ho. That’s what I just said. You’re a genius on par with me or Iori.”
Neril, unused to such praise, blushed faintly.
She replied with uncharacteristic politeness.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Shall we get started?”
Yeah.
I drew my sword.
And aimed it at the black sun.
Neril formed the seals for her newly refined Decomposition.
“No practice—might fail straight off.”
“Anyone else, maybe. But genius Neril won’t fail.”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t be shy. You’ve never gotten the respect your skill deserves. Time to change that.”
“...”
“Today, I’ll wipe every bit of your bad rep clean.”
“What?”
Neril asked, but didn’t stop her seals.
Swish. Whirr.
Contrary to my fears, Decomposition settled onto my sword flawlessly.
I tensed my arm and leaned back sharply.
Crunch. Crunch.
As my muscles swelled taut, I continued.
“You’re not the Witch of Atrocities anymore. Every citizen here’s your witness.”
“Maide...”
“Anyone calls you that to my face, they’re done.”
I hurled the sword with all my might.
‘Sword Throw!’
It rocketed toward the black sun at terrifying speed.
Pierce.
It stabbed right through.
The Decomposition on my sword reverted to its true nature the instant it touched.
-Hiss! Pop.
Bion shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his palm and muttered.
“It’s decomposing.”
The Corrupted Jewel had no fixed form.
Didn’t matter if it did or not.
Gas, liquid, solid—irrelevant.
Decomposition reduced all to nothing.
That’s when it happened.
-Ahahaha! Ahaha!
A chilling laugh seemed to echo.
I whipped around in alarm.
Nothing there, of course.
‘Trail. You hear that?’
[Yeah.]
‘Idria’s laugh, right?’
[Probably. She must find you dropping her sun hilarious.]
I wiped cold sweat from my brow.
As if mocking me, the Decomposition unraveled the black sun completely.
Whiiirrr!
In a final spasm, it whipped up massive winds before vanishing without a trace.
Silence fell.
But only briefly.
Citizens began peeking out from buildings, then shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Woooaaah!”
“What was that just now? What?!”
“The hero threw something like a spear and...”
“Wasn’t a spear—a sword.”
“Yeah! He threw his sword and dropped the sun!”
“The hero dropped the sun!”
Thinking about it, it was straight out of myth.
The hero. And other heroes.
They’d combined powers to forge one weapon.
The hero wielded the sword infused with a hero’s magic.
And launched it skyward, smashing the black sun that monsterized people.
Perfect imagery for boosting fame.
‘Can’t miss this timing!’