Quit The Hero Party

EP.112 The Human’s Obsession (1)

The Heretic, Gletus.

She recalls an event from a long time ago. In the present day, it’s a distant past known as ancient times.

Gleria.

‘Gleria, Bel Armias.’

There was a time when she was called by such a name.

She received the prayers of many. She acted on behalf of a high being. It was a boring life, but now it has become a memory.

-Gleria.

During that time, there was a mage who was always by her side. He was wise. An ashen-haired man who suited his look well.

-Oh, you’ve made quite the mess, Gleria.

-…Isn’t that a bit harsh?

-Your mess is not just a one or two-day thing. Have you even read the medical book I gave you? When using healing magic, you need to align the bones first, you know?

-But it’s difficult!

-I’m losing it. Come on. It’d be faster if I teach you myself.

He was a man who fussed over her while grumbling.

-Thank you, Armiel.

-Call me by name. It’s not a title I particularly like.

-I prefer this one more!

When everyone else viewed her as a different being, he regarded her as an equal human. Gleria liked that gaze. She liked his casual, indifferent remarks.

The pleasant times flowed by swiftly.

Many events occurred.

The light she believed would never fade diminished. The stars fell silent. What she knew collapsed. The mage gave up everything, and the knight abandoned his pride.

At the end of destruction, Gleria became Gletus.

The woman who became a heretic blinks her eyes. Time, which has flowed and flowed, returns to the present. A voice, like someone gritting their teeth, echoed in her ears.

“You, right now…?”

Ashen hair swayed before her eyes.

Beyond the swaying hair, azure eyes sparkled with intensity. Emotions churned within those eyes.

‘Ah.’

A smile spread across Gletus’s lips.

“What will you do, Ashen?”

Remembering the past, she views the present.

The first child resembling ash is adorable. So adorable that he wishes to claim her immediately.

“Me.”

She reaches out, caressing the child’s cheek.

“Me, what will you do for me?”

The ashen face contorts.

That expression resembles the man from her memories, causing Gletus to chuckle involuntarily.

Creak.

The contracted bond constrains her body. Her body starts to crack. Knowing the time given isn’t long, Gletus stretches out his arms.

Ah.

Please, just a little longer.

I hope to reminisce about the past just a little longer.

2.

The Next-Generation Hero, Chloe.

Her rescue was not too difficult. They found traces of their movement in the sewer. Even small traces, if discovered, couldn’t escape Kalt’s pursuit.

‘Thanks to the Master of the Black Tower.’

It was thanks to the Black Tower Master, who voluntarily investigated and found the traces. Kalt encountered the Black Tower Master in the sewer and they undertook the mission together.

The Black Tower Master was an excellent mage.

The work was done in an instant. It didn’t take long to protect Chloe’s identity.

“Escort to the Royal Capital.”

After giving orders to the remaining Hounds, Kalt immediately turned his steps. He began to run in the opposite direction of the other Hounds.

‘I must hurry back.’

His heart raced inexplicably.

Dark thoughts filled his mind. Since it wasn’t far from Kadinak, Kalt could quickly return to Kadinak.

And the moment he returned to Kadinak.

Kalt felt something was wrong.

“………..”

The knights, who should be on guard with spears in hand, were staring blankly at something. Kalt looked where the knights were gazing.

Thud, boom.

The focus of their gaze was the castle wall.

Kwahhhhh!

With a tremendous sound, the castle wall was collapsing. The wall that had protected Kadinak for over a hundred years was crumbling down. Stones were falling.

Thud.

The ground trembles.

Dust rises.

“…Ah.”

“Ahh…”

The knights let out feeble sighs. Despite the castle wall of the city they were meant to protect collapsing, there was nothing they could do.

“………..”

Kalt too fell silent.

Others couldn’t see it. However, Kalt, who had slightly dipped into the realm of the superhuman, could see it.

The rampaging Ashen Mage.

The figure facing disaster with her.

Kalt’s eyes quickly read the situation. Having supported Raniel up close, he knew her well. Analyzing the situation wasn’t difficult.

‘…No.’

He concluded.

‘At this rate, Sensei will lose.’

It might be fine if it were just a single heretic.

However, the opponent isn’t just a single heretic. There is something inexplicable guarding the heretic. It is cornering Raniel.

Grind.

Kalt clenched his teeth.

He couldn’t go there. He didn’t even think he’d be of any help. It was a battle occurring in a distant realm.

Then it happened.

“Hound. Can’t you hear me?”

A voice came from behind him.

Kalt quickly turned his head to look back.

“…Master of the Black Tower?”

“Finally, you’re listening to me. You were running so hurriedly that it was a struggle to catch up.”

The Black Tower Master, Yetual.

He continued to speak while catching his breath.

“I heard that Belnoa is here. I came to tell you that I would join the rescue, but…”

He chuckled and glanced at the castle wall.

“It seems like that’s not the situation.”

The gaze of Yetual fixed on the castle wall, trembling with intensity. As a mage, he could see the flow of mana flooding from the castle wall.

Yetual narrowed his eyes.

He widened his field of vision to assess the situation of the castle wall.

‘…This is insane.’

Yetual swallowed hard.

‘What in the world is that?’

And, why is Professor Rania there? What in the world is that ominous being she is facing?

‘…I do know what it is.’

He knows, but he can hardly believe it.

Yetual opened his trembling voice.

“Rania van Trias.”

Yetual’s gaze turned toward Kalt.

“If what she is facing is not a mistake of my eyes…”

He spoke.

“The heretic, Gletus?”

He knew it was strong.

But facing a heretic alone was a completely different matter. The term strong could hardly express that.

“No way.”

Yetual voiced a rising hypothesis, one he might have considered several times before.

“That girl is ash…?”

“Master of the Black Tower.”

Kalt’s voice interrupted Yetual’s speculation. Kalt’s gaze was firmly fixed on Yetual. His eyes resembled those of Raniel, who was fighting far away.

“One favor, if you would.”

Eyes catching the possibility.

The knight who had been closest to the Ashen Mage had unknowingly begun to resemble her.

Not letting the grasped possibility slip away.

Even if it means sacrificing himself.

“Please lend it to me.”

Kalt pointed out something.

Yetual blinked. It didn’t take him long to understand Kalt’s request.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“You’re probably going to use it against… that, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“I wouldn’t particularly recommend it.”

Kalt fiddled with the hilt of his sword as he spoke.

“Still, we have to do something, don’t we?”

3.

Thud!

With a shock, his body floated. Gletus’s body stopped, crashing through the watchtower. There was no pain. No damage. Gletus raised his head.

Tap.

Raniel strikes the ground.

As the fist came close, Gletus didn’t blink once. He simply smiled.

Scrape.

Kuntel swung his sword. The sharp blade gently sliced through the rising rubble. The tip of the sword was aimed at Raniel’s neck.

Splat.

Raniel twisted her body and blocked the sword.

She didn’t manage to fully block it. Blood spurted from her forearm. The wounds continued to multiply.

It had always been like this.

Gletus’s body bore no scars. In contrast, Raniel’s body accumulated wounds.

She carved, bit, and broke.

Yet, she does not stop. Her gaze remains unwavering. Eyes filled with determination burn bright.

‘She just keeps charging forward.’

Gletus watched Raniel.

For her, who has lived close to a millennium, the life of a girl is but a fleeting moment.

Human life is short.

Within the blink of an eye, a transient life passes by.

What will one leave behind in such a short time?

Does a fleeting life have meaning?

Throughout history, many races have pondered this while observing humans. The elves, who live for almost eternity, laughed at humans. The demon kin mocked their frailty.

Humans lived amidst ridicule and mockery.

However, Gletus knows.

‘Always, it is humans who are chosen by the stars.’

There are those who burn their short lives.

There are those who willingly sacrifice themselves for a greater cause. There are those who refine their lives for a single purpose.

The lives of those fleeting moments shine brilliantly.

“Ah.”

The woman, losing her light in the presence of brilliance, moans.

“It’s beautiful.”

The girl leaps while spitting blood.

Each time she moves, blood splatters everywhere. She resists ceaselessly. She moves her body. None of it is meaningless.

Thud!

Raniel’s fist struck Kuntel’s arm. The rotting arm crumbled easily.

Bam bam bam!

A barrage of hits rained down. Her forearms ignited brightly. With sparks, the stream of spells flooded in, causing Kuntel’s body to begin breaking apart.

Clang!

Kuntel lost one eye.

While dealing with both the rampaging beasts and Kuntel, Raniel did not falter at all. Rather, she overwhelmed him.

‘No matter how weakened he is…’

The Kuntel created by the heretic is a masterpiece.

Yet, Raniel is overpowering it.

Swish.

Blood splattered.

The fiercely bloodshot eyes of Raniel locked onto Gletus. Gletus met her gaze.

Intense eyes.

Eyes filled with obsession.

And, eyes reminiscent of the man in her memories.

“…Aha.”

Gletus wore a rapturous smile.

Raniel’s body shone with starlight. It was different from the starlight of the blessed ones.

‘Starlight made by burning one’s life.’

Light created by burning what one possesses.

The fleeting light that glimmers as a short life burns bright.

Beautiful light, because it is only a moment.

Snap, snap, snap!

Raniel grasped Kuntel’s arm and tore it apart.

Breaking the fingers gripping the sword, she kicks him away. She stepped into the gap created.

Boom!

As she stomped the ground, bricks shot up.

When she stepped down with force, blood gushed from her wounds.

Drip, drip, drip!

Not only blood pours out.

The ashes that scattered ignite in an instant. The heat rushing in with a flash wipes out the beasts.

“Ah.”

Gletus gasped in awe.

Piercing through the heat, the girl reaches out. That hand is aimed at Gletus’s arm, which connects to the otherworld.

It truly connects.

The beasts that protected him burn away.

For a moment, Gletus senses his impending doom.