Zephyrus, the Former Hero Candidate

Stunned, I stared at Reyes's bloodied form. His eyes were wide open in shock as he examined the wound in his stomach.

"Arcane Blast!"

Alan was the first one to react. His magic spell exploded right behind Reyes, blowing away all the cultists behind him. Despite its scale, the spell was so well-controlled that Reyes remained untouched. That kind of fine technique spoke volumes of Alan's mastery of spellcasting.

Immediately after that, I rushed towards Reyes. His whole body was shaking, on the verge of collapsing. I caught him and started retreating to safety.

Meanwhile, the cultists began getting up. The ones who were closest to the magical blast were seriously wounded or unconscious, but the rest were only hit by the spell's shockwave and were already getting back up.

"Behind!"

When I heard Elias's scream I turned around. Behind us a dozen more cultists were rushing in our direction, cutting off our escape route.

"Elias, Zephyrus," Alan shouted as he prepared his blade, "take care of the ones in the back! I'll deal with the front! Luciella, treat Reyes!"

Judging that we couldn't easily escape, Alan decided that we would hold fight right there. Normally, we would be able to break through, but doing that was too difficult and risky when we had a wounded person on our hands.

While I prepared to face the cultists, I saw Luciella run towards Reyes. As she moved, she began casting her holy arts. Her mouth moved, mouthing a prayer, but no sounds came out of it. That was the essence of Goddess's holy arts; priests prayed for a divine gift, but since the prayer was meant only for the Goddess's ears, the words of the caster could not be heard by the rest of the world. Only the final part, the proclamation, was audible.

"____. Holy Charm!"

A transparent fog of light manifested over all four members of our party. Instantly, I could feel my body become lighter, and my body was overflowing with strength. Holy Charm was a holy art that enhanced speed, agility, strength, and vigor of the person it was used on. Only a handful of holy arts users could cast Holy Charm on multiple people in a single prayer—Luciella being one of the few.

After receiving the strengthening, I clashed with the cultists. The first one who reached me was a man in commoner's clothes who wielded an axe. Instead of deflecting or dodging the first attack, I met it head on, clashing my sword against the cultist's weapon. The force of my blow was so powerful that it send the cultist's weapon flying and continued its trajectory, cutting into the man's torso. The cultist collapsed, and his axe landed about a dozen meters behind him.

That show of strength gave my other opponents a pause, and they backed off as they carefully watched my moves. I listened to the sounds of combat that was happening behind me without turning around. I heard spells and blades clashing as well as Luciella treating Reyes's wounds.

Good. They seem to be doing alright there.

For a good second, the cultists stared at me, hesitating to attack. I stared back. I didn't mind the stalemate. If I could stall time until Reyes was healed up it would make the situation much easier. It seemed the cultists also realized that, and they went on the offensive.

"Wind Force!"

I chanted an incantation, aiming it at the cultist in front. Instead of aiming it at the middle of his body to maximize the pushing force, I directed it specifically at his left leg, launching him from the ground and giving his body spinning momentum. His body flipped in the air, colliding with three more cultists and pushing them back.

I rushed in and slashed away at the enemies. There were many opponents right now, but none of them were particularly powerful. That was why I decided that I could overwhelm them with the power of the Holy Charm. I would quickly overpower them, not letting them get a chance to counterattack.

With my increased strength, my sword broke through the cultists' front rows. I mowed down my opponents one after another. But then, from the enemy's backlines, an incantation resounded.

"Dark Sphere!"

An orb of darkness appeared above the cultists' heads and rapidly rushed towards me. I jumped backwards, but the sphere changed its trajectory, chasing after me.

I knew I couldn't dodge it fully; one of the distinguishing characteristics of dark magic was its ability to home in on the enemies by tracking their life force. The jump was to give me enough distance to focus on my spellcasting.

"Wind Lance!"

I pointed my left hand towards the black sphere, and a transparent lance of wind flew out of it. It clashed with the darkness spell, and they canceled each other out.

Seeing that, the mage cultist began another cast. Simultaneously, the rest of the cultists rushed towards me, trying to prevent me from using magic.

"Dark—Agh!"

But the dark mage's spell was interrupted. A blow came from behind him. The mage reeled from the sudden strike on his head and collapsed unconscious.

The cultists who were closest to the mage turned around, but by the time they did, the assailant already struck down another cultist. That assailant was none other than the ranger of our party. While everyone was distracted with fighting, he had snuck behind the enemy's backline.

"Thank you, Elias!" I shouted and moved into offense while the cultists were still distracted. As I mowed through the enemies, I heard another chant behind myself, coming from Alan, and a set of screams that followed right after it.

"Grasp my enemies—Astral Claw!"

It seemed that our party had both sides under control.

***

Ten minutes later we had finished apprehending all of the cultists.

"Reyes, how is your wound?" Alan asked as he crouched down in front of Reyes. Reyes's wounds were just treated by Luciella, but he still looked like he was in pain.

"Kh... My wounds don't matter. Rather than that, we should hurry and take back the Sun Palace," Reyes replied and attempted to stand up. But halfway through the motion, his arms gave in and he fell back to the ground.

"You shouldn't move around too much," Luciella said in her usual indifferent tone. "The dagger damaged multiple of your internal organs. They are no longer bleeding but the blood loss is severe and your life force is lacking. On top of that, there are many smaller internal bleedings that I couldn't fully fix, and your wounds could reopen at any moment. The only reason you are still conscious is the power of your Blessing. Otherwise, you would still be on the brink of death."

In response, Reyes clenched his teeth, but didn't talk back, knowing that it was futile. Alan threw a fleeting glance at Luciella and then turned back towards Reyes.

"We need all the information we can get. What happened in the Sun Palace?"

Reyes looked down at the ground and then spoke hesitantly.

"...I don't know. Suddenly, a bunch of demons appeared out of nowhere. I have no idea where they came from, but they quickly pushed us back and took over most of the palace. I was split from my party and ended up leading a group of priests outside, but they..."

"I understand," Alan stopped him with a simple acknowledgement. "What do you think they're after?"

Reyes's brows furrowed in thought.

"I don't know exactly. They attacked Sun Palace specifically so if I had to hazard a guess... It would be either to destroy the Radiants or..." Reyes lightly grasped his wound. "...to kill the hero candidates who are here."

Elias and I gasped, but Luciella and Alan didn't even react. My party leader only nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay, then our priority is to reach the other hero candidates before the demons and cultists can. We can only hope that we can make it in time."

Alan stood up and headed to the Palace's entrance. We all followed after him.

"Wait!" Reyes shouted. "I know I'm still wounded, but I want to help! My Blessing should allow me to recover at least somewhat. If their plan really is to kill the hero candidates and they have all the information about our numbers, there might have enough firepower to take out hero candidates in a direct fight. Challenging them without the power of the Blessing is suicidal."

Reyes stopped us in our tracks, and we all directed our gazes at Alan. We might have had our own opinions on this matter, but as a rule of thumb, we generally followed our leader's judgement. Alan thought for a second and then nodded.

"Alright. Stay behind us unless things really turn dire. Make sure you leave your Blessing as the last resort."

"Sure," Reyes agreed, "As long as I think you can handle the threat, I will stay on the sidelines."

***

When we entered the Church, we quickly ran into demons. Dozens of them swarmed the hallways and the lairs of the Sun Palace. They were much better equipped than the demons we had faced so far, and there were multiple ones that were comparable in strength to the Bull Demon we fought a year ago, but one way or another, we managed to defeat them.

This time, we were fighting together and we had grown stronger since that time. Well, I was probably the one who improved the most since I started out as the weakest. 

As we traveled through the Palace Reyes didn't fight, but he observed us carefully, waiting for an opportunity to enter the fray. I had a strange feeling that he was watching me the most diligently, but that was probably just me being too self-conscious.

Eventually, we reached a massive hall that was filled with demons. After an excruciating fight, we managed to clear out the hall, but I could feel that our energy reserves were drying out. Sensing the same thing as me, Alan ordered us to rest.

"We need to recover our strength. Let's take a break right here."

Reyes furrowed his eyebrows in displeasure but didn't say anything. Undoubtedly he wanted to clear the Palace and reach other hero candidates as quickly as possible, but he knew that rushing things wouldn't get us far.

We sat down on the ground, finally able to catch a breather. That was when a rattling noise resounded.

"Who's there!?"

Quickly, I stood up and looked in the direction the sound came from. There, behind one of the altars, a tall candle stand fell over. For a second, I saw a cloth flash behind near the altar.

I exchanged glances with Alan, and he nodded. I nodded back and started slowly approaching the altar, weapon ready in hand. Slowly, I walked towards the altar while Alan followed right behind me. Then, when I was only a couple meters away from it I jumped behind the altar and pointed my sword forward.

"Stop! Please, spare me!"

There, I saw a blond man crying for mercy, my blade inches away from his face.

"...Lord Edward?"

It was the radiant cardinal Edward. His robes were torn in multiple places and his face was a horrible mess. Exhaustion, stress, and panic colored his features, and he continued thrashing as he started at the sword in front of him. He turned away from us as and wrapped his hands around himself and curled in to a ball. As if he couldn't bear to be seen by us.

"Don't kill me! I'll do anything! I'll—"

"Lord Edward, calm down!" Alan called to Edward, interrupting his thrashing. "We're not here to hurt you. It's me, hero candidate Alan, and we also have Augustin Reyes with us. It's alright, we are not cultists—we will not hurt you."

Those words stopped Edward in his tracks. Slowly, his hands still in front of his chest, he looked around the hall. When his eyes reached the demons' corpses, he flinched for a second, but quickly tore his sight away from them. It took him a few breaths, but eventually, he regained his sanity.

"...Ah, so you are on our side, right? Well, of course you are... You are hero candidates after all... Humans with a Goddess's Blessing could never side with cultists..."

He still seemed to be in a state of shock, and he kept his gaze on the ground as he spoke. At least now, he was no longer thrashing around and screaming. I didn't know what exactly happened to him, but it was a miracle he had survived in that state.

Alan crouched down in front of him and started speaking.

"Lord Edward, I apologize for not giving you time to recover, but we need to know—what happened here? And in what state are the Palace's forces? At the very least, do you have any clue where the other hero candidates are?"

Edward turned away from Alan, his hands defensively in front of him. A bit of panic returned to his face.

"What happened... what happened...? What do you think happened? The demons came out of nowhere and... and, and—"

"Please calm down," Alan stopped him and gently put his hands on his shoulders. "I understand it was terrifying, but it's all okay now. You are no longer in danger. Please, tell us, do you know what happened to the other hero candidates? We believe their assassination might have been one of cultists' objectives."

As Edward listened to Alan's words, his features shifted into something between anger and despair.

"Other hero candidates...? There... There is no point in searching—"

A nervous, twisted smile of a madman manifested on Edward's face. And then, he told us the worst news imaginable.

"—They are all already dead. I saw it with my own eyes."

""—!""

His words caught me by surprise, and I reeled back in shock. The same was the case for Reyes and Elias. The two of them seemed especially shaken. Meanwhile, Alan's brows furrowed in frustration as if the outcome was painful but not unexpected. Finally, Luciella's expression shifted ever so slightly.

Edward continued deliriously, almost as if he couldn't even see our reactions.

"First two died immediately... They stabbed him through his chest, and they cut the other one's throat... The third one survived the initial strike... but they bombarded him with spells and fried him to death."

Listening to the horrible fates of the hero candidates, we all remained silent. Elias and I were reeling in shock, and the grimace on Alan's face twisted even deeper. Reyes rushed towards Edward, a mixture of panic and frustration in his expression.

He grasped Edward's shoulders firmly and stared him in the eyes.

"Lord Edward! What about the other two? You only spoke about three of the candidates."

"Hyeegh!" Edward screamed in panic as he forcefully tore away from Reyes and curled into a ball.

I was fully expecting the delirious Edward to just keep mumbling, but he replied in a surprisingly short time.

"The other two... I don't know... I don't know, but I'm sure they are also dead... There was a demon, a powerful demon... That thing, that thing, that thing..."

"Calm down!" Reyes shouted, frustrated. "If you didn't see their deaths then they could still be alive! What is this demon you keep talking about? Where is it?"

"Hahaha... Demon, blue demon... There's no point... that thing is too powerful..."

Edward continued shaking in terror, but then suddenly, light of sanity returned to his eyes.

"That's right!" he exclaimed in a shaking a voice. "We should go to the Sacred Lair... It's closed and it has the most powerful magic barrier in the entire Palace...we could be safe there! Quick, we have to go, now !"

Reyes replied in a quiet, but powerful voice. Almost as if he was on the verge of exploding.

"No, I'm not going to run from some demon. Lord Edward... You should go there, but my priority is to defeat the enemy before he claims other candidates' lives."

He then stood up and turned towards one of the pathways. This one led in the opposite direction from the Holy Lair. A mixture of anger and determination colored Reyes's features.

At least three hero candidates died today. Alan and I didn't know them that well; Alan's reputation made others hesitant to speak with him, and I used to be an arrogant candidate before losing my Blessing so I wasn't the most social of hero candidates. But Reyes was different. He knew all of the candidates well. Most of them were his classmates and his friends. There was no doubt that their deaths hit him the hardest.

As Reyes began walking, Alan held him back. He put his hand on Reyes's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"Wait, Reyes. You are still wounded. You promised you wouldn't rush headfirst into fighting, remember? Going in your current state is suicidal. Lord Edward is an important religious figure, I want to focus on escorting him to the Holy Lair before we fight this demon. Besides, we don't know the location of neither this demon nor other hero candidates. They could very well be hiding in the lair right now."

Reyes didn't reply for some time, hesitating. I could see his shoulders shaking. Then, he spoke quietly.

"...I'm sorry. I don't disagree with you, Alan—but I have to go. Otherwise, I don't deserve to be a hero candidate—no, I don't deserve to be called their friend. I promised I would save all of them and wouldn't let them die. I can no longer fulfill that promise, but I have to do what I can for the ones who are still alive."

Reyes's voice was trembling. He tried to reign in his emotions as best as he could, but you could easily tell that he was overflowing with anger and sadness. Seeing that, Alan tried to stop him once more.

"...Reyes, I—"

That was when an intruder entered the fray.

"Do not worry, humans. You no longer need to think about the other ones."

*Thump*

A single sound followed the voice. It was a muffled sound. The kind you would hear if a somewhat soft object hit the ground. That sound was followed up with a rolling noise.

Cold sweat formed on my back. When I turned in the direction of the intruder, I saw a blue demon. Its husk was hard and angular, reminiscent of a naturally formed armor. White fog floated around its silhouette, and its surroundings were covered in a thin layer of snow and ice. Its presence was heavy. Suffocating. I felt like a single wrong step would result in instant death.

And in front of the demon, lay a single round object. It continued rolling in our direction slowly.

It was circular or maybe oval-shaped. Its upper part was covered in black hair, and a silvery shine of metal drew attention to the frame of the glasses, and black eyes behind them. And at the bottom of the round object, was a red, grotesque stub.

It was a head. A head split from the torso. And its body was nowhere in sight.

It was in horrible state, and terror covered its features, but despite that, you could still recognize the original owner of this head. Back when he was alive, the head once belonged to a certain handsome intelligent man who was aiming to become a Hero.

And now he was dead.

"This one was the smartest of the bunch. Or maybe I should say the most careful. He predicted that something was off the moment the attack started and isolated himself from our human allies—I believe you call them cultists. He held out slightly longer than the other one, but eventually he fell."

The blue demon spoke slowly. Its voice betrayed neither agitation nor joy. If you carefully listened, you could even make out something similar to respect in his words.

But it was horribly wrong.

It spoke human language, and it sounded human, but its voice was somewhat unnatural. Of course it did. It was a demon after all. And demons weren't meant to speak human language.

"...You speak... our language?" Unknowingly, I found myself uttering in disbelief.

The blue demon spread its arms to its sides, almost as if it was trying to be inviting. But its movements and manners were stiff. A poor attempt at replicating a human.

"But of course, human. I've had to work with those you call cultists, and I want to communicate directly with my allies. Oh, I apologize, I've heard it is common courtesy to give your name when speaking for the first time. My name is Kyashghoa, but that is difficult for humans to pronounce so you could call me Ice Revenant instead. That's what my title would be if translated to your language."

He introduced himself with a sense of courtesy that seemed completely out of place. That contradiction made us hesitate, and my party remained tense but motionless. There was only one exception to that.

Just a second ago, everyone still remained in their places, a few dozen meters away from the demon. But in the blink of an eye, Reyes appeared in front of Ice Revenant. He swung his sword swiftly, cutting into the demon's arm.

Surprise colored the creature's face, and it spoke as it attacked Reyes back.

"So quick and so powerful! You might be the strongest human I've met so far!"

"Shut up, fiend," Reyes replied and descended into a flurry of slashes. 

As Reyes exchanged blows with the demon, his eyes were shining with a golden light. It was the sign that his Blessing was active. Both Ice Revenant and Reyes were so quick that my eyes couldn't keep up with their fight. And yet, their blows were so powerful they sent shockwaves around them, and the floor under them shook.

With each passing second, more and more wounds appeared on Revenant's body. His natural armor cracked and broke, and his flesh and blood were exposed. None of the wounds were fatal, but slowly, the demon was being pushed back. Despite that, Reyes's condition wasn't great either. His breathing grew heavier with each blow, and his face was twisted in a painful grimace. He was still wounded, and his wounds from before were threatening to reopen.

The intensity of Reyes's attacks decreased with every second. Sensing that, Ice Revenant continued to push despite its accumulating wounds. The exchange continued as both opponents slowly lost their vigor.

Finally, a mistake happened. Reyes was too slow to block the demon's blow; his stance broke, leaving him exposed. Ice Revenant quickly channeled another blow into Reyes's defenseless frame.

"—!"

"Astral Claw!"

But suddenly, a magical hand appeared from behind Reyes and pulled him backwards. Revenant's claws missed their target by just a few centimeters.

That was the signal, and we all immediately set into motion.

Elias shot his bow, launching arrows in the demon's direction. Revenant covered itself with its right hand, and the arrows bounced off of its hard shell harmlessly.

"Arcane Lance!"

Alan chanted, and a spear of magical energy manifested and quickly reached Ice Revenant.

"Not bad, human!"

The demon spoke words of praise as it opened its hand and a massive shield of ice manifested out of thin air. The ice clashed with arcane spell, and shards flew from the point of impact. But the shield remained standing and the Ice Revenant didn't even flinch.

"______! Holy Charm!"

Light of protection surrounded all of us as Luciella prayed. I rushed forward towards the demon's right flank and then swung my sword from Revenant's side.

My slash was swift and I was confident about its power. It clashed with the demon's body with a loud clang. Despite that, it couldn't break through my enemy's defenses.

"—!"

"Not a bad strike, human. But that is much too lacking if you want to break through the shell of a trained Kurumivati like me. We take pride in our hardness and durability."

The demon then swept its right hand to the side as if it was swatting a fly. The blow was so quick that my eyes couldn't even catch it, and by the time I realized what happened, I was flying through the air.

"Zeph!" Elias shouted and caught me in his hands, but the momentum was too powerful and we both ended up crashing into the ground and sliding several meters.

"*Cough* *Cough*," I struggled to recover my breath.

My entire body screamed in pain. There was a burning feeling around my chest where the demon hit me. That blow likely broke several of my ribs.

The demon was powerful. Incredibly so. It was leagues above any enemy we had faced so far.

Ice Revenant continued its relentless assault. Alan took it head on, utilizing holy arts and magic to the fullest to keep up with it. But even with his best efforts, he was a step behind the enemy. After exchanging a few blows, Alan failed to completely block the demon's attack and flew in the air from the impact of the blow.

Revenant spoke, as if declaring our fate.

"Futile, humans. All of you will die—starting with the weakest."

Then, the demon did exactly what it said. It approached the weakest human present with terrifying speed. And the human in question wasn't me, Elias, or even Luciella. It was the only non-combatant present—Radiant Cardinal Edward.

"Hyegh!" A pathetic whimper left the cardinal's mouth. He closed his eyes and began shaking in fear as the demon approached.

"Damn it!"

I cursed as I rushed towards Edward, but I knew that I was too slow. The same was the case for Elias, Luciella, and especially Alan who was still recovering from the demon's attack.

Ice Revenant's claws rapidly closed in on the cardinal. But just when I though he was a goner, a human figure appeared between the cardinal and the demon.

""Reyes!?"

The one who cut off the Ice Revenant's advance was none other than Reyes. His eyes were shining like before, making it clear that his Blessing was active.

"Don't forget that I'm your opponent, Fiend!"

As he shouted, his blade cut through the demon's skin. Not expecting Reyes's appearance, Ice Revenant couldn't block his blow in time. The hero candidate didn't stop and continued his onslaught, not letting the demon recover.

A powerful blow reached Revenant and it jumped away, trying to increase the distance between them. Seeing that, Reyes smiled.

"This will be your last mistake, fiend!" Reyes shouted as his sword began glowing with a pulsating light. "Lionheart. Victorious Strike—"

While the demon was still stuck in the air, Reyes lifted his sword in an overhead slash. He was activating his signature technique. It was the only attack in his arsenal that could strike his foes from range, and simultaneously, it was also his powerful move.

And then, Reyes swung. The sword descended downwards in a swift and powerful motion, threatening to bring the demon's existence to a close.

"—huh?"

But nothing happened. There was no powerful attack, and Ice Revenant remained unharmed. Even the glow of Reyes's sword slowly faded away.

"Reyes! Wha—"

When I looked at Reyes, I saw him in a horrible state. The clothes on his stomach started turning vermillion red. With each second, the red spread further and further, soaking up the cloth. A red line dripped from the edge of his mouth.

Reyes touched his lips with his hand. He stared at the blood in confusion and then turned to look behind him.

"...Lo... Lord Edward...?"

There, stood Cardinal Edward. In Edward's hand was a black, ominous dagger, its blade piercing Reyes's stomach.

A weak, trembling voice left Reyes's lips.

"W...Why...?"

Edward laughed nervously and replied.

"Haha... ha... D-didn't I tell you already...? I-I want to be spared... The demons... it's too much, it's too much..."

Cardinal's face was contorted in madness and desperation. It was then, that I saw something strange bellow Edward's head. There was something around his chest. Only then did I realize that I hadn't seen his chest ever since we found him.

A pulsating purplish darkness was right above Edward's solar plexus.  It was small and barely noticeable, but it was definitely there.

A curse. That single word rang through my mind. They were rare and powerful things that only the most powerful of dark mages or calamities like the Demon Lord could manifest. I recognized this one immediately—it was the famous Curse of Binding. Once it was cast on you, you were bound by a condition of caster's choice. If you failed to meet that condition before the designated time, you would die.

How did I not realize it before? Just how did a single non-combatant like Edward survive on his own amongst the demons? I thought he merely hid himself until we came here, but only now did I realize how unrealistic that was. If there was any justification to this error, it was that we greatly underestimated the demons' viciousness.

"Brilliant, Lord Edward. Exactly according to plan."

Ice Revenant began walking towards the wounded Reyes.

"Hyeagh!" Edward shrieked in fear of the demon and started running. The darkness around his chest dispersed, freeing him from the curse. I had no idea where Edward was going, and frankly, he probably didn't know that himself. 

Lacking the strength to even stand on his own, Reyes collapsed. Seeing that, Alan finally collected himself and shouted as he rushed towards Revenant.

"Zephyrus!"

In that one simple word, I understood what he wanted. While Alan and Elias rushed towards the demon, I ran to Reyes's side.

"Reyes!" I shouted as I picked up his body. Ice Revenant wanted to attack me, but it was interrupted by my party members. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep him busy for long.

 The first one who got hit was Elias. The demon swept its hand sideways, and the ranger was sent flying. He crashed into a wall and collapsed on the ground. Then, a storm of icicles flew towards Luciella. She tried to dodge it but couldn't manage it perfectly, and one of the icicles pierced her hand.

Seeing the situation worsen, Alan shouted.

"Retreat! We will regroup later!"

Then, he cast the most powerful spell he could muster.

"Astral Burst!"

A massive explosion of magical energy appeared, blinding everyone and destroying the surroundings. The spell hit the walls and the furniture and even reached the ceiling which began collapsing.

In the chaos caused by the spell, we all ran.

***

The rubble cut Reyes and I off from everyone else. From the moment Alan said to retreat, I knew where I was heading—the Sacred Lair. I was sure that everyone else thought the same thing.

Fortunately, Reyes and I were close to the hallway that led directly to the Lair. The rubble cut off all other ways for me besides the hallway. That was the sole fortunate thing that happened; it would take some time for the demon to pass through the rubble. Additionally, the lair's barrier was set to let hero candidates like Reyes inside. Here we were safe for the time being. Although, under that demon's direct assault, the barrier would likely not last very long.

The body in my hands was growing colder and colder with each passing second. As I stared at the stab area, I found myself cursing. Currently, were cut off from Luciella's healing arts. But even if she was here, she would likely be helpless in the face of this wound.

The area where Reyes got stabbed had a dark, unnatural fog gathered around it. Just like in Edward's case, this was also a curse—and a powerful one at that. The Curse of Mortality ensured that wounds dealt with the cursed weapon could not be healed. The wound itself wasn't particularly deep; the stab lacked force and was shallow. It barely hit any internal organs. But despite its shallowness and my treating the wound, the blood continued pouring just as intensely as before.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it... Damn it!" I shouted.

Reyes still had his injury from before. Overall, he was losing too much blood and energy. If we had a procession of priests and time, we could maybe do something about a curse this powerful. But it was highly unlikely that enough priests were even alive in the Palace to do the required ritual. On top of that, there was a powerful demon on our tails; it would never give us enough time to cure the curse.

It was a mortal wound. And it could not be dealt with. Soon, Reyes would die.

The only reason he was still breathing was his heightened vitality—a side-effect of his Blessing. But since his Blessing wasn't the type that focused on survivability, it didn't give us much more time. We had, maybe, twenty or thirty minutes at best.

My hands shook as I desperately tried to stop the bleeding.

"Come on... Come on..."

But while I was still going through the fruitless motions, Reyes already accepted his fate.

"...You can stop now... There's...*Cough* *Cough*... no point."

Miraculously, he was still conscious. His voice was weak, but he could still talk.

"W-what the hell do you mean stop!? If I stop... If I stop you..."

"I will d-die... I will die r-regardless. So you... you can stop..." 

His words made me stop in my tracks.

"If anything," he continued. "You should aban—*Cough* —abandon me and go help Powerless. If you're not... careful... Then he could also lose his life today..."

That was the perfect response you would expect from a hero candidate. Selfless and virtuous to the limit. And precisely because of how perfect it was, it made me unbelievably angry. I couldn't accept that.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Is... is your life not worth anything to you!?"

In contrast to my anger, he showed a sad, somewhat lonely smile to me.

"Of.. of course it does... But I was prepared for this from the very start... Why are you... so devastated, you fool? Do you not... hate me? If you can't even accept my death... then you really—*Cough*—should have stayed away from hero candidates..."

Reyes smiled in self-deprecation. It was a weak smile, barely qualifying as one. He then stretched his hand forward as if he was trying to grasp the ceiling.

"...In the end... I died a foolish death...huh? I had no right to criticize you back then. You were right"

I bit my lip and clenched my fist. I was shaking with frustration, anger, and regret. And it was all directed at my past self—no, at my current self. My current self who was still just as worthless as I used to be. In the end, I never became strong enough to save anybody without my Blessing.

"No... no, I wasn't right. And I... I don't hate you. The one I hate is... The one I hate is myself." I spat in denial as my emotions continued boiling. "I could never be fine with your death! You are a great hero candidate! And I...I am just an idiot—a worthless scumbag who doesn't have the resolve to become a Hero!"

Tears started welling up in my eyes. I could no longer even understand my own feelings. My emotions were a boiling mess. It was burning. Gouging. Suffocating.

Looking at me, Reyes smiled.

"I see..." he whispered, a mixture of surprise and relief in his voice. "I... I also have... have something to confess..."

His trembling voice reached my ears, and I stared at him attentively. My vision was blurry, and my body was battered and wounded, but my mind alone was sharp, intent on remembering Reyes's every word.

"I... I didn't hate you either... When I became a hero candidate, I used to look up to you so much," he spoke in a weak voice. "You were the strongest hero candidate... Powerful and unrelenting... Masterful with your Blessing like no one else... I thought for sure that you were going to save the world."

His words caught me by surprise. I couldn't believe it. Reyes—that Reyes used to look up to me?

"And when you lost your blessing... I felt so frustrated... What did I want from you, I wonder...? To keep fighting? To throw in the towel? To this day I don't even know myself... But I think I was relieved... You looked so ragged right before losing your blessing. That was when I realized for the first time... You were no perfect hero—just a weak human... like everyone else."

Then, Reyes bit his lip and looked at the ceiling. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"Hero candidates might be strong, but they are also weak. They are mere humans forced into the burden of the Blessing... I can't even imagine what it's like to bear such weight from birth... I thought I was different. I wanted to become a hero candidate so desperately, and finally, the Goddess answered my pleas."

Reyes cried as he spoke of his dream.

"I thought I could save everyone. Powerful and powerless—weak and strong alike. I though if someone like me carried this burden, then others would never have to suffer. After all, I was happy to become a hero candidate. Zephyrus... I wanted to tell you that you no longer need to carry this burden—that I will do it in your stead. That was my pride as the hero candidate."

Reyes gasped as if words were caught in his throat. Tears flowed. He coughed painfully, but he didn't stop.

"That was my dream. To protect everyone. But I was too naive... *Cough* , I couldn't even protect my friends... Murdock, Akechi, Daniel, Liam, Rezul... I promised I would protect them and save the world in their stead... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't fulfill my promise... And you, Zephyrus, I'm sorry as well. In the end, I wasn't strong enough to carry this burden..."

The entire time, Reyes's tears kept flowing.

I was confident that this was the first time Reyes cried since receiving his Blessing. For he was the type to believe that Heroes never cried.

The tears were stolen from him by the hands of fate. And only now, at the end of his life, could he allow himself to cry. I could see it clearly: a young boy, holding back his tears for years, unable to show weakness. That image my blood boil.

"Reyes. I... I cannot agree with your dream."

My sudden rejection surprised him, and he stopped in his tracks. But I paid it no mind. Because there was something I had to tell him no matter what.

"You don't owe anyone an apology. And I'm sorry—your dream is nothing more than arrogance."

Maybe it was cruel for me, but no matter what, I had to deny Reyes's dream.