Chapter 50
Hero.
A gift left behind to prove that God had not toyed with humanity.
One who can receive every blessing at the cost of trials.
If there were an easy way to defeat countless death demons.
If one life could save many others.
**
There once lived a twelve-year-old boy named Lati.
Today, Lati had a particular reason to regret not listening when his mother told him to come home early: if he had, he wouldn’t have encountered a monster.
“Aaaaaah!”
The streets of Tariq, usually bustling with merchants, were filled with fear and chaos.
The moment he heard a piercing death scream from the alley across the street, the boy met a pair of red eyes.
As hostility as sharp as thorns poured over him, the boy froze, unable even to think of running away.
It looked like a dog, but had abnormally developed, razor-sharp teeth that contrasted with its stunted legs.
A bubbling sound seeped from its throat.
Its twisted form made one wonder whether it could even chew and swallow food—a creature that wouldn’t survive more than a few days.
It was a monster.
Just as the monster opened its jaws and leaped at the frozen boy,
-Swee!
The sound of something slicing through the wind brushed past the boy’s ear.
Then, with a heavy thud, the monster spun halfway around in midair and rolled across the ground.
A long arrow was lodged in the monster’s forehead.
No blood flowed from it.
Turning his stiff neck, he saw a girl with blonde hair and red eyes standing there.
“Are you all right? What’s your name?”
The boy thought he might have nodded.
Enya smiled brightly.
“Lati? That’s a wonderful name! Where’s your home?”
He must have told her his name, too.
Once Lati realized where his limbs were, he raised a hand and pointed.
“All right. It’s in the opposite direction. Good. Your parents must be waiting for you. Can you get there on your own?”
Lati nodded.
He took Enya’s outstretched hand and stood up, then walked unsteadily away.
As his panic subsided, his steps soon turned into a run.
When he got home, he planned to tell his mother what had happened today.
The thought that he might be scolded was swept away by the thrill of all the amazing things he’d seen.
His first encounter with a monster, and the mysterious older girl who had saved him.
For some reason, he thought her red eyes looked like the monster’s dark crimson ones.
Amid the shouts and terrified screams, he heard something slicing through the wind.
-Swee… Thwack!
**
A halberd collided with a silver longsword, unleashing a thunderous crash and a blinding flash.
A nightmare made flesh—a half-man, half-horse cavalryman—was relentlessly pressing the scarlet-haired girl.
The destructive halberd that had crumpled the city gate like paper came crashing down on Lise in the same way.
-KWAANG!
The longsword screamed as fragments fell from it.
Lise, stunned, deflected the halberd crashing down from above.
Her face was filled with shock.
It was common for a thin sword with no enchantments to chip, but that should have been impossible while Lise held it.
“What?”
The blessing of Lanchain that she possessed was growing weaker.
The centaur was furious that his attempt to cleave Lise apart where she stood had failed.
He vented his rage in a shout.
“The Hero has lost her blessing. You’re no Hero!”
“Are you sure? Maybe I’ve gotten it back.”
Ignoring Lise’s reply, he gripped the halberd and tried to focus his mind.
It was obvious he was trying to use some method of tracking the Hero, so Lise didn’t wait to see what he would do. She thrust her sword at him.
The centaur roared in fury and swung his halberd to meet her.
A thunderous crash rang out.
-KWAANG!
Far away, Ivar held the reins and stared in bewilderment at the two of them locked in their superhuman battle.
Feeling a strange gaze, he looked around and saw a gray-haired centaur watching him intently from a short distance away.
It was the centaur whose eyes he’d met during their earlier clash on the caravan.
Ivar bared his teeth and growled.
“What? If you want to fight, come on.”
The gray-haired centaur calmly shook his head.
”You have one of our kin with you.
“What, your kin? Ha.”
Ivar glanced at the two horses he was leading.
A laugh escaped him, entirely out of place for the situation.
“You’ve turned the city into a living hell, but you won’t attack because you see horses?”
Ivar spoke mockingly.
“You care about your kin, but you lured monsters here? Are horses your ‘kin’ just because they have similar lower halves? You don’t even see us humans suffering, do you?”
“Humans were our kin, too.”
“What? What do you mean?”
The gray-haired centaur said nothing more.
He quietly watched the leader’s fight.
As though his own actions would be decided by the outcome.
**
-Swee… Thwack!
An arrow flew and struck home. A monster approaching from the side had its head smashed in and rolled across the ground.
Nocking another arrow, Tarmin clicked his tongue.
The goal was to draw the monsters away from the city.
Lise had prepared horses, so he’d planned to ride them and try to lure the centaurs away.
But the city gate had been breached before he could even attempt his plan.
While the confused defenders tried to reform their ranks, monsters seeped into every corner of the city like rain soaking through.
Following the screams of people who hadn’t managed to escape, he pressed on, cutting down the monsters in his way.
He shot or cut down countless monsters.
Narrow awnings, passageways, and pillars blocked his view, but that wasn’t a problem for Tarmin.
How many times had he drawn his bowstring?
By the time his quiver had grown light and his back began to ache,
the monsters had only grown denser with the passing of time. Tarmin made his decision.
They were outnumbered.
There was no point in going on.
Unless they dealt with the monster horde itself, the monsters would keep coming.
It was no different from trying to plug a broken dam with one’s hands.
He turned toward the shouts and saw soldiers with spears retreating down the main road.
On top of that, a group of centaurs who’d invaded the city to hunt the Hero was somewhere inside.
Neither his arrows nor his stamina was unlimited.
He didn’t want to fight them exhausted after spending all his strength saving people like this.
All that remained was to persuade the Hero to run.
Having made up his mind, Tarmin called out to Enya walking ahead of him.
“Enya.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Enya turned to him, breathing hard.
She held a white sword in her hand.
“That’s enough. Let’s pull back.”
She let out a deep breath, then tilted her head and said,
“Hoo… What are you talking about? There are still people who haven’t escaped. If you’re tired, rest. I’ll—”
“I’m saying we should leave before we get tired. Let’s run while we still have strength.”
At his direct suggestion that they flee, Enya’s face hardened.
It was the opposite of what he’d said atop the city wall.
Words a hunter in the Hero’s party shouldn’t say.
He felt a chill, as if he’d been stabbed, but kept speaking.
“The centaurs followed us all the way here, right? Then we need to leave the city, even now.”
He deliberately left unsaid that this meant abandoning the soldiers and the thousand or so monsters.
Enya glared at him, and Tarmin avoided her gaze as he released the bowstring.
The arrow passed beside Enya’s face.
-Thwack!
A monster that had charged at them rolled across the ground and fell at her feet.
Enya paid it no mind and continued looking at Tarmin.
“Do you even understand what you’re saying? We…”
“If we don’t help, it’s the same as killing them ourselves?”
Tarmin cut her off and drew a breath.
He spoke in a soothing tone.
“Enya. I know you were born to be a Hero. We grew up together, after all. I don’t regret following you on your journey and helping people without asking for much in return. It was rewarding and meaningful. But trying to help others when our own lives are being targeted is too much.”
Her red eyes held a sorrowful look.
Enya bit her lip softly.
Tarmin had to fight the urge to scoop her up and run away with her just like that.
He pulled a hand axe from his belt and hurled it at an approaching monster.
-Crack!
“Grrrk!”
The monster collapsed with a death cry.
Stepping over it, he yanked the axe free, a little irritably.
When their eyes met, all the resentment he’d been holding inside spilled out.
“I don’t understand why people are competing over you like you’re some kind of prize. You’re a Hero, aren’t you? No matter the outcome, you tried to make the world a better place. Damn it. Shouldn’t they be writing poems and putting up statues instead?”
“Taal.”
“Let them figure it out! The centaurs are the ones who brought monsters here without understanding the danger, and the people of Akhraba are the ones who foolishly built a city near the grasslands. None of this is your fault. The lives you’ve saved are worth more than this little city. We can leave it behind…”
Enya let go of the sword in her hand and threw herself into Tarmin’s arms.
The sound of the white sword striking the ground rang out.
A reckless act in a street teeming with monsters.
When Tarmin startled and tried to pull away, Enya only clung to him more tightly.
**
She understood the meaning hidden behind his cold words.
She felt that she was cherished.
She hugged him with all her strength.
After the hunter fell silent, Enya quietly spoke.
“Thank you.”
“…”
Even if everyone in the city—even the whole world—was her enemy, Tarmin was on her side.
But that didn’t mean she should let her hunter become a cruel outlaw.
She couldn’t let him weigh her life against the lives of others.
Looking up from his arms, she saw Tarmin gazing at her with burning eyes.
Her heart swelled, and she giggled softly.
That was enough.
She slipped out of his arms and picked up her sword.
“Enya?”
“Tarmin, can you buy me some time?”
The holy sword blazed white (White Scorch).
**
The centaur holding the black spear snapped his head around.
He stared at one side of the city, his eyes wide.
The white light that had burned the sacred forest shot into the sky.
Even in the bright daylight, the white light was astonishingly vivid.
The Hero was nearby.
When the centaur changed direction, Lise tried to block him, swinging her sword with a troubled expression.
“No!”
The centaur swung his halberd in a wide arc.
There was no need to waste time fighting someone who wasn’t even the Hero.
As Lise was driven back by the force of the blow, the centaur charged toward one side of the city.
**