*
A backlash combining the Corruption Route glitch and the Demon King Kill.
My insides twist, and blood vessels burst, blood flowing from my eyes and mouth.
Thank goodness I took down my opponent in one shot. Otherwise, I would have dropped dead.
“Licht..!!”
“I’m… fine..”
Pina screams upon seeing the blood flowing through the gap in the helmet. Fortunately, it seems the power of might has been released, and I can move.
My leg strength temporarily returns. But my balance collapses, and my vision dips.
“..Licht. You have to think about your body.”
I thought I would collapse to the ground, but Pina catches me and holds me.
Both of us sit against the ruins of the collapsed shrine.
“Pina, my hand….”
Huff, I catch my breath. My body feels like a tangled mess of cassette tapes going haywire.
“Got it. Licht.”
Though her voice is muffled as she wears the Masterpiece, I can feel her deep concern for me.
“【Savior Sword】.”
Thud, a white sword descends from the sky, creating healing ripples around us.
The wounds heal. The blood that flowed turns into scabs and falls away. A warm, soft sensation spreads.
A skill of a high-ranking holy knight.
It’s infamous for being overpowered even in the game. Its effectiveness is incredible.
[Kael♡Ariel 44% ‘NEW!’]
A status window pops up in my wavering vision. It’s improved a lot compared to before.
Like Nex, I too have managed to recover.
“Kael..! Kael..!! You idiot!! Why are you fighting alone!!”
“Ariel…. I feel dizzy…. Stop….”
At my feet, Ariel is sobbing while hugging a perfectly healed Kael.
How worried could she have been? After all, I almost died right in front of her.
I know well what it feels like to helplessly watch a loved one die. I’ve been there.
“I’m so relieved..”
As if immediately denying my own feelings, I return to Kael’s sword.
The ownership of the Holy Sword is over. After all, only one Holy Sword is permitted to each hero.
“Licht. You’re really okay, right..? You’re not hurt anywhere else….”
Crackle, the sound as my armor disappears. Pina looks at me, the only part left being my helmet.
“..Pina, am I not scary?”
The game world almost fell apart because of the Hero Church.
Like Kael, it’s likely that the Demon King has a bad reputation in this world.
After hearing my words, Pina Grancia tilts her head slightly and asks,
“Cute little… puppy, are you scared..?”
Whoosh, she gently lays me down on her lap. I have turned into her pillow.
“P-Pina..? Wait… what’s this..?”
“Stay still. You need to listen to your older sister..?”
As she presses her hand against my chest, I can’t get up.
I tried to rise but failed. I was completely subdued by Pina.
“Hoho, humans are really weak.”
“….”
It’s pretty abnormal to overcome the Wolf King who unified the continent. Pina.
Embarrassment wraps around me, and I cover my face with my arm. Thank goodness for this helmet. My face must be as red as an apple.
‘If there were even a mouse hole, I would want to hide in it.’
Pina keeps trying to peel my arms away as if she’s curious about my expression. I recall the words I heard earlier in the past.
The notion that getting burned doesn’t matter. A reminder that if there are tough times, we should face them together, making a part of my heart tickle.
She was always like this.
Whenever I tried to run away, she would catch me. When I was scared and trembling, she was the first to extend her hand.
Even as the Nameless Saintess, her warm heart remains unwavering as a member of the Inrang Tribe.
Even though I haven’t properly confessed my feelings to her as the wretched Black Knight.
“..Pina, thank you for always being there.”
“Hoho, you’re late in your gratitude. Licht.”
I wanted to at least express my thanks. It’s the right thing to do.
What if I had never faced trials alongside Pina Grancia?
Would I have been trapped in the happiness I longed for, sacrificing my present? If I think based on what the status window showed.
“Perhaps, without you, I wouldn’t have made it through the shrine’s trials.”
The past is just the past. Some things must remain in the shadows of memories.
“..Kael and Ariel also held up well.”
I feel a sense of relief. If I hadn’t put up a barrier with the Holy Sword against the Giant’s powers, Ariel could have been in danger.
“Ariel, stop crying. I’m fine…”
“I was super worried..!!”
I locked eyes with Kael beside me. The hero chuckles at me lying on Pina’s lap.
“..But you were still quite the light hero, weren’t you? Ariel?”
You’re boasting. It’s absurd that someone who barely survived is so calm about it.
“This is serious!! You better not fight again..!!”
Hearing that, Ariel angrily punches her chest with small fists.
It seems like it really hurts. Ariel, is it normal for you to see double?
‘They say lovers start to look alike.’
Childhood friends unable to be honest with each other.
Knowing each other better than anyone else, maintaining distance, and running parallel along their relationship.
“Ariel. I said stop hitting me…”
“Don’t do anything reckless again…”
Like flint striking sparks, the two right now are clashing without hiding their emotions.
“Hey Kael.”
“Yeah? Ariel. What’s up?”
The red-haired mage stares intently at the hero’s face, having stopped crying. Their eyes meet softly.
“..It’s nothing.”
What a pity. I thought she was going to confess.
Blushing in embarrassment, she turns her head away. She really is a tsundere. Unable to admit her own feelings.
“Are you really sure it’s nothing? Ariel?”
Kael gazes at Ariel with a smirk, holding her back. No way, you silly pup….
“..I have something to say.”
The blonde hero wipes away the tears from Ariel’s eyes, looking determined.
“Where should I start? Ah, right, while fighting the Demon King earlier, I had a vision.”
Kael gazes at the sky of the partially collapsed shrine, the light of the Holy Sword illuminating his tired face.
“I saw a little boy who dreamily idolized his older brother back when he was young.”
Those two seem to have used a combination move. Probably due to the power of might, it was my mistake that they couldn’t use it safely.
“How foolish he was. He thought it was cool to defeat the Demon King just like his brother and boasted about becoming a great knight.”
He sighs at the Holy Sword with a sense of emptiness.
“..Until the day before my brother died.”
Kael’s brother died in war. More accurately, he was killed by the Demon King named Finn.
The Demon King of Might.
That blue-haired girl I saw earlier seemed to be his younger sister. I don’t know why they share the same title, but going by the powers, it seems likely.
“So, before I was chosen by the Holy Sword, I confined myself in a corner, never coming out.”
That’s the reason I refrained from mentioning the Hero Church the first time I met Kael.
Because once I touched on family matters, our relationship could become distanced.
“Kael, I didn’t know that happened…”
Even childhood friend Ariel is hearing this for the first time. The hidden story he had kept to himself.
“….After being chosen by the Holy Sword, it was as if I thought I had become someone important.”
He bore guilt for not being able to protect his brother, leading to an obsession.
Overconfident in the Holy Sword, he tried to discern enemies or prevent people from sacrificing themselves to the Demon King.
That was the Kael I knew, the protagonist from [Black Heart]. Light Hero Kael.
“Then one elf appeared to that little boy.”
He gently pricks the elf’s ears as he continues.
“She would fume and get angry, but….”
She cherished Ariel dearly, helping her fix her tear-streaked hair.
“Always thinking only of me, a kind and beautiful childhood friend.”
Kael slightly pushes Ariel’s chin to face him. The two look into each other’s eyes.
“Do you know what I thought just before I nearly died?”
Red and blue eyes pull toward each other like magnets.
“Honestly, rather than dying myself….”
“Ka-Kael..?”
“I didn’t want to let you die. That was what I truly felt.”
At that moment, their breaths intertwined, and the hero’s lips gently touched the mage’s, only to separate quickly.
Time seemed to slow around them for an instant.
“..I’ve always liked you. Ariel.”
With a bright smile, Kael confessed his feelings to Ariel.
[Kael♡Ariel 50% ‘NEW!’]
The status window pops up like a firework.
It’s like celebrating the union of the heroic couple, sending a flurry of hearts my way.
[Did you calculate all this before acting? Normally, if you were too overconfident in the Holy Sword, you would have fallen to Intinium~! (≧▽≦*)]
You can’t even see the confession scene well. Can we skip the dialogue?
“Gasp..”
The red-haired mage seems bewildered, mouth slightly agape as she lets out a tiny scream.
“Hey, thank goodness that ugly crying has stopped.”
“…What, what is this? Were you joking..? Kael..?!”
Seeing her reaction, Kael can’t help but tease Ariel by poking her cheeks.
Only 50%. Half the affection level remains.
If I want to see the Grand Route ending, I have to fill it up another 50%.
‘But I’ve made progress.’
It took facing death for the hero to be honest with himself. Even with the trials I’ve endured, it’s a tremendous advancement.
“No, it can’t be a joke. Are you not going to answer? Ariel?”
“….”
Kael insistently asks Ariel for her answer to his confession. Then, the red-haired mage replies…
“I don’t know, Kael.. I’m not sure so….”
With her ears and face flushing red uncontrollably.
“..Just kiss me one more time.”
She makes a bolder move.
Like a timid cat climbing onto the stove first. That statement was indeed true.
*
Pina Grancia tilts her head in confusion.
Watching Kael and Ariel confirming their feelings for each other with silly grins, she questions.
‘Why are they… acting like that?’
They just came back from the brink of death. Why do they seem to be getting along better all of a sudden?
Her expression suggests she doesn’t get it. Watching them without even putting back on her helmet.
“Pina, I think it would be better to close your eyes right now.”
As she stares at the kissing couple, Licht, who is lying on her lap, speaks up briefly.
Thump, thump.
The earlier scene didn’t inspire much, but as soon as Pina Grancia’s gaze meets Licht’s, her heart seemingly breaks down, beating wildly.
A feeling that words cannot describe.
Lately, every time I see this man, I feel strange. I want to know more about him, want him to be by my side, wanting to support him…
At that moment, rumble! The ground vibrates, and stairs leading underground appear from the shrine’s floor.
‘..Please, don’t let it be that.’
The troubles of a girl unfamiliar with love got temporarily shelved.
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