Quit The Hero Party

EP.495 The Path Extended from the Past (6)

*

The star garments etched with four constellations fluttered.

The Splendor of Haton, the Salvation of Ganyr, the Severing of Berzer.

And the Acceleration, Kyle Toven.

Gathered in one place were the constellations of heroes from different eras, and Destel exhaled deeply. The sensation of time dragged on endlessly. Looking at the seemingly frozen scenery, Destel took a step forward.

As he did, Destel recalled.

What his future self had told him.

The things he had learned.

“Pathetic.”

A graveyard of various kinds of weapons lined up.

In the realm of illusion created by his future self, Destel had lost to him in a single exchange. At the moment their weapons clashed, he had to roll on the ground, knocked away.

“Too many unnecessary movements. Why does it take so long to imitate? Holding a weapon, taking a stance, executing techniques—everything is far too slow.”

Thwack!

Future Destel sighed and moved closer to the groaning Destel lying on the ground.

“Now then.”

As he grabbed Destel’s hair to lift his head up, the suddenly upright Destel stabbed the dagger he had hidden in his bosom, but…

“You can’t protect anything.”

As if he knew that, he caught the dagger Destel had thrust with his bare hands and crushed it. At that moment, Destel’s eyes widened. The man before him was clearly holding the Holy Sword. He was already in the process of mimicking the Severing Berzer.

But, what is that…?

What surrounded him was the starlight of the Hero known as the Iron Man. This meant that his future self could wield both streams of starlight simultaneously. How could that be?

“You’re thinking that it’s impossible to imitate two heroes at once, right? That’s the look in your eyes.”

He chuckled.

“There’s nothing impossible. You simply can’t do it.”

Whack! He struck Destel’s head with his combat boots. The kick landed solidly on his temple, causing Destel to bleed and roll on the ground multiple times. Even in an illusion, the pain was real, and his vision spun.

“Cough, hack…”

Destel slowly rose, feeling a sting across the bridge of his nose. Wiping the blood dripping from his nose, he looked up. There stood his future self, looking at him with a bored expression.

“Get up quickly.”

“…You say it’s a contest, but aren’t you going to finish it?”

“Contests happen between similar opponents.”

He scoffed.

“Get up. Be unyielding.”

Unyielding, in the sense of not bending.

Looking at his past self, who bore a different title, he grasped at the air. Just that alone allowed him to skip all intermediate stages and summon the Holy Spear into his grasp.

Recalling the target of imitation.

Focusing to synchronize with it.

Controlling the flow of starlight.

He wrapped all those processes into a single breath. It was an overly fast pace. While Destel hurriedly borrowed a hero’s weapon, Unyielding stood firm, one hand holding the Holy Spear and the other the Holy Sword, firmly on the ground.

Quick, without unnecessary movements.

In an instant, he lunged, swinging the sword. Before the arc of the swing had fully ended, he thrust the Holy Spear. Pierced by the spear and slashed by the sword, Destel spat a mouthful of blood. Only then did he desperately try to raise the large shield he had finished imitating in front of him…

Sever!

The Holy Sword, imbued with the starlight of Berzer, penetrated through the gaps in the shield in a strange trajectory. Then thunk, Destel realized his vision had flipped. His neck had been severed in that fleeting moment.

Amidst the spewing blood, Destel saw his future self. In the flipping scenery, he was glaring down at him, the Holy Sword dangling from his hand.

His techniques, the depth of his imitation, and the way he wielded starlight—all of it was immeasurably superior to Destel. A perfect superior being. There seemed to be no way to defeat him.

‘So swiftly…’

The conclusion came in an instant.

As Destel’s vision faded into a blur, it darkened.

“…Guh!”

And then, he blinked.

Destel exhaled and got to his feet. His neck had certainly been severed, yet now it was perfectly intact. Was it an illusion? It couldn’t be. The signs of bloodshed around him remained.

“What’s happening?”

And.

“Why aren’t you getting up?”

There still stood his future self, glaring at him. Destel, feeling a strange unease, stood up. He sensed something was off.

Crack!

And then.

Screech, whoosh!

It wasn’t until he had experienced death several more times that he understood the source of that unease.

Drip.

Lying in his own spilled blood, Destel let out a hollow laugh.

‘A space of illusion. A space where death isn’t death.’

The fact that he hadn’t died, despite him being dead, meant that the resolution of victory and defeat was determined elsewhere. And Destel could roughly guess what determined that resolution. There was a clue.

What had his future self said before the fight began?

He told him to prove that he was unyielding.

‘That means…’

As long as he didn’t yield, the contest would continue. Repeatedly in this space where he wouldn’t die.

“…So this was the plan from the start.”

Destel forced a smile. Watching his future self, he exhaled deeply. Exhaling and facing his future self, only then could he see it.

The star garment fluttering in six branches.

The many weapons it grasped.

As if saying “Learn and take note,” his future self stood there. The realm to which he needed to reach was right here. With a groan, Destel rose to his feet.

‘He must have intended to teach me from the beginning.’

To teach, train, and make him realize.

To let him experience death repeatedly until he comprehended. That must have been the goal of his future self. Realizing this, Destel clenched his teeth and stood up.

Crack.

He grasped the Holy Spear from among the weapons scattered around.

“Now it’s finally worth looking at.”

Seeing that, Unyielding scoffed.

Having exhaled deeply, he dropped the weapon he held. Instead of the weapon returned to starlight, he drew something from his waist.

It was the broken Holy Spear.

The weapon he never once let go of during a decade spent in hell, the one wielded until the very end by the most heroic of heroes. Holding that in his hand, Unyielding spoke.

“You’ve misunderstood imitation. Since you misunderstood, you were using it incorrectly.”

His clothes, stained with blood, ragged and torn.

The tattered star garment fluttered in the desert wind. Destel saw the six-branched star garb.

“There’s no law that only one character can step onto the stage, nor that an actor must only play one character. You have always stood alone on the stage…”

Managing the stage alone.

You and I have always lived like that.

“So, become everyone.”

A one-man theater.

Shimmer.

The star garment, which had fluttered in the wind, shone brightly.

In an instant, six constellations were etched into the six-branched star garb. A spear, a sword, a bow, a hammer, and a large shield suddenly appeared before him.

The six streams of starlight enveloped his body.

He was Salvation, Severing, the Marksmanship Master, the Iron Man, and simultaneously Immortal. On one stage, six characters took their positions. And the one performing them was a single actor.

“I’ll show you now.”

He said.

“How I endured that hell.”

How he had endured thirteen years of hell.

“How I managed to keep up with that guy.”

The techniques, the way of life that had to be learned while walking alongside that guy, everything he had accumulated.

“I’ll show it without reservation; swallow it.”

Swallow it and follow me.

Come follow me, and surpass me. Only then can you reach the future that I could not.

Crack, and…

He stomped the ground and charged forward.

Destel stomped the ground and charged forward.

Time, which seemed to have stopped, accelerated the moment Destel took a step. Crack, Boom, Swoosh. Just where Destel had stood moments ago, the spear thrust down. Spells exploded. As the explosion sliced through, sword strikes whizzed past.

And, Destel…

In one instant of acceleration, the desynchronized attack range, he charged forward without looking back. With every step he took, the scenery changed. With every stomp, the distance shrank in an instant.

So, this is the perspective those guys had.

What Destel had imitated was the characteristic of starlight held by Kyle. Acceleration. Literally only accelerating his physical body, but… combined with the vast amount of starlight Kyle possessed, acceleration made him the strongest of heroes.

It was astonishingly effective for its simplicity.

Originally, when Kyle used it, it granted acceleration that far surpassed even the superhuman and lasted for several minutes, but… the degraded acceleration Destel had imitated didn’t possess such a long duration.

At most, it lasted around ten seconds.

Yet ten seconds was enough.

The star garment with the constellation of splendor etched upon it fluttered greatly. The starlight enhancing his body enveloped Destel. With acceleration and splendor superimposed, Destel lowered his posture.

Boom!

With a sound like an artillery shell being fired, Destel’s form vanished in an instant. The gaze of Berzer, who was urgently chasing after, caught Destel for a moment. Right after, Destel reappeared at…

WHAAAM!

Right in front of the Immortal Triton who held the rear.

Maintaining his speed, Destel kicked Triton’s shield. The barrier didn’t break, but the shield tilted, and stepping on the angled shield, Destel leaped onto the large shield.

This was three seconds in.

Using the large shield as a foothold, Destel grasped the air behind him with outstretched hands. In an instant, the Holy Spear appeared in that hand.

Four seconds.

Triton moved the shield to shake Destel off, and the Holy Maiden and Mage hiding behind hurriedly began weaving spells, but… Destel was a step ahead of them.

Second Pull.

What he had imitated was Ganyr’s technique.

The air was sucked into the center of the grand spear that swung widely. Triton’s posture wavered as the troops behind him were lifted off the ground. They were pulled toward Destel.

Five seconds.

Destel placed down the Holy Spear and grasped the air again. In his hand was Berzer’s Holy Sword. With the sword specialized for rapid strikes, Destel accelerated. Kicking the shield, he breached Triton’s stance created by the Pull.

The opening was targeted, and the sword struck.

The swift blade cleaved through the bodies of the soldiers being drawn in.

Whoosh, with the sound of slicing, blood erupted. The Holy Maiden, the Annihilation Mage, and the Wise One were all struck down in a single blow. As blood sprayed, disturbing Triton’s line of sight, Destel kicked off the shield and leapt upward.

While leaping, he twisted his body.

Fwoosh! A single arrow whisked past him nearby with a whoosh. Eyeing the position from which it had been shot, Destel adopted a stance to draw back the bowstring, pulling at the air.

Shimmer.

The famed bow, already drawn taut, appeared in Destel’s hand. Thwump, with a sound, Destel released the bowstring. The swiftly shot platinum arrow surged towards the tower where Epta was located.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Destel didn’t check to confirm that the split arrows had embedded themselves in the tower while twisting his body. That was eight seconds. As he twisted and glanced back… he saw Berzer, who had closed the distance, swinging his sword.

Just before that blade made contact, Destel raised both his arms. With the appearance of the Holy Shield alongside the starlight.

The moment the shield manifested, Destel drove it down. His airborne body, now weighted by the Holy Shield, plummeted toward the ground. Right where he landed stood Triton.

CRACK!

With the Holy Shield loaded with acceleration, he crushed Triton’s head, and Destel quickly concealed himself behind the shield. Immediately after, Berzer’s sword swung with a CLANG!, skimming past the edge of the shield.

Now it was ten seconds.

Having staved off Berzer’s strike, Destel let go of the now-cracked large shield and leapt backward. Landing in a slide, he exhaled deeply.

“Phew…”

The star garment adorned with Kyle’s constellation flickered out. Calculating the time until he could imitate again, Destel engraved a new constellation into the empty space.

What he inscribed was the Iron Man Baltia’s constellation.

Even while pierced all over with spears and blades, bathed in the jaws of beasts, it was the starlight of the warrior who’d ripped apart the Demon Lord’s Army barehanded. The Iron Man’s constellation brought forth endurance and physical strength.

Destel’s body, previously strained from borrowing Kyle’s constellation, instantly recovered. Regaining his breath, Destel gazed at the heroes charging toward him. There were still many left. Yet…

“Don’t mind me, just do your work.”

Destel said, grasping the Holy Spear with his arm extended. The hind ranks that had been a hassle were now cleared away. Now, victory was within reach. The momentarily halted Resti gathered her servile beasts and soared above Destel’s head.

“……..”

Glimpsing her riding the wyvern toward the tower’s end, Destel redirected his gaze to face forward. He glared at Berzer, who was brandishing his sword, and the numerous heroes.

Now, the roles had reversed.

It was Destel who would guard the path leading to the end tower, and they were the walls that needed to be breached. Before the overwhelming forces, Destel narrowed his eyes.

Though many personnel had stepped onto the stage,

To Destel, those were characters that needed to step down.

The ones who had already completed their roles would only seem pitiful dancing upon the stage.

And most importantly…

One actor on this stage was more than enough.

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