Chapter 456: Character · Sevia (II)

A world where no hope exists.

A world riddled with scars.

Despair.

Ruin.

Withered, pale hand bones gripped a heavy, rusted blade, cutting through reanimated corpses to carve out a small patch of peace for her former home.

But death continued to spread.

Unstoppable, uncontainable.

"Clang—"

The metal helmet fell.

Revealing a mangled face.

One side was hollow, the other flesh; within the hollow eye socket, a faint blue Soul Fire flickered and swayed as its master gazed up at the night sky.

She was, in the end, too powerless.

Unable to stop the world's tragedies, unable to protect the peace of Claufeel Territory.

The Undead Tide struck.

Completely destroying her hometown.

The subjects fled in terror, leaving behind empty villages that creaked in the deathly wind, where flocks of Skeletal Birds lingered.

"Skree—"

Her emerald gemstone eyes had lost their original luster, becoming dim and hollow.

"Skree—"

The bones inside the armor emitted a cracking sound as they reached their limit, harboring an inexpressible pain and sorrow.

Hesitation.

Fear.

Reluctance to let go.

Sevia sat at the entrance of the decaying manor.

Looking back, gazing at the scenes that seemed familiar yet foreign, she sat in a daze for a long time.

She finally stood up.

Brushing the dust off her armor.

Her movements were delicate, neat, and clean.

Then, her fingers lightly brushed the blade of her weapon, checking its sharpness.

Once everything was in order, Sevia walked back inside the rotting manor. Gazing at her former home and the items filled with memories, her body stood still, but her Soul seemed to have been hollowed out.

Devoid of life.

Numb as a doll.

"Father, Mother."

"Even if I am the only one left, I will fight for Claufeel until the very last moment."

Calmly stating her resolve to die.

The Fake Hero walked out the gate and took the initiative to face the endless tide of undead, running toward death with her blade in hand as the wind whistled past.

"Cross Slash!"

Shouting.

Swinging.

The heavy blade swung, dancing with brilliant light.

Sevia's eyes lost their light like withered flowers. She focused only on slaughtering on the battlefield until her body could no longer stand and her Soul could no longer endure.

The haze of despair had long since enveloped her heart.

"Is this…"

"The end of a Fake Hero…"

Death was right before her eyes.

The girl cried and laughed, her mangled face contorted into a very unsightly expression.

She was waiting for death.

But someone pushed her back into the world of the living.

"Lord Wizard, it seems I've caused you trouble again," the Fake Hero said as she stood up disheveled, her empty heart finding something to lean on.

————

To live in this world, one needs a reason for existence.

Perhaps pleasure.

Perhaps becoming stronger.

Perhaps emotion.

Or perhaps pursuing a certain goal.

Sevia accepted Xu Xi's invitation and left the empty Claufeel Territory, flying toward a distant land on a Nether Raven.

She found two reasons for herself.

First, to repay Xu Xi for saving her life and to assist him with his research.

Second, to accompany Xu Xi and save this terminally ill world.

"Lord Wizard, can we succeed?"

"…I don't know."

The man answered quickly, letting out a soft sigh as his voice dissipated into the foul sky.

The situation in the Wizard World was too dire; Xu Xi himself lacked confidence and could not give Sevia a definitive answer.

But he would do it.

Within the scope of his abilities, he would try to save the tragedy before him.

That was enough.

That was more than enough.

The girl gave a faint smile, feeling that being able to travel with Xu Xi was her good fortune.

"Perhaps the Lord Wizard is the true hero," the thought popped into her head. Sevia subconsciously shifted her body, maintaining a proper distance from Xu Xi.

If she got too close…

She would feel shy because of it…

————

"Sevia, in the future, you can be a bit easier on yourself during training."

"Eh? But if I don't train hard, I won't be able to help you."

On the way to the Plateau of the Gods.

Sevia maintained high-intensity training throughout.

Either studying sword techniques.

Or learning wizardry.

The girl's perseverance was so astonishing that even Xu Xi was surprised and spoke up to advise her to rest.

An undead body was, of course, tireless.

But studying the field of wizardry placed a great burden on the Soul.

"No, I can't rest!"

The hero, who was usually very obedient to Xu Xi, was exceptionally stubborn today, claiming she had to work hard to improve her strength and help Xu Xi as soon as possible.

Xu Xi was helpless.

He could only give the hero's Soul a light tap.

"Ow, it hurts—"

The hero became well-behaved.

Sitting properly in the chair, she followed Xu Xi's words and sat quietly to rest.

The night sky was abnormal; the crimson of the blood moon radiated to the edge of the horizon, and even the stars flickered with red light, as if blood were embedded in the night curtain.

Dinner time arrived.

Xu Xi and Sevia sat across from each other.

On the left were normal human foods, and on the right was a plate of lit necromantic mushrooms.

Each ate their own food, and the dining table was very quiet.

Suddenly, the sky outside was torn apart by wind and snow; the grayish-white flakes obscured the distant mountains and drifted down to every corner of the land.

"Is it winter…"

"The arrival of winter snow also means the approach of the New Year."

Xu Xi marveled at how fast time passed.

He silently planned his specific future actions in the Wizard World.

The snow fell for a long time, and even when Xu Xi went to sleep, it showed no sign of stopping.

The next morning.

The first thing Xu Xi did upon waking was observe the snow outside, fearing the whistling wind and snow would delay their journey.

Fortunately, the wind and snow had stopped, and the distant mountains and nearby trees had returned to peace.

"Crunch— Crunch—"

Xu Xi walked out of the temporary Wizardry Workshop, his feet landing on the thick snow, and he discovered something that surprised him quite a bit.

"Sevia."

"Yes, I'm here."

"Did you do all of this by yourself?"

"Yes, Lord Wizard."

Sevia stepped aside, allowing Xu Xi to see the full view: a collection of vivid snowmen piled up.

The girl was a bit embarrassed.

She explained to Xu Xi.

Saying she was too bored last night and was forbidden from training, she had nothing to do but build snowmen for fun.

"Will it disturb you?" Sevia's tone was a bit worried.

"No, beautiful things are rare to see," Xu Xi replied with a smile.

Scattered goose-feather snow drifted down from the high sky, landing lightly in one's palm and coating the remaining unfinished snowmen.

The hero's snowman-building skills were excellent.

They were lifelike and vivid.

Xu Xi didn't recognize most of the snowmen's appearances, but he found a snowman of himself among them.

Looking closer, he found it quite interesting.

"Thank you, Sevia, for making me look so good," Xu Xi turned and thanked the girl.

"Ah, that, it's not really something that needs thanks…"

The hero was a bit flustered.

She turned her head away, not daring to meet Xu Xi's gaze.

Her fingers interlaced and unlaced in a panic.

She was blushing.