Inheriting the Novel

Trial of Heroes (3)

'That arrogant heretic bastard.'

Jerta recalled what had just happened in the dark room.

He was certain the guy was hiding something.

'Otherwise, there's no way Michelle would have defended him so strongly.'

Jerta had long served as an inquisitor and was confident in his ability to read human psychology, and he also possessed excellent intuition.

He couldn't forcibly interrogate Michelle, a member of the Atell Family, so in the end, he hadn't been able to obtain direct testimony. Still, he was convinced that there must be something between the two.

"So, did he say he knows nothing?"

"Yes, Your Holiness."

'The Lord said to keep an eye on him. I heard he's in possession of the Saintess's relic.'

"If you're referring to the Saintess's relic, do you mean the Eye of Shimosha?"

Jerta was puzzled by the pontiff's words reflected in the small crystal sphere.

'How is it possible that he has the Eye of Shimosha?'

The Eye of Shimosha was a relic that had always been kept by the Atell Family.

Even the pontiff himself could never touch that, no matter what.

"We cannot allow the Saintess's relic to remain in the hands of such a heretic any longer!"

"Jerta."

"He possesses heretic power. Who knows what he might do with the Saintess's relic!"

The Seven Swords Under Heaven were supposedly swords sent to the ground by 'God' to block calamity.

However, such stories did not exist in the scripture of Altair.

To begin with, who was this God, anyway?

There was no substance, and aside from the Seven Swords Under Heaven and a brief prophecy, there was no trace—there was no way that God was real.

Jerta was certain that God was a fake and that the Seven Swords Under Heaven were also all falsehoods created by heresy.

That was what he believed.

"Jerta."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

"Can you retrieve the relic from Clay Vanhart?"

"If I use the holy arms of the crusade, I think I can manage it easily."

"Hm."

Pontiff Violette stroked his white beard and fell into thought.

God Altair had told him to be cautious not to make this a problem, but he also couldn't just let the Saintess's relic remain in heretic hands forever.

'Besides, this is also a chance to obtain the Eye of Shimosha, which the Atell Family had hidden so tightly.'

He soon made up his mind.

He wanted to hide the holy arms for the sake of future consequences, but for the relic, it couldn't be helped.

"Very well. But give it some time before using them. If you have time, extract as much information from him as possible."

"I will keep that in mind, Your Holiness."

Anyway, he was confident he could make it through the second trial.

There was still one more trial after that, so when all the trials were over, he would take the opportunity to dispose of Clay Vanhart.

* * *

Even though the time was allocated for pairs to coordinate and get to know each other, of course, none of them used the time meaningfully.

Most participants were either too proud or simply unwilling to accept the idea of cooperating with others.

The only ones seemingly in sync from an outsider's point of view were Rascal and Inquisitor Jerta.

'Jerta Akern...'

Just thinking about yesterday's events left a bad taste in my mouth.

As I glanced at him, our eyes met, and the guy gave me a sly smile.

'Annoying bastard. Still... I can't look down on his skills.'

Jerta Akern.

An advanced-rank Swordmaster and a formidable expert in holy magic.

Even among this gathering, he was undoubtedly a top-tier combatant.

"Doesn't look like anyone spent the time particularly meaningfully."

Marvin Dreistler clicked his tongue briefly as he addressed us in front of the tower.

In my case, since I knew Kisea's disposition, I never felt the need to try to sync up, but Marvin wouldn't know that.

"The second trial is simple, as I said yesterday. Each pair must steal another team's flag. Only pairs holding two flags by sunset will survive, so bear that in mind."

Naturally, each team was given a flag.

I took ours and spoke to Kisea.

"I'll hold onto the flag."

"Sure! I don't care."

As expected, she was indifferent as always.

'Or maybe... she's just looking for prey.'

Kisea's eyes shimmered with a crimson hue as she scanned her surroundings.

Watching that made my chest feel cold.

"You're free to move as you wish from now on, but the trial itself begins in 30 minutes. Don't attack anyone before you leave the mountain or before the trial officially starts."

In short, it was an instruction to start moving and secure advantageous terrain for yourself or to prepare to hunt down an opponent in various ways.

After exchanging glances with Kisea, I nodded.

The others quickly moved out, scattering in all directions.

As we entered the forest and the surrounding presence disappeared, Kisea spoke first.

"Who are we targeting?"

"Theo."

"We think the same, then."

Kisea smiled brightly at my answer.

It might sound harsh, but outwardly, the easiest team to target was the one with Ian.

The mage on that team was, relatively speaking, weaker than the others.

'A 7th-class mage isn't weak...'

It's just that everyone gathered here was a monster.

Still, we chose Theo.

'She can't see his profile, so is she really just trusting her intuition for this?'

She was certainly not an ordinary one.

In terms of talent, I thought she might be on par with Fabian.

"That beast won't understand the point of this trial. He must have nothing in his head except fighting, and he probably won't bother protecting the flag, either. So... fighting him should be easy, right?"

"Exactly."

Of course, my reason for targeting him wasn't that simple.

'All-War Sword Epion.'

I planned to get my hands on it this time.

* * *

'Annoying.'

Theo, the strongest warrior among the beastkin.

He was extremely displeased that he had to work together with a human.

'I should've just challenged that mercenary bastard outright.'

He felt it was a complete waste of time.

What on earth did this have to do with the Seven Heroes?

"Hey."

"Tch, what is it!"

At Theo's call, the man beside him ground his teeth.

The man found Theo's attitude deeply unpleasant but suppressed his anger. There was no point in fighting here—it would only lead to mutual destruction.

"I'll be going for the other teams' flags. Just keep ours safe. That much you can handle, right?"

"You son of a..."

He looked like he wanted to pull out the axe slung across his back right then and there, but he restrained himself.

Theo glanced away, unimpressed.

'This trial is in my favor anyway.'

Especially since the trial was set on a mountain—it couldn't be otherwise.

He was a beastkin, and fighting in the mountains was second nature to him.

On top of that, having memorized the scent of all the participants, theo could immediately pinpoint anyone's location.

'A bit more. Just a bit more, and even this sword will acknowledge me.'

Theo tightly gripped Epion.

If he became one of the Seven Heroes, Epion would recognize him.

That would bring him a step closer to his goal of becoming the strongest.

'This smell...'

Then, a familiar scent reached Theo's nose.

Clay Vanhart, the master of the Divine Sword.

The guy who'd been constantly on his nerves.

A pathetic human who was just lucky enough to have been chosen by the Divine Sword.

'This is a good opportunity.'

Judging by the fact that the scent of that woman Kisea was moving away, it seemed they were both splitting up to go after other flags, just as Theo was.

'This is my chance to make the Seven Swords Under Heaven mine as well.'

Theo didn't know that once the master of the Seven Swords Under Heaven had been chosen, they could never change.

So, Clay, who possessed it, was a very appealing target for him.

He sprinted along the mountain path, following the scent.

He was getting closer.

'There!'

The guy was leaning against a tree, not even drawing his sword.

Theo was stunned by the guy's relaxed, unguarded attitude, but continued to sneak up through the grass.

Being of beastkin, not so much as a single footstep could be heard from Theo in the forest.

'Die!'

He dashed in and swung Epion toward Clay's neck.

"You really are simple-minded."

With a mocking voice, theo's body was flung sideways.

"Kh...!"

He hadn't even realized what had happened.

But, seeing his numb cheek and the guy's outstretched hand, theo understood.

The guy had just smashed him on the head with his fist.

"You human bastard...!"

Humiliation flushed Theo's face bright red.

To think he'd get hit not by a sword, but by something as trivial as a punch.

"You're barely even a new Swordmaster!"

There wouldn't be a second time.

Clay Vanhart had only just recently become a Swordmaster. The size of his mana and the unrefined flow of magic power attested to that.

"Yeah, I haven't been a Swordmaster for long."

"Exactly, so—"

"But I can still beat you."

"... What?"

"And with bare hands, that's more than enough."

Theo's eyes flared with rage as Clay flashed him a gentle grin.

"Are you serious?"

"If you don't believe me, come at me. You can even use your sword if you want, don't worry."

At those oily words, theo plunged Epion into the ground.

As a tiger-tribe beastkin, he had a fierce fighting spirit.

How could he use his sword after hearing that?

"I'll make you regret that."

Truthfully, not using the sword was exactly what Theo wanted.

The guy's sword was one of the Seven Swords Under Heaven. In a barehanded fight, with his robust body, there was no way he could lose.

Or so he thought.

BOOM!

"Gah?!"

It felt like a bomb had exploded in his head.

Clay's fist coiled like a snake, landing blow after blow on Theo's body.

With Clay's relentless advance, theo couldn't land a single proper counterattack and was forced to stagger backward, over and over.

For sure, his physical abilities should have overwhelmed Clay's—so why?

'Is it really possible that I, an advanced-rank Swordmaster, am being outclassed by some rookie?'

It was hard to believe, but it was the truth.

Clay's martial arts utterly overwhelmed Theo.

"People say I'm better with my fists than with a sword."

Clay spoke as he threw punches.

Now that he had become a Swordmaster, using Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art had gotten much easier.

He could now unleash at least the Heavenly Lord technique, the foundation of his offense, without difficulty.

'Lucky for me he's stupid.'

No matter how much higher his realm was, that only mattered when it came to swordplay.

How many times in his life had he had to fight barehanded?

He might've learned the basics, but compared to Clay, who had mastered Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, it was nothing.

'It would've been more of a hassle if he'd chosen to fight with his sword...'

But in this situation, even if he just punched halfheartedly, he could beat Theo to a pulp.

Having been under a lot of stress lately, Clay finally let it out as he battered Theo with everything he had.

"Kh, khhk!"

After pounding Theo into the ground and watching him wheeze, Clay stepped back. Even beating someone up could be exhausting work.

'That stamina's something else.'

As expected from a beastkin.

If it had been an ordinary human, they'd be mush by now; at least this guy was still breathing.

Of course, he seemed psychologically shattered, as if his soul had left his body.

Not that Clay felt any sympathy.

Theo had given up responsibility and couldn't even assess his opponent properly.

"You were probably sure this trial was in your favor, huh?"

"..."

Clay walked up to the fallen guy and grinned.

"But, you see, the same goes for me."

"... What do you mean?"

Clay drew Genova from his belt and slashed at the air.

A thin line appeared in the void, and space itself split open.

"No way..."

Only then did Theo seem to realize what he meant.

The flag was hidden inside the space sliced open by Genova.

In other words, theo never had any chance to take the flag from Clay in the first place.