Quit The Hero Party

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EP.494 The Path from the Past (5)

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Hundreds, thousands of summoned beasts surged like a tide across the wasteland. Their red eyes scattered like sparks as they roared forward. Before the fierce wave, the renowned heroes began to be swept away.

No matter how much they struck down, the witch’s forces did not diminish. Limbs were severed and heads rolled, but the witch’s beasts relentlessly tore into the heroes’ flesh.

At first, there were only minor wounds, but with each beast that fell, the wounds multiplied and deepened. Soon, the unmatched heroes began to be buried one by one beneath the beasts. Karioth, watching from a distance, let out a stunned breath.

…Did they call her a witch?

Karioth turned his head to look at Resti.

With just a gesture, she commanded thousands of troops, an utterly chilling sight. Indeed, it made one think that the Demon Lord’s army had good reason to call her a witch.

‘…Let alone that.’

Karioth forced a bitter smile.

Having witnessed that girl’s prowess in the apostate extermination, he knew well. Resti Elenoa was not simply a mage confined to the summoner class.

If Raniel van Trias had created the Battle Mage class to compensate for the weaknesses of the Wizard class.

Resti Elenoa had honed her skills to overcome the weaknesses of a Summoner. The flaw that a Summoner is weak as an individual—at least this girl defied that notion.

Snap!

Resti snapped her fingers.

A completed circuit flickered with a vibrant blue glow.

Top-tier spell, Ignis.

A spear made of blue-white lightning shot out with a crack! toward the battlefield. At the moment it struck the center of the conflict, the lightning condensed within was unleashed. A blinding flash illuminated the battlefield followed by a roar of thunder.

…A first-class magician who could unleash even a top-tier spell that devastates the battlefield and command thousands of troops with a mere gesture.

The battlefield turned upside down by a single magician. As usual, the heroes whose names were etched in history could muster little resistance against the calamity, being ripped apart by the witch’s beasts.

‘But…’

Karioth clicked his tongue.

“There must be some, lady.”

Even against the endlessly surging enemy forces.

Even in the face of the top-tier magic ravaging the battlefield.

Resisting all odds, there were monsters charging towards the enemy.

Swoosh.

The witch’s army, which had been advancing relentlessly, suddenly halted. All that could be heard was a chilling swish. The eerie echoes of slicing sounds rang out long, and with it, blood spurted high into the sky.

Plop!

The blood of the beasts splattered. Flesh was cast aside like scraps.

Amidst the stench of blood vibrating through the wasteland, the figure emerging was that of a hero who had once led an era.

The Severance, Berzer.

Two hundred years ago, a warrior who dispelled the shadowy age in human history. A hero who single-handedly held back the Demon Lord’s forces for ten days and nights as they swarmed toward the forward base of Catheron. The remaining heroes began to reveal themselves around him one after another.

The shining Haton with his spear fluttering in the wind.

The immortal Triton hoisting the great shield.

Ganyr, the savior wielding a lengthy spear.

Epta, the master archer marked with platinum arrows.

Heroes who represented that era. Following behind the heroes appeared the superhumans and comrades who had journeyed alongside them.

The first master of the White Tower who created seven top-tier spells, the Harpesia of Annihilation.

Hakan, now a one-armed warrior who lost an eye and an arm yet took up the sword again at Berzer’s request, stepping onto the path of superhuman.

A companion to Triton who wielded a shield, the Wise One Ariel, who mastered the extremes of elemental magic.

A saint who was exiled for rebelling against the church, yet cried for salvation until the end, Narun.

Heroes gathered around Berzer.

Superhumans assembled around the heroes. Just as they had in life, they did not retreat even before the calamity. The tighter the corner they were driven into, the stronger their resolve became.

The blade gleamed. Mana surged. The radiance, the platinum arrows, the holy fire ignited by the saint, and the sword energy of the superhumans…

While watching them push back their own army, Resti frowned.

Such a nuisance.

Resti’s brow furrowed.

Should I push them back quickly and join at the tower’s end, it just wouldn’t end. Rather, we began to be pushed back.

Wham!

With blessings from Haton and the saints, Berzer raced across the battlefield, supported by first-class magicians. Every time he swung his sword, dozens of beasts disintegrated into nothingness.

Triton, with the great shield, did not falter.

The spells cast by the two magicians hiding behind him were exceedingly complex. Following right behind Berzer, Hakan and Ganyr had a seamless formation.

To break through their ranks, they needed to go all-out. They were not opponents that could be pierced by half-hearted measures. Yet even knowing this, Resti struggled to make a decision.

“……”

Resti’s gaze was drawn to the tower at the end.

Just moments ago, where the extermination force had entered.

She felt a tremendous presence stirring there, and Resti bit her lip tightly.

This is bad. The battlefield, which had tilted, was tilting again.

After wrestling with her thoughts for a while, Resti reached a decision.

Slowly, she raised her hand. The finger she lifted came to rest before her eyes. This was the moment she intended to unleash the circuits inscribed in her gaze.

Whoosh!

A sound like something sliding echoed from behind. Resti turned her head back. There, a carriage was sliding in. A carriage that arrived at the wasteland without slowing down. Moments later, the carriage’s door burst open with a bang.

With the door tearing open.

Someone leaped out of the carriage.

*

“The second apostle of the Goddess of Ashes?”

Raniel tilted her head.

Didn’t the Goddess of Ashes perish that day? Yet she still had an apostle? No, that’s beside the point.

“…Destel awakened you?”

“Yes. To be precise, it’s Destel from the future.”

“Future? Did he regress too?”

“Rather than regress… it seems he borrowed the body of the current Destel. He mentioned it that way too.”

Kyle fiddled with the hilt of his sword.

Casting a sidelong glance at the complicated expression on Kyle’s face, Raniel tapped her chin. She too found the situation perplexing. Now that she thought about it, she seemed to remember seeing ash dust right before using the Balance.

‘…It wasn’t just during the Balance.’

Raniel had often witnessed the scene of ash dust rising before her eyes. After pondering for a moment, Raniel slowly spoke.

“Hey, Kyle.”

“Speak.”

“The Goddess of Ashes… is she perhaps still alive?”

“No. That’s not it.”

Kyle answered immediately.

“The Goddess of Ashes perished that day and no longer exists in this world.”

“Then what about the apostle?”

“They are those who inherit her will.”

Her will. The intentions left behind by the deceased.

Kyle smiled bitterly as he thought of the story Destel had told him upon awakening. He recalled the words he had uttered while heading in the opposite direction from Kyle and opened his mouth.

“A message from the apostle of the Goddess of Ashes, Raniel.”

Kyle said.

“That side is entrusted to you. This side is…”

I’ll take care of it.

*

Bang! The door came off with a crash.

The moment someone leaped off the carriage’s railing, it skidded to a halt with a thud! on the ground. The crushed carriage crashed down, and the door that had been torn away crumpled underfoot with a crunch.

Resti looked up at the sky.

Karioth and Remia gazed at someone floating in the sky.

What flapped in the air was the conqueror’s garb of the hero adorned with platinum starlight. Against the sun, a certain hero rose into the sky, clutching something in the air.

“Imitation.”

A familiar voice echoed.

“Ganyr of Salvation.”

With the starlight, a spear was grasped in his hand. The hero, holding the spear, swung his arm in the air. He swung and launched the spear. The spear-throwing technique was not one used by Ganyr, the original owner of the spear.

Not Ganyr’s, but the technique of the most heroic hero.

The spear shot forth, tracing a platinum arc, crashing into Berzer’s sword with a clang. It forced Berzer back. The starlight bursting from the spear pushed everything nearby away.

Thus, a space of mere steps was created.

Amid the rising dust, someone landed in that space. He pulled out the spear embedded in the ground and lightly shook it to dispel the dust. Emerging from the dust was…

“I’m a bit late.”

The hero, Destel.

Gripping the star spear, he turned to Resti.

“I’ll take care of this. Go.”

He didn’t say much.

Before him stood dozens of heroes. A power he could not tackle with his original skills, and thus, what he had declared was merely reckless bravado.

Resti knew that fact very well.

Although she understood, the moment her gaze met Destel’s, she slowly nodded.

It was the most pragmatic hero who declared it.

That he would take care of this place. That he had the capability to do so. Resti placed her trust in his words.

“Huff…”

As Destel confirmed that she had begun to move, he exhaled and turned his gaze back to the front. There, a hero was watching him with caution.

The Severance, Berzer.

The hero who had lent him strength several times before. Facing the once-called strongest hero, Destel thrust the spear he had lifted firmly into the ground. At that instant, the spear glowed with brilliance.

Glory.

The star light flooding from the spear enveloped Destel’s body. Though he had imitated Ganyr’s spear, the technique he used with the imitated spear was entirely different from the other heroes. As he removed his hand from the spear embedded in the ground… Destel reached forward.

Imitation, of the Severance, Berzer.

In Destel’s hand lay the sword of holiness.

Identical in shape to the sword held by the hero before him. Even as he gripped the sword, the star spear lodged at Destel’s feet did not disappear.

Swish.

The royal attire fluttered in the wind, revealing three constellations. Glory, Salvation, and Severance. With the three stars inscribed upon his royal attire, Destel took a step forward.

At that moment, Berzer moved as well.

Not only Berzer moved. The heroes moved as one. The moment Berzer swung his sword, Haton’s sword soared into the view. Ganyr, leaping into the air, swung his spear toward Destel. Platinum arrows surged toward Destel’s forehead.

Fwoosh!

From below, from the sides, and therefore from all directions, completed spells surged toward Destel. As the onslaught from all sides approached him… Destel whispered a single phrase.

Imitation, Acceleration.

The four parts of the royal attire that had fluttered apart.

In the one empty part of the royal attire, a constellation was filled. It was a constellation that belonged to a hero who existed in neither this time nor that of the past, now turned calamity.

Glory, Salvation, Severance, Acceleration.

Four constellations glimmered brilliantly.

Then, in the next moment, Destel’s form vanished.