Chapter 215 - Heroes and the Heroes' Guild

"Hillen Cargill."

A rigid atmosphere. An imperious tone.

Hillen Cargill sensed that the moment had finally come.

Why were the Guild's chief elder and another elder interrogating him like a criminal? Why had the shadows, the Guild's secret darkness, surrounded him?

"You know your crime."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?"

The chief elder's gaze hardened.

"You loathsome bastard! I already know you've betrayed humanity and conspired with the Demon King of Hellfire!"

"..."

Hillen's expression did not change.

He might have panicked if the revelation had come without warning, but he was no fool.

Preparations for the hero's journey were in full swing, and Hillen was one of its key participants. Anyone would have found it suspicious for the chief elder to summon him in secret at a time like this.

'The chief elder is loyal to the Guildmaster.'

And the Guildmaster was Daniel Deirus, Balaf Dislord, and an agent of Lies.

He already knew Hillen had joined hands with Berge. That was why he had shoved Hillen into the fake hero's journey, keeping him out of the real one.

'Fifty of them.'

He quickly surveyed his surroundings. Fortunately, this was an isolated annex, not Guild headquarters. He sensed no one nearby apart from the chief elder, one other elder, and the shadows.

'Just as I expected.'

That meant there was a way out.

"Why won't you answer? Are you admitting your guilt?"

First, he denied it.

"I'm a hero who has killed two Demon Kings. Surely someone like me would never conspire with a Demon King? If you believe otherwise, may I ask why?"

"Because there is clear evidence."

"What evidence?"

"The Guildmaster's word."

"This is absurd. Is that all?"

"All? There isn't a shred of falsehood in the Guildmaster's words. Everything he says is absolute!"

This went beyond faith. It was fanaticism.

What was it about the Guildmaster that had reduced the chief elder, once called a Great Star, to this?

'Does he have some special method because he really was a hero worshipped as a god?'

Amid those stray thoughts, Hillen became certain of his theory about why they had summoned a supposed traitor in secret rather than before an official gathering.

They had no clear evidence. Not everyone in the Guild was the Guildmaster's lackey like the chief elder. They could not punish Hillen Cargill without evidence, so they intended to deal with him in secret.

But...

'You've underestimated me badly.'

He understood their reasoning.

The shadows had once been active heroes. Now retired, they served the Guild loyally.

Old though they were, their accumulated experience, seasoned skill, and years of power were nothing to take lightly. Some had even been Stars, and the power of mana did not diminish with age.

"I'm innocent. This is a false accusation. If you have doubts about me, I request a formal trial."

"Don't try your filthy tricks! It's an undeniable fact that you're Hellfire's dog!"

The chief elder roared. With his anger, the shadows revealed their veiled killing intent.

Hillen calmly touched the orb tucked inside his clothes.

A recording orb.

He began his performance.

"Then at least summon the Guildmaster who made that claim!"

"Shut up!"

"I'm a Star who has devoted himself to the Guild and killed two Demon Kings. I refuse to submit to an interrogation where you bully me toward a predetermined conclusion."

Hillen turned away. The shadows blocked him.

"Stop. Do you think I'll let you leave?"

"... You intend to stop me by force?"

"We can't simply leave a Demon King's agent at large, can we?"

"If you intend to kill me on that baseless reasoning, I can't stand by and do nothing."

"Now you show your true colors! Attack him! Make him kneel before me and confess his crimes!"

The shadows drew their weapons. But Hillen was a step ahead of them.

CRACK!

Lightning struck.

The shadows closest to Hillen fell before they could even scream.

A sword was already in his hand.

"This is self-defense."

"At last, you reveal your true colors! I never expected a Demon King's dog to let us capture him without a fight!"

Hundreds of shadows began moving in concert. Arrows flew. Spears thrust. Shields and swords, hammers and whips—heroes of every kind targeted Hillen.

However slight an attack might appear, every one came from a hero.

Dimensional interference had no power against fellow heroes, but heroes were people whose superior talent allowed them to grow rapidly. They were on an entirely different level from ordinary armies.

That was why Hillen did not let his guard down.

CRACKLE!

He unleashed blue lightning, intercepting every arrow.

Spinning all the way around, he knocked aside every attack carrying the nearest killing intent. The fierce lightning he discharged coursed into his enemies.

"Argh!"

"Ugh!"

Brief groans escaped them as they stiffened for a split second. Hillen's sword exploited that opening.

SLASH!

A long gash opened across a chest. Small sparks burned the blood. Instead of its metallic tang, the smell of burning stung his nose.

He deflected an axe coming from behind. Lightning fired from his outstretched left hand sent a two-meter-tall figure crashing down, foaming at the mouth.

That was only the beginning.

Every sweep of his sword brought down a shadow.

His sword was lightning. Lightning was as fast as light, cleaving and burning everything.

The lightning discharged from his entire body blocked every ranged attack.

The shadows bit their lips at this perfect union of offense and defense.

Then their formation changed.

Dozens of spells fired simultaneously. They canceled out sections of the lightning barrier, creating openings.

The real fighters who had been commanding the shadows moved through those gaps.

Violent aura tore the openings wider and collided with Hillen's sword.

CLANG!

For the first time, Hillen's strike was blocked. But the shadow swallowed a groan as a shock traveled through his sword and assailed his entire body.

Even so, he smiled.

Behind Hillen, he could see his comrades exploiting the opening he had created to attack the flanks and rear.

Their surging aura looked more than capable of shredding that paltry body.

At that moment, Hillen stepped forward and twisted his sword.

SCRAPE!

His blade slid along the other's sword and closed in. Two fingers were severed. The scream barely began before an enormous hammer struck the ground where Hillen had stood a moment earlier, narrowly missing him.

Dust billowed up. Through the confusion, a red flash streaked straight toward him.

It was too fast and powerful to dodge completely. It pierced all his lightning in an instant and slammed into his back.

BANG!

But that was as far as it went.

The armor hidden beneath his clothes rippled. It dispersed the vibrations and impact, then reflected them back in a burst of repulsive force.

'So this is what it can do.'

Dragon armor made by dwarves.

Hillen smiled to himself.

The first thing Berge had bestowed on him was a sword. But as more pieces were completed, one after another, Berge gave him more equipment.

The dragon armor was another such gift. If he had pushed himself, he could have dodged or blocked the attack, or minimized the damage. He had chosen not to because he wanted to test its effectiveness.

It exceeded his expectations. A dull ache remained from the impact, but if an attack that should have pierced his body had been reduced to that, the armor had more than done its job.

"... I'm no longer confident."

Confident he could lose, that is.

He unleashed a flurry of sword strikes at the hero who stood bewildered by his blocked attack—a former Star weakened by an aging body.

The man screamed as he was forced onto the defensive.

And he remained on the defensive until the battle ended.

* * *

"... Wh-what in the world!"

The chief elder was flustered.

Only Hillen Cargill and the chief elder remained standing unharmed. Everyone else was dead or close to death.

"What in the world are that sword and armor?!"

He had a reasonable grasp of Hillen Cargill's strength. Better than the other Stars, but inferior to Balaf Dislord.

Yes, squarely between them. He could trust that assessment because it had come from none other than the Guildmaster.

Yet in just a few months, Hillen seemed to have become a different person.

The sword and armor were the problem. No, was that really all?

They had played a major role, but Hillen's own abilities had also surpassed expectations. How was this possible unless he had grown dramatically in just a few months?

"You're the one who owes an explanation, Chief Elder, not me. You'll have to explain before everyone, in full detail, why you've branded me a criminal like this."

"..."

That could not happen.

He had acted on the Guildmaster's word alone. There could be no clear evidence.

'But...'

Perhaps it would have been different in his prime, or without that armor and sword. As things stood, he had no confidence he could defeat Hillen Cargill.

If he fought, defeat was certain. But if he allowed himself to be taken, he would have to commit the folly of disgracing the Guildmaster before everyone.

'Then...'

He had to choose. And he chose loyalty.

The chief elder drew his sword.

WHOOSH!

Enormous aura surged upward. His body might have grown old, but all those accumulated years had not been in vain.

CLANG!

CLANG!

Dozens of exchanges passed in an instant. But his limits were clear. The chief elder's aura was gradually whittled away. Lightning energy traveled through his sword, sending shocks through his body.

"Cough!"

At last, the chief elder coughed up blood and collapsed.

"It's over."

Hillen Cargill declared the end and approached.

And that was exactly what the chief elder had been waiting for.

"You baaaastard!"

He flung dirt and swung his sword with all his strength.

Hillen reacted instinctively. He knocked aside the strike aimed at him and thrust his sword.

THUNK!

It cleaved flesh and shattered bone. Terrible pain assailed the chief elder.

But...

"... Got you!"

A wrinkled hand seized the sword. Its sharp edge and lightning ravaged his body further, but the grip held Hillen in place for a brief instant.

"Die with me! For humanity!"

The chief elder detonated every last bit of mana in his body.

An enormous explosion swallowed everything.

* * *

『So this chief elder bastard tried some underhanded shit, and you dealt with it?』

『And you captured the whole thing with a recording orb?』

"Yes."

Hillen Cargill nodded at the Demon King's questions.

"It's all thanks to you, my lord."

It truly was.

Without the dragon blood the Demon King had given him, he could never have grown so rapidly.

Without the sword the Demon King had given him, he could not have cut through the shadows so easily.

Without the armor the Demon King had given him, Hillen Cargill might have died in the explosion for which the chief elder had sacrificed his life.

But gratitude was not the only reason Hillen had gone out of his way to report this to the Demon King.

The Demon King noticed that too.

『So how is the Guildmaster chosen?』

"When the position is vacant, the Guildmaster is formally elected by the elders."

『With the chief elder dead, that leaves four?』

"Three. There was another elder among the shadows, acting alongside the chief elder."

The shadows belonged to the council of five elders. Josef Bartin, the elder who commanded them, also served the chief elder and the Guildmaster.

『Then you only need to get two on your side.』

『But can you become Guildmaster while you're still an active hero?』

"There are exceptions to every rule."

The Guild was in utter turmoil. Even setting aside the fact that Berge Deias was the cause, there was no denying that the Heroes' Guild's honor and prestige had fallen to their lowest point since its founding.

"That's all the more reason for a powerful, renowned hero to become Guildmaster. Someone strong enough to lead the way in beheading Demon Kings and put an end to the turmoil."

『Someone like you?』

"Who else could it be?"

Balaf Dislord, hailed as the greatest, was officially dead.

There were other great heroes who were no longer active, but their fading names carried less weight than that of Hillen Cargill, who had killed two Demon Kings.

『But what if they bring up the Guildmaster?』

Balaf Dislord was the Guildmaster and Daniel Deirus, but they did not know that.

They would think the Guildmaster had merely disappeared. In that situation, they would not rashly attempt to elect a new one.

The unresolved issue of the Guildmaster still remained.

"I'll establish that he's Balaf Dislord, whose death has been confirmed."

『Hmm. Not bad.』

『I'll speak to the witnesses separately.』

"Thank you."

Hillen Cargill smiled. Berge smiled too.

『Assuming we do that, can you persuade the elders?』

The Guildmaster was elected by the elders. Their choice was what mattered.

"I'll need your help with that as well, my lord."

『Go on.』

"There are three elders left."

Tristano Kaniev.

Carlo Schweiger.

And Matthias Allman.

"Of those three, Carlo Schweiger has connections to the Empire, but Matthias Allman has ties to Akan."

『Then we can put Lavinia and Roselle to work.』

"Yes. That leaves Tristano Kaniev... He's a stickler. He's very likely to cite the tradition of appointing an inactive hero as Guildmaster and refuse to allow an exception."

『Wouldn't that make things difficult?』

"But he's a mage."

『... Oh?』

"And at the same time..."

『At the same time?』

"He's also Aina Diaphrin's maternal grandfather."

『... Well, now.』

Berge chuckled.

『What a coincidence. It's like a carefully written script.』

"It's more inevitable than coincidental. It's hardly rare for a hero's descendants to become heroes themselves. Connections are bound to form, and haven't you taken hundreds of heroes as your servants, Lord Berge?"

『That's true too.』

『Very well. I'll speak to Aina.』

"Thank you."

『If you fail to become Guildmaster after I've done this much for you, I think I'll be very disappointed.』

"I will never disappoint you."

Hillen bowed deeply.

A short while later, the communication ended.

"I've finally made it this far...!"

The position of Guildmaster he had yearned for so desperately shimmered before his eyes. Hillen let out a cheer.

At the same time, there was a bitter edge to his joy.

"... The Guildmaster of the Heroes' Guild, elected at a Demon King's choosing. How ironic."

But there was no turning back. The Demon King had grown even stronger, and the bond binding his servants had deepened too.

Now there was not even hope of being freed.

'Even being freed would be a problem.'

Most of the heroes' upper ranks were now the Demon King's servants. Would escaping that group really be a good thing?

'Better to stay here and take the top spot for myself.'

With Balaf Dislord officially dead, wasn't he both the strongest hero and Berge's first hero servant?

The smile on his lips deepened.