A few moments before. Outside the walls stood two. A medium blonde hair male named Liam who wore ragged old brown soldier like clothes and Aliena who was an elegant and noble long blonde hair woman who wore priest-like clothing of black long dress and white cloak which was connected by a green gem.
They were out of breath as Liam laughed.
"We did it. Finally it's over. The Hero's trail was a success."
Aliena smiled at him.
"Yes. It was really exhausting but from now on we will no longer have to put our lives at risk. We can finally live our lives as we dreamed of."
Liam dropped down and laid on the ground, staring at the skies. He was still out of breath but his face was relieved like he had finally found his peace while she found her peace looking at Liam.
"I can't believe we ended up defeating all of those monsters. This was rather easier than expected"
"I guess it was worth all that training."
Another man called them out. He had red-ish hair and green eyes.
"Woah! Look at those two love birds."
He was carrying a young child with him coming from the opposite direction of the village.
The Child was sucking on her thumb pointed towards them repeating what the man.
"Love birds!"
The man laughed, "Yea, even she gets it."
Aliena was flustered and held herself back from blowing him away for the child's sake.
"I wish you'd stop teaching children weird things, Andere. But I am surprised that child is not scared of you."
Andere who had sharp eyes and flapped back hair was by nature a scary looking man, the complete opposite of Liam who had a gentle child-like expression, having a much softer complexion.
He was smiling with his evilish looking smile as the child was grabbing onto his rings. One which he wore on his pinky and other on his middle finger.
"I bribed her with the rings. But I am surprised you haven't kicked the bucket just yet."
Liam laughed, "If any one of us is dying then you will be the first one to go… But I am glad we all made it out alive."
Aliena took the child into her arms while Andere noticed Liam staring into the sky. To which he looked up
"Still staring into the blues? Whatever is up there that calms you down?"
"It just seems so peaceful. Even if the world goes down, the sky will never stop flowing."
He raised his hand into the sky.
"Something that is unreachable. Untainted by living."
Andere scoffed.
"What are you planning to become a poet now?"
"That does not sound that bad…"
He closed his eyes as the wind raced around them.
A farmer farming his crops paused to take a break looking into the sky.
A wanderer looked back and looked up.
A child holding her mother's hands looked at the sky in awe, pointing towards it calling for her mother's attention.
Andere's eyes widened, "Hey… Liam you said the sky was peaceful right?"
The farmer's tool dropped to the ground.
The wanderer turned back, looking into the sky astonished.
A woman's hand shook and her child was in awe. He looked at the beautiful sky unaware of the dangers while the mother was shaking in despair. She immediately hugged the child, shielding him before the chaos even began.
Liam asked confused, "What are you on abou—"
The panic began in the town and only then the child started to cry aloud.
The girl followed with a cry which made Liam open his eyes while Andere's pupils dilated like a lizard eyes as he continued:
"T-This is not something we can stop…"
A large meteoroid came flying down as it tore a hole in the oceans of clouds.
"I knew it was too easy for that da*n prophecy."
He used the wind to send himself straight up onto his feet. He turned around yelling.
"EVERYONE R—"
But noticed Aliena on the way back to town were stunned, unable to move. He knew she was not the kind who would get intimate and surrender to fear which is why this felt so wrong. But more odd was Andere green lizard-like eyes.
"Why were his eyes reaching out suddenly?"
Andere was the only person other than him who was able to move but even he seemed struggling.
"Liam. Something feels off about this all. It's like something is trying to feed off my fear. This seems too much of a coincidence for all of us to be outside the town."
Liam asked Andere "Can you still move?"
He nodded.
"I am about to use that."
"But you might die—"
Another man walked up to him. His appearance was almost glitching out of the memory itself.
Clap clap clap.
"This is the reality. Humans have little to no power against calamity of such scales and you will die protecting those pitiful humans, Mister Hero. So what do you think about my offer?"
Liam looked at him angry, "DID YOU DO THIS"
He did not even looked towards Liam.
"This time. I am here to ask Andere. Come and join me. I will give you the power to—"
"Power of what? Destroy that meteroid?"
He raised his hands in defeat with his nonchalant smile.
"I am afraid even I can not interfere with that. I would have to pay a high plenty for this."
He smiled looking at them. His eyes showed everyone's body emitting dark smoke as they despaired. The whole town was emitting that expect for Liam whose body emitted faint white smoke which was withering away with his hope.
"I can see it, the despair rising among the people. No one believes in you and they will keep on despairing as their despair will only make me stronger while dooming themself. You will all die protecting the people who will cause your death."
He extended his arm towards Liam
"So join my hand. I will show you my last mercy."
Liam lunched towards him trying to slash him but the sword went straight through his body like a stick trying to hit a dark smoke.
"Sucks. I guess this is where you die."
Andere mocked him for how he said he came there for him but in the end he extended his arms towards Liam.
As his smoky body almost disappeared, he recalled
"People Despair much easier than they hope. This is why you will die Liam— Protecting the hope when you could had easily chosen despair"
Right after his disappearance, Aliena and the child came back to their senses. The child ran crying hugging Liam's leg crying in tears.
"Are you going to die too?"
Liam sat on his knee and patted her on the head.
"No, I am just going somewhere far away."
"Will I meet you again?"
"You will, so trust me and live your life to the fullest till then, alright!. and don't cry, kids should be smiling"
As he wiped off her tear.
"It's a little blue devil promise then?"
"Promise", as he smiled.
The child was sniffing her nose.
He pushed the child towards Aliena. Sending her off.
Aliena stood behind, holding herself back yet her face sacred and full of worries. She held onto her clothe.
"Liam~"
"Don't worry. Who do you think I am?"
Liam pointed his thumb towards his heart.
"The hero of Wind. Liam Anemoi. The one you fell in love with."
"Are you sure you wouldn't regret this?"
"What to regret if no one lives on… and besides. We were ready for this. For this is the last Trail of Heroes. The one prophecy mentioned off, telling me to die or else I will share a fate worse than Death if I overcome this impossible calamity."
Liam smiled, looking straight into the impossible with a smile of hope across his face.
"If fate wants me dead then be it. I will show the price of my life with the blood of its own."
His resolve was clear as the meteor in the sky. He would die trying to save them even if they must live on with regrets.
A large gust of wind blew around him as his light green eyes started to shine bright. He smiled as he drew his blade, pointing it towards the meteoroid, challenging the calamity head on with nothing but the sheer willpower of humanity that was left within him.
Even the humble grass which bowed down to wind in order to survive was cut down. For the wind that surrounded the Hero did not care if it was the arrogant tree or an humble grass. Right now all it cared for was to cut down anything in its path.
(The Hero's Awakening. A power that consumes life energy itself.)
Aliena and others were moved out of the way. Aliena regretted it but she was nothing but an ant before the true power of Hero's Awakening. An awakening so high that it is considered higher than the World Blessing itself.
But Andere stood behind Liam with his drawn sword. Liam questioned him:
"Did you decide to join him instead?"
"Still joking at times like this."
Andere held onto his sword tightly.
"Go all out. I will make sure the ground does not hold you back"
"Ha~ You really know me too well."
"But you must come back alive. Or else I am coming to hell itself to kill you for leaving her behind."
Andere was smiling, hiding behind the despair which he felt within him. Somewhere down there he knew it was impossible to do such a feat. A human can never win against calamity of such scale—
"Do you know it's not hopeless?"
Liam glanced back at him as he saw the dark smoke of despair emitting from his own best friend.
"Humanity has proven it once before with Angress how humans can win against disasters worse than these."
Andere regretted
"But even so. Fairy tales and delusions have a fine line between them."
Liam smiled
"That is why I will make those fairy tales into reality. Just you wait. Liam the planet destroyer is coming right up."
"Ha~ It's an honor for this puny human to be serving the future legend."
Andere slashed the ground below his feet, using his sword as a solid footing for Liam's jump.
"A normal sword will not be enough. I will embed it with my own soul even if it soul gets destroyed during his jump."
The gust of wind only got stronger as he jumped up the moment the sword reached below his foot and leaped right towards the flying meteoroid.
The hero's energy kept on increasing with every passing moment. His aura shone like a flickering flame that kept on hanging onto its wick to live and growing stronger every passing moment as it engulfed the candle awhole into its framing rage.
Liam screamed as his power collided with the burning meteoroid.
"Even if no one stands and hopes for my win. There is no way I will DIE FROM THIS PEBBLE WHEN THEY COUNT ON ME!"
…
But even if the candle burns the brightest among the rest. It will die down just as fast.
Even if the Candle burns itself up all at once. It will never be anything against the burning sun which made it look like a dying sparkle as it engulfed him into it.
Andere closed his eyes. Accepted the reality of theirs. While the hero despaired amid the darkness within the rock.
"This is too much! This rock is really feeding off people's despair."
His voice turned low as strength left his body in the coldness of the meteroid's core.
"I-I can— not do this—"
His eyes slowly shut down as his own body started to release the despair that once carried the hope of millions of people.
The warmth he carried for the people left him as despair enveloped him in its embrace.
The mysterious man who gave him offer stood in the hill in far off distance as he laughed:
"Hahaha~ So this is the true height of darkness itself."
The town was overflowing with despair like a dense black cloud. He slightly touched the despair in the air.
"I want it so bad…"
As he repeated
"In the end no one believed you, Mister Hero~ The people whom you saved countless times are now killing you. For people despair much easier than they hold onto their hope and that is why you will die today."
The king in his castle looks at the sky, as the meteor came flying down towards him. He just keeps on staring. OverSeer asked him to run but the king just smiled. Let the people escape through the tunnel. I intend to die with my city.
The child who was crying cleaned off her tears as she forced a smile across her face.
"Look at me. I am no longer crying, mister hero… So please… You can do it, mister hero!"
A White bird came into existence from her small voice. Carrying the hope among the despair that stopped it
The mysterious man narrowed his eyes as he looked closely at the white little bird flying through the despair towards the meteor that came hauling down upon them. He laughed, mocking it.
"The Hero's heart has already stopped. What do you expect that puny hope to do in face of this overwhelming despair?"
The bird collided with the rock and disappeared making the man laugh at such petty hope that could not even scratch the surface.
SHHHHHHHHHH
A sudden explosion erupted.
But even a small cold spark can envelop the Sun into self destruction.
The man seemed surprised with a slightly open mouth.
"Huh…"
After the explosion, the air gusted upwards, carrying the boulders away with the wind.
Andere saw it.
"Did he just compress the air around the meteoroid, trapping the air within, causing it to self-destruct? But that should only be possible if it was cold inside or did he freeze the insides…"
And his eye caught the falling hero among the giant rubbles. The wind alone was not enough to throw off all the falling boulders
"Tsk"
He takes up his bent sword and throws away the sheath. Andere's sword was already bent.
"That dumbass, he still held back for my sake so that my soul wouldn't break with my sword due to soul bounding… It's now my turn to pay-back with the life you saved."
He lunched towards the sky:
"Don't you dare steal all the attention for yourself."
The king saw the rock hauling towards the town as he did not regret anything. He just saw death staring at him as the rock hauled towards him.
Just then Andere smashed the rock which was hauling towards the town and destroyed it into small rubbles which fell upon the down but nothing was destroyed except the town buildings.
"I guess we live to see another day. How many casualties?"
The OverSeer of the Town responded to the king with a bitter aftertaste.
"Zero… Zero for now."
The king's smile turned into realization. He realized the words that came out of his words yet he still asked despite already knowing the answer.
"For now?"
OverSeer tightened his fists in regret.
Liam looked at the sky with his narrow eyes.
"Such a beautiful sky isn't it?"
His fading eyes reflected the figure of an angel.
"As always."
Andere caught him mid-air and saw his right arm was completely burnt out and his heart beat was slowly fading away.
But something scared him more than the meteor itself. His green eyes were fading away. His Hero's Awakened eyes were dying out.
For when the eyes fade away. So does their life. That is the risk that comes with using the Awakening which consumes their life energy.
He hurried him towards Aliena who was on the hill near a single tree and laid him down on the ground.
Aliena put his head on her lap as she tried to heal his fading eyes with her mana.
Liam's disfigured arm was healed back and so were the burns across his body.
But his eyes remained fading. Slowly taking away his life as not even the king or the greatest priestess could do anything about this.
He opened his eyes barely
"Such a beautiful sky isn't it?"
Aliena tried holding back her tears.
"Yesh— Yes it is."
He pointed towards the sky, "Look at those stars…"
Aliena noticed his eyes were already faded away. He could no longer see and yet he was pointing out towards the sky.
"Beautiful aren't they?"
Alinea held back her tears but her voice scuffled.
"Survive, so we can enjoy this together."
…
"Liam… LIAM!!!"
"You don't have to yell. I can still hear just fine.. But I am sorry. I might not be able to take you on that date."
"Idiot…"
"I promised to never make you cry but here look at me…"
Liam raised her hand and cleared off her lingering tear.
"That face really doesn't suit you."
His hand dropped to the ground.
"Please. Liam."
The OverSeer quietly whispered.
"One… One casualty sir. Total number of people who died in this impossible scaled calamity… is one"
He stopped watching both of them as Aliena cried as Hero's hair slowly turned white.
The mysterious man on the hill was astonished as the town which was filled with despair was now beaming in hope. Darkness replaced light.
"But no matter how much you hope. Hope can not bring back the dead… But why… How could such a petty hope defeat the despair of thousands."
He saw the dark despair still blooming within the white hope as he sighed.
"Ha~ Humans— They never change, do they? When will they ever be satisfied?"
Some of the townsfolk were now fighting among themself while others demanded compensation when they were begging for their lives and nothing more just a moment ago.
"Did you really had to save those insects, Liam?"
He raised his arm into the air with a cold eye filled with emptiness as he uttered the words from deep within his guts filled with indifference.
"Now what will you do about the second one?"
He suddenly paused and trembled as he looked back.
There stood Smiley with his hand holding onto his sword and eyes blank. This made him wonder:
"Did he just react to me?"
[Warning: Soul Bounded has been detected. You are no longer immune to the story.]
The blue window appeared in front of him once again but Smiley still could not see it.
But there was more. Before him there were two more blue display windows opened which were from before.
[Conditions have been met]
[Now Playing…
[The Oldest Celestials]]
And suddenly Smiley felt cold from his left side as he lifted his eyes, looking towards to find a figure covered in complete darkness who walked past Smiley. This shook the boy as his eyes became full black, reacting to that man's very existence.
With just his appearance, the world glitched. It felt like the memories fragments were trying to recreate his existence yet were barely able to even show where he stood.
His entire body was covered like black hollow boxes like they were either hiding his existence or unable to recreate even memories of him.
"Darkness. What are you—"
The man glanced at his raised hand and froze in realization.
'Yeah, right. You would kill me wouldn't you? The Celestials of Darkness and Abyss.'
"I let you roam around too long. Go back or else you will bring trouble for all of us."
'What If I try to kill you instead?'
Those words were not of hatred towards darkness but people who he was saving.
Silence followed while Smiley had a hard time breathing in there as his eyes were noisy like a bunch of scribbles line moving around it.
'I was kidding. It was just a line from a story I heard about which I am a big fan of. Don't be so dark'
He looked back towards Darkness, 'Or else it will come to bite you back.'
And he disappeared leaving behind Darkness.
Darkness turned his head towards Smiley. Looking at him straight into his eyes before the glitching black box appeared once again covering his face once again.
Just showing his eyes turned the world around them disorientated.
His eyes… were pure blank just like Smiley's yet it was leaving behind a dark residue.
The darkness loomed around the man where he followed. The only words I could describe him as was the embodiment of "darkness itself"
He slowly extended his arm towards Smiley as a dark sparkle hit on Smiley's cheek, causing it to bleed…
A drop of blood fell which Smiley saw…
'Wait weren't I immune…?'
Darkness stopped his arm and pulled back his arm.
Smiley saw Darkness turning around and thought, "Wait… If these are memories then someone must have seen this happen and remembered it while staring at the statue…"
And he was right. Another voice whispered in a calm voice:
"The time will come."
Darkness turned around and instantly striked Smiley but his arm was stopped by the palm of another man.
"In the end these are just fragments of memories."
Darkness body started to crack and disappeared into a dust like material as the land around them recovered back to the plain grassy hill.
"They will cripple away the moment a being stronger than him would appear"
But Smiley saw that the man's palm was brushed. He acted like nothing happened but this man had paid the price of Smiley's intervention with his burnt palm.
'Ummm are you alright—'
The young man in white clock answered without even letting him finish:
"I am the Great Sage of the past."
'That is not what I—'
Once again he cut in absurdly:
"We are inside the memories of the past stories."
'What are you talking—'
And once again, he cut in acting all mysterious as he hid his face further into the cloak.
"Yeah, the time is running out. Go Forth. The Time of Truth is near. Do not reject yourself"
…
Smiley did not said anything and just stared. And not before long, he started talking by himself.
"So how many questions of yours did I answer correctly?"
'Not a single one'
He turned his face to the side.
"I am nothing more than another Observer from the past so I can not see you. I just guessed what you would have said with my future insights."
He was not lying. Smiley knew it because he looked up like he was talking to someone of his own height and not the short height of Smiley's.
"I know my future insight is amazing."
Smiley felt annoyed with a smile.
'This con-artist… is really making me angry.'
While the Great Sage was nodding to himself in self approval like Smiley was praising him.
"Man, am I a genius or what?"
"You little boy… You are an Observer of this world and this is the story about many many MCs that exists in this. A story about the forgotten stories of the past and future."
He lowered his already lowered cloak.
"Now enough with jokes. It's a shame but this is where our first meeting ends."
The Great Sage looked into the air.
"The memory is about to end. Till the next time if we live long enough."
The world started to disorientate and the horizon started to shatter like mirrors.
…
It felt like drifting in the worlds of dreams. How much time had passed in the real world.
I had woken up on the bed on mine, staring at the somewhat familiar ceiling. Unaware of what I saw was a dream or reality that had yet to come. Was it really the past I saw or the future which felt like an entity.
The emotions of them all still flowed inside me. The despair, hatred and love. I could sense it all and yet felt an emotion which I was unaware of. Something new. Something— which I was missing from me.
Smiley nodded to himself, "Yeah I could be an author."
His self approving nod told it he was clearly fine.
But it felt so real like I was there. Not just as an Observal but a participant of that hellish memory. It felt like it had lashed onto my mind, refusing to let on like a parasite. Like those emotions lived inside me. I remembered every single detail in depth like I saw it all happened instantaneously and eternally.
I stood up onto my legs and tried to walk out the door only to stumble upon my legs and fall to the ground.
It hurts so bad. My eyes were burning alive.
I turned and crawled and reached the mirror where he looked at himself in the mirror.
He saw his eyes were blank. Not even his own reflection…
'It's just like the man in those memories.'
I was leaning onto the basin to support my standing but something felt oddly disgusting in my mouth… Something—
BLRUGGG
Ananke came running in. He slammed open the door and grabbed onto Smiley's arm while he leaned onto the basin.
The basin was stained with blood while Smiley was smiling. His mouth was still dripping a clot strand of blood but he looking back at Ananke worried face and laughed with a trembling smile across his face:
'I have awakened.'
I remember mocking him as I recalled the angel who told me she would help me, confusing it with the voice that Ananke told me about which would try to help me.
'Are you worried about me beating your record?'
Ananke suddenly became puzzled
'What in the world is he talking about now?'
But before even giving him time to question. Smiley's nose bled as he fell unconscious with a smile across his face.