Chapter 83

The green-haired little girl came walking over. “But before that,” she said. “I suppose we should wake up this lot. For now, rest assured that we have confirmed the current hero is alive and well.” “L…Leone…” The girl pointed over to a corner of the room, where Leone and the others still lay unconscious. In the far eastern reaches of the Lunarian See, there sat a town bordering the ocean. Once famed for its beautiful waterways and stately brick buildings, the city now lay in smoldering ruins. “Kha-ha-ha-ha! See how their cities burn!” spoke a cackling demon, two horns atop his head and a pair of bat-like wings sprouting from his back. “We are truly the most powerful race in the realm!” In a ferocious display of power, the demon channeled mana into his outstretched arms. “Tch. The mana buildup is weak. This must be the work of that damn barrier. Man, this sucks.” The soldiers of the See broke out in sweat as they saw the demons summon up their dark powers in spite of the great barrier’s protection. “Curse it all! How did demons get this far south?! I thought the fighting was up north!” “Where are the reinforcements?! Have the paladins from the holy city arrived yet?” “Hold the line! Yield no quarter!” Caught unawares, the city guard was in total shambles. The chain of command was broken, but the guards still fought valiantly to protect the citizenry, believing reinforcements were close at hand. “T-take this, foul beasts! Angel’s Light Formation!” “““Aye-aye!””” Several warriors clasped their hands together in prayer and threw up a shield of green and blue light. However, the demon only sneered at their efforts. “Hmph. Don’t bother me with your pathetic barrier, worms.” The demon unleashed a spell that shattered the shield in an instant. “““Graaaaagh!!””” The force of the destructive blast threw the city guards to the ground. “Ha-ha-ha!! Just as weak as I suspected. I’ll eradicate every last one of you and use this town as a base to take down the great barrier. Then I’ll be the true demon lord!” “O holy water, pierce this evil! Rushing Waters: Holy Stream!” A noise rang out so loud it could be heard even over the chaos of battle. A spear of water glowing white shot through the air and ran straight through the demon before disappearing, leaving a gaping hole in his torso. “…Wh-what?! Ghuh!” Though demons were hardier still than the stoutest of beastfolk, few were powerful enough to survive an attack of that caliber. The demon crumpled to the ground. “Gentlemen, you have fought well, but there is nothing to fear now. So long as the light of our Lady Lunaris shines down upon us, the demons shall never prevail.” Standing there, with a voice as clear and pure as running water, was the priestess, Metelia Laurelia. Her white robes and porcelain staff combined to create an image so majestic, so awe-inspiring, that it was as though heaven’s light itself shone down upon her. After a moment of silence, the guards erupted into cheers. “I-it’s the priestess! We’re saved!!” “Lady Laurelia! Oh, I knew Lunaris had not forsaken us!” Then one of the soldiers came over, carrying a wounded comrade on his back. “Lady Metelia, please! This man became a father just last month! Use your healing arts to save him, I beg of you!” “Calm down, my child. So long as they still draw breath, everyone here shall be saved. O healing wave of light, seek all in need of solace. Healing Waters: Ripple Drop!” Metelia swung her staff, and a ripple spread outward from her, healing anyone it touched in the blink of an eye. Even the critically injured had their wounds miraculously disappear, and the color returned to their cheeks as they crawled back from death’s door. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Lady Metelia! Praise be to Lunaris’s benevolence!” The soldier embraced his friend, weeping openly. “Y-you… Priest…ess…” “Oh? Stubborn, aren’t we? I thought that last attack would have finished you off for good.” Somehow, the demon managed to stop the bleeding by reforming a layer of muscle across his wound and staggered to his feet. “Know your place…lowly humans…!!” Just then, other demons noticed the disturbance and flocked together. “Who’s that chick? Hey, check out the loser who lost to a girl. What a chump!” “Damn, he got creamed. Sucks to be him.” “Musta let his guard down. Best not to mess around with these pests, just kill them as quick as you can.” “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! That girl looks so yummy! ” “Oh, god, the demons, they’re everywhere!” As soon as one soldier spoke up, the terror spread. Each demon sported monstrous features, striking fear into the hearts of the troops. “You’re finished, worm. No human can stand up to this many of—” “Prison of Water: Holy Stream Binding!” No sooner had Metelia spoken the words of her incantation than magical ropes of holy water materialized in midair, wrapping around the horde. “Wh-what is this?!” “Holy water?!” “I—I can’t break free! How is this possible?” “Agh, this water stings!” “I’m sorry to say you have caught me in a rotten mood today,” said Metelia. “I cannot let any further harm befall this precious city and its precious inhabitants. Now, kneel before the majesty of our Lady of Light!” “Wow…such power…” “What a divine light…” As Metelia focused her mana into her staff, the tip chimed like a bell and glowed with a shimmering, halo-like light. “Hang from the tower the white bell of thunder and lay your offerings beneath.” “Wh-what?! How could one human possess so much power?!” “It’s not possible! It’s not it’s not it’s not!” “Damn you, priestess, puny servant of god!” “This is some kind of trick! It can’t be happening!” The magical light struck fear and shock into the hearts of the demons, who, versed in spellcraft as they were, recognized its terrifying potential. The words poured from Metelia’s lips like spring water, like a song to the tune of her ringing staff. “Let all be judged. Grant us the clear waters, that the light which surrounds it shall banish the wicked.” Just as the mass of twinkling light reached its zenith and Metelia seemed ready to burst with mana, she swung her staff, and a large crystal bell materialized in the air above the trapped demons’ heads. “…And let the great bell ring thrice. Crystal Bell: Thundering Wave!” As soon as Metelia finished chanting, the bell tolled. And as it did, an abundance of water spears, each the length of a person’s height, appeared in the air around it. Then the bell tolled once more, and the spears tore into the demons. “Gah?!” “Guh!!” “Gigh!!” “Hekk?!” On the third toll, bolts of white lightning shot out of the bell and fried each of the demons impaled by the lances. “““““GAAAAAAAAGH?!””””” The lightning, bathed in holy power, conducted along the water spears to zap the insides of the demons’ bodies, roasting each of their cells and reducing them completely to ash. “I…I don’t believe it…” Watching his compatriots be fried to dust without leaving a single scratch on their attacker, the first demon fell to his knees in despair. The priestess walked slowly over to him, glancing down with a pitiless expression. “…You demons really are a blight upon the land. Everything you do serves only to push Kaito’s and my honeymoon farther and farther into the distance. Now, by the grace of Lady Lunaris, return to the heavenly realm from whence you came.” “Y-you monst…er…gh…rgh…” Metelia’s water spear pierced the demon’s head, a wound from which there was no recovery. “Ohhh!!” “She did it!” “We’re saved!!” “Our Lady watches over us after all! Everyone, praise Metelia and Lunaris!” The town erupted in earsplitting cheers. All that remained of the infernal invasion was a smattering of monsters and lesser demons. “Now, my people. Let us unite and cast the wickedness out of our city! Under the light of Lunaris, let Her power be known!” Metelia beamed a heavenly smile and spurred the soldiers to fight again. They slew the monsters and lesser demons with renewed vigor, and before long, the sounds of battle had given way to raucous cheers of triumph. “…” …Leaving Metelia all by herself, troubles weighing on her heart. “Are you sure about this?” Aah, it was the same dream again. The one I’d been having ever since I sent Kaito back to his world. Over and over again. A scene from my past that never transpired. “Lunaris granted me a vision last night. She directed me to declare Kaito an enemy of God.” “Hmm. Well, he did manage to keep an awful lot of heaven’s power. I suppose she’s worried he might turn that power against her. She’s desperate. She wants him out of her world at all costs. But she can’t just send him back to his own world and let him run around with all that power. She’s too proud to allow it. So killing him is the only option she has left.” I couldn’t quite make out where we were, as everything was white and clouded. The only thing I could see was myself, speaking with another woman. “I know it’s painful, but there was never any way you two could be together.” The woman shrugged. She looked almost exactly the same as the woman who had snatched Kaito’s pets away after I sent him back to his world. The only difference was that this woman’s hair and the fake Lunarian robe she wore were emerald-green. “…I can no longer hold faith in Lady Lunaris. And I cannot follow her orders. However, I won’t be able to hold out for long. With each passing day, I feel more and more as if I am turning into someone else.” “Hmm, I see. So you can’t stop it, huh? Well, I do have a suggestion. It’s not safe, and there’s no guarantee it’ll even work, but then again, messing with souls isn’t exactly the domain of us mere mortals. Maybe I could do more if I was still alive, but right now, this is the best I can do. Just don’t go expecting it to work miracles, okay?” “That is fine. If I do nothing, then my feelings will overcome me before long. I do not possess the luxury of choice. If there is the slightest chance it allows me to fight back, then please do whatever you can.” I couldn’t make sense of it at all. From my lips came words I thought I would never say. What was this dream? What did it mean? “Hmm, that’s good. I like your attitude. Believe me, I know how much it sucks to have your life dictated by somebody else. But let me be clear: This technique will split your soul in two, which leaves the remainder far more susceptible to Lunaris’s influence. We might be able to use the duplicated soul to overwrite the original in the case of any corruption, and if that works, it’ll make you immune to any subsequent interference. However, if your soul becomes so damaged that it can’t be restored…” “You don’t need to worry about that. No matter how much I change, my feelings for him will never waver.” The foggy world faded away before answering any of my myriad questions, and I awoke in confusion. Only a single line from my dream echoed in my mind. “I love Kaito. And nothing can ever change that.” The person in that dream was undoubtedly myself. But what did this all mean? “Lady Metelia! Lady Metelia!” “…Aah! Haah…haah…” I awoke in a room at the local church. My handmaiden was gently rocking me, calling my name. “You sounded as if you were having a bad dream, my lady. I wonder if I might not persuade my lady to refrain from any strenuous exertion for a while? Reinforcements are on their way from the empire and the beast lands…” “…I cannot. The barrier must not fall, under any circumstances.” The Lunarian See was home to the Holy Crystal, a magical substance that generated the barrier stretching over the entire continent. It was this shield that kept the demons’ power in check, and if it were to fall, a wave of darkness would devour the land. There was one very important reason I could not allow that to happen. I shall need the crystal and a sacrifice of demons in order to summon Kaito back here. Aah, detestable demon lord, how much longer will you continue to stand in my way? I had hoped to begin by curtailing the influence of the kingdom, but this warranted a change of plan. With my cryptic dreams and the abrupt end to any visions from Lunaris of late, my list of worries kept on growing. “Hmm? Lady Metelia?” “Ah, apologies. I was lost in thought. I shall leave town today and head for the front lines.” There was much to worry about and much to do. Still, with my thoughts of Kaito for company, I could do anything. I just needed to keep the faith. In a hidden training area somewhere in the royal castle of the Orollea Kingdom… “Is that it?” This could not be. It could not. My name was Gagerland! I should have been this land’s champion! So why? “Come, stand. Or is that all you can muster?” How had it come to this? It defied explanation. “You were our party’s warrior. I assumed you would be a little stronger than this. Perhaps that was wrong of me.” Her hair, like silver thread, glistened in the sunlight as her narrow sword cut cleanly through the air. I had been captain of my town’s guard when I was first approached to teach the princess swordsmanship. At first, I thought it had been a joke. Me, a rank commoner, made private tutor to royalty? And the princess, so young in years and weak of arm. I was doubtful she would prove a competent learner. However, I could not refuse a request from the royal family, and so I came to the castle as instructed and decided on a mock battle to gauge the princess’s strength. And yet she’d disarmed me in a flash and sent me falling on my butt. “You are fit, and I can tell you have been training,” she said, “but in terms of practical experience, you aren’t even on the level of the royal guard.” How can this be? How can this be?! The situation was so ridiculous I could not even put the thought to words. Whatever reason they had for choosing me, I couldn’t let this chance go to waste. Opportunities to impress the nobility were rare, and if I could catch the eye of the royal family, my fame and renown would be assured. With the demon lord’s armies on the rise, perhaps I could even earn myself a place in the hero’s party. The hero, selected through tournament, dressed in silver armor from head to toe. What a cowardly way of choosing who would get the title. If that royal pain hadn’t shown up, I would be this land’s champion! Yes… I need to prove myself. That bastard who stole my spot will get his silver ass handed to him once the real fighting starts. Then I can rise up and take his place. I’ll be the hero, the man, the legend. The greatest champion this land has ever known!! I was sure of it. There was no way it could be any different! All I had to do was parry the princess’s blows, earn her trust, and then…and then…! That moment, a sweet, flowery scent hit my nostrils, and my own voice echoed in my mind. …How could a man bested by a single girl ever call himself a hero? “Aah…Aah…!!” The gulf between my dreams and cruel reality threatened to crush me. This can’t be happening. It can’t, it can’t, it can’t! “Bullshiiiiiiit!!” Before I was even aware of what I was doing, I had drawn my real sword and was lunging for the princess. Oh shit! It was an act of unbridled rage. But by the time I realized this, it was already too late. The point of my steel blade was almost upon the princess’s throat when… “Flower of Submission: Primathum.” …she turned to dust in an instant. And in her place was an impossibly beautiful sight. “Huh? Wh-what…?” It was a large pink-petaled flower. As the tip of my sword made contact, it was rendered to silver dust, forming a pile of sand at my feet. When I pulled the hilt free, I discovered that the only part of my sword that remained was the hilt. “My, you truly are weak.” Those words were like frigid water on my soul. When I thought back on what I had just done, I began to feel dizzy. I had attempted regicide, an act of high treason. They’d decapitate my entire family and decorate the castle walls with our heads. My wife, waiting in the other room for my return, would never be able to show her face in public again… My mind reeled as the consequences of my rash behavior began to sink in. “I…no… Princess, please, have mercy, I just…my hand slipped! I would never attempt to harm Your Highness!!” I kneeled at her feet in terror, my face pressed to the floor. “…Lift your gaze, Gagerland.” I couldn’t. I feared what I might see if I did. But the princess would not allow me to stay silent forever, so I cautiously I looked up… “…Ah.” The person standing there didn’t seem like the princess at all. She was a kindly young girl, with a sweet and gentle smile. “Fear not,” she said. “I would never forsake a brave warrior who has given so much for his country. It is patriots like you, Gagerland, who make our kingdom great, and it is you I would ask to defend our homeland.” “Oh…oh…Lunaris bless you, Your Highness.” She’s not going to have me killed? I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this strange turn of events. The princess was just as loving, kind, and, some might say, naive as people said. “However, Gagerland, you are not yet ready to be a hero. If you were to do battle with our nation’s enemies now, you would be mercilessly slain.” The girl hung her head in sorrow. “I must impart to you one of the great secrets handed down through generations of our kingdom’s history.” Saying this, she extended her hand. She was clutching what looked like a large seed. “Wh-what is this?” “It will grant you the power to change the world. This is how I acquired the strength I now wield.” “It will?” I took the seed from the girl’s porcelain palm. I could feel a great power lurking within it. This seed is the source of the princess’s strength? Impossible. But then…how else could she have bested me? If it’s true that this seed can grant me the power I seek, then… I gulped. “S-so you’re saying…I can have this?” “Yes. Simply swallow it whole, without chewing. The Great Spirit’s power dwells within. Take it into your flesh, absorb its strength, and become a champion worthy of defending our kingdom.” “Me…a champion?” My lips crept up at the sound. “Cast aside your doubts, Gagerland. You have been chosen.” “Yes! I swear to lay down my life in defense of this great nation!” I raised the seed, about the size of a ration pill, to my mouth and swallowed it. An instant later, a searing pain coursed through my body, and I fell to my hands and knees in agony. “Grgh… Graaaaagh?!” It burned! Oh god, it burned! It felt like my whole body was being remade. I couldn’t so much as think through the blinding pain. I lacked even the strength to lift my head, and so I could not see Alicia’s expression when my consciousness was ripped away. “This is a trial from the Great Spirit. Do try not to let the Seed of the World Tree consume you.” I gave a gentle smile and looked down at the form of the groaning yet unconscious Gagerland before calling out to my maidservant. “Take him to his room, if you please.” I clapped my hands toward the vacant-eyed servant girl standing in the corner of the room, and she effortlessly hoisted the large frame of the warrior man onto her shoulder. To an outside observer, such a feat would have seemed more than a little strange. Fortunate, then, that there are none left. Guidott, the knight commander, was the last in the castle to fall under my control. “Oh my. The princess can be such a taskmistress sometimes. Don’t you agree?” “…” The servant girl’s leave was balanced by the arrival of a rather rude-spoken elf of unquestionably dubious appearance. The elf, Endimir, flashed a mocking grin and put his arm around the slightly shorter figure at his side, a person dressed head to toe in a full helm and plate mail. “Endimir!!” I roared. “Remove your filthy elf hands at once!!” “Whoa! No need to scream, Princess. Why, somebody might think I was up to no good!” Without chanting, I tossed a tightly focused Fireball spell about the size of a piece of candy. However, just before it struck the elf’s shoulder, it dropped from its path and into his open palm, where it fizzled into nothing. This smug bastard made me want to tear out my hair, but at least I had forced him to retract his wandering hand. “Come now, Princess. You know we elves are your friends, so why all this animosity?” “Friends? Ha! The only people deserving of my love and respect are the citizens of this country. We are allies, perhaps, but do not presume that this excuses your race from its crimes against this land. You disgust me, mongrel, and the fact I tolerate your presence at all should be proof enough of my goodwill.” “Oh dear. And after everything I taught you, as well…” Endimir shrugged off my insults with stoic patience. That spoke not to his magnanimity, but to the fact that he did not see our nation as a threat, so his flippancy only vexed me more. …No, I must remain calm. I cannot allow this vile creature to unsettle me. There is more important work to be done. “So, Endimir. What of Gagerland’s wife? Mimenya, I believe her name was. I assume you had her swallow the seed as well?” “Of course. Hook, line, and sinker. I just had to put it like this: ‘Oh, milady. I sense that you have the talent to be on the hero’s entourage one day, and perhaps your husband will even become the hero himself. I happen to be in possession of something that might help you reach your full potential. What say you?’” The clown began prancing about, reenacting the scene verbatim. “Alas, my work here is done, and I shall thus take my leave. Sad news, I know, but do try not to weep for me.” “…What are you saying?” “I’m saying this is good-bye, Princess. Something’s come up. Or rather, it’s about to. As much as I’d like to stay for tea and crumpets, I’m afraid I must be off. However, I’m not so vulgar a gentleman that I know not to thank my host. So…thank you, Princess. You were most entertaining…for a fake.” “W-wait! Hold it right there!!” But there was only spectral laughter as the elf submerged into his own shadow and disappeared. “Rrrrrrgh!! This is why I hate half-breeds!” This world was for humans and humans alone. Why did I have to share it with these beasts? “…Still. Now there is nothing left to stand between us.” “…” With nobody left to observe us, I extended a hand toward the silent, armored girl…and pulled her into a sweet embrace. “Aah, Lamnecia, my dear sister. Fear not. I shall finish what you started.”