The Lazy King

The Lazy King Part 2 Chapter 7: Fortis’ Courage

Part 1: I’ve not a Fragment of Courage

This is, perhaps, the oldest memory I possess.

“Congratulations, you have been chosen as a Hero.”

“…? W-what… is this, who are…”

That black robe that draped over her head, and covered even up to her eyes was the vestment of a magician. A robe you would occasionally see along the main street.

Those that covered their eyes would develop the ability to see ‘something’ unknown to an ordinary man. But it was a long time later that I came to know that fact.

Without a single harbinger, the magician that had appeared all too suddenly said that to me, who, sword alone, had never even held up a kitchen knife.

I’m not sure what she was seeing with her eyes, or what she had discovered with me, but in the end I never had the chance to find that out. If I were to refer to that encounter in a clichéd fashion, I’ll bet it was fate.

“… So… what is… a Hero?”

For the dubious mage that suddenly appeared, and the shady-as-hell voice she threw out, the reason I decided to take her seriously… no, the reason I even confronted her was just a coincidence… or maybe something else.

I’m sure that I just didn’t have the will to ignore one who had come to inform me of something of her own accord. If perhaps I had such a will at that time… I should have been able to settle it then and there. But in the end, as if thrown about by the tide, I ended up hearing her speech just like that.

The shady, suspicious magician spoke.

“A hero is one who lights up the darkness with their valor. Who crushes the strong, and saves the weak, the sword of hope to save the human race from the invaders of darkness. And you have the makings of one. I can… see it.”

Honestly, I was troubled.

By the magician who claimed to see something I couldn’t. No, of the magician who spoke as if she were looking at it the entire time.

For one without a single friend, with my only form of conversation being when I occasionally went out shopping, I had absolutely no idea how to deal with her, and I could only give a vague reply when it came down to it. I couldn’t help it.

Without even asking what quality she was seeing. Just thrown around by the waves.

“Um… becoming a Hero is… um…”

I don’t have a reason. I don’t have any reason to become one. I doubt I’ll be able become one, and up to that point, I never even imagined for that option to appear before me. I never thought I’d ever want to become one.

I was… what you find in any city out there, the lowest rank of the city’s middle class. Nothing more than a single child.

The magician smiled at my bewilderment.

“You will become a hero, Serge. If you do, then someday when the time comes that those dear to you, your parents, lover, friends’ lives are put at risk by the forces of evil, your power will surely come through to put a stop to it. In order not to come to regret it someday, your power is to become… the 『Sword』 of humanity.”

Those dear to me? Parents? Lover? Friends?

Huh? Um… I don’t really… have anyone like that.

My parents weren’t there from the time I gained awareness of my surroundings. I don’t know whether they’re dead or alive.

Even I had always hated my own hair and eyes, the dirty color of gray sewer rats. With my lack of sociability, there’s no way I would make any friends.

All that I have… are some whose faces I know of, and complete strangers.

I repeated the magician’s words to myself, and thought.

Surely, this magician had only ever seen heroes like that. Those with dear ones, parents, lovers, friends. Heroes with the courage and ability to fight the dark forces, or whatever, for their sake.

But I was always alone. Even when no tragedy out of a fairytale had befallen me, I was just alone.

None too smart, and quite weak physically. On my feet, I lost to children three years my junior, and I couldn’t even read or write decently. I never felt a sense of crisis from such a thing. There were more than enough of such people around me.

I could only look upon her with cold eyes.

For what purpose did this magician come before my eyes? Just what sort of talent does she see? Did something like that really exist? All these sorts of questions… I could care less about.

The mysterious atmosphere, and her hood that seemed to fit it. I didn’t even care whether she was a fake or the real deal.

Of the magician’s expression, all her robe allowed me to see was her mouth curved into a smile.

“Please think over it a night. Serge, you have the right to choose. To live as a hero to light up the dark, or… to waste your entire life as a normal civilian…”

“I’ll do it.”

I replied immediately.

“… And please decide it by your own will. Your fate is… huh… eh?”

“I will… become one.”

At that moment, I definitely sensed that her concealed eyes had opened wide.

Surprise. That was the first emotion I managed to give to the magician. It was somewhat enjoyable.

“… Are you sure you don’t have to think about it? If you do end up becoming a hero, you can never return to an ordinary life. Perhaps whatever happiness awaiting you in the future would disappear. Your dear ones, lover, parents, friends, you may be forced to part with them for eternity.”

“…”

And I’m telling you I don’t have anyone like that. Even whatever sort of worth was there having those four in my life was unknown… to me.

Seriously, what's with this woman, and her obsession with dear ones, lovers, parents, and friends?

The magician’s mouth warped slightly. She let out a long sigh.

“Even if your resolve is of that level, I must call your choice to hero-hood to be premature. While I do commend that resolve of yours…”

“I’ll do it, dammit.”

“…”

The resolve to lose what didn’t exist?

Perhaps if I had but a single one close to me, than as weak as I was, I never would have been able to take that option.

But in all truth, I had no one. I had nothing I could call a dear one. With no one I needed to protect, I had no reason to hesitate. My present state was the worst, and as long as I can’t think of a life lower than that, then I might as well just press forward whenever the opportunity comes to me.

My ignorance was named as recklessness, and at that moment, it was misunderstood as courage.

“… Why? Why is it that you can be so strong? Even if I call you a hero, you’re still human. If you face defeat at the forces of darkness, and face a tragic demise… no, the probability of you facing a fate worse than death is nothing low.”

Why am I strong?

I’m not strong at all.

I’ve not a fragment of courage. I’m just… alone.

If you’re going to call me strong, me, with no knowledge or power to boast of… if that were to be reflected on this magician’s eyes as strength, then I’m sure…

If the strength of the heroes of the past lay in that they had people to protect, then I’m sure…

My strength is that… I don’t have a single thing to protect, and not even the need to defend my own life. I can permit any sort of sacrifice, and that’s all it was.

But the magician couldn’t understand that.

The reason I would become a hero.

I forcibly moved my facial expression I hadn’t changed in a long wile, and formed a stiff smile to the magician’s bewildered air.

“Because it’s… for the sake of the world.”

If I have the power to save it, if my own power can be of the least amount of use to something, if you’re going to give me a reason to exist, then I’ll sacrifice myself to it. That’s what my child’s mind thought.  That’s all there was to it.

I’ll throw out my worthless self, throw out my vague standing in life, throw away the idleness I felt from my own ignorance… as if I was just tossing aside some trash on the side of the road, I was able to discard it all so easily. That’s all there was to it.

Even if I didn’t know how to read or write, I understood.

It wasn’t for my dear ones, or my parents, or lover, or friends, and of course, it wasn’t for the world. It was plain and simple… self-satisfaction.

From the eyes covered under the hood, water started to flow.

So even magicians weep. I ended up thinking something useless like that.

“… You will surely become a wonderful, and… tragic hero. Serge, I can do nothing but commend that courage of yours.”

What the magician gave name to was nothing like courage, but seeing that selfless smile on her face, I kept my mouth shut.

The magician’s hand gave off a faint light. To me, it was the first time I had ever seen magic, and it looked like the work of God.

The lights quietly poured down over my head. It was as she were covering me with a hat of it. And what existed in that flow was a power strong enough to stir up my existence.

“For your strong and noble will, I grant the Class of 『Hero』 onto you. Serge. I pray for light on… the path you are to travel.”

“… Yes.”

Her words stained the insides of my mind along with that power.

My senses understood. It was likely something powerful. Surpassing the bounds of humanity, a powerful Mana of light to overwhelm the Demon Race. My soul was written over. As one to light the dark.

If you were going to give out something like this, then anyone… even a civilian could be a Hero. Even I could do it.

What is this… so effort and talent… had nothing to do with it.

Compared to the power granted by the 『Hero』 Class, all the effort I had ever put in, and those classmate, upperclassmen, lowerclassmen I had always been jealous of equally… felt like nothing but rubbish.

And on that truth, I felt a great sense of guilt.

Power I gained by cheating. My heart gave a dull ache.

What a terrible tale it must be.

“Now, Serge. Please go forth. With that power… to clear away the darkness. To save the world. Here, from this moment forth… you are a Hero, Serge.”

“… Yes.”

Hero. Serge the Hero.

It doesn’t really feel real. No, I don’t need it to. I mean, it’s not like I actually wanted to become a Hero in the first place.

The inside of my head was incomparably clearer than ever before, and my body unbelievably light.

The power to clear the dark. I knew how to use my power by instinct.

Within my head floated the Brave Skilltree. The tree with all the powers of a hero loaded into it.

From one to one hundred, the Skilltree that had every slot on it opened from the start. I instinctively selected thhe final Skill on it.

A light descended from the sky, drawn to my left hand, before it began to take shape.

I felt no heat from it. It was a light that was only cold.

The 『Brave』 Skill Tree.

What existed at its depths, the weapon of a Hero. A Skill to bring forth a Holy Sword.

『Luster』.

It was a slender long sword. Its pale blue body was about one meter in length, and its design-less boorish hilt rested in my hand.

The Holy Sword I produced by expending an amount of Mana I wouldn’t even have felt if I were as I was before obtaining the Hero Class was simply beautiful… and cold.

The Holy Sword. Its name surfaced in my mind… Solitus Argentum.

(TL: Latin, Solitary Silver)

Light reflected off the blade with a lonely name perfectly suited of me, making it shine silver.

In the center of it, light, wind gathered, and gave blessings to the sword. The magician merely stared up at that sword in a trance, and at that moment, I felt the truth of my role as a Hero for the first time.

I hung out the blade’s tip towards the heavens. A holy pillar of light rose from it.

In my new life, reborn as a Hero, I couldn’t help but think a little.

If I’m the Hero, I wonder if I can make any friends.

Part 2: What’s Necessary isn’t Power, but Courage

… I failed.

I had been too lacking in caution due to my place in the sky. When I manipulated the wings on my back to charge with all my might, I was easily dodged.

At the same time, I received an impact great enough to crush my skull.

Demons are strong. Especially in the miasma of the Demon World, they were able to gain extraordinary powers. It’s completely different from fighting them on the surface, or in the heavens.

Once they reached the highest rank… Demon Lord, I wonder how strong that would be.

I thought I had understood it.

I mean, it wasn’t my first time fighting a Demon or a Demon Lord.

I’ve defeated a number of them A number of them fell.

I never thought I could deceive the wide ranged perception abilities of a Demon Lord. The surprise attack I launched with the premise that they knew it would be coming was brilliantly evaded, and I was smashed.

Strong. Within my fading field of vision, I thought.

On top of it all, this enemy hadn’t gotten serious at all. As if it were a part of their daily life, they activated a Skill with natural movements, and without even any killing intent, they naturally intercepted me.

I can’t even imagine how many months and years they had placed into their strength. But there was quite a bit of menace packed into that single blow of theirs.

The moment I realized my failure, what flowed out from my heart wasn’t fear… an anxiety great enough to crush me.

With my vision smashed, and my five senses fading, my mind dripped out, and my soul well into darkness…

… And a Skill activated.

My memories flashed back through me.

My limits as a Hero. My defeat. Being picked up by God, and made a Valkyrie. The power I devoted my life to. The power I devoted myself to defeat Demons. The Power I devoted myself to destroy them.

On the 『Question』 that came up in my mind, I selected 『Yes』 without hesitation.

My breath returned. Light came back to my world. My smashed head, and burst brain, and my split body, and any and everything else returned to normal.

A rewind from death. No matter how many tens and hundreds and thousands of times I got a taste of it, it was an unfathomable sensation I could never accustom myself to.

Power reentered my body. I slowly stood up.

The large shadow looked down over me. Golden eyes observing me. That calm giant stood stagnant like a pillar of rock.

And of all else, he was greater than any Demon I had faced thus far, and his reaction as he looked at the scene surely wasn’t that of one seeing revival for the first time.

The Demon was a mountainous bald man, whose body height exceeded two meters. His brown skin was draped over a great armor of muscle coating his entire body. The way he held himself was closer to humanity than any other Demon K had seen before. I didn’t see him to be holding any weapons, but with that body of his, perhaps such a thing was unnecessary.

The greatest thing for me to focus on was that, despite us being a mere two meters apart, I couldn’t feel a single hint of power from him.

A Demon’s power is high. Originally, I could detect them instinctively from quite a distance. If that opponent was to be an exceptional Demon Lord, then I could even feel it kilometers away.

No matter which of the seven sins a Demon was to reign over, that should hold true.

But the Demon before my eyes was a type I’d never seen before. I had nothing in my knowledge to indicate the ability to completely erase one’s presence.

If I had acted without prior information, and without adequate caution, I wouldn’t have even noticed this man’s existence.

Is this man… what God had feared of… the calamity?

Before the unidentified man, I held up my Holy Sword.

That would have been a favorable chance for him to give a followup attack, but the man didn’t move his body at all. He folded his arms, and looked down on me, those golden eyes letting off a fiery radiance. A heavy pride clung to his mouth.

“… I see, that sword is… so you’re Serge Serenade… I never thought the real one would show up… why must everything always go astray.”

“… Hah!”

I have no words… to exchange with a Demon.

I sucked in a short breath, and gave the ground a strong kick

I poured power into the Holy Sword.

The blade was one imbued with high divinity. The strongest sword in the wor… no, perhaps just the strongest of the Human Race. But still, Demons that climbed up to the surface were one thing, but it wasn’t imbued with the power to kill a Demon in the Demon World with a single stroke.

That’s why I have to put power, Mana into it. In a time so far back I can’t even remember when it occurred, it was what I once laid hands on as a human, Hero’s power.

The pale blue edge was clad in a pale light. It was an armament to cut down darkness. The power that the frail human race had devoted itself to in order to stand against Demons. A sword of light to repell all sadness to befall them.

The Demon Lord didn’t move.

As I thrust the tip forward with the intent to rend him toward that Lord’s trunk of a body… towards the area with the highest probability of containing his Soul Core, the left of his chest, one of his log-like arms easily knocked the blade aside.

The blade lightly cut into his flesh.

Jet-black blood scattered, and before that could fall to the ground, he embedded his foot into my solar plexus.

My breath was knocked out. My internal organs were hollowed out. My brain let out a scream.

My body that had been strengthened as an Angel, the defensive barrier surrounding it was shattered in an instant, and an unpleasant creaking sound from my own bones reached my ears. My field of vision blinked on and off, before the pain tinted all before me pitch black.

For a few seconds, my body danced in the air, before I was thrown onto the ground. My entire body hurt from the pressure of the impact.

It hurts. I’m in pain. I’m scared. He’s strong. I ignored all those notions going through my mind, and thought.

I couldn’t see the instant he moved. Normally, in the moment an enemy made a move, I could see a small waver in their being, but I saw none of that at all. He was simply too fast.

He’s strong. The three Demon Lords I defeated were nothing compared to this.

I can’t even see where to start. The difference in power between us was hopeless. My dynamic vision was unable to follow him at all. And of all else, a Skill to erase his presence is… too abnormal.

“… u…”

I barely managed to swallow down the scream forming at the back of my throat.

I allocate the parts of my mind heading in a negative direction from the pain and power gap towards analyzing my resources on hand. That was, in all the years I’ve fought on, the method of fighting I’d cultivated to keep fighting without having my heart fold in on me.

Just as there were different types among Angels, the Skills a Demon could use varied by the Sins they governed. With pure physical abilities this high, speed beyond my perception, and the ability to pierce a barrier with his bare hands…

From that blow, there was but a single sin I could surmise that he held.

Superbia.

Among the various sorts of Demons around, it was the type that required the most caution.

I didn’t『Die』, so the pain won’t go away. The option isn’t coming up in my head.

He’s going easy on me. My magically strengthened body, and the barrier of an Angel, before this Demon, they were no more than walls of paper. I’ll bet he had enough power to turn me into a lump of meat in a single blow if he was up to it.

In that case, it would be a lot easier on me if he just killed me…

On the non-fatal damage assailing my body, I started to go through all options I had to preserve my continued existence, and at that moment, the man raised his voice.

Fitting his stature, it was a voice like a subterranean rumble. But opposed to that thunderous tone of his, the contents held some intelligence. That was one of the reasons Demons were something more than simple beasts.

“That authority is… 『Fortis』 I see… a troublesome one it is… no…”

The wrinkles on his brow smoothed out, and his frowning expression warped.

His voice wasn’t leaving him anymore, but he was quite clearly showing scorn.

What is he scoffing at? If he laughing at me for trying to attack knowing full well the gap between us?

No, there’s no way I’d ever understand a Demon’s thoughts.

I confirmed my damage. There was still some pain left across my body, but it won’t influence any offensive actions. In the first place, the option of retreat never existed.

I used my sword like a cane to lift myself.

My knees trembled. My arms shook. I stopped the quivering across my body, and stood up. I had no choice but to stand.

Hero was the general term to refer to those that opposed the dark. Therefore, as long as a darkness to oppose stands before me, and my own soul is undying, I must strongly impose myself on it.

… Because if I don’t… I won’t be able to fight on.

“It’s useless. Your power will never reach… me.”

I won’t reach. I know.

I could feel it from a single blow. Even if I didn’t measure his power by the disparity in our Mana, I knew well enough of the gap between us. Of all else, this Demon Lord is… simply too fast.

But still…

I remembered the days of battle I had spent.

There was never an enemy within them that wasn’t strong. I had always fought with my life at risk.

Since descending back into this Demon World, the three Lords I took on were all strong and troublesome existences holding desires strong enough to paint out all existence.

What’s necessary isn’t power, but courage. As long as that doesn’t run out, my defeat is… unthinkable.

I concentrated power to my eyes, and send malice and fighting spirit towards the Lord whose name I had yet to learn.

Black soil, dark emotions, and a miasma full of stagnant air, yet within that my blood and soul cried out. My spirit was excited.

On the edge of the horizon are three more great presences. They’re undoubtedly Demon Lord Class. I have no idea for what reason such a number of them have gathered.

I don’t know, but within my perpetual existence, within all the battle experience I had built up, I had a premonition that I was diving in to the longest battle I’ve ever faced.

Surprisingly enough, even when I directed my intent to kill at this Demon Lord, he still shows no will to fight. That reaction I had never witnessed from any Demon of Superbia thus far was too ominous to bear.

… I’m scared.

“… It doesn’t seem you understand, 『Fortis』. Courage and recklessness are… different things entirely.”

The Demon Lord sneered.

『Fortis』

The name of the authority I gained the moment I became a Valkyrie after my death. One of the Virtues governed by Angels.

He saw through that just by locking blades with me twice!?

… No… that’s wrong. What’s to be feared the most is that, even after inferring it, the Lord had yet to lose his composure.

Still with a brilliant smile on his face, his figure leisurely swayed. That brown body, that large build started jiggling about like a Slime, before it dissolved away.

The sudden fear send shivers down my spine. While his head had already disappeared, that voice continued to ring out.

“No matter how you may try to prove that brave heart of yours, no matter how many tnousands of times you’re prevailed with it… it’s all… meaningless. Serge Serenade. Valkyrie, Valkyrie, is it… ah…”

I cannot comprehend. On the unknown that didn’t correspond with any of the experience I’d built up over my life, my hands shook.

That muddily oozing body flowed over onto the ground, and as if it were an illusion, it vanished entirely.

From top down, that large build surpassing two meters had melted, and within it… a body three times smaller revealed itself.

She was full of openings. I knew that, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the one who emerged from the giant.

“Eh… that can… ‘t be…”

My breath stopped.

Upon the destruction of that muscular mass, what came out was… a young girl.

Even when my own stature wasn’t that high, she was considerably smaller than me.  Unbefitting her petite build, her features were quite mature. A sharp glare, and an excessively bulging chest.

White skin, and golden eyes. On her back grew five sets of dark wings, and from her head grew platinum blond hair that reached all the way to her feet.

What she wrapped around that body looked like nothing more than unornamented, colorless old rags, but while there were some differences here and there… that figure, and presence was something I could never mistake.

… In the distant past, it was an honorable form I had happened upon before.

I only saw her for an instant. A single short moment. In the depths of my memory, behind the haze of things forgotten, all that remained of my recollection of her was that brief scene.

In my life much longer than a normal human, where a majority of my memories had been long buried, what I could still remember was… when I was brought to the heavens by the Valkyries… the moment right after.

It’s likely that the other party never took me to sight. She likely doesn’t remember. It’s because we never even exchanged words. It’s because our statuses and powers were too far removed for something on the level of conversation to be permitted.

… But I remembered. From that single glance, a powerful charisma that burned itself into my soul.

Those ten wings of light.

Of all those that enforced Iustitia in all the heavens, she was one of the scarce Sacred Lords that could be counted on two fingers.

A Lord of Lords. One who was granted the fruit of glory by the supreme God of the celestial realm.

The jet black pointed tail she hadn’t grown back then slapped messily against the ground.

“How can this… why are… you…”

“As I thought, so you’ve scene this form of mine before… Ku ku ku, should I call it a strange twist of fate…”

There was a difference. The Angel I had looked up at back then had wings that glimmered as if they were light itself that had taken shape. Her eyes weren’t gold, but a clear emerald greed. She didn’t have a tail either.

But if you looked at it the other way, besides those traits, not a single thing had changed. Her face, her body, her height, tone, expression. That blazing power that could scorch one at a glance hadn’t faded at all, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of years had passed.

… No, that’s wrong.

There’s no way that’s true!

I shook my head, and mustered up my courage.

The girl before me is one blessed by the vice of a Demon. One who would creep unseen through the shadows of the hearts of man, to devour their souls.

Word by word, I asked as if I was posing the question to myself.

“That can’t… be. What trickery is this… Demon Lord. Why have you chosen to take up such a form at this point in time…?”

“Hmm… interesting. You’re an interesting one, Valkyrie. Having seen this form, and knowing my name, you still maintain the willpower to stand before me…”

Quite different from before the girl scoffed at me in a gentle voice like the ringing of sleigh bell. Her lips curved, and her right hand directed itself at me.

That was her activation nose. Without any warning, without a single movement of Mana, light poured out. Enough to cloud over my eyes, an untainted white light.

Forgetting the burning sensation in my eyes, I unintentionally opened them ever wider. It was a Skill I was accustomed to, but that’s exactly why I couldn’t believe it.

The meaning behind it caused my body to quiver.

The overflowing light took shape, and in her hand, a single sword was created.

With the hilt, the blade and all else forged of a shadowless white, a straight sword.

Among the authorities granted to Angels, it was the power most specialized in bringing ruin to Demons.

The 『Iustitia』 Authority.

A Skill to manifest a sword of light to dispel the dark.

『Sin Breaker』

The point of the sword that looked to have been delicately folded out of light itself was directed at me. Normally, it was a sword of justice that would never have found its way to be pointed there.

On the pressure that shortened my breath, I instinctively held my Holy Sword aloft.

By assuming a stance for battle, the shaking across my body came to a stop. But the sway of my emotions wasn’t so conveniently ceased.

I have the greater reach, but something like that… doesn’t matter if I can’t hit her.

“The real… deal?”

Still, even when confronting her, what formed at my mouth was a question.

In contrast, my opponent’s lips only returned a smile.

This is no good. Even if I found myself asking it, I already knew the answer.

This woman before my eyes was undoubtedly the genuine article. This pressure, that form. No matter what illusions she were to use, it would be impossible to replicate it to this extent.

A true Angel… no, former Angel.

Holding the name of Glory, one of the heavenly messengers closest to God.

The glory that kneeled beside the throne.

Gloria Seidthroan.

“I’m also short on time, but, ku ku ku, how… pitiful. I’ll play with you just a bit. Think it an honor for your body to be receiving my blade.”

“You are… no, you should be dead…”

At the very least, that’s what I’d heard.

In a time an uncountable number of years passed, against the greatest army of the Demon World’s forces, she commanded all the forces under her command, and managed to repel them, but after confronting the enemy’s Demon Lord, her whereabouts were lost. As she never returned, she was proclaimed dead.

The death of a high class Lord made quite an echo through heaven. I remember it. No, there’s no way I could forget.

Due to the outcome of that battle, the war was brought to a temporary armistice.

I have no idea as to why she became a Demon.

In the first place, as I never associated with her, I only knew of her personality and bearing from hearsay. All I knew for sure was how extraordinary her power had been.

Do I have… any chances of victory?

… No, at the very least, I can’t go down before our blades have even locked once.

With all the power I could muster, I glared.

I built up my courage.

I remembered the reason I had been sent to the Demon World by God.

The appearance of a powerful Demon of prophecy. The birth of a calamity.

And… for some reason, the one with the highest possibility of being able to take care of it was me.

A Fallen Angel who once stood at the summit of all Angels. I doubt there’s a calamity greater than this.

I can’t leave this Lord to run free.

In that overwhelming pressure, I wrung out even more courage from the depths of my heart. I used it to coat over my fear.

The heroic power I cultivated in my battles as a Hero. That Fortis authority I laid hands on when I became a Valkyrie.

It’s fine, it’s fine.

As long as I have both of them, my defeat is… impossible.

I put power in my arms, the power of my soul. The Holy Sword was clad in an even greater light, and let off a silver blue glimmer.

And the moment I held that sword allot…

A familiar message came up in my mind.

『Serge Serenade has Died. Cause of Death: Decapitation』

My vision suddenly went dark.

I couldn’t move myself in the slightest.

What had transpired, what did she do? I couldn’t understand any of it. I couldn’t even perceive it. There wasn’t even… any pain to be felt.

A followup window faded into view.

『Do you want to try again?』

『YES / NO』

I can’t move my body. My five senses have already gone out. Within that nothingness, the message alone was all I could perceive.

The answer was… already determined.

Light returned to my eyes again. The hands that had unconsciously began to predd down on my wounds… came to a stop.

Gloria’s Sin Breaker was artlessly smeared with a slight hint of red.

The message. I should hav