Quit The Hero Party

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EP.497 The Divine Bounty’s (天惠) Subjugation (1)

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At the end of the chessboard, the pawn becomes the queen.

“The end of the chessboard? The pawn becomes the queen? What does that even mean?”

Kyle tilted his head in confusion. Raniel continued speaking while displaying a chessboard made of mana in front of Kyle.

“I mean it literally.”

She pinched the pawn and tapped the chessboard lightly. Unlike the rook, bishop, and knight that can leap multiple squares at once, the pawn can only move one square at a time, except for the initial move…

“At first glance, the pawn seems insignificant. It’s the most numerous piece on the board, and even though it has its uses, it feels weak—just like a foot soldier.”

Raniel advanced the pawn one square forward.

“But.”

Heading towards the end of the board.

“As the game reaches its conclusion, the pawn transforms into the most valuable piece. It becomes the biggest variable that can turn even a disadvantageous situation around.”

Tap, Raniel set the pawn at the edge of the chessboard.

“A pawn that reaches the end of the board gets the chance for promotion.”

Raniel exhaled lightly.

“In terms of reality, it’s the moment when the balance collapses, the providence shatters, and a new god is about to be born. That moment is the final chapter… the very edge of the chessboard.”

She chuckled softly.

And it’s not Raniel who creates that final chapter. Someone over there has already set the board and lured the pieces onto it.

“That guy must have prepared everything in advance, right? Just like you said. If he’s a Braver, he’s probably already chosen the next ‘Demon Lord’ and prepared the vessel.”

Because of this, Raniel stated.

“Paradoxically, all the conditions needed for the pawn’s promotion have been met.”

Providence collapses. An incomplete god screams, yearning for divinity. The moaning core of the god is an ancient lich, and the anguish that constitutes its very existence derives from the lingering resentment of the Demon Lord’s Army.

——————!

The cry of existence is a scream.

The echoing scream bangs against the underground space, and when it reverberates back, Skebal had already raised his arm. Each massive bone joint interlocked like gears, and ultimately, a spell was completed in mid-air.

Unfathomable, bizarre letters filled the air.

The mouths of the large and small skulls affixed to Skebal’s body opened wide, letting out strange noises as they chanted the spell. One, two, three… dozens, hundreds of strings of characters rose into the atmosphere.

There’s no need to draw circuits.

The truth-revealed mage has learned language.

A language to shout at the heavens.

The first mage, the Ancient Dragon, recited 300 words to the sky. Yet, by reaching the truth, Skebal confirmed the existence of a language that the Ancient Dragon deliberately erased.

【■■, ■■■■■■■■.】

A language used in the primordial era before the ancients.

A tongue that delves into discipline, deliberately erased by the Ancient Dragon, now known as the most primal language of ancient spells. Skebal took those words into his mouth.

Forgotten seventy-three and three languages.

Numerous sentences birthed where languages intertwine.

The strings of words suspended in the air flickered in an instant.

Lightning flowing, frozen flames, burning waters, engulfing lands… spells incomprehensible by common sense surged towards the subjugation forces.

“······.”

And before the incoming spells,

“Resti.”

“Yes.”

Ayla calmly lifted her sword.

Despite the torrent of spells flooding in, she does not take a step back. The moment she stepped forward, time seemed to freeze. The spells, the tendrils, the falling debris… all came to a standstill in their place.

Since she has not yet ascended to the realm of god, Skebal cannot interfere with the timeline of a transcendent being.

“······.”

Standing in that timeline, Ayla and Resti witnessed the incomplete god before them. They gazed upon the Braver looking down at them from above. Having read the memoirs left by the Arcadian scribe, they understood the Braver’s purpose.

What the Braver desires is a perfect vessel to contain the god.

The flawed god created using Skebal as the core is utterly incomplete. Even if it were to gain divinity, it would require a more stable vessel to become whole.

‘What could be the most suitable vessel…’

Surely it would be Stella and the Watcher.

Just as the past queen of Arcadia did, the blessed ones who live with starlight within them possess the soul and body fit to contain a god.

Not to mention, those blessed ones who have overcome trials and reached the very end of the chessboard would surely be the best vessel.

「Thus, the Braver has revealed its weakness.」

Ayla raised her sword.

「Stella and the Watcher are vessels capable of containing a god while simultaneously being beings created to confront the Braver. No, it doesn’t even matter if they were made that way or not.」

The Arcadian scribe was certain.

「The queen believed she was the antithesis to the Braver and lived for centuries, thinking the reason she was given talent was to subjugate the Braver.」

For hundreds of years, the queen had lived her life solely to confront the Braver.

「That intention is left in the starlight.」

「The starlight that my granddaughter possesses, and the starlight of Stella and the Watcher retain the queen’s will. Starlight reacts to anything related to the Braver and is mutating to penetrate the Braver’s existence.」

The starlight, infused with the will of those who held it.

Though Rugran couldn’t know it well… upon reading this record, Ayla and Resti were convinced. This was already a proven hypothesis.

The most valiant hero, Galahal, was a case in point.

They knew that the starlight influenced by him refused to cycle with the flow and was absorbed by Chloe.

「Slowly but surely, the starlight is changing.」

「Perhaps it might be impossible in my granddaughter’s generation. Maybe in the next generation or the one after that, it might also be too much to ask.」

But, Rugran stated.

「The starlight influenced by the queen will continue to evolve. It will turn into blades that can pierce the Braver.」

「Believing in that fact, my granddaughter and I engraved one more will into the starlight.」

Accumulation.

「Until the moment it reaches the Braver, the starlight will circulate and accumulate. No matter how long it takes, it doesn’t matter. That day will surely come.」

Just as the queen fought for hundreds of years.

「Whether it takes ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years.」

「Next, and the next again, I believe I will be able to achieve my wish.」

The starlight, inspired by her life and struggles, has been sharpened over the centuries. Rejecting the will of the star, it has continued the will of the queen.

「Your starlight will shine brighter than anything when the Braver attempts to achieve its goal. You will not be promoted into a strange existence by the Braver’s hand.」

Endlessly walking and walking again.

After many times, the pawn (Pawn) will…

「Achieve promotion by your own will. By your intent. By the will of the queen left in the starlight.」

At the end of the chessboard, gaining the chance for promotion.

「Awaken the memories etched into the starlight.」

Recalling the movements documented in the memoirs, Ayla angled her sword. The motions that the queen had taken before everyone on the day of her ascension.

「Awaken the will of the preserved (遺志) hidden in the star. Command it. This is the moment for you to shine.」

Raising her sword, the queen proclaimed that they would no longer succumb. My blade may be humble and insignificant, but it will inevitably pierce the enemy threatening this nation and humanity.

「Command the starlight to break the next contract. This is the end. Having already reached the end, there shall be no next. So let everything you’ve built up explode right here.」

Ayla raised her sword, just like the queen had.

Inside the stopped time, the starlight pulsated. It was the starlight that hadn’t fulfilled its duty for a long time. The starlight that had been repeatedly crushed by the Braver shone brightly once more.

「For Arcadia, for humanity, glory.」

The nation carrying the will of Arcadia.

The queen of Cartedia shouted.

“For Cartedia, for humanity, glory.”

Ayla’s starlight and Resti’s starlight bloomed.

The starlight that had been helplessly crushed by the Braver for ages began to overflow. Overflowing starlight began to fill Ayla and Resti’s spirits and bodies.

A normal human would be unable to endure such starlight.

However, because they had moved forward without depending on the star, without relying on their talents but instead accumulating knowledge and honing their bodies, they stood here at the very end of the chessboard.

The perfect vessels withstood the overflow of starlight.

The starlight filled the bodies and souls of the two who were meant to become the Demon Lord in the Braver’s hands… and were promoted to queens while still holding onto the starlight.

And the halted time began to flow once more.

At the moment when the incoming spells were about to descend upon the subjugation forces, Ayla swung her sword like a baton. Following the tip of her sword, starlight bloomed like flower buds. The moment the spells made contact with the buds, the starlight burst into full bloom (滿開).

Bam!

The flower buds bloomed by feeding off the spells.

With the fully bloomed star flower, the spells crumbled into nothingness. In an instant, dozens of spells evaporated.

Whoosh.

As petals fluttered in all directions, Ayla gracefully wielded her sword. The fully blooming star flower, the celestial flame (星花), flowed like a blaze. The undulating celestial flame headed towards the gathered subjugation forces.

Flicker.

The moment it touched the bodies of the subjugation forces, the celestial flame blazed. The ignited starlight nestled within their souls, temporarily transforming them into beings akin to heroes.

And then, Resti opened her eyes.

The instant she opened her eyes, the platinum-colored ring inscribed in her pupils spun vigorously. Her lavender eyes began to turn platinum. The divine eyes known as the White Gold Eyes (白金眼) or Dragon Eyes (龍眼) opened.

The Braver frowned.

Below the crumbled land, light flooded the dark basements. The inundating starlight, familiar yet strange, bordered on the edge of what the Braver had forgotten over the thousand years—light they thought they would never see again.

The starlight possessed by his sister.

That starlight was flowing more brilliantly than hers. As if it had been honed over the course of a thousand years.

“Finally.”

The Braver chuckled dryly.

“Finally, have you completed it?”

The Arcadian scribe.

Though he had stripped away everything from that guy, had he really completed the research? The Braver clucked his tongue. This was an unexpected variable even for him.

A dagger flying in from the past.

A dagger sharpened through the passage of time.

The starlight surging from where they were was indeed a variable capable of trampling on his plans. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine they would achieve promotion this way. The Braver scoffed as he brushed his hair back.

“Well played.”

It was dangerous. His plans were shaken to their roots.

That starlight was sharp enough to reach him.

‘So.’

He must eliminate them.

The Braver slowly rose from his throne. Normally, he would have let Skebal swallow them and steal their bodies… but the plan had gone awry.

They must be killed. Even if it meant creating another incomplete god.

The Braver exhaled deeply as he rose from his throne. How long had it been since he fought with his true body? Since that day when the heavens opened, and the primordial age came to an end.

From the other side, he had pulled out a trump card.

Then, he too must reveal himself.

Acrita reached out his hand into the air.

The rising shadow expelled Acrita’s weapon. Before he was known as the first Braver, it was the divine weapon he wielded in the primordial age. Despite the passage of thousands of years, the moment he grasped it, memories of the past flooded back.

…The one who ignited the great war of the sixteen races. The one who deceived the god of war. The usurper of the beacon illuminating countless hero figures. The one with a thousand bodies. The immortal. The Braver who wore the skin of a human.

He had countless names.

But in the primordial age, people called him this.

The Divine Bounty (天惠).

The Divine Bounty, Acrita.

He moved.