Hiro looked at his brother in shock, what was he doing here, how did he get here, how did he find the culprits, how did he defeat everyone, and most importantly why was she here? Hiro glanced at Karen walking slowly behind Quinn.
“Was this her doing? But that feeling, it felt similar but different from hers...”
He remembered just days earlier having lost his arm to Karen and he felt a sudden sharp pain in his missing arm and eye…
Hiro turned to Quinn, “Don’t tell me he did something to him?”
Hiro tightened the grip on the sword in his hands and closed his eyes. As his world went dark time seemed to slow to a halt, and eight golden pillars of light appeared in his mind. In the center of each pillar were a set of golden items: A sword, a shield, a chest plate, boots, leggings, gauntlets, rings, and finally an amulet.
These were the eight divine artifacts from the past eight Heroes. Hiro’s eyes suddenly turned a golden color, and his blonde hair turned white as suddenly a six golden wings unfurled from his back. Then a golden pillar of light descended upon him and his body returned to its form from eleven years ago.
The as the pillars of light began to disappear eight faceless figures appeared in their place each wielding their divine artifacts. Hiro turned to them and asked, “What should I do…”
The figure with the shield stepped forward, “To serve as Humanities shield is our duty as a Hero.”
The figure with the amulet with a halo over his head stepped forward, “To fight in sickness, and in death.”
Then the figure with the rings, “For we are Heroes. We stand as a living testament to Humanities strength.”
The Heroes wearing the chest plate and the leggings struck their armor, “Our Ingenuity”
And then the Hero with the gauntlets raised his hand, “And our valor!”
The finally the as the Hero with the sword step forward in front of Hiro, the other heroes took a step back. This Hero raised his sword, “We are Humanities swords and eternal guardians. For centuries we have slain countless enemies in the name of the Holy Light, for what is just and righteous! Till death, we fight!”
All the heroes raised their fists and shouted in unison, ““Till death!””
“For peace, and prosperity!”
““We fight!””
These eight faceless figures suddenly released eight brilliant rays of light into the air illuminating Hiro’s world, and he quietly mumbled to himself, “For peace and prosperity we fight…”
Hiro opened his eyes and the blooded warehouse once again came into his view. He tightened his grip on his sword, and suddenly his black eye returned to normal as his iris turned from blue to gold.
With a level of strength unlike before, he swung his sword down at his brother's neck as he repeated in his mind, “For peace and prosperity!”
The Baron’s eyes widened in shock as he saw this and he raised his hands, his arms were covered in a layer of frost. Karen turned to Hiro in shock and suddenly the tips of her hair began to turn purple.
Noel and the other knights in the distance immediately grew pale and charged Hiro with all their might. However, the strike was too fast and too sudden for anyone to stop it. Yet the end result was beyond anyone’s expectations, well aside from one…
Hiro’s blade had stopped just centimeters away from Quinn’s neck, and no matter how much strength Hiro put into his sword it simply couldn’t pierce the thin black layer of mist between his blade and Quinn’s neck.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“You know I thought I’d be a little angrier you know,” Quinn turned his head to the left slightly, “After all you’re a Hero you know, yet here you are trying to kill your own blood brother. But if anything I just feel disappointed really.”
“What are you…”
Quinn smiled wearily, “Your brother.”
Hiro shouted, “You’re not my brother! My brother is...he’s…”
“He’s just another bystander. Our father a bystander, or perhaps an asset. Our mother a bystander. Our sister, a liability. And then what about Maria, Collette, Francis, Baldar, Karen? I wonder what they were really too you? Friends, it’s a possibility, but when I think about the blade that’s only a hair's breadth away from my neck and the fact that we’ve been together ever since we were born I’m sure you’d understand why I find that possibility only laughable at best. ”
Then suddenly a piece of ice came flying towards Hiro, Hiro was about to raise his sword to block it, but then a black light shot towards the ice and it suddenly disappeared. Quinn walked over to Karen and handed her his sister.
Quinn turned to Hiro and smiled, “Let’s have a nice chat.”
“Nothings up for a discussion.”
Quinn laughed, “Don’t worry you won’t be talking to me, and…”
Suddenly Quinn vanished before suddenly appearing behind Hiro two fingers touching the back of his neck, “That wasn’t really a question.”
Suddenly a tiny black snake coiled around Quinn’s fingers and bit Hiro’s neck, it’s fangs easily piercing the thin metal plating. Hiro screamed in pain as he felt something digging into his skin and up through his flesh into his brain.
The suddenly Hiro’s world went entirely white and the pain disappeared. Hiro looked around, his armor had seemingly vanished, and then soon he found he was in a rather familiar place.
The white space changed into that of a castle throne room, one Hiro was particularly familiar with, the Demon King’s throne room.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Hero.”
Hiro quickly turned around and there was a grey skin demon with a broken horn standing before him. Hiro’s bulged as he shouted, “Demon King!”
“Now, now let’s calm down for a minute. Look”, the Demon King raised his hands, “I’m unarmed, and besides aren’t you missing something pretty important.”
“What are you talking about!”
The Demon King laughed, “Ah you’re not the most observant man to walk this earth even with centuries of years under your belt.”
The Demon King raised his hand, and suddenly a miniature version of the monstrous form the Hero had fought appeared floating over his palm, “Here’s your first hint.”
Hiro looked at the monster in the Demon King’s palm and the suddenly came to a realization, “You...you’re the Demon King aren’t you?”
The Demon King laughed, “Of course, the one and only Demon King.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. The Demon King has never possessed a Human, and this...how are you capable of speech?”
“Never possessed Humans? Oh how you Humans like your jokes. To begin with that massive lump of hatred, anger, despair, and malice that you call the Demon King was something originally given rise to by a Human.”