The Making of a Hero - 2

The Asura Cultists holed up on Mount Wol-ah were anything but few in number.

But that didn't mean I was about to simply skirt around them — that wasn't my style. And if I just passed them by, Sowol would be the one to suffer for it. Say what you will about having taught her everything there was to teach; the fact that she was my disciple hadn't changed. And what kind of master couldn't manage at least this much for his disciple?

"Die!!"

"I'll pass."

I lopped the head off a charging Asura cultist and walked on. Countless heads had already rolled before my blade, but the numbers on this mountain dwarfed even that tally.

"My, my. You certainly brought a crowd."

I raised my sword — and in the same breath, the moonlight hanging in the sky began to sweep away the cultists around me.

I'd lost count of how many times I'd already used Moonlight Slash. To be honest, even I was starting to feel the strain...

"Quite the impressive technique."

Was that the last of the small fry? The men holding me in check fell back, and a man dressed in white began stepping forward. Standing atop the rise and looking down at me, he slowly raised a dagger.

That dagger. I'd seen it before.

"The Asura Cult's Archbishop of Sloth — Rowin, I take it."

"Oh ho? You know of me?"

How could I not? He was a fixture of the Religious War event, after all. I flicked the blood from my sword and leveled it at him.

"You'd only end up a thorn in my side later anyway, so ending you right here doesn't sound bad at all."

"Ha! You look about out of strength. And our numbers still far..."

So that line did come out, huh. I'd been wondering when it would. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drew a vial from my coat and set it between my teeth — and the moment I gulped it down, the mana draining toward empty began to flood back.

"You... is that...?"

"An elixir."

The supreme restorative, one that restored every last drop of mana and stamina in a single swallow — the kind of item that, in the game, players were too stingy to touch before reaching the ending. But hoarding a treasure into uselessness was no virtue. Spending it when it mattered was simply the right call.

"Kgh!!"

The sword aura spun from moonlight tore through the Asura cultists surrounding Rowin. I would have liked to take him down in the same stroke, but the man was no ordinary foe — he batted the moonlight's blade-aura aside outright. A shame, that. I'd have preferred this to be where it ended.

"...Trouble to the very end, I see."

"Look who's talking."

Only that one man remained of the Asura Cult here. Which meant I could afford to take my time.

"Run, if you want."

I'll chase you to the very end.

Just as I'd expected, Rowin decided he was outmatched, whirled around, and bolted. But I'd seen it coming, and I didn't let him slip away. And so the chase began, hunter and hunted tearing across the mountain — until it ended at the very peak of Mount Wol-ah.

"You godforsaken bastard!!"

Rowin, drenched in blood, ground his teeth as his fury boiled over. I really don't see what he has to be so angry about. I cast Heal to close the wounds still marring my body, then leveled my sword at him.

"Care to try running a little farther?"

Behind Rowin yawned a sheer, heaven-high cliff. A swift river did run at the bottom, but from this height, even he would be hard-pressed to survive the fall. Not that I had any intention of letting him try.

"Kgh!!"

"Spider Web."

Light flickered along his dagger, and a searing beam lanced for my head. I slipped past it, swung my sword to bind him in threads of mana, and closed the distance in a flash.

"You think something this flimsy...!!"

Shredding the Spider Web, he loosed his magic and readied another beam. But that, too, was exactly what I'd expected. Of the two beams, I took the weaker one on my body and evaded the one aimed at my abdomen. Then — a single stroke.

Shrrk!!

"Graaagh...!!"

A deep wound carved into his abdomen. But this alone wasn't enough to end it. I swung my sword down on the despairing man wailing in agony, and with that single blow, Rowin's head parted from his body.

"Whew..."

Archbishop of the Asura Cult or not, no man survives having his head separated from his neck. I watched his corpse tumble down into the chasm and let out a long breath. So it's over, then. No reason to linger here.

Healing the wound left on my shoulder, I looked around. That damn brat. Ran off a good distance, didn't she. And trekking all the way back down from the summit sounded like a hassle.

I peered over the edge of the cliff. Fall from here, and even I would die. Hmm...

"No helping it, then."

There was nothing for it but to draw on the fortuitous opportunities I'd been steadily stockpiling. I used the one artifact that could only be obtained through a bug — the sole item of its kind in the entire game.

"Luminous Wing!"

The moment I called out, wings of soft radiance unfurled from my back. This was the badge of a true Ragnarok veteran: the Luminous Wings — an artifact that let any race take to the sky in exchange for mana the instant it was equipped. Wings spread wide, I rose straight into the air.

The mana drain from the moment I left the ground was no joke, but I still had plenty to spare, so it was fine.

"North first, then."

I had to move based on the information the Church had given me. Wings spread, I flew off into the night sky.

Lying in bed, Sowol didn't stir so much as a finger. Because some part of her felt that if she just stayed like this, Lee Hyun would come and comfort her.

Knock, knock.

And so, even as her shoulders flinched at the knock on her door, Sowol did not get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up. The one who moved instead was Lyla, who had been watching her with a pitying eye.

"Yes?"

"Is Sowol asleep?"

The door opened — and the figure who appeared was not the Lee Hyun Sowol had been waiting for, but So Jung-yang. He glanced past the door toward the bed, and a wry smile crossed his face. Well, well. Exactly as he'd expected.

"It seems our Sowol is quite heartbroken."

"Yes. Well... it can't be helped, can it."

Lyla knew full well how devotedly Sowol clung to Lee Hyun, however much the girl grumbled on the surface. Her sulking like this was only natural, then.

"Sowol. Your master has departed, you see."

"....."

"Lying there like that won't do a single thing."

"......"

"Keep it up, and I won't be handing over the letter your master asked me to deliver."

Flinch. Sowol, who hadn't so much as stirred, gave a small shudder of her shoulders. But perhaps it was her fierce pride — she couldn't bring herself to rise. In the end, it was Lyla who received the letter.

The moment the door closed, Sowol shot upright in bed. And yet she still couldn't bring herself to ask for it. Watching her hem and haw, Lyla flashed a grin and tore the envelope open.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Oh, nothing. It's just... it didn't seem like you were going to read it, my lady."

"I was going to read it!"

Sowol snatched the envelope in a panic, drew out the letter inside, and began to read, rubbing her red, puffy eyes.

"...I'm going with him."

"What?!"

Reading the letter only made her want to hold on to him more. A goal? If he had a goal to achieve, then all she had to do was see it through at his side. Sitting quietly and waiting until then was not to her taste. Sowol rose to her feet and began packing her bag at a feverish pace.

"But to leave like this, without..."

"Lyla, you explain it to Father for me. If I tell him I'm going with Master, he'll understand too."

"Haah... but how could I possibly send you off alone, my lady? I suppose there's no helping it."

Lyla smiled brightly and wrapped her hand around her sword hilt.

"I'm coming with you."

"...Is that really the only reason?"

"What other reason could there possibly be?"

"...Then say it while looking at me."

Sowol stared fixedly at Lyla, who avoided her gaze to the very last, then shook her head. Now was not the time for this. They had to catch up to Lee Hyun — even one hour sooner.

"I did learn the art of tracking, after all."

Setting out with Sowol, who had packed in a flash, Lyla set off after the traces Lee Hyun had left behind. Finding his trail was no great challenge — all they had to do was follow the strikingly straight footsteps unique to the strong.

And so the two of them chased those footsteps until, before long, they found it.

"...What is all this?"

The entrance to Mount Wol-ah — and the corpses lying there.

"...These are... Asura cultists...?"

They wore the same garb as the ones who had come attacking before. Watching them lie dead in such horrific states, Sowol bit her lip hard.

"The Moonlight Sword Style. These are the traces it left behind."

"...What? Then this means..."

"Master...!!"

Lee Hyun. He had fought them — he had fought all of these people, alone. Her heart pounded. A creeping dread began to coil through her. Biting her lip hard, Sowol hurried up the mountain.

The higher she climbed, the more the corpses piled up. And threaded among them, Lee Hyun's traces. Following ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the marks that told of how desperately he had fought, Sowol climbed — and then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crumpled to her knees.

The trail had ended. At the summit of Mount Wol-ah, right before a cliff so deep its bottom could not be seen.

"M... Master..."

No. No. No. It couldn't be.

But his trail could be found no longer. As though he had died on this very spot and fallen, down beneath the cliff.