Tears spilled from Sharm’s eyes, and he pushed himself to his feet despite the pain his body was in. He knew instinctively that this would be the last time he’d get to speak with his loyal knight.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t do anything. You protected me for so long, but I couldn’t even...”
Smiling, Reinheit shook his head.
“Uralt, I have a request. Please...grant your strength to this boy.”
“Reinheit?”
Reinheit looked down at the sword, which was still glowing faintly.
“I entrust you, the Holy Sword, to Sharm Barn...the kindest child of the strongest knight.”
Sharm stared at Reinheit in surprise. A second later, the sword left Reinheit’s hand and slowly floated toward Sharm as if acknowledging Reinheit’s request.
The current generation’s hero and the next generation’s hero locked eyes.
“I know...that you can grow...to be stronger...than anyone else.”
Those were Reinheit’s final words.
“I-I will! I promise...I’ll become the strongest knight ever!” Sharm gave Reinheit a knight’s vow, then after a brief moment of grieving, he rose to his feet. The sounds of battle were still raging all around him, growing closer by the minute.
“I’ve had enough,” Sharm declared, grabbing the floating sword and closing his eyes before pressing the flat of the blade against his forehead. “What do I have to do to end this battle?”
The sword glowed a bit brighter in response.
Sharm opened his eyes and looked up at the sacred tree.
“That’s fine with me,” he said in a determined voice. Even if what he was about to attempt was dangerous, especially with how tired and injured he was, if it would bring an end to the fighting, then it was worth it.
“Sharm-kun...”
Just then, Nieshika walked into the clearing. There was a gaping wound on her side, which was still spurting blood. She leaned against a nearby tree and gasped when she saw that Reinheit was dead and Sharm was holding the Holy Sword.
“Nieshika-san, I’m sorry, but I need your wings.”
Even though Sharm wasn’t even ten yet, the resolve in his gaze was enough to awe Nieshika. After a brief pause, she smiled and said, “There would be no greater honor than bearing you on my back, young hero.”
The pale violet dragon, ruler of light and water, ferried Sharm through the skies at lightning speed. Weaving between the branches of the sacred tree, she took him up above the republic’s capital. And as they climbed, Sharm spotted Badd standing defiantly in front of the sacred tree. However, he didn’t move at all as soldiers swarmed past him, nor did he react to their war cries. Marshal, too, was on the floor in front of the entrance to the trunk.
“Head to the base of the trunk!”
Nieshika summoned a torrent of water to push back the soldiers, then landed. The few surviving beastmen soldiers and all the beastmen citizens who’d retreated to the tree’s upper levels all watched on in amazement as Sharm drove the Holy Sword into the ground next to the sacred tree and began concentrating.
Nieshika stood protectively in front of him, using her body as a shield. The wounds she’d suffered were already fatal. If she was doomed to die either way, she would much rather have used what remained of her life to protect others.
Naturally, the soldiers all concentrated their attacks on the dragon that had suddenly appeared. Within seconds, Nieshika’s body was riddled with holes. But somehow, she managed to protect Sharm for just long enough.
“Holy Sword Uralt! I beg you, grant me, Sharm Barn, temporary dominion over the sacred tree!”
The sword emitted a blinding flash...and the sacred tree began to glow. That glow enveloped Sharm, after which a wave of white fog began to spread from the tree.
Within seconds, the fog expanded to cover the palace, the capital, and the rest of the forest. The federation’s soldiers suddenly found themselves unable to see even a few feet in front of them. Their sense of direction became muddled, and though they thought they were still charging into the palace, they found themselves running out of the forest.
After a few seconds, Sharm’s eyes closed and he fell unconscious. Using the Holy Sword to forcibly grant him dominion over the forest had taxed him heavily. Within two or three days, he would die. That had been the price of stopping this war.
A lone girl hid behind a trash can in an alleyway near the eastern exit of Horuo, Entris’s northeasternmost city. She was Kiara, the poster girl for Wanda’s Inn.
The hunt for the Liberators had finally reached Horuo. Kiara was covered in sweat, her breath came in short pants, and the streaks on her cheeks made it clear she’d been crying not too long ago. Her bunny ears, which were hidden by an artifact, twitched as they picked up a few familiar voices. A bunch of the local kids had looked up to her and called her Onee-chan. But now, their voices were filled with hate.
“Where are you, traitor?!”
“Get out here so we can kill you!”
They kept going on and on about how they needed to kill her so they could apologize to Ehit for ever becoming friends with a heretic. Kiara covered her ears with her hands to avoid their scorn.
“Why did things end up like this?”
She thought back to the evening when everything had come tumbling down around her. Everyone had been called to assemble at the plaza next to the city’s church. There had, of course, been quite a few people who hadn’t gone, but some had in the hopes that the church would prove they really were as absolute as they claimed, while others had attended to try to figure out whether the church was trustworthy or not. The Wanda family had attended as well to see if they could gather any useful intel.
The same elderly bishop as usual had come out to meet the crowd, but there had been something strange about her. Thinking back on it now, Kiara regretted not running the moment that bishop had appeared.
If we’d done that, mom and dad would still be alive.
A few minutes after the bishop’s speech had begun, everyone’s doubts about the church cleared up unnaturally swiftly. The speech itself had just been filled with empty platitudes that any sane person would have been able to see through. The bishop had gone on and on about how the Liberators were actually mavericks who opposed god and wished to plunge the world into chaos. She’d also talked about how despite being Ehit’s blessed children, Miledi and her comrades were trying to supplant him and rule over Tortus as gods in their own right for selfish, tyrannical reasons.
Kiara had expected everyone to call the bishop out on her bullshit. But instead, everyone had swallowed the bishop’s words completely and the people who’d once been Kiara and the others’ friends had turned toward the family with hate in their eyes.
From there, things got much worse. Even those who’d sided with the Liberators and those who hadn’t come to hear the bishop’s speech were soon assimilated into the mob, and eventually, even Kiara’s neighbors had started attacking her and her family.
Marcus had stayed behind to block the doorway and give Kiara and Vera time to escape. His last words to them were, “Get out of here, you two! You have to survive!” Marcus had known that if he’d gone with them, Vera and Kiara would have had a harder time getting out alive. After all, both Vera and Kiara were rabbitmen. They were much better at sensing the presence of others, and they were also the race most suited to running away.
However, in the end, the two of them had still gotten ambushed by a group that had been waiting for them at the edge of town, so Vera had sacrificed herself to give Kiara a chance to escape.
“Get up and run! You’re my daughter, aren’t you?!”
That was what Vera had said as she’d taken a dagger meant for Kiara in the back. A hunter that had been good friends with Marcus had tried to stab Kiara in the heart and she’d been so shocked that she’d been a second late to react. However, Vera had not only blocked the stab for her daughter, but had also then turned around and tackled the hunter to the floor to grant Kiara an opening.
However, Kiara had shaken her head and said that she was a Liberator too...and that she wanted to save as many lives as possible.