Chapter 15: Loss

Chapter 15: Loss

Sutcliff stopped the dagger inches from Aki’s thigh and hopped off of her. Then he took a moment to assess the damage he had inflicted on her fragile frame.

The woman lay face up on the ground, blood flowing from the slice in her cheek and the stab wound in her shoulder, her face withdrawn and deathly pale from the poison he forced down her throat.

Sutcliff inconspicuously bit the inside of his cheek over the sorry state he had put her in.

…I definitely went too far to get the job done.

He had been acting on orders from the Dark Lord to awaken the Hero’s slumbering powers. The only way to do it was to mentally corner the always composed, nearly emotionless Hero into such emotional turmoil that he would seek out power with all his being.

So Sutcliff used the woman Heroboy loved to get to him. He didn’t need to know the Hero to know Elias would look back on this moment and blame his powerless self for failing to protect her, resulting in him growing pessimistic about their relationship and eventually breaking it off.

Meanwhile, Aki would hate herself for being nothing more than Heroboy’s weakness.

In short, I just tore the newly formed couple apart. I committed the crime of throwing them back to where they started right after they finally overcame their fears to be together.

I practically stabbed the blade in both their hearts. I’m a real scumbag.

A heavy sigh escaped him. Sutcliff had taken the easiest path to awaken the Hero, but it killed him inside to torment and harass a defenseless woman. Simply remembering her agonized screams made him want to hit himself.

I can never apologize enough, but someday I’ll do everything in my power to make it up to her. Healing her wounds is a start. Sutcliff put his hand under Aki’s back and helped her into a sitting position.

Awakening Heroboy had been a smashing success. With his primary objective completed, curing the secretary’s injuries and poison status took priority. He’d become a true villain if she died on him here.

Sutcliff reached into his robe for the antidote while casting a look at the Hero standing dead still at the giant serpent’s feet.

What kind of expression does he have now that he’s activated the Solar Goddess’s power?

Hero Elias slowly raised his head as if he heard Sutcliff’s silent question. Their eyes locked with the nine-headed serpent between them.

Sutcliff sharply inhaled at the blank facial expression he saw there.

The distinct crest of the Solar Goddess gleaming on his forehead, the Hero vacantly stared at him, not with his clear emerald eyes, but eyes burning gold like the sun. Intelligent life didn’t glimmer there, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking or if he was actually even looking at Sutcliff.

Face utterly devoid of emotion, he merely stared straight ahead. He almost seemed possessed. The Hero’s hollow gaze traveled down, locking instantly on Aki. The next second, he robotically raised the Holy Sword without a word or a wrinkle in his deadpan expression.

HOLY CRAP! He’s coming! Sutcliff’s instincts screamed danger. He switched into a defensive stance with the dagger as his tamed serpent swerved protectively between him and the broken Hero.

Hissing menacingly, the ten heads snaked toward the Hero, snapping their mighty jaws to rip him to pieces.

Not even batting an eyelash, Hero Elias swept his platinum glowing sword to the side as if casually cutting through the wind. Crescent-shaped wind blades blasted forward from his blade and traveled in a straight line faster than the naked eye could follow.

Those platinum blades of light slammed into the magical serpent, severing several heads on impact. Molten black blood spurted from the clean cuts as the cruelly severed heads dropped onto the flower field and rolled into the lake with a thud, thud, thud.

Sutcliff’s jaw dropped amid the serpent’s earsplitting wailing. “Yick. What kinda move is that? Cheater!”

Apparently the Hero was capable of projecting slash attacks from the Holy Sword while manifesting the Solar Goddess’s powers. Sutcliff didn’t stand a chance against the Hero in close-combat—he was screwed out of this life and the next one now that he was capable of long-distance attacks.

Oi, oi. If I don’t give Aki-pie back to Heroboy soon, I ain’t gonna survive till my next meal…!

Sensing a real threat to his life, Sutcliff rushed to pop the stopper out of the antidote vial, but before he could finish, he heard a death cry behind him. Shocked by that ear-piercing, ground shaking roar, Sutcliff turned his head.

A scene straight from hell jumped out at him.

The expressionless Hero was slashing at the snake again and again, dropping bits of flesh chopped off by his excessive slices to the ground in a puddle of gore. Several heads flew with one slash, quickly followed by a second wave that carved into the serpent’s torso. Its regeneration couldn’t keep up with the damage. The volley of slashes sliced the giant serpent to pieces.

Oi, oi, oi…! Words escaped Sutcliff, his face turning paler by the second as he watched the supposed Hero’s brutality.

Heroboy was apathetically cutting the high-level serpent to pieces—he didn’t seem to have a shred of the gentle man left in him from before he awakened his powers.

What the hell happened to him?! Did the power drive him mad?!

Holding Aki protectively in his arms, Sutcliff peered over the mountain’s ledge. He feared the deranged Hero’s indiscriminate attacks might veer off course and accidentally hit her.

I’ll try to beg Heroboy for forgiveness first. I accomplished my mission. I don’t need to make a greater enemy out of him than I already have. Sutcliff took a deep breath and held Aki out toward Elias as a peace offering.

“Heroboy! You can have Aki-pie back!” he shouted. “I wanna explain myself to ya, so if you could lower your sword—”

Elias slowly walked toward Sutcliff, trampling over the serpent’s flesh and guts on the way.

Did he think nothing of the dead? Watching him step through puddles of blood without any visible hesitation instilled Sutcliff with spine-tingling dread.

Hero Elias stopped at the base of the mountain and tilted his head back.

…Yeesh, I’ve seen rocks more expressive than him. Does he even understand me? Is it possible he lost his mind to his first experience activating the Goddess’s earthshattering power?

If he has…if he’s not at the helm of his body, it’s damn possible Heroboy can’t tell the difference between friend or foe.

Say he only drew out those powers to save Aki-pie, and that desire is now pulling the strings while his personality takes a backseat—he’s likely to view everyone but her as an enemy who he’ll indiscriminately eliminate.

As Sutcliff was dizzyingly putting the pieces together, Hero Elias raised the Holy Sword without a word of warning.

He’s going to send out another wind-cutter attack?! Whoa, whoa! Hold up! Your girlfriend is here too, Heroboy!

By the time he thought, I’ve gotta dodge, it was already too late. Blades of wind burst from his downward swing and cut diagonally through the boulders making up the mountain they were on.

Sutcliff lost his hold on Aki as the ground crumbled beneath them.

“Crap! Aki-pie…!” He couldn’t let her fall from this height; it would kill her even if she wasn’t already injured. Feet treading collapsing rocks, he frantically reached for her through the cloud of dust. But she slipped out of his reach and plummeted down with the rockslide. “Aki! Damn it!”

He made up his mind to dive off the side after her, when he saw a flash of platinum out of the corner of his eye.

Heroboy’s windcutter attack! Sutcliff was only able to jump out of the way of the blast because of the blessed physical prowess Shadow Tribesmen were born with. Kicking off the top boulder launched him high into the air and he did a single flip before landing on his feet with catlike agility.

Not giving a single look back at Hero Elias and his Right-hand, he bolted across the flower field into the shadows behind another pile of rocks in order to escape the Hero’s relentless attacks.

Shit! I don’t know what’s what anymore! Back pressed against the rocks, Sutcliff slowly exhaled to catch his breath. I lost sight of Aki. I know I’m who hurt her, but I still failed to heal her injuries and protect her. Damn it all!

He slammed his fist into the boulder. White dust billowed throughout the field from the rock mountain Hero Elias had destroyed in a single hit, obscuring visibility.

Heroboy has completely lost his mind. Mister Lord Dark Lord didn’t say anything about the Hero going berserk because of the Goddess’s power. What the hell should I do, Mister Lord Dark Lord?

Though he was essentially reaping the seeds he’d sowed, Sutcliff gazed up at the domed rock ceiling in search of a way out.

I’m gonna end up buried alive in this cavern, no joke.

Getting the Hero to awaken his powers went well enough. But at the rate things were going, they had plummeted the Hero Party into a worse state than if they didn’t have access to their true powers.

The Solar Goddess’s powers sleeping within the Hero—Sutcliff’s mission would be complete when he explained the nature of those powers to the Hero and handed over the Book of Creation.

“How do I knock some sense back into Heroboy? Is the answer written in that raggedy old book?”

Even if it contained the answers, Sutcliff didn’t have the time to flip through the pages looking. No telling when the Hero would discover his location and attack him.

Unsettling worry sent his heart slamming against his chest.

Only the mindless Hero, Aki, and Sutcliff were in the underground cavern. And Sutcliff was the only one capable of fighting the Hero.

…Thinking ’bout it ain’t gonna get me anywhere. Just gotta do it. Sutcliff drew the crisscrossed daggers from the sword belt hanging from his waist at his back. I don’t stand a chance of winning against the half-mad Hero, but I can’t turn tail and run either.

At least I’ve got skill in swords and magic thanks to being born a Shadow Tribesman. Plus, I can summon magical beasts to my aid. I’ve gotta use these special abilities to my advantage in a fight against the god-class Hero.

I’m the ass who stirred up this mess. I’ve gotta clean up after myself!

Sutcliff poked his face around the boulder and ran his gaze over the field behind him in search of Hero Elias. Gore of the brutally slain ten-headed serpent colored the blue flower field black, the Hero’s windcutter attacks left massive gouges in the ground, and the collapsed rock mountain littered gravel, dirt, and debris everywhere. The magical luminescent garden had become a shadow of its former beauty.

The thick cloud of dust kicked up in the aftermath of the Hero’s onslaught gradually cleared, revealing the shadows of two people. Sutcliff scrutinized the shadow he assumed belonged to the Hero.

The shadows belonged to Hero Elias with his sword arm slack at his right side and Aki nestled against his chest with his left arm, her eyes firmly shut. Aki’s wounds hadn’t been treated nor had he cured her poison status. Much longer in her state and she really was toeing the line between life and death.

But as awesome as I am, I can’t get close to Heroboy… How do I save her? Sutcliff racked his brain as he surveyed the area. That’s when he heard it—several pairs of feet running in their direction. Holy summon monster. Someone’s here?

Wary of the newcomers, Sutcliff held his breath, blending inconspicuously into the scenery with his magic.

The only person he could imagine coming to this goddessforsaken cavern other than Heroboy and Aki-pie was the redheaded Thief he gave the Quest to. Did she make it this far following them?

Whoever it was, setting foot on this flower field was the same as forfeiting their lives. Without his mind intact, the Hero was likely to mercilessly attack anyone other than Aki, whether they be friend or foe.

But Sutcliff couldn’t leave his hiding place to confirm who had come running to their deaths. He’d be pointlessly throwing away his life if he didn’t wait to launch a perfectly timed surprise attack on the Hero.

So he waited and watched with bated breath.

Keeping his back against the rocks, he stole a glance in the direction of the fast footfalls. There he saw a woman—the redheaded Thief—running ahead of two men. He looked past her at the men. His mouth fell open at who he saw there.

One was a Minstrel with pale blond hair. Likely one of Heroboy’s party members. But the other—

“Holy summon monster! What the hell happened here?!” the other man swore at the devastated flower field littered in serpent flesh.

Sutcliff instantly recognized him. That jet-black hair, those robes, his confident, unwavering purple eyes—no doubt about it, he’s Mister Lord Dark Lord’s—

Sutcliff’s eyes bulged and he quietly uttered a name meant only for him to hear. “…Master Leo.”