Hero – Part 11
The mist that had shrouded the plain was swept away by the blue flash.
After a single stroke, the Infernal Katana began to crumble and turned to dust in an instant.
“Luke!”
Lisa rushed to him as he collapsed to his knees.
Luke’s face was pale, drenched in cold sweat, but he turned his right eye to her and managed a smile.
“I’m fine. I can still see.”
Tears welled in Lisa’s eyes. Overcome with emotion, she moved to embrace him.
“Kyah!”
Luke pressed his palm to her face.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“It’s not over yet.”
He shoved Lisa away, grabbed the katana embedded in the ground, and swung it backward in a wide arc. The sword clashed with a battle axe aimed at the back of his head, knocking it aside.
The surprise attack from behind came from a figure in black full-body armor.
“You damn blacksmith,” Francisca cursed. “You killed the Inhumans bestowed upon me by Lord Siegfried!”
She closed the distance, ready to strike again. But then, she stopped.
“Lord Siegfried?!”
Francisca’s gaze shifted to a man in black standing in the distance. He was scowling in their direction with a look of utter distinterest.
Her body froze under the weight of his stare, and she dropped to her knees.
“P-Please forgive me, Lord Siegfried!” Her usual cold demeanor melted away. “I would cast myself into hell for you. Your despair is my despair. If you see any value in that, please, please do not abandon me!”
She pleaded desperately, but the man remained impassive.
“Sieg… fried.”
Luke could feel his lips curl upward. An overwhelming surge of pure hatred exploded in his mind, radiating a palpable urge to kill. The exhaustion that had nearly consumed him moments before vanished in an instant, and he charged toward the man in black.
Siegfried deflected Luke’s sword strike with his gauntlet, then calmly ordered his subordinate. “Come, Francisca.”
What came next was an incantation of transformation, uttered with a hint of joy.
“Unshackle from slumber. Race across the earth. The crown, on your head. Slay God.”
With a deafening rumble, the earth split open. Rocks surged upward toward the sky, crushing Francisca, armor and all. The armor shattered on impact, compressing and pulverizing her bones, while the rising bedrock engulfed her entirely.
The jagged tower of rock, completed in mere seconds, exploded from within, ejecting a longsword. The weapon flew into the air, arcing gracefully before plunging into the earth at Siegfried’s feet.
It was a bastard sword, a double-edged blade long enough to reach the height of an adult man. Its long hilt allowed it to be wielded one-handed or with both, depending on the needs of the fighter.
Siegfried easily drew the longsword—the Infernal Blade Francisca—with one hand. The sight of his tall frame raising the longsword was nothing short of menacing.
“Is that your Sacred Sword?” Siegfried asked, gesturing to Luke’s blade.
Luke glanced down at his own weapon. It had turned into a generic sword, stained with blood, its edge chipped from tip to the middle, and the blade itself slightly warped.
Holding it in a lower stance, Luke smirked. “Wanna test it?”
As soon as the words left his lips, he took off, his blade flashing as he lunged forward.
Siegfried raised his bastard sword with both hands and swung it straight down in a vertical strike.
A cold shiver ran down Luke’s spine. The line between life and death blurred. An inexplicable sense of danger seized him. Instantly, he turned his sword horizontally before leaping to the side.
The bastard sword descended like it was being pulled by gravity, slicing through Luke’s blade at its midpoint. The longsword’s tip struck the ground with such force that the earth split open beneath it.
Luke barely avoided the strike, but the shockwave hurled him backward. He dropped the half-sword and rolled across the ground safely. As he lifted his face, he found the tip of the longsword inches from his nose. Siegfried stood over him, looking down with cold, unfeeling eyes.
“That’s one hell of an Infernal Blade,” Luke muttered in disbelief.
It was likely the same kind of Infernal Blade Doris had wielded. That claymore was capable of shattering the earth in every direction, but the Infernal Blade Francisca cleaved the earth in a straight line. While they shared a similar nature, Francisca’s destructive power was on an entirely different scale.
Siegfried stared at the blacksmith wordlessly. The tip of his sword stayed perfectly still.
Luke couldn’t read his thoughts. As he held the man’s gaze, his right eye narrowed. It was clear that he was the one on the back foot.
“Siegfried.” Nevertheless, his voice remained calm. “There was something I forgot to tell you before.”
“What is it?”
“You will die by my hand.”
The man in black frowned.
Luke flashed a cold sneer. “Because you laid your hands on the one woman you should have never touched.”
Luke now realized that that was the spark that had ignited everything, the trigger that set him off.
“Siegfried… assaulted Cecily.”
When Aria told him through tears what happened, that was when Luke first understood what the intent to kill felt like. It was also when he learned of another feeling he harbored for Cecily. And so he made a decision.
“I will stand before you as many times as needed, and someday, I will kill you.”
A decision to fight for the people he had to protect, the promises he had to keep, the desires burning deep within him.
“Can’t do it, Luke Ainsworth?”
“I can.”
The silence stretched on.
The tip of the longsword was still pressed against Luke’s nose. He knew it wasn’t going to move. Because Cecily Campbell had a rapier pressed to Siegfried’s neck from behind.
“Move aside, Siegfried,” Cecily said in a low, commanding voice. “Victory is ours. As promised, the fight is over.”
The man in black withdrew his sword and stepped back. Lisa and Cecily quickly rushed to Luke’s side.
With Lisa’s help, Luke managed to stand.
“Wy do this? What’s your goal?” Cecily asked Siegfried as he turned to leave.
“To destroy this continent,” Siegfried said matter-of-factly. “It’s as simple as that.”
Without another word, the man left the battlefield.
“We… won, didn’t we?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah,” Luke confirmed.
“A huge victory,” Cecily added.
After watching the man in black go, they let out a collective breath.
“Yeah, sorry,” Luke said first. “I’ve hit my limit.”
He collapsed.
“L-Luke? Are you all right?!”
“Ah, I think I’ve reached my limit too. Sorry, Lisa.”
“What?! What do I do now?”
Lisa stared back and forth between the two of them, clutching her head.
Suddenly, wind swirled around the rapier in Cecily’s hand, and Aria was flung out from it. Exhausted from the intense battle, she, too, was barely able to stand.
Aria looked toward the hill where their camp stood and smiled. Lisa followed her gaze and saw a young man standing alone at the top, watching them from a distance.
“Easy.”
Aria flashed a victory sign at the young man, then collapsed backward.
“Aria! Wh-What do I do now?!”
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