Arc | Chapter. 72: Perilous Situation (Patreon)

Chapter. 72: Perilous Situation

Ceylon immediately took a step back, panicking inwardly. She didn’t know how to deal with this situation, not when she was unprepared in this manner. The Hero of fucking Flames had shown up on her doorstep, what was she supposed to do?! Her heart was rushing, and her danger senses were blaring ⁠— not from animosity, but the precarious situation she was now in.

Though… Through her messy head, she thought of something. Perhaps he didn’t want to reveal his identity.

“Sorry, but right now I’m only answering business inquiries about our product. Which has just been completely sold to the Grand Duke, Alderman,” Ceylon said calmly. “I hope you can understand that.”

The man softly chuckled, stopping. “My apologies, but it will only take a few minutes. I’m here on orders from the adventurer guild.” With those words he took out a badge that Ceylon recognized⁠—

An official from the Adventurer’s Guild? She paused for a moment before regaining her wits.

“I’m sorry, but the guild has no jurisdiction over private entities.” Ceylon breathed, concealing her nervousness. “So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t carry this any further, mister…?”

“Jaye,” the Hero of Flames said simply, his countenance not changing. “I hope you can make an exception, this investigation is of utmost importance.”

“Utmost importance?” Ceylon raised her brow, her heart was threatening to explode but she still managed to not let it show. “What could an adventurer like her do to warrant such an investigation?”

The Hero of Flames, coughed lightly. “That is why I’m here, we have reason to suspect she’s hiding a secret.”

“A secret?”

Jaye’s eyes narrowed. “That is right, that she is a…”

There was a pause as he closed his eyes.

“Hero.”

Ceylon blinked. “What?”

She was shaken for a moment before remembering she was just playing pretend⁠— the man before her was the Hero of Flames, the man that had already met Arc in the flesh. Of course he was aware of it. Immediately she shook her head.

“That is not possible.”

“That is why I want to ask about her whereabouts,” the Hero of Flames closed his eyes letting out a sigh. “It is of utmost importance to the guild that her power is used responsibly. While hero rampages remain a part of history, they all brought great tragedy.”

“Right, I don’t… Last I saw her she said she was leaving on important business and I couldn’t come along…” Ceylon said hesitantly, the nervousness of saying something wrong coming across as sudden uneasiness. “I mean, I had thought she was different since I had seen her do feats like defeating a Tremor Bear with ease, but…” Ceylon shook her head. “A hero…? She saved my life but…”

Ceylon took a breath.

“I guess I feel deceived?”

The Hero of Flames lightly chuckled. “Indeed, I’d feel deceived. Any clues towards her business?”

“No, she just said it was of utmost importance for her at this moment…” Ceylon lowered her head, looking at her desk.

“I see.” When she looked up, the Hero of Flames seemed to finish his thoughts. “Okay, thank you for cooperating, I shall take my leave now.”

With those words, the orange haired man turned around and walked to the door before stopping.

“Farewell Ceylon Arlow.”

“Farewell Jaye,” Ceylon said, letting out an emotional breath.

The man reached for the knob and simply held it. Ceylon raised her brow and a moment later the Hero of Flames spoke his tone serious.

“Are you sure about this?”

“About what?” Ceylon asked in confusion.

“About lying to me.” The knob creaked.

There was a pause of tension in the air, but… It had to be done.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about⁠—”

And it broke, hundreds of metal pieces flew through the air as the room temperature increased. The Hero of Flames turned to Ceylon as she let out a small squeal of terror. The man was looking at her with an awful frown.

“Ceylon of Arlow, Arc’s companion, reported to be incredibly close to Arc to the point she overreacts when you’re in danger,” he spoke with a hiss. “There is no way you don’t know of her status.”

Fuck⁠— Ceylon was sweating, her entire body was trembling. Where had she gone wrong?! She didn’t think she had acted in a particularly bad or alarming way⁠— in fact she had done her best given what she had been given, and the man immediately knew she was lying?! Her breathing rushed. What was she even supposed to do now? Was there anything to do other than give all of Arc’s information away?!

No⁠— Ceylon didn’t want that. Arc had done so much for her, saving her life multiple times and in multiple instances, what kind of person would she be to repay her savior like that? It would be the worst mistake of her life.

But what was she to do then?!

Ceylon fell on her chair, hastily standing up as she backed off. The Hero of Flames was slowly approaching, the temperature inside the room was increasing, and her heartbeat was climbing to speeds she had never felt before⁠— her vision narrowed, her breathing grew shallow, and her thoughts rushed, shooting like misfired arrows.

It was… She gulped, barely able to breathe. An impossible situation…

“W-Wait,” she stammered.

The Hero of Flames showed no signs of stopping, the tips of his orange hair began to slowly light themselves ablaze, wisps of flame emerging as Ceylon began to feel as if she was stuck in a sauna. S-She didn’t want to die.

“I-I’ll speak, j-just don’t kill me!” She said in a plea.

And that⁠— lightly did the trick as the hair of the Hero of Flames returned to normalcy, the room still felt a like a furnace, enveloped in a blistering heat. The Hero of Flames was still slowly walking towards her, but he stopped before her desk looking at her.

“Speak, Ceylon of Arlow.”

“Right…” she nodded nervously.

What was she doing? Wasn’t she putting herself in a weird situation? Wasn’t she supposed to tell the truth? That⁠— yeah she had to do that. She couldn’t lie to the hero of flames…

With a gulp she met his self assured gaze.

Ceylon was certain that this was the only route, and somehow hope she’d make it out alive. That was all she could do. Just tell the truth.

A sigh left her.

“It seems you’ve accepted your fate,” the Hero of Flames said simply. “Now speak, lowly one.”

The words didn’t even mean nothing to her as she shook her head. “I don’t know where to start…” A breath left her. “I was sent by my family to meet the Hermit, and on my journey there the Grand Duke that you… hired sent assassins after me, during that time is where I first met her⁠— in the middle of the dark forest.”

The Hero of Flames nodded. “When did you realize she was a hero?”

“It was when we reached our first town, even though she had shown herself to be rather extraordinary, I never thought anything of it. However when a horde of thousands of spiders besieged Ranedale, it changed⁠— she killed everything with a single skill. I demanded an answer, it was stupid of me at the time, and she told me about being a hero.”

There was another nod. “How strong is she?”

“I don’t know, she’s the strongest individual I know, I do not know of her battle prowess exactly other than she loves fighting, and is currently in a quest to grow stronger in order to…”

“In order to…?” The Hero of Flames prodded.

Ceylon clenched her fists and raised her head to meet his gaze once more. Her body was burning with a need⁠— a fervent desire to stand up.

“In order to defeat you.”

The man smiled deeply, before chuckling. “That is quite interesting, and to think I told her I wouldn’t be coming after her.”

“Well what are you doing now?” Ceylon asked, irritated, reaching into her pocket. “Aren’t you acting?”

“You are mistaken.” His head shook, his hair beginning to blaze. “This is not coming after her, this is making her come after me.” The Hero of Flames smiled. “All she needs is a little push.”

Ceylon’s heart skipped and she immediately raised the ice crystal against a barrage of flames and⁠— it vanished; the flames turning into wisps as they merely caressed her cheek. The crystal lingering on her hand as a protection charm. She took a deep breath and pulled it back, and before her stood the Hero of Flames lightly smiling.

“So she gave you something like that?” The Hero of Flames asked with a smile. “Quite interesting, didn’t expect it.”

Ceylon took a deep breath clutching the crystal close to her chest. A bead of sweat trailing down the side of her head as she resolved herself. She now was in control. Now she just had to take the initiative. She was so nervous⁠— so alarmed. But she could do it. Steeling herself, Ceylon spoke.

“Leave now, if you do one wrong move I will break this crystal,” Ceylon said firmly. “I’m done with you threatening me.”

“Are you sure you want to be the one threatening me instead?” The Hero of Flames said weirdly. “A single SS Tier skill is all it takes to burn all this place ablaze and gain the edge in my fight against Arc should she show up.”

Ceylon gulped. That was… true.

“I don’t have to move, to do it.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Ceylon didn’t understand why she had to deal with this, why she was in such a situation, she felt so helpless⁠— if an SS Tier skill was used⁠—

And the man slowly moved.

“Stop!” Ceylon flinched, her entire body shivering.

The Hero of Flames did as told but now she was more nervous than ever. What was he trying to do?! That seemed insane to her. Why? Was it his plan to bring Arc here? That couldn’t be right? No. Ceylon had a moment of realization. If she remained in this kind of indecisiveness then he could take advantage of her.

Ceylon’s gaze sharpened and tightened the crystal on her grip, the Hero of Flames kicked upwards⁠— and the crystal exploded along with a burst of flames as Ceylon was pushed back, the table in front of her shattered into burning splinters as she hit the ground.

Ceylon let out a small grunt, her hands were burning⁠ and they felt wrong⁠— were they broken? She winced from the pain before looking up, the Hero of Flames took a step forward, his body temperature was asphyxiating. The man spoke amused, looking at the pieces of ice lingering in the air.

“Would you look at that? The crystal was broken, and there is no signal of Arc.” He smiled widely before meeting her gaze. “It seems she failed you.”

Ceylon gulped. “She didn’t fail me.”

“Then, what does this mean?” And he flicked with his finger. An ember of fire struck her cheek as Ceylon yelped in pain, her flesh seared.

The Hero of Flames laughed.

“There is no one to protect you, she is gone⁠— wherever she left to, she cannot help you from there.” The Hero of Flames said with a smile. “That is why you shall serve as a tool for revenge.”

Ceylon suddenly felt the temperature ramp up, a paper on the desk caught fire, and a moment later the entire office began to burn as her skin began to tinge with a searing and uncomfortable pain. It⁠— at that moment, it finally settled within her.

She was going to die.

Her entire being shivered, the flames nibbled at her flesh, and her mind simply blanked. She was going to die. A sense of overwhelming dread hit her. Everything she wanted to repay Arc, all the things she wanted to do for her were never going to happen. It was all ending. Any future, any hopes, any dreams; they were about to be snuffed by the flames of an insane hero.

It…

Tears began to stream Ceylon’s eyes.

“I don’t want to die⁠—!”

The Hero of Flames attacked; a cold blue swept through the room as all the flames ⁠— everything was extinguished in a single moment. The walls froze, her heart stopped and the temperature went below zero. In a single blink it happened. Ceylon looked up only to see a hand was placed on the hero’s shoulder. It was the hand of the most familiar person to Ceylon in the world.

Arc…

Her friend…

Her companion…

She had returned…

The power of her SS Tier skill enveloping the room, making the Hero of Flames stop in his spot. And her voice carried nothing but cold blooded murder intent directed at the hero.

“What do you think you’re doing?”