episode_0021

000

“──Mr…?”

I had just returned from a mission, and my nerves were a little frayed. As I turned my head to the voice calling out to me, I saw a boy and a girl who looked like they had just become adventurers and didn’t know anything.

The boy had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a small sword on his waist that fit his build. He was wearing light armor, but it didn’t look to be of very good quality.

His eyes showed curiosity, competitiveness, and anticipation towards his senior. Those eyes were like the clear, transparent color of the sky.

I thought they were a bit dazzling for a young man who always walked in the shadows.

At the same time, the girl had emerald-colored hair and sapphire-colored eyes. She was a gentle-looking girl. Her age was probably a little younger than the young man, like the boy.

However, perhaps because she was a bit precocious, she was about the same height as the boy or even taller. Unlike the boy, there was a hint of fear in her eyes as she looked at the young man.

That would be the normal reaction. I was rather used to this kind of gaze, so I didn’t think it was necessary to pay much attention to it.

The young man asked the two what they wanted from him. He was worried that his voice might have been a little cold, even by his own standards.

The boy didn’t seem to mind at all.

“When I asked the guide at the guild, she told me that you were the strongest solo adventurer in this guild!”

─So?

I couldn’t help but ask myself.

Since ancient times, adventurers have been in the business of ‘confidence,’ ‘skill,’ and ‘luck.’

Sometimes, inexperienced newcomers who didn’t value their lives would pick fights with senior adventurers to quickly make a name for themselves in the guild, hoping to defeat them.

If, by any chance, the boy in front of me had spoken to me for that purpose─

How should I make him give up? The young man couldn’t help but worry about the answer.

“Please party with us!”

─However, the story that came out of the boy’s mouth was different. A recruitment attempt, of all things.

The young man gave a wry smile and explained why he was working alone.

He was a magic swordsman, and because of that, he was hated by others. He wouldn’t be suitable for group adventures.

But the boy shook his head.

“It’s okay! This girl and I will support you with all our might!”

“This girl” must be the girl standing next to him. Judging from the staff she had strapped to her back, she was a mage – no, a priest.

When he asked why him, the boy answered as if it were obvious.

“We want to go on amazing adventures someday, adventures that will save the world.”

At those words, the girl blushed and turned her head away. The young man also thought it was an embarrassing line. But he didn’t dislike it.

“To go on great adventures, you need a ‘strong party’… so it’s only natural to party with the strongest person!”

A simple answer. There was no error in the logic─Cleon thought. Of course, it was still a simple way of thinking, like a child.

The young man saw a light within the boy and the girl. He didn’t know exactly what direction that light was pointing in.

But─ for him, who walked in the shadows, that light felt warm.

It was the light he had always longed for somewhere in his heart.

001

“Haa… Haa… ─Haa!”

Rough breathing. A great shout. And with it, a huge, sweeping slash. Albein’s holy sword was swung down, drawing a trajectory like the edge of a crescent moon.

Cleon stood still, holding Galatea with only one hand, and blocking Albein’s attacks one after another.

Albein was attacking Cleon, expending his stamina to the point where he didn’t know if the liquid flowing down his body was sweat or rainwater.

But- what about the man in front of him?

His expression has been the same since a while ago. His breathing is not disturbed. Moreover, after saving Sasha and standing in front of him with his magic sword drawn, his center-balanced feet have not left the ground even once.

Albein took a step back. After creating some distance, he dove into Cleon’s left flank.

He quickly accelerated his body. Before Cleon’s arm could even move, he tried to slash him from behind –

Cleon lightly rotated Galatea in his hand, grabbed it in reverse, and raised it behind his back.

Clang-! With an ear-piercing metallic sound, Albein’s sword was blocked.

“Damn it…! What’s going on…!”

Albein bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. But that didn’t mean that the blocked attack would work again.

Then – as it is.

“Saint Bu-”

“Flame Burst.”

With a Kwang-! sound, an explosion of flames erupted from Cleon.

The storm of magical fire blew Albein away with heat.

He rolled across the ground and crashed into the debris, but he managed to survive thanks to the divine magic power he was wearing.

However, it wasn’t that there was no impact from the collision, as he was bleeding from his mouth.

“That magic… is Layla’s…”

Albein knew the magic from before. If he accidentally let a monster slip to the back, Layla’s annoyance would gradually increase. And when it reached its peak, she would use that magic to blow away the surrounding area as if exploding her anger.

There was a memory of Cleon warning her several times because party members were getting caught up in it, and after that, she reluctantly refrained from using it.

Albein’s own technique, ‘Saint Burst’, was also inspired by Layla’s.

Layla herself, whether she knew it or not, had told Albein, ‘Don’t use it because it’s trash’ –

Unlike ‘divine magic power’, which has almost no physical substance, ‘fire magic power’, whose very existence poses a risk of high heat, was clearly different in power.

─But. The important thing is not that.

Why could Cleon, a magic swordsman, use this intermediate magic, which is located between tier 2 and tier 3, without chanting?

This was like Layla herself’s level of skill─

Thinking that far, Albein covered his mouth. Blood was thickly smeared on his hand.

The source of Cleon’s power that he had come up with─

“I see… you slept with Layla and stole her power…!”

At those words, Cleon’s eyebrows twitched.

Perhaps taking it as an affirmation, Albein twisted the corner of his mouth and got up from his seat.

“Haha…! I knew it! There’s a reason why a piece of trash like you became so strong! You slept with Kuon, Sasha, and Layla, and stole their power!”

Albein pointed at Cleon with his finger as if he had caught him by the tail. Now that he knew that the other party was using underhanded tactics, justice was on his side.

He was a pathetic clown who had fallen into such a delusion.

“That’s not true!”

And, a voice telling the truth to the clown. It was ‘Sasha’, who had been watching from the side without touching him, following Cleon’s words.

Sasha put her hands together in front of her chest. She continued to speak to Albein.

“…Cleon didn’t steal our power. …He’s just borrowing it from us.”

“…You’ve also been brainwashed into thinking you’ve been violated by this guy…! Magic swordsmen are people who corrupt and dominate people!”

When Albein said that, Sasha shook her head with a sad face. At the same time, she put her hand on her heart, on her left chest.

“…There are definitely magic swordsmen in this world that Mr. Albein is talking about. But Cleon is different.”

When she sent her magic power over her chest, a purple pattern appeared that could be seen even through the clothes she was wearing.

It was the ‘mark’ that Cleon had engraved on her.

“See! That’s the mark of domination! You’re being used by this guy! Hahaha!!”

Albein laughed as if he were enjoying it. But Sasha denied even that.

“I became Cleon’s because I wanted to.”

“──Haha──… What?”

Albein was speechless at Sasha’s answer. Sasha stared at Albein for a moment, then turned her gaze to Cleon.

“Mr. Albein hates the weak. But everyone lives with weakness.”

“And, you deny fear. You can’t have fear, being a hero.”

“But… even so. Cleon doesn’t hate ‘the weak’. He doesn’t deny ‘fear’ either.”

“I decided to entrust myself to Cleon, who doesn’t deny his weakness and fear.”

“And, I can stay by his side and protect him from falling completely into evil…”

Each word of Sasha’s resonated between Albein and Cleon.

Albein covered his ears as if he didn’t want to hear her voice. But he was just suffering from the voice that seemed to strike his soul.

What do you know! Is there no one who can understand him, the hero!

An empty cry was echoing.

“Feeling like the tragic hero? Albein.”

Cleon’s question was thrown at Albein. Albein slowly took his hand off his ear and glared at Cleon.

“But too bad. You’re not the hero. You’re the villain.”

“Shut up! I’m the hero of this adventure! Don’t lecture me, a hero, just because you’re a magic swordsman…! You can’t beat me without using the power of others!”

Albein grabbed his holy sword again and charged at Cleon. Despite the slippery floor, he put strength into his knees properly –

He leaped into the sky. Albein’s swordsmanship, which instantly cuts down monsters with his weight on the holy sword.

“Fool.”

But. Cleon looked up at Albein for a moment. He stretched out his hand to him, who could not take an evasive posture in the air.

And black lightning appeared from his fingertips. ‘Mana Shock’. If he was on the ground, he could have avoided it or blocked it sufficiently.

Humans cannot move their bodies in the air unless they use ‘magic’.

The blow that cut through the air hit Albein’s body.

-002

“Ugh!”

With the sound of heavy wood colliding, the boy rolled on the ground two or three times.

The young man sighed, “Hoo-,” and adjusted his posture, looking down at the boy.

Then he approached and reached out his hand to the boy.

“Where did you learn that from? That fancy swordsmanship.”

He probably didn’t mean to be sarcastic, but as a result, the young man’s words hurt the boy’s pride a little.

The boy made a sound of “Ugh…”, but then scratched his head shyly.

“In a hero’s story I saw a long time ago… he flew into the sky with that blow and stuck the holy sword into the dragon’s head…”

“Ah. That one. I’ve read it before too.”

The young man smiled as if he remembered. Even so, he continued the story so that he would be properly trained.

“It might be okay if you’re dealing with sluggish and unintelligent monsters. But you shouldn’t use it against intelligent enemies like humans such as thieves or demons who use magic.”

“Ehh-?”

The young man raised his wooden sword to the boy’s head, who was grabbing his head, saying, “That can’t be-!”

“And. Unnecessarily large movements are prohibited even on the ground. There are too many openings, and the trajectory of the attack is readable.”

“Yes-. Oh, by the way, where did you learn your swordsmanship, Mr. Cleon? You look more like a soldier than an adventurer.”

As the boy was saying that and trying to get up, he limped on one leg.

“Huh?”

The boy looked down as if it were strange, even though it was his own body. The young man shook his head as he touched the boy’s knee.

“Ah- you didn’t take a proper fall when you fell. Does it hurt?”

“Um- it doesn’t hurt.”

“Amazing…! Hey-!”

The young man patted the boy on the shoulder and called out to the girl. The girl came running over to them in a hurry, saying, “Yes, yes~”.

She put her hand on the boy’s knee.

“Oh, divine soul who always protects us. Under your protection, may new flesh and bones grow…”

As she recited the prayer, a healing spell was activated. Despite being young, the girl’s spell, a wonderful healing ability, quickly healed the boy’s knee.

The boy looked at his knee as if it were amazing, and then jumped on the spot to show the young man that he was completely healed.

“Okay! Next!”

“Before that, you have to say ‘thank you’ properly.”

“It’s, it’s okay.”

The young man looked down at the girl. He quietly stroked her head. The girl blushed as if she were embarrassed.

The boy, who was fired up with enthusiasm for swordsmanship training, swung his wooden sword around and begged the young man.

─It was an event that happened 6 months after he started being with them.

003

“The swordsmanship that had become useful was made arrogant by obtaining the power of the holy sword. As if he had forgotten what he had learned while sparring with me. Indiscriminate. He swung his sword without restraint.”

Cleon was talking while looking down at Albein, who was lying face down on the ground.

What kind of emotion was on his face? It seemed so indifferent that it could not be read.

He was just savoring the fact that this ‘hero’ in front of him was so much weaker than himself.

“Shut up…”

Albein was unable to aim properly because the shock flowing through his body had not yet subsided, and he was desperately trying to get up somehow.

“The power of Mana Shock isn’t that strong. It just gives a slight short circuit to the magic power control system to cause paralysis in the body. If you had learned the self-healing spell as Kuon said, you would have been able to recover and get up on your own.”

“Shut up…!”

He grabbed the ground with his trembling arms and hands. Somehow, he raised his upper body and looked at Cleon.

“Why? Have you already used up all the skills and abilities you’ve acquired? At this rate, you were stronger when you were a swordsman.”

“Shut up, you son of a bitch!!”

The moment the paralysis was released. Albein’s body bounced up. As the sword was swung from bottom to top, Cleon used his magic sword to deflect it and create distance.

Albein didn’t chase after Cleon. Somehow, he was catching his breath, holding the sword upward with both hands and pulling it toward his chest.

“Hoooo─”

Deep breath. It was still a posture with many openings, but Cleon watched the scene for a while.

What Albein was doing was gathering. He was concentrating the divine magic power that was spread throughout his body to protect him and channeling it into his holy sword.

Then, his golden holy sword gradually increased its luminosity. Eventually, a blade made of magic power appeared.

“…─”

Cleon watched the scene without saying anything. Albein thought that Cleon was overwhelmed and raised the corner of his mouth.

“I haven’t shown it to any of you… the most powerful technique I have… I thought I would use this technique on my archenemy.

The blade of light gradually grew larger as it absorbed magic power. Soon, its length grew to the point where it surpassed an entire building.

“This is… the hero’s sword to destroy evil.”

As if he were speaking to the Demon King. Albein opened his mouth quietly. His eyes were different from before, full of confidence.

The magic power flowing into the holy sword forcibly erased despair, sadness, and anger from him.

Was that really a good influence on him? Cleon couldn’t tell.

And. Soon, Albein’s sword was swung. Moving the huge sword horizontally as if cutting off the horizon –

Seeing that, Albein’s holy sword cut through the air above Sasha’s head, who quickly ducked down.

Eventually, it flew towards Cleon’s body, which was standing still.

“Heavenly Destruction of the World Slash-!”

At the same time as Albein’s cry. Cleon raised Galatea. He brought it to the sword blade. Then-

The black magic power that was added to Galatea’s blade. When it collided with the divine magic power of Albein’s huge sword,

As if cutting butter with a hot knife.

That part was cut off, cutting the blade of magic power in half.

“──Huh?”

The magic power scattered into the air. Cleon stood upright. He swung his sword once as if shaking off the lingering magic power on his sword and looked at Albein.

“Is that your full power?”

“Wh, what. What did you do?”

“──I did the same thing you did.”

Albein staggered at what Cleon said after a moment of silence. Did he do the same thing as himself? He injected magic power into the sword and performed an extremely trained slash…?

But it was too- small for that. Cleon’s blade. The size of the blade is the size of the amount of magic power. Naturally, the side with more magic power should overwhelm the side that does not.

“Of course, you had more magic power. However. I just poured more magic power into a narrower range, while you spread it out widely.”

“No- how… To do such a thing, you have to be more skilled at controlling magic power than Layla! You can do that─ are you capable of that?”

“It’s not me. It’s my sword that did it.”

“──”

The will of the magic sword. Galatea is not a shaman, but she is capable of magic power control similar to one. Even in human form – even in a doppelganger.

Therefore. In the state of a sword, even magic power control that requires extreme difficulty is easily done.

Albein realized that his ultimate blow had been blocked in vain and looked down at his holy sword.

“…Ha…haha…”

And, as if he had given up everything, he let out a laugh. His body slowly fell forward.

The backlash of using all his magic power… and exhaustion.

It’s time to finish this soon. Looking at Albein, Cleon put strength into his hand.

-004

“The holy sword’s… oracle?”

At the adventurer’s guild rest area. The boy and the young man tilted their heads at the story the girl brought up.

Apparently, the girl had received an oracle in her dream last night about where the ‘holy sword’ was hidden.

In that oracle, the boy drew the holy sword.

It was even foretold that this act would eventually save the world.

“… …”

The boy was unable to easily close his mouth at the amazing story.

And, the girl was looking at the boy with worried eyes.

“…Hey hey! That’s amazing!”

And, the young man was the happiest.

The young man patted the boy on the back. It was as if it was the first time he had seen him so happy.

The eyes of the people around them were focused on him.

“Being chosen by the holy sword means… you’re going to be a hero!”

It was a natural thing to say. A dreamlike story. The boy looked back and forth between the girl and the young man for a moment, then pointed at himself with his finger as if to say, “Me?”

“That’s right! And, you too. You’re so loved by God that you’ve received an oracle.”

The young man, as if impressed, spoke to the girl. He put his hands on the shoulders of the two and smiled.

“─You two might really save the world.”

“We’re… saving the world…”

The boy looked down at his hand and clenched his fist tightly. And looked up at the young man. He was now almost as tall, but the boy still had much to learn from the young man.

“Have confidence. This is definitely fate.”

The young man nodded as if he had read the boy’s intentions. He asked the girl to tell him the next part of the oracle.

“The place where the holy sword is located is an ancient ruin located south of the city. It is said to be guarded by a powerful guardian. There are many traps in the middle too.”

“If it’s an ancient ruin, it’s a dark place. We need to bring enough lighting too.”

“…Can we do it?”

The young man answered the girl, who was asking anxiously.

“Of course. Adventuring is like a card game─”

“Here it comes.”

As the boy smirked and looked at the young man, the young man continued the story without paying attention.

“Hey. Listen carefully. I’m going to tell you several times so that you can engrave it in your heart.”

Then, the boy told the story that followed, instead of the young man.

“Prepare for what will happen and put out the most appropriate card. By repeating this, the adventure leads to success.”

005

Albein got up. He was already unconscious.

Cleon was about to finish him off, but grabbed his sword with both hands at the strange flow of magic power appearing from Albein’s sword.

Holy sword- golden holy sword.

According to legend. This is something in which the ‘angel’ that God sent to the earth resides.

The angel lost his body in the war. It is said that he put himself in the sword.

That’s. The beginning of all the legends of the holy sword and the hero.

It was the root of the most plausible story, though cliché.

Cleon and Albein. The fact was treated as a ‘legend’ and not believed.

Galatea was vibrating. It was different from what usually appeared when she was dissatisfied with Cleon’s actions.

It was as if she was resonating.

Above Albein’s head, divine magic power was concentrated and something like a twisted circle appeared.

A tunnel of magic power that sprang from the holy sword pierced Albein’s body here and there. Forcibly moving his body. It injects divine magic power.

“─Galatea. Is this-”

[That’s right. The reason I told you that the hero can ‘always’ save the world.]

──Many legends of the hero. They end with the hero disappearing with the evil of the world. And peace returns to the world.

That is─ actually. Even if their strength is insufficient in the hero’s battles and they are defeated by the enemy at the very end.

The holy sword remains. It carries on that role.

The angel’s soul residing in the holy sword forcibly grabs the hero’s body. It assimilates itself with him.

The human body cannot withstand the angel’s soul─ even in a short time, it is incomparably more than what the hero can produce─

It possesses powerful power. And it moves only to destroy the ‘evil’ in front of it.

A suicide weapon.

That’s. Hero.

Even as Cleon was watching, Albein’s appearance was gradually changing.

Receiving the angel’s soul into his body. The halo transforms like a crown of thorns. And eight wings made of divine magic power spread on his back.

Tearing through the clouds in the sky, the light of heaven descends and envelops Albein’s body.

When he heard about this phenomenon from Galatea. Cleon had been thinking that the biggest obstacle in his revenge against Albein was this part.

If his revenge caused him to blow up an entire city, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

But Galatea whispered a ‘countermeasure’ for her master.

Cleon took out the core of the sword from his chest. Perhaps sensing a fellow species going berserk nearby.

The sword’s core, charged and activated by magic power, was resonating with Albein’s holy sword, just like Galatea.

[NRJIG NGJJH YSGDD]

Unknown language. Was it his voice that came out of Albein’s mouth when it opened? Or was it the angel’s voice?

Looking at Albein, who seemed to have already become something other than human, Cleon slowly approached Albein with the core of the sword.

The divine magic power flowing from Albein’s body carved away the surrounding debris with just its aftermath. Naturally, Cleon’s body could not be unharmed.

Little by little. The closer he got. A sharp and hostile torrent of magic power that sliced through the skin of his entire body.

“Mr. Cleon!”

Looking at the scene from behind, Sasha shouted. Cleon quietly raised his hand to reassure her.

[Cleon… Hear the real voice of her─ not the voice of an angel who has become a weapon.]

Galatea’s voice. Cleon listened carefully and read her will in the magic power.

[─Help, me─]

─A voice that was neither Albein’s nor Galatea’s. It was definitely heard.

Cleon drew his magic power to the limit throughout his body. He covers that body.

Like black armor. His extremely compressed magic power burned white on his eyes.

Eventually, the core of the sword touched Albein’s holy sword. Layla had definitely─ talked about the core’s activation keyword.

That word- the name of the holy sword that had to be stopped- even Albein didn’t know-

“Caliburn-!”

A pillar of light soared from the spot, piercing the sky.

At the tremendous sound, Cleon felt blood flowing from his ears, which had been blocked by magic power.

The condensed divine magic power stopped operating at the spot, lost its center, and scattered.

The opened dark clouds. They were slowly widening the gap.

──From the sky. The shattered divine magic power falls like pollen.

This shining golden color. ─Originally. The magic power that protects people.

Unlike before, when it was moved by malice. It is now harmless. Even if it falls on the entire city- no, the entire area, there would be no problem.

The black magic power that was covering Cleon’s entire body disappears. Cleon, who was breathing heavily with wounds all over his body.

And. He looked at Albein, who had completely collapsed on the ground, and swung Galatea down on the holy sword.

─That’s the end.

The holy sword was broken.