Tale of the Fake Hero - Chapter 300
Only Krnovel
Season 3: Episode 108
“Haa, haa, haa… … .”
Camilla continued running along the railroad tracks, panting like crazy.
Towards Ranoa Bridge… … .
To the bottom of the world, blackened by volcanic ash… … .
“Haa, haa, haa, aaaah… … !”
I’m out of breath, I feel like my lungs are going to burst. I feel like my windpipe is going to burst.
still…….
however…….
I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop. If I stop, I feel like I’ll lose everything. All the payqueriers are dying, and that death doesn’t change, but the Master… … ?
‘hurry.’
The world on both sides of the straight-forward railroad was not yet consumed by the summer heat, so the scenery was beautiful.
‘Faster, faster.’
So beautiful, so beautiful… … .
‘Faster than this, please.’
It brought back memories from before this miserable summer began. A relationship engulfed in that hazy light, sequentially from beginning to end.
– From now on, call me Master, not you or Unnie.
The Master taught us that the practice of courage comes from loving and serving others.
– I wondered why I liked Kami from the moment I first saw him, and it turns out he has a lot in common with me.
That word is the truth of this world.
Those days of companionship are the treasures of a lifetime.
– Don’t cry, Kami. This will happen again and again. If you cry like this every time, you’ll get dehydrated. April will soon be over and summer will come.
A blessing that allowed me to clearly learn the meaning of creation through voice, gestures, and warmth, not through words.
– Don’t worry. The Holy Sword will guide you more kindly than I will. Look! Aradmantel is smiling too. That means he agrees.
Master, I survived.
So many people died, but I survived, just as I promised to my master.
– One day, when Kami becomes a hero… … and takes on a disciple?
I’m going there now.
– There will come a day when you will be asked this question by your disciple. At that time, tell me honestly about the joy of today.
Even if I twist my ankle and hit my knee on the railroad tracks, or fall on the rocks between the railroad tracks and get covered in blood.
– You know, I want to have cute children like Kami someday.
Again, again, again, get up.
– After I have the children, and when they learn to speak, I will introduce Kami as my real younger brother.
Again, again, again, I run. To the end of the railroad, into the summer when the horizon turns dark.
– Then that kid will follow Kami around calling her aunt? While cutely whining… … .
Mother of Creation.
Father of creation.
Please, please, just listen to my prayer once. I won’t pray any more.
– There will be a day when that child will cry like this and come to Kami. Auntie, Mommy won’t give me snacks… … .
I will live my whole life with only gratitude.
So please save the Master. Please protect the Master.
– Then Kami secretly gives me a snack and says, ‘You know? It’s a secret from Mom.’
I will fight twice as hard in your stead, Master. I will fight harder when you do not fight.
– And then they nod their heads to each other and smile brightly.
So, our teacher, please save us just once. Please let us enjoy that simple happiness just once… … .
The hero I saw and learned, the end of ‘Black Summer’ (13)
Every power that a Payquerier wields requires a price, and the price for a wish is truly the future.
The seeds of light are sown.
The seeds of dreams are sown.
The seeds of the future are sown.
The grain of wheat is planted in the ground, takes root in light, sprouts in light, bears fruit in light… … and emerges as a very noble red sword.
【A newborn baby’s face.】
Lamine didn’t remember the face of the newborn baby.
It was something I never thought of.
For a human being to give birth to another human being with a human body was a joy that he had to give up in order to hold the holy sword as a warrior.
【The warmth of a newborn baby.】
Perhaps this is what Camilla looked like as a baby.
【The babbling of a newborn baby.】
Even a disciple who resembles one’s heart is so lovable, so how much more delightful would that be if it were a child who resembles one in face, body, and even smell… .
【A newborn’s first steps.】
Right here… … .
Could the smell of blood, of rot, of stale air, of what is dying, be connected to that future?
Towards a future where the scent of milk and warmth that feeds life unfolds… … .
【The day a newborn baby says ‘Mom’ for the first time.】
I pulled out red flowers, red lotuses, and red swords one after another, swung them, threw them away, and swung them again… … .
The flower was the future.
Change your future with the power of the present and swing it. Plant the wheat that will spread the fragrance of flowers on this land.
【The first spring with a newborn baby, the scent of flowers as we go for a walk together.】
Those ungraspable grains of the future flowed like a river through the fields of my mind.
In all that dazzling future, in all that laughter, Camilla was there.
The most precious treasure in Laminea’s life. Laminea’s eldest daughter, the daughter born from her heart.
[Niven: Amazing… … What kind of crazy speed is this? The armor of the Incarnation is being worn away!]
There wasn’t a single night that Lamine didn’t cry quietly as she watched her disciple’s remarkable growth.
I guess we have to break up… … .
Someday, that child… … .
Leaving me alone on this road… … .
If it is fate to be apart, will that sad fate of having to flow in opposite directions allow us to meet again someday, going around the world?
[Halvaron: Hahahaha! Just look at Lamine, and my Type 48 will keep hitting you with its deadly bullets!]
I wanted to be together forever.
Rather than dying in battle, I wanted to die feeling the warmth of that child’s tears and hands on the day I die of old age.
I wanted to say everything I could, share everything I could, and sort out my feelings before we parted ways like that.
[Balbray: I will focus on supporting the dwarves. You, Priest Samigl, will take charge of Laminea’s defense.]
Enough, let’s just accept this fate.
Let’s strengthen our resolve.
If we can’t be together, if this is my last, if I have to leave that child alone on this road.
[Aydin: Sir Lamine, you’re going too fast! At this rate, you’ll use up all your life before you can defeat him!]
Let’s lighten the burden that child has to carry even a little.
Let me do what I can.
Lastly, let’s do what we can, to the best of our ability. Let’s do it with gratitude.
【A child tugging at Camilla’s hem and crying, ‘Auntie, Mommy won’t give me cookies.’】
Let’s do our best.
Just like that child was the pride of my life.
So that child can be proud of me for the rest of his life.
【Camilla secretly hands out cookies and puts her index finger on her lips, saying, “It’s a secret from Mom.”】
Laminea looked up from the dreamlike waves of the future and looked into the nightmare.
The nightmare was in the shape of a volcano.
The volcano was violating providence with two feet, two wings, and two hands. It was the incarnation of the lizard lord, Naigalas, and the cradle of destruction, spewing lava in all directions.
【A child who returns with cookie crumbs all over his face.】
Laminaria kicked the ground again.
The ultimate sword, Aradmantel, which mimics the power of the true sword, Galadiel, allows mortal bodies to enter the realm of light, if only for a moment.
The realm of light is quiet.
When you can’t hear the noise of the world, you can do things in 10 seconds that others can do in 1 second.
【Seeing that sight, I find myself exchanging smiles with Camilla.】
Mauna Loa spews forth a tidal wave of lava.
It’s just a protest action that’s spreading despair widely, but can’t keep up with Laminea’s pace. And Laminea is not alone.
The Giant Type 48 and the silver chain twisted Mauna Loa’s snout, providing a gap that the lava could not reach.
A flash.
It digs into the gap and scatters red flashes of light, deeply violating the incarnation’s body.
One step.
Again, moving forward.
Go ahead and pull out the future.
The future that blossomed in the shape of a sword is held tightly in my hand.
【The child’s first day at school.】
【Observing a child’s first class.】
【Child’s first sports day.】
【Camilla tasting the sandwich while preparing lunch together.】
All those futures, futures that we are only allowed to dream about but never allowed to achieve.
Offer everything as a sacrifice.
The flesh of the King’s incarnation was cut and chopped, and anyway, it kept on being cut and chopped …
‘Ah, as expected… … .’
Aradmantel, who is overconsuming his lifespan, resonates with his agent and spits out fierce heat.
It’s a whirlwind of light.
It is a breeze of light.
The repetition of each stroke and step engulfed Mauna Loa in a saturation of red light, the light overflowing from its trajectory and growing larger.
‘I don’t want to die… … .’
The trajectories that crossed the incarnation’s body were eventually imprinted as uncontrollable cracks.
Torn, split… … .
The sight of Mauna Loa collapsing forward, unable to bear the immense force and weight, seemed dreamily serene.
– Please don’t die, Master. We will definitely meet again.
That was a goodbye, that was just that… … the last time we could see each other… … and exchange voices… … the moment.
That brief moment… … .
That one moment that was so brief… … .
It could only be the fleeting end of the most dazzling relationship in this world… … .
‘I want to go back. I want to go back and see Kami again. Even just once, just once, I want to hug you tightly… … .’
When Mauna Loa’s knees struck the columnar joints, tears streaming down her cheeks broke the stillness of her dream.
I know myself well.
Because it is my own body, I know better than anyone else that I can no longer live.
That I can’t meet my disciples.
Mauna Loa’s lava, the King’s Abyss, was seeping deep into his abdomen and writhing. Even with super-fast regeneration, it was impossible to recover from this.
‘It’s the end… … .’
Mauna Loa is a condensed force, and its demise is like an explosion of compressed force.
In short, the turbulence of lava.
A torrent of lava covered the world in red, causing temperatures to soar, stirring the oceans and instantly destroying the Lanoa Bridge.
‘Aydin… … .’
Laminaria raised her head.
He was hanging from somewhere on the collapsing bridge, reaching out his hand and shouting something madly.
The moment Mauna Loa was defeated, Brain Hyang Simgongmyeongjin fainted and was cut off, so Aydin’s feelings were not conveyed, and I also could not convey my feelings, but I really wanted to say this out loud.
“thank you.”
Thank you for letting me dream.
Having a child, starting a family, watching that child grow up with your disciple, and then closing your eyes next to that child…
A dream toward a spring that is so far away… … and so dazzling because it is so far away.
“… … !”
Laminea, who gave Aydin her last smile, dropped Aradmantel as she fell.
A red light bounces off the ground.
As the pure white scabbard rolled beside it, Aydin flew his body towards it.
“Laminea Sir!”
At the same time, waves of lava poured down upon it.
“You crazy, you punk!”
“I know!”
Balbray, who was bleeding from trying to suppress the lava gushing from the shattered shoulder of the Type 48, somehow managed to pull out one of the chains and send it flying towards Laminea and Aydin.
Chorrrrrrrr… … !
The moment the recoil came that something had been firmly tied down as the area was swept away, I hastily pulled out the chain before it melted into the lava.
“!”
“!”
Balbray and Halbaron’s eyes trembled.
The only things the chain snatched up were two: the Sword of the Extreme Satellite, Aradhamanthel, and its scabbard.
The two people who should have been found, from that day on, neither their bodies nor their whereabouts nor traces could be found anywhere in the world.
“Damn it… … Where did you go, come out!”
“Dwarf, you have to fall back now. If you keep doing this, your toys will be buried in the lava too!”
“How dare you leave those idiots behind! Come out! Didn’t you two say you were going to confess to me in pairs! Stop fooling around and come out, you damned bastards… …!”
“Don’t act so unbecoming of Ain. Those two are dead, but the war is not over yet, and you must return to where you belong, Halbaron!”
“Nonsense, stop talking nonsense! You said all the rascals were liars, and it’s true! There’s no way those two could have died! These are the guys who said they’d make me confess!”
Is that why history had no choice but to record the results before and after this?
– Priest of Hong, Aydin: Died in battle.
– Laminaria Alter Aradmantel: Missing.
Long after, after the passion of youth had subsided and he had acquired the cool composure of a hero representing a race…
Halbaron met again.
A being that appeared with my friend’s face, my friend’s expression, and my friend’s sword.
– Thank you, Master, for telling me your story.
Halbaron recognized his identity the moment they first met.
Yeah, this is your son… … .
Even if you didn’t recognize it then, you would have definitely recognized it at the last moment.
That last smile… … .
Because it resembled my mother’s last smile…
That year, when summer ended and eternal spring began, Halbaron went to confession and accepted the faith.