Episode 59. Midterm Evaluation (4)
It’s already been 8 years since my brother died.
I think about it every day.
I regret it every time.
I wish I had died instead of my brother.
If only that were the case.
Wouldn’t it be better to live each day crushed by this sense of guilt?
But the wind is just the wind.
All I could do was chew over the irreversible days and let my heart sink.
I need to get stronger.
To higher ground.
To a more distant place.
Until I become the sun shining high in the sky.
Until I can replace the name ‘Yuren Helios’.
I couldn’t stop.
I couldn’t back down.
Because this was… the ‘price’ for the sins I committed.
That’s why.
He swung his sword so much that blood came out of his palms every day.
I trained my sword to the point where I would collapse every time I threw up my stomach.
No matter how painful, difficult, or painful it is.
I didn’t give up.
I wonder if the heavens have recognized my efforts.
My swordsmanship skills improved rapidly day by day.
I dreamed of hope as my skills grew day by day.
If I could be ‘Yuren Helios’ instead of ‘Yurina Helios’.
Because I believed that my mother would love me again like she used to.
– Amazing! At the age of just 15, you’ve defeated many great heroes and won second place in the Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament. This is truly a skill worthy of a descendant of the ‘Swordsman of the Sun’!
The fruits of labor came after three years.
I took second place in a swordsmanship competition where even active heroes participated, even though I hadn’t even entered the hero school yet.
At this point, even my mother will approve of me.
I walked back to the mansion with excited steps.
Inside a room in a spacious mansion.
As I opened the door and came in, full of anticipation, my mother spoke in a cold, chilling voice.
-You came in second place?
-Yes! I lost by a hair’s breadth in the end, but still… .
-Are you making a fuss about just getting second place?
My mother clicked her tongue, her eyes filled with disappointment.
-If it was Yuren, he would have won.
My mother sighed in a faint voice as she stroked my brother’s photo.
-Haa. If only that child were alive… .
I flinched and shook my shoulders at the soft muttering I heard.
He clenched his trembling fists and bit his lip.
-sorry.
-There’s no need to apologize. I didn’t expect anything from you from the beginning anyway.
-… … .
-What can you do, being of the bloodline of the Helios family but without even the stigmata of the ‘Sun God’?
Every word that came out of my mother’s mouth was like a sharp knife piercing my heart.
-If you’re done talking, leave.
bang.
A door slams shut.
I sat down in front of the firmly closed door and begged for forgiveness in a hoarse voice.
sorry.
I’ll do better next time.
Try harder, try harder, try harder.
I will be first place.
I won’t lose to anyone.
So, Mom.
Please… please me… .
“Heeeeeeeeeing!”
“Ugh…!”
My mind, lost in thought, was awakened by the roar of the demon.
I looked at the demon, the unicorn, running towards me with its nose full of excitement, and my eyes sparkled.
‘It’s an opportunity!’
He pulled the arm holding the sword as if pulling back a bowstring and concentrated his magical power on the tip of the sword.
A golden halo gathering at the tip of the sword.
Sun Sword Type 6, White Light.
It was a technique that shot the sword energy condensed at the tip of the sword far away, and it was a technique with the highest difficulty and power among the ‘forms’ of the Sun Sword that I could use at the moment.
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Wooooow!
A golden halo of light gathered at the tip of the sword and shot out at a terrifying speed, tearing through the air.
When a golden halo was about to pierce the bell around the unicorn’s neck.
“Where!”
Dale, who had been chasing after the unicorn, deflected the golden sword energy.
Kaaaaah!
“Ugh…!”
Dale swallows his breath and is pushed back with a groan.
Could it be because the magical power contained within the golden sword was so immense?
The flesh on my palm was torn off by the impact, as if I had been struck by a huge chunk of metal with a sword.
Dale looked down at his blood-stained palm and clicked his tongue.
“Anyway, that kid’s magic is really stupid.”
If it were normal, I would have finely adjusted my magical power to disperse the shock, but I was running so fast that I didn’t have time to do that.
“Dale…!”
“I told you, it won’t be easy.”
I roughly wiped the blood flowing from my palm onto my trouser leg and aimed my sword.
“Get out of the way, Dale.”
“What if you don’t like it?”
“… … .”
Yuren glared at me fiercely with her mouth tightly shut.
“… If you don’t like it, then there’s nothing I can do.”
A golden magical storm swirled around Yuren’s body.
A powerful magical storm that makes your skin tingle even from a considerable distance away.
‘Isn’t this worse than when we sparred?’
Even back then, I thought it was just an ignorant amount of magic power, but who would have thought that I could increase the magic power even more from there?
Yuren opened her mouth softly as she laughed at me.
“I don’t care if you get hurt.”
Yuren roughly stepped on the ground and swung his sword.
Kkurururung! Kwakwakwakwang!!
A loud noise like thunder.
With each swing of the sword wrapped in golden aura, deep craters were created and the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Trees tens of meters tall were uprooted and scattered on the ground, and rocks larger than a person were shattered into gravel.
“Heeeeeeeeeing!”
Even the unicorn that had been rushing towards Yuren, snorting loudly at the reckless orgy of destruction that seemed to be a rampage by a mythical giant, hurriedly distanced itself.
Kurururung! Kwaang! Kookugung!
Who on earth would look at this and think I’m swinging a ‘sword’?
The surrounding land was turned upside down, and a thick cloud of dust rose up.
“Crunch!”
I squinted my eyes as I used ‘Wind Walk’ to avoid Yuren’s sword strike.
‘I knew from the beginning that he had ignorant magical powers.’
There is a limit to what you can do. At this level, isn’t it almost like causing a natural disaster with a sword?
‘But something….’
I opened my eyes narrowly, avoiding the golden sword energy pouring down from all directions.
‘Are you being too impatient?’
It’s powerful, but that’s about it.
Yuren’s black sword was filled with impatience, as if being chased by a ghost.
The elegance that had elicited exclamations just by looking at it had disappeared without a trace, and the delicacy that had cleverly carved into the square had been buried under brute force.
‘This is actually easier to deal with?’
I couldn’t figure out what was making Yuren so impatient.
Dealing with Yuren now wasn’t that difficult.
“Haa, haa! F*ck… Shit!”
Was it because he was annoyed by the sight of me dodging attacks like a fly?
Yuren gasped for breath and let out a harsh curse.
“How long are you going to run away?!”
“Until you come to your senses.”
“… Are you saying I’m not in my right mind?”
“If anyone saw you now, would they think that?”
“that….”
Yuren trails off as if he had hit the nail on the head.
“… I can’t help it.”
Yuren lowered her head and muttered in a small voice.
okay.
There was no way I could remain sane.
‘I can’t let first place be taken away from me.’
He bit his lips and tightened his grip on the sword hilt.
This is the first time I’ve felt this anxious while taking a test.
After entering Hero School as the top student, being ‘number one’ was a given for him.
Because there hasn’t been a single candidate in the past two years who can compete with him for the top spot.
but.
‘If it were Dale….’
Twice a week.
Learning swordsmanship from Dale allowed me to see that he was not just good at ‘swordsmanship’.
A level of experience that makes it hard to believe he is a candidate.
Boldness as if one had multiple lives.
Quick judgment and execution ability.
The being called ‘Dale’ possessed such incredible power that it made one wonder how he had managed to hide his power until now.
‘The only thing I have ahead of Dale is horsepower.’
That’s why.
I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink when I heard Dale say that he was aiming for ‘first place’ this time.
If things continue like this, we’ll lose our number one spot.
Tension turned to anxiety, and anxiety turned to fear.
‘If I don’t get first place even once…’
A nightmare comes to mind.
That day eight years ago.
Memories of the day the sun fell, called ‘Yuren Helios’.
-If only you weren’t here! You aaaa …
A piercing scream.
The sound of a flower pot breaking.
A mother’s hand strangling her neck.
A pain that leaves you breathless.
Bloodshot eyes, eyes, eyes looking down at me.
“…no.”
Yuren cried out, holding his sword in his hand.
“I… absolutely cannot lose!”
Not a single defeat is tolerated.
Not a single mistake is forgiven.
Because that sun shining high in the sky, ‘Yuren Helios’ was such a being.
Kugugugugugugugugu!
The surrounding ground shook as a swirling magical storm shook.
The only thing I have ahead of Dale is horsepower.
‘then.’
There is no choice but to suppress it with overwhelming magical power.
“Whoaaaaaaa!”
He swung his sword with a fierce spirit.
The sixth form of the Sun Sword transformation, white light-wave.
The golden energy condensed at the tip of the sword became a huge tidal wave and swept across the land.
“… Yuren.”
Dale, who had been watching Yuren with deeply sunken eyes, narrowed his eyebrows as if lost in thought as he looked at the golden tidal wave crashing down with terrifying momentum.
“ha.”
A soft sigh escaped Dale’s lips as he continued to ponder for a moment.
Dale kicked his feet away from the oncoming golden tidal wave.
The place where the body moved was right behind the unicorn.
Likewise, he cut off the leg of the unicorn that was trying to move its body to avoid the golden tidal wave with his sword, and used the unicorn as a shield to block the golden sword energy.
“Heeeeeeeeeing!”
The unicorn let out a pitiful scream as its entire body was struck by a tidal wave of golden sword energy.
and.
Dismissed!
The bell hanging around the unicorn’s neck was shattered.
-Tiring!
[Candidate ‘Yuren Helios’ succeeded in achieving the bonus goal.]
[Candidates who successfully achieve their bonus goals will receive first place in the midterm evaluation regardless of their score.]
“ah.”
Yuren opens his eyes wide as he sees the message floating on the Hero Watch.
“…thank god.”
Was it because I used too much magic power, or was it because the tension was released all at once?
Yuren collapsed on the spot.
“Mom… I… did it…”
Yuren, who had been struggling to continue speaking while lying on the floor, slowly closed her eyes.
“… … .”
Dale slowly approached the unconscious Yuren.
Dale lifted Yuren into his arms and laid her down on a nearby rock, clicking his tongue.
“… Yuren.”
I thought I knew Yuren better than anyone else.
Because he was a precious colleague and an irreplaceable friend.
That’s why.
I thought it wouldn’t be a problem if it was Yuren.
I expected that even if he lost the first place, he would just laugh it off and move on.
Rather, I believed that it would be a good stimulus and would be helpful to him.
“I know that, but damn it.”
And judge as you please.
I cut it however I wanted.
He pretended to know everything, even though he didn’t know anything.
“… You didn’t shine on your own, you were struggling to shine.”
Am I having a terrible nightmare?
I let out a deep sigh as I looked down at my friend who was mumbling, “I can’t lose,” in a faint voice that seemed like it would break.
