EP.231 A Song for the Remnants of the Fallen (2)
”Seriously…”
For a moment, I forgot that the Hero was watching and muttered in annoyance.
I had to doubt my eyes and ears for a second.
Together with my comrades, I had crossed an uncountable number of dangers.
I had faced enemies that seemed impossible to defeat; monsters that seemed like they wouldn’t die even if killed.
But this was the first time I was confronted with someone who literally came back from the dead.
It was shocking enough that the author was maintaining their human form, swept up in the Hero’s sword strikes and Dawna’s magic.
The cold corpse staggering to raise its body like a marionette hanging by a thread was enough to chill me to the bone.
Clink.
Silently placing his hand on the sword, the Hero resolutely fixed his gaze ahead.
Unlike me, who was dripping cold sweat at the horrendous sight before us, the Hero seemed fully prepared to engage in a fierce battle.
”Priest. Stay behind me. Do not move a step from that spot.”
Without a word, I slowly nodded.
The heavy tone of voice that was a far cry from his usual brightness made the seriousness of the situation clear.
I didn’t need the Hero to tell me to know how great a danger that being posed.
”Ah, aah…”
Like a zombie, the woman who had been swaying on the spot suddenly opened her mouth wide.
Perhaps because her whole body was charred black, her stark white teeth stood out even more than before.
Swish.
At that moment.
Her wandering gaze suddenly twisted sharply towards me.
That was the first time our eyes met.
From the sunken eye sockets, where all the eyeballs and eyebrows had burned away, there was no sign of any emotion that could be inferred.
However, I could assert this much:
The gaze that had been reduced to ash wasn’t fixed on the Hero who had caused her such a state but was instead oddly focused on me sitting nearby.
”Rei… j… us…”
A word was whispered with a putrid breath.
A final cry. No, it was closer to a sobbing moan that reinforced my instinct.
Thud!
The moment the Hero drew his sword and fiercely struck the ground.
The bolt loaded in the crossbow surpassed expectations with its speed; it could momentarily make one forget that the Hero wasn’t in peak condition.
Bang!
But that swift strike was entirely blocked by an unexpected obstacle.
”─!?”
The Hero, who had halted right in front of the woman, shivered in shock.
I, too, observing the situation from a distance, felt the same bewilderment.
No matter how much energy the Hero had exhausted while battling Dawna, this shouldn’t have been possible.
How could someone who had been on the brink of death just moments ago defend against the Hero’s strike without a scratch?
Was I seeing things?
As those doubts raced through my mind, the truth of the situation soon became clear.
Creek! Creak creak!
”Y-You…!”
I focused on the scene before me, startled by the Hero’s horrified reaction.
I then noticed the unfamiliar figure standing before the woman, grasping the Hero’s sword with their hand to stop it.
Dressed in old, dark armor, this nameless soldier appeared quite formidable.
However, the form of that armor was strikingly familiar.
Yes. That was the armor of the former Hero, one that no citizen of the system could forget—a figure that had been recounted countless times in the Fairy Tale Book read to me by the Saint.
Puzzle pieces scattered inside my mind began to fit together in an instant.
It was unmistakable.
That was the highest miracle of the Saint used by the group of robbers who attacked me before.
Hero’s Call.
A dedication made by former Heroes who willingly devoted their souls to the Saint, in order to bring peace to this world for future generations.
Summoning that holy spirit to the present, this miracle boasted the greatest physical might of all documented miracles.
Though summoned by the Saint, it might seem trivial compared to the dozens of former Heroes she could call upon.
In the current situation, however, that alone was more than enough of a threat.
Creak, creak! Bang!
”Gah!”
As the former Hero swung his sword vigorously, its trajectory caused the Hero to be knocked back in an instant.
Fortunately, due to his quick reflexes, the Hero escaped injury, but the look of bewilderment on his face was unmistakable.
The Hero was being overpowered in pure strength.
It was a sight I had never seen before, making my eyes widen in shock.
If I was stunned into silence, I could only imagine how the Hero must have felt.
While the physical blows might have been non-existent, the psychological toll was surely immense.
”To kill…”
Without a moment to mediate the ongoing chaos, the former Hero began to creak ominously, like a rusty marionette under the command of the woman.
Creak! Creak! Creak!
The eerie movements made even me, an onlooker, shiver.
It was as if they had forcibly dressed a beast in human form with armor.
Even as I locked my eyes on him, I couldn’t predict the next move he would make.
Bang!
”────!!!!”
With a scream that blurred the line between a shout and a cry, this time, he charged straight at the Hero.
”Hoo!”
The Hero managed to respond to that surprise attack by a hair’s breadth, letting out a heavy breath.
Having exchanged only two blows, and just that, I was already sensing my limits.
The feeling of oppressive weight slowly weighed down on my body.
The ringing in my head and ears were so overwhelming that I even felt nauseous.
The reason was none other than:
The immense pressure released by their clash was simply absurd.
”It’s an honor to meet the former Hero I had long admired, but pardon my rudeness as I declare: I shall strike you down.”
Even under the crushing weight of the former Hero’s sword, the Hero remained calm and concise.
Despite my knees bending lower and lower to the ground from experiencing this unprecedented power disparity, the steadfastness he displayed was unwavering.
”Hero!”
I struggled to keep my consciousness intact, my voice straining.
Should I take out Bawngwi and lend my assistance to the Hero by using the last miracle?
Or should I fully recover my body first and leave this place as quickly as I could to avoid hindering the Hero?
As I pondered between those two options, I suddenly saw the woman, empowered by the former Hero’s strength, striding towards me.
”Rei… Rei… jus…”
Even as her damaged body rapidly regenerated, she didn’t stop calling my name.
The sight of her muscles peeling off from the bones and sticking together like thread made it horrifyingly clear.
If there were wandering spirits, they would resemble something like that.
”Priest! Please wait a moment! I’ll go there right away!”
Clang! Bang! Bang!
Though I shouted at the top of my lungs, sadly, it seemed the Hero was struggling just to hold his own against the former Hero before him.
It was difficult to expect assistance from anyone else.
There was no sign of Apis or Dawna, not to mention the Saint and Bigtim, which left me completely in the dark about their whereabouts.
An utterly hopeless situation lay before me.
But my despair was not limited to that alone.
”Here! There was a loud noise here.”
”Found it. Intruder. I found the intruder.”
”Mother is in danger. I shall save Mother.”
The countless footsteps echoing from afar, accompanied by monotone voices, were undoubtedly those of the Saint Candidates rushing here.
Well, it would have been odd if no one had noticed the commotion until now.
We were completely surrounded.
No matter how I looked, all I could see were steep cliffs.
At that moment.
A pure voice that seemed to pierce straight into the soul, like the harp played by angels, reverberated softly in my mind.
”Brother. Get down.”
Immediately after hearing those words, I reflexively pulled out Bawngwi and wrapped it around the Hero’s body.
”Bawngwi!”
Chwa-reul-leug!
In a moment, I aimed to protect the Hero from someone’s intent to obliterate everything in this place, excluding me.
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