“HEY, Johann?” Leo’s voice cut through Johann’s endless mulling. The Mage was looking at him with his hand on top of Aki’s head. “How do I use this Holy Dagger? What do I have to do to help her out?”
Aki glanced up at Leo and quickly looked away.
What’s this? Have Leo and Aki gotten closer? What happened between them while I was away? Johann shook his head. As curious as he was, delving into their relationship wasn’t going to help anyone right now. He was the only one with the knowledge capable of saving Elias. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the success of this plan hinged on his sound judgment and apt instructions.
Failure is not an option. He curled his fingers around the Holy Spear until his knuckles turned white.
Strangely enough, it was in this moment where he was putting his life on the line that he felt he had become a true member of the Hero Party. Even if it was only in his head.
There has never been a moment that I didn’t long to be a real part of their team.
Gnawing at his bottom lip, Johann dipped his head and softly addressed Aki and Leo. “I want you both to know that…I have always longed for the day where you would need me. Loneliness has come hand in hand with my orders to monitor your every move. Not a day has gone by where I haven’t secretly wished to fight alongside you as a genuine member of your party—not just a Sanctuary spy. I can’t stop hoping for forgiveness—for permission to be with you all….”
It was the worst possible time for this kind of confession, but the truth he kept bottled up spilled from his lips without a filter. Pointless obstinacy and lack of courage normally stopped him from speaking his mind, but he wanted to share the truth in this moment where he was assisting his party as a friend and not as the Sanctuary’s watchdog.
Mina, Louis, and Sutcliff patiently waited for him to finish spilling his guts. Even Elias silently watched on as if he were listening.
Johann leaned forward and raised his voice so that his words would reach the fallen Hero. “So please…please trust me! I will use every ounce of power available to me to save Elias!” he declared so loud he became short of breath and his cheeks flushed.
Silence answered his declaration. Then Leo suddenly reached out with his big hand and ruffled his hair. “Oof! Hey! Leo! What are you—”
“C’mon, ain’t it obvious we already trust you? We’ve been fightin’ back to back for years now! How could you be anythin’ but a fellow party member?”
“How…?” Astonished, Johann returned Leo’s gaze from under his messed up head of hair. There he found Leo’s carefree grin and Aki leaning toward him with her fists clenched in front of her chest.
“Leo is absolutely right! When have you not put your all on the line for us, Johann? Take today for example. We were only able to save everyone because you came running the instant you saw Leo’s SOS. We have long since viewed you as an irreplaceable party member. It’s you who distanced yourself from us, Johann!” she fumed and thrust her finger at his chest.
D-Did I make her angry? Wasn’t this where she would normally hug him and soothe him with, “It’s okay, Johann. We forgive you.” How did he get stuck with having to apologize instead?!
Leo cracked up laughing behind Aki as her shoulders moved up and down with her angry rant. “This girl always gives you what’s on her mind whether you want to hear it or not! I got yelled at earlier, too.”
“I-I didn’t yell at you…!”
“You didn’t, huh? Then what about when you announced you’re going to reje—”
“Waaaaaaaaah! Stop! Don’t say that in front of the others!”
Johann broke into a smile as they bickered in front of him. Aki had him pinned pretty well. The Hero Party had long since accepted him—it was Johann who had created the wall between them.
I didn’t open up because I couldn’t forgive myself… The rest of the group had been patiently waiting for the day where he lowered his walls and let them in. They saw right through me. I’m so happy I could cry. I’ll save Elias and show them what it means to have me on the team.
“All right, enough sentimentality,” Johann addressed the group in a serious voice, breaking their momentary reprieve and bringing them back to the matter at hand. “We should start by having Leo release the Holy Dagger’s locks before Aki accesses the Lunar Goddess’s power. Leo, can you repeat the ancient incantation after me?”
Though the ancient spell to unleash a Holy Relic was one of the most difficult in the world, Leo was a master of his class capable of pulling it off without practice.
Meeting his every expectation, Leo didn’t flinch from Johann’s request. He imitated the way Johann held the Holy Spear.
Johann’s lips curved into a grin as he took a breath to calm his nerves and began chanting those ancient words in a sonorous voice. “O Goddess of Creation.”
“O Goddess of Creation!” Leo’s clear voice traveled the length of the field after Johann.
Sandwiched between the two magic users concentrating every nerve ending on their Holy Relics, Aki held her breath and pressed her hands together in prayer. She had the hardest job ahead, and still her thoughts were with them. Johann truly believed she was the kindest person among them.
I have to make this plan a success for her sake, too! So that her heart no longer bleeds over seeing Elias like this.
Johann looked past Aki at Leo who squarely met his gaze and winked. His whimsical grin almost made it seem as though he was enjoying the intensity of the moment.
Of course Leo would be at ease during his first time unleashing a Holy Relic.
Johann often teased Leo for calling himself a Genius Mage, but it turned out that his friend had inherited a bloodline that literally put him on the map as one of the most powerful Mages in the world. Perhaps necessity had chosen him as the Hero’s Mage.
Johann and Leo nodded at the same time, deeply inhaled, and trained their gazes on the weapons they held in front of them. Together they resonantly chanted the last half of the spell. “Release the golden scabbard!”
Fissures instantly ran through Leo’s Holy Dagger, releasing blinding silver light. The scabbard burst into a million little pieces like glass, revealing a gorgeous, shimmering silver blade.
Johann was captivated by the godly blade that had belonged to Lenard. Not even the Sanctuary’s records had a description of the most sublime dagger in existence.
Face illuminated by the silver glow, Leo stared in disbelief at the naked blade. As Johann gave him a sidelong glance, he wondered: did Lenard Gaines look like Leo did? Did he and Leo look like their ancestors did before they fought for the world’s sake?
Leo suddenly grimaced and stumbled forward while Johann was thinking of the heroes of the past.
“Leo! Are you all right?!” Aki shot out a hand and caught him.
“Sorry ’bout that,” he muttered as he took his weight off of her. Sweat beading his brow, his eyes swept over to Johann. “…Well, damn. What the hell am I holdin’? The energy is pourin’ outta me just keepin’ it in my hand…” he squeezed out, wiping off his sweat.
Indeed, the Holy Relics drained the wielder’s energy just by holding it once activated. Almost as if the Goddesses were slurping up their magic as payment for using their weapons. Leo would be particularly burdened since this was his first time entering into a relationship with the Holy Dagger. But he was the only person in the world capable of using it now. It’d drain him dry, but they needed him to master it regardless of the load it put on him.
“I know it’s tiresome, but please suck it up, Leo! Someone at your level should be able to master a Holy Relic without breaking a sweat. I mean, you are a self-proclaimed Genius Mage, yes?” he teased, earning a deliberate snarl from Leo before he happily beamed.
“I keep tellin’ ya it’s not self-proclaimed!”
“I know. There is no other Mage I would want to have my back.” Johann grinned at Leo, then rested a hand on Aki’s shoulder. “Are you ready, Aki? We are sending our power to you next. Both of you chant the ancient words after me please.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You’ve got it, pal.”
Aki and Leo responded nervously.
The real battle begins here. I will make sure we succeed!
Magically sensing Johann, Aki, and Leo preparing to chant the ancient spell, Elias took his first step forward since Aki showed up. Mina, Louis, and Sutcliff switched into battle stances, standing between Elias and the other three.
At the snap of Sutcliff’s fingers, five giant black wolves appeared from the mud and prowled in a circle around Elias.
Strange as it is, having a Shadow Tribesman on our side is heartening.
Stamina and magic surpassing humanity distinguished the Shadow Tribe from the other races. Johann didn’t know much about the Minstrel Louis or the Thief Mina, but their levels and equipment were no joke, either.
Where did Aki and Elias pick them up?
They say birds of a feather flock together—perhaps that was why powerful people tended to gather around Elias. Just like how Ivan Clarence and Lenard Gaines’ descendants had become his two closest allies from the start of his journey.
Johann looked to Leo who was gritting his teeth against the strain of the Holy Dagger, and then to Aki who held her hands against her forehead to activate the Lunar Goddess’s crest.
“Aki, Leo, you can do this. Please believe in yourselves and in me,” he said, softly closing his eyes in prayer.
The Sanctuary isn’t where I belong. Standing alongside Elias and my friends is where I really want to be—where I’m most comfortable. So I’m going to protect my place by bringing him back with my own hands! Not on anyone’s orders, but because I want to!
“Come on, let’s show Elias the power of our friendship!” Lines that would normally be too embarrassing to even think up came from him as naturally as breathing.
“Yeah!” his friends chimed in unison when he raised his valiant face.
It’s okay. Everything will go well because we are working together. I can’t believe it feels this great to work with them as just another party member and not a spy.
For the first time, Johann felt like he had finally become who he really was on the inside thanks to his friends.