Quit The Hero Party

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EP.503 The Divine Foe (7)

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“Long time no see, Belnoa.”

Belial van Dragonik.

The former contractor before Belnoa, the Dragon Sorcerer who traversed the world alongside the First Hero, Ganikalt. And the unfortunate hero who ultimately met a tragic end as a beast.

An ancient hero who should have long vanished from this world stood before her now.

In a scene that made no sense, Belnoa blinked in a daze. Her vision cleared, and her hearing sharpened. The confusion that had clouded her mind was now serene.

“···Lord Belial?”

“Oh, I see you haven’t forgotten my name. I thought my diligent advice had slipped your mind completely; I was beginning to suspect my junior had developed early-onset senility.”

Belial chuckled lightly.

“Yes, it’s me.”

He let his gaze wander.

Belial looked at the Lord of Shadow Dragons standing beside Belnoa. The Goddess too gazed at her former contractor. She sighed deeply.

【How can this be···?】

It was impossible.

No one knew this better than she did. Belial’s soul had been tainted by shadows and had mixed completely into darkness. The Black Dragon had perished without even a chance to purify that tainted soul.

Was she seeing things?

Even the oldest deity found it hard to comprehend the current situation. It was an impossible occurrence.

【I must have lost you, I couldn’t stop you, how can you be······.】

The Goddess’s gaze wavered.

The emotions contained in that tremor were confusion, regret, and sorrow. She, who cherished her contractors as if they were her own children. Therefore, seeing Belial reappear brought an unending ripple to the Goddess’s draconic eyes.

“Well, long time no see, Goddess.”

Whether he knew the state of her heart or not, Belial only chuckled. He scratched his head and exhaled deeply.

“It’s a long story, but I had my tricks.”

He pointed behind him.

There lay a fragment of the Holy Grail embedded in the ground. From that place, Belial’s footsteps had continued.

“I embedded a part of my soul into the sorcery of Shadow Dragons. With the help of that Cardi guy.”

Belial turned to Belnoa.

“The moment someone tracing my lineage touched the Holy Grail, I set things in motion so that the soul I left behind would sprout within the Grail. It’s complicated if I go into details, but let’s not dwell on that.”

The Holy Grail, the lineage of sorcery, and the special existence of the Shadow Dragon Goddess. The contract with Star. Additionally, a series of coincidences woven together created this situation.

“The important part is that I came here like this.”

With a hearty laugh, he patted Belnoa’s shoulder. With each slap, her vision bobbed up and down.

“Normally, I would have just left some advice and shared memories of sorcery, but···.”

Belial trailed off, glancing around.

A space shrouded in shadows.

This was the realm one encountered at the last stage of Dragon Sorcery, a landscape indicating that the sorcerer had dedicated everything to the dragon.

“If by chance, someone from my lineage makes the same choice as I did.”

His hand, once patting Belnoa’s shoulder, froze. Belial’s grip tightened on her shoulder.

“I figured I’d ensure they could hold on.”

“···But.”

“Yes, I know. I was witnessing the same thing as you. If you’ve come this far, you had no choice.”

Belial laughed knowingly.

That Braver fellow was still relentless, he thought as he exhaled deeply.

“Because there is something more precious than life. Even if you fall as a beast, there would be something you must protect. So I won’t point a finger and claim your choice was wrong.”

You probably had your own convictions. And no one has the right to claim your life was wrong.

“But.”

Belial spoke.

“As your senior, I can scold you.”

He gazed down at Belnoa.

“Pull yourself together, Belnoa.”

With a chilly voice, Belial stated.

“Don’t get intoxicated by the power of dragons. Don’t let it sway you. You, and I, we are sorcerers. Don’t let these mere shadows sway us··· oh, I’m sorry, Goddess. Mere shadows, I mean.”

Thud, he stepped on the trembling shadows, looking a bit awkward.

“Is this perhaps sacrilege?”

Belial often made that joke.

The Goddess, who thought she’d never hear that joke again, chuckled incredulously. Laughing, she shook her head.

【It is done. These are indeed mere shadows.】

With a complicated expression, she looked at Belial.

【I am once again receiving your help.】

“What do you mean by that?”

Belial smiled.

“It was always I who received help. Again, I say, I have no intention of blaming you, Goddess. That was my choice and my pride.”

It was a smile akin to the one he last wore more than a millennium ago. The Goddess smiled bitterly before him.

【You remain unchanged, Belial.】

“My wife says my consistency is my charm.”

Joking as such, Belial exhaled deeply.

“Now, Belnoa.”

Standing firmly on the quaking shadows, he reached out to his junior. The shadows that had surrounded her could no longer approach.

“Get up.”

The Black Storm, Belial the Black Dragon.

The ancient hero of ages past raised his junior. As he lifted Belnoa, he cracked his joints with a Crack.

And then, Thud.

He stomped his foot, causing ripples across the shadows. As the ripples spread, Belial adjusted his stance. He stepped down hard, extending his arms forward.

“Watch closely and follow, junior.”

Belial laughed heartily.

“A dragon, master of the skies, cannot be so weak. If it were like this, the reputation of dragons would surely plummet to the ground. Right, Goddess?”

【That’s not wrong.】

“You agree, huh?”

The Goddess shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

Holding his stance, Belial gestured for Belnoa to mimic him. Belnoa exhaled deeply and mirrored her senior’s stance.

“From now on.”

Belial grinned, showing his teeth.

“It’s time to let that failed skeleton know the greatness of a dragon, junior.”

Skebal was confident of victory.

Before his eyes was a bleeding beast, the visage of a dying dragon. Skebal wasn’t foolish enough to lose to a beast that was merely rampaging with power.

‘The momentum is fierce, but···’

That’s all it was. Victory slowly tilted toward his side. The longer the fight dragged on, the darker the cloud grew over the beast. The proud creature, befitting its name, was truly fighting like a beast.

It bit and charged at everything in its path.

It rampaged only with its power.

Though the momentum and strength surpassed Belial’s, Skebal had no thoughts of it being stronger than Belial. Having seen the corrupted Black Dragon before he completely fell to shadows, he knew how powerful it was.

‘Even when it was fully turned into a Black Dragon.’

He hadn’t participated in that fight, but he had witnessed the storm unleashed from the Shadow Temple from afar. He still remembered the sight of the Demon Lord, once a complete existence, tearing apart the waves unleashed and incinerating the forces of shadows.

‘What about that beast now?’

It was pitiful. Ridiculously so.

Skebal swung his arms. In an instant, dozens, hundreds of daggers were launched toward the Black Dragon. He would certainly try to receive them barehanded again, aiming to bite down. He was tired of indulging in this barbaric combat.

Hissssss!

As he fired the daggers, Skebal’s eyes gleamed.

Following his gaze, chains shot up. Just as ashen magic had bound the feet of the Black Dragon long ago, thousands upon thousands of chains were now launched toward the Black Dragon.

‘Restrict its movements with daggers, bind it with chains, and finish it with this strike.’

Black liquid flowed between his ribs.

Using the resentment of countless demonkin as a cost, Skebal prepared a massive strike. The beast, with its momentum lost from earlier, could not withstand this blow.

Swishhhhh!

At that moment when the chains spread out, Skebal perceived victory. The Black Dragon, previously charging with its mouth open, suddenly halted mid-air. It folded its outstretched wings and curled into a ball.

And then, with a whoosh.

As it unfurled its folded wings, a storm erupted. The raging tempest snapped the daggers, the chains that aimed to bind the Black Dragon snapped with a Clank!. With one flap of its wings, the Black Dragon summoned a storm. It opened its mouth.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

A compressed beam of heat swept across the ground. Skebal’s whirlpool of energy shattered. With the explosion of rays and flames rising up, Skebal’s vision was obscured. It was the same tactic as before. It would definitely obscure his vision and charge.

‘There’s no way I would fall for the same trick again.’

As he laid countless traps before him, he cleared the flames at that moment. However, the Black Dragon was nowhere to be seen. Skebal lifted his head. The Black Dragon was still flapping its wings in the sky. What had changed was······.

Ka, Ka, Ka ka ka ka ka ka ka!

A maelstrom swirled around the Black Dragon.

Seven currents of storm circled around the Black Dragon. The more it spun, the fiercer the tempest became, and it darkened more and more. Then, the moment the storm turned completely black.

Woosh, it came.

The Black Dragon flapped its wings mightily.

The storm swept the ground towards Skebal. Seven great tempests. The Black Dragon descended fiercely upon Skebal, obliterating every spell shot at it and shielding itself.

···How did Belial come to be known as the Black Storm?

With a single flap of its wings, it summoned a storm.

With just a flap, it had reduced entire cities to ruins. That was why the Black Dragon was called a calamity and the Black Storm. Skebal gazed ahead.

Ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka!

The tempest that swept everything away, connecting earth and sky, flowed toward him. It was truly a catastrophic sight. Skebal’s pupils narrowed.

‘In an instant···.’

The movements of the Black Dragon shifted. The strategy had completely transformed. The Black Dragon he faced was no longer a beast, but···

‘···the Master of the Skies.’

The dignified, proud Giant Dragon.

The scales had tipped back to equilibrium, once again.

Swishhhhhh!

While the Black Dragon swept aside all the ordered traps on the ground with the storm, it closed in on Skebal. Within the black tempest, a golden draconic eye shone.

Holding the spear of the Fool, Acrita narrowed his eyes. Various voices echoed within his head.

The First Light said.

To flee from here. To run and retreat and then plan for the next opportunity. There was no need to fight on an unfavorable stage, and time favored them. Always retreat··· the Light that had lurked for eons screamed.

But the Divine Foe questioned.

How far did he intend to run? If he fled once more, would he gain anything? He questioned. Clenching a solitary spear while traversing through the chaos, the Divine Foe mocked the First Light.

And, Acrita made his decision.

He was always composed.

Cool-headedly assessing the situation. Both the words of the Light and the words of the Divine Foe were correct. This place was indeed an unfavorable stage, and the chances of victory were slim. But, that alone didn’t mean···

‘I can’t run away.’

If he wanted to run, he could.

By shedding his true self, throwing away everything he had built up, leaving behind the blades that could kill him here··· he could escape.

Just as he had fled from Gletus.

Just as he had fled from Ganikalt.

If he really wanted to, he could do it.

However, echoing in his ears was the mockery of the Divine Foe. If he fled again, would he gain anything? Indeed, his words rang true. The situation was vastly different from when he fled from Gletus and Ganikalt.

‘Escape from here···’

He wouldn’t survive.

Even if he fled, the blades that could kill him would remain here. Moreover, that Watcher could pinpoint his location. Could he shake off their pursuit?

If Raniel had perished with the Demon Lord, it might have been possible.

But with that damned Ashen Mage still intact··· the chances were slim to none. Even if he fled, he’d have to face them again on a battlefield even less favorable.

‘Ashen Mage, Kyle Toven included.’

A laugh slipped out.

There was no answer in fleeing. Acrita, who had always forced choices upon others, now stood at a crossroads. On the other side of the chessboard, Raniel smiled.

‘Flee or confront.’

Either way, he would lose.

Ultimately, both options led to a loss.

“Ah, so this is how it felt.”

The Light snickered, staring at the spear of the Fool in his hand. The self-deprecating laugh that had formed at his lips began to twist and warp little by little. The mockery transformed into mad cackles.

As if delighted.

As if unbearably joyful.

Acrita cackled as he swung the spear. Cutting through the oncoming tide, the Light swept back his hair. The forced choices, standing at a crossroads. It was only at this moment that Acrita faced the fragment of humanity.

Having lived for millennia, only now did he begin to understand humanity in even the slightest form. Truly, what a laughable jest.

Coming closer was death.

The death that he had always been far removed from and had never encountered was approaching. In the face of approaching death, Acrita laughed. He laughed joyfully. The absolute fear that humans should feel in front of death was absent within Acrita.

From the start, Acrita felt no fear.

Therefore, he couldn’t understand humanity, and that’s why he was lacking as a human.

“Come.”

Come, death.

Charging towards death while grasping the spear, Acrita felt no need to overcome any fear.

The frothing waves splashed onto Acrita’s arms. Sizzle, his flesh burned and blood flowed. The scattering petals brushed against Acrita’s skin. Blood sprayed long, as if sliced by a knife.

The blood splattered. The pain felt. The bloodshed.

Acrita laughed as he sprinted.

He swung the spear against the warriors charging towards him. This was a battle he could not win. So, at least he wouldn’t allow them to win perfectly. Even in death, he would tear them apart in a hideous and unsightly manner.

If he thought so.

It was possible that there might just be a miracle for him as well. What had happened to them might just happen to him. Perhaps he too could suddenly transcend his limits and overturn this unfavorable situation. No one knew. Acrita tossed the coin. He ran without looking to see if he had landed on heads or tails.

The Braver, who had always lurked behind the scenes, stepped onto the stage. Like the ones he had scorned, toyed with, and forced choices upon··· now, Acrita bled on the stage.

CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

The spear of salvation wielded by Destel clashed with the spear of the Fool swung by Acrita. With a harsh sound of friction, Acrita thrust his head toward Destel.

“It’s you.”

Acrita erupted in laughter.

“It’s you who was my enemy.”

You, at least.

You, I must slay.