There exists a fate for heroes.
To explain precisely, it means that for beings who have received the mission of being a hero to save the world, a duty arises that they must fulfill.
Thus, having been chosen by the self-aware Sacred Sword of Exorcism, gradually growing, and ultimately subjugating the Demon King can be said to be both fate and responsibility.
In that sense, it could be said to be inevitable.
For Evan, it was just that he tried to catch a student who suddenly rushed out.
The representative of the new students was Stella, who, at that very moment, had suddenly dashed out claiming she needed to go to the restroom.
Seeing Stella, pale and looking terrified as she rushed around, Evan was worried and sought the instructor’s understanding before following her.
From the instructor’s perspective, it was an awkward situation as the representative of the new students had suddenly shouted that she was going to the restroom right when the oath was to be taken.
In the end, there was nothing to be done but ask a student who seemed like a friend to bring her back quickly.
Once outside the building, Evan ran after Stella, who was flying away with magic power.
‘What is this?’
Evan suddenly had a question.
There was something terribly strange about this.
Sure, the instructor had said earlier that she was going to the restroom.
But wasn’t the direction in which she was heading the exact opposite of the restroom?
That wasn’t all.
No matter how urgent it might be, leaving such an excessive trail of magic power was not normal.
There were numerous odd points.
In that moment, Evan unconsciously became convinced.
That girl was absolutely not heading to the bathroom; something urgent must have occurred that had made her turn pale.
After following her for a while, the destination they arrived at was…
‘The training ground?’
It was the training ground he had visited just the day before.
And…
‘The place where I met Aria…’
The memory of the girl who had identified herself as a saint, with her eyes closed and a kind smile, surfaced in his mind.
Thanks to that girl, he had been able to participate in the entrance ceremony without being expelled, even after fighting the man who had disregarded his master’s sword without following proper procedures.
‘Why did we come here?’
Why in the world did they end up here?
At that moment, it seemed meaningless to just stand still, so he thought about approaching Stella, who was standing still in the center of the training ground.
– Evan, I think it’s better to be careful.
The girl’s voice echoed from the Sacred Sword.
Evan, while walking towards Stella, expressed his confusion at the sudden voice.
‘Is there something wrong, Esther?’
– I can sense magic.
Magic.
The source of a demon’s power.
Even while traveling the world with his master, he had only heard of it by name and had never seen it directly, despite being a hero.
The moment he heard the word ‘magic,’ Evan froze in place.
‘Are you certain…?’
– If the opponent is hiding it, that’s one thing, but with magic this dense, there’s no way we could miss it.
‘…’
Dense magic,
Just yesterday, when he was at the training ground, Esther hadn’t mentioned feeling any magic.
Could it be…
Evan looked towards Stella with a cold sweat dripping down his back.
– No, that girl isn’t the one. Rather, this is…
At that moment, magic flowed from Stella’s hand, and a magic circle formed in the air.
Soon, a sound like something breaking echoed throughout the training ground.
Esther took a breath.
– It’s a barrier! There’s an enormous surge of magic beyond the barrier!
In that instant, Evan approached the barrier almost as if entranced.
This energy…
He couldn’t mistake this warm energy.
It was the very power that had blocked his sword just yesterday.
A voice echoed in his head, saying that this demon could not be defeated, that he must run away immediately, but Evan ignored it.
He felt that if he ran away now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
The magic he felt from beyond the barrier and something familiar that was colliding with it.
Before he knew it, Evan was standing right next to Stella.
And they both stood rigidly, watching the situation inside the barrier where a hole had formed.
“Looks like an intruder has breached.”
Evan took a breath as he felt an ominous energy through his skin.
He instinctively sensed that the black-skinned figure far away in human form was a demon.
“It’s dangerous!”
At the same time as someone shouted, Evan raised his sword.
Bang!!
A tremendous shock overwhelmed Evan.
He barely clung to his fading consciousness and surveyed the situation before him with blurry vision.
A hand surrounded by black energy was blocked by the Sacred Sword, which shone with a golden light.
“Oh… so you can react to this.”
“Cough… Grr…”
‘It’s heavy…!’
Just by swinging his hand, the force was this tremendous?!
Evan’s face was filled with panic as he tried to shake off the demon before him by drawing on the magic of the Sacred Sword.
“So this is the Sacred Sword…”
However, the demon before him seemed intrigued by the sword but, annoyed, released its power as if to bounce it away.
“Grr…?!”
A powerful shock slammed into his body.
And then,
“Hmm. I suppose you’re a more useful magician than I thought.”
“Well, even if it’s just flattery, I appreciate it…!!”
Evan, who was flung backward, was caught by magic as Stella unfolded a magic circle, gliding backward while activating her magic.
A tree trunk that sprang up from the ground grasped the demon’s body, preventing it from moving.
“Ha, you think something like this would hold me back…?”
“I know.”
Stella already knew.
She understood that such a trivial magic wouldn’t be enough to restrain a high-level demon,
Thus, she had already anticipated several moves ahead.
She had been moving while predicting every action.
“What the…!”
A lazy genius seeks to achieve maximum effects with minimal effort.
In other words, this means to utilize everything available.
Even in such a short time, she had deduced the demon’s nature from the appearance during the times it was dispelled and from the actions and speech it had shown up to now, crafting a plan accordingly.
“[Rising Spear.]”
The high-level lightning-type spell she had prepared beforehand activated.
As a massive spear of lightning formed in the air, it penetrated the upper body of the demon.
It was a mid-level binding magic that could not even hold back a slight movement, but it fulfilled its role excellently by causing the arrogant demon to let down its guard.
“Grah…!!”
No matter how high-level a demon might be, it couldn’t ignore the power of a high-level spell that pierced its body without revealing its strength.
To maintain a body scorched by the intense heat of lightning, it ultimately had to unleash its powers.
Kwaaaaa!!
“You will definitely die at my hands…!”
Maintaining the barrier and channeling magic toward the demon realm, the magic, which was originally intended for an ambush, was wrapped around its whole body, causing the spear of lightning that had pierced it to vanish in an instant.
With red glare in its eyes, now larger than before, it charged towards Stella.
“Ah…”
No,
Earlier, to ensure that her surprise attack would be successful, she had used the Rising Spear in a way that should have been impossible for a spell of that type.
The cost was an enormous consumption of magic power.
The Rising Spear, which should only be possible to cast with magic that could be invoked as easily as breathing, required a momentous amount of magic when trying to manifest it instantaneously.
Stella, who showed tremendous talent in terms of magic, could withstand an amount of magic consumption that felt overwhelming for a moment, only causing her to bleed slightly and feel weak, but now even that felt risky.
For even a brief hesitation, a moment’s gap could cost her life.
Stella saw the demon, wrapped in magic, charging at her with its hand outstretched.
At that moment, she remembered the saint who had once shown her affection.
The platinum-haired girl, who always smiled at her while cleaning her room and cooking delicious meals…
Stella felt a wave of deep regret wash over her and closed her eyes.
Finally,
Puuuuu!
A thudding sound echoed.
*
What was that?
Something felt off.
She had clearly been ready to accept death as the demon’s hand flew towards her just moments ago.
She should have been facing death.
Yet, something felt strange.
It was strange beyond measure.
If she had died from that blow…
‘What am I thinking?’
How could she still be thinking?
If she were alive, why didn’t she feel any pain?
Stella carefully opened her eyes, filled with questions.
And she could see.
“Ah…”
Drip, drip
Stella looked down with trembling eyes.
A large amount of blood was soaking the ground.
As if that wasn’t enough, even more blood was gushing out.
“Ah, aah…”
“Cough… hack… cough cough…”
The blood that poured from the girl’s mouth splattered onto Stella’s face.
This was a nightmare.
Stella’s legs gave way, and she sank down.
The figure before her… the girl standing in front of her was someone she recognized, and she felt something rising from deep within her.
She wished it were a nightmare.
She wished someone would tell her it was just a dream.
Stella mumbled inwardly, expelling the rise she felt within.
Please, let it be a nightmare.
