Chapter 69: The Sacred Sword’s Chosen Hero

From the heavens, the sacred sword descended,
And the hero graced this land.

Celian stepped forward, reaching for the sacred sword’s hilt.

Whoosh.

No, she tried to grab it.

?

Everyone witnessing the situation was taken aback. Even Celian stood frozen for a moment, startled by the unexpected turn of events, before attempting once more to reach for the sacred sword—

Whoosh.

Again, the sacred sword evaded Celian’s grasp, moving as if it had a will of its own.

“Ugh…!”

Celian moved swiftly, trying to catch the sacred sword, but it darted skillfully away from her reach, dodging her hands like a living being.

The sword then began moving farther away from Celian, inching closer toward me.

Wait, why is this thing coming toward me?

Panicked, I shifted my position to avoid the approaching sacred sword, but it followed my every step as if it were chasing me.

“Uh, Celie…?”

Turning toward Celian for help, I called out to her, but she only stood there with a hardened expression, watching me and the sacred sword.

As someone who was a descendant of heroes and expected to naturally become the hero herself, Celian must have been feeling more than a little frustrated by the situation.

While I stood hesitating, unable to do anything, the sacred sword gently tapped my hand with its hilt.

Should I grab it? Or should I not?

As I wrestled with the decision, I noticed that outside the pillar of light, the demonkin had shifted their attention toward Professor Selene.

Right. There’s no time to waste here. We can figure out the sacred sword later.

I opened my palm and grasped the hilt of the sacred sword.

At that moment, an even brighter light radiated from the sacred sword, illuminating the pillar of light once again.

The pillar of light disappeared, and though I could sense the demons who had previously overwhelmed us now watching me warily, I felt no fear.

A surge of vitality filled my exhausted body.

It wasn’t mere confidence stemming from the energy coursing through me.

The demons seemed to sense something unusual and started charging toward us again, but I moved a step faster.

I got behind the demon leading the charge.

With one swift motion, I severed its neck.

Even as its head flew through the air, the demon looked at me with an expression of utter disbelief, as if it couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

Before the other demons could recover from their shock, I moved again.

It wasn’t just about moving quickly.

The demons failed to perceive my presence entirely.

Though I remained within the range of their vision and senses, I effortlessly eluded their detection, moving stealthily and striking with precision.

This wasn’t the same crude technique I had once used in the labyrinth with the help of several external conditions to mask my presence.

This was my own power, and yet, it wasn’t entirely mine.

It was a fragment of the level I would one day reach in the future.

As an assassin and a swordsman, this was a glimpse of the mastery I was destined to achieve.

For now, I had merely borrowed this power with the aid of the sacred sword.

Still, I couldn’t fully wield the strength of the sacred sword or the hero’s might, leaving me with a faint sense of insufficiency.

Of course, the power was already overwhelming and a tremendous help, but if there was one regret, it was this:

It felt as though the sacred sword was drawing a line, saying, “This is the limit of your current ability.”

If even the divine energy filling this place were to vanish, the strength I had gained would soon dissipate as well.

Even as I moved step by step, my entire body felt the strain.

But it didn’t matter. By then, we would have already escaped this crisis.

In just a few minutes, the demons and demonkin that had threatened us and killed Professor Hilpin were now nothing but headless corpses strewn about the ground.

“…Let’s return to Griffin Academy.”

No matter how urgent the situation in the capital, it wasn’t worth forcing ourselves to move in such conditions.

Although the carriage was destroyed, the horses, which hadn’t fled far, were unharmed. We split into pairs and rode them back.

As for Professor Hilpin’s body, time was too short to take it with us, so we buried him there and left a marker.

“Celie, um…”

“Later. We’ll talk later.”

Only after holding the sacred sword did I realize the truth—it had already chosen me as the hero.

Even though my future held clear limitations, why did the sword choose me as the hero?

Based on Celie’s talent and current abilities, one could easily predict that her potential and the qualities of a hero were far superior to mine.

On top of that, Celie was a direct descendant of the hero’s bloodline.

And yet, in the end, it was I whom the sacred sword—and the goddess—chose to be the hero.

I wasn’t sure what to say to Celie. Still, I couldn’t just stay silent, so I tried talking to her. However, she refused to engage, her expression hard and unyielding.

When we returned to Griffin Academy, the entire place was in an uproar.

It seemed Professor Hilpin held a prominent position, as news of his death shocked the academy. There was also widespread alarm over the fact that the saintess had nearly lost her life in a demon attack.

Above all, what caused the most commotion was the revelation that I, not Celie, had become the hero.

For some time, I couldn’t even attend classes, being constantly called here and there.

I even met the headmaster of the academy, someone I’d only seen during the entrance ceremony, as well as high-ranking figures from the temple.

“Don’t rely too much on the sacred sword or the power of the hero.”

After saying just that, Celie treated me as she always had before.

Her attitude, as if nothing had happened, made me feel more awkward around her than she likely felt herself.

Neither Celie nor I brought up the topic of the hero intentionally.

The only noticeable change in Celie’s behavior was that she, who usually avoided the temple, began visiting it for several consecutive days. At times, she even seemed to meet privately with Mariel.

She had likely lived all 18 years of her life with the sole expectation of becoming the hero.

For that title to be taken from her and given to me—it must have left her with a profound sense of loss.

Despite the busy days filled with various responsibilities, I continued my training as always, swinging my sword.

“Haap!”

With Celie absent, I sparred with Anne today.

However, after just a few exchanges, Anne was on her knees before me.

It seemed Anne’s skills, heavily focused on the unique Kleyn aura, left her at a disadvantage in sparring.

“Ugh… I lost again.”

“You say that, but it was close this time too.”

I extended my free hand to Anne, who had declared her defeat with nothing more to add.

Anne grabbed my hand to stand up and continued speaking.

“It was already tough beating El, but ever since you became the hero, it feels like you’re changing every day.”

“…Really?”

“I’m telling you! You’re not secretly training without us knowing, are you?”

“We share a room and spend nearly every moment together. How would I manage that? It’s probably just your imagination.”

“…Is that so?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as Anne mimicked the way I had just spoken.

Though I feigned ignorance in front of her, the one who felt the changes the most was me.

Even though my growth had accelerated, the degree of progress was shocking even to myself.

Perhaps this was one of the powers of the hero that Celie had mentioned.

If anything, I worried that my current peak, achieved after grasping the sacred sword, might already be nearing its limits.

“So, you’ll take me along, right?”

“Take you where?”

“Where else? Of course, I mean the party to defeat the Demon King. You weren’t planning to leave me behind, were you?”

“Well… I haven’t even thought about that yet…”

“No way! I’m definitely coming with you!”

Anne declared this and promptly threw her greatsword carelessly onto the ground before hugging my waist tightly.

“Hehe, now you can’t run away.”

A hero’s party… To think it wasn’t long ago that I was debating whether to follow Celie, and now, I had become the one at the center of it all.

Still, I figured it was about time I talked with Celie about matters related to the hero. Yet, every time I stood before her, the words just wouldn’t come out.

Isn’t there a way to naturally bring up the subject?

“El, let’s spar this time.”

As I stood there, with Anne still clinging to my waist and deep in thought, Celie had entered the training hall without me noticing.

She was already warmed up, her movements fluid and prepared.

“It’s been a while, so let’s do this, then.”

As Anne moved aside, I too readied myself.

Previously, Celie would have undoubtedly won with ease, but considering the momentum in my recent growth, I thought the match might be closer than before.

“Then, here I come.”

Celie took the initiative, swiftly closing the gap between us and swinging her sword lightly.

Clang!

Though it was a light attack, I managed to block it effortlessly.

In response, Celie smoothly deflected my sword and swung again, and again, and again, with quiet precision.

Each strike came faster and sharper, as though testing my skill.

Her attacks left no openings, making countering her nearly impossible.

Without relying on any elaborate techniques, she overpowered me in just twenty exchanges. I was subdued with a simplicity that felt crushing.

Despite my growth, Celie had also progressed far beyond her previous level.

Even with the hero’s power, I couldn’t catch up to her. Why the sacred sword chose me as the hero still baffled me.

“…This weekend, let’s visit my family’s home together,” she said.

“Your family’s home… Do you mean House Deretia?”

“Yes. My father has summoned me, and there are several resources about the hero there. We can discuss matters concerning the hero and what lies ahead.”

The conversation I had been struggling to start was brought up first by Celie.