Chapter 5: Eldred, the Great Spirit of Fire

“Shuya, do you know how to do anything besides mope?! No amount of worrying is going to help Nalita wake up!” Zodd snapped.

“But Miss Nalita’s body is getting cold so quickly!”

“That undead just now was an adventurer who was famous for using poison-coated weapons. Nalita was grazed by one of them, so she’s only under a temporary deathlike state! If we get her to drink the antidote in stock at the Adventurers’ Guild within half a day, she’ll be back up and kicking in no time!”

I knew that. I knew that well.

But my wand hand wouldn’t stop shaking. Since Miss Nalita had been struck because of me, because I had dragged her down. Even though I gripped her hand tight, she was frighteningly cold, and her complexion was just as chilling.

“Hey, Shuya, these monsters are no laughing matter! Even someone like me can’t deal with what we’re facing all by myself! So you better get a grip and stand up now!”

“I’m sorry, I...I still can’t cast any...”

“For all your big talk before you left the guild building, you’re pretty useless when it actually matters! But, well, that’s what it’s like to be a novice... I never expected you to follow it up with anything!!!” Zodd roared as he swung down his arm against a monster. “And that makes fifty! I’ve gone on many dungeon expeditions, but this might be the first time I’ve been in such a pinch!”

“Damn it all... Of all the times, why is my magic acting up now?” I gritted my teeth in frustration.

We had headed towards Nemesis, and we were welcomed by monsters so tough that they had practically come from an entirely different world compared to the ones I had faced in the wilds.

According to Mister Zodd, producing strong zombies required strong raw materials. Thus, deceased A-class adventurers were apparently prime zombie-making fodder.

The lich had turned the A-class adventurer casualties from this intracity battle into monsters.

We had almost arrived at Nemesis when we ran into another group of undead. They had focused their attacks on me. Miss Nalita had taken an attack in my stead, and she...had collapsed.

“Eldred...” I mumbled. “Normally, you’d save me in times like this, so why...?”

After I had made the decision to head to Nemesis, I could no longer hear Eldred’s voice. I didn’t have him covering for me anymore, and the force behind my spells had decreased. Up until now, he had always aided me at just the right time, making sure that I stayed alive, but...

We had many comrades back in the fight outside the city. Everyone had helped each other along so that we could all make it out alive. However, we were the only ones heading back to Nemesis under such circumstances. And now, unable to cast magic, I was powerless.

“Please carry Miss Nalita and get out of here! If it’s only the two of you, you should be able to break past this circle of enemies!”

“Don’t say something so silly! Aren’t we comrades?!”

“I don’t want to be a burden!”

“Don’t make me laugh in the middle of such a fight! Was there any day when you weren’t a burden to us?! Your inability to cast spells is just temporary! You’re probably just half-scared to death, that’s all! Doesn’t that happen to mages sometimes? On top of that, if I keep kicking up a ruckus around here, someone will notice and come help eventually!”

“But we haven’t seen anybody else for a long time! There were so many adventurers, and yet...”

“We have no choice but to believe that someone will come! Start yelling, Shuya! If you’re lucky, our leader might realize we’re here!”

I couldn’t use magic, and because of that, Mister Zodd had to fight the monsters by himself. It was all my fault.

“Let’s go save our leader,” I had said. I shouldn’t have made such an irresponsible suggestion while being blind to how helpless I was. In the end, I was just dead weight.

The circle of monsters gradually surrounded us and began to close in. It was all over. These things planned on tormenting us to death.

An undead monster with vacant eyes hurled a knife at me. It had probably used that knife when it had still been alive. I watched, motionless, as the blade headed my way. Without Eldred’s power, I couldn’t do anything on the battlefield. I was a useless, worthless thing with delusions of infallibility because of a strange power that I had borrowed.

The sudden embrace of death would treat everyone equally, and that thought had seemed alluring to me. Not only that, but if I had died under the hands of a simple monster and not the lich, I wouldn’t end up becoming something terrible like those undead monsters, so I...

My eyes widened. “Ah... Ah...”

“Why the hell...do you look as if...it’s all already over...?”

“Ah...” I could only whimper, stutter, then howl. “Aaah... AAAH!!!”

No way. Please, no. Why?!

My mind is blank. I don’t understand. I don’t want to understand. Mister Zodd took that knife for me and he’s crumpled on the ground. His blood is flowing out... It’s even splashing on my face.

It’s my fault. All because I welcomed death. It’s all because I’m weak that...

In my stead, Mister Zodd...

I couldn’t stop the whimpers from flowing out of my mouth. The keens, dragging out from my throat like a wretched scream.

I can’t do this anymore. Eldred, please, save me. Weren’t you supposed to be on my side no matter what...? If I don’t have you, something pathetic like me is just going to...

Maybe it’s my fault? Because I thought that I didn’t need any more power than this? If that’s the case, I was wrong. I’m sorry. I was wrong about everything. I’ll apologize as many times as you want, so please... I now know that I can’t do anything without you, so...

As I continued to hang my head, I heard the voices of monsters all around me. It wasn’t their jeers, however. They were shrieking out in pain. And it was so, so hot. I saw monsters on all sides of me enveloped in flames. Eldred, is that you? Have you come back for me? I had thought that, but no.

It wasn’t Eldred’s voice, which only echoed in my head, but loud, firm words that I could hear with my ears instead. The monsters all burned away into nothing. As the voice interrupted everything, I saw the silhouette of a certain person entering the fray, and I was struck speechless.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Was this a dream? But he was there. He was still alive! I was safe now. A peerless A-class adventurer who could even rival an S-class one had cremated an undead A-class adventurer like it was a walk in the park. Mowing down even more monsters in his way, he came towards me.

With this, everyone would be saved. I thought that, but my mouth wouldn’t form words.

Before my eyes, the old man, Archflare, was...

●

While Shuya and the other adventurers had taken part in a free-for-all where the lines between friend and foe had been blurred—that is, at the same time as the undead horde had attacked Zenelaus—the lich had arrived at the city without a sound, right at the hunting grounds where A-class adventurers had been lying in wait with bated breath.

“There it is! That lich has the nerve to be floating above the ground!”

“I see the dullahan over there too. That miasma shrouding it... It’s cursed, huh.”

“Everyone, follow the plan and take down the lich! That dullahan is likely its subordinate! I, the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, will face that one!”

If one of these adventurers could kill the floating lich, a ticket to becoming an S-class adventurer would be in their hands. As a result, not one of them had paid a sliver of attention to the dullahan that had appeared in the plaza. They only had eyes for the lich.

“Hey, you asshole! You just tried to murder me!”

“N-No! It wasn’t me! The lich was controlling me! Please believe me!”

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus’s decision to start the war with the monsters had all begun from a chance encounter. He had seized a soldier from the Dustour Empire who had been based in Zenelaus, and from this interrogation, he had learned about a deplorable scheme in the works. It was a plan where a soldier of the empire would hide in a dungeon and attack Zenelaus when the time was ripe.

He had laughed off the idea with derision, for what could one man do? But once the guild master had heard the identity of this man in question, he had frozen in shock. The enemy soldier dispatched to the Freedom Union had been one of the Three Musketeers, Dreibach Steibelt.

That man’s very existence was taboo. Dreibach Steibelt was said to have been born in the Laboratory, an S-rank dungeon in the north. The dungeon was rumored to be a treasure trove, but it was one that even high-ranking adventurers would avoid like the plague.

“Sorry mate, but the order is to kill all humans controlled by the lich! You only have your own heart’s weakness to blame, for it gave an opening that allowed the lich’s spell to work on you!”

“Even among liches, this particular one is a necromancer. What a nightmare... Everyone, be careful! Avoid that thing’s spells no matter what!”

The Adventurers’ Guild had several dozen successful lich hunts under their belt so far. Thus, the adventurers present had assumed that a few A-class adventurers would be sufficient to deal with the average lich.

However, this lich was peculiar—an oddity. It was a heretic mage obsessed with apparitions.

The A-class adventurers were seasoned warhorses, and with the bait of an S-class promotion dangling on a stick before them, their high morale helped to push them forward. With several dozen such adventurers here, in fact, they did actually succeed at dragging the lich down from its glide in the heavens.

A man interrupted a pair of bickering adventurers. “Is this really the time to be fighting among yourselves? All of you, get a grip!”

“It’s you, Archflare! Y-You really saved me there! Hey, you! I’ll show you the consequences of daring to kill me!”

“It’s only common sense to off someone before they turn into an undead monster! You’re an A-class, shouldn’t you know at least that much?! Still, Archflare, that lich is paying an unhealthy amount of attention to your Flamberge, isn’t it? We’ll position ourselves so you’re the center of our attack!”

At that point, they had been a hair’s breadth away from defeating the lich, which had descended to the earth.

However, they were thwarted in their attempt. The miasma-affected dullahan had swung down its sword once, which somehow was enough to slice apart all the attacks with the potential to hit the lich.

Nobody had even known when that monster had come so close to their vicinity.

This dullahan had been the monster the Eye of the Crimson Lotus had announced that he would take on. Once again, the dullahan leaped towards the guild master, who was armed with his battle-ax.

The adventurers were at a loss for words. That monster had been fighting the adventurer hero wielding the colossal battle-ax as if it were an extension of his own hand...yet that dullahan still had the strength to interfere with their battle with the lich! With that, the adventurers focused only on the lich began to realize just how strange their hero’s battle was turning out to be.

“That thing actually managed to stop the blow from our guild master’s battle-ax... This can’t be real... The battle-ax is a Sylpheed!”

“Don’t forget our orders! Our job is to deal with the lich!” the Archflare announced.

“But that’s the problem, Archflare. If we approach the lich, that dullahan gets in our way! If we want that lich’s head, don’t we need to defeat the dullahan first?!”

“Are you saying that we should face that dullahan ourselves? Are you nuts?”

Nobody was eager to take that first step forward.

The ground shook as the battle-ax slammed against it with each swing. Yet, that dullahan was able to bear the full brunt of its force head-on and stop any further attacks. The Eye of the Crimson Lotus’s weapon had a reputation for overwhelming countless monsters with one crushing blow, but the dullahan didn’t seem to have any dread towards it.

Any A-class-tier adventurer could understand the extent of the Eye of the Crimson Lotus’s strength. The man was an adventurer who had cleared dungeon floors with a lightning speed that nobody could match, forcing him to fight all by himself. After he’d risen to S-class and had obtained his weapon from the oracles, he had become a hero of adventurers who would receive direct requests from major countries.

Right now, such a man was being pushed back by one single dullahan.

“The guild didn’t say anything about a dullahan being here. What the hell is going on?!”

“I’m stepping down! Earning the title of S-class sounds brilliant, but we’re all going to die at this rate! And where the hell did the guild staff members go? There were loads of them earlier, but now they’re nowhere to be seen! Did the Adventurers’ Guild conspire together with the monsters and deceive us all?!”

These words were the truth. The A-class adventurers gathered here were nothing more than bait to enable the guild master to fight with the dullahan, and that was all.

On top of that, these A-class adventurers were oblivious to an even more chilling truth. That lich was exceptional among dungeon masters. The dungeon under its control had been banned from exploration by Hulbert, the northern Adventurers’ Guild headquarters. It was also the monster directly responsible for the birth of the musketeer Dreibach Steibelt.

“The Adventurers’ Guild should go to hell! Those guys knew everything and kept us in the dark!!!”

There were already corpses of high-ranking adventurers scattered about the streets of their capital. One by one, the assembled elite warriors had been killed and were then revived on the spot as undead monsters.

The remaining A-class adventurers, humans each with exceptional power of their own right, wore clear expressions of dread on their faces and whispered the same lines to each other.

This is a nightmare.

Nobody could object to that statement. It was impossible to refute.

“The monsters from the wilds are gathering too! What are the people fighting outside dallying around for?!”

The fight between the Eye of the Crimson Lotus and the dullahan continued to drag on.

At first, the two had seemed to be on equal footing, but over time it seemed that the dullahan was gradually gaining an edge.

Even to these experienced adventurers, the dullahan’s power was clearly a cut above the rest. It didn’t even have any semblance of swordsmanship. That thing simply lashed out as it pleased.

It roared and howled long, monosyllabic battle cries with a distorted voice. It was as though it loathed everything in this world and was expressing this contempt with all its being.

The dullahan’s howls were hot and scorched its audience’s skin with stinging pain. The Eye of the Crimson Lotus couldn’t even get one hit in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me... The Eye of the Crimson Lotus is being overwhelmed!”

The distorted howl bordered on a screech as it rang out once more.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus had unwavering faith in himself. He was a hero. The cream of the crop of adventurers had gathered here to kill the lich. Using the prospect of becoming an S-class adventurer as leverage, he had assembled an impressive group of A-class adventurers.

However, from the corners of his eyes, the guild master saw these adventurers running away one after another. With this view in the background, the guild master realized his inevitable defeat.

The reason was simple. In terms of pure power, the dullahan’s sword surpassed Sylpheed.

The lich’s curse had the power to change a human into a monster, and it was said that humans blessed with a lich’s power could become strong enough to even crush boulders in their hands. However, this fellow before the guild master was even more absurd than the tales.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus let out a hiss of effort at yet another exchange of blows. The force of the impact between his battle-ax and the sword caused his feet to lift off the ground, and he could no longer stop his momentum.

Inertia forced the guild master’s body to bounce off the ground like a ball and he crashed into a stone pillar.

Blood flooded his mouth.

He hadn’t felt this vexed in a long time, long enough for him to forget what it felt like...but now he remembered.

He had faced the dullahan head-on, tactless like a bull, and he was taught a lesson about the rift between their physical strength.

“Guild master, are you all right?!”

It took him a while before he could reply. “Archflare. You still haven’t run away? Hurry, you must escape...”

“Are you insane? Do you hear yourself? Do you know what you’re saying?!”

“We have lost. There is no need to fight any”—he coughed—“longer with the lich!”

“I won’t give up,” the Archflare declared with confidence. “I still haven’t learned exactly what this fight means for all of us, after all.”

Now that the Eye of the Crimson Lotus had announced it, it could be said that Zenelaus’s fall was set in stone.

The guild master watched the Archflare’s back as the man faced the lich and the dullahan.

He thought back to his earlier fight. There was one simple reason for his defeat: Dreibach Steibelt’s abilities were just that extraordinary.

However, the Eye of the Crimson Lotus’s only available option had been to confront the musketeer himself. If he’d announced his presence, all-out war was inevitable. If he wanted to nip the seed of misfortune in the bud, his only choice would be to secretly deal with the enemy within the confines of Zenelaus.

Was my choice truly the right one? At this point, the Eye of the Crimson Lotus no longer knew the answer to that question.

It took the guild master a while to find his voice again. “Archflare... If the Adventurers’ Guild...loses you...it will be a grave loss... Among all the A-class adventurers here...you’re about the only one who has the potential to become S-class...”

The once-copious A-class adventurers were no longer anywhere to be seen, leaving Archflare as the last one standing. Some had met an unfortunate end. Others had escaped. A third group now loomed as shadows of their former selves as the undead.

But the Archflare persisted, pointing his sword towards the enemy he sought to slay.

The lich raised a finger at the Archflare and prepared to strike him with a spell. A projectile of ice, which would tear a clean hole through a body upon impact. However, it did not hit the man and instead flung off into the distance.

At this point, the adventurers remaining in the heart of Zenelaus could be counted on one hand. Who in the world had the lich aimed for?

The Archflare realized that the lich’s attack was meant for somebody not in the immediate vicinity. He turned and then roared as he spotted the intended target. “You hopeless fools! I told you to stay away!” This man was one of the very few who had managed to wound the lich, something many of the A-class adventurers couldn’t even do. The color drained from the Archflare’s face rapidly as he broke into a sprint.

He had realized that the lich’s targets had been members of his own adventurer party, Zylush. Zodd and Nalita, as well as Shuya, who had been behind the pair. He couldn’t stop himself from rushing there because his adventurer party comrades were in an area packed with monsters. The Archflare charged into the swarm of monsters to save his party members.

The lich guffawed as it watched the spectacle, ridicule clear in its voice.

All of the monsters here were the lich’s puppets. To it, the Flamberge was the only weapon with the possibility of striking a fatal blow. From the very beginning, the lich hadn’t seemed to give attention to any of the adventurers other than the Archflare.

“Are you guys there?! You are, aren’t you?!”

To him, his adventurer party members were family with whom he could feel at ease. As an adventurer, any day could be his last, but he was able to gain one thing: these comrades, the only friends he had. In fact, he was willing to entrust them with everything he had saved up from his adventurer career if he ever kicked the bucket in a dungeon.

The man had only associated himself with people whom he could trust with all his heart. Therefore, he single-mindedly raced towards them without regard for his stamina, his face pale as a ghost.

He finally found them. His older comrades in a dead faint, and the young man who was overtaken by terror.

“Good... All of you are alive.”

Even as the Archflare spoke to him, Shuya could do nothing but stare dumbly at the man who appeared before him. It would have been better if he had fainted, just like Zodd and Nalita. If he had, he wouldn’t have had to see this.

Mirroring his actions from a while ago, the man Shuya admired placed a hand onto the boy’s head. “I am so...glad that...you all are safe.”

“Ah... Aaah...” Shuya’s breaths were shaky.

To save Shuya from the assault of a monster, his adventurer party leader had taken a blow in his stead.

Of course, the lich couldn’t give up an opening when its enemy bared his vulnerable back. Shuya could only watch wide-eyed the entire time as ice crept up his leader’s feet, slowly overtaking the man’s entire form.

“Tell me, Shuya... Do you want more power?”

Shuya screamed until his throat was hoarse.

This time, he didn’t hesitate. There was no way he could say no.

“AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Unforgivable.

He invited me to become one of his own. We fought together countless times. If I was ever plagued by my thoughts, he would accompany me the entire night and listen to me. Whenever I said that I wasn’t powerful enough, he would train with me.

He taught me what I should live for. He told me that I’m fine just as I am, even though I’m nothing but pathetic.

Living as an adventurer was a very attractive option. However, nothing could change the fact that I, Shuya Newkern, was a noble. I was born as a noble of Daryth, a major country, and duty came with that status. Even if I became a soldier for the country, I would have to return to the barren Newkern lands eventually.

But the Archflare taught me that my time in Zenelaus would still be invaluable to me, even if that was the case. He even let me join his adventurer party! Yeah, I know that I’m inadequate. I can’t even scratch the surface of their abilities in comparison. But they still welcomed me with open arms. They approved of me.

I choked out an unintelligible sob.

The Archflare had treasured his Flamberge immensely, but that sword had been tossed aside and the old man was lying atop a heap of rubble.

My throat squeezed out an excruciating sound, somewhere between a gasp and a whimper.

It was my fault. All of it. It was because of me that everyone in Zylush and the old man were...

It was all because I was powerless!

Someone’s voice seemed to overlap with my own. “AaaAAAaaah!!!”

Denning had mentioned this. He had said that this was the first sign. Gradually, I would lose control of my body, and there was a chance that I would lose my sense of self according to him.

However, I wasn’t scared.

“Aaah!!!” The howl that escaped my lips was a combination of two voices and only increased in volume and force.

I had a bad feeling about this. I had a premonition that something irreversibly horrible would happen in the future if this continued.

But...this power won’t stop.

I probably knew that this was an invitation by a devil from the start. I mean, what I managed to do was crazy! With one thought, I was able to summon hundreds of floating balls of fire and make them rain down as I pleased.

But I thought that I must have that power. I needed a power that would let a mere mage like me fight on even footing with that lich!!!

My scream continued on, without any pause for breath as the overlapping voice followed mine.

It felt as if something was being stolen away from me. But I pressed on. I continued to resist so that I could protect the Archflare.

Somewhere along the way, the dullahan shrouded in miasma approached, and I felt my body heat up as if it were on fire.

The adventurer who had hightailed it out of here had mentioned that the sinister armored warrior was peerless. He was right. I could feel a deep, burning hatred from inside its armor, a murky grudge so deep that it would curse everything it saw.

It felt even more dangerous than that black dragon that had attacked Kirsch Mage Institute. It was probably a perfectly normal reaction to run away immediately.

But I couldn’t stop. Eldred’s power wouldn’t stop.

A hearty but wicked cackle rang out. “Good. Very good, Shuya.”

My wand had already flown off somewhere. I couldn’t feel my body at all. I didn’t even know how I was fighting.

“Lich!” There was a chuckle that was not my own. “Lich! Lich! Liiich!!!”

Denning, I admired you.

When you slew that dragon, you saved everyone. I wanted to become someone like you. That was why I came to Zenelaus. I made Alicia go through so many dangerous things, but I’m still here.

Just like Eldred had said, I managed to take one step forward in my life, away from my set path.

“Denning! I’m an adventurer!!!”

Just like how you started your plan to lose weight, Denning, I wanted to change too.

That was why I came to Zenelaus.

...That was why I entrusted Alicia to you.

“Liiich! Are you that worried about your pride and joy? The Dragon Rider who can take command of one of those beasts?! How strange, since you’re the one who created that monster!”

The lich continued to croon curses dripping with malice. I drove it into a corner.

It was almost as if I had turned into someone else. After all, flames moved in whatever ways I wanted them to. I could even say that...I had become the element of fire itself.

The lich’s wand tapped the ground hard. The power of darkness gushed forth, and a squirming black thing tried to engulf my body, but...

“I didn’t manage to finish off the previous Dragon Rider, but this time, I will send him into the underworld!” The other voice laughed.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus was looking at me. He looked astonished, with a gaze that told me he felt he was looking at something freakish.

Please stop. Please don’t look at me like that.

“You should celebrate, Shuya! I’ll give you my power! Everything I have!”

...No. This wasn’t my voice. What is this? What the hell is this?!

●

Something very peculiar was going on in front of the Eye of the Crimson Lotus.

“What is this...?”

A youth was fighting against a monster that even A-class adventurers ran away from with their tails tucked between their legs. The lich had led them all around by the nose and caused the majority of them to flee after their defeat, but the youth was able to pressure that monster.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus knew how powerful it was and thus couldn’t process this ridiculous scene before him.

It got even more surreal. The dullahan tried to interfere with the battle, but the lich acted in such a way that seemed to warn the other monster against approaching.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus took note of the tone and words of the youth, and sometimes, the young man’s words had hints of something ancient. That led the guild master to one natural conclusion.

“Don’t come near me,” the man hissed at the redhead.

The youth cocked an eyebrow. “What instills such fear in you?”

“You are no child. Such a thing is impossible... You are the Great Spirit of Fire, Eldred.”

“Well, well. You’re a bright one.”

“Where did you even come from? No. What is your goal for coming here?”

“I only seek conflict, nothing more. I was lured here by a strong presence.”

The voice that rang out was hoarse and gritty, out of place on a young boy. And then, the red-haired youth, who was now one with the power of fire itself, began to jeer.

The lich kept its guard up and distanced itself from Shuya. It seemed as if it was looking for an opening.

The guild master stifled a sigh. “What a headache. To think that we even had such a monstrosity hiding in Zenelaus on top of everything else...”

He pitied the youth, for an extraordinary being was obsessed with the boy.

The Great Spirit was a desolate relic of a mage whom the Country of Sorcery pursued...the mage that achieved immortality. The guild master was sure that the infamous Eldred hadn’t simply come to save Zenelaus from its plight.

“Meaningless chatter aside, are you not going to fight? There is a pitiful monster over there waiting for you, seeking salvation from its foe. Are you just going to stand there? It’s been corrupted by the lich’s affection. It no longer has any free will left, and it will probably continue to fight until it razes Zenelaus to the ground like a stubborn child with his mind set on granting his own wish.” The boy shook his head with something between amusement and mocking wistfulness, then chuckled. “Heartbreaking, I must say.”

The dullahan perceived Eldred’s now-boyish form as an enemy and adopted an offensive stance with its sword drawn. Next to the monster, the lich stared down at the Eye of the Crimson Lotus with maroon eyes from under the hood of its robe.

However, at this point, none of the A-class adventurers gathered by the Eye of the Crimson Lotus were left standing in the area. There were those who had died, those who had been transformed into undead monsters, and ones who had escaped. The ones who were dead were lucky in a way because they didn’t have to share the soul-crushing despair of the guild master.

He had already finished grading his enemy’s abilities. The conclusion was brutal. The Eye of the Crimson Lotus just couldn’t win against that dullahan.

“My, my. Your spirit is already broken, I see. The hero of the adventurers is surprisingly insignificant, despite your title. However, it’s nothing to be anguished about. It is impossible for a mere human to defeat a Dragon Rider in the first place. Why don’t you just sit back and watch? I shall take care of the rest.” He chuckled. “Shuya, are you not entertained? I will now show you what a real fight looks like.”

One of the Three Musketeers would soon enter combat with Eldred, and Zenelaus would probably be left in ruins as a result. With time, there probably wouldn’t be a single trace left of this plaza, and nobody would know what had happened here.

My name will probably go down in history as one of the most terrible guild masters.

If it’s possible, I want to stop them. But there’s the lich, the musketeer, and even Eldred, who is thrilled at the prospect of a worthy opponent... They’re all fearsome enemies.

There’s too much to consider. I just can’t think straight.

His meltdown was why the guild master didn’t have the leisure of pondering why the red-haired youth suddenly collapsed.

A magic circle had appeared below the possessed Shuya’s feet. Lit by the pale blue light source underneath him, Eldred could only heave rapid breaths in and out of the novice adventurer’s body.

“The fight has only gotten started, Mister Adventurer Hero.”

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus was stiff as a statue until the voice addressed him. The owner of the voice was roughly ten steps behind him. With that, the guild master finally realized just who had bound Eldred in place.

It was the Dragon Slayer of House Denning, that the country of Daryth was currently making a strenuous effort to track.

The boy who had become the man of the hour overnight wiped the sweat between his brows. He was the third son of House Denning, the one who had fallen from grace and had plenty of rumors about him. Right now, however, he looked nothing like one who could be called the Fallen Wind, and he was pointing his wand directly at Eldred.

“He was careless about his surroundings because he was too delirious from excitement. And that brought about his downfall. If that hadn’t been the case, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to stop the powerful Great Spirit of Fire in his tracks.”

“Slowe Denning, what did you do to that thing...that Eldred?”

“I didn’t only aim for Eldred. My control is more limited, but I managed to lock down the fiends over there too.”

The bindings had taken on the form of chains. Three of them dangled from a void in the sky. Dull, ashen fetters coiled around their enemies, with one on the lich and two on the dullahan.

The man’s eyes widened. “Wait, is that...?”

One thing had come to mind as the Eye of the Crimson Lotus watched this scene unfold. Nemesis possessed a closely guarded secret trump card—a certain magic item discovered in one of the dungeons under Zenelaus’s management. It had a rather complicated history, and no matter how high the offered prices were, Nemesis had turned all of the offers down. It was a relic that had been rejected for use in this war because there were no mages around who could operate it.

“I am surprised that you managed to convince a staff member to loan you the guild’s secret treasure. On top of that, you probably didn’t even know if you could actually use it, did you?”

“Nobody was left in Nemesis, actually... I heard what had happened from one of the guild staff members I ran into on the way. They said you told everyone to run away immediately if things began to tilt in the favor of the enemy, aye? You even had a backup plan in case of defeat. You made a snap decision for people to retreat if the worst-case scenario played out. I can really see how a run-of-the-mill adventurer managed to become the guild master of Zenelaus.”

“Why didn’t you fall back? You should have been able to clearly see that things are not going as planned over here, even from afar. All of those A-class adventurers who were turned into undead by the lich must have gotten in your way too.”

“Seems like turning humans into monsters is the specialty of the Laboratory’s dungeon master, huh.”

“Slowe Denning, answer my question! Why did you come here?!”

The youth shrugged. “Well, unfortunately for me, I just couldn’t leave that guy alone.”

The red-haired youth was still writhing in agony, floating above the magic circle on the ground that overflowed with pale blue light. He glared daggers at Slowe Denning, but it seemed that due to his magical restraints, he couldn’t even speak a word.

“You’re not a mage, so you might not recognize it, but that magic circle’s one of the highest-grade circles. It can return curses right back to their casters. With this, Eldred will have his hands tied for a while. At the very least, we’ve managed to buy ourselves some precious time.”

“There’s no point in dragging it out! The Adventurers’ Guild has already lost!”

“Well then, what would you do if I said that I found a way to win? Oh, sorry, looks like I don’t have the time to explain.”

Slowe Denning’s face contorted with what was probably pain. The armored warrior had managed to break one of the chains dangling from the skies, which was part of the aforementioned magic item. Since Slowe had been binding the dullahan with outlandish strength, the consequences of the monster breaking out were easy to imagine.

“That dullahan isn’t normal. Leave, Denning. I am at least able to buy enough time for you to run away from this battlefield.”

“Hey! Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“You belong to Daryth. Return to your country and prepare for war. Surely you understand the situation from all this devastation... Zenelaus has lost, and to a single human. If you don’t start to prepare now, you will lose everything. The power of the Three Musketeers has exceeded even my expectations.”

“Wait, are you saying that... Are you actually, truly admitting defeat, from the bottom of your heart?”

Their main enemy was the dungeon master of the Laboratory, a place so dangerous that the northern Adventurers’ Guild had banned adventurers from entry. Beside it was one of the best warriors the Dustour Empire had to offer, molded by that very lich.

The guild master sank into silence. He had amassed the A-class adventurers scattered around the Freedom Union and organized them into a military faction. However, even he, the most powerful fighter of the Freedom Union at present, hadn’t been able to fight on even ground with the musketeer during their clash.

He had miscalculated the capabilities of the man known as the Living Dead, as well as the lich that the adventurers weren’t able to take care of. The cherry on top of the cake was the appearance of Eldred, who had secretly been coexisting within a young adventurer.

It was a hopeless collection of monstrous enemies who were anything but ordinary. So...what nonsense was Slowe Denning saying?

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus finally spoke up with conviction. “We have lost. It’s over.”

“And so you’re going to sacrifice yourself and make me go back to Daryth. Is that the plan? Rather selfish of you, don’t you think?”

The guild master didn’t have a reply.

“Too bad for you, but I refuse. I can’t leave that guy behind while he’s possessed by Eldred.”

“So you did know who the host of Eldred was...”

“Yeah, I did. I’ve known for a long time that Shuya Newkern was the one.”

“It pains me to say this, but...that boy is beyond saving. I’m sure you saw the fight with the musketeer earlier. His consciousness has completely been taken over, and his previous self is surely gone. Without exception, all beings who have entertained the desires of Eldred have met a tragic end. Surely you know this too. His previous host met a spectacular and brutal end in Daryth.”

Slowe Denning was incredulous. “Whoa, you sure are talkative right now. Are you possibly thinking of something too good to be true?”

“Indeed, I am. Considering the power of Eldred...he might be able to kill both the lich and the musketeer at once.”

“Throw that idea right in the trash. Sorry, but I’m not going to let you do that. I owe that guy. The fact that he doesn’t realize it ticks me off to no end, but it’s a debt that I can never repay, not even if I save his life a million times.”

“I do not know what kind of relationship you two have, but...one’s life is much more valuable than a debt of gratitude.”

“Unfortunately, I feel differently. Plus, you said that Shuya no longer has free will, didn’t you? I wonder about that... If all of his consciousness were truly gone, my spell wouldn’t have been enough to shackle the Great Spirit to his spot. If Eldred didn’t have someone obstructing him from within, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”

“...Nothing changes the fact that his future will be a road of misfortune.”

Legend said that Eldred would slowly approach the human he deemed as his host and earn their trust. It was all for the sake of manifesting himself into this world once again. He would gradually provide his power to this human host and seize control of their body bit by bit without the host ever taking notice. And when an enemy worthy of Eldred’s might showed itself, he would completely take over his host and indulge himself in a banquet of atrocities.

“I won’t force you to follow my plans,” Slowe said. “I thought it would be quite reassuring if I had your help, but since that’s not the case, please just watch out for any changes in Shuya from there. If possible, it would make my day if you talked to him. You know, you were Shuya’s idol for a long time.”

“Slowe Denning...you are making the wrong choice. I’m saying that victory is impossible.”

The Dragon Slayer born in Daryth, also known as the Fallen Wind of House Denning, walked towards the still-shackled monster.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus didn’t understand. The red-haired youth gritted his teeth so loudly that you could hear it. He was drilling a gaze that could kill into the back of Slowe Denning, the one who had restricted his freedom. Was Slowe saying that this young man could still be saved, even in such a state? And was he going to fight that monstrosity which even all of Zenelaus had lost against?

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus couldn’t understand. He didn’t even want to understand.

Even I feel this much terror against them, and yet he’s still striding forward, he thought numbly.

“Ah, right. One last thing. I have something to say to you, overlord of Zenelaus.”

The guild master’s spirit was already broken. He had learned that he had no chance of winning against Dreibach Steibelt, one of Dustour’s Three Musketeers. He had also deceived many adventurers and led them to their deaths. Many A-class adventurers had been transformed into mere husks by the lich. All of the blame fell on his shoulders, for he had failed to gauge the ability of his enemies.

“I overheard the adventurers talking earlier. They said that they tried super hard at the special quest this time, so they were sure that they would receive great rewards from the guild. They’re still drooling about how much money they’ll receive after the fight. Isn’t that hilarious, considering that their guild master has already given up on everything?”

That is probably the case, the man thought. I did announce handsome compensation for all those that contributed to the defeat of the lich. But the door to that future where they would receive their prize shut long ago and crumbled into dust.

“After I came to this city, I couldn’t help but think one thing: adventurers really are a bunch of fools. You’re all nincompoops who won’t even think about the future, not even one day ahead of you. You probably also suffered a lot of pain because of that, Eye of the Crimson Lotus. Bringing these people together and fighting as one must have been such a chore. On top of that, these idiots don’t doubt your victory at all. Everyone is waiting for you to somehow defeat the lich in the end and announce their glorious triumph. You seem oblivious to this, so I’ll tell you this one important thing.”

Zenelaus was going to be destroyed. Nothing would be spared by the musketeer and the lich.

“Adventurer Graham. You aren’t alone.”

Thoughts raced through the guild master’s mind. A myriad of monsters. A wandering suit of armor that had terrorized the continent. The clan of that vampire which had occupied a castle.

I defeated them all without a single blemish marring my record.

People sang my praises in every nation, boasting that there was no monster that could match me.

I had even been given an offer to become a Royal Knight by the famous queen of Daryth.

However, I never doubted my refusal.

All of my experiences in my dungeon expeditions taught me what needed to change so we could extend the life span of adventurers. They’re always stuck in a balancing act between life and death. Even if that extension was an insignificant amount, it was worthwhile.

I had realized that my life’s mission was to reform the Adventurers’ Guild, and thus, I could live for nothing else.

“And because you’re still around, Shuya hasn’t given up either.”

With a start, the Eye of the Crimson Lotus realized something. That youth, who had been screaming as Eldred took control of his body... That red-haired boy, who was still resisting Eldred’s influence... That novice adventurer, who had always stared at the guild master with stars in his eyes...

If Shuya has any awareness of what’s going on right now...what would this scene look like in his eyes?

“Could you tell me one thing?” the guild master said slowly. “Do you really think that he can return to normal?”

“From what I know about that guy, he’s someone who never knows when to give up.” Slowe Denning continued on. “Even if he couldn’t... I’ll definitely find something to do about it.”

His opponent was a Great Spirit. The Eye of the Crimson Lotus didn’t know how Denning could declare that with such confidence. However, the guild master could feel the conviction behind those words. And thus, he thought that he, too, wanted to believe.

“If that’s the case...I mustn’t show him such a pathetic sight,” he muttered ruefully.

That wasn’t all, as he had also remembered something important. I was the one who made the decision to fight and change the inevitable after learning of Dreibach Steibelt’s plans. Nobody ordered me to do so. I made that decision myself.

If I had defeated Dreibach Steibelt, I would have prevented the war. I thought that I could fight against fate all by myself. I could’ve secretly nipped it all in the bud without anybody ever learning of it.

He continued. “One thing completely slipped my mind. I know an important detail about what lies ahead of this fight.”

The ring Sylpheed instantly bloomed and his beloved partner, the battle-ax, pierced the earth.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus had steeled his resolve. With a grim determination to do or die trying, he fixed his sharp gaze on the world. “How many seconds do you need, Slowe Denning?”

I’ll admit it: I cannot win against that thing. However, I want to resist, just a little. After all, I may now know that I can’t win alone, but it seems that I have a very heartening ally in this young man.

“As many as you can. While you buy time, I’ll negotiate with Eldred.”

“I promise that I’ll expend every effort possible to do so.”

“Wait, no questions? Like how I’ll do it? I kept quiet about Eldred’s presence the whole time... Is the word ‘anger’ not in your vocabulary or something?”

“Of course I’m curious, but it looks like our enemy isn’t willing to wait around while we chat.”

He was indeed intrigued about what Slowe Denning was planning. However, the more time wasted by the guild master meant more of the adventurers who were still fighting in various places in Zenelaus would be lost to the underworld.

Besides, he had already gained sufficient rest to press on once more.

“I will put my faith in you, Wandless Master.”

He wouldn’t prod deeply into Slowe Denning’s affairs. He knew that the Prodigy of Wind was a Master of Wandless Spells who didn’t need incantations.

Those chains he had created were more effective when they were linked to the movements of their target, and they required several layers of simultaneous, continuous incantations to uphold their binds. A mage qualified to use the relic would need an unparalleled ability in magic, and thus, it had lacked a suitable wielder. However, even after using it all this time, the youth hadn’t opened his mouth even once to chant anything.

The young man had probably hidden this ability all his life. The guild master was honestly impressed by the fact that he had been able to.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus spoke once again. “That isn’t all. A novice adventurer, Shuya Newkern, is suppressing the Great Spirit right now. As the guild master of Zenelaus, I simply cannot give up before him.”

“You...know his name?”

“I try to memorize all the names of our newcomers and their abilities. I’ve seen many adventurers who ended up dying quickly after they just began their journeys, after all. Now, as for his secret... Let’s keep it between the two of us.”

Gripping the battle-ax, the guild master stood up. Sylpheed was said to be a living weapon, and it thrummed as it matched the pulse of its wielder.

However, this time, the Eye of the Crimson Lotus was going to take it a step further. When he had gained Sylpheed after he had become an S-class adventurer, he had sealed one of his abilities thanks to obtaining this Seed of a Hero. He couldn’t control this power that earned his moniker, and because of it, he had always gone alone whenever he explored the lower levels of dungeons.

It was an ability that affected not only his enemies but also his allies. It was a power that could ignite everything in his sight. Unless he was alone, he couldn’t ever use his true strength.

However, it probably wouldn’t be a problem here. The guild master took off the eye patch that restrained his Eye of the Crimson Lotus, and he allowed the cursed power to manifest.

“Zenelaus would fall into ruin, but lich...” he hissed. “I won’t let the likes of you all destroy it.”

Slowe had watched everything unfold before him and he sighed. The young man was finally at his limit. With that, the chains binding the lich and the armored warrior came apart, melting away into nothing.

●

I heard a long, deafening, and distorted howl and I felt the ground shake beneath my feet.

The battle unfolding before my eyes was the clash of two of the strongest titans in the north and the south. The man wielding Sylpheed unleashed all of his power in the true definition of the phrase; it was a priceless spectacle that no amount of money could buy a ticket to.

For at least several moments, I couldn’t move from my spot as I watched.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus was pushing back both the lich and the dullahan. He used his cursed eye to block their attacks as he brandished his battle-ax. He was now using the grotesque power that had famously led to the defeat of that wandering armored warrior. He had claimed that he would never use it again, but the man had probably been incited to do so once more by Shuya’s fight.

Even while Eldred had controlled Shuya’s body, the young man had still fought to protect his comrades. Shuya had tried so hard, and his valiant effort had moved the Eye of the Crimson Lotus.

The man took up arms and fired himself up again. The guild master had clearly been one of the people at the top of the pyramid of strength in the anime, the strongest adventurer who had still died in the battle of Zenelaus.

“But...” I whispered.

Nevertheless, I concluded that he wouldn’t last long. The Three Musketeers were still one step above the Eye of the Crimson Lotus. Even when Shuya had fought them in his awakened form in the anime, he had needed the help of his allies to defeat Dreibach and Bardot, who was on par with the former.

“Well, well, I’m sure you know what I’m trying to say...Eldred,” I drawled as I turned my attention to the Great Spirit.

He cackled back. “Well, give me a good reason why I should lend my power to a kid, the Master of Wandless Spells.”

A wavering heat haze emitted from Shuya’s body. No matter how I looked at him, he looked like a normal Shuya, but appearances were deceiving. The redhead was possessed by Eldred, whose real form was sealed off somewhere in the world even right at this moment.

“I must say, that man is rather impressive. Even if I consider the fact that he’s fully drawing on the power of his curse, pushing back the lich and the Dragon Rider is not an easy feat. His determination is admirable. I can see why the World Tree gave him the Seed of a Hero, its oracle. Well then, kid, let me ask you again. Why must I lend you my power?”

He was looking down on me. Eldred existed on a plane that was staggeringly higher than mine, and in his eyes, I was nothing more than one of the insignificant masses.

But I do have one advantage. I know why he controls humans and seeks juggernauts in combat.

“The Dragon Rider is the final evolution of dullahan-type monsters... Don’t they happen to be an enemy you couldn’t win against when you were alive?”

“At this point, kid, I’ll no longer question anything that comes out of your mouth. I won’t ask how you knew of my existence and how you even managed to figure out my goals.” Eldred shook his head slowly. “However, that thing is different. It isn’t the specimen I fought. For starters, that thing over there is a former human; it’s not a pure Dragon Rider. I’d only fight it if it becomes a monster in the truest sense of the word. Right now, that before us is nothing more than the Living Dead: half-human, half-fiend.”

“But Eldred, aren’t you itching like crazy to fight that thing? Wasn’t that why you borrowed Shuya’s body and made an appearance? You knew the possible consequences and manifested yourself here despite the risks of your host dying in this place.”

I mustn’t let this drag out any longer. I knew that the Eye of the Crimson Lotus was eating away at his own life force in his battle.

“It is a futile effort. I will not lend you my power. Indeed, you have quite a remarkable talent, and I can see why you have the favor of Altanger, but you do not fulfill the requirements, kid. Unless you have something like Shuya’s crystal ball—”

“Eldred, I do have a weapon that can manifest your power.”

“Well now.” A raised eyebrow. “In that case, tell me what it is.”

“That old man’s Flamberge is the same as the crystal ball, isn’t it? They’re both artifacts you made when you were alive.”

Eldred paused. “Perhaps it might be wiser to kill you right now.”

“In the first place, the Archflare’s interest in Shuya wasn’t some coincidence. You were the one who arranged for them to be drawn towards each other. You did all that just to drag Shuya out into the battlefield, didn’t you?”

There was a sharp inhale. It was the first time that Eldred had displayed such a clear crack in his composure.

In the anime, the Archflare had mentioned how his intuition grew sharper after he began using Flamberge. And that was identical to Eldred’s modus operandi with Shuya when he addressed Shuya with his own voice.

“Besides, you’re not blind to the truth either. Shuya can’t win against that, but I can. If I have your power to back me up, my victory will be set in stone.”

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus was fighting, choosing to put his faith in me and trading blows with the dullahan Dreibach Steibelt. As for the lich, it was making a frantic effort to pin down the adventurer hero, almost like a parent protecting its child.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus was most likely stronger than me. However, that was only if my individual power was taken into account.

I called out the name of the former hero, who in the anime went on to save the world with Shuya. “Team up with me and you’ll be able to unleash your full power... Eldred, the Blaze Lord.”

●

I couldn’t let my guard down, not even for one moment. I was facing a monster that had sent many A-class adventurers to their graves. The lich was a mage, and I was at a disadvantage against that class.

Terror seized my whole body. My opponent was a behemoth, but I knew I couldn’t withdraw from this fight, no matter what. I had promised Slowe Denning that I would buy him as much time as I could.

All things considered, I’m actually in high spirits. Up until now, I’ve always fought alone, but now I have someone to fall back on. A comrade with power that matches my own.

A garbled voice wretched out of the lich. “Y...YoU ARe—”

I barked out a laugh. “What impressive power! It seems that his abilities are from another dimension compared to what I expected from mages!”

“—IN mY WAaaY!!!”

I held nothing back. I gave it everything I had. In close quarters, I stopped the blow of the dullahan’s sword. However, I had more than one enemy.

The power of my cursed eye and the lich’s spell canceled each other out. Realizing that things weren’t going in my favor, I took one step aside. A sword pierced the ground where I had been standing with an astounding amount of physical strength behind it. Cracks appeared at the point of impact and spread out across the area, causing a stone pillar in the distance to crumble. What kind of ridiculous power did that strike have? The very act of thinking about it seemed to bring me one step closer to death’s door.

“IN My WaaAY!!!”

“Lich, it seems that you’re very concerned about that youth! Indeed, you should know the extent of Eldred’s strength!”

“YoU aRE ALsO CUrSed!”

“Yes, I am! That’s why they call me the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, you see!”

When I had defeated the wandering suit of armor, I had known that it would probably be the last time I could use that power. Using it ate away at my body, and I wouldn’t be able to live a long life. However, this fight was worth shaving a little more off my limited life span.

Keeping both the lich and the dullahan busy for a long time would be impossible. I didn’t even have a brief respite to catch my breath. I was investing everything into this battle; my life up until now, and everything I had left.

I took a step forward, swinging my battle-ax down and landing a strike against the dullahan’s shoulder. However, it only put the dullahan off-balance, and nothing more.

“AAAaaaAAA!!!” the dullahan roared.

“Living Dead! I’m telling you, I won’t let you go! I am your opponent!”

The musketeer was no longer interested in me, but him. It was clear that his gaze was fixed on Slowe Denning.

I couldn’t turn around to check on the youth. However, I could sense a torrent of raging mana behind me. Somehow or other, it seemed that he had managed to succeed at steadily drawing out power from Eldred.

I want to look and see what he’s doing, but my enemy wouldn’t pass up on any lapses of attention on my side, even a rapid blink of an eye.

“OuT OF mY WAy!!!”

Suddenly, my left arm was encased in ice. It would probably end up being useless for the rest of my life as a result. I gritted my teeth in reaction to the intense agony. “Lich, I wouldn’t mind sacrificing one arm to you! This fight is meaningful enough that it’s just a trivial matter!”

No matter what, I will never, ever let them take even one step forward towards him.

Then, I felt a wave of heat against my back. A wall of flames surged forward and brushed right past me, towards the dullahan. I had seen this technique many times; it was the power of Flamberge, the Archflare’s weapon.

I finally spotted the youth, and a colossal tower of flames coiled around the sword in his hand.

“Kill them along with me, Slowe Denning!!!” I screamed.

●

Sensing a critical threat, the lich charged forward to attack me, but the Eye of the Crimson Lotus stopped its advance with his battle-ax.

The black miasma enveloping the dullahan’s body had thickened to an alarming density. Dreibach Steibelt knocked down the Eye of the Crimson Lotus with his blade, and...the guild master was yelling at me to kill the musketeer along with himself.

I smiled contritely. “I have to admire him. Kill the others without caring about his own life, huh?”

Not many of the man’s actions had been revealed in the anime, but I was sure that he had done the same thing as he was now: throwing away his life to fight for the sake of Zenelaus.

But you know what, Eye of the Crimson Lotus? I want absolutely nothing to do with such a future.

“You’re surpassing my expectations, kid. I never thought you would be able to manipulate my power so skillfully...”

“I’m only asking them for help, that’s all. What surprised me though was the fact that the spirits adore you to an unexpected degree, Eldred.”

“What nonsense are you...”

The inferno surging out from Flamberge was talking to me. It was the voice of the Great Spirit of Fire, Eldred, the extraordinary being that had possessed Shuya.

At the same time, the fire spirits before my eyes were flying around in giddy excitement. Seeing that their lord was on a roll, they joined in and were delighted along with him. Usually, the fire spirits were a quiet bunch, but they were now thrilled and excited.

“It can’t be... You can see them?”

“We don’t really have time for small talk. That guy over there looks like he’s nearly at his limit.”

I finally understand why Eldred only killed the lich in the anime. That question bugged me for a long time.

Eldred was a calamity personified that saw combat as the only worthy thing in the world, but it turned out that he shared my thoughts when he laid his eyes on the dullahan exhaling miasma.

There was still enough heart left to rouse in the Great Spirit. This little fact was enough to brighten up my mood slightly.

I was connected to Eldred, and I realized the truth. My enemy was also a victim.

“There is a man cursed by a monster over there. Can you see him, Eldred? I want you to show him mercy. He’s just like the being you tried to protect when you were alive, isn’t he?”

The musketeer Dreibach Steibelt had a cursed past, just like Shuya. In the anime, Eldred had liberated him, and he became an antagonist who would frequently give advice to Shuya, who had suffered from much anguish during the war.

In the end, I never got to speak with him, but I feel the same way as Eldred does.

“You insolent kid. You’ve been talking as if you know everything.”

“The tower of flames gushing out of Flamberge is your avatar, isn’t it? You must be boiling over with rage for it to burn wild like this.”

The decorative details on Flamberge peeled off onto the ground. It returned to its rightful form: a weapon made specifically to cut away monsters and evil.

“After I held Flamberge in my hands, I also gained the ability to see through that monster and understand him well. So this is what it feels like to synchronize, huh? Thanks to that, I now know just how many curses that guy is bearing...”

“If you see things that clearly, I shall speak no further on the matter.”

A long time ago, far more of the land had been the territory of monsters than in the present day. Everyone else ended up living as hermits in hiding, locked up in their abodes and fearing the outdoors.

However, there was one lone exception. A man who had fought on tirelessly to protect his kin.

“But kid, do you understand what you are asking? If you wish to save that man, a measly amount of power wouldn’t be up for the task.”

“I’m fully aware of that. Therefore, give me everything you have.”

“Do you have the resolve to do it? If you fail to control it—” Eldred stopped suddenly. “Here he comes!”

“I’ve long braced myself for the consequences! Now listen to me, Eye of the Crimson Lotus, and move out of the way!!!”

Dreibach Steibelt. Earlier, you didn’t kill Shuya. You had countless chances to do so, but you chose not to.

In the anime, you had said that Shuya, cursed by Eldred, was a pitiful being just like you were. Then, you had appeared before him as he despaired after he had regained his true memories of destroying Zenelaus. You had guided him onto the path that led him to become a true savior of the world.

And now, you are charging right at me.

“Central Core Ignition,” I chanted.

After the Archflare had lost everything in the anime, he had wielded this very power. Shuya’s master had taken over the torch from the deceased Eye of the Crimson Lotus and had ascended into becoming an S-class adventurer himself.

I summoned and crafted a greater blast of flames than the Archflare had at the time. I swung the sword before me.

My right arm was burning to a crisp, but I didn’t care. To me, the chance to synchronize with Eldred himself was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, so there was no way I could waste this golden opportunity!

“Let’s end this, Living Dead!”

The ebony flames rushed straight forward from my sword. It thrust through the dullahan’s heart and raced even farther, until...

...it arrived at the lich, the mastermind of it all, who was hidden behind multiple layers of barriers.

“AAAaaaAAA!!!”

One day, I had a dream.

The dream centered around the man whom I somehow always ended up noticing nearby, and the man whom I hated more than anyone else at Kirsch.

That guy always showed off his dazzling righteousness to me without a thought, and...he just didn’t sit well with me.

“AaaAAAAaAaAAAA!!!”

But as the story slowly unfolded, I gradually learned more about him. I learned about his past; a dark shadow erased from his memory that lurked on the other side of his smiles. I got to know the identity of the voice that served as a pillar of support in his heart. I saw a future where Shuya Newkern would confront the many sins he had committed, mingle with many friends and foes, and eventually save the world.

“HOw dARe yOU!!!”

And then, I learned everything that waited for me in that same future, down the path where I had cast away my life as a member of House Denning.

My peaceful life at Kirsch Mage Institute, with the only family I had, would fall apart. There would be a war of epic proportions with people on the other side of the continent, and many would perish.

In the beginning, after I learned all this, I had planned on becoming a person worthy of being by Charlotte’s side for her sake. At the same time, I had also wanted to regain everything I had lost after I had become the blackhearted Piggy Duke. To accomplish that, I needed to change myself.

I mean, think about it. There’s a limit to how obese one can get!

But in the end...I realized that unless I took measures to deal with the arduous future waiting for the anime protagonist, the world I wanted would simply remain a dream. That was why I came to Zenelaus.

The lich’s voice gradually weakened into a crackle. “CuRSe yOU...”

Then, at last, I came to a decision. I would approach one of the key players in the story in Zenelaus: Eldred.

The Great Spirit was persistently attempting to reach out to me from inside Shuya’s crystal ball. His might incinerated the lich, bit by bit.

The lich was the monster that brought forth Dreibach Steibelt, the pride of the Dustour Empire. It was the dungeon master that had consumed many S-class adventurers in its dungeon, the Laboratory, and now it was at death’s door.

“Oink...” I breathed weakly.

Even a monster as strong as a lich wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against Eldred, huh? But wait, if I remember correctly, Dustour’s Nanatrij wasn’t able to fully kill this lich either... Wait, no, that wasn’t the case. She left it as it is because she wanted Dreibach’s cursed power or something like that.

Howling and scattering its resentment into the air, the lich faded away. I watched the whole process from the beginning to the end.

The lich wasn’t the only thing that went under purification, however. The armor concealing Dreibach Steibelt also started to disappear, and slowly and steadily, he transformed and regained the vestiges of his former human form. His hair was void of color, white like chalk as an effect of receiving the curse of a monster, and his face was impassive, one that would rarely express colorful emotions.

I watched as the man returned to his human form and collapsed onto the ground. I breathed out feebly, letting out a snort once again.

I wondered whether the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, the Archflare, and Shuya were still alive. Right now, I didn’t have the means to check. Using Flamberge at full throttle had taken everything out of me. Like Dreibach, I was just another collapsed body on the ground, and I didn’t even have the energy to budge a single inch.

Jeez... Thinking about it, the guild master of this city is an outrageously reckless guy. He tried to do the impossible and lock down those two by himself... Even I would have reservations about doing that. Actually, it’s impossible. I would never be able to. I had my hands full just with the lich.

Staying still, I basked in the silence. The city had always been lively, but now I had made a new discovery that it could be this quiet.

That thought didn’t last long because, in the next moment, I could hear shouts of joy. The source was rather far off. Many small voices echoed through the streets, and the yells overlapped with each other.

“Those zombies disappeared! We did it!”

“We won! It’s our victory!”

If the lich was exterminated, puppets created from its power would also disappear along with it.

“But, well...I can’t call this ‘problem solved’ yet.” I sighed.

“What’s this fire?! Put it out!”

“It’s not working! It won’t go out! This fire isn’t a regular flame. It’s fueled by magic! Extinguish it with water spells!”

From what people were yelling now, I could tell that Zenelaus was burning down. The one thing that I had been dreading had become reality.

However, this was different from the anime. These flames weren’t berserk like in the show, but instead were restrained fires that I had produced. I could put these out after I had a short break and recovered my strength. It was a little too much for me right now though. I needed to rest just a tad more.

It would probably cause some injuries, but please forgive me. The city might be singed juuust a little bit, but it’s a lost cause to demand compensation from me. I’m dirt poor! So much so that I asked the guild to pay for my cost of living in this city.

But... I sighed internally. I suppose it’s asking too much to change all of the predetermined events, huh...

I finally broke out of my thoughts, mumbling to myself, “I might finally be able to have an appetite again.”

In Zenelaus, my diet had consisted solely of field rations made for adventurers. These things were dry, crumbly, and tasted awful, but they were handy because I could gulp them down in one bite. And now I wouldn’t need to rely on those things anymore.

What do I eat first? Ah, but I need to nurse my stomach back to normal before going wild. In that case, something easy to digest is the obvious choice. I’ll slowly train it to eat like normal, step by step. Nothing beats daydreaming about food! It cheers me right up. Even in this kind of hellish landscape, it fills me with the willpower to live on.

“The flames are vanishing!”

My eyes widened. “Huh? No way.”

Even in my wildest dreams, even with my knowledge, I couldn’t have expected that to happen. The flames vanishing? That’s crazy. Those are Eldred’s, and it’s absurd for someone else to erase them. What is going on? I wanted to stand up and see for myself what was happening, but I couldn’t pick myself up. My whole body was limp. During my struggles, I could still hear people talking about it. Is someone interfering with Eldred’s abilities?

But who? My mind whirled. Someone who could obstruct Eldred’s power...the Great Spirit of Wind, maybe? No, they left together with Charlotte. They’ve probably met up with Silva in Galland by this time. I also don’t think that Great Spirit would go out of their way to provoke Eldred into a fight. In that case... Wait. Wait.

There was one theory that I couldn’t think about because the implications were... But...

A girl’s voice chimed out. “Wha— Hey, what is with this mess?! One of the major sites of the south is in shreds!”

I was speechless.

Regardless of what I wished for, reality always loved shoving big, fat surprises in my face.

The voice continued on as its owner approached, sounding miffed. “Where are you, Dreibach? I’m pretty sure I didn’t order you to attack the city, did I?!”

In Zenelaus, the foulest hell I had experienced so far, I heard a voice so lighthearted that it sounded like it should have belonged to a completely different story.