I Became the Hero Who Banished the Protagonist - I Became the Hero Who Banished the Protagonist chapter 127

127. Leap and Preparation (4)

When was the last time you felt death? When you were isolated in a cave and faced an intelligent monster for the first time? The first time you were tested for a crown? When you break through the limit line and face a giant? If not that, when faced with an endlessly repeating landscape in the fog? No, I didn’t even have time to think about my death back then.

“Relax. You’re not really going to die.”

Now, I am closer to death than ever. I was sitting upright on my knees, and right in front of me was the Holy Sword calmly drawing its sword and aiming its blade at the top of my head. It didn’t move at all, it didn’t even radiate any flesh, but it felt like the sharpness was cutting through my bones and cutting my spinal cord in half.

“… Why do you do it this way?”

“You know, you only grow up after going through anything. Even when opening the second stage. It was the most efficient way to get through it by bumping into it with your body.”

From nob le mtl dot com

The Holy Sword said so casually. I don’t think it’s something to say before cutting someone down.

“I don’t think I have anything to say to you, but originally swordsmanship grows by being cut by someone. How they cut me, how deeply they cut me, how the sword felt when cutting me. I am developing my sword while thinking of him.”

It was a bittersweet word. The blade of the holy sword that spat him out did not move at all. A cold sweat trickled down his spine. I mean, looking at it, she had the feeling that she had that body completely under control. No matter what I think or say, it doesn’t show up in my body. The body simply moves and changes as the head commands, and is fixed.

“I didn’t want to let you experience him… . I thought that if I had to go through it, it would be better for me to do it. You won’t even get hurt here.”

The Holy Sword shaking its head. Her white hair swayed from side to side. And the Holy Sword slowly raised the sword upwards. Even that movement was the way the sword went. As I raised my head along the tip of the holy sword, I met her red eyes. The eyes were looking warmly at me.

“Keep your eyes peeled, Illroy. You see and feel what happens to you until the end.”

Before I could answer, the holy sword cut the sword down. When I cut the stars, the sword strike that felt so slow cut through me in an instant.

This is how it feels to be cut. from top to bottom. side by side. Existence is torn apart and collapsed. You shouldn’t get drunk on that feeling. I forced myself to breathe into the lungs, barely holding on to the end of the consciousness that was about to fade. It had to be clearly imprinted on what was happening.

What kind of will that sword contains, what is it looking at. How far can the sword reach?

squeak.

With the feeling of something being cut off, my eyes went dark. Without feeling like falling, I was already swimming at the bottom of my consciousness.

“Cool, cool!”

I was slumped over on the floor. Water flowed from his mouth, his left hand rested on the ground, and his right hand stretched forward as if asking for help. It wasn’t beige, wasn’t it beige? My whole body was trembling. My body wasn’t getting enough oxygen. I forcefully turned over on my back and forced air into my airway.

“How are you?”

The Holy Sword was sitting in front of me. I couldn’t even hear the answer to that expression. Did he die and come back to life, or is this the afterlife? I didn’t even feel the sword cut me. The holy sword waited for me to recover.

“That is the death of the world. what did you feel?”

I wiped my chin with the back of my hand and sat down facing the holy sword.

“… I think I was underestimating this too much.”

Why do stars burn? I looked at the sword that the holy sword had pierced the floor. Has your blade ever looked as big as it does today? I sighed.

“Cutting down a star shouldn’t be a difficult task.”

The hand of the holy sword rested on the top of my head. I shrugged and trembled as I accepted the Holy Sword’s hand. The holy sword stroked my hair as if I were a dog, and straightened the messy hair. It was a strangely soothing touch. The Holy Sword then grabbed both of my cheeks.

“Come on, get up. Illroy. Grab your sword and go the way you need to go.”

I grabbed my sword. The feeling of being cut was deeply engraved into his bones. I won’t ever forget that. knife. A sword carved into my body. My hand holding the sword trembled. heavy. And cold. Vibration transmitted to the sword tip and hilt dragged on the ground. I wasn’t used to all those sensations.

“The sword is unfamiliar.”

“Because I saw new possibilities. And also because I saw the way you had to go.”

The holy sword corrected my awkward posture. The body is full of strength. The shaking of my arms is purely a matter of my heart. Soon the shaking stopped. The road seems to be visible at first glance. You have to walk there.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be successful again. Even if you do it a million times, there is no guarantee that you will succeed.”

That’s what cutting the world is like.

Saying that, the Holy Sword smiled.

“Think about it. Even if you are blocked by a wall, keep bumping into it and pushing it away. If you can’t get over the wall, don’t get frustrated and break it down. I don’t have much time, but I think you can do it.”

A scarecrow was born. This time the towering model looked different. The compulsion to slash disappeared from my head. Wielding comes first. It’s enough to cut that thing after I’m sure.

“… Are you going to start like that?”

“huh. My goal is not to be a scarecrow.”

The smile on the holy sword’s face grew thicker. She proudly raised her hand to stroke my hair, but when her arms couldn’t reach her, she tapped my shoulder.

“From now on, I will leave it all up to you. If that’s the case, I’ll even get in the way of waiting for you here. When you think it’s okay to cut down that scarecrow. When that time comes, I will come to pick you up again.”

The Holy Sword’s voice was far away. The presence of her behind her back gradually faded and disappeared over the horizon like a boat horn leaving. And, I was all alone. A pure white image space filled with silence. I can’t hear anything but my heart beating and breathing. It was only me and that scarecrow that existed.

“I’m not trying to cut you.”

Like a man who used a volleyball as his companion on an uninhabited island, I talked to the scarecrow. There was nothing in the sword. The tip of the sword was not aimed at anything. Taking a nose-squeeze, I breathed in and raised the sword, exhaled and pushed it down. The slow sword strike did not cut anything.

“good.”

Like that, like someone who has never held a sword for the first time, or like someone who has held a sword for the first time in a long time, I continued my slow movements. What is a sword, and why do I wield it?

“You can find out again from now on.”

Sweat broke out. Sweat runs down the spine. This is because the meaning was placed on a single swing. After one slash, there was a gap. Raise the sword, lower it, think again. After thinking, raise the sword again. It was that repetition. The amount of time it takes to wield one swing has not changed. What had to change was not the number of times the sword was wielded, but the mindset of the one who wielded the sword.

hook.

The blade cut through the air. So, I started swinging my sword.

—

“Would you like to look at this material?”

It’s been a month since the raid was sorted out and the hero suddenly disappeared. A report was placed on the desk. Nella frowned at the title of the report.

“’Northern monster trend’? Why did this report come up at the end of summer?”

“There was a reason for coming up in the summer. You should read it through once.”

Now is the point where joint research is not so awkward. Nella narrowed her eyes at Daphne, then turned back to the report. The place where they were sitting was an empty room at the headquarters of the hero party, not the laboratory of the Mage Tower. It seemed to Nella that the place still did not calm down. I never thought I would revisit the place where I walked out on my own feet.

“Don’t sound anxious. Events that don’t fit the original time and place are the scariest.”

Nella answered and opened the report. Skip the introduction with detailed explanations. The first thing Nella looked for was a simplified chart of monster trends. Nella’s eyes quickly read the numbers and pictures. Lined guesses were not important to Nella. The numbers represented it all.

“… It makes no sense.”

And, the words of the number made Nella read the text.

“Compared to previous years, the frequency of monsters appearing in summer is strange. Why did so many of these guys who don’t run into people in the summer suddenly appear?”

“I don’t know. Is there something wrong in the north, is there a monster powerful enough to take away the existing monsters’ habitat, or is the demon worshipers doing something stupid.”

Daphne’s expression as she shook her head was not very good.

“A monster that steals the habitat of existing monsters? Those guys, when something powerful appears, they are subordinated to it. Shouldn’t it be invisible then?”

“It could have been sent to people. Named monsters always covet human territory. The stronger the entity, the more so.”

Nella closed the report and looked at Daphne. Daphne’s expression went beyond good or bad, and it was as pale as a frightened person. Nella looked at him with puzzled eyes.

“I know. Maybe it’s because I fought a lot with monsters.”

“Last summer was just like that. Sudden increase in frequency of occurrence. A much more ferocious character. Even movements that feel strangely organized.”

Come on, if it was last summer.

Nella frowned. He seemed to know what Daphne was trying to say. Daphne nodded at Nella.

“yes. It feels similar to when a giant wakes up in the North.”

“Is it possible that the devil worshipers were playing tricks? Isn’t that something that can’t be ruled out at all?”

Daphne shook her head at the question.

“There is little chance of that. If you can commit something bigger than raiding the Mage Tower, infiltrating the depths of the kingdom and spreading doomsday cults everywhere… , You don’t have to hide and work in the first place.”

“… I know. I just did it because I was embarrassed. It would have been much easier to deal with if the demon worshipers were up to something.”

Nella covered her mouth. I didn’t like to imagine. It’s easier to assume that the existing ones were stronger than we thought, rather than one more threat similar to a disaster.

“Even if that is the case, we have to assume the worst and move on. It’s a warrior party.”

“that… , I left the party. Please stop including me in your party.”

Daphne took Nella’s complaint lightly. Nella was getting used to her words being dismissed lightly. It really shouldn’t be like that, but the fact that I didn’t feel dirty made me anxious. You’re getting closer with these guys, what is it?

“Well, anyway, you don’t have to pay attention to every report like that. Since the Grand Duke of the North is alive and well, the affairs of the North will be taken care of. We just need to focus our energy on the completion of magic.”

“It is, but… .”

Daphne still seemed uneasy. I don’t know what the hell she saw back in the North, but Nella could understand Daphne’s anxiety to some extent. The swarm of monsters brought by one disaster literally filled the sea.

“Let’s just keep an eye on the trends. I’ll put the report somewhere else for now.”

At that time, the door to the temporary laboratory opened and Marianne entered.

“The wizards asked me to deliver this.”

Marianne, who simply said the matter, put a pile of papers in Daphne’s hand. As Daphne sighed and opened the folder, her expression hardened as if making a noise. Looking at Daphne, who had become a stone statue, Nella calmed down with an uneasy voice.

“What is it, what is it?”

Snatching the papers from Daphne’s hand, Nella stiffened with the same expression. The twitching corners of his mouth were more like absurdity than affirmation.

“this… What the hell is going on?”

‘Southern monster trends’

‘Western Monster Trend’

‘Trends of monsters in the eastern border area’

‘Royal Road Monster Trend’

The pouring data all recited the trend of the monsters.