Arc | Chapter. 37: Hero of Shadows (Patreon)

Chapter. 37: Hero of Shadows

The Grand Duke had been saved by the man. He was one of the heroes; existences only known about in legends, the pinnacles of strength in all of Arlas, and the ones that  had changed the world. And now, one such hero was saving his life. Filmas breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Thank you⁠—”

“You cannot die, your use has yet to be expended,” The Hero of Shadows said. “However, you don’t belong in this conversation either.”

Filmas’ heart jumped, he gulped as the hand of the Hero of Shadows approached. What was this⁠? He absolutely belonged to this conversation; his wealth had been destroyed. The Hero of Shadows had to make her pay, and yet he was chasing him away instead?

His backbone grew as he called out his name.

“Siegfried!”

And the hand immediately touched him in an instant, Filmas’ vision darkened and next thing he knew he was standing back outside of the building where he met the Hero of Flames. Numerous emotions passed through his mind, however, one was much more prevalent than the others.

Gritting his teeth, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Go fuck yourself!”

* * * * *

Siegfried heard the rage of the Grand Duke, but it didn’t matter to him. Not when someone as important as Arc had just so happened to appear from thin air. She was none other than the Heroine of Frost, but that fact alone wasn’t enough to draw the attention of their organization. No, what Siegfried really cared about was her strength. Right now, she looked unassuming.

[Mage of Frost. Tier: C]

But he had seen it, when the [Necklace of Obfuscation] had been removed, Siegfried saw her tier. The fabled SS Tier. It always represented strength, the ability to stand up above most other heroes and the ability to even rule parts of the world. And that was why he was here.

In order to recruit her to their organization. He was one of the co-founders along with the Hero of Flames, he gathered intelligence and looked for new recruits, and finally, after so many years he had found a new one.

Siegfried smiled as the woman simply stared at him with a frown.

“Bring the Grand Duke back.”

Siegfried would’ve laughed at such a demand if it came from anyone else, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t even a funny demand, it was more like a threat; yet he smiled in response.

“I am afraid I cannot do that, for I have business with you.”

“Business with me?” She raised her brow, now frowning more. “What kind of business could you possibly have?”

The Hero of Shadows took a small breath, this part was always hard. But he had nailed down the introduction after hundreds of years. With a small cough he smiled.

“I’d like to extend a formal invitation to invite you to my organization, the Paragon. We are but a small group, but as you may have heard already, us heroes stick together; the world is harsh after all.”

“Us heroes…?” she asked coldly.

Siegfried paused for a moment, having a bad feeling. “Well you’re a hero aren’t you? I found out a day ago when you fought Jake the Weapon Master.”

And she closed her eyes.

* * * * *

At that moment, I just knew that things were over. That if I didn’t act right then and there, my current somewhat relaxed life would quickly come to an end. And it was all because of the man standing before me.

[Hero of Shadows. Tier: SS]

Perhaps it was a bit of a stretch, but I knew I had no choice. And so, after a few moments, I made my resolve and met his gaze once more with a nod.

“Yeah, I’m a hero, so you want me to join your hero organization?”

“That is correct.” The Hero of Shadows nodded. “We don’t force anyone to do anything, just support each other.”

He was very obviously lying, if he wanted to just make acquaintances with me, he could’ve done so, but instead. I was being roped in. Finally, after a second, he continued.

“What do you say?”

So in the end, I had no choice but to do this… I took a moment and let out a small breath.

“Fine.” I agreed. “I’ll join Paragon.”

The Hero of Shadows paused, for a moment as I extended my hand.

“Let’s seal it with a handshake.”

There was an awkward pause from the man before he nodded. The Hero of Shadows looked average, his clothes were black resembling rags, a fluttering cloak of shadows hung behind him; I approached him and offered him my hand.

He smiled and grabbed it without so much as a reaction.

“I’m glad we could come to an agreement⁠—”

“You know, I never thought that the day I was dreading would come this soon,” I spoke as a sigh left me, interrupting him.

I didn’t really want to do this, it was troublesome, but in the end…

I had no choice⁠— [God Step].

In just a moment we were in the broken down mountain from my fight with Jake. All while I held the Hero of Shadows by the hand, continuing my speech.

“But I know my only option in order to stop this matter from spreading, is to kill you, murder you in cold blood so you don’t spread it around.”

I finished as the man suddenly tensed.

“That doesn’t make sense, the Hero of Flames also knows!” he said hurriedly.

So one more person knew this information too. That was to be expected, and in the end there was only one course of action as my eyes narrowed and the air temperature dropped.

“Then I’ll kill him too.”

* * * * *

Her chilly claim resounded in Siegfried’s ears, like a booming war drum as he came to a single shivering realization.

The Heroine of Frost is insane⁠—

And before he could do anything, she pulled. Her strength overwhelmed him as he flung him by the arm, and then ice to impale him formed on the ground as he inwardly called one of his skills⁠—

[Shadowsparse].

Siegfried crashed against the deadly spikes, his body pulled apart into shadows, reforming once more in just a moment⁠— he had to run. Get out of here and inform Jaye⁠— he prepared, but before he could use any skills to run, the Heroine of Frost called.

“You’re not going anywhere⁠— [Frost Domain].”

And at that moment, he saw something⁠ reminiscent of his nightmares, a broken world made of a single element, his was made of darkness and shadows⁠— but this one was white, a pure eternal white that seemed to stretch for eternity. It was a world he’d recognize anywhere⁠—

The world of training for the Heroine of Frost.

Every hero had nightmares of the place where they came from, but for some reason… she was able to use it as a domain⁠?! Then, figures emerged; monsters of ice as a gigantic deformed thing appeared⁠— it was the final boss of the tutorial. Red eyes stared at Siegfried as he gulped.

His heart palpitated for a moment, but he immediately broke out of his stupor as he felt the shadows in his surroundings shift⁠— in an instant dozens of ice spikes flew at him as he barely dodged them⁠— even if he was still scared shitless he too was an SS Tier hero.

He gritted his teeth, and he paused sensing it⁠. He turned to block with his arms, and the Heroine of Frost punched⁠— it made his bones creak as he was launched away⁠—

So strong⁠. He gritted his teeth, he had known that the woman fought Regis’karr and came out victorious⁠— but he could do that too! But for some reason, he was getting pushed back. It didn’t make sense to him.

He landed on the snow, rolling as motes of darkness began to sip onto the ground. This woman was insane; fighting to the death like that, his main priority wasn’t even fighting but escaping, but even then⁠— his pride hurt. She had easily cornered him, and for that he wanted to teach her a lesson.

He too was in the SS Tier, not for nothing did he suffer 12 years in the tutorial…

He gritted his teeth as he came to a stop, raising his arms.

“[World of Shadows⁠—”

And the Overlord behind him slammed down⁠— in a single moment the skill was canceled⁠— Siegfried screamed feeling his bones snap instantly. And that wasn’t all, she was coming.

[Shadow Shield].

The Heroine of Frost appeared before him holding an ice sword, and she swiped. The blade made contact with his body as it shattered into thousands of pieces, but Siegfried still screamed as part of his arm was slashed.

That⁠— that didn’t make sense.

The skill should’ve completely negated it all, it was at the peak of S Tier. He couldn’t use his boon, in these conditions but it didn’t matter, it should’ve been enough to protect him.

His heart skipped, he didn’t understand what was going on, or why the disparity was like this.

Still, he wasn’t going to get stomped on like this!

The Hero of Shadows took a step, shadows forming around him as they blocked the barrage of ice⁠— even then they barely withstood it. He dodged the Overlord and blocked the attacks of the Heroine of Frost as he gathered his mana.

It wasn’t an SS Tier skill, but it was one of his strongest S Tier skills.

And then she appeared⁠— he jabbed his hand forward and hit her abdomen⁠—

“[Shadowed Repulse]!”

Shadows exploded around her, the world quaked as it distorted into a dark abyss and all he heard was the sound of ice cracking. Her hands held his arm, and with an almost insane whisper she spoke.

“Caught you.”

Siegfried shivered, and before he could react. He was pulled, immediately he activated [Shadowsparse] as the full might of the training’s Overlord fell on him, slamming down with gigantic spears of ice.

The ground exploded, the world quaked as even the mountains threatened to collapse, all while his body spread into shadows and phased onto the ground and reappeared elsewhere, hopefully near the end of the snowy world⁠— he had to run⁠—

And he threw up some blood⁠— [Shadowsparse] did not make him invincible just greatly reduced the damage taken, but even then it hurt.

There was no option; perhaps he had skills strong enough to even kill the Heroine of Frost, but killing a hero required an inhumane amount of effort and endless battling. Every hero had a way to survive death after all⁠—

But he couldn’t afford a battle to the death with her; not with a psycho in these conditions! And specially not given her reaction⁠— had he even managed to injure her? It was as if [Shadowed Repulse] did nothing! Perhaps there was a very specific reason why it didn’t work, perhaps she had a great stat boost from being in her own domain, but it didn’t matter.

He had to run.

Now.

In just a moment a barrage of ice came towards him⁠. Using a skill, all of the shadow motes converged and erected a barrier⁠— it cracked immediately but it gave him enough time to escape⁠—

[God Step]!

In just a moment Siegfried found himself at the edges of the world, the distance of the skill was limited, its cooldown was long⁠— but it had been worth. He pressed his hand against the invisible barrier and something gave him pause, an instinctual feeling of danger.

The Hero of Shadows turned only to see the woman raising her hand⁠— it was one of her strongest skills, he knew for certain, and the sight of it made him shiver. He had to use his survival skill!

[Shadowed World].

And she called⁠—

“[Judgment of the Ice God]!”

At that moment, everything around Siegfried exploded, his body itself burst into thousands of shadow motes as he felt something within him break. The icy world broke apart as the shadows came back together and instantly he began to violently cough blood⁠—

That⁠— that almost killed him⁠— his heart rushed⁠— the woman was completely serious. He had known, but the realization didn’t dawn on him until now! Still he had a chance to run.

He could escape, the domain was gone.

The Hero of Shadows immediately used [Shadowed Recall], his body began to disintegrate as it was teleported. It was his only chance to escape⁠— either he did it now or he stood to lose a lot⁠— and a distant crack got his attention. Half of his body was gone, but he still could see the Heroine of Frost; and within her hands there was a spear⁠.

She raised as Siegfreid’s heart jumped, he was nearly gone⁠, just a bit longer⁠— the spear was thrown and hit⁠— the Hero of Shadows screamed as he vanished.

Finally escaping the crazy Heroine of Frost.

* * * * *

A small breath left me, and I shook my head. He had escaped but…

I wasn’t planning on letting go.

My life, my normalcy, my future plans depended on this.

Perhaps I was being overkill, but I didn’t care as I conjured another Ice Spear and began to use skills as I took a very long calming breath.

Jake had been able to draw out skills from the weapon; so naturally since it’s part of me, I should be able to conjure skills from my weapons too.

Now I just had to do it when the time was right.

* * * * *

She was utterly insane!

In another moment he appeared inside a room within the third floor of a mansion screaming in pain, blood dripping onto the ground as he felt his arm freezing over. But he couldn’t remove the spear, not now at least. Taking a breath, he stood up in order to report to Jaye, the Hero of Flames except⁠—

“You got roughed up quite badly, huh?”

Siegfried paused and raised his head only to see the person he was looking for not too far away from him. He had to tell him!

“She’s crazy! As soon as she found out I knew she was a hero she decided her best course of action was killing me!” He said hurriedly. “Not only that but she is a monster, I couldn’t even touch her…”

His pride hurt, but he had to report, he was in so much pain too.

“She’s insane, she even has access to her domain! She also said she’d kill you too just because you know she’s a hero as well!”

The Hero of Flames paused, and nodded.

“I see… we should leave Rivas.”

Siegfried’s heart skipped a beat.

That⁠… didn’t make sense…

“What⁠— what are you saying, why?”

Jaye, the Hero of Flames shook his head. “We cannot rush in bringing her to our side, not if she is this strong. We cannot fight her, not with the ongoing King selection. It’s not the time yet.”

Those words sobered Siegfried as he took a breath, that’s right. The Hero of Flames could easily kill her, unlike him, he was at the top of the SS Tier. That’s right, Arc the Heroine of Frost was not someone they should worry about for now.

“Right we should leave.”

Jaye nodded before pausing, his eyes glued to the Hero of Shadow’s side.

“That spear⁠ on your side, why is it glowing⁠?”

And an ominous feeling struck Siegfried.

* * * * *

The Hero of Flames couldn’t believe what he was seeing⁠— that spear, he thought it came from a skill, but instead it had been made by the woman to store her mana; which only meant…

“Throw it away, immediately! She knows where we are!”

Siegfried panicked and immediately stood up, pulling the spear from his arm and just as he was about to teleport it to the other side of the city, it happened.

Jaye felt it⁠— a sudden attack.

The wall exploded, brick and glass flew through the room as a shining spear impaled Siegfried’s heart with a flash of blue. The Hero of Shadow grasped at his chest with pain as he turned to look with a pleading gaze.

But before Jaye could do anything, the ceiling shattered.

A gigantic spear appeared, and at that moment the judgment of the ice god fell upon the Hero of Shadows with an explosion of blood.

The Hero of Shadows died…

-

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