18. Among those many, many stars.(2)
since when
Strange things started to appear.
“Fall down! Stop dying!”
“What the hell are you doing!”
“You devilish bastard!”
I can’t pay big prices.
I had fun running.
Now, with the distance wide open, only curses and curses are pouring out.
He’s doing that as if he’d run at it whenever he had a chance.
… … In the meantime.
Why?
A small kid was moving and knocking down those insignificant players as if they were acrobatic.
I want to see if I’ve seen it wrong, so I keep looking.
Leading a body much smaller and weaker than himself.
From the relentless offensive, fluttering like leaves in the wind.
… Cuts, stabs, and scans the vital points of enemies.
Its movement and its intention to attack seemed to resemble those that it instinctively showed itself a moment ago.
I can’t take my eyes off it at all.
As if to teach, to remind.
“aaagh!”
Illusions are blurred.
A barbaric warrior comes brandishing a greatsword.
“… like this.”
block the sword
Raise the sword in an oblique line.
shed
It’s not that great, though.
Oddly enough, it seeps deep into the heart.
As if it was like this from the beginning.
Use the flowing power reversely and cut it as it is.
Surprisingly, the counterattack continued more smoothly than before.
“Cuck!”
The chest splits.
Piercing through the skin, severing even the ribs.
The opponent’s chest part is horribly split.
“… … .”
The fantasy still runs amok like an acrobatics.
Like stepping on the opponent’s legs or chest and going behind their head.
To make it difficult for the rushing enemies to attack, they rushed towards the enemy and climbed over between their legs and on their backs.
The hand that is coming to grab it, rather, using a rather small body, grabs the finger in reverse, bends the opponent’s knuckles as he did, and uses that moment when he instinctively tries to protect it, scattering the center of gravity of the opponent’s body .
Some, as if the attempt itself were not the same, tried to beat the boy with screams regardless of whether their knuckles and joints were broken.
His shoulders stiffened with excitement, and he used the momentary stiff reaction to slash his eyeballs with his sword, or he cut his neck with a shallow stab.
If you’re just a little careless, you’ll break your ankle, grind your thigh, cause bleeding, and so on.
‘You’re good at it.’
Still, a sense of incongruity follows.
At such a young age, what made that child do that?
suddenly.
The illusion sees itself face to face.
Just as this side was looking at him, the other side was staring at him.
What you see is just faint, but gold that sparkles vividly.
Just look at those eyes that sparkle like gold.
… One thing, I intuited something unknown.
Is it a foreboding?
Or is it just a simple desire to accept it that way?
… I do not know.
just.
The memory suddenly came to mind.
What the old woman said while clearing her throat with a cough.
[One of those many stars will come to you. I’m only telling you what I saw, so you can take care of the rest.]
One of many, many stars.
what does it mean.
I do not know.
I don’t even have the energy to think.
Even at this moment when you breathe and hold on, you don’t know when you will collapse.
Consciousness had already fallen to the bottom.
All I can see is blurry.
Even so.
As far as those two eyes were, they were clear.
‘Right.’
Ruel.
you survived
survive, survive to the end
… You’ve reached this far.
I don’t know who the boy is.
However, those two eyes resembled Ruel’s.
“… I see.”
Involuntarily, I look up at the sky.
“If this is the end. That too… It will be fine.”
Did I fulfill my role?
I do not know.
… just.
“… … ?”
suddenly.
through his eyes.
the world was illuminated
The small town has become so huge that it cannot be compared to before.
Inside the church, a stonemason was working hard to carve.
What are you working so hard on?
Eventually, there was something about the finished stone statue that made his heart throb even when he saw it.
With the sword driven into the ground.
The man who couldn’t bring himself to fall down, clung to it and sat down with his head still leaning against it.
Countless people clinging to him behind him.
The faces of each of them were obviously someone he didn’t know.
Strangely, each of those faces turns into familiar people.
– How did you go like this?
-sorry! If we could be of any help… .
– You have to wake up! You can’t do this here!
-mister! mister!
-… Where is the law to leave like this?
father.
“… … .”
the boy with black hair.
I raised my eyes similar to Ruel’s and looked up at him.
“Boy. Can you tell me your name?”
“… … .”
As if it’s about to get cold.
However, the boy raised his bright golden and sulfur eyes.
he replied.
“My name is Kariel.”
“… … .”
The child with Ruel’s eyes mentioned the same name as mine.
“Right.”
So many, many stars, is this what you meant?
And among those many, many stars.
you came before me
A boy with Ruel’s eyes.
Showing off swords and skills that only me and my master know.
Even if you face the same trials as me.
did not succumb.
… … .
“thanked.”
The boy lowered his head.
“no. Quite the contrary.”
I am.
“Thank you.”
in a clouded consciousness.
Unknowingly, pure white light pours from the sky.
Somewhere, in a voice I’ve never heard before.
the boy shouts
– Kariel! How long are you going to make me wait!
A girl with a voice I had never heard before.
He inflates his cheeks and argues with anger.
-I almost died of boredom!
There they are.
As if possessed, the man advances toward the light.
Her body, which had been heavy, suddenly became as light as a feather.
He naturally let go of the sword he was holding.
It was like putting down the heavy duty and responsibility.
The man slowly advances towards it.
The man who had become a young boy before he knew it.
With a smile on his face, he runs lightly toward the boy and girl.
A boy and a girl standing with their backs to the light.
behind those two.
With a man who looks exactly like the existing man.
Leaning deeply next to him, he gave a full-blown smile to the boy running towards him.
Because there was a woman
there for a while
The boy, who had stopped jumping, inadvertently turned his back.
“… … .”
A boy who has grown bigger than himself.
The boy turned to the boy with the same name as himself.
The boy, Kariel, waved her arm.
The clear sound of the horn echoes all over the world.
Soon the world.
wrapped in pure white
And the jet-black boy who remained among them.
With both eyes closed, I held my breath for a while and turned away from the scene.
“… … .”
The world is crumbling.
However, in the process, the giant warriors again burst into laughter.
“Ha ha ha! okay! It’s finally over!”
“Look! What did I say?”
“A man of that level is cancer! Even God covets it!”
“Really, it was a lot of life.”
“Even so, if we couldn’t see the end of the author, how could we close our eyes in peace?”
When I opened my eyes, the warriors turned into whitish shapes again.
When they saw Kariel, they made incomprehensible expressions.
“You guys, didn’t you resent him?”
“I did!”
“You did a lot!”
“But the object of resentment is not him. They were our tribe, our brothers and our families who lost us who became losers.”
“What do you think we did, being caught up in the futile honor of being a warrior?”
“Ah, but it was nice to be proud of yourself while using your strength.”
“So it was cheap even if I got hurt!”
… It’s completely different from before.
“It’s true that you came here because of resentment. However, watching his life and his tenacity, we have changed too.”
Originally, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had become a vengeful spirit and a demon.
After all, he kept that belief until he died.
“Even we were inspired.”
In that life, there was not a single point of shame.
“We, who are full of shame, are starting to envy him.”
So, I took a rough look at the area he was trying to protect.
“The remnant will remain, but that is over.”
“Because we don’t have the power to do that.”
“… … .”
Even in death, he protected the realm as a holy spirit.
… is that a story
How great of a person are you?
Laughter breaks out.
I don’t know why, but I was filled with sadness.
that’s a lot of life
Although the end seemed to have worked out well.
Doesn’t it mean that you have endured that long time, a life that is neither living nor dead, holding your breath to the end?
Kariel had no choice but to ask.
“I… Is it too late?”
“No way.”
The warriors immediately shouted.
“Everything has its time, boy.”
“… … .”
The pure white sky is shattering finely.
As if snow of gold and pure white were falling.
Gorgeous, yet bright.
To be holy, to be sublime.
It just felt futile.
Like petals that bloom and scatter in spring.
suddenly.
It felt like a strong scent of lavender.
Right.
Originally, this place was full of lavender scent.
Especially since it’s festival time.
It is said that the petals are thrown during the holiday event.
with blessings
Sincerely.
May your opponent do well.
hope it goes well
with joy
with happiness
That is the town he risked his life to protect… .
“… … .”
The world in front of you like that.
Like a fleeting dream.
went scattered
Anything left after that.
Saint Kariel’s straight sword that emits soft light.
Moment.
Great!
The cracked sword broke in half.
It’s like putting down all the burdens on your back.
Even the sword, as if to let it know that it has finished its role.
—-
-This is confirmed.
The demon king gained an undeniable certainty.
That is a hero, not a warrior’s vessel.
No, it may have been like that in the past.
But at this very moment.
I was sure it was a completely different existence than those things.
That’s not a hero, not a warrior, not a king, or anything.
… saint (saint).
so-called saints.
Or a being called a deity.
It is just such a bowl.
The demon king was convinced again and again while watching St. Kariel’s ascension to heaven.
-Is that why inspirations were so cheap?
More than half, I was sure of 90%.
But just in case you didn’t know.
What is not perfect is not perfect.
So until you’re completely sure.
don’t promise anything
However, the moment I was assured, this was a definite matter.
-That little pope has had a good feeling since the old days.
At first, I wanted to make good use of my fame because my reputation was good and my name was moderately high.
Afterwards, until he was crowned Pope thanks to Ermina, he didn’t look so threatening.
… Even the demon lord himself did not know that all of that was a mask to deceive the world.
Maybe it was a revelation from God.
so as not to reveal yourself to the end.
-A guy like that baptized them by directly pouring oil on the dying plate?
not even great
Maybe he had a revelation too, or maybe he had the ability to see or figure out something others couldn’t see.
– But why did it appear at this time?
Indeed.
Indeed.
Indeed.
– There will be no time to be bored.
Golden smiled.
Different from flowers in full bloom.
It can be seen when a withering flower squeezes out life at the end.
That kind of smile settled ferociously on her face.
It wasn’t envy, envy, inferiority, or even frustration.
What emotions are there?
… regret.
or annoyed.
or… .
anger.