The Rising of the Scythe Hero

Ever had the sensation of a grenade going off in your stomach? Well, I was starting to understand exactly how those cartoon characters who swallow bombs must feel. The moment I swallowed the Emperor Dragon Core, it dissolved instantly, and my entire body and mind were hit by a shockwave — one that carried not only an incredibly intense range of physical sensations, but also a jumble of vague knowledge, skills, and memories. And then… a white screen appeared before my eyes.

Not blue, at least. Small mercy.

"For a blue screen, it's still too early." Turning my head, I saw yet another fan of mental speeches — and one more resident of my little dormitory. "Comedian. But in a way, you're not entirely wrong."

What's he talking about? I was joking about the dormitory…

"I see no point in wasting our time, so I'll make use of the moment. Right now, you've blacked out from the incoming stream of information from both Cores — a stream I've also tapped into — but when you wake up, you'll be able to sort through the mess that's about to hit you. So stop fooling around and make full use of that information… hero." The last word dripped with mockery I absolutely did not deserve!

But I didn't get the chance to voice my outrage. Just as suddenly as he appeared, my inner demon vanished, leaving me alone in an expanse of pure white.

I was curious about what information he meant, and why I was receiving it now, after consuming the second Core, rather than the first. So, since I had nothing better to do, I focused inward, trying to tune in to the sensations welling up inside me.

My experience with studying Earth Power helped a lot — there were times I'd had to sit for hours, trying to "know myself." Probably only because of that practice was I able to latch onto something that stood out from the usual flow of sensations.

After a moment's thought, I decided to try connecting to it gently, and… began to flow into it.

And so, it was time to dot the i's. The stream I had tapped into turned out to be the very memories from the two Emperor Dragon Cores. There was something else in there as well — but one thing at a time.

To start with, it turned out that an Emperor Dragon Core carried something like an imprint of the dragon's personality and life experience — that of the very dragon who had borne it. From that imprint, the dragon could be resurrected if its will proved stronger than that of the dragon who had consumed the core. Only here… well, let's just say the scythe met the stone. For one thing, I'm not a dragon, which means I don't play their little dragon games. And for another… the poor lizards just got unlucky. The Life Absorption skill I possess is passive, and it activates according to some whim known only to itself. And it did the same thing now.

Life Absorption, oddly enough, absorbed the consciousness residing in each core, leaving behind everything else — experience, knowledge, and certain abilities. Convenient. Almost too convenient. I have some thoughts about that, but I'll dwell on them later.

Next — the delayed absorption of the first core. And this is where that "something else" mixed in with the core's information comes into play. The demon, as he'd said, took advantage of the stream of information flowing into me, adding a piece of himself to it as well.

From that piece, I learned that the first core had been absorbed too chaotically, and I myself had been in a less-than-sane state at the time — forcing the demon to urgently block all the consequences of that core's absorption. In that state, I simply wouldn't have been able to comprehend most of the data I was receiving; it would have just passed through me like water through a sieve.

As for the actual knowledge gained from the cores, I'll skip that for now. There was simply too much of it, and not all of it was useful or applicable to me. My attention right now had to be on what my mind's cohabitant had already mentioned… that I was dying.

It wasn't physically noticeable at all, but now, armed with some of the demon's knowledge — and the dragons' — I could feel it.

This entire world… was rejecting me.

In this world, there is no Fifth Hero. There is no Scythe as a Legendary Weapon. And there is no me. At least, there shouldn't be.

But I am.

Because of that, little by little, drop by drop… the world was erasing me. It was a very subtle process, happening somewhere on the level of higher energies and the soul. A process I simply couldn't stop on my own. How was I supposed to stand against an entire world?

Thanks to the demon, I now had a rather interesting idea for how this could be fixed. But that idea lay somewhere on the border between empty theory and a "what if it actually works?" kind of thought. Meaning, once again, it needed thorough consideration and experimentation.

There was plenty of other information, but that was the core of what I'd absorbed and understood. And based on all of it, my next step was clear — I needed to find a way to "officially" become part of this world, so it would stop trying to delete the foreign object inside it.

I had no idea how much time I'd spent in that white space. The information kept trickling into my mind, and I kept absorbing and analyzing it. Until, at some point, my eyes — already accustomed to the white — began to sting. The scene around me was changing, filling with colors far removed from white.

First, the white blended with blue. Somewhere in the back of my mind came the thought that it was the sky. Then, turning my head, I was hit by an abundance of green. Obviously, it was grass — grass I was half-buried in.

"That was reckless," a voice came from somewhere.

Lazily turning my head the other way, I saw a girl… or maybe a young woman, a little taller than Night, with short silver hair and three locks sticking up like antennae. Her eyes were a pale lilac, expressing utterly phlegmatic indifference. She was dressed in a mostly white dress with a few sparse red decorative elements.

Well, hello, Fitoria.

"Would've been nice if you'd said something new," I shot back.

Sitting beside me, by the way, was Night, watching our new acquaintance with a faint trace of tension in her gaze.

"You could have died," the Queen of the Filolials went on, her expression still utterly indifferent.

"Since the moment I landed in this world, it's been a lot easier to count the situations where I couldn't have died."

"…"

She didn't reply to that, but her brows did knit together slightly.

"I've heard of a Fifth Hero, but I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. You… are different. You were never meant to exist in this world."

"Maybe. But here I am, nonetheless."

"…You're dangerous. An unstable element. And you've also…" The Big Bird wrinkled her nose in faint disgust. "…merged your essence with that of a dragon. That was reckless."

"I've heard that one already."

A heavy silence settled over us. We held each other's gaze for a good minute before Fitoria finally sighed and lowered her head.

"Very well… First, allow me to introduce myself — my name is Fitoria." The bird gave what I thought was a flawless curtsey. "And I am the queen of all Filolials in this world."

"Queen of the Filolials, huh…" I shifted my gaze to Night, who was watching — without much visible emotion — what was, apparently, her queen.

"Correct. I am the same subspecies as the Shield Hero's filolial. But perhaps you should introduce yourselves as well?" Fitoria tilted her head.

"My name is Nott. And this bird here I named Night." I gestured toward the mentioned filolial, who, unlike her elder kin, made no move to offer a greeting.

"Night?" Her head tilted the other way. "That's… an unusual name for a filolial."

"Is it?"

"Usually… the names given to us by Heroes always contain part of our species' name."

I remembered the name "Firo." Or "Filo," which was also technically correct. And "Fitoria" wasn't all that different either. So does that mean being an idiot is canon for all Heroes?

"They just have zero imagination. Names like that are utterly banal."

"I see… I don't know their meaning. But do you know exactly who the filolial you raised is?"

"I do. Night is your potential replacement. In other words, a candidate to become the next Queen of the Filolials." Oh, now that was a first — seeing genuine surprise on Little Bird's face. Her eyes went so adorably wide…

"I understand… In that case, things become much simpler. There's a lot I'd like to discuss with you."

I pushed myself up slightly, scanning the surroundings. Grass, trees, stones, crumbling brick structures… The setting wasn't exactly uplifting, but it definitely had its own atmosphere.

"And what exactly are you curious about?" I wasn't in the mood to get up, so I stayed sitting in the grass. Not like I felt the cold anyway.

"How did the sealed monster awaken? And why did you choose to swallow its Core?"

"I helped make it happen. We needed to stall the man who owns these lands, but I also wanted to fight a beast the ancient Heroes couldn't defeat."

"That's… reckless. And selfish." This time, I couldn't read her expression.

"Yep. That's just how I am." I only shrugged in response. "As for your second question — I'm not entirely sure. My Weapon… suggested it."

"I see… So it was controlling you?" Now her gaze held a glint of suspicion.

"No. Like I said — it suggested it. The final decision was mine, the Weapon only pointed me in a direction."

"If that's truly the case, then I have no reason to be concerned. I can sense you aren't using the Cursed Series. That's enough for me."

Honestly, I wasn't even sure I could unlock it. By the way… did she ever actually see my slightly demonic form? Or had I already reverted to my normal appearance by the time she stepped out of the forest? Her behavior hinted at the latter, but still…

"And one more question…"

I told Fitoria the truth as plainly as possible about the current state of relations between the Heroes: Naofumi's setup, the cockroach tendencies of each member of the Quartet, the idiocy of the king and his daughter, and so on, and so on. The only thing I left out was anything about myself — mostly because she hadn't asked.

"I see. The current state of affairs… is unacceptable. Heroes must not quarrel among themselves."

"Unfortunately, not everything goes the way we want. Conflict is inevitable." I smiled faintly, shaking my head.

"But the Heroes carry the responsibility for the life of an entire world. How can they find time to fight each other? This… is unacceptable."

"Things will settle down in time. Probably." I couldn't say that with full conviction. "At least for now we have enough strength to hold back the Waves…"

That brought to mind what happened during the Wave with Glass. If Naofumi or I hadn't been there, the Heroes could easily have lost simply because they couldn't figure out a way to beat the monster. Each of them had ignored the others completely, doing only what they remembered from their own game.

And that had nearly cost them their lives.

"I don't remember why exactly, but Heroes absolutely must not fight among themselves," Fitoria said, shaking her head. "If they do, then, before it's too late, they must be removed and new ones summoned."

I could practically feel the tiny spark of resolve in her emotions starting to strengthen.

"But you won't be able to."

Her resolve faltered sharply, replaced mostly by surprise.

"Why not?"

"Because, for one thing, you won't be able to kill me."

"A strange sort of confidence. But you're not one of the Four Heroes. You're… extra."

"Even if I am 'extra,' can you say with absolute certainty that people would be able to summon new Heroes while I'm still alive? And how many lives would be lost, how much damage would be done to the world while they figured it out?"

The bird fell silent. She frowned, squinted, glanced at me, then at Night… weighing something in her mind… until finally—

"There is truth in your words. But Heroes must not be in conflict. It should not be this way."

"I understand. I'll even take steps myself to settle their conflict. I just… need time. Human relationships are, you know…" I rolled my hand in the air. "…complicated. Building trust takes time."

…

Fitoria didn't answer, choosing instead to drill into me with her violet eyes. "Very well. In that case, all I can do is give you a chance." Then her gaze shifted to Night, still standing silently beside me. "To you, and to her."

"In what sense?"

I remembered from the canon that there had been a fight between Fitoria and Filo, but I couldn't recall the details anymore. Obviously, the point of that battle had been to test Filo's abilities, but what had led up to it? And was there even a point to such a test right now?

"I want to know what the candidate for Queen of the Filolials is capable of. And, if I'm not mistaken, there should be more than one of them?" Another tilt of her head — this time with a finger resting lightly on her lips.

"There's another one," I nodded. "But she's most likely still with the Shield Hero somewhere near the mansion."

"I see… Then I'll only be able to test one of them."

"And what kind of… test are we talking about? I doubt it's going to be some sort of questionnaire or psychological evaluation, right?"

"I don't quite understand what you mean, but first and foremost, I'm interested in her ability to stand against the Waves. Which means…" Fitoria turned fully toward Night, facing her directly. "We will fight. And then I will know whether she is worthy to become my successor."