chsdbacks Chapter 159: The commoners hero
Chapter 159: The commoners hero
chapter 159: the commoners hero
the hero of the commoners, felray.
one day, he suddenly felt the weight of the title bestowed upon him. but now, he was feeling a different kind of weight.
“urgh!”
a suppressed groan escaped from felray’s lips.
beneath a yellowish sky, atop a snow-covered mountain range, felray stood before a cave.
it was one of the many caves crossing the hadenhartz mountains, often used as an emergency refuge.
and in front of that cave, a horde of erosion beasts was swarming like a pack of wild dogs.
appearing alongside the world erosion, these creatures looked as though they’d been starving for ages, their bellies clinging to their spines.
they had no fur, just bare, blistered skin, with red and swollen boils covering their bodies.
their forms resembled wild animals, but their size was monstrous, far exceeding that of humans.
purulent cysts. (tl: purulent – containing or producing pus, a purulent wound/discharge.)
not individually strong creatures, but their tendency to move in massive packs large enough to cover entire mountains earned them a five-star danger rating as an erosive species.
currently, they had filled the hadenhartz mountains.
their sole purpose now was clear—to enter the cave.
and it was no wonder why. inside that cave, countless prey were hiding.
“yip!”
“yap-yap!”
drooling greedily, they could no longer hold back, lunging toward the cave.
in that instant, as felray saw the charging purulent cysts, his sword flashed without hesitation.
though moments earlier his breath had been ragged, his body moved on instinct.
slash!
“yip?!”
a purulent cysts was cleaved in two, its body halved.
as it fell, the boils on its body burst, spraying its acidic contents around, melting the snow.
sizzle!
some of the pus splattered onto felray’s skin, burning it.
even though his rahern academy uniform had self-repair capabilities, the prolonged battle had worn it down.
the pile of purulent cyst corpses in front of the cave spoke to how fiercely felray had been fighting.
his uniform, having lost its protective function long ago, could no longer shield him.
as the purulent cysts died, the explosions from their bursting boils continued to injure felray.
the constant injuries drained his stamina and blurred his focus.
“ugh, commander, let me—”
“stay back. rest.”
at that moment, one of his comrades near the cave entrance, his leg charred black, tried to stand.
but felray stopped him and took his place at the front of the cave once more.
the previous battles against other five-star erosive species had already left felray’s great sword order in shambles.
it was now a situation where five-star erosive species roamed freely as if it were ordinary.
no matter how exceptional the first-generation students of rahern academy were, there were clear limits to how much they could handle.
‘i hope the lion order is safe.’
during the fighting, felray’s group had been separated from charlotte’s lion order.
though their fate was unknown, felray silently prayed for their safety.
“yip!”
meanwhile, the purulent cysts charged toward the cave once again.
their numbers were increasing compared to the initial wave.
even they could sense it—felray’s stamina was nearing its limit.
felray clenched his teeth tightly.
deep within his heart, a weak voice whispered that he should run away from this place immediately.
felray was human, after all.
though praised as a hero, he too wanted to live and feared death.
perhaps that was why, whenever such weakness reared its head, he couldn’t help but admit it.
he wasn’t fit to be called a hero.
“yap-yap!”
clang! clang!
slash!
crash!
the hero of the commoners.
what a grand and lofty title.
a hero, by definition, should face challenges boldly and without fear, standing tall in the face of danger.
a hero is someone who overcomes crises and saves everyone.
‘i’m nothing like such a hero.’
the sword he picked up had been for no grander reason than the tragedy of his vulnerable hometown, left defenseless against the world erosion.
his feeble sense of justice felt far too small and laughable to declare himself a hero.
clang!
thwack!
yet, even so, felray didn’t retreat from the cave’s entrance.
one of the great sword order members shouted, their trembling voice accompanied by a faint smile.
with a final burst of aura, they lit up like a flame about to go out.
“no matter how much you deny it, to us, you’ve always been a hero!”
even as he witnessed that smile, akin to a last will, felray screamed and ran toward them.
a hero? how could anyone call this a hero?
how could someone who couldn’t protect even one of his comrades dare to call himself a hero?
“stoppppppp!”
felray executed his signature footwork, thousand-li ten steps.
even so, it was too far.
felray’s face twisted in despair.
it felt as though the flame of hope he had carried all his life was being snuffed out.
as the image of his comrade’s final smile overlapped with the charging purulent cysts, something moved faster than felray’s desperate sprint.
crack!
a sickening sound of a skull being crushed echoed as the charging purulent cyst was sent flying through the air.
crack!
another impact followed immediately, shaking the creature violently.
unable to withstand the force, the purulent cyst rolled across the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
felray’s eyes widened at the sound—two distinct impacts from a single punch.
in the same instant, his gaze caught sight of dark, windswept blue hair.
standing there was someone felray recognized.
“k-kraush valheim?”
felray murmured the name in a daze.
kraush, cracking his knuckles casually, exhaled softly.
“felray.”
calling his name, kraush reached into his coat and pulled out a vial.
walking over, he handed it to felray, pressing it against his chest.
“i told you last time: become stronger.”
felray’s wide eyes slowly grew even larger.
those were the exact words he had replayed countless times in his mind after the martial arts tournament.
「become stronger.」
the peculiar-looking member of the night raven, kradd had defeated felray in the tournament and said those very words.
「even if your hope collapses in the end, leave behind an ember.」
felray’s head instinctively followed krash’s movements.
“grow stronger. so you can stand in your place, no matter what.”
krash left those brief words behind and was suddenly at the cave’s entrance.
“kraush, you!”
before felray could finish, kraush drew his sword thunderstorm.
with a calm breath, he fixed his piercing gaze on the purulent cysts ahead.
geez, they sure gathered annoyingly well.
if hadenhartz mountain is like this, the city center must be absolute chaos.
‘i can only trust that the first sword and the hadenhartz knights are handling it well over there.’
no less than rai and sena went.
if it’s those two, they’ll surely take care of the master of the world erosion.
[ a guy who can barely manage his own body is putting on all kinds of airs. ]
at that moment, crimson garden’s sarcastic remark followed once again.
it was because, as she said, kraush’s condition was still far from normal.
however, kraush wasn’t worried.
“that’s why i didn’t come alone, did i?”
boom, thud!
as kraush continued speaking, the mountain began to shake.
even the purulent cysts looked momentarily flustered by the suddenly shaking mountain.
and in the gap created by their confusion, from beneath the snowy mountain ground, multiple somethings began to rise.
monsters made entirely of white bones held their respective weapons, their eyes glinting menacingly.
they were none other than ebelasque’s skeletal legion.
wariness rose in the eyes of the purulent cysts.
the numerical advantage had been overturned in an instant.
at the same time, haring appeared next to kraush, deactivating her invisible.
judging by the poison coating her dagger, she seemed to have taken down a few already.
“kraush.”
“yeah.”
kraush lightly cracked his shoulders.
“let’s clean up.”
cleanly, thoroughly, without leaving a single one behind.
translators note: