episode_0047

000

“You’re going to die?”

“Yeah.”

It was a sudden notification.

After giving up the promised kingdom status as the hero who overthrew the empire.

It wasn’t a line that the guy who came down to the countryside and opened a small adventurer’s guild should be uttering.

More than anything.

The fact that the person saying that was the world’s strongest warrior, `Leshia`.

It was utter nonsense.

“What is it? Did you catch some disease or something?”

Leshia shook her head with a small smile at Talcheck’s question.

“No. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Looks like it.”

Although the age difference between the two was nearly 30.

They were friends and comrades who could lightly talk to each other.

It was natural to accept a certain level of joking, but.

Leshia’s words were not something to laugh off even as a joke.

“What is it? So, someone is going to kill you?”

“Well…. Half right and half wrong, maybe.”

Leshia gave a bitter smile as if troubled, but Talcheck’s face frowned upon hearing that story.

“It doesn’t seem likely that a warrior who defeated both the Sword Demon Emperor and the Dragon would be killed by someone.”

“That’s because I had everyone’s help.”

Talcheck clicked his tongue upon hearing those words.

Of course, that’s how she would talk.

However, the humans who fought together in that place.

Whoever you asked, their opinions would be the same.

It wasn’t a fight between the hero party and the world’s enemies.

It was a fight between the hero and the world’s enemies.

The power of the holy sword. Overwhelming magic power. Swordsmanship close to divine skill.

She literally ran on the ground, flew in the sky.

She cut mountains and split the sea as they fought.

All the other party members could do was desperately try not to fall behind.

“I’m going to commit suicide.”

“What?”

Talcheck’s face instantly crumpled at those words.

This time, it was a joke he couldn’t laugh at.

But Leshia herself had a pure and enlightened look on her face.

Talcheck couldn’t move any further.

“My power unbalances the world just by existing. If this goes on, another fight will definitely happen.”

“So you’re running away from that fight?”

Leshia nodded.

Talcheck reached out and grabbed the collar of her, who was much smaller than him.

If Leshia was serious, she could have shaken him off immediately, or avoided it before that.

But she didn’t.

“Talcheck. Is running away from a fight that wrong?”

“What…? You’re the hero who saved the world. Why would someone like you need to run away!”

When Talcheck said that, Leshia answered with a bitter smile.

“But that way, I don’t have to cut down anyone.”

“… …”

The warrior Leshia was the sword of the world.

She cut down the cruel and violent Sword Demon Emperor.

She cut down the dragon who was being controlled by that emperor.

Was that the end of the warrior Leshia’s role?

She cut down countless soldiers in the fight against the remnants of the empire.

She cut down the humans who committed a massacre in the Black Magic Clan’s village.

Not only that.

How many lives did she take during her journey?

In the end, a warrior is just

a gardener who cuts down the threatening branches for the world.

If it weren’t for the Order of the Saint’s Protection,

there would be no difference between a hero and a Sword Demon—humans with dangerous swords.

Talcheck also felt that during his adventures with Leshia.

Her brilliant blonde hair had become a slightly faded platinum color.

And she stopped taking off her armor even in ordinary times.

The fact that Leshia’s humanity was gradually being eroded was being conveyed.

That’s why Talcheck accepted her request to help her build a guild and a school.

He had lived his whole life with a sword, living like a beast.

He hated children and hated being tied down.

But for Leshia’s sake, he could spend a few years with her.

But if this was the answer he got.

Talcheck’s anger was justified.

“You…. What about that kid and Luti Sions?”

“I’m planning to organize things as much as possible before it ends. I also heard some reliable news about Crayon.”

Leshia speaks while her collar is grabbed.

Apparently, among the nobles who have been expanding their power in the royal capital recently, there is a human who has a girl presumed to be from the Black Magic Clan as a maid.

If he talks to him and informs Crayon that there are other survivors of the clan.

“Are you stupid…! Those guys…!”

But Talcheck still couldn’t suppress his anger after hearing that story.

A fact that even he, who is insensitive to human emotions, could understand.

She was so broken that she couldn’t realize it herself.

“Sorry. But I’ve already decided.”

“Ugh….”

And yet she still has her strength.

Talcheck let out a curse, unable to suppress his anger, and released Leshia.

“Do the others…. Know?”

Talcheck raised his eyebrows at the unexpected answer.

She told him before the two people she had been traveling with and known for longer than him?

“Why?”

“To keep a promise.”

Leshia answered that way to Talcheck’s question.

The very little light left in her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Promise?”

“Yeah. We promised to cross swords again after defeating the emperor, didn’t we?”

Talcheck’s eyes widened at Leshia’s words.

Certainly. He remembers making such a promise.

`I won’t lose next time. I will definitely beat you with my sword`

…A cliché loser’s line.

Did Leshia nod back then?

“Is that part of the arrangement?”

“Yeah. That way, Talcheck will be relieved, too.”

Relieved.

What could he be relieved about?

Even though she was broken,

was it the fact that it was herself, not the world, that was destroying her?

Or would he be relieved by the anticipation of being able to cross swords with her one last time before that?

“Okay…. But I might kill you there.”

Talcheck’s murderous intent instantly covered Leshia.

An ordinary human might lose all strength in their body and faint on the spot.

But Leshia smiled without changing her expression.

“Maybe so.”

Talcheck could only watch Leshia, who said that, walk away without stopping her from behind.

That day, he drank a lot of alcohol and ate a lot of meat to relieve his anger.

The next day, he was somehow able to look after Crayon’s training as usual.

It’s not that he completely accepted the fact that Leshia had to die.

If so, he would defeat her in a fight with her.

He would cut off her arm or leg.

He would prevent her from committing suicide.

That’s what Talcheck was thinking.

He never imagined that even that opportunity would be taken away.

The warrior Leshia was banished.

Into a dimensional rift.

001

The fight between the Sword Demons and the Sword Saint.

Crayon was confident that he had caught up with Talcheck’s level to some extent.

Rubera also had assassin swordsmanship that she had learned as a noble’s bodyguard.

She might not be able to win in a head-on fight, but if Crayon created an opening, she would step on the head of such a large man.

If she cut off his neck, it would be over.

He was making overly optimistic observations.

“What is that…? Is that monster really human?”

The sword he was wielding was indeed the holy sword `Chevalier`.

But he wasn’t using magic power to wield the sword.

Each time the sword was wielded with only decades of trained strength and agility.

They were worried that their heads would be cut off.

Crayon and Rubera were sweating cold sweat at the fact that they could barely keep up with the edge of it only after having physical abilities strengthened through magic power.

Somehow they were deflecting the attacks, but.

There were already traces of cuts here and there on their bodies.

Fortunately, they weren’t severed or attacked in vital spots.

If this goes on—.

“I’ll create an opening with magic again. In the meantime.”

“I understand.”

When Crayon draws up magic power through the seal, elements of flame gather above his back.

Rubera stood between Talcheck and Crayon to protect him until Crayon’s incantation was completed.

“Another clumsy imitation?”

Talcheck provokes Crayon as he looks at him, but Crayon ignores him and quietly begins the incantation.

“You, the majesty of the gods plundered from heaven….”

“Crayon!”

Rubera’s shout abruptly interrupts the incantation.

When he suddenly raised his head at the presence felt right above him.

There was Talcheck, holding Chevalier, jumping at him.

“Ugh…!”

He urgently cancels the incantation and reaches out his hand.

An aerial strike.

It’s an attack that he experienced before in his fight with Albein.

“Mana Shock!”

Black lightning stretches out.

If it’s a human who can’t move in the air, it’s natural to get hit by this and fall to the ground.

“Heh heh….”

But Talcheck was handling the holy sword more skillfully than that Albein.

In an instant, Chevalier emitted light, and the explosion of holy magic power generated from the sword created propulsion.

Talcheck’s body descends much faster than Crayon had expected.

Thanks to that, Talcheck’s trajectory is greatly distorted, and Crayon’s magic cuts through the air.

Thanks to that, Talcheck’s sword doesn’t directly touch Crayon.

But Talcheck lands safely on the ground and approaches Crayon at a speed faster than an arrow.

“Crude. Both sword and magic.”

Talcheck’s sword is swung greatly from top to bottom.

Crayon hurriedly raises Galatea to block it.

Swoosh-!

With a futile sound, his entire body is split in two there.

“Crayon!”

“Tch….”

Rubera shouts as she watches Crayon, but.

Talcheck kicks Rubera away with a turning kick.

Then, he quickly looks up at the sky.

There, Crayon’s figure, who had released the barrier and illusion and finished the incantation, was visible.

“Prometheus Gate!”

Flaming spears rain down on Talcheck alone.

No matter how much Talcheck, there’s no way he’ll be safe after receiving magic that he can’t even avoid.

He deflects the spears with the power of the holy sword.

But his body suffers damage as flames graze it.

Like Flare Spike, its completion was lower than Lyla’s.

But it held that Talcheck in place and inflicted damage.

The moment after the barrage of spears ended.

Talcheck stumbles, almost falling to one knee.

Rubera rushed at Talcheck once again.

“Wind Pond…!”

The real magic sword and the magic power-made sword blade

are swung simultaneously like scissors.

They try to cut Talcheck’s body.

“Heh heh…! I’ll correct that. You’re pretty good! Crayon!”

But the next moment.

When Talcheck slams the holy sword into the ground, the surrounding ground pops out due to the impact.

The stones flew at not only Rubera, who was running at high speed, but also Crayon, who was floating in the air.

The moment Crayon quickly tried to twist his body to dodge.

Talcheck, who had run up by stepping on the protruding ground, swings his leg and kicks Crayon down.

“Ugh!”

Crayon lets out a cry of pain.

He spat out blood as he fell to the ground.

In fact, Talcheck, who had been burned.

He was recovering his body with the power of holy magic power that emanated from the holy sword.

Rubera quickly ran over, helped Crayon up, and looked at Talcheck, who had landed on the ground.

“Annoying. Not only Talcheck, but that holy sword…. Iona Chevalier, too.”

“Yeah. It’s already a monster, and he’s even using the power of the holy sword….”

Crayon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and narrowed his eyes.

“But if he doesn’t have the power of the holy sword…. Talcheck is definitely accumulating damage and fatigue.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I can feel that his body is slower than it used to be. Age…. No, is it a disease?”

Rubera frowns at Crayon’s words.

That’s the body of a sick person?

What was he like in his prime….

“Why? Are you tired of playing with this old man?”

Talcheck smiles cheerfully as he loosens his shoulders.

Somehow the two people stand up and prepare to fight again.

And just before they clash again.

“W-what is this…!?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the place where the dumbfounded voice came from.

“Y-Yustas…?”

Crayon calls his name as if embarrassed.

But Rubera was even more surprised.

The fact that that coward came all the way here in light armor and holding an ordinary longsword.

She couldn’t believe it.

“Oh ho. You came, Yustas.”

“Talcheck! And…. Rubera!?”

Yustas seemed surprised at the sight of the two people fighting no matter how you looked at it.

And he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Crayon next to Rubera, but soon shifted his gaze to Talcheck.

“Where are Father and Maxwell?”

“Your father is dead. The woman over there cut him down.”

“What….”

Yustas’s gaze turns to the large corpse lying next to the gap in the barrier.

There, his father, Marquis Hughes, had his head and body separated.

“… …”

Rubera quietly placed her hand on her sword.

She was thinking of immediately cutting off Yustas’s neck if he rushed at her.

“Ugh… Right now, that matter… let’s talk about it later. The important thing is Maxwell…!”

“…!”

Crayon and Rubera both widen their eyes at those words.

There was fear in Yustas’s eyes, but there was no sign that he was trying to ignore the truth.

Talcheck laughs loudly and points to the gap he had opened with his finger.

“Maxwell is inside the barrier.”

Yustas glares at him for a moment, then runs to the gap in the barrier.

Rubera and Crayon only follow him with their eyes.

For a moment, Rubera and Yustas’s eyes meet.

Yustas only avoids Rubera’s gaze and enters the gap as if running away.

“Are we stopping him while letting that idiot go?”

Rubera asked Talcheck.

“Yeah. I don’t think it would be fun to fight that guy…. And there’s nothing he can do even if he goes inside.”

“Do you really think so?”

Crayon regripped his sword as he caught his breath.

“Both Iona and Yustas. They’re stronger than you think.”

“Are you talking about the guy who can’t do anything and is quietly used as a sword and the guy who came running recklessly while being scared?”

Crayon nodded and smiled.

“Yeah. At least he’s better than the guy who can’t forget his old comrades and is trying to mess up the world because his heart is running wild.”

“Heh heh….”

Talcheck let out a dry laugh at Crayon’s words.

And just the fact that Talcheck’s murderous intent was spreading made Rubera and Crayon’s bodies heavy.

“Unnecessary provocation. Thank you very much.”

Rubera clicked her tongue and said to Crayon.

“Sorry. Just put up with me a little longer.”

“I might die. That gorilla is coming with all his might.”

Crayon quietly smiled at Rubera’s words.

“It’s not like I don’t have a plan. I just shook Talcheck a little for that plan.”

“What is it again? I feel like I’m going to die meddling in your bad plan in your head.”

When Crayon pointed Galatea at Talcheck, a light of black magic power gathered at the end of the sword.

“I had exchanged magic power between Iona and my body before. At that time, I created a connection passage for her, although it was weak.”

“… …”

Rubera’s face becomes a complex and subtle expression upon hearing those words.

“…Just to be clear, it’s not like we mixed bodies.”

“Who said anything?”

Crayon continued his explanation in response to Rubera’s answer.

“While Talcheck maintained his composure, there was no gap in the holy sword he possessed….”

“So there’s a gap now.”

Crayon nods.

It’s possible to communicate with the target connected by magic power through telepathy.

But in order to awaken Iona’s self-awareness inside the holy sword Chevalier, who has lost her will and is completely moving according to Talcheck’s intentions, an even deeper communication was needed.

“So, I’m going to send my consciousness to that holy sword now.”

“Then your body will be defenseless.”

“Yeah. Please take care of me.”

Rubera took a deep breath and sighed greatly at Crayon’s words.

“Really, it’s a losing business.”

And she draws Barisada and stands in front of him to protect Crayon.

“I promise to protect you. Go ahead. Crayon.”

002

Crayon feels his consciousness leaving his body.

His spirit moves into the sword blade of Chevalier as if being sucked in.

The scenery inside was a little different from what Crayon had imagined.

It was inside a desolate room.

Sitting alone inside is a white-haired girl.

How old is she, about 5 years old?

Red eyes and slightly pointed ears

were telling her identity.

“Iona.”

He calls her name softly.

But she didn’t react.

She was just silently looking at the book she was holding in her hand.

The name of the book is ‘Family’.

The cover is painted black.

And the face of a seemingly hideous man, drawn as if drawn on top of it

was drawn by the child’s hand.

“…Chevalier.”

“Yeah.”

The girl finally reacts then.

Crayon sighs and approaches her.

“Let’s get out of here.”

To save her, to stop Talcheck.

It was necessary to return to being a girl, not a holy sword.