“Ngh, an apostle!”
Indeed, an apostle was making her way straight to him, disintegrating all of the trees along her path. She swung both her claymores down at Reinheit, who blocked with his Holy Sword. However, the apostle was far stronger than him, and he was blown away with ease. He slammed into one of the trees behind him, coughing violently.
“Gah! Agh! Shit!”
The weight in his left arm was gone. He’d dropped Sharm. Through his blurry vision, he could see Sharm on the ground a short distance away. The impact appeared to have woken him up, and he was looking around in shock.
“Did you really think you could escape from me, Uralt, my beloved goddess?” the apostle—who should have been emotionless—said in a passionate voice.
“Wait, is that you, Darrion Kaus?!”
“I told you once long ago that you’re all that I care about.”
Darrion completely ignored Reinheit, his gaze focused solely on the Holy Sword.
“I betrayed my comrades and the entire world...I even debased myself and became Ehit’s pawn...all so that I could stay with you!”
He swung his claymores wildly, looking like a possessed madman.
“No matter how many times you chose a new hero and left my side, eventually you always realized I was the only hero for you and came back. I am your eternal hero!”
The Holy Sword began to glow, and Reinheit sensed a profound sadness and a deep regret coming from it. In his mind, he could see a beautiful black-haired woman crying and begging him to stop Darrion.
Unfortunately, Reinheit wasn’t strong enough to take on someone with an apostle’s strength just yet. Besides, Sharm’s safety took precedence over the sword’s wishes.
“I won’t let you run from me any longer!” Darrion roared as he locked eyes with Sharm, then cast his gaze over the trees in the distance. If Reinheit and Sharm ran, he would start killing others. His gesture said that far clearer than any words could.
The moment Darrion had pinpointed their location, running had stopped being an option. Thus, Reinheit steeled his resolve for a fight.
“Limit Break - Overload!”
He would surpass all of his limits, and defeat the fallen hero in front of him to save his soul.
“The world has no need for any heroes other than me. I’ll be taking over that body of yours.”
The very first hero and the current hero clashed, and the resulting shock wave flattened all the trees in the vicinity. Each time their swords crossed, a crater formed where they’d been standing, and with each passing second, more trees were obliterated.
Reinheit fought desperately, only barely managing to keep up with Darrion’s immense strength. His burning resolve allowed him to draw out even more of the Holy Sword’s knowledge, and the techniques of past heroes started flowing into his mind.
“Uwooooooooooooooooooh!”
Risking everything, Reinheit fought with every ounce of his being.
“You know, I took over the bodies of most of the past heroes.”
Unfortunately, Darrion was still a cut above him. He wasn’t shaken like he had been when his goddess had first chosen Reinheit as her new hero, so Reinheit couldn’t rely on any tricks like surprise attacks or trying to take Darrion down with him.
After a few more clashes, one of Darrion’s claymores cut Reinheit from shoulder to hip. Reinheit pressed on, undaunted, but then Darrion’s second claymore got him in the thigh and the strength left his leg. The counter he’d bet everything on was batted aside like it was nothing, and Darrion followed up by elbowing him in the stomach. Reinheit’s ribs cracked, and he coughed up blood.
None of Reinheit’s techniques were working. Darrion was simply the worst matchup for him. After all, he was an expert at beating heroes.
Eventually, Reinheit’s time ran out.
“Ah...”
He dropped to his knees as his Limit Break - Overload ended.
“Finally.”
Darrion had known Reinheit stood no chance without Limit Break, and he also knew that Reinheit’s soul would be weakened after he did, making him easier to take over.
Truly, the world’s first hero was every other hero’s greatest nightmare.
Darrion looked over at Sharm and said, “I’ll send you to the darkest depths of despair.”
Darrion wanted to make sure he’d done as much damage to Reinheit’s soul as possible to ensure the takeover went smoothly. Reinheit screamed at him to stop, but of course, Darrion didn’t listen. Instead, he strode right over to Sharm.
“R-Run, Sharm-sama...” Reinheit said in a raspy voice. He didn’t even have the strength left to reach his hand out to Sharm. Through his hazy vision, he watched as Darrion stomped on Sharm, causing the young boy to scream.
Dammit, move!
He struggled so hard he coughed up blood, but even then, Reinheit’s body barely twitched.
Why am I always so weak? Fight, goddammit! I swore I’d put my life on the line to protect others!
As he thought back to the oath he’d made, Reinheit realized something. When he’d been chosen by the Holy Sword, he’d thought, “I don’t care even if it costs me my life.”
That’s right, since when was just putting my life on the line enough? No, I should be willing to give it up entirely if that’s what it takes to save the people I care about!
The Holy Sword once again began to glow in his hands. He could still feel the sword’s sadness, but now he could also feel it gently comforting him.
I’ll give you my life, so please give me the strength I need to save Sharm-sama! Even if it’s only for an instant, that’s all I need!
Right before Darrion’s claymore pierced Sharm’s heart, there was a boom and a rush of immense power flowed through Reinheit. Darrion turned back in shock to see a spiral of pure white mana rising up to the heavens.
Reinheit had just activated Limit Break’s special derivative skill, True Martyr. It multiplied the user’s stats a dozenfold, but lasted only ten seconds and cost the user their life. This was the ultimate trump card that Reinheit could use only once, the strongest skill that cost his entire remaining lifespan.
“Uwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!”
“Ngh, you bastard!”
This time, it was Darrion who was sent flying. Reinheit immediately chased after him, knowing that every second counted.
“I’m taking you down here and now!”
The Holy Sword glowed brighter than it ever had before, turning into a blade of pure light. Darrion brought up one claymore to block Reinheit’s next swing, but it sliced through it like a hot knife through butter.
Everything moved in slow motion for Reinheit, and he saw Darrion’s second claymore coming at him. He held out his empty arm, and the moment the blade dug into his bones, he twisted his arm to redirect the blade’s trajectory.
Darrion’s eyes widened in surprise, and Reinheit delivered the most powerful thrust of his life right into the apostle’s core. An apostle’s body was strong enough to deflect regular blades, but the Holy Sword stabbed right through the core with ease.
“Holy Sword Uralt! Put his crazed delusions to rest!”
“I-Impossible!”
Ultimately, Darrion had only one soul. Even if he split it up to take over other peoples’ bodies, those fragments were still connected. That was how he’d been able to communicate with the other bodies he’d taken over, after all. However, that also meant anyone who came into contact with even a fragment of his soul would be able to affect the entire thing.
Reinheit was determined to cut down every single fragment of Darrion Kaus’s soul. That was impossible even for Ehit, but Uralt, the goddess that had been with Darrion for so long, could do it. Light burst from Darrion’s chest, spreading throughout the entire forest and stopping even the crazed federation armies in their tracks.
“My goddess...I...”
As the particles of light dispersed and Reinheit pulled the Holy Sword out of his opponent’s body, Darrion reached for it with a trembling hand.
For a moment, it looked like a young black-haired man and a beautiful black-haired woman were holding hands. But then, Darrion collapsed and Reinheit fell to his knees.
“Reinheit,” Sharm said, crawling over to where Reinheit was. Using the last of his strength, Reinheit held the Holy Sword out to Sharm. Sharm wrapped his hands around Reinheit’s, squeezing both them and the sword hilt tightly.
“In the end...taking him down with me...was the best I could manage,” Reinheit muttered.
“Reinheit...”