Chapter 73 : False Goddess (4)

Following someone wasn’t that difficult.  

Wolfgang Leonhardt could create a small clone using flames to connect her senses, so all she had to do was attach it and follow along.  

Moreover, since she could fly in the sky, she was confident she wouldn’t be caught.  

Most people rarely looked up at the sky, and even if they did, they wouldn’t notice someone at such a high altitude.  

Most would simply pass by without noticing.  

Thanks to this, Wolfgang could easily tail the hero.  

It took about half a month, but they finally arrived at their destination.  

The place the hero arrived at was a cave deep in the forest.  

The small cave, which appeared to be naturally formed, had a narrow entrance partially covered by vines.  

Unless you knew about it, most would pass by without a second thought.  

However, the hero naturally slipped through the gap.  

At first, Wolfgang wondered what kind of nonsense this was, but as soon as the hero touched the gap, they completely disappeared like a ghost.  

Only then did Wolfgang realize the purpose of the gap.  

That passage wasn’t a physical entrance.  

“It’s a place that allows entry if certain conditions are met. Such things are common in ruins.”  

It was a method of movement akin to teleportation.  

In the empire, Emperor Raipen Von Baikal’s power allowed frequent experiences of this, but mages capable of teleportation were extremely rare.  

Even for someone like the hero, it wasn’t impossible.  

According to legend, there was only one hero who used magic, and the hero here definitely wasn’t that one.  

That meant the hero who just entered had met certain conditions, allowing them to enter without resistance.  

Wolfgang quickly descended to the ground and carefully observed the gap where the hero had disappeared.  

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary crevice, but upon closer inspection, it felt quite unnatural.  

The vines and nearby rocks showed signs of over a century of weathering, but the crevice itself showed no such signs.  

It felt as if the crevice had just appeared, giving Wolfgang a headache.  

“Well, even a rotten fish is still a fish. This must be some kind of legend.”  

“The problem is how to get through here.” 

The temple the hero entered wasn’t even recorded in the kingdom’s legends.  

It was a forgotten legend.  

Such a place couldn’t be entered as easily as a house.  

Waiting for the hero to come out and ambushing them was one option, but it wasn’t very reliable.  

There was no guarantee that this was the only entrance.  

In the worst-case scenario, if there was a way to return directly to the palace from inside, the hero could escape with the artifact.  

It had already been some time since the hero entered.  

Van Cread wouldn’t have said the artifact needed to be destroyed without reason.  

If that statement was true, then the artifact had to be destroyed at all costs.  

“First, I’ll try to squeeze through. If that doesn’t work, I’ll find another way.”  

There was a chance it might work, but she didn’t have high hopes.  

However, the moment Wolfgang touched the crevice, the surrounding scenery began to disappear.  

Startled, Wolfgang tried to pull her hand away, but by the time she regained her senses, she was no longer in the forest but in a completely different space.  

Wolfgang immediately looked around.  

The first thing that caught her eye was an eerily vast space.  

In front of her was a bridge made of stacked stones, illuminated by the only light source—blue braziers.  

Except for the blue flames burning in the braziers, there was no other light.  

The temple, shrouded in shadows, couldn’t be seen clearly, existing only ominously.  

“Finally, you’re here.  

I thought my neck would break from waiting.”  

“……”  

From the darkness came the voice of a woman who sounded bored.  

It was a voice Wolfgang recognized immediately, so she quickly assumed a stance.  

Could she have been waiting for her?  

With black hair tied in a ponytail and cold, sunken blue eyes filled with contempt, the woman who emerged from the darkness had a very youthful face.  

A face that didn’t match the massive greatsword she dragged behind her.  

Monica, the Hero of Might.  

She had finally revealed herself.  

The vanguard holds significant importance in war.  

Being the first to charge forward and display bravery can greatly boost the morale of allies and instill fear in enemies.  

However, conversely, if the vanguard lacks strength, they could be the first to fall.  

Naturally, if the vanguard dies, morale plummets.  

Throughout history, only those with formidable strength have taken on the role of vanguard.  

And true to her title, the hero leading the vanguard was Monica, the Hero of Might.  

“Did you know I was coming?”  

“No, but I thought you might.”  

“Did Van Cread give you a heads-up?”  

“No.  

The leader wants us to remain in eternal slumber.”  

They were merely a force prepared for future generations.  

But after the false goddess usurped the throne, everything fell into chaos.  

She was nothing like the previous goddess, showing no mercy.  

What that damned goddess wanted, what she was plotting with the false saintess, Monica couldn’t even begin to imagine.  

Using her head wasn’t her style, and even if she had a brilliant mind, she wouldn’t understand what the false saintess and false goddess were scheming.  

Honestly, Monica didn’t care what they were plotting.  

What mattered to her was the present.  

The here and now, where she could be with her beloved comrades.  

She had something precious to protect.  

The Shadow Hero Hyde had succumbed to the new order.  

But she was different.  

Even knowing it was wrong, she chose to affirm it.  

“We’re just puppets of those in power. But is that so bad? In every era, there have always been those who seize power.”  

“It seems you have a different perspective from Van Cread.”  

“Right.  

Even if it’s wrong, if it means I can live in this moment, I’d gladly be a puppet.”  

Her voice, filled with strong will, made Wolfgang click her tongue.  

The power she felt from Monica was incomparable to the Shadow Hero she’d faced before.  

Well, Monica’s title was the Hero of Might, after all.  

She was on a different level from the Shadow Hero who lurked in the darkness.  

There was no need to drag this out.  

With that judgment, Wolfgang immediately tried to remove her eyepatch.  

But before she could, a massive greatsword came crashing down in front of her.  

She hastily ducked to avoid it.  

Only someone like Wolfgang could have dodged that.  

If it had been any other member of the Vendetta Corps, they would have been defeated instantly by the sheer speed of the strike.  

But the attack didn’t end there.  

A sound like tearing wind echoed.  

“Tch?!”  

The attack that came tearing through the wind was none other than a whip.  

And not just any whip—a whip made of mithril threads.  

An absurd weapon that shouldn’t exist in this era.  

Nowadays, mithril can only be forged into simple shapes like swords.  

Drawing mithril into threads to weave a whip is impossible.  

It’s what you’d call a lost technology.  

Wolfgang tried to burn the whip binding her right arm with flames, but no matter how much she burned it, the whip showed no signs of melting.  

“It’s useless.  

My weapons have all been heat-treated with the help of the Grimoire.”  

“The Grimoire, huh. So, you’ve got the cooperation of a living ancient grimoire.”  

“Exactly. It’s the progenitor of all existing magic.  

Annoying and gloomy, but its skills are undeniable.”  

The Grimoire is the nickname of the mage in the hero’s party.  

Usually, when people think of heroes, they imagine warriors wielding close-combat weapons, and indeed, most heroes fit that image.  

But among them, there’s one who stands out as a hero using magic.  

Known by the title of the Ancient Grimoire, this being’s cooperation made it only natural that Monica could withstand Wolfgang’s attacks.  

“The Grimoire already checked the information left by the Shadow Hero.  

If you remove your eyepatch, your power output increases by over 300%.”  

“……So, you’re not going to give me a chance to release the seal?”  

“Why would I just stand by and let my opponent power up?  

Right?”  

It was such a painfully accurate statement that Wolfgang had no retort.