Ch.70Raising a Hero – 4

After comforting the hero, we hadn’t gone much further when a strange sound began to reach our ears. Brunhild, who was now keeping a much closer distance than before, pointed her holy sword forward.

‘The light has gotten brighter.’

Whether it was just my imagination or not, the light emanating from the holy sword seemed to have grown slightly brighter.

No, if even I could notice it, then it had definitely become brighter. They say that as the synchronization rate between the holy sword and the hero increases, the light becomes progressively brighter and more vivid. Fortunately, it seemed my words had gotten through to her.

Conversely, this also meant that Brunhild had been feeling burdened by her position as the hero. She had disliked being called “Hero” since we first met—so that was why.

“The Flame Bear and Ice Bear are definitely dead. What could it be this time?”

“How would I know? Whatever’s here probably isn’t friendly, so let’s prepare for battle.”

“Agreed.”

That was a lie. I knew exactly what was making that sound.

Demon Lord Elysier. It was the sound of approaching terror for the people of this world.

“I’ll take the lead this time.”

As I was preparing to fight, Brunhild positioned herself in front of me. Then she turned around and grinned.

“I may not be able to protect everyone, but I can protect those who are precious to me. After all, I’m the hero, right?”

When I looked slightly surprised at how she was already using those lines, as if she’d been more inspired than I expected, Brunhild misinterpreted my expression and began to fluster.

“D-don’t get any strange ideas! I only meant you’re precious as a friend! As a friend!”

“I got it. I got it. Of course as a friend. What else would we be?”

“…Tch. Somehow I feel like I’ve lost something here.”

Brunhild pouted as if something didn’t sit right with her, then gripped her holy sword more firmly and turned around. Blue mana flowed from her body.

“Huh…?”

However, that spirited emotion didn’t last long.

Sensing something ominous, Brunhild’s body froze stiff. Her arms and legs began to tremble slightly. The tip of her sword wavered unsteadily.

‘…This is more intense than I expected.’

Even I, who knew about Elysier’s appearance, felt the same. The pressure wasn’t much of a problem, but what concerned me was how my spear was trying to emerge on its own against my will. My hand gripping Eternity tensed involuntarily.

—Click.

The sound of high heels echoed. Hearing it, Brunhild’s trembling intensified. Her breathing grew rougher in direct proportion. The trembling of her sword tip likewise increased.

Finally, when Brunhild’s tension reached its peak.

“What an interesting conversation you’re having, Hero.”

The rocks split into thousands of pieces without making a sound, and Elysier appeared between them, holding her demon sword.

With a cold expression I had never seen before, Elysier fixed her gaze on me without the slightest change in her face.

“Did you say that person is precious to you?”

“……”

Brunhild’s trembling became frantically violent. Behind her, I was desperately gripping Eternity. It wasn’t because I was scared or afraid. It was because if I loosened my grip even slightly, the divine spear might burst out on its own.

‘It was my request, but still…’

When planning this, I had made one request to Elysier. I asked her to come at us with genuine intent, partly to include some sparring practice.

And Elysier seemed to be faithfully fulfilling that request. Seeing how Brunhild was trembling confirmed it. The red stone-like demon sword in her left hand was glowing with an ominous light.

Hesitantly, Brunhild finally took one step back. I suddenly realized how defenseless Elysier had been when she came to meet me. If she had approached like this, she would have been discovered immediately.

‘…I shouldn’t recall that. I must endure. No matter what.’

I clenched my teeth, controlling the divine spear that was trying to burst out on its own after sensing the Demon Lord’s power.

At the same time, I kept repeating to myself countless times: Elysier is just a poor possessed person trapped in this story, not the person I know. So stay put.

“Huff… huff…”

“…Brunhild?”

When I suddenly looked forward, Brunhild was showing an even more severe reaction than me. The tip of her sword trembled like someone with palsy, and the back of her neck was drenched in cold sweat. I carefully approached her side.

“Hic… hic…”

Brunhild was crying.

She had tried to hold back by biting her lip, but blood was streaming from her split lower lip, and tears were flowing from her eyes. I noticed Elysier’s bewildered expression.

‘Should I continue?’

Elysier asked with her eyes. I moved my lips slightly to signal her to stay put, then immediately supported Brunhild and leaned her against a nearby rock.

I didn’t forget to cast a spell in that direction as a diversion.

“Brunhild, are you okay?”

“Mi-Mira… wh-what is that…? What, what is it…? The Demon Lord, right…?”

Even though the Demon Lord had disappeared from her sight, her trembling didn’t stop. It was approaching something closer to a seizure or convulsion rather than mere trembling.

Just like Priscilla, who complained of being cold when I wasn’t by her side.

‘…Did she meet the Demon Lord too early?’

Right now, we were around the time just after finishing midterms in the first semester of freshman year.

In the original story, the point where Brunhild and Aria leave Bellium Academy—the conclusion of Part 1—is in their sophomore year, and Part 2 continues for about another year.

In other words, Brunhild has encountered Elysier almost two years earlier than she was supposed to. And not just any version of the Demon Lord, but one intent on killing her opponent with all her might, like during the final battle.

And she hasn’t even had the chance to grow properly.

“Mi-Mira… I, I can’t breathe… help me… I can’t, breathe… my throat is closing up… I feel like, I’m going to die…”

Brunhild, who had fallen into a panic state, was starting to hyperventilate. I immediately covered her mouth and nose with my sleeve. I could feel her hot breath against the inside of my sleeve.

“It’s okay. Look at me and breathe in calmly. Slowly. There’s nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine.”

But even taking that into account, the current situation was clearly abnormal. The concern about Brunhild meeting the Demon Lord too early had been mentioned when planning this.

Elysier had answered that while Brunhild would be terrified, there shouldn’t be any real problem since she was fundamentally a hero. So this meant something unexpected had happened.

“I, I can’t… I have to fight… I’m the hero… I need to protect those precious to me… but I can’t win… how could I possibly defeat that…?”

The urgent priority was to calm Brunhild down. While her hyperventilation seemed to have mostly subsided, her panicked mental state remained unchanged. I firmly gripped both her shoulders and brought my face close to hers.

“Look at me, Brunhild.”

“Run, we need to run… die… we’re going to die…”

“Brunhild.”

“No… no… I don’t want to die like—”

“Leona!”

Only after I called her name almost like a shout did some life return to Brunhild’s eyes. Her golden eyes, looking at me, were brimming with tears.

“Mi-Mira…”

“Listen carefully, Leona. I’ll handle this, so you retreat for now. Understand? Go out and call for reinforcements.”

“N-no… you’ll die… you’ll die… I, I’ll protect you… I’m the hero—”

“Shut up and do as I say. How can you fight in that condition?”

When I flatly refused, Brunhild’s body shrank considerably. Taking advantage of that moment, I gently stroked her head and smiled lightly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get out of here, no matter what it takes.”

After removing a few strands of hair stuck to her cheek due to cold sweat, I stood up.

It wasn’t an empty promise. I couldn’t leave Brunhild here like this. But I also couldn’t defeat or drive back the Demon Lord here. If I did, Brunhild would truly be unable to recover as a hero.

It would be much better to send Brunhild away first, then sustain serious injuries and somehow escape after her.

“Mira… MIRA!”

Ignoring the desperate cry from behind me, I drew Eternity and rushed straight to where the Demon Lord had been approaching. Brunhild sobbed, calling my name as if her heart was being torn apart.

—CRASH!

As if she had been waiting for me to charge, Elysier emerged from the shattered rocks with perfect timing and raised her demon sword to block Eternity.

When the demon sword and Eternity met, ominous sparks flew from where the blades clashed. I deliberately used flashy magic to destroy the surroundings, creating a visual distraction as I asked:

“What happened? Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be any problems?”

“…I apologize, my friend. It was my mistake.”

“I’m not trying to blame you. Unexpected situations can happen anytime. Just tell me why she’s so terrified. If you don’t know, that’s fine too.”

“I know the cause. To be precise, the current hero isn’t afraid of the Demon Lord. She’s afraid of the demon sword the Demon Lord is holding.”

“The demon sword?”

I glanced at the ominous sword that looked like a crude stone block, its blade pressed against Eternity. The Demon Lord nodded.

“From the moment it saw the holy sword’s owner, it has been emitting intense killing intent regardless of my will. Much stronger than what I unleashed in my final desperate attack when fighting the hero. Even the fully-grown hero at the end of the story hesitated momentarily from that—how much worse would it be now when the hero is much weaker and the killing intent much stronger?”

“Why won’t it listen to you?”

“…Because it knows the current hero is much weaker than me. It keeps whispering that this is a perfect opportunity to kill the holy sword’s owner. It won’t stop even when I tell it to. That’s why this is my mistake. I sincerely apologize, my friend. I didn’t realize the demon sword could emit such concentrated killing intent.”

Elysier shrank considerably as she spoke.

This was an unavoidable situation. All of Elysier’s judgments would be based on her experiences from the previous 89 cycles, so it was natural for her to make mistakes in situations she had never encountered before.

“If you didn’t know, it can’t be helped, so don’t blame yourself too much. Let’s focus on getting Brunhild out of here first. We can spar a bit while we’re at it.”

After comforting the dejected Elysier and telling her not to blame herself too much, I finally put strength into my arm and pushed her body away. Elysier allowed herself to be pushed back without resistance.

“Oh, and don’t forget that thing at the end, okay?”

“……”

Elysier nodded, still with an expression that showed she was completely unwilling.

Brunhild had quite a fondness for Mira. Whether it was romantic or just friendship, she wasn’t sure, but that was how it was.

That was why she had seemed unable to properly maintain distance all this time.

In truth, Brunhild knew that her behavior wasn’t typical between men and women. Even if Aria had been her only friend, surely she wasn’t that ignorant.

She had clung to Mira without hesitation because she thought it was okay with him. With other men? Well, a polite handshake would be a lot for them.

So when Mira stepped forward to protect her while she trembled under the Demon Lord’s intense killing intent, she felt an inexplicable warmth. And when he stroked her head and cheek, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

Finally, when Mira stood in front of the Demon Lord in her place, her heart felt like it would burst.

At the same time, she felt endless self-doubt. Because she was inadequate. Because she was a fool of a hero who could only cry and tremble upon meeting the Demon Lord, Mira had gone to die in her place.

‘I need to help.’

But even though she knew this in her mind, her body simply wouldn’t move. All Brunhild could do was watch Mira’s back as he battled the Demon Lord, transforming the surrounding terrain.

At first, she had such thoughts: Maybe Mira would solve this too. Maybe Mira would somehow handle this as well. Maybe he would even defeat the Demon Lord.

Because the Mira that Brunhild knew had always been like that.

—SLASH!

When the demon sword severed Mira’s right arm, those sweet thoughts all turned to nothing. The bright red blood spurting from the severed shoulder pulled Brunhild from fantasy back to reality.

“Mi… ra…?”

The attack didn’t stop there. The demon sword pierced through his abdomen and then tore upward, bursting out through his left shoulder, splitting half his body. Blood, entrails, and flesh sprayed from the torn area.

“Urgh… urgh.”

Shocked by the sight of the severed right arm still clutching the sword on the ground and the blood and entrails bursting from the split left side of his body, Brunhild involuntarily retched.

The Demon Lord kicked Mira in the stomach. With a loud bang, his body collided with a nearby rock. With a cough, dark red blood mixed with pieces of internal organs burst from his mouth.

Brunhild retched again, but unlike Mira who was expelling things that shouldn’t be expelled, nothing came out of her mouth.

Mira’s condition was miserable. His right arm had been completely severed, and due to being torn from his abdomen to his left shoulder, almost his entire left side, including the shoulder, was drooping sideways.

Blood gushed from the gap, staining his uniform and face.

‘I need… to run. Mira told me to run.’

Brunhild finally remembered Mira’s words, but it was already too late. The Demon Lord was now walking toward her. Even the time that Mira had bought with his life, she, in her stupidity, had failed to use.

‘No.’

This couldn’t be. She couldn’t die here. Mira had sacrificed his life to save her—she had to live. For Mira’s sake, she had to survive.

But at the same time, she was terrified.

Brunhild knew well how strong and exceptional Mira was. If even someone like Mira couldn’t last long and died, how could someone like her, a mere hero who just happened to hold a holy sword, face the Demon Lord?

No matter how she thought about it, the answer was “no.”

‘…I hate this.’

She gritted her teeth. She hated it. She hated herself for still debating whether to fight or not even in this moment when her life hung in the balance, for trembling and crying until now.

While Mira had tried to help Brunhild until the very end.

He had taught her that a hero doesn’t need to sacrifice everything, that before being a hero, she was a human named Leona Brunhild, and that when things got tough, she had someone to lean on.

Yet she couldn’t even protect the one person who had stayed by her side until the end. Brunhild hated herself for that.

“This… isn’t right.”

Her eyes caught sight of the holy sword lying on the ground nearby. Brunhild slowly reached for its hilt. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the Demon Lord made no move to stop her as she grasped the holy sword.

Brunhild slowly rose to her feet, holding the holy sword. It was time to return those teachings. Although there was no longer a precious person to protect, there was still something else to do.

She had to strike.

She had to eliminate.

She had to defeat the Demon Lord with the holy sword.

Because she was the hero.

Because Leona Brunhild was the hero.

—!!!!!!

The moment she realized this fact, a brilliant light began to burst forth from the holy sword.