Arc | Chapter. 114: Of Great Importance (Patreon)

Chapter. 114: Of Great Importance

The Hero of Spirits stared down with wide eyes.

A spear of ice protruded out from his chest. A sharp pain spread through his body as he coughed up the blood building up in his throat. His⁠— heart had been stabbed right through. It was… How? That was the only thing in his mind as his vision grew dizzy.

He raised his head only to see the Dragon of Flames looking at him with the same kind of surprise. It wasn’t a premeditated attack, or even something that had crossed the dragon’s mind based on that look. Which only meant…

The Hero of Spirits coughed as he turned towards the veil of darkness in the background. And a moment later a familiar person stepped out of black void. His eyes grew wide as he realized just who it was.

Arc, the Heroine of Frost.

He never expected it to encounter her here⁠— but at the same time. It made sense. After all, the Dragon of Flames was the mount of the ‘Hero of Frost’ according to rumors. Not expecting her to defend its poor pet when it was about to be slain had been foolish of him.

The Hero of Spirits turned towards her.

“So you’ve come to defend your property, eh?”

“Property?” The woman raised her brow, confused. “I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but no. I’m here to get rid of a problem.”

He smiled.

“Then that must be me, but do you really have what it takes?” he asked, a self satisfied grin present on his face. “I can guarantee you that you don’t.”

“Well, you don’t seem to be doing well.” She shrugged. “Unless you have a way to heal, you’re in a very bad spot already.”

His smile deepend.

“Are you sure about that? I can summon any kind of soul to assist me⁠—”

“Yes I’m sure.” She raised her hand. “[Frost Lightning].”

The Hero of Spirits felt danger as he looked above and a smite from the heavens fell on him. A crash of white hit him. Everything began to hurt as the frost spread all around his body, the Hero of Spirits couldn’t believe it. She had decided to attack him without respecting him! And she had the gal to think that that would be enough to kill him?!

He had to teach her a lesson, though she was already raising her hand once more.

He grunted, speaking through his frostbitten lips. “[I Shall Embody The⁠—]”

“[Judgment of the Ice God].”

Her chilly voice cut through the air as a gigantic spear fell from the air. The Hero of Spirits got hit square as his body tore apart; reaching critical danger in a single instant. But that wasn’t all she immediately called out another skill.

“[Wrath of the Ice Queen].”

Multitudes of spears stabbed through him all at once, and the Heroine of Frost spoke as she conjured a spear.

“So you’re just going to let one of your lives be gone like that?”

He gritted his teeth as his body bled all over.

“You will regret this⁠—”

And a spear pierced through his head.

At that moment, silence descended.

* * * * *

I shook my head staring at the man falling over.

He was undoubtedly dead, and yet, I was convinced that it wasn’t the end of it. It had been too easy⁠. The entire situation was extremely weird. Seconds passed and I found myself frowning as I stared at the bleeding corpse of the Hero of Spirits.

There was no notification, but there was also movement whatsoever. I frowned as Regis’karr finally recovered enough of his wits to stand up. And upon doing that, he just stared at the ground looking at the corpse.

Ceylon and Malz eventually came over, joining us to look.

However, the one to break the silence was Regis’karr.

“You haven’t gotten a notification have you?”

“No.” I thought, now bothered. “[Appraisal] doesn’t even give a result looking at the corpse.”

“It does not,” Regis’karr agreed with me. “And I have a feeling that… that wasn’t even the real Hero of Spirits…” he trailed off with hesitation, but it was enough for me to press.

“What do you mean?”

“Well when I fought him. I used an attack that should have burned his… soul I guess?” Regis’karr shifted uncomfortably. “But he immediately recovered, instead the spirit that he had embodied had been destroyed.”

“Right, he did say something like that in regards to the spear.”

I placed my hand on my chin, quietly thinking to myself. The Dragon of Water had said that his strength was borrowed, which I could see. After a few seconds I turned to Regis’karr.

“What other abilities did he have?”

He frowned. “He could transfer damage received to those he possessed. That is all. He saved himself from my skill by letting a different spirit be consumed. Also it seems that if he embodies someone he gains their physical attributes.”

“I see.”

That seemed troublesome…

He could dodge damage by letting others take it⁠— yet he was dead right here⁠—

And I paused.

“Don’t tell me…”

“What?” Regis’karr asked.

I blinked, having a realization that I hoped wasn’t the truthful one because it would be really annoying. But all of my instincts were telling me that I had hit the nail in the head⁠.

“Could he have switched bodies…?”

There was a brief silence before Regis’karr nodded.

“Possibly.”

And then, there was further silence as the fact that killing the Hero of Spirits seemed nigh impossible dawned on everyone. Regardless of how many times he was fought against⁠— he’d come back. That was…

A sigh left me.

“Bullshit…”

That’s what it was.

Malz awkwardly coughed. “If you’d allow me to interrupt…” She gathered our attention. “Normally such skills can be… ‘cut off’ by lack of a better word. Arc’s SS Tier skill should be strong enough. Though considering he wasn’t worried about anything like that, he must be very confident.”

She frowned.

“Which means⁠—”

“Which means even if I use my SS Tier skill solely for the purpose of stopping him from escaping, there is a chance he can still escape.” I completed for her and in response I got a nod.

In the end, the situation was discouraging at best and anger-inducing-helplessness at worst. Not something I particularly enjoyed to think about; or even wanted to think about for that matter. In the end, I didn’t know what to do other than to just leave and think about things another time.

Well, there was something I wanted to ask about, but that could wait.

“Let’s leave.”

I got nods of approval, and without even prompting it at this point, different parts of me were held. Ceylon grabbed my hand as did Regis’karr, and Malz seemed to hesitate before holding my shoulder.

Finally a few moments later I used the skill.

[God Step.]

I knew running away from the crime scene wasn’t going to be a doable solution forever. Especially during the selection of the new king, but that time could wait.

We appeared in a distant place at a random alley. There were some kids playing who immediately ran away upon our arrival. I paid it no mind as I looked towards the street where it seemed relatively peaceful; though rather empty. However, in spite of the rather calm ambience, the sky was gray from the ashes.

Finally, now that we had a break I turned to Regis’karr who seemed confused.

“So, why were you inside the Orow’s residence?”

He blinked. “Oh that is…”

And he shrunk back clearly not wanting to talk about it. Unfortunately, I needed the answer so I prodded.

“That is…?”

“Well…” He shifted before taking a deep breath. Then, he looked upwards meeting my gaze. “I made the decision that I wanted to help you; so I decided that I’d find the Hero of Spirits for you.”

I blinked. “Oh.”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly expecting to encounter him right inside the mansion so… one thing led to another.”

“Right. I see.”

I thought for a moment still processing that Regis’karr had gone out of his way to do something for me⁠— where in the past he had just done his own thing unless asked. It wasn’t something I expected from him.

“Thank you, Regis’karr.”

He blinked. “You… called me Regis’karr?”

I paused. “Yeah?”

There was surprise in his face before he smiled with a chuckle.

“You always called me Regis.”

And he smiled at me, clearly satisfied with that. Ceylon at that moment decided to pipe up.

“When she got your message she also referred to you by your name Regis,” she called with a smile.

“Oh.” He smiled. “Thank you for telling me, Ceylon.”

She smiled, and just like that the atmosphere had mellowed out. Though, now I didn’t exactly know what to do⁠— or rather. This was a good opportunity, but first I wanted to eat something.

“Let’s go to a restaurant.”

Everyone paused before I got unanimous nods, and well; minutes later we found ourselves in a rather empty restaurant. It was one of the fanciest in Vaelith and yet there was no one. Malz, Ceylon and Regis’karr were relatively covered in ash but they paid it no mind as the server gave confused glances across everyone.

Finally, after the orders were taken we could relax.

Regis’karr seemed rather awkward; and considering he was never really taken along when I’d go out to eat with Ceylon it made sense.

“Regis’karr,” I called.

He stiffened. “Yes?”

“I have something very important to ask of you.”

And he froze.

* * * * *

Something important to ask of me?

Regis’karr couldn’t believe it. Arc was… asking for something. He couldn’t remember the last time it had happened⁠— ah when he slept for a month… He felt discouraged for a moment before noticing Arc’s serious gaze upon him. That made him stiffen once more.

“What is it?”

Regis’karr didn’t know if it was an extremely important task, or something that was just a test for him to see if his change was truthful. But he didn’t care. Whatever the request was he’d fulfill it, regardless of the truthful importance of it. Though [Truth Divination] did tell him that Arc was telling the truth and the task was indeed important.

He felt nervous as the seconds ticked by, before finally she spoke making a rather simple request⁠— something that wasn’t even a task.

“I’d like you to show me your strongest skills; all of them.”

Regis’karr blinked. “Pardon?”

* * * * *

In a distant forest, a newly born dragonkin stood before a cave with her mentor standing by her side.

“This is… an A Tier den.”

“That is right.” The Dragon of Wind nodded. “And you shall be clearing it without my help.”

“Right…” Meika nodded somewhat nervously. “I think I can do it⁠—”

“However, there is a condition.”

Meika paused, suddenly feeling nervous as she turned to see her mentor’s stoic face.

“You cannot be injured.”

She paused, having a bad feeling.

“And if I fail?”

“Well it’s simple, if you fail…”

Her mentor, Faral, took a step forward and stared into the cave before turning back to her. Wind from the inside blew as a cacophony of roars echoed.

“I will stop being your mentor.”

And Meika gulped.

* * * * *

Elsewhere, a certain hero sat and laughed in a dark room. It was none other than the Hero of Spirits.

“I wonder what kind of reaction they had!” He smiled to himself. “Even if Arcturus is dead, Iris can lead the Orow family. Though not like I can possess her if I want things to go without hiccups. So I’ll have to be in my body or a random body huh…?”

He thought before smiling to himself once more.

“Well it doesn’t matter. Draliz will soon fall on my hands.”

He stood up.

“I just have to get rid of the Hero of Flames.”