Alan, the Hero Candidate

When I was a kid, the world seemed like a happy place.

I knew neither struggle nor pain. A warm home, a loving family, a kind older friend who was like a brother to me, a girl next door that I had a crush on... It was a simple childhood—the kind you could find anywhere. My life was simple and happy, and so was the way I saw the world.

I thought hero stories were beautiful. For me, hero candidates were radiant existences. I aspired to be like them. I wanted to be a Hero.

So when did things change? When did I get used to seeing death and cruelty? When did my world become so bleak?

I knew the answer to those questions. I knew the exact day—the exact moment—my world turned upside down.

Kids always took what they had for granted, and I was no exception. And like with anything you take for granted, my happiness disappeared with unbelievable ease.

A warm home, a loving family, a kind older brother I looked up to, a girl next door that I had a crush on... and so, so many more things.

They all burnt away. Stolen from me in a single day.

But in return, there were things that I gained. I realized that the world was not what I once thought it was. And in understanding that I gained determination.

I hated this world. It was filled with suffering. And suffering didn't pick and choose its recipients. No matter who you are and how hard you worked, regardless if you were bad or good, strong or weak—the world would still burn you.

You couldn't avoid this world's hardships. But you could be prepared for them. I was woefully unprepared that day, and as a result I let everyone die—I let him die. That day, I swore I would never allow myself to be weak again.

Even if I hid away, the world would still remain the same. Someday, this pain would reach me and steal everything away from me once again. And if that was the case, instead of running, I would take the cruelty of this world head-on and fight for the future.

Since then, I have continued to walk this path. Not because I still wanted to be a Hero, not because the world was worth sacrificing yourself for, and not even because it was my duty.

But because this was the only way we could bring change to this world.

People were weak. They knew the world was filled with malice. But many either pretended not to see that or to ignore it. Others, like cultists, gave up on the world all together. But none of that would fix anything. Only once people chose to fight could this world truly change.

I believed in that wholeheartedly. And I was determined to live in accordance with that belief. If my determination could bring someone even a fraction of hope, then all of my struggles were not futile.

But even if it they were, I would never stop. Such was the burden I chose. And no matter what, I will see it through to the end.

Twenty five months after the departure.

Nine months have passed since the tragic assault of the Sun Palace. In that incident, thousands of people died. The victims consisted of priests, guards, bureaucratic officials, and even hero candidates and their companions. But surprisingly, there were close to no civilian casualties outside of those mentioned. Considering the scale of the assault, that was practically a miracle.

After Reyes defeated Ice Revenant, total chaos reigned among Luxian officials for weeks. People doubted everyone around them, including their own closest allies. Investigations into the perpetrators of the assault as well as how the demons ended up in Luxia lasted several months.

Eventually, the investigation concluded with the arrest of the fourth prince of Luxia. He was a thirty-five year old man and one of the most notable figures in the anti-crown prince faction. Using his connections and underground tunnel pathways that were built in secret over the last decade, he helped the demons cross the borders of Aureatia and smuggled them into the capital.

The investigation concluded that the reasons for his betrayal were politically motivated. The attack on the Sun Palace was just one facet of his plans. While military and priests were in disarray, the crown prince was assassinated. Additionally, two Radiant Cardinals were murdered in combat. On the surface, the cardinals had no involvement in politics. But behind closed doors, the two of them were cooperative with the crown prince.

Both the crown prince faction and the anti-crown prince faction suffered irreparable blows. The first one lost its leader, and the second's reputation was tarnished beyond repair. Ironically enough, as a result of the conflict, the once unpopular neutral faction led by the young fifth prince came out as the biggest victor.

The frontlines also underwent massive shifts after the incident. That night, six hero candidates passed away. Around the same time, a similar attack occurred on the northern front where Rauford's forces suffered a great blow. There, five hero candidates died.

In total—with the addition of recent graduates—only seven hero candidates remained on the frontlines, and six more were currently academy students. A catastrophically low number for the war that we were in.

There were even talks that some of the hero candidates who were still students should be summoned to the frontlines. Three of them were already preparing to set out at a moment's notice.

We were being pushed back on every front. In the north, the war had already reached the stronghold at Rauford's borders. And here, the demonic forces were on the verge of reaching the walls of Luxia. The moment these two fell, it would leave humanity with only a single stronghold—the Royal Capital of Holy Rauford Kingdom, Paladea. We were essentially on our last ropes.

Humanity was losing the war.

***

Twenty nine months after the departure

The past four months had been especially gruesome. My party was being ran ragged.

Amongst Luxia's forces, almost no one could defeat powerful demons outside of us. There were two new hero candidates who had just graduated, but they were too inexperienced, and everyone else lacked the required strength. That was why we were constantly sent on the frontlines. Day after day. Night after night.

But recently, something strange happened. The intense combat suddenly came to an end. There were still some skirmishes and the like, but demons' numbers were meager compared to before. Generals and other powerful demons also hadn't appeared in a while.

I had a bad feeling about that, but for the time being, it was a good thing. For the first time in a while, my party could rest and recover their strength. I was doubtful if this respite would last even a couple of weeks, but it was better than nothing.

As you would expect, we spent this time focused on recovering our strength. Until a few days into our break, Luciella called everyone to gather. Our meeting place was her room at the inn.

"I saw a new prophecy," she started, "exactly a month from today, the demons will attack on every front. Their numbers will exceed everything we had seen prior. All of their forces will be involved in this assault."

Just like always, Luciella got straight to the point. Despite the horrific contents of her words, she refused to mince words. I furrowed my brows in thought.

"...Do we have a chance of winning?" I asked with a hint of hope.

Luciella shook her head.

"I don't know. I only saw the visions of the assault, not what happened afterwards. But judging from the sheer scale of enemy forces..."

She trailed off, hesitant to finish her words, but I understood anyway.

"So Luxia will likely fall..." I mumbled as my expression darkened.

"Not just Luxia," Luciella replied, "even Baelum might."

Those were about the worst news there could ever be. Luxia and Baelum were the last strongholds that humanity had on northern and southern fronts respectively. If they were to collapse, the demons would have an easy time reaching Paladea. And after that, humanity no longer had anywhere to retreat to. Our backs were against the wall.

Humanity was losing. I knew that. I had known that for months by this point. But even so, I didn't expect that we had so little time.

The air in the room was heavy. The sudden prophecy shocked all of us.

"...I think everybody here needs more time to process this," I said and dismissed the meeting. "We can discuss it later, but right now, I'm sure all of us need a bit of space."

I didn't say it out loud, but the following month could very well be the last peaceful moments in our lives. If anyone had any unfinished business, they would need to deal with it while they still could.

Everyone nodded. They all understood my unspoken intent. Luciella, however, stopped me before I could leave.

"Alan, there's something I need to tell you. Could you stay for a bit?"

I was slightly surprised by the sudden request, but I nodded and threw a glance at Zephyrus and Elias. They understood what I was getting at and immediately left the room.

Once we were alone, Luciella stood up, walked towards her desk, and then opened up one of the drawers. From the drawer, she took out a small item that had a thin metallic chain attached to it. That item was about the size of a stone. It was rectangular and made out of cloth.

"...A talisman?" I muttered.

Luciella turned towards me, the item still in her hands, and nodded.

"Yes... I made this for you," she said and then walked up to me. She raised her hands while holding the chain. I understood the gesture and lowered my head. Luciella put the chain around my neck and tucked the talisman behind my clothes.

I touched it lightly through the clothes and muttered.

"This is... a rather sudden gift if I had to say so."

Talismans were religious charms that contained the power of holy arts. Usually, they were made of cloth and had some kind of magical catalyst. Most of the time, on the inside they had a paper slip with words of prayer written on it, but other elements were included pretty often. Some charms had the prayer engraved in something other than paper, like metal or rock, but those were pretty difficult to make and rare. The surface with the words served as an anchor for a powerful holy art that was enchanted on it, giving the talisman special effects.

While I was still puzzled, Luciella explained herself.

"I was finally able to make it since we were free from the missions. Please, make sure to always wear it."

I grimaced slightly in response to her words.

"Always? That's a rather... intense request. What effects does it have?" I asked while feeling it with my hand. It felt surprisingly solid which meant that the talisman's basis wasn't paper, or at least if it was, then additional materials were added to it in order to strengthen its enchantment.

"It's a charm of protection," Luciella replied, "it helps against dark magic and some curses. No matter how slim the chance, there is a possibility that it could save your life. Never take it off."

I smiled wryly. Very caring of her. It wasn't news to me, but with how she usually behaved, I constantly found myself doubting if I understood what was going through her head. No matter how much time passed and no matter how emotionless she seemed, she was still the same as always. Indifferent on the surface, but kind on the inside.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to treasure it."

My words were met with a rather dry response.

"I sure hope so. I pray that it will come in handy to you."

...That was a rather grim wish if you really thought about it, just like always, she wasn't always the best with words. But I decided it would be uncouth to point it out, so I remained quiet.

***

Once I left Luciella's room, a familiar face waited for me on the outside.

"Zephyrus? What? Are you eavesdropping now?" I asked with a teasing smile.

Zephyrus sighed.

"I'm not," he denied my words. "Whatever is between you and her is none of my business. I was just waiting for you to tell you something important."

He had a serious expression on his face.

"I have a plan on how to win this war. Could you take a listen?"

And his next words were just as unexpected as today's prophecy.

***

There was an entire interconnected system of tunnels and caves stretching across the eastern side of the Western Continent. It started to the west of Luxia and nearly reached the easternmost edge of the continent.

Once, those tunnels belonged to a powerful monster from three hundred years ago that was called Man-eater. He was a troll so powerful that people thought him to be immortal. Singlehandedly, the creature killed so many people that it received the title of the Calamity. Nowadays, it was a lesser known fact, but at the time, the most mysterious aspect about him was how far-spread were his appearances. It had constantly appeared all over the continent, but no one could figure out how.

People believed that its lair was located to the west of Luxia, around the area where the famous inn, Troll's Demise was. But the truth was a bit different. It was one of the places where the troll spent a significant portion of its time, but it was only a single cave amidst its grand underground system. After the troll was defeated, that main cave collapsed and was cut off from the rest of the tunnels. But other entrances still existed, forgotten by most people.

Or at least, that's what Zephyrus told me. He also happened to know where the closest entrance to those caverns was. When I asked him where he got that information from, he replied that he couldn't tell me, and it was a secret. When he said that, he had a complicated expression on his face. It seemed he felt bad for hiding the truth, but I immediately understood that he wouldn't budge on the matter. 

Frankly, it seemed incredibly suspicious. If the information came from anyone else, I would have started suspecting that they were cultists, trying to ensnare me into a trap.

But I trusted Zephyrus. I knew he kept some secrets from us, but I was fine with that. After all, who was I to judge? I also had past and secrets that I never wanted to talk about.

And finally, for the reason why this cave system mattered so much. It reached all the way until the eastern end of the continent—right where the demons' main stronghold currently was. In other words, if we could use those caves, we could reach the heart of the demons' forces.

We could reach the Demon Lord.

The essence of Zephyrus's plan was simple. The upcoming assault would be on an unprecedented scale. That meant the demons were going to be using more forces than ever. Theoretically, that meant the defenses in the Demon Lord's stronghold were as thin as we could ever hope for.

Frankly, we had no idea how many forces demons really had. It could very well be that the assault wouldn't affect the defenses in the slightest. But at the same time, if we did nothing, humanity would fall soon. Risking everything in order to kill the Demon Lord was our best bet.

There was a reason why Demon Lord heralded the demonic invasion. Only when he was manifested, demons could use their dark arts to their full power. One example of that would be Ice Revenant. His ice powers mainly came from the Demon Lord. Without him, Ice Revenant would have been a lot weaker. There were thousands of demons who borrowed their powers in a similar fashion. And as long as the Demon Lord was alive, they would continue to pose a threat.

But that was exactly where our chance lay. If we could slay the Demon Lord before humanity's strongholds fell, we could greatly weaken the demon army. That could give humanity a real fighting chance. No, quite frankly, if the demons didn't have access to their dark arts, and their king was dead, humanity would win. After all, we had powerful hero candidates on our side. There were close to no demons who could match their strength without Demon Lord's assistance.

That was the gist of Zephyrus's plan. While demonic forces were on the offensive, we would use this opportunity to slay the Demon Lord.

After talking to Zephyrus, I shared this plan of his with the rest of my party. I suppose, I don't need to say that all of us came to the same conclusion.

Even if our chances of success were slim, we had to take the plunge.

***

A week passed since then. 

It would take us approximately three weeks to reach the Demon Lord via the tunnels. So that left us with some time before we had to go. It was important that our timing was right, and the forces in the demon's stronghold were at an absolute minimum. That's why it was important to match the timing of the attack as precisely as possible. 

This meant we had a week before our departure. That worked out perfectly, and we used that time to rest up and steel ourselves. I hoped that everyone was able to deal with their unfinished business as well if they had any.

The entrance that Zephyrus told us about was located a short distance away from Luxia. We only had to travel for about three hours to reach it. We departed closer to evening, under the cover of the night, and by the time we reached the entrance, it was already pitch black outside.

We followed Zephyrus's directions and very quickly found a cave that led underground. It was hidden behind forestation and fallen trees. Now, it made sense to me how it wasn't been found prior. But also, that made Zephyrus's knowledge even more puzzling.

And now, as the moon watched over us, we stood at the entrance to the cave. The only ones present were my party and a certain entourage that was escorting us.

We only told about our plans to a single person—Radiant Cardinal, Lord Oliver.

After the tragic events that happened over a year ago, Lord Oliver was the one to take matters into his own hands. He unified the scattered Radiant fractions and helped to solve the unrest.

I didn't want the information about our plans to leak to the higher-ups; there was a chance that they could oppose us our mission. At the same time, we needed a lot of supplies and as much support as we could get. That's why I decided to rely on Lord Oliver.

Over the past year, I had come to understand this man just a little bit. He was similar to me in a way. Lord Oliver wanted to do his best to fulfill his duty as a cardinal and bring salvation to people. At the same time, he was highly pragmatic, sensitive to people's malice, and made every decision mindful of risk and return.

I was willing to bet that he would support our endeavors if we explained the situation to him, and my bet paid off. He supplied us with everything we needed and even went as far as to help hide our plans from everyone else.

"Lord Alan," Oliver spoke, "I wish you success on your journey. The fate of humanity lies on your shoulders."

"Thank you. Your assistance has been invaluable to us."

When the cardinal heard my words, a painful grimace appeared on his face.

"No. What I've done was the bare minimum. I wish I could do more, but the only other thing I could offer is a prayer and maybe a little gift..."

Then, Lord Oliver shot one of his subordinates a glance. Then, one of his guards came forward with a small chest in his hands. Oliver took that chest from him and turned back to me.

"This isn't much, but, please, accept this," he said as he opened the chest.

Inside of it, lay a few golden metallic pieces. Despite the darkness they were shining with a solemn but powerful light. Their edges were jagged as if they were broken off. Immediately, I recognized what them.

"This is... the Golden Sword fragments?"

Oliver nodded.

"Yes, I'm not sure how useful would they even be in this broken state, but please take them."

"But..." I hesitated. "This is such an important relic for Radiants..."

Oliver smiled wryly.

"There's no point in having the relic, if humanity is doomed. Even though the sword is broken, the materials it was made of are rare and extremely durable. At the very least, they can serve as a backup weapon, a shield, or even just as a lucky charm. It's really not much, but at least they will be better off with you than collecting dust here. And besides, one of the pieces is missing anyway."

After the incident a year ago, one of the fragments of the Golden Sword had disappeared. No one knew how it happened, but there was so much chaos at the Sun Palace that it wasn't surprising. Most likely, one of the demons stole it while we were battling Ice Revenant. At first, people were concerned that the demons could use those fragments for something nefarious. But a year had passed, and the fragment had never resurfaced even once.

I hesitated for a while, but in the end, I decided to take them.

Frankly, I was shocked. I wasn't sure what strings Oliver had to pull to get us these, and I didn't know if they would actually come in handy, but I accepted them nonetheless.

"Thank you, Lord Oliver. Truly thank you for everything."

Oliver shook his head.

"Once again, you have nothing to thank me for. All of humanity should be thankful to you instead. So thank you. And goodbye."

His last words were laced with a hint of sorrow. 

Regardless if I succeeded or not, I would never see Lord Oliver again. For that was the fate of a hero candidate. That thought made me feel slightly melancholic.

And on that bittersweet note, we said our goodbyes, and my party entered the cave.

I swear I will see this task through to the end.

I will kill the Demon Lord.