Ch.14New Hero – (1)

1.

Ruby’s words were true.

“The <Black Wolves> without their leader!! How dangerous are these unleashed mad dogs!!”

It hadn’t even been a day since I left my post.

Moving on their own, the <Black Wolves> were carrying out a massacre in the central plaza of the Imperial District.

‘What exactly is the problem?’

I had even given them orders to clean and repair the hideout in case they might cause trouble.

“Please!! Please spare me, you fuckers!!”

“Sorry. You stink too.”

Why were they cleaning up people instead of the hideout?

‘…What should I do about this?’

Should I return to my <Black Wolf> form for a moment and order them to withdraw?

‘No. There are too many eyes watching right now.’

If by any chance it was revealed that the <Golden Dragon> and the <Black Wolf> were the same person, it would be an even bigger problem.

‘But if I leave them be, the remaining ten or so hostages will die too.’

As I stood there blankly, not knowing how to resolve this, Dalan, who was standing beside me, asked with his usual smile.

“What’s going on?”

Yeah, right.

I’m seriously going crazy here.

Suppressing the complaints and sighs that threatened to escape, I answered calmly.

“I don’t know.”

“Come now, what a lie. Is there anything about the <Black Wolves> that you, their leader, wouldn’t know?”

“This.”

“Puhah! You’ve become quite the comedian while I wasn’t looking!”

What is he even saying?

“Stop joking around now and tell me the plan, Leader.”

Frustrated by Dalan’s smug attitude, I finally hardened my voice slightly.

“Dalan. I’ll say it once more. I clearly said that I don’t know what’s going on.”

“……!”

Only then did Dalan seem to realize the truth, his expression hardening as he bowed his head.

“I apologize. I understand now.”

“Fine.”

I almost died from frustration.

After my firm response, Dalan, who had been contemplating something, raised his head again and asked.

“Should we subdue them?”

“Would that be possible?”

“If the two of us work together. Well, in fact, you alone would be more than enough, Leader.”

No, I wouldn’t.

As everyone knows, all members of the <Black Wolves> are around S-rank.

If I approached them like this, I would surely die with my head cut off while still in my <Golden Dragon> form.

But I couldn’t run away either.

I might be less affected since I know they’re <Black Wolves> members, but to others, this would just be a mass slaughter by unknown assailants.

Frightened people were looking around for someone to resolve the situation, and the <Golden Dragon> was exactly who they were searching for.

“L-look! It’s Lord Golden Dragon!!”

“Look over there! Lord Strange Dragon is with him too!!”

“If it’s Lord Golden Dragon, he’ll surely help us!!”

The number of eyes watching me only increased.

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

A situation where I could neither act nor retreat.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

As I silently watched the <Black Wolves>, ignoring the growing headache.

Ding.

With a clear sound that didn’t match the situation, a blue system window appeared before my eyes.

─『Sub-Quest Generated!』─

◆ A New Hero.

: With <The Hero> departing on an <Expedition> and anxiety growing, the Babylonian Empire needs a new hero.

◆ Completion Conditions.

1. Drive away the <Black Wolves>.

2. Don’t reveal that <Black Wolf> is <Golden Dragon>.

3. Survive.

◆ Reward.

: <Eclipse>’s attention.

◆ Failure & Rejection:

: <Golden Dragon>’s annihilation.

I thought it was a lifeline, but it was actually pushing me further into danger.

But what could I do?

If I didn’t want to die,

If I wanted to return, I had to do it.

‘…If it’s just driving them away.’

With artifacts and skills, plus borrowing the power of the Strange Dragon – Dalan, wouldn’t it be possible?

It felt like a faint light had been lit on a path that had been completely dark.

“Remember, Dalan. I’m the Golden Dragon.”

“…I know.”

After reminding him that I was now the <Golden Dragon>, not the <Black Wolf>, I was about to draw my greatsword when—

“Everyone, silence.”

One of the assailants who had been standing still, wearing a crimson longsword, stepped forward.

Shhhh.

Even though I was only looking through a mask, an intense killing intent that made my whole body shiver.

“Those who step into darkness deeper than darkness itself, those who seek to fill their bellies with the lives of others, and… those who dare to defy the will of Lord <Black Wolf> and close their eyes and ears.”

The assailant, who had silenced everyone, declared while stroking the sword hilt with his finger.

“Slowly, taking our time, one by one. I will make all of you walk the same path.”

The moment the assailant finished speaking.

Thud, thud-thud-thud.

Thud, thud.

The dozen or so hostages who were being held nearby had their necks severed at once and rolled to the ground.

People were too stunned by the assailant’s overwhelming force to even scream, and in the cruel scene where severed heads fell like rain.

Only the assailant, presumed to be a woman, added one more sentence in a slightly excited voice.

“All according to the will of <Black Wolf>, our leader!”

No, when did I ever say that?

2.

Central Plaza.

A horrific massacre in broad daylight at the heart of the Babylonian Archipelago.

“All according to the will of <Black Wolf>, our leader!”

The assailant’s voice, filled with ecstasy, once again roughly pressed down on the people.

E-rank mercenary Mud, the first witness to the incident, was equally frightened.

‘It wasn’t a child after all.’

The one he had assumed was a child only looked particularly small because they were standing between two large assailants. They too were just a monster who rejoiced at the sight of blood, like the other two.

“…I’m glad my assumption was wrong.”

Muttering that, Mud began to slowly back away, preparing to flee.

E-rank mercenary Mud.

As the leader of the F-rank mercenary group <Mud Mercenaries>, he was a righteous man who had maintained his integrity despite being a mercenary for three years.

In a world where such people rarely survived even a year, there was only one reason Mud had managed to stay alive until now.

‘The knights will come soon to clean this up anyway. All the hostages are already dead, and there’s no one left who might die, so I should run now if I want to live.’

It was his exceptional perceptiveness.

“Guys. Let’s bolt.”

The other three members of his group, righteous like him, asked in a small voice while sweating nervously.

“R-right now…?!”

“Yes. Those guys look too dangerous.”

“But we should stay and help people…!”

“Help what? The knights will be here soon, so let’s just slip away now.”

The knights.

Unlike themselves who were F~E rank, these monsters started at a minimum rank of B+.

The assailants also seemed high-ranked, but the knights would surely be superior in both quality and quantity.

“Let’s quickly go back and finish that herb gathering request. Otherwise, we’ll go hungry again today.”

Half-jokingly saying this out loud, F-rank mage Lauren, who had recently joined for a mission, whispered with a serious expression.

“But leader…! I heard while treating one of the guards earlier, that information about the knights coming is a lie…?!”

“What…!?”

Lauren moved closer to the surprised Mud and whispered.

“Everyone’s keeping it quiet, but you know…! They say <Black Wolf> tried to kill the Emperor at dawn today…! Because of that, she’s terrified and keeping all the knights to protect herself…!”

“…Damn it.”

As soon as Lauren finished speaking, the expressions of all the <Mud Mercenaries> hardened.

The cowardly Emperor,

Reina Babylonia.

Since she ascended to the throne after the previous emperor died ten years ago, the <Babylonian> Empire had been rotting from within.

They hadn’t risen up because they believed she would at least protect the safety of her subjects.

“Now she won’t even do that….”

Muttering carefully with a devastated heart, Lauren spoke up again.

“I heard somewhere that since <The Hero> left, there’s no one to keep her in check.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think about it…! Things have gotten this bad just one year after The Hero left…! Honestly, would something like this have happened if The Hero was still here…!?”

Everyone nodded at Lauren’s words.

After all, when The Hero was staying in the empire, life was much better than it is now.

Corrupt nobles busy filling only their own bellies, a cowardly emperor who only tyrannizes from a safe place, and even the assailants before their eyes.

“These things definitely wouldn’t have happened if The Hero was still in the archipelago.”

While everyone was feeling gloomy.

“Right? Now that The Hero has left, we need a new hero, don’t you think?”

Snicker.

Mud noticed Lauren’s lips curling up unpleasantly, but thinking he must have seen wrong, he raised his head.

“Let’s stop this and get up. Whatever happens, our job remains the same. Let’s protect as many people as we can from those assailants.”

Protecting people.

That was the last lingering attachment of a man who had dreamed of becoming a <hero> since long ago, but had accepted reality due to his lack of talent.

Even though all they could do was help frightened people who had fallen to the ground and take them away from the scene,

“Let’s go, guys.”

Nevertheless, Mud moved.

No.

“Wow! Big brother, you smell nice? It’s like a fresh mud scent.”

He was about to move.

Thud, thud-thud-thud.

The sound of viscous liquid dripping was followed by the pungent smell of blood.

“Damn it, Lauren, speed increase magic…!!”

Sensing something approaching, Mud turned around and drew his longsword, shouting, but,

“Oh, sorry. If you had spoken just a little faster, I would have waited.”

All he saw was Lauren’s head, blinking in the assailant’s hand.

“Wh-what…?”

“I found this woman’s face in the memories of the last person I killed. Sigh. No wonder she was the only one giving off a stench here.”

“What…? Why…?”

“Because we’re cleaning up?”

Mud, paralyzed with fear, could only watch.

But perhaps because he was facing death? His thoughts were faster than ever, and,

-Those bastards put robes and masks on a young child and are making them kill directly!!

By the time he realized that the assailant before him was the being he had mistaken earlier.

“Wait a moment. I’ll check and let you live if you’re not one of them. You smell nice so I don’t think you are, but I really can’t make a mistake this time.”

The assailant placed a hand on Lauren’s severed head and flashed emerald eyes.

Mud realized.

The assailant before him was reading memories through Lauren’s severed head, and if they found whatever they were looking for in us.

‘We die.’

For certain.

It wasn’t the fear of death, but a clear death that would surely come.

At that moment when an ordinary human would have fled or begged for their life.

“That’s why I said we should run.”

【Skill #1 – <Mud Pit(E)> activates.】

A bronze aura poured out from Mud’s body, enveloping the other two members.

Shlurp!

As if sinking into a soft swamp,

The two <Mud Mercenaries> members who disappeared in an instant reappeared 5m away,

“…What? Why did you suddenly make them escape? Do you have something to hide?”

Thanks to this, the assailant who had been concentrating on reading memories turned their eyes back to Mud.

“Are you also from <Eclipse>? Are you involved somewhere?”

“…What?”

“Well, that’s why you helped them escape because you felt guilty.”

Crunch.

【<Magician> masquerade ends.】

【The magician who died long ago leaves behind memories and falls asleep.】

【<Hansen> masquerade begins.】

【The master of dagger techniques who slept deeply remembers that even the edge of the hand is a blade.】

The black mask the assailant was wearing changed its form to a white clown mask.

“You were with this woman anyway, right? Since you’re part of the group that dared to attempt to assassinate our leader, even unknowingly hiding them is a crime.”

I’m going to die.

I will definitely die.

A mere E-rank mercenary like me will die without even a chance to fight.

-We need a new hero, don’t you think?

The unexpected last whisper of Lauren, which had become her final words.

Hero.

A dream I gave up long ago, so I never even dreamed I could achieve it myself, but in this final moment, I desperately wish.

‘…I hope someone appears.’

Instead of me who will die here,

-Someday I’ll become a hero and protect everyone!

I hope someone appears and fulfills the dream I couldn’t.

“Goodbye, nice-smelling big brother.”

Just as the man who once dreamed of becoming a hero accepted death and was about to close his eyes.

【<Sun Annihilation(EX)> activates!】

【FLASH!】

A beam of light flew in.