Darkness was pouring down from the black sun.
I hurried outside, and some of the more weak people were already being affected.
“Arghhh!”
“M-my arm!”
“Hey! Your face looks weird.”
“Look who’s talking. What’s wrong with your eyes?!”
“W-what is that thing? A black sun?”
“Waaah, Mom. I’m scared.”
“S-someone help me, I can’t move my legs!”
What a complete mess.I clicked my tongue.
“So much for developing a new technique. It’s all pointless now.”
“What do we do? If this keeps up, everyone will turn into monsters!”
“First, amplify my voice with magic.”
“R-right.”
Whoosh. Tap.
I jumped onto the tallest building in the area.
My companions hurriedly followed and stood behind me.
Seeing Neril forming hand signs, I shouted with a voice so loud it made my throat tremble.
“Everyone, stay calm and listen!”
Neril must’ve used her magic seriously, because my voice echoed throughout the entire capital.
I could see everyone below looking up at us.
“That black sun will turn you all into monsters!”
“Gasp! Monsters?!”
“That’s the power of the Demon King…”
“Who is that?”
“Is that Sir Kaeld?”
Who just said that last part? Step forward.
First, I should state my name.
I took a deep breath and shouted again.
“My name is Mide Mohan, a mercenary!”
Another wave of murmuring rose.
“Mide Mohan? Who’s that?”
“Ah! The Sword master of No Killing.”
“Wait a sec. I heard from a merchant friend that a Hero also appeared in the North?”
“Now that you mention it… I did hear something like that…”
“The Hero of the North? Not Sir Kaeld?”
Hope slowly began to appear in the eyes of the citizens.
Good.
[This is bad, idiot. Why are you throwing your name out there like that?]
‘Huh?’
[If you can’t bring down the black sun, what’s the point of announcing your name? You’ll just get eaten after making a grand show.]
‘Now that you mention it… Still, it’s a professional reflex. I can’t help it.’
[Ugh.]
I could almost feel Trail pounding his chest.
Just then, someone shouted.
“Sir Mide! Please save us!”
“If it’s turning people into monsters, that’s a Demon King’s power, right? Isn’t Sir Mide a Hero?”
“Yes, Hero! Please save us!”
“Mide! Mide!”
Okay, okay.
You all know my name now, so please quiet down for a moment.
I’m trying to think.
After organizing my thoughts briefly, I shouted again.
“For now, everyone please get inside the buildings! Stay out of the light as much as possible!”
“……!”
“But don’t assume you’re safe. Direct sunlight is the most dangerous, but that light can still penetrate buildings to a degree.”
“Th-then what do we do…?”
“My companions and I will take care of it!”
My party members jumped in surprise at those words.
Neril spoke.
“Hey. Aren’t you being a bit reckless?”
“Seriously.”
“No, you’re not supposed to agree with me!”
“But I already said it. Now I have to turn that bravado into reality—even if I die. There’s no turning back.”
Neril rubbed her forehead.
I continued.
“I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I do have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“Well, before that, let me wrap this up first.”
I looked down and shouted again.
“What are you doing?! Do you all want to turn into monsters?!”
“Gasp.”
“Leave it to me and get to safety!”
Rumble.
Chaos erupted throughout the capital.
Everyone panicked and rushed into the buildings.
I wasn’t sure if the buildings could hold them all, but it’d only be for a short while. It should be fine.
[A short while, you say?]
‘Wait and see.’
I turned to my party members.
“I’ll explain the plan quickly. First, we need to find a few people.”
“Huh?”
“Did you forget? Patrick used the Corrupted Gem embedded in his eye to turn some of the key figures in the capital into monsters. They’re on a different starting line from the rest of the citizens.”
Xenia’s face went pale at my words.
“So we basically slapped the crying person…?”
“Well… not sure if that’s the right expression for this moment, but I get what you mean.”
“Even my father…?”
“He probably was, yes.”
“……”
“Go.”
“……What?”
“It’s okay. Go see your father.”
She bit her lip.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but Xenia soon shook her head.
“I can’t do that.”
“Xenia.”
I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.
“I’m telling you to go… for my sake.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been documented, when someone turns into a monster, even a regular farmer can mow down multiple trained soldiers. And your father, Dame, is ranked third in the Empire.”
“……”
“Can you imagine how much damage that could cause? If you stop him, it would greatly help my reputation.”
Xenia was silent for a while.
Then she wiped her tears and smiled softly.
“You didn’t have to give me an excuse like that.”
“It’s the truth.”
“……Mr. Mide. Thank you, sincerely.”
“No, seriously. It’s for me.”
“You know… I already planned to do my best to help you as long as I’m in this party. But as of today…”
She continued clearly and firmly:
“I’ll give my life to help you, Sir Mide.”
“……”
“You’re a Hero of the continent, but you’re also… my personal Hero.”
She took two steps back and bowed deeply.
Then she spoke to the others.
“I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
Neril chuckled as she replied.
“It’ll probably be over by the time you get back.”
“Hehe. I believe you.”
Thud.
Xenia kicked off the roof and jumped down.
She quickly disappeared into the distance.
Offense scratched his head and spoke.
“I can picture exactly how Kaeld would’ve handled this. The comparison is so clear it’s almost embarrassing.”
“Enough. Anyway, I’ve got a favour for you too.”
“Hm. Some of the other officials were already partly monsterified too, right?”
“Yeah. If they’re outside, knock them out and stash them inside a building. But not the same ones with the regular citizens.”
“So you’re saying they might already be completely transformed.”
“Yeah. I hope not, but still.”
“Let’s move quickly. But I don’t think I need to use a building.”
With that, he began to sink into his own shadow.
“Thanks to Idria, my shadows have multiplied. I’ve got a ridiculous number of hiding spots now.”
“Be sure to thank Idria later.”
“Heh heh.”
With Offense gone, only Neril, Adwin, and I remained.
Adwin looked around and asked:
“What should we do?”
“We need to bring down that black sun.”
“How?”
“I’m going to throw my sword. You both saw my technique when I fought Kaeld, right?”
Back on Agril’s back, I’d used this technique to pierce Kaeld’s abdomen.
Sword throw.
“That technique? What are you going to do with it? Can you even reach that far in the first place?”
“Just barely? Just because it looks like the sun doesn’t mean it’s actually positioned at the sun’s altitude.”
“If it’s barely within reach, just use a spatial slash like Kaeld did. Isn’t that a technique embedded in the fake Hero’s sword?”
I gave a slight chuckle and took out the fake Hero’s sword.
And just like Kaeld had done atop Agril’s back, I brought my index and middle fingers to the blade.
There was no response.
I had already expected that.
I showed the sword to Neril as I spoke.
“This fake sword’s spatial slash function doesn’t work for me. Same with all the other techniques embedded in it.”
“Wh-why not?”
“Because it was made by Idria.”
“…Ah.”
“Idria prepared this sword for Kaeld. There’s no way she’d set it up so that just anyone holding it could use the spatial slash.”
To me, this fake Hero’s sword is nothing more than a slightly sharper and sturdier blade.
Neril bit her lip.
I continued, trying to reassure her.
“Don’t worry. My own technique might still work. All I need to do is make contact.”
Neril and Adwin blinked simultaneously.
Neril spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. Now, shall we begin?”
Indeed.
I drew my sword.
And pointed it toward the black sun.
Neril formed the improved hand signs for the disintegration spell.
“This might fail since it’s my first time using it without practice.”
“Others might fail. But the genius Neril won’t.”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t be shy. You’ve never been properly recognized for your talent. From now on, make sure you are.”
“…”
“Today, I’m going to erase all your infamy.”
“…What?”
Neril asked that, but didn’t stop forming the signs.
Whoosh. Vwmmm.
Contrary to our worries, the disintegration magic settled smoothly onto my sword.
I braced my arm and swung my body backward.
Crack. Crack.
As my muscles swelled up, I spoke.
“You’re no longer the Witch of Carnage. Every citizen in this capital will be your witness.”
“…Mide.”
“If anyone dares call you that in front of me, I won’t forgive them.”
And with all my strength, I threw the sword.
Sword Throw!
The sword flew at terrifying speed toward the black sun.
Thwack.
And pierced straight through it.
Neril’s disintegration magic, bound to my sword, returned to its original nature the moment it touched the black sun.
Shhhhhh! Flash.
Beyond shielded his eyes from the light and murmured.
“It’s disintegrating.”
A Corrupted Gem with no fixed form.
But form didn’t matter.
Whether gas, liquid, or solid—it was irrelevant.
Disintegration magic turns everything into nothing.
Then it happened.
Ahahahah! Ahaha!
I thought I heard someone’s spine-chilling laughter.
Startled, I looked around.
Of course, nothing was visible.
‘Trail. Did you hear that?’
[Yeah.]
‘That was Idria’s laugh, wasn’t it?’
[Seems like it. Guess she found it hilarious that you brought down her sun.]
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow.
Just as that laughter suggested, the disintegration magic was steadily reducing the black sun to nothing.
Vwoooom!
With a final burst of wind, it vanished without a trace.
Silence fell.
But only for a moment.
Then, the citizens of the capital cautiously emerged from their buildings.
And they began to shout.
“Woooooaaah!”
“What was that just now? What was that?”
“I—I think the Hero threw a spear or something…”
“It wasn’t a spear. It was a sword!”
“Yeah, he threw a sword and brought down the sun!”
“The Hero dropped the sun!”
Thinking back, it was a scene worthy of mythology.
A Hero. And his companions.
Together, they combined their powers to create a single weapon.
The Hero picked up the sword infused with the hero’s magic.
And threw it into the sky, destroying the black sun that was corrupting the people into monsters.
A perfect picture to raise my fame.
‘I can’t miss this timing!’
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