One World, One Family (3)
Before facing the hero who kidnapped Rosaria, Reed prepared himself.
When she saw the large and heavy object Reed mentioned, Orneptos showed a puzzled expression.
She thought about it several times, but couldn't figure it out and felt the need to ask Reed again.
"What does that thing do? Are you not going to tell me?"
"I'll let you know after everything is over. It's not the right time now."
You might die before it's over.
Orneptos was about to blurt out those words but held back.
Reed didn't seem afraid, even though he was heading into danger.
People who are never afraid tend to die.
Orneptos looked at Reed with pity rather than thinking of him as a foolish human.
"Don't take your life lightly. You are my contractor in name, but I don't wish for your death."
"It's for Rosaria. I know."
"…Right."
Orneptos nodded.
Accepting it like that wasn't too bad.
Reed went back to the storage room and looked down at the holy sword that emitted bright light.
"If you're ready, grab it."
At Orneptos' words, Reed grabbed the holy sword.
The consciousness pulled Reed in strongly and he was sucked in.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a thick fog of darkness in front of him.
Reed recalled Orneptos' words and steeled his resolve.
'Rosaria.'
He had to find Rosaria.
As soon as he thought that, the surroundings brightened significantly.
Orneptos was shocked at the sight.
'It seems even brighter than that little girl.'
Rosaria was simple and young, so she believed she could do anything.
But Reed was an adult with a stubborn mind.
Adults who have picked up embarrassing knowledge are weaker than ignorant children when it comes to fear of the unknown.
Yet, his sense of duty was stronger than his vague fear of the unknown.
Orneptos marveled at the intensity of the light but didn't show it.
She had her own theory that praising him unnecessarily would make him arrogant, so she told him what to do next.
"Now, think of the greatest thing you can possibly do."
"Yes."
Rosaria's teddy bear turned into a knight, and the dog became a dragon.
Reed also tried to imagine what he could, but it didn't work out as he intended.
"What did you think of?"
"I imagined a form that could find your true power, the Sprit King."
"Hmm…"
Orneptos wanted to scold him for imagining something useless, but she couldn't open her mouth easily.
And no power came into Orneptos' body.
"It's strange. It worked for that little girl."
"It seems I can't do it."
Reed thought it was rather fortunate.
Having more things to use could mess up his plan.
"Can you guide me?"
"Wait and see."
Orneptos began to search the surroundings by extending a stream of water.
After about three minutes, she nodded her head.
"Well, fortunately, the labyrinth structure hasn't changed. I can guide you."
Orneptos began to guide Reed by tracing the path she had taken in the past.
Everything was the same, but there was one peculiar thing.
Unlike Rosaria, there was nothing blocking Reed's path.
'Does it mean there's no need for a test?'
Is his clear goal of saving Rosaria proving that there's no need to challenge him?
Orneptos, who had underestimated Reed, began to see him differently.
They finally reached the center.
Reed stopped walking.
In the center, a man was sitting, leaning on his sword as if waiting.
'Where's Rosaria?'
She couldn't be seen.
Orneptos glanced at him, but she only shook her head, unable to know.
"You don't need to follow me anymore."
She had done her best.
Orneptos, who couldn't help Reed, had no choice but to watch from behind.
"I can't help you directly, but I'll try to find your daughter."
"Thank you."
"Good luck."
Reed walked towards the center, leaving Orneptos behind.
He tried to hide his trembling as he faced the enemy and checked the gauntlet on his hand.
Everything was perfect.
If luck was on his side, he might be able to win.
The hero, who had been sitting with his head bowed, raised his head.
The white porcelain mask showed a brazen smile.
Contrary to his smile, his voice was filled with sorrow.
"Your father had a vain dream."
"…My father?"
"He said the same thing as your daughter. That there's a way to stop the impending disaster without any sacrifices."
Reed understood what he was saying.
The old memories that suddenly surfaced.
Almost all of his memories settled in Reed's mind, allowing him to know what kind of family he had lived in.
Maybe that's why?
When this man mentioned his father, Reed's emotions turned into anger.
"It's difficult for humans to reverse their fate. It's hard enough to change one's own fate, let alone the fate of another person. Changing the fate of all seven people is even more difficult. That's why I couldn't understand your father."
"So?"
"Do I need to say more? I killed your parents."
His parents, and all the servants and workers, were massacred at the end of the first semester of the fourth year.
The sudden misfortune that he couldn't understand overwhelmed Reed.
"I couldn't destroy the continent that the gods loved, harboring a vain dream to save you."
All his actions were meant to make Reed unhappy.
The starting point of Reed's corruption, after parting with Dolores, was created by this man.
Reed took a deep breath calmly.
When touching something too cold, it feels hot; when he should have been furious, he became rational instead.
Reed asked him.
"Where is my daughter?"
"She must be somewhere, safe."
"Tell me where Rosaria is!"
As Reed shouted, the hero disappeared.
At the same time, something blunt and hard struck Reed's waist.
He struck first before Reed even realized he was being attacked.
"Ugh!"
Unlike other swordsmen who trained their bodies through physical exercise, magicians have weak bodies.
Even though he wasn't hit in a vital spot, the vibration from his waist made it difficult to breathe.
Reed clenched his teeth and stood up, leaning on his hand.
"You have a strong will, even though the damage must have made it hard to breathe for three minutes."
Reed struggled to control his breathing and slowly healed the shock.
A gust of wind wrapped around Reed's body.
It showed his determination not to take any more attacks like the one just now.
The hero didn't intend to do that either.
The first time was a warning, and the second time would be for real.
The hero drew his sword and aimed at Reed.
"Reed Adeleheights Roton. Do you think you can beat me?"
Can he win?
He was the hero who had been the strongest of humanity, able to confront the Demon King.
And he became the first disaster, tormenting Reed as the final boss in the game.
On the other hand, Reed was a character who barely became a tower master.
He was even mocked as a tower befitting the silence that flowed.
'I can't win with my abilities.'
Reed thought of the story of the little hero that Rosaria liked.
No one would have thought that he could become a great hero capable of confronting the Demon King.
So, can Reed become a little hero?
It's impossible.
Everything won't easily end with a happy ending like in a fairy tale.
He knew that in his head.
Despite making all those rational judgments, Reed took a step forward.
He knew he would lose, but he didn't back down.
As a father, not a little hero or just a hero.
He struggles to save his family.
"I will win."
Reed took out an object hidden in subspace.
A weapon made for the battle against the hero.
It was a secret strategy known only to Kaitlyn and Reed who created it.
Seeing the object, the hero was slightly taken aback.
'Dark magic?'
What he took out was the body of a sturdy adult male.
A knight's armor made of protruding metal.
It looked like a homunculus, but it reminded him of a headless knight, a Dullahan, as there was nothing above the neck.
However, it wasn't a Dullahan, as it didn't have the ominous energy unique to undead monsters.
It was just strange.
Reed took out four headless metal dolls.
A total of five people, including Reed, stood there.
The headless bodies lined up began to move.
The hero started observing the unfamiliar objects.
'They're all mages.'
They were equipped with the same Magnesium gauntlets as Reed and used similar magic.
"…"Great Flame"."
From inside the neck, an unnatural voice could be heard very faintly.
Reed's clones also learned to use runes and utilized them.
When one focused on casting a spell, the others used cards or short spells to distract the hero.
'They move as if they are one body.'
Trying to forcibly interrupt the casting would leave them defenseless, so they were the most difficult opponents for the hero.
However, he was a hero.
In any situation and at any moment, he would adapt and see through the enemy's pattern.
"I see."
The hero raised his head and looked at Reed.
"Are all of these you?"
"Do you still have time to talk?"
The clones attacked the hero once again.
'He noticed quickly.'
Reed called them dummy bodies.
They were objects made with a similar structure to a human using the body of a golem researched by Kaitlyn.
They were neither Dullahans, who subdue souls and obey unconditionally, nor machines like homunculi that move according to a program.
All of them were bodies bound to Reed's mind.
The way to control them was simple.
Just thinking about sending them to a specific area, they would move there as naturally as breathing.
Using magic and runes was all the same.
As they had no heads, their vision was limited to Reed, but it was better to control the bodies as a control tower.
'Controlling all four isn't easy, though...'
But it was a powerful force worth taking the risk.
It was as if there were four more powerful magicians with Reed's mind.
Since they used the same magnesium gauntlets and runes, their power was virtually beyond Reed.
Reed, acting as their head, thought and executed strategies.
Noticing that fact, the hero didn't attack the dummy bodies that were busily harassing him.
He aimed more boldly at Reed's main body.
He dodged the flame sphere by flying, and the hero neutralized the explosion of the rune card with his sword.
He took some damage, but it was minimal.
If he could cut off Reed's lifeline with that, it was ridiculously cheap.
"It's over."
The well-honed blue blade pierced Reed's chest.
He clearly felt the sensation of it digging in, but what appeared in his sight was not the dying Reed.
'A headless magician?'
The one who was pierced in the chest was a headless magician.
It was Reed's dummy.
'How?'
There was no time to think about anything.
As soon as the sword pierced the dummy's body, it grabbed the hero.
The explosive rune card embedded in its body was activated, and its body turned red-hot.
Kaboom!
Even the toughest knight could not survive such power unscathed.
However, Reed didn't think the hero was dead.
'He won't even have a scratch.'
It was because he had the ability to manipulate time.
As the body fragments scattered and the red and yellow lights that were spewing out stopped like a paused video.
The exploding fragments that had approached Reed were returned to where they came from.
The explosion went back into the body, and the red-hot body quickly cooled down.
Finally, the sword that had pierced the body was pulled out.
The hero caught the sword that was about to fall to the ground and held it again.
As Reed expected, the hero didn't have any injuries.
'"Return" was activated.'
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
***
The hero's ability was time, and among them, the skill to reverse time and nullify an attack when receiving a fatal blow.
The total time reversed was 10 seconds.
As the effect of Return, the dummy returned to its state before the explosion, and the hero himself became intact.
"It seems you're not sturdy enough to withstand that explosion."
It made sense.
Its body was wrapped with as many as 500 explosive runes.
When Reed sends a signal with a self-destruct system, the explosive runes hidden behind the armor are exposed.
At least 100 runes explode.
The sharply made armor becomes a blade, causing secondary damage.
'I thought even a hero couldn't withstand that much.'
There's no business before the number.
That was one of the tricks Reed had thought of.
'I thought my body would return to its original place, but I guess not.'
He wondered if it was returning to the state before the teleport, but it seemed to treat him like Reed, who was standing there.
'I can try a few more strategies.'
He put that strategy on hold for a moment.
The hero was staring at Reed.
"…Annoying."
The white mask was expressionless, but the face behind it could be roughly guessed.
