NOVEL NEXT Chapter 287: Two Resolutions
༺ Two Resolutions ༻
“What’s going on here…?”
I was dumbfounded.
The golems I had fought so hard to defeat before, lay crushed on the ground like broken toys.
Was it a malfunction? No, that couldn’t be it. These were supposed to be the final bosses of the scenario. Just like Miho, who may be one of the strongest players upon awakening.
Sure, they weren’t as big as the ones I caught or when it was the boss back then, but still, fighting eight of them should have been quite a challenge.
But for a boss to suddenly malfunction and collapse like this? It didn’t make any sense. Could there be some kind of trap?
“…The cores, they’re all shattered?”
“Really?”
Still in a defensive stance with my sword raised, I finally turned my gaze to the cores after hearing Clana and Irina muttering in a daze.– Shhhh…
Black smoke wafted from the shattered core inside the golems.
These cores were normally unbreakable by ordinary means, but can be easily destroyed when pierced with the strength of the Hero.
– Shaaah…
Kania, who had been running towards me crying just now, was crouching in front of the golems with a disheartened look, and started to absorb the dark mana within them.
Even though they were only mid-sized, the energy from the eight Dark Golems that was flowing into Kania was still immense.
The concentration and accumulated energy must be immense, considering they were destroyed immediately without putting up a fight.
“Uh, Frey. You can stop now…?”
“Ah.”
I had been dazed and looking around like a stray cat, and it wasn’t until Clana came over and tapped me on my shoulder did I regain my senses and straighten up.
– Fizzle…
The white flames surrounding my body were quietly extinguished.
“This technique… Every time I tried to use it, something always interfered…”
The last time I went down to the Church’s underground with Ferloche and was attacked by the holy undead, Irina intervened just as I was about to use this skill. Now, something unknown has helped us.
It was a relief in a way, as the skill was quite taxing on my body… but it still felt unsettling.
Who could have helped us?
“Hmm…”
Frowning, I looked around but saw no trace of anything, so I started walking forward.
I needed to investigate the entity that attacked us before the golems, which were now just empty cans, appeared.
– Fizzle…
Walking past the golems, I came across the hideously contorted creature sprawled on the ground.
It was a nauseating sight, even for someone with a strong stomach. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to eat octopus for months after this.
– Tap tap
But I have to investigate it. So I cautiously prodded the creature with my sword, and its tentacles twitched slightly.
“B-Be careful, Frey…”
“It’s okay, it’s already dead.”
I responded confidently. In fact, I doubted whether this thing was ever alive in the first place, but the energy that was clearly visible earlier had disappeared.
“It’s really disgusting…”
“But doesn’t it look familiar?”
“This thing? I’ve seen it a few times in the sea.”
While I carefully observed the creature, a conversation continued behind me.
“I think… I’ve seen it in the sky.”
“In the sky? This disgusting thing exists in the sky?”
“In a way, there’s something even more disgusting than this up there.”
Kania, still absorbing dark mana, pointed to the sky with a cold expression.
“The sun…”
At the same time, a word popped into my mind.
“I just told you to remember it…”
That day, when I was especially harsh on Ferloche, I had a dream about a black cat doll.
In that dream, a person who I presumed to be my ancestor had apparently split the sun in half.
Of course, due to the revealed truths that day, I thought it might have been simply an attempt to inform me that the Demon God and the Sun God had separated ways, but…
– Wriggle, wriggle…
What if it was literal?
‘Kania’s right… they do look somewhat similar.’
The tentacles slightly protruding and wriggling from the round sphere, did they not resemble the rays spreading out from the sun?
Maybe it was because Kania and I had seen more records of ancient artifacts found in the Western Continent than anyone else that we saw it that way.
The sun carved on the newly excavated artifacts was black and strangely shaped.
The rays were not straight but strangely twisted, just like these tentacles before me.
‘The sun, the sun…’
I was overwhelmed by a strange sense of déjà vu like I definitely had seen this strange creature before. Then I took a deep breath.
“…Damn it.”
“Young Master?”
“Frey!? What are you doing?”
I frowned and plunged my sword into the strange creature.
– Fizzzz…
Without hesitation, I split it in half.
“…!”
Something inside it revealed itself.
Or rather, it stared at me.
– Tzzzzz…
But before I could look at it closely, it disappeared before my eyes.
“An eye…?”
However, that image was etched in my mind.
For a moment, the eyes widened and glared at me before closing and disappearing.
“The portal… is disappearing.”
“No more waves, it seems.”
As I gazed blankly at the black stone left by the creature, the huge portal visible between the sliced creature began to close slowly.
“Hey, should we try to go inside the portal? We could even take an army and make a preemptive attack…”
“Don’t even think about it, I’ve tried raiding it before…”
Listening to Clana and Irina’s serious conversation, I recalled a dream and slowly looked up at the sky.
“…Hmm.”
Hanging above the night sky was the softly glowing moon, beautiful as always.
‘To split the sun… It can’t be just for this.’
Thinking about the sunrise that would come after this moonlit night, I murmured to myself.
“But… I feel like I’m getting close to the answer.”
Could I really cut the sky and split the sun in half if I wield my full strength, like in my dream?
No.
No matter how much I imagined it, it’s impossible. I never thought of myself as weak, but I’m not strong enough to split the sun.
After all, it was impossible for my sword to reach the sun in the first place. I learned from Serena how far the sun was from us when I was younger.
“Umm…”
Suddenly, I am reminded of the cute image of Serena, who was still a bit wary of me back then. With a calm expression, she said that the moon was closer and always orbits around us, so we should stay closer to it.
That memory momentarily distracted me, but then I turned my gaze back to the girls behind me and it made me lost in thought again.
‘They’ve all… been hurt quite a bit.’
Kania suffered significant injuries to her forehead and shoulder in the battle.
Even now, as she bled and looked pale, Kania stood firm with a smile when she met my gaze as if nothing was wrong. And my heart ached for her.
Irina, who was once the target of envy in the Magic Tower, had suffered significant injuries to her side and feet.
She nonchalantly took off her top with a pained look and tightly wrapped a bandage around her waist.
Her entire body was covered with blackened and charred mana circuits.
Despite knowing that it will worsen her condition, she still forcibly implanted dark magic into her body for my sake. And she squeezed out every last drop of mana from her mana circuits while she was still in a mana-depleted state.
Clana, who had been getting more and more gaunt lately, had the most severe injuries because she fought in the front lines despite her status as the Imperial Princess.
“Hehe…”
From a very young age, she had to throw away the luxuries of being a Princess and was forced to jump into the mud. Now, she was smiling at me while covered in mud.
She forgot about her pain, simply because our eyes met. The sight of her made my heart sink.
‘I… need to become stronger.’
I quietly made a vow as I watched my loved ones suffer such severe injuries while trying to protect me.
‘Several times stronger… No, hundreds… thousands of times stronger.’
I wouldn’t be complacent anymore. To protect the precious people in my life, I would become thousands of times, hundreds of millions of times stronger than I am now.
So strong that I could swat away creatures like the one we just encountered like a fly, and achieve a perfect victory over the Demon King.
Strong enough to beat down the Demon God.
And…
“Strong enough to cut down the sun in the sky.”
I added another goal to my sole purpose.
No. Come to think of it, it was a goal that originally conflicted with my original objective.
The path I was on was uncharted. To tread this unknown path, I must become stronger first.
Whether it was a sudden quest, a hidden quest, or hidden pieces, I would take them all on.
I would become stronger.
So that never again would these girls suffer like today.
I would protect the world from the impending erosion phenomenon and the Demon King, and finally, bring a happy ending.
And, I would cut down the sun in the sky.
Doing so, I’d surely…
“Uhm.”
As my eyes were burning with determination, I suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.
“Frey!!”
The Heroines rushed towards me.
“…Clearly, I can’t be the only one to get stronger.”
Seeing them, I made a second vow.
“I have to make everyone stronger.”
Originally, I took up the role of a Professor to collect hatred, but now I must adjust the plan a little.
The erosion phenomenon seemed to have occurred a bit earlier than expected.
To ensure that no monstrosity could cross the walls of their cozy home, I would teach the freshmen about the erosion phenomenon and prepare them for it.
If I nurtured these young sprouts into towering trees, as Isolet’s motto goes, we would be able to stick together when the raging flood comes.
Perhaps this was how Isolet’s pride as a Professor was forged? Suddenly, I felt a burning sense of responsibility and duty as a professor.
“Frey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Let’s move to the carriage first. We need to get out of here…”
The main Heroines were helping me. They, too, needed to awaken as soon as possible, for they were literally full of power.
Isolet and Lulu, who were currently undergoing awakening, and as many other sub-Heroines as possible, must also complete their awakening.
We would all become stronger.
There was no such thing as unavoidable, absolute misfortune.
I will definitely awaken everyone, make them stronger, and save this world.
.
.
.
.
.
And for that to happen…
“…Ah.”
Despite my unsteady footing, my eyes were firm, but they wavered for the first time upon realizing one crucial fact.
‘To awaken and strengthen the Heroines…’
The system window I saw recently flickered before my eyes.
I also recalled the information about the affection system I had acquired a while ago.
“…”
As I pondered over this information, I lost my balance and staggered.
“Ugh…”
Perhaps the sudden dizziness was a consequence of the special move I intended to use earlier.
“Frey, snap out of it. Frey.”
“Potion, we need a potion…”
As I collapsed and was losing consciousness on the ground, the girls looked down at me with worried expressions.
“It’s okay, it’s just a side effect of the special move I was about to use…”
“Y-You didn’t even use it, though…?”
As I whispered weakly in a cold sweat, Irina asked in confusion.
“Just activating the technique requires a lot of energy… I’ll be fine after a bit of rest…”
I responded in a faint voice.
“Anyway, the vacation is almost over… I should just take a rest.”
Recalling the conclusion I just reached, I continued with a trembling voice.
“Can’t I just fall asleep today and wake up the day before school starts?”
“””…”””
Upon hearing the phrase ‘the day before school starts’, the girl’s expressions began to change.
“B-But…Who’s that?”
Looking at them with a puzzled look, I pointed behind them and tilted my head.
“Eek.”
“””…!”””
The girls froze as they glanced back.
“Oh, oh…”
I was also taken aback.
Approaching cautiously with her hands raised in the air, Glare stopped in her tracks, looking as dumbfounded as a squirrel hit by an acorn.
– Frey, you have the ‘Cloak of Deception’ with you! Put it on!!
The girls, who were disguised, panicked upon realizing that I was not in disguise. And they quickly searched for the cloak as Serena urgently radioed in from inside the carriage.
“F-Found it.”
“Is.. Is that how you wear it?”
As I quickly draped the cloak over me, I felt increasingly sleepy, and whispered softly.
“Anyway, cast a sleep recovery spell on me… if anything happens, make sure to wake me up…”
“Rest well, Frey.”
“We’ll handle the rest, Young Master.”
They whispered with a smile.
“I’ll become stronger…”
In my foggy mind, I kept murmuring silently so as not to forget today’s vow.
“And you all, I’ll make you stronger too… I promise… you won’t get hurt like that anymore…”
“”…””
As my murmuring ceased, I saw the three girls looking down at me with flushed faces just before I closed my eyes.
“Hero?”
Before my eyes completely closed, Glare, who had finally reached me, started to tilt her head.
“Hehe.”
As she grinned at me the way she typically did, I silently recalled the scene from earlier.
Serena popped the moonlight crystal in her mouth and said it tasted like me, then swallowed it with her eyes closed.
Then, she stuck out her tongue and smiled with her eyes.
[Affection System – Rated 19+ Version]
< Serena – Awakening Completed >
And the system window that appeared that time.
Naturally, there were plenty of ways to deal with it. Even light physical contact or emotional connection could raise the awakening level.
But, there was no time.
In this unknown world, where everything was unclear, time was as precious as gold.
So…
– Swish.
I quietly closed my eyes after making another vow to myself that was as important as cutting down the sun.
“What do you think… about what he just said…?”
“…”
“Hero? You’re the Hero, right? Herooo!”
Under the soft moonlight, the end of the vacation was approaching.
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