The Three Heroes.

They are the founder of the Empire and the ones who saved the world from the great invasion of the Thalion Cultists roughly 1000 years ago.

The Hero Reinhart De Felles, the first recorded owner of the Blessing of the Stars, and the First Archduke of Felles is the strongest family in the Heinberg Empire, not including the Royal Family.

The White Sage Octavius, creator of White Magic, a magic that is considered the bane of Thalion Cultists, and the man who started the extremely prestigious Eldoria Academy.

The Sword Supreme Julius Von Heinberg, the strongest swordsman, and the First Emperor of the Heinberg Empire.

The Three Heroes would probably just remain as a legend in an ordinary game, but for the game [A Hero’s Tribulations] that is not the case.

They are extremely important because of their Successors.

It is not an official term of the [A Hero’s Tribulations] but a term created by the players of the game. They are called successors because not only are they similar to the past Three Heroes, they also inherited their will.

The Prophesized Hero that will save the world from danger had already been chosen at this point in time, of course, that Hero is in the Felles Archduchy. Therefore, the Successor to Hero Reinhart had already been known

The Successor to the White Sage Octavius is also not known but later as the story progresses and the Main Character becomes stronger, it is clear that it is him who is the Successor to Octavius.

However, the Successor to the Sword Supreme, The First Emperor was not found no matter how much you looked for them. Players at first thought that this was a hidden character, but after searching for basically the entire world and doing every conversation, there was no such thing as a Successor to the Sword Supreme.

At least until now.

‘If Wilhelm was the Sword Supreme successor then it would make sense why we couldn't find him no matter what. He’s already dead in the game!’

The reason why Wilhelm is sure that he is the successor for the Sword Supreme is not just because Wilhelm is a prince or because Wilhelm is a genius swordsman, though he is indeed very talented, unlike his older brothers.

‘The Sword Fiend trait.’

After searching Wilhelm’s memories, he found out that Wilhelm was an owner of a trait called the [Sword Fiend]. That’s why he was sure that he was the successor to the Sword Supreme. It was an unexpected jackpot, but there is one problem.

Wilhelm didn't know anything about the [Sword Fiend].

All he knew is that its a hereditary trait from many years ago even before the Sword Supreme was born, it just so happened that the [Sword Fiend] trait manifested in the Sword Supreme and now Wilhelm, and the fact that the Three Heroes call it the [Sword Fiend]. At least they call it that in the game.

That’s all he got when organizing his current memories, both of Wilhelm and Moses.

That’s why he was worried.

‘Why do you need to call it the [Sword Fiend]? Can’t it be something like Supreme Sword Talent? Why do you need to include the word Fiend?’

Although skill names in games are sometimes quite misleading, Wilhelm had a bad feeling about the [Sword Fiend] somehow so he thought being cautious wouldn’t hurt. Not to mention, the Original Wilhelm memories showed that he was reluctant to use the [Sword Fiend].

Which is why he had this man in front of him wait as he trained in the sword.

Despite entering the middle ages, he still stood tall at 190 cm and a muscular physique that made his age seem meaningless, wearing the armor of the Royal Knights with the symbol of the Heinberg Empire, and a sword in his hip.

Vice Captain of the Imperial Knights Abraham.

In the game he had hardly appeared, but within Wilhelm’s memories he is an important person in his life, for he was his bodyguard and has been for the last 15 years.

‘As the vice-captain of the Imperial Knights, he is without a doubt strong, therefore he should be able to prevent whatever accidents that will happen. Not to mention, he already know a bit about the [Sword Fiend] so I don't need to explain it to him.’

Wilhelm then unsheathed the sword from his scabbard. His purpose in the training grounds is not just to test out the [Sword Fiend] trait but also to assess his own combat ability.

As a citizen of the peaceful 20th century, he was not subjected to much violence in his life. Therefore, when suddenly thrown into a world full of monsters and evil cultists the most important thing to do would be to test out his combat ability.

‘The Original Wilhelm has great combat talent but I'm not sure about myself.’

And that’s why he was here.

Wilhelm tried to remember the Original Wilhelm’s memories, how he swung his sword and imitated it.

As he grabbed the sword with both hands, an unknown sensation from his heart traveled to his arms, and then his sword and the sword started emitting a faint flow. Wilhelm took a step and swung the sword downwards.

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Swish!

By this world’s standards, it was just an ordinary downward swing. However, for Wilhelm, or rather Moses, this is an exceptional event.

‘Holy shit! Its mana, its fucking mana.’

Unable to stop his mouth from curling up, and the fastened beating of his heart. Wilhelm swung his sword again. Before, he was just imitating the memories of Wilhelm but over time he just moved out of instinct yet the sword swings are still similar to the one in the Original Wilhelm’s memories

It seemed like the body remembered the training the original Wilhelm had gone, and since the memories remained in the first place, there is no problem.

This fact made Wilhelm extremely happy.

As a device for survival, combat ability is very important. But more importantly, now he can swing his sword around with mana. As a fantasy lover, there was no greater thing than that at this moment.

After around 30 minutes, he soon remembered his purpose of testing out the [Sword Fiend].

‘I was so excited that I almost forgot.’

Wilhelm decided to not play around anymore and test out the [Sword Fiend].

Wilhelm signaled to Abraham, and he nodded as he unsheathed his sword.

Wilhelm didn't know what would happen, but he did try to guess based on the name, the most likely one is that he would turn into a bloodthirsty fiend after using it, which is why he had Abraham here in hopes he could stop him.

After understanding how to activate the [Sword Fiend] using the Original Wilhelm’s memories, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. In the void, he called out for ‘something’. Once. Twice. Primal fear started to overcome him as if warning him not to call something that he shouldn’t. Yet intending to go through with this, he called ‘it’ for the third time. Then ‘it’ answered.

Wilhelm began to feel his consciousness falling, like sinking into a deep sea of unconsciousness, the warmth wrapped around him like the softest bed, urging at him to sleep for all eternity, it was comfortable, yet scary, for it felt like sleeping in the comfiest prison that you could never get out of. As his consciousness slowly sank into the dark deep depths, another began to rise.

The Fiend opened his eyes.

As he looked upon the sword in his hand, an overwhelming mass of impulse overwhelmed him.

The impulse to slice, to cut, to stab, to dice!

The Fiend looked for something and saw 3 training scarecrows. There was something to slice here. As a disgusting smile crept up, the Fiend moved. He dashed toward the scarecrow, and swung his sword, with eerie elegance, as it ravaged the scarecrow with a torrent wave of slashes. Like a seasoned surgeon, the slices were so precise, and perfect that it was hard to compare it to the earlier Wilhelm’s sword swings.

At least that’s what Abraham thought as he looked at his liege, who was currently ravaging the scarecrows.

Abraham had seen that ‘thing’ manifest when Wilhelm was a child, and it still gave him chills even after all these years. The Emperor had called it the [Sword Fiend] and he thought there couldn’t be a name more fitting for it. He had been suspecting that his liege wanted to use the ‘fiend’ when he asked him to guard the training grounds and to stop him if something went wrong.

‘Even after many years I still don't understand what that is.’

Abraham didn't understand what was inside of his liege’s body. Was it another ego? Another personality? He didn't know.

‘Whatever it is. I can’t leave him like that. Since that is not the Prince.’

Abraham started to walk towards The Fiend. The Fiend noticed Abraham’s approach and took a sword stance, like he was wary of Abraham.

‘Is it because he is a beast? He has great instincts.’

Back then, Abraham managed to bring Wilhelm back by knocking him out, so he was going to do the same thing now. Abraham’s mana enhanced both his body and sword. It felt unpleasant to fight the liege he was supposed to protect, but it was inevitable, for he was ordered to do so.

‘Duty comes first.’

Abraham’s blade drew an arc, fierce mana bellowing out from it, and the Fiend met his sword with Abraham’s as The Fiend shifted his feet and tilted his sword for a deflection.

It was a masterful display of a movement resembling the Elven Sword Style that Abraham had watched once when he was in the exchange program to the Great Forest of Rosley where the elves lived.

The problem is that Wilhelm had never learned or even trained in such a sword style.

The Fiend’s sword lashed out like a snake and was deflected by Abraham's sword, then it moved with delicate movements like a falling leaf only for it to suddenly speed up toward Abraham’s armor gaps. The Fiend smiled as if it had already won. Abraham in response, simply crashed his sword full of mana toward the Fiend’s sword.

BANG!

Abraham’s sword overwhelmed The Fiend as The Fiend immediately took a step back away from Abraham, bleeding from his palms.

The Fiend gritted its teeth and dashed again toward Abraham. It roughly swung its sword like the instinctual sword style of the beast-man, and as soon as Abraham defended against it, The Fiend’s sword style changed into the smooth, flowing sword style of the elves. It then began to employ various kinds of sword styles to try and overwhelm Abraham.

‘Amazing, how many sword styles does it have?’

Most of them are probably ancient sword styles that have been lost through times, and it confused Abraham even more as to how The Fiend even learned them and mastered them to such a degree.

With that said, it didn’t mean The Fiend could beat Abraham with just a variety of swordmanship. Abraham managed to effortlessly defend against the various kinds of sword styles the Fiend employed. Swordmanship alone The Fiend had already surpassed Abraham however his body is simply too weak, too slow, and his mana amount is too little. Which was why The Fiend won’t win against Abraham.

Perhaps sensing that, The Fiend took many steps back, as if running away, and took an unfamiliar sword stance. It was a new sword style that he did not recognize just like before.

However, a shiver crawled down Abraham’s spine. He realized it instinctively.

‘That sword must not be swung!’

Unlike before, that swordsmanship was of an entirely different essence. It was transcendental, a divine sword style that does not let anyone unworthy to learn it. Not only would that swordsmanship endanger Abraham, it would also break Wilhelm’s body for it is not yet strong enough.

It enraged him. How dare that ‘thing’ treat his liege’s body like an afterthought? Abraham’s mana grew immense like a firestorm.

“Go away you damned Fiend! That body does not belong to you!”

Abraham dashed to the Fiend, with much greater speed than before, as the overwhelming mana in Abraham’s sword compressed and changed into a bright golden color. The surging golden light swallowed The Fiend’s sword, and it shattered like broken glass. The Fiend who couldn’t even react, looked down at its suddenly broken sword and then looked up to see a fist right in his face.

The next day, Wilhelm woke up in his bedroom.