The Insurrection of the Inept Hero

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[Title Obtained: Sin of Sorrow, Slayer of Heroes]

[Class Unlocked: Slayer]

[Usurper Unlocked]

[Usurper (Unique Skill): Upon killing an enemy, you can steal one ability from their soul and a rare chance to completely consume their entire life force| Effect: 2% chance of gaining 100% of your target's level upon death; Gain one ability to your liking]

[Active Skill Obtained: Infinite Slash Dimension]

[Infinite Slash Dimension: Fire several rounds of highly compressed distorted energy from your fingers instantly, causing anything in your POV to be cut down until it ceases to exist| Effect: All entities and structures in a 10-meter radius will be rapidly cut down till they cease to exist| Condition: Requires 3,333,333 mana]

[Notice: The skill Vozahlaas has been sacrificed…]

[Krehviirdov Unlocked]

[Krehviirdov (Unique Skill): Kopraan guvok voth warped glimrel, qethserigir vorohah do vozahlaas pogaanogiir, ahrk hokziinus sos coursing zeim sostrah. Daar los gein do pogaan buld do vozahlaas tol nis kos hiiv ful easily ahrk nunon kos ofaal naal daar tol lost seirak aus ahrk mahlaan. Nid trun vir pogaas hi ofaal vey vok, lotzu'ul dovah fen vokrii hi nid trun fos trun los. Daar los vahzah vozahlaas…]

[The Trial of the Fallen has given you a gift]

[You are now level 100,000]

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***

I opened my eyes, finding myself standing in my Ethereal Plane. It's what I call my soul in its ethereal form.

"Well, this is displeasing."

I turned to see the body of my former self walking around aimlessly. Seeing his presence caused me to be confused. Why am I seeing the past version of myself?

Suddenly, all the memories flooded through my mind and I came to understand. It seems that my past consciousness and my current self have fused, hence why I have memories that I don't remember having.

"And here I thought I could take my body back. Well, not that it matters anymore."

My past self vanished, appearing in front of me the second after.

"Tell me, Nero. How is life for you right now? Are you satisfied with what you have even though Risa passed away?"

He looked at me with a smile, his eyes empty, with no light reflecting off them whatsoever.

"I… I'm not satisfied… nor do I feel dissatisfied."

I know what he wants. He wants me to say my feelings for Risa. I can remember clearly. Though I couldn't express my emotions well, I've always liked her. I was… well, a little obsessed. I didn't know that she liked me though. To be honest, she deserved better…

"Without Risa, we probably wouldn't even be here right now. It's even a miracle that we even got to meet her," I said, smiling at the thought.

"Yeah… so why didn't you save her? I don't recall myself being so weak, do I?"

"All people have weaknesses, and it wasn't even a surprise that she was mine. Or should I say yours?" I said, pointing at him.

"What are you implying?" He asked, the smile on his face turning upside down.

"Risa wants us to forget about her now. Of course, she probably doesn't mean to fully forget her, but keep her as a memory. You are still obsessed with her, right? If you weren't, we wouldn't be talking about this."

He stared at me for a while before turning his head away.

"If we had switched positions where you had control of our body instead of me, you would've broken her promise. You would've gotten mad for her sake."

A guilty look appeared on his face.

"I know you. We're the same, so it's obvious I would know my own intentions."

"Yeah, we are the same. However, there is still a difference between us." He suddenly said, getting my attention.

"And what is that?" I asked. He would then grab me by the collar and pull me towards him, our heads slamming into each other.

"I'm not afraid to fight, even when sorrow takes over my body. The current you is Nero. You fight and kill to protect yourself and those you know. You gain power for that purpose. But me? I'm different! I am Naoko! If I had the strength and power, I'd kill for my own survival! If I had to weigh the option of saving another and myself, I would always go for my own! My life matters more than others! Though that wasn't the case when Risa was still alive. If she was in danger, I'd throw my life away for her! …and now she's dead because of you."

Blood dripped from the spot we hit our foreheads. I tried to separate from him, but he had a tight grip. I didn't notice at first, but there were slight tears falling down his face.

…I see…

"Well… it is a fact that it was my fault. But she died protecting us. We should thank her for that… she sacrificed herself for the sake of our lives. She wants us to live our life and she did whatever she did to ensure that would happen. If I had the chance to thank her, I would do it now… It's time to put her aside, put the past aside, and forget about it."

"…is that… so?"

My past self, or Naoko, let go of my shirt and walked away.

"Well… it doesn't even matter anymore. You've already taken full control of our body, so there is nothing I can do," Naoko said, scratching the back of his head.

Taken full control? What does he mean by that?

"Your fighting prowess was guided by my former brainwashed personality. That's why you would sometimes assume a crazed state whenever you were on the brink of danger. Now that you've taken full control, that won't happen anymore. I'm just a ghost from the past now."

"So is that why I'm meeting you here?"

"Yes, I just wanted to say good luck to you. That's all. I didn't have the mental capacity to withstand all the information I was given, but now you do."

His body began to crumble one by one, turning into pebbles, before into black tiny flakes.

"I don't know what the future has in store for you, but good luck."

Seconds later, he vanished and my vision faded black.

***

I woke up, resting on a couch. My body felt sluggish and my vision was all blurry.

Where… was I?

I moved my hand in front of my face and my blurry vision was slowly clearing up. I had bandages wrapped around my hands which were stained with blood and my arm. I also had bandages on my left eye, so I was currently only seeing with my right.

Right… I was exhausting too much energy in that fight. No, I shouldn't be calling it a fight. More like a massacre. That aftertaste after devouring Jeredal's soul is still there in my mouth. I'm gonna have to wash my teeth and mouth later.

And for your information, yes, I do take care of my dental health. Having Derivation was cool and all, but the taste isn't all that good. I always wash my mouth before the day is over.

Well, now I have a new skill to replace for Derivation. It's called… Usurper. It allows me to take a skill of my choice that can be pretty useful. Though Derivation allowed me to take half of my enemy's skills, I don't get the skill I want. Also, it tends to be a hassle to keep track of my own skills. I'm kind of glad. However, it seems that I won't be able to get more skills for the girls. Well, now at least I can choose what specific skill I want. Then there is that 2% chance thing. I have a 2% chance of gaining 100% of my target's level upon death. Now instead of gaining half, I get the entirety. Useful, but the chance will be hard to achieve.

Then, there is the level boost… again. Just how many shortcuts am I taking? Not that I'm complaining, to be honest.

Anyway, that doesn't matter. What has my curiosity is the other skill I got. Cre-crev-kre-krehvir-whatever it's pronounced.

[Krehviirdov]

Shut up, Yukie.

Wait… or is it Seffirot that's talking to me?

There was no answer so I eventually shrugged it off.

Anyway, Vozahlaas, my immortality-like skill, was sacrificed and I got this skill instead. I wonder what it does. The description is useless since I can't read that but… I'll find out soon enough.

Now then…

I lifted myself up and sitting across from me were the girls, all of them napping on each others' shoulders.

"Two weeks. Two whole weeks! Nero, the more you fall asleep, the longer you take to wake up. What's next, a month!?" An irritated female voice shouted as the sound of running through paper could be heard.

I fixed myself up and looked in the direction the voice came from. What I saw was a pile of paperwork on a desk. I could hear a frustrated groan from behind until the stacks of paper fell down, revealing Celestia, who looked like she had not slept for days.

"Two weeks?" I repeated.

"Yes! Two weeks! You slept for two weeks! And them! They've been taking care of you for the entire time you were out! You should be glad you have them, otherwise, I'd leave you bleeding in your bed!" Celestia bickered at me loudly, making me wonder why she was so mad. I know that me sleeping for such a long time could not be the reason.

"As a result of so many people dying in the Ice Siege, I need to fill out all this paperwork to cover all the costs. You wouldn't understand unless you had the job of a guildmaster. Should I also mention that there will be another attack?"

She looked at me annoyingly and I decided not to say anything. Guess she has her own stuff to do.

Well… at least the only good news I've heard are the girls taking care of me.

Wait, did she say another attack?

"Yes, another attack. Because you killed Jeredal, you've angered Cocytus, the demon lord of... Cocytus. Now he wants your head, and he's sent his fallen son to do the job."

...how does she know that? Oh wait, I forgot she can read my mind.

"Wait, his son? But I just killed Jeredal."

"Not Jeredal, you fool. I'm talking about Myran. The ice elf you killed several months ago."

Right... that guy. So he's coming back after me from the dead? It's like a ghost from the past coming to haunt me again.

Hmm, I think I'm just exaggerating. He can't be that strong, could he?

"Did sleeping cause you to get dumber, Nero?" Celestia began insulting me again and I'm just wondering if she outright hates me now.

"Nero? You're awake!"

Suddenly, I was tackled with a warm hug and kissed on the head. Kiyomi held onto me tightly and she didn't let go of me.

"It's alright, I'm fine. Just a little scratch, that's all. I'm thankful you and the others helped me while I was unconscious," I said, expressing my gratitude.

"You helped us so it's normal that we would help you."

I smiled and patted her head. Her cheeks blushed in embarrassment. Then we were interrupted by Celestia who loudly interrupted us by clearing her throat.

Soon, the rest of the girls woke up and I gave them the same treatment that I gave Kiyomi. After that, Celestia had something important to tell me.

"You see, the Warlock Hero wants to bring you somewhere."

"Warlock Hero? Joseph? Where does he intend to bring me to?"

"I don't know, but you aren't staying in my office for another two weeks again. I have a meeting to attend to so you best go your way. Oh, and you are going to have to go with him alone. He's waiting outside the guild."

"What!?" Ravyn suddenly shouted, "But can't you see he's injured? He's gonna need some hel-"

"I can just heal him you know."

After Celestia said that, the room fell silent.

I was healed by Celestia, and then we were kicked out. I told the girls to take on some quests and get stronger while I did business with Joseph.

When I left the guild, Joseph stood at the entrance wearing a cloak. I quickly recognized him since his hair kind of revealed itself from under the hood.

"Took you long enough." He said as he appeared in front of me.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"I have somewhere to bring you. A certain someone wants to meet you."

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