Chapter 84: The Moon Swallowed by the Sun (6)

Rosanna leaped in front of me, blocking my path in a flurry of panic and fury. “W-wait!”

She stared me down with eyes blazing in disbelief and rage. “Who the hell are you?”

“I already introduced myself yesterday, didn’t I? What’s wrong? Getting forgetful with age, ma’am?” I replied.

Her face twisted into a vicious snarl. “Why, you little. How did you get past the Solar Gates?”

“Oh, that?” I pointed at her Hero Watch, still powered on, and gave a crooked grin. “You were listening the whole time, weren’t you? I just smashed through everything in my way.”

There had been no elaborate plan, no careful strategy. The moment I had realized Yurina’s soul stigmata was going to be forcibly changed, I sprinted straight to the Helios estate without hesitation and kicked down the front gates.

Even then, I still had doubts about doing this. One of those was the uncertainty of changing the future. In my past life, the Yurina I knew as Yuren carried the Sun God’s soul stigmata. If I interfered now and prevented the forced replacement, she would live with the Moon God’s soul stigmata instead. Then, there was a chance she would never reach the same heights she had done before in my previous life.

It wasn’t that soul stigmata directly determined one’s strength. After all, I carried the Forest God’s soul stigmata and still managed to graze the pinnacle of the Sun Sword Style’s ultimate form. Yurina bearing the Moon God’s soul stigmata didn’t mean she would be unable to reach her full potential.

However, no one could predict how the future could change. If I left things as they were, she would probably still become the world’s greatest swordsman. But if I interfered, I could ruin everything, shredding a guaranteed winning lottery ticket with my own hands.

That hesitation had weighed heavily on me until I entered the basement and saw her. At that moment, all those doubts vanished in an instant.

She looked at me and said in a trembling voice, “D-Dale…? H-how?”

Her breath was caught in her throat. Her wide, tearful eyes locked on mine, and like a lost child seeing a parent at last, they shone with an uncontainable joy.

Yuren had taught me so much—how to wield a sword, how to lead a party, how to summon courage, and how to face fear head-on. Because of that, I had misunderstood. I had thought that was just who Yuren was, someone born brave, someone immune to fear and doubt, and someone destined to shine like the sun high above, blazing bright from the very start.

But I was wrong. I had never stopped to consider the person hidden beneath Yuren’s light: the girl named Yurina, who had been swallowed up by that false sun. I had never wondered what kind of life she had lived, what kind of life she had truly wanted.

“You’ve endured enough.” I spoke the words she had always longed to hear, a wish that had never been granted. “You don’t have to shine anymore.”

What did it matter if the future changed? So what if she didn’t become humanity’s strongest swordsman? She had given me so much, and all I had done was take. If she couldn’t become the sun, then I would. If she couldn’t be the strongest, then I would be. If the weight she carried was too much, then I would carry it with her.

That day, when I returned to the past, I made a promise to myself to save everyone.

“A–ah!” Yurina’s eyes widened. Tears spilled freely, streaming down her cheeks and dripping from her chin. “Huh!Ah!”

As if vomiting up all the emotions she had bottled up for so long, she broke down. She hugged herself tightly and sobbed.

Just as I moved toward her, Rosanna’s face twisted with rage. “You filthy half-breed Republic scum!”

She lunged to the side of the basement, grabbing a sword lying there. Golden light flared, wrapping around her body in a violent surge. “Who gave you the right to spout such nonsense?”

With a furious stomp, Rosanna rocketed toward me at terrifying speed, far beyond what her elegant dress would suggest. I could recognize that move at a glance: the Sun Sword Style Sixth Form—Modified: Extreme White Radiance. It was her signature move and the reason they once called her “Flash” during her time as an active Hero. This technique compressed a blinding beam of solar energy into a piercing spear of light, requiring surgical precision in mana control.

“HAAH!” As she shouted, the golden flash roared toward me.

I watched the blinding spear barrel closer and smirked. Extreme White Radiance required meticulous mana control, and in mana control, not even the prodigy Yuren could beat me.

I raised my sword, struck, and returned her strike with the same move she had used. Her ultimate move, forged through decades of dedication, now unleashed through my blade. However, her Extreme White Radiance and mine had two differences. One, my aura wasn’t dazzling gold, but a murky ash-gray; and two, a deafening boom rang out as my technique clashed with hers. My Extreme White Radiance was executed at a level far beyond hers.

With a shrill cry, Rosanna’s sword shattered, splintered into pieces. She staggered backward, staring in disbelief at the hilt still clenched in her hand. “H-how?”

Her shock didn’t stem from my using the Sun Sword Style. She wasn’t in shock because I had just used her ultimate technique and done it better than she ever could. My Sun Sword Style now bore little resemblance to the Helios family’s original style. Aside from the name, it had essentially become a completely different technique.

The reason for her shock was simple: the ultimate move she had honed her entire life had been so easily deflected that it was almost pitiful. Moreover, it was not just any attack; it was her most confident technique, a piercing thrust that concentrated all her mana into a single point.

“You. What kind of black magic did you use?” she asked.

A veteran hero had her proudest technique broken by a no-name cadet who didn’t even hold a proper hero license. Refusing to accept reality, Rosanna threw away the shattered hilt of her sword and charged at me, teeth clenched in fury.

I clicked my tongue and looked at her with a mix of pity and annoyance. “Seriously. You’re still this pathetic, huh, lady?”

I grabbed her by the collar in the middle of her charge and hoisted her into the air with the Berald Combat Style: Sky Flip. She flipped midair and slammed into the ground, spine-first. A ragged grunt escaped her lips before her eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.

Leaving her crumpled form behind, I turned toward the surgical table. Standing beside it was a young man with snow-white hair and a gold-rimmed monocle.

He sighed deeply and shook his head with disappointment. “Man, this situation just went completely sideways.”

I wondered if this was the bastard who had tampered with Yurina’s soul stigmata in my past life. In a bid to recognize him, I combed through my memories, but his face was completely unfamiliar.

Well, if I beat the crap out of him, I’m sure I’ll figure it out, I thought.

I walked toward him, intending to free Yurina and deal with the mastermind first.

But he then said, “Well, can’t be helped. I’ll have to revise the plan.”

Suddenly, with a flick of his fingers, the magic circle etched into the basement floor came alive, glowing and slithering like a serpent toward one central point. As the complex formation condensed, a terrifying wave of mana surged outward.

I frowned, shielding my face from the blast of energy. The air split open, ripped like torn fabric, and a gaping black fissure appeared in midair.

“A-aah!”

From that rupture, a grotesque figure clad in pitch-black armor stepped outside. However, even calling it a figure seemed wrong. Between the gaps of the armor, rotting flesh pulsed and writhed. Within the helmet, two chilling blue lights flickered, eyes that no longer belonged to any human.

“That thing…”

It looked monstrous, but I knew better. It was human. No, more precisely, it was once human. A hero, blessed by the gods, with their soul stigmata awakened, had been reduced to this.

It let me realize who the white-haired man was. He was a demon who corrupted heroes and turned them into puppets—the Archbishop of Depravity, Mephisto. I had heard of him, but never seen him until now. Not much was known about Mephisto beyond his foul reputation for turning heroes into mindless thralls. Moreover, he had vanished without a trace during the great war against the six Archbishops, just as the seal of the Demon God had begun to weaken. So, it was natural that I didn’t recognize him at first.

“Well then, I’ll be off. Until we meet again.” Leaving behind that parting line, Mephisto dove into the black rift without giving me a chance to stop him.

Clicking my tongue, I gripped my sword tightly. “Damn it!”

My first instinct was to leap in after him, but I couldn’t leave Yurina behind. So, I turned instead to face the black-armored monstrosity.

It let out a horrifying shriek and swung its massive sword toward me. As my sword clashed against its, the impact rattled my bones, letting me know that its raw strength was nothing to scoff at. It was strong. In terms of sheer physical power, it was on par with Professor Kane. And Mephisto had made this thing his puppet.

Scowling, I charged and used the Berald Combat Style: Mountain Breaker, throwing a punch straight into its chest.

With an earth-shaking explosion, the armored creature was blasted backward, slamming into the wall. “Urgh!”

Even though a section of the wall collapsed behind it, the thing staggered back to its feet like it felt no pain at all. As I clicked my tongue, I could tell this wouldn’t be an easy fight. I had started to activate Ignition when I heard her voice.

“Dale.” Yurina, who had been bound within the magic circle, walked toward me. “I’ll fight.”

“Yurina?”

She stepped close and took my hand, her expression strangely light, like a weight had finally lifted off her. “Thank you, Dale.”

She pulled my hand to her chest. “For being my friend. For praising me when I did well. For coming all this way to save me. For telling me… I don’t have to shine anymore.”

She looked up at me, and in her gaze, there was no more fear. There was only peace.

Flustered, I replied, “That talk can wait.”

She leaned in, resting her forehead softly against my chest. Her silver hair tickled my chin, and a faint, sweet scent floated up between us. She smiled warmly. “From now on, you’ll be my sun.”

Then, without waiting for a reply, she said, “Mind if I borrow your sword for a bit?”

Taking my sword, she turned to face the black-armored monster.

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