EP.9
His hand was being forcibly pulled.
Although the grasp was gentle enough not to hurt him, Eliserde found this moment incredibly unpleasant.
He was simply enjoying the fruit Jörmungandr had brought him. Yet, suddenly, this so-called Solitary Hero had mistaken Jörmungandr for a dragon and was now trying to flee with him.
That did not sit well with him.
The audacity to evaluate a being he had never encountered before and impose his own standards upon it was frustrating.
Eliserde sought to view everyone with an equal perspective.
He believed that every living being possessed equal value and that all could become friends.
It might be a naive thought for a princess, but Eliserde was utterly sincere in her belief.
That’s why, despite feeling fear toward Jörmungandr, she did not blindly reject or push him away.
Though there was a flimsy confidence that if he were to harm her, he would have done so long ago, the fact that she did not look down upon him remained unchanged.
However… what about others?
Starting with herself.
She had mistaken the still Jörmungandr for a dragon and had willingly sacrificed herself to him.
That was still true.
What on earth was this dragon-like creature?
It bothered her to see everyone who looked at Jörmungandr misunderstanding him as a ferocious and violent dragon.
Moreover, what cut sharply into her heart was the thought that…
‘…He looked familiar.’
Even at the moment he was mistaken for a dragon and attacked.
Jörmungandr showed not a hint of agitation.
In fact, it saddened her to think that he regarded this situation as entirely normal, something that could happen at any moment.
Simply because of his appearance.
If he were misunderstood and judged as a monster solely due to his huge size, it would be extremely tragic.
So Eliserde felt uncomfortable.
She worried that Jörmungandr might suddenly be attacked and thus become hurt.
However…
——Swoosh.
When Jörmungandr, having grown several times larger, blocked out the sun while gazing down at her, Eliserde noticed that, despite being a snake, he seemed to wear a slightly mischievous grin.
“Well, he looks fine.”
For some reason, even Eliserde could sense a playful glint in his eyes.
“Uh, uh…!”
Eliserde contemplated telling the Solitary Hero about this but decided against it out of spite.
After all, the hero had a kind heart but had made mistakes as well.
It would be alright to tease him a bit.
* * *
It was a disaster.
A living calamity.
Even just being gazed upon by that presence made the Solitary Hero feel as though he were being erased from existence.
Overwhelming strength.
Only then did the hero understand the gravity of his mistake.
That being was no mere dragon.
It was something no dragon could ever be compared to. It was far more overwhelming, as if a natural disaster had taken physical form.
His muscles screamed in protest.
The stiffened muscles whispered that he should think of fleeing and abandon any thought of confronting it.
Could he escape?
To be honest, he didn’t know.
He couldn’t imagine a single scenario in which he could flee from such a transcendent being. His mind was shrouded in darkness. This feeling was something he was experiencing for the very first time since becoming a hero.
An unfathomable gap in disparity.
If only he could crumble away.
One,
——Woosh.
The Mark glowed white, slowly diffusing the presence of that being. Its trait was, quite literally, ‘noble’. While it was vague to pin down any specific abilities, its characteristic was that it prevented him from collapsing under any circumstances.
No matter how dire the situation.
Even in moments when everyone else would give up and fall into despair.
The Solitary Hero, he must
get back up.
Thus, he bore the Mark of the ‘Noble’ hero.
A mark bestowed to maintain the nobility of the hero who would win against any foe from the tales of lore.
He gritted his teeth.
Asgard briefly glanced at the woman, biting his lip.
If he stayed like this, she would surely get caught up in it.
He raised his sword.
An aura blazed even more brightly and clearly than before, flickering around the blade.
With that, the hero backed off and then lunged toward the being.
Boom——!
The floor shook as he propelled himself upward with all his might, swiftly approaching the creature’s head.
And he swung his sword with all his strength towards its eye.
He didn’t expect it to hit.
There was no way that being would fall for such an obvious attack.
As expected.
——Swoosh.
The being deftly evaded his attack with moves so exquisite they were almost imperceptible, and it charged towards him.
An attack targeting the weakness of not being able to twist one’s body while in mid-air.
However, the Solitary Heroes exceeded the limits of their kind.
They twisted their bodies to the max, evading the strike like acrobats.
The massive head zoomed past him in what felt like slow motion.
The hero immediately aimed to drive his blade into its head—but——
——Clang!
That was a miscalculation.
The strength of its scales was beyond what he could have imagined.
His sword, which had been slicing through even the toughest of monsters like a hot knife through butter, met an impossibly solid wall and sank not even a fraction.
Instead, the blade shattered.
It was a hopeless situation.
Yet……!
“Something like this, I’ve already prepared for…!!”
Crack!
He gripped the broken blade in his hand.
Though his palm was torn and blood flowed, he paid it no heed, channeling all his aura as he struck down toward the scales.
———Kakagaga!
Once again, it did not penetrate.
However, it was possible to irritate its nerves.
The immense body writhed.
With that explosive rebound alone, the hero was sent flying fifteen kilometers and crashed into a massive mountain.
“Ugh…!”
The hero’s body, being resilient, hadn’t sustained any significant injuries.
Instead, he had to forcibly hold back his rising smile.
‘Finally… I created some distance!’
Asgard thought while gazing up at the being looming over him.
This entire situation had been orchestrated by it.
Just to separate that woman and it, even a little.
The hero had risked his life to draw its attention.
As a result, the woman now had whatever time she needed to escape…
[Are you looking for her?]
“……!!”
The being spoke.
What followed was entirely beyond his imagination. The woman who should have been escaping safely was now trapped atop its body.
[How unfortunate. You drew attention so diligently.]
“…Let her go.”
[Well, what should I do?]
“……”
The being’s voice was relaxed, as if it didn’t care about him at all.
The Solitary Hero bit his lip.
He once again rose his body, which felt as if it would crumble apart.
For the sake of saving an innocent person, he would rise even if he fell multiple times.
As he reaffirmed his resolve and stood up, the being uttered.
[Choose.]
“……?”
[Will you let this woman live and die in her place, or will you abandon her and escape alone?]
“……”
The hero silently gazed down at the woman.
Her hair was as black as the night sky, and her eyes sparkled like polished obsidian.
A finely sculpted nose and skin as pale as snow.
She was undeniably a beauty.
Her well-maintained hair and, although a little dirty, the exquisite design of her dress made it look exceedingly rare and expensive.
‘She must have grown up surrounded by love.’
He had no idea why such a woman would be brainwashed by that Abomination and found in a cave.
It was only just now that he properly saw her face.
They had never exchanged even a single word before; she was practically a stranger.
In fact, he could care less about what happened to her.
If it required his life to save her, even more so.
No one would make the foolish choice to sacrifice their life for a complete stranger.
Even a lowly bug crawling on the ground understands the value of its own life.
In that sense, the Solitary Hero, Asgard, was—
“I will die in her place.”
A truly monumental fool, a simpleton.
A fool willing to gladly sacrifice his own life to save someone he had just met for the first time.
“Kill me.”
Thus, saying, he placed his sword on the ground and began to remove his armor.
At the sight of his noble and pure demeanor, Jörmungandr was taken aback.
To be honest, it had not expected him to make such a choice. No being would value anything more than its own life. In that context, the hero left a profound impression.
A nature willing to sacrifice itself for others.
Perhaps it was the purity behind his gaze that caused any discomfort it had harbored toward him to melt away like snow.
Jörmungandr grinned and cast a spell on the hero.
It was a spell that revealed the truth—that it had not placed any form of brainwashing on the woman, and that all the events had stemmed from a misunderstanding.
As Asgard pondered over that spell with a blank expression, his face flushed with embarrassment, and he lowered his head deeply.
“I’m sorry….”
It was all an absurd misunderstanding.
Recalling his own disgrace, Asgard found it impossible to raise his head.
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