The distance between us closed in an instant.
‘Trail!’
[Yeah. The Eye of… Omniscience?]
Why end that with a question?
That’s when it happened.
Whoosh.
His sword came flying straight for my headband.
I had counted on the Eye of Omniscience to stop time, so I was a fraction too slow to block it.
“Kh.”
Slice…With no choice, I pulled my body out of the sword’s range.
Trail’s voice rang out.
[Didn’t work, huh?]
‘What are you talking about?’
[Something blocked the Eye of Omniscience. The ability didn’t activate.]
I tilted my head.
Chink.
That’s when Sobius rested his sword on his shoulder and spoke.
“Trying to stop time, were you?”
“You bastard.”
“I heard from Lady Idria. That ability must be Bion Kunze’s. So I prepared a countermeasure.”
“Countermeasure?”
Of course, he only responded to my question with a smirk.
But as I focused on his sword, I realized it myself.
“That sword…”
“Hm. You noticed. I even altered its appearance.”
“The Hero’s Sword…”
“To be exact, the real Hero’s Sword. Haven’t used it in two hundred years, so I’m a bit out of practice, but it will do.”
The real Hero’s Sword that was said to be sealed in Padania Brook’s tomb.
But the one Kaeld took from there had been a fake.
So that’s where the real one ended up, Padania had kept it on her all this time.
Of course.
“The Hero’s Sword is a divine relic given by the gods to oppose the Demon King. And every Demon King has their own Authority…”
“The real Hero’s Sword has the power to suppress one such Authority. It can seal a single ability of the target.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of a petty feature, it gets nullified if you move too far away. And you can’t seal more than one ability at once.”
“……”
“But at least in a one on one duel like this, it’s enough to stop your time-freezing cheat.”
Well, now.
This just got annoying.
[I had no idea the real Hero’s Sword had that kind of function. Gave me chills.]
‘You have hair?’
[…You are saying that just because I’m a soul, right? Right?]
‘Eh, it’s not that impressive anyway. Like he said, get far enough from the sword, and the seal breaks.’
[From the way he talks, I would say you need to be at least a few hundred meters away. At that distance, it will just look like you’re running away. What now?]
What else?
Tak.
Shrrng.
I threw away the sword in my hand and pulled out the fake Hero’s Sword.
Padania sneered.
“Yeah, that’s more like it. Now you’re at least worth facing.”
“Ha. You and Kaeld both, why are fake heroes always such insufferable bastards?”
“…Aren’t you a fake hero too?”
“I’m already the real deal. Even if the divine oracle was garbage and I have no Mark, I am still the hero.”
I settled into a stance and continued.
“A hero isn’t someone chosen by the heavens. A hero is chosen by the people.”
“……”
“Bring it.”
Clang. Clash!
Sparks flew from our swords.
His swordsmanship was dazzling.
What looked like a strike to the head suddenly aimed for the waist, what seemed aimed at the waist, struck the legs instead.
In terms of swordplay alone, he was a tier above even Kaeld at his peak.
Ssshhk.
His blade sliced through the air toward my head.
I leaned back, and in that same motion, launched a kick at his armored chest.
Crack!
His thick armor crumpled like paper.
“Kh… what are you, a siege weapon?”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
I bent my knees as far as they would go.
Then shot upward with tremendous force.
“Let me see your… huh?”
Wobble.
My speed plummeted.
Something was pulling me back!
My momentum hit zero, and then reversed, my body was being dragged away from him.
‘He used that ability.’
[What is it now?]
‘Turn around. Do you see anything?’
Trail groaned.
[There’s a tiny black sphere floating behind you.]
‘Not a sphere. A hole.’
A black hole.
That was Padania’s, no, the First Finger’s special ability.
That little hole sucked in everything.
Even things that shouldn’t fit inside.
Still a power that broke every law of nature and reason.
“Your stance is broken!”
Whoosh!
Sobius’s sword plunged toward my abdomen.
I planted my feet and resisted the pull behind me with all my strength.
Thankfully, I avoided getting sucked in, but my posture was too off to properly deflect the blow.
“Kh…”
At some point, a dagger had been pressed to the back of his neck.
“Don’t move.”
“Offense?”
“It’s not just a dagger. It’s coated with a poison that will kill you even if it grazes you.”
“……”
“I had a bad feeling, but I didn’t think I would really catch you off guard. You have gotten weak, Kaeld.”
Kaeld clenched his teeth and rolled his eyes.
Xenia, Offense, Serein, Adwin, Lisel.
His former party members.
But one of them wasn’t there.
‘Where’s Neril?’
A shiver ran through his body.
“Don’t tell me…. Neril is preparing for Append View?”
No one answered.
And that silence was the most chilling affirmation of all.
Then Serein’s voice rang out.
“Why don’t we just kill him now?”
“Works for me… is what I would like to say, but…”
Offense’s sentence was picked up by Xenia.
“Mide said not to kill him. Kaeld’s reputation is too high right now.”
“Mmh. Right, he said Kaeld had way too much fame.”
“Yes. If we kill him like this, it will just turn Kaeld into a martyr.”
Kaeld wanted to tremble.
But even that wasn’t allowed because of the dagger pressed to his neck.
Pat, pat.
Serein tapped his shoulder with an infuriatingly smug expression.
“Annoyed? I got pretty annoyed too, back when I was running with you. More than a few times.”
“…..”
“Lisel, why don’t you say something too?”
“I will pass.”
“Because of old times’ sake?”
“Nope.”
Lisel wore a twisted smirk that she never usually made, raising just one corner of her mouth.
“He’s not even worth wasting a word on.”
“Lisel noona is scary sometimes.”
“Ah, sorry…”
“Heh. But humans are multifaceted creatures. No need to hide that, that’s just human nature.”
Kaeld thought to himself.
It was true, he had grown weak.
But at the same time, these people had grown too strong.
‘Why? What the hell happened to them?’
Can they really grow this strong just from traveling with Mide?
Now he truly felt it.
That surpassing Mide’s fame meant absolutely nothing.
If he couldn’t kill them all, everything would be for nothing.
‘But how… how can I possibly beat people this strong?’
He racked his brain in desperation.
This wouldn’t work.
If it went on like this, he would never beat Mide.
Not without something drastic.
‘Yeah… Idria alone isn’t enough. Even that Demon King can’t defeat Mide.’
He needed a new ally.
An absolute force.
Then Serein said to him,
“So, former leader. Want to stick around and watch? See just how good the real Hero is at lying through his teeth?”
Even with her helmet shattered, Padania made no move to hide her face.
“Watch closely.”
“…..”
“This is Padania’s face?”
“Wipe off the blood. I scratched your forehead a bit when I broke your helmet.”
“Even after seeing what happened with Ophelia and Hyran, you didn’t consider this possibility? Lady Idria’s Authority allows her to change faces however she wants.”
“You’re not listening. You will regret that.”
I glanced down at my sword.
Blood from his wound was dripping down the blade.
Fwhooo—
Dust settled around us.
Padania stepped back from me.
Then turned to the crowd and shouted.
“Everyone, look here!”
“Gasp.”
“I ask you all to look at the forehead of this man called Mide Mohan! See for yourselves whether he bears the Hero’s Mark!”
Countless pairs of eyes from the crowd turned toward me.
Padania shouted in a loud voice.
“As you can see, there is no Mark. The one you saw earlier was a fake!”
“…..”
“This man has shamelessly tried to deceive the entire continent. The second oracle was fake!”
The people began murmuring.
Their whispers quickly grew into a roar, too loud for me to make out individual words.
Padania turned to me with a self-satisfied smile.
“Well? How does it feel to be exposed, Mi…de?”
His eyes went wide.
And right on cue, a voice came from the crowd.
“Hey… isn’t there a Mark?”
I let out a quiet laugh.
Then pushed back my hair and spoke.
“Why are you messing up my hairstyle?”
“Y-You… What are you…?”
“As you can see, the Mark’s right where it should be.”
I couldn’t see it myself, but Padania’s face and the faces in the crowd told me all I needed to know.
The Hero’s Mark was definitely glowing on my forehead.
Tap.
Padania stumbled back a few steps.
“What… how… I cut off your headband!”
“You are so narrow-minded.”
“What did you say?”
“Why did you assume it had to be the headband?”
“B-Because… Defir said it was impossible to create a new spell similar to that! He said Neril had forgotten the inspiration!”
“That’s true. But she remembered it again. That’s all there is to it.”
I recalled two days ago, when Neril had visited me.
Her face had almost looked like she was about to cry.
But now wasn’t the time for reminiscing.
I spoke.
“The new magic isn’t engraved on something obvious like a headband.”
“Th-Then where?”
“Here.”
Tap.
I lightly tapped the blade of the fake Hero’s Sword.
Padania’s face twisted.
“I had the magic circle engraved on the blade. You can cut a headband, sure, but you’re not breaking this thing. Thanks to Idria, it is very durable.”
“Y-You…”
“More importantly, do you really think you can still be relaxed?”
“What are you…”
“Look at their reactions.”
Creak…
Padania turned her head with difficulty, like opening a rusted door.
Thud.
Then her knees gave out.
She had heard the murmurs from the crowd.
“Isn’t that Lady Padania?”
“No way.”
“But it’s exactly the face from the old paintings, isn’t it?”
“How is someone from 200 years ago even here?”
Padania’s mouth dropped.
“Ugh… What is going on…”
“When I broke your helmet, I scratched your forehead too, remember?”
“So what?”
“What do you mean so what? The spell Neril carved into my blade is an illusion spell.”
“…..”
“It carved the Hero’s mark on me and made anyone I strike with this sword appear as Padania Brook. Of course, it only works on you, and it’s single-use.”
Her eyes flickered with panic.
“Ghhh…! Destroy that sword, now!”
“Are you insane? Asking me to destroy something my comrade made for me?”
“You bastard!”
Fwoosh.
Suddenly, black holes formed in midair.
They bound my limbs with gravitational force.
I smirked.
“Hey. Did you really think we were evenly matched?”
Back before my regression, the First Finger had been hell to deal with.
But now, the gravity he created felt much weaker than before.
No, let me correct that.
I had grown stronger than I was back then.
“I only played along to shatter your little mask.”
“Graaaah! Mide!”
“Let’s finish this.”
I flexed my limbs.
The gravitational pull vanished like a lie.
To be precise, it was still there.
Just no longer strong enough for me to feel it.
“Mideeeeee!”
Despite the obvious difference in power, he charged with his blade, foaming at mouth.
I casually twisted my body to dodge and reached into my coat.
Then I grabbed the Gem of Desolation.
Thud!
I drove my fist into his gut.
My fist burst through his abdomen.
When I pulled it back out, the gem in my hand was soaked in blood.
As if it had been inside him all along.
“Guh…”
I exaggeratedly twisted my facial muscles.
Then, with a horrified expression, I shouted:
“This… This is the Gem of Desolation!”
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