Chapter 169: The Hero's Words (2)

The person who saved me was not Haruto-sama, the Guardian Hero, but Sage Halt-sama.

Halt-sama severed the arm of the demon using the huge sword he was holding — it was almost as big as him — in order to save me.

Why would a sage know how to use a sword?

How could he wield that long sword with only one hand?

And where did he get that huge sword?

He didn’t have that when he saved me outside the Holy City, right?

I had a ton of questions I wanted to ask, but the demon’s arm was still clutching my throat even though it had been lopped off, so I couldn’t utter a single word, leaving the questions swirling in my head with no answers

Then Halt-sama crushed that demon’s arm and made it vanish.

Although I knew that he wrapped his arm with holy attribute mana….

I still couldn’t believe that he could obliterate a part of a demon’s body.

The unbelievable things didn’t stop there.

The sword that Halt-sama was holding was no other than [Hakua], the treasure sword of exorcism.

This sword had been rigidly guarded in the Elven Kingdom of Alheim, and only the heroes were supposedly allowed to wield it.

I knew it was the real deal when I saw how the demon struggled with something as simple as regenerating his arm.

That was not all.

Halt-sama used [Teleportation].

He didn’t even move a single muscle, and yet he teleported right beside the demon, cutting off his newly regenerated arm once again.

Only the Heroes could use the teleportation skill.

Don’t tell me… Halt-sama is a hero?

“B-bastard, are you a Hero!?”

The demon was also thinking the same thing as me.

“I am the Hero who came from another world.”

“— Eh!?”

He was holding Hakua, and could also teleport.

Based on those conditions alone, even if Halt-sama declared himself as a Hero, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, I couldn’t help letting out a yelp in shock.

I heard that Halt-sama was a Sage.

But that was not the only thing that astounded me. When he said those words, I saw the image of the Guardian Hero overlap his.

Haruto-sama and Halt-sama… even their names are similar.

That coincidence…

But, their faces were absolutely different, and Halt-sama’s eyes were a beautiful shade of blue.

All the heroes who came from another world had black colored eyes, and it was their distinct feature.

That was why, even if Halt-sama said that he was a hero, I still couldn’t believe it, in all honesty.

Besides, my hope had just been crushed by the instant demise of the flaming knight, even though it had been really powerful.

Simply put, I already lost all hope that ‘I will be saved’.

Even if Halt-sama assured me that ‘everything will be alright’, I still couldn’t make myself trust those words.

I didn’t want my heart to be crushed any o.

Even so —

“Let me protect you.”

...That’s so unfair of you.

Halt-sama’s figure as he stood in front of me with his back turned towards me was exactly the same as that of the Guardian Hero.

The Guardian Hero possessed a skill that would strengthen him when there were people he needed to protect behind him.

That’s why he would always say ‘Let me protect you’ to the person that he wanted to protect. By doing so, both him and the person he wanted to protect would recognize that the other party was to be protected, and the skill would be activated.

It wasn’t really common for a person to tell the other party to ‘let me protect you’, right?

That’s why it couldn’t be helped that I would think of Halt-sama as the Guardian Hero after he said those words.

It was only natural for me to think that ‘I’m going to be saved’ because of that. I would believe in your words that ‘everything will be okay’ because of that!

I wanted to confirm it.

But I was scared to know the truth.

What if Halt-sama’s words were only similar to that esteemed person?

What if Halt-sama wasn’t a hero and he lost against the demon?

I was scared, so I didn’t want to ask, but —

“Halt-sama….are you the Guardian Hero?”

The words already spilled out of my mouth before I noticed it.

And his response was —

“So you remembered. Long time no see, Seira.”

Halt-sama glanced at me with a smile. That smile could give hope and courage to the person behind him no matter how desperate the situation was.

Those words and that action convinced me.

He was — Halt-sama was the Guardian Hero himself.

“What the heck are you blabbering about!”

The demon raised his sword, loading it with mana as he swung it down towards us.

A black lightning bolt that seemed to be made from condensed fear and horror flew towards us.

But, I wasn’t scared.

That was because I was right behind the Guardian Hero.

In this world, the safest place to be was behind the Guardian Hero, and I knew that fully well.

Halt-sama easily blocked the demon’s attack.

He brandished Hakua, and there was a flash of light.

“Wha!? — Ugh!!!!!”

The attack that flew out of Hakoku negated the demon’s attack, but it didn’t even decline in power as it shot towards the demon, inflicting a huge wound on his arm.

The demon apparently hardened his arm so he managed to somehow block it, but a huge amount of blood gushed out of the area that he didn’t manage to protect.

“...Tsk, so you’re the real deal, huh.”

The bloodlust that the demon radiated calmed down.

Did he plan to escape now that he knew halt-sama was a Hero?

— As if, he was not that soft, that was for sure.

A demon was the embodiment of malice.

They were not a clan that would easily withdraw.

“Then just let me have a soul, at the very least.”

“—!? W-wait!”

Halt-sama was in a panic.

He immediately released his magic, but — he probably wouldn’t make it on time.

I cursed my motionless body as I stared at Ysha and the demon’s sword inching closer towards her during the entire time that I was constricted.

“Ysha!!!!”

The moment the demon’s sword touched Ysha —

Something flew with ultra-speed as it cut in between Ysha and the demon.

“URGH!”

The black sword and the demon’s arm that was holding it vanished, and the demon shrieked.

“Hey you, Master said ‘wait’ but you ignored him… so, as your punishment, I destroyed that sword and arm.”

The kimono-clad girl who was together with Halt-sama when he entered the Holy City — Youko — was standing there.