Chapter 51
In the past, I had pondered about what a hero truly was.
A hero who defeats the Demon King and saves all the people they hold dear - someone who could only exist in fictional works.
These days, there were too many works that twisted this brilliant image of a hero into something decadent, calling it a subversion of clichés.
Cases where they were expelled from their party for strange reasons, or abandoned for losing their abilities.
'Verdandi is the best hero I ever conceived.'
A righteous person to the point of being consumed by their own sense of justice, a hero who would rise again no matter how painful the ordeal.
Because of this, she was sometimes exploited by villains, and ultimately became corrupted into a new Demon King, becoming the final boss who would pass on the role of hero to the next generation.
'In contrast, Sieghart is the ideal hero I imagined.'
I had set up Sieghart, the protagonist, as an antithesis to her. A hero who, unlike Verdandi, was not altruistic and fought only for himself.
At the time, I thought this much was necessary to subvert the traditional hero story.
'...My thoughts could be wrong.'
The scene I was witnessing now was a moment where the characters had surpassed the author's imagination.
"I can still fight...!"
Verdandi, smiling as brightly as a dazzling sun, was preparing to fight Sieghart again.
"So you did have the Holy Armor."
As if he had expected her to rise again, Sieghart smiled wryly and reached high into the sky to create a sword.
"Of course! I am a hero after all!"
An unwavering sense of justice and an extremely personal justice.
The sight of these two heroes, who had walked completely opposite paths, clashing while respecting each other was shattering the preconceptions I had held until now.
'I need to end this match as quickly as possible.'
There was only one thought dominating Sieghart's mind right now. The Holy Armor provided absolute defense to its wearer and healed wounds and fatigue.
'...I heard that ordinary swords can't pierce that armor.'
This was what Sieghart had heard from Bing Seolhwa before entering this martial arts match. That his opponent was likely to possess a special armor called the Holy Armor.
Reversal, which turns back time to move.
Segmentation, which completely separates and splits space.
These two sword techniques were like degraded versions that could only use a tiny fraction of the power of turning time and space into swords.
'Even if I use all the means at my disposal, can I win?'
No, it's impossible.
No matter how much he racked his brain for a solution, nothing came to mind.
He wondered if his opponent had felt the same way, realizing once again that finding hope in the face of overwhelming defeat was the most difficult thing of all.
However,
"I will definitely seize victory!"
Verdandi before him was talking about victory, completely opposite to him. An unyielding, upright attitude. How could this possibly be the vessel of a future Demon King?
'If I use Reversal again here...'
Sieghart had noticed that Verdandi's Holy Armor was the most troublesome thing. So the first clever move he thought of was to turn back time to the moment when she was injured.
Tick─, tick─.
As the sound of clock hands echoed, everything began to flow backwards. Verdandi's movement as she rushed towards Sieghart gradually slowed and stopped.
Just a little more and it would be done.
Sieghart's breath was going in reverse, and he felt an unpleasant sensation of blood flowing backwards.
This was the drawback of not being able to completely turn time into a sword yet. Because of this, Sieghart couldn't maintain the time reversal for long.
At that moment,
"I won't fall for the same trick twice...!"
"......?!!"
Verdandi's voice rang out vividly in the reversed flow of time. And immediately following, a sword strike.
Chaeng─!
Sieghart, who had hurriedly blocked that attack, wore an expression of complete incomprehension at what had just happened.
"How on earth...?"
He had surely stopped time, so how could she move? Until now, only that woman called Bing Seolhwa had been able to enter his ability.
"Your ability is what the East calls the unity of body and sword...! It doesn't work on the hero's armor!"
Verdandi explained how she could move as a sign of respect for her opponent. The pounding heart told her that they were evenly matched.
In the original "A Hero Must Die," Sieghart couldn't defeat the completely corrupted Verdandi. If it were a recent web novel, it would have been criticized for having an ending where the protagonist dies, but
The world these two were in now was not the original work, but reality.
"You've even figured out my ability. I'm impressed."
"Your praise won't make me go easy on you!"
The two were clashing swords, trying to defeat each other, drowning out the cheers of the surroundings. The dialogue of steel against steel was the most honest and weighty of all.
"You don't look well. Wouldn't it be better to give up now and aim for the next time? Even if you lose, there's someone after you."
Sieghart sincerely advised Verdandi out of concern. If her armor could counter his ability to this extent, it would surely be effective against the Outer God Shub-Niggurath as well.
This much fighting was enough to prove her ability.
If they combined forces with the girl called Bi Wol who had appeared before this match, and the others, they might be able to separate that woman called Bing Seolhwa from the Outer God.
Sieghart, who had gained superhuman senses in exchange for losing his sight, keenly felt how strong his opponent before him was.
The protagonist and the final boss.
The ill-fated destiny of having to kill each other was now being overturned here, renamed as a fateful encounter.
"No...!"
Verdandi had noticed this fact too, but she felt she would regret it if the fight stopped here. If she forfeited and received treatment immediately, she could save her life.
However,
"I want to save my master with my own hands!"
If she did that, she wouldn't be able to obtain the Ten Thousand Year Extreme Yang Pill, which was the prize for winning the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, with her own hands.
The person who had saved her life when she was about to go down the wrong path.
Someone more altruistic than anyone, someone who knew how to sacrifice themselves for others more than anyone.
Someone who could see the future but didn't use that ability to fulfill their own selfish desires, a clearly good person.
At some point, Verdandi had started thinking she wanted to become like her master Bing Yeon. An emotion too embarrassing to speak of, and too difficult to put into action.
"Just like what my master did for me!"
Verdandi didn't know that this was love, but...
"That's what I think a righteous hero is...!"
Still, she knew for certain that this heartbeat was beating solely for her master Bing Yeon.
"You're right. The world calls those who continue to wield their swords in such situations heroes."
Sieghart gently raised the corners of his mouth, seeing Verdandi's determination. He had noticed that she was trying not to fall because she wanted to save the man called Bing Yeon whom she had just met.
He knew that Verdandi didn't have much time left now. She had long since surpassed her physical limits.
Even if she exchanged blows to the maximum, she could only swing her sword two more times at most. Any more than that would endanger her life.
If that was the case,
"I'll face you seriously too."
So that neither would have regrets,
A strike filled with the utmost respect.
"The sword technique of flowing time - Reversal, the spatial sword technique that cuts the opponent - Segmentation, the sword containing wind - Pure Wind, the sword containing light - Light Wheel, the sword containing air - Formless."
He had to put everything into this one sword strike.
A sword with such low durability that it could only be swung once.
Even if it was still an incomplete sword, he had to refine and forge it to the utmost, to defeat the opponent before him.
"The sword is me, and I am the sword."
With those words, a huge sword formed in Sieghart's hand. As he raised it high into the sky, it took on a form that seemed to touch the sun.
"Single Strike Sword, Sieghart."
And then, as if the sun itself was splitting and falling, a sword strike that seemed to cut the world in half poured down towards Verdandi.
Verdandi briefly closed her eyes as she saw the massive sword strike pouring down on her. It wasn't that she trusted in the Holy Armor's defense, nor had she given up on the match.
- Verdandi, do you understand the essence of the Six Harmonies Sword Technique?
- Isn't it to imitate the movement of a flowering tree better than anyone else?
Verdandi was looking for a way to overcome this situation from a conversation she had previously had with her master Bing Yeon.
No matter how absolute the defense provided by the Holy Armor to its wearer, there was no guarantee that there would be no impact at all from taking that hit.
The bleeding from her abdomen was getting worse, and she was barely holding onto her sword with sheer willpower as the strength was leaving her fingertips.
- No. The essence of the Six Harmonies Sword Technique is the soft emotion (心) that breaks hardness (强).
- I am a person with soft emotions!
At that time, she couldn't understand what those words meant. She didn't know why imitating the movement of a plum blossom tree was said to be softness breaking hardness.
After all, aren't tree roots that break rocks hard too?
- No. The beginning of a hard plum blossom tree starts from a very soft sprout. It's the sword intent (劍意) of change (變) where a single blade of grass blooming between rocks breaks everything.
But now, she felt like she understood what those words meant.
Verdandi released the strength gripping her hand and lightly held the sword handle. She took a breath and slightly lowered her shoulders.
The sword strike was approaching Verdandi as if to swallow her whole, leaving a great scar on the tournament grounds, but what was needed now was fragility.
People need to know softness to understand others.
Emotions that are too rigid will eventually break.
"Haaaaaah..."
Taking a deep breath to the bottom of her chest, Verdandi extended her arm forward and raised her sword blade. She had to neutralize that sword strike by any means necessary.
She had no room for error now.
Like a flower bud blooming, moving very slowly but more softly than anything else.
Squeezing out all her mana and internal energy into each movement and breath, connecting it in a single motion.
"Six Harmonies Sword Technique, Blooming."
The soft plum blossom sword that turns the opponent's attack against them.
Light pink flower petals scattered across the arena, cutting through Sieghart's sword strike.