Chapter 285 : The Master of the Prophecy

A quiet city of light.

A peaceful night when everyone was asleep.

A tremendous roar shook the city.

"W-what!"

At the sound, Neyman, who had been sleeping at the inn, shot up.

It was an explosion loud enough to startle him awake.

Neyman, startled, ran to the window and looked outside.

As if to confirm he hadn't misheard, lights began to appear in the windows one by one, and people stuck their heads out.

They too looked bewildered, as if they didn't know what was happening.

—Hurry!

—Which way is it?

—I think it's behind the royal palace!

Soon, he could see soldiers in armor hurrying down the street.

"...What's going on?"

Neyman stared blankly out the window, and then Ashuban's words flashed through his mind.

It was what he had said when he had instructed him to evacuate the brothers, Jacob and Johan, out of the city.

'I'll have Shushuruta help you, so get out of this city as soon as possible. It'll get noisy if you stay any longer.'

"...Don't tell me?"

At that moment, a man shot out of an alley like the wind and looked around.

And then, he looked up, directly at him.

Their eyes met.

It was a pair of vivid, red eyes that were clearly visible even in the darkness.

Ashuban beckoned.

"Come down. The time to leave has come."

Neyman suppressed a sigh and quickly packed his things and went downstairs.

When he came down, Ashuban was waiting, leaning crookedly against the outer wall.

"What took you so long? Can't you move faster?"

Neyman replied with a slightly wronged face.

"...I came as fast as I could."

"We don't have time. Let's go."

Neyman ran down the street after Ashuban.

The direction was north.

Neyman asked as he ran.

"That roar just now. Was that you?"

Ashuban replied in an indifferent tone.

"Why ask the obvious."

"..."

Since when was it obvious to destroy a city in the middle of the night?

Neyman swallowed the words he wanted to say and followed Ashuban to the north gate.

When they arrived, the soldiers who had been guarding the gate were all unconscious and scattered about.

"...!"

Neyman muttered with a dumbfounded face.

"...Are you really going all out now?"

The knight with dark blue hair, Lyle, who had been waiting in front of the gate, grumbled.

"What took you so long?"

Ashuban replied as if he were wronged.

"Hey, is it my fault? It's this guy's fault for being slow."

"Cut the excuses."

"That son of a bitch."

"Ahem, in front of Siri. Don't curse."

Neyman belatedly noticed that there was someone behind Lyle.

She was peeking her head out shyly from behind him, a girl who looked to be less than twenty.

Her hair was as white as snow.

The faint moonlight settled on her hair.

Neyman's eyes widened.

As far as he knew, there was only one girl in this city with such pure white hair.

"...The Saint of Pure White?"

At the call of her name, Sirila tilted her head.

"Ah, I'm late with the introduction."

Ashuban introduced Neyman.

"Say hello. This is Neyman. He's our guide who will lead us on the right path."

Sirila bowed her head.

"Hello."

Neyman also returned the greeting in a daze.

"Uh, uh... hello."

Lyle frowned and chimed in.

"Is this the time to be greeting each other?"

"Why are you so angry? First meetings start with introductions. Don't you know?"

"What nonsense. Let's just leave quickly. We don't know when those guys will chase us."

"Alright."

Ashuban offered his back to Neyman.

"Get on for now."

Neyman had already seen the soldiers rushing around. He understood that the situation was urgent.

It was just that the man in front of him was strangely calm.

'Why is this man calm when others are in a frenzy, and in a hurry by himself when there's nothing wrong?'

Neyman got on his back, pondering a question with no answer.

"And Shushuruta and Daryl?"

"What?"

"Where are Shushuruta and Daryl waiting?"

"Ah, they'll be waiting in Novus. If they moved as we agreed beforehand."

"Good. The first destination is Novus village. So we just have to go straight north along the road?"

"That's right."

Thump!

Ashuban immediately kicked off the ground.

"Toot toot! The carriage to Novus is departing. Don't fall behind, and follow well."

Ashuban ran like the wind, and Lyle followed, carrying Sirila.

Neyman glanced back and asked.

"Is she really the Saint of Pure White?"

"Is there a fake one?"

"You crazy..."

He had been skeptical.

'You really succeeded in kidnapping her?'

Neyman couldn't close his mouth.

She was the one Archbishop Holio had hidden away, so where and how did he find her?

'No, let's say he found her.'

Since she had been hidden so well, the security must have been tight and strict.

He didn't know for sure, but there must have been numerous soldiers and knights protecting her in two or three layers.

'But, you broke through that and brought her?'

Judging by the roar he had heard earlier, there was a high probability that he had destroyed everything and brought her.

'...What kind of crazy bastards are these.'

He had only heard of Sherwood by name.

But seeing it in person, it was a spectacle.

He had thought the rumors were exaggerated, but it was to the point where he wondered if the rumors had been downplayed.

Even if he had succeeded in bringing the saint, he had never dreamed that he would succeed so early.

He had thought he would have to wait at least a month to pinpoint her location and meticulously plan her extraction.

To think he would just destroy everything and bring her.

He felt like a fool for thinking so complicatedly.

They say if you're smart, your body is comfortable.

If your body is good, there was no reason for your head to be tired.

"You're amazing in many ways."

"? What is."

"It's nothing."

Neyman shook his head from side to side.

To think he had tried to judge these people who played outside of common sense with his own head.

Just then, a shout was heard from behind.

—There they are!

When he looked back, holy knights in armor were chasing them on horseback.

Neyman patted Ashuban's shoulder and shouted urgently.

"They're coming!"

Ashuban replied in a nonchalant tone.

"Don't you worry. We're much faster."

"Ah, right."

As he said, even though they were chasing on horseback, the distance between the pursuers and the fugitives was rapidly increasing.

At this rate, he was sure they would be able to shake them off completely in no time.

"It's a romantic night. Let's escape over this night."

"Just shut up."

"Hey, why are you so angry? Let's just go nicely."

"Stop talking nonsense."

"D-don't fight."

Listening to Ashuban and Lyle bickering.

"Hooo..."

Only then did Neyman let out a sigh of relief.

'I really thought something was going to happen, but at this rate, it'll be easier than I thought...'

At that moment.

A pure white light burst out in the sky of the city.

It was a light so bright that it could clear the dark night sky in an instant.

A brightness so dazzling that it made him frown.

"What is that?"

At Neyman's words, Ashuban turned his head and checked behind him while running.

The pure white light that had pushed back the darkness gradually weakened and gathered at the light source from which the light had emanated.

Ashuban focused his inner energy on his eyes and examined the identity of the light.

It was a magic circle with various geometric and complex patterns drawn on it.

Ashuban narrowed his eyes.

"...I've seen that somewhere before."

At that moment, the realization came a beat late.

Ashuban's eyes widened.

"A teleportation circle!"

The dazzling light that had lit up the night sky like day finally faded.

And in the place where the light had been, a woman in pure white armor was standing.

She looked around while floating in the air, and then her eyes met Ashuban's.

"...!"

He realized.

That she was looking directly at him.

Even though it was a long distance, her gaze felt like it was piercing him with an awl.

The two instinctively recognized each other's existence.

She slowly drew her sword while floating in the air.

It was a sword with a pure white blade, as if it had been forged from light.

Swoosh!

Then, pure white wings spread out from behind her.

They were wings of light made of dazzling radiance.

Soon, the knight with her wings spread raised her sword and pointed at one place.

At the end of it was a man with red eyes.

The moment he thought it felt like a flash of light that pierced his eyes.

She disappeared.

Ashuban immediately threw Neyman, whom he had been carrying, far away and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"She's coming!"

The next moment, she was right in front of him.

Literally, in the blink of an eye.

Ashuban quickly drew his Night Sky Sword and countered the light.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!

It felt like sparks were flying in front of his eyes, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

It was such a powerful charge that Ashuban, who had blocked the attack, was pushed back.

He was pushed back so far that his heels felt crushed.

And in front of Ashuban.

Platinum blonde hair, imbued with a gentle light, swayed.

"Is it you?"

In front of him was the master of the Pure White Sword, one of the Eight Sword Masters, and the Hero of Light that the empire prided itself on.

"...This isn't very romantic."

* * *

My hand is tingling.

My brow furrows at the dazzling light that suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

My ears are ringing from the shockwave.

My heels are already numb.

In front of me was a woman wrapped in a brilliant radiance, with wings of light spread on her back.

It was like seeing the god of light who had descended from heaven.

Was this what a messenger of God was like?

Even if I hadn't heard her introduction, I felt like I knew who she was.

The Hero of Light that the Holy Hilka Empire prided itself on.

The master of the Pure White Sword, one of the Eight Sword Masters.

Was that the power of that white sword, or was it the divine power bestowed upon her by the god she served?

As I was pondering, her mouth opened.

"Is it you?"

I don't know what it was, but I gritted my teeth and answered.

"It's me."

She looked at me blankly.

"It seems so. I have been waiting for a long time."

'...You've been waiting?'

It was a tone as if she had finally met a long-time rival, so I quickly changed my words.

"Actually, no. You've come to the wrong place."

The hero tilted her head.

"Is it not?"

"It's not."

"It seems to be."

"I said it's not."

The hero looked at me with confident eyes.

"No, it is you."

"..."

Damn it.

Then why did you ask?

"Master of the prophecy."

...Prophecy?

"Let me introduce myself."

The Hero of Light, still with her sword crossed, introduced herself in a nonchalant tone.

"Lasol Grace. The daughter of the almighty midday sun god, Hope, and the most brilliant light."

"You have a great daughter."

"And your name?"

It was customary to introduce oneself when meeting for the first time.

But there was something that bothered me more than that.

"Wait. A prophecy?"

Lasol tilted her head.

"You didn't know?"

"This is the first I've heard of it."

"There are countless prophecies about you."

"For example?"

Lasol, as if she had been waiting, recited them.

"The Red-Eyed Judge, the Apostle of the Night, the one who will end the old evil deeds, the time traveler, the one who returned from death."

"...What?"

My eyes widened.

But her words did not end there.

"God-Slayer, the nightmare of the demon worshipers, the one who gathers the starlight, the magical beast slayer, the master of the rainbow sword, the guide of the gods, the child of prophecy, the helper of the last dragon clan, the liberator of the demon race, the ruler of the demon realm..."

"Stop, stop!"

The more I heard, the dizzier my head became.

I stopped her words, as it seemed it would go on endlessly if I let her.

"Damn it. That prophecy."

There was a prophecy I had heard from the former king of Blake.

It was about the Red-Eyed Judge.

Was that just one of those many prophecies?

"Those guys, they really like prophecies."

The hero's eyebrow twitched.

"You irreverent one. You should watch your mouth."

"...Irreverent?"

"I ask again. Tell me your name."

"Of course. It's only natural to answer when asked."

I introduced myself, filled with a rebellious spirit against the damn gods.

"The pride of Sherwood. The one and only captain of Sherwood. The epitome of coolness. The man who was called the Red-Eyed Devil in the lower town, and Ashuban of the Half-Sword in the upper town. The swordsman your mother likes the most. No matter what words you use, it's not enough."

"..."

Lasol's mouth fell half-open.

I could faintly hear the Heavenly Demon chuckling.

And I could feel the strength in the crossed swords slightly loosening.

"Big Brother!"

I heard Siri's voice from a little distance away.

Fwoosh!

At the same time, an unknown power surged.

It was the blessing of the saint who didn't believe.

Now that she had ended her disbelief and accepted a god, it was incomparable to before.

Do you think I was just talking to buy time because I was bored?

Power is overflowing to the point where I can't control it!

I grinned and.

"In short. I'm Ashuban from Milestone."

CLANG!

I knocked away the hero's sword.

(End of Chapter)