Clang, Jingle!
I tightly held onto my sanity amidst the overwhelming influx of information, ensuring my self-awareness wouldn’t drift away. It felt as though I was losing myself, like my soul was being swept away—an experience unimaginable unless lived through.
A headache intense enough to cause fainting at any moment continues to torment me, yet I can’t afford to give in to it. I cannot guarantee that the person who wakes up after fainting will still be me. And certainly, even before that, there’s no guarantee I’d wake up at all from Eden’s attacks.
Therefore, I move forward with only one thought drilled into my mind: Save Selian. No matter how impossible it might seem, I will not stop.
Not like the first time I awoke as a Hero… No, it’s far beyond that. I’ve grown stronger. Now, I’m capable.
What once seemed an unreachable distance of ten steps has become just that: ten steps. With each step, Eden’s spider limbs stretch forward, almost reaching Selian, until the tenth step—my hand reached her first.
I quickly embraced Selian’s waist and pulled her away to create distance. However, while other limbs flailed uselessly in the air or at the ground, one singular limb aimed precisely for Selian’s heart, catching up to us.
Crack!
The limb that closely followed my swift movement was met with a swing of my sword in return. The spider limb, which until moments ago could only be deflected with sharp metallic sounds, was cleanly severed with a single swing, leaving a polished cross-section.
As the sharp clawed part of the leg fell to the ground, it began to burn due to the holy power of the sword, leaving behind not even a trace of ash.
“Guh…!”
Eden, seemingly surprised by the sudden situation, merely retracted the severed leg oozing green bodily fluid from its cut end, standing there unable to attack either Selian or me recklessly.
“El…?”
I heard Selian’s voice as I guarded against a follow-up attack. Keeping my holy sword pointed at Eden with one hand, I turned my head to check on her.
Perhaps due to the urgency, I had unknowingly embraced her tightly, and now her face was flushed red like a ripe tomato, perhaps feeling suffocated. Maybe it was also because I had dared to touch the sensitive area of her waist.
In any case, there was no longer a reason to hold her that way, so I quickly released her from my grip.
“Ahh…”
Selian sighed softly, finally catching her breath as she stepped away from my embrace.
“Uh… El, by any chance…”
“Let’s deal with this guy first.”
Interrupting Selian’s words, which seemed to come from concern about my condition, I turned back to face Eden. There were so many things I wanted to say upon truly reuniting with Selian, but ironically, I had no words even if I had ten mouths. This was no time for idle chatter anyway.
We had Eden right in front of us, and the demons that had invaded the city. To minimize casualties, we had to take Eden down first.
Selian seemed to understand this as well, so instead of further questioning me, she slowly raised her sword, readying herself for battle.
“Just like back then. I’ll handle the attacks.”
Selian’s sword wouldn’t be able to pierce Eden’s skin, though it might be just the spider legs that are exceptionally tough. Since we can’t be sure, it’s better for me to take the lead.
Selian silently agreed and stood beside me. Just like before.
The severed leg began regenerating, forming anew from the claw to the tip of the toes, and once more, all the spider legs charged towards us, faster and stronger than before as if Eden had been holding back till now.
But it doesn’t matter. We have become faster too, stronger too.
It might only be me who’s changed, but that’s more than enough. I am now able to keep up with Selian’s movements and not hinder her. In fact, I restrained myself from wildly rushing ahead as I realized Selian couldn’t keep up with me.
Instead, I utilized the spare moments gained from pacing myself to her, pulling out a pen from my pocket and hurling it.
Crush!
Of course, a simple pen couldn’t survive the force of my throw, the aura infused in it, and the impact of collision. It instantly shattered into a fine powder. But that was enough to precisely shatter the core of the magic circle Eden was drawing in mid-air.
One, two, three, four… With full assurance in Selian’s defensive capabilities, I relentlessly went on the offense. Eden’s spider legs could no longer stand up to my sword, falling one by one to the ground. The area around us was already slick with bodily fluids oozing from the severed legs.
Selian and I pummeling Eden felt almost like an illusion, considering how precarious our situation had been just moments ago. Alone, I wouldn’t have handled this so smoothly, and Selian, even if she had regained her full strength, wouldn’t have accomplished this alone either. But together, we could do it.
“Ugh! What is—!”
Confusion finally appeared on Eden’s face, which had until then exuded complete confidence. However, unlike his relaxed attitude, neither Selian nor I were the type to give our enemy a chance to breathe.
The last remaining pair of spider legs. After hastily losing half of his legs, Eden stumbled back in a panic. But his original arms and legs seemed weaker than the spider legs, and he only managed to retreat by a few steps.
“El!”
Selian cut off one more leg, leaving only the last remaining pair. With the swirling spider legs removed, Eden’s figure was fully exposed.
I immediately closed the gap, crossing the empty space. Eden flailed his arms, trying to shake me off, but they weren’t spider legs, and there was no way they could dislodge me.
Arriving in front of him, I thrust my sword straight upwards. It was a stance I had seen her perform countless times over the years.
There wasn’t a single flaw in that stance.
Just as she had split Eden’s flames, my sword carved through its trajectory as if slicing the air itself.
My sword pointed downward at the ground, and Eden’s arms continued to flail uselessly.
But his movements now came only from instinct. There was no will left in those flailing arms.
Once he lost strength in his actions, his body split neatly in half and collapsed with a soft thud, but even as a corpse, he left nothing behind.
Eden’s body burned away under divine power.
What a pitiful end for someone whose strength had once driven us to desperation.
“El… So you really remember…”
Once the battle had ended, Selian approached slowly, saying to me.
Her eyes held many emotions.
Worry and relief, longing and joy, sadness and happiness… Her small eyes contained emotions too numerous to count.
“Yeah…”
Just as she said, all the memories came flooding back.
This must be the true power of a Hero. Thanks to it, I could also break free from the mind control that had tethered me.
Even when I recall the past, the time when I was Zeno Prentz, I feel no headache. The memories are crystal clear, as though they just happened last night.
Back then…
When I couldn’t sleep due to the thunderstorms outside, my older sister would lie beside me, tightly grasping my hand to reassure me. And when the thunder would strike, we’d look at each other and laugh because she’d be just as startled.
When I’d trip and cry trying to keep up with my sister’s strides, she’d extend her hand to pull me up and adjust her pace to walk beside me. Those moments of fun were often interrupted by both of us falling and crying together.
When our pet dog died and I first confronted the reality of death—crying rivers of childish tears in fear of parting—she’d embrace me, promising she’d always be by my side. I wonder if she realized her tears were dropping onto my cheeks.
How scared, how hurt, how sad must she have been when I suddenly vanished? What sin did that little girl commit that she had to be killed by demons?
Had it not been for the demons, had the Black Moon not abducted me, had I not been taken…
Then she wouldn’t have had to grieve, and the Prentz House wouldn’t have fallen.
“Well, we should hurry and go look for Yuli and Anne.”
Selian spoke, turning attention to someone caught up in introspection.
That’s right. I need to save Yuli and Anne, Presia, and many others. That’s the kind of Hero you, Selian, showed me. But…
“Sorry, Sel.”
I can’t go with you.
