Vol 3 Chapter 50 – The Hero

“Byss, hey, Abyss! What are you spacing out for!”

“S-Sorry, Rogue. I was lost in thought.”

“What the hell, pretty rare for a stiff like you to zone out.”

Currently, the Apostle Abyss Helen was in the middle of handing over his duties to the comrade before him, a fellow Apostle named Rogue Agnis.

It was time for the biannual rotation of the defense forces here in Tiamaria.

“Still, they really got their asses handed to them. Hard to think of it as a mere coincidence, huh.”

“Yes, I agree. I suspect this might be a premeditated move on the demons’ part.”

“Them? If those muscle-brains had that kind of intellect, I feel like we’d all have been massacred long ago. Well, I hear that Prime Minister or whatever she’s called has been using her head a bit lately, though.”

“You speak too freely. We exist to oppose the demons. That is exactly why we shouldn’t dwell on unnecessary things.”

“Hmph, the fact that you’re spouting that implies you’ve got your own issues. Ah, my bad, don’t give me that look. It’s not like I’m trying to pick a fight with you.”

Saying that, he flashed a wicked grin.

“I mean, I am, but whatever. I heard a much more interesting story, anyway.”

“Honestly, you’re really…”

Rogue Agnis.

Also known as the “White Flame.”

He was a fire-user cloaked in divine majesty, and humanity’s one and only dragon rider.

His speech and conduct were crude, and not a single person could control his actions.

He was simply a ruffian who rampaged in accordance with his own destructive desires.

And he possessed the sheer strength to be allowed to do so.

“Well, you can just tuck your tail and scurry back to Seneca. If I’ve got a new playmate here, that’s nothing but good news for me.”

“His appearance is nothing but human. He’s likely a new breed of demon we’ve never seen before, so be careful.”

“Hah, that’s why you’re a lost cause. We’re Apostles, you know. It’s a real blessing. Thanks to the grace of that shitty Angel or whatever, we’ve practically ceased being human. There’s no way we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a demon and a human.”

“Someone who can touch the word of God and pull off a stunt like that cannot possibly be human. Nine… that man is a demon.”

“I’m speechless, you fanatic. By your logic, my partner here gets denied too. You’re about the only one who actually believes the sacred texts of Saria are the standard for justice. This guy is technically classified as a monster, too, you know.”

Saying that, Rogue stroked the skin of the dragon standing next to him. No, towering would be a more accurate description—an unnaturally massive creature whose head couldn’t even be seen without looking straight up.

“Even if it is a monster, so long as it follows God’s will…”

“It’s allowed to live, huh. A truly blessed tale, isn’t it.”

“Rogue.”

“I know, I know. Thanks to that great divine protection, I get to enjoy my life, too.”

Saying that, Rogue fell into thought for a moment.

“I just thought of something a bit interesting. Hey, Abyss, stick around in Tiamaria a little longer. The situation in Seneca is stable, so there’s no need to rush back, right?”

“What is it, some wicked scheme again?”

“Don’t make me sound so bad. If this goes well, we might just be able to lure out this Nine guy.”

“Hm?”

“From what I hear, he sounds like quite the tricky bastard. In that case, I figure we should try a backdoor approach, too.”

Rogue Agnis.

The hero who achieved tremendous military results in the defensive battle of Volks.

Whether it was a head-on battle or a surprise attack, he would use any tactic he deemed viable—but everyone knew that humane ethics were never a part of the equation.

“I won’t allow any unnecessary sacrifices.”

“There won’t be any. At most, the number of beasts will just thin out a bit.”

In Saria, beastkin apparently aren’t considered human, after all.

Adding that, Rogue mounted his dragon partner and took to the skies.

Watching him leave, Abyss thought to himself.

I believe that God’s will is always just, but…

Even so, I cannot fathom the reason for making such a vulgar man an Apostle.

Doubting God would lead to denying my very existence as Abyss.

Because I was only able to find my reason for living by being chosen by God and becoming an Apostle.

It was none other than Saria that taught me the preciousness of helping others, respecting others, and living in such a way.

However, he couldn’t help but think. What he simply couldn’t get out of his head was the existence of the Hero.

The Hero.

He heard that she had originally been just a village girl.

One day, a stigmata suddenly appeared—a scar emerged around her shoulder blades. Upon learning of this, she was taken away by members of the Saria Order and exalted as the Hero.

He remembered the first time he met her.

Was it six or seven years ago?

When he was told he would be meeting the Hero for the first time at the palace in Seneca, Abyss felt his heart dance with an excitement unbecoming of his age.

That being said, he had only just passed twenty at the time, so he was still at an age where he could be called a youth.

“Yuusha-sama. This is one of the Apostles who shall become your hands and feet, the sword that will eradicate the demons: Abyss Helen.”

Introduced in such a manner by an Order executive, Abyss bowed with slight embarrassment, only for the girl called the Hero—who couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen years old—to suddenly grab him.

“Shut up! What do you mean, Apostle! Send me home, send me back home!”

While Abyss was left utterly confused by her screams, someone else restrained her.

“Let go, let go of me! Why do I, why do I have to—”

After thrashing about like that for a while, she hugged her own body as if to protect it from something and screamed into the empty air.

“Shut uuup! What do you mean, Angel! You swindler! N-Nngh! It hurts, it hurts, stop, it hurts! Stop iiiit! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Seeing her like that, even Abyss naturally thought something was wrong.

“Yuusha-sama! Are you alright? What in the world is going on…”

“It hurts, it huuurts! Forgive me, please, forgive me. Okaa-san, Okaa-san…”

Completely beside herself, the girl called the Hero clung to nothing, calling out her mother’s name.

Crouching down, streaming tears and snot, the girl looked unimaginably pitiful.

“Hey, get a doctor! No, get someone who can use painkillers or healing magic right now!”

“That is unnecessary, Abyss-sama. This is Yuusha-sama’s trial.”

“What? A trial, you say?”

“Yes. For a human vessel to receive divine protection, it is accompanied by immense agony. It is exactly as prophesied.”

“Ridiculous! Even so, I cannot just stand by and watch her suffer like this!”

“Rest assured, Abyss-sama. Yuusha-sama was chosen precisely because it was foreseen that she could overcome this suffering.”

Saying that, the male executive of the Order smiled gently.

“She shall bear this pain all upon herself, and eventually, she will reflect this suffering back onto the demons.”

Saying that, he turned toward her, clasped his hands together, and began to pray.

Before long, whether in answer to his prayer or by mere coincidence—

Several pairs of faintly glowing wings of light began to flicker and emerge from the Hero’s back.

“When these wings are complete, that is when the Hero’s power will be perfected! The vulgar demons and beastkin will be erased from this world!”

Looking at the man shouting so exaltedly with an ecstatic face, Abyss unmistakably felt disgust toward him for his lack of concern for the Hero.

However, he felt a sense of wrongness that overpowered even that.

God, and Saria, should be a source of peace for the people.

To inflict such immense pain on a girl like this—is this truly the work of God?

Yet, the wings of light leaking from the writhing girl before his eyes were undoubtedly sublime, and it was also a fact that they struck a chord in Abyss’s heart.

Because they appeared far, far too gentle and warm to human eyes.

Abyss considered himself to be a person of no great importance.

He believed that his sheer physical strength and resilience were second to none, but he was also aware that some Apostles and Order executives called him an incompetent fool whose only redeeming quality was his brute strength.

Even so, if the reason the girl before his eyes was suffering to this extent was due to the existence of demons.

If such a sight would disappear once the demons were gone.

He resolved that he would exhaust all his strength for that purpose.

“Yuusha-sama.”

“U-Guuh, uuu.”

“I, Abyss Helen, shall wield my power for your sake. So that your pain is not in vain. So that it may be rewarded.”

“……?”

“I shall become your sword.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I do not tell lies.”

“Abyss. Abyss Helen.”

“Please wait for me. I, Abyss, will do everything in my power to ensure you can see your mother again.”

“Yeah. Thank you, Abyss-san.”

He would annihilate the demons as quickly as possible.

If possible, without troubling the hands of the Hero, that poor girl.

Before forcing a girl who had likely never even held a weapon to stand on the battlefield.

And he would save the people.

He would bring peace to the world with the majestic glory of Saria.

Because that was Abyss Helen’s goal in life.