"Sacro, are you coming?"

The rest of his hunting group was waiting for him at the edge of the forest, fully equipped with their gear. However, Sacrosanct had yet to even put on his clothes as he hurried out of bed.

"Yep, yep, I'm coming"

He quickly put on his pants and shoes and went downstairs, skipping the last ten. Next to the door lay his bow and arrows, and with his lunch in one hand and weapon in the other, he left for another great hunting day.

"You're such a slowpoke Sacro," said Melody, a girl around a head shorter than him

"Heh, are you sure about that?"

"Yeah! You always wake up late and we always wait for you! You'll have to start being more responsible you know?" said another hunter, an experienced whip user named Bach

"Alright, alright... Anyways, let's race to our spot! I'll dine at the loser's house!"

"Hey wait up!"

...

Sacrosanct woke up later in a cage covered by a cloth, obscuring his view. However, he could tell that he was being transported somewhere. He tried to remember what had happened. He went hunting, found a great prize, met some humans and... The humans. They had decapacitated his party and kidnapped them.

"Hey! Heeey! What the hell is this? Let me outta here!"

However, they lent no ear as the carriage continued to travel to Avangarden.

...

Within the Colosseum, Sacrosanct battled a chimera ten times his size. Its venom sting nearly missing his arm, Sacrosanct pulled out his bow, perfectly hitting the centre of its forehead. The crowd's scream deafened Sacrosanct, as he had a sensitive ear.

He was now a slave of the royals, forced to battle within the arena for the sake of their entertainment. He had yet to see his friends. He hoped that they were dead, lest they suffer the same fate as him or worse.

He began to think back about his home. Would've things happened differently if he took a different path? Perhaps if he was more responsible? However, no matter how many times he pondered, the answer was always the same. No, the humans would've gotten to them someday.

Fueled by rage, he began to pull another arrow, this time charging it all the way, intending this to be this bow's final shot. It was a family heirloom, but since he did not have any siblings or children, it would meet its end with him. However, when he let go of the string, the bow did not break, only its strings snapped, the arrow travelling swiftly through the sky.

It quickly found its destination within the king's brain.

...

The judge intended for Sacrosanct a fate worse than death, being thrown into an elaborate underground dungeon to starve to death while fending off various monsters. The labyrinth was filled with traps and dead ends to inspire dread. It did not even offer dignity in death as the royals watched with magic from afar.

It was Sacrosanct's first day in the dungeon, but he was actually doing good for himself. Eating the flesh of the beasts and drinking their blood, he trained for the eventual day of revenge against the humans.

However, he felt dread like never before when he came across a giant, a thousand times larger than him. He tried his best to fight back, but his attacks with improvised weapons made of monster claws were but a tickle to the giant. The giant was tired of the commotion and decided to step on the intruder. However, as the shadow loomed around Sacrosanct, a figure appeared in front of him, saving his life.

The stranger easily held back the giant's feet, and with the strange black flame extending from his arm, turned the giant into ashes within seconds.

"Wh-who are you?"

"Rejoice, young warrior, you have been chosen to be the hero of this era by the Goddess"

"What? Hero?"

"...Don't tell me you don't know what a hero is"

"Uhh..."

The stranger, a large old man dressed with heavy armour and a larger beast's hide, seemed annoyed at the elf's pack of knowledge and pulled him aside to a small room in the wall.

"What is this room?"

"It's just a small room I summoned. And look, that's not what's important here. What's important is that you will be the hero of this era"

"...And what is that exactly?"

"A hero is someone who protects Avangarden and fights for the good of the people"

"Fight for avangarden...?" said Sacrosanct, gritting his teeth "I'll never fight for this evil nation! Do you know what they did to me? Do you know why I'm even here in the first place?"

"...Well look, it's not up to me to decide who's hero and not. I'm just the harbinger of the Goddess's will. I'll just make you the hero and you do whatever with your power"

"What? Are you sure?"

"Ehh. I don't really think about it as that important"

Sacrosanct couldn't help but feel that this probably was not the proper procedure, but he was intrigued by the offer of power.

"What kind of power are you talking about?"

"Let me show you"

Sacrosanct followed suit as the stranger walked out of the room.

"Oh yeah here's your bow by the way. I thought about repairing it, but eh, you won't need the strings anymore anyways"

Sacrosanct was confused by the statement but continued to listen.

"I assume that you know what magic is, so I won't explain that, but I will show you what kind of magic you will be able to use"

The stranger pointed his finger at a wall, and without warning, the same black flames as before spewed out, melting the stone wall into magma.

"Of course, you won't be able to summon the eternal flames like this one right away, but you'll be good with a little bit of training"

The stranger prepared another blast, this time with the palm of his hand. A black orb appeared in front of it and slowly drifted toward the melted wall.

"Erase"

The ball instantly grew in size with a bright flash, erasing the spherical area from existence as if the wall never existed. Even the air within the sphere seemed cleaner.

"Anyways, there's a bunch more stuff, but you'll have to figure them out later. I'm already kind of breaking protocol by helping you too much. Let me just tell you how to use it"

Seemingly awoken by the commotion, a pack of mountainwolves suddenly appeared around the corner, ready to pounce.

"Welp looks like we got some practice targets"

Sacrosanct quickly readied his bow, though he did not know where to hold it as the string was missing.

"Alright now, let me make you the hero now"

More mountainwolves appeared around the corner swarming the two.

"By the authority of the Goddess..."

The largest mountainwolf, seemingly the leader of the group, pounced first at the stranger, who turned partially into mist, the wolf passing right through. Initially confused, the leader changed its focus to the nervous Sacrosanct.

"...I deem Sacrosanct the 36th hero of Avangarden!"

With a beam of light extending from Sacrosanct to the heavens above, he felt a great power surging through his body. And as the mountainwolf jumped at him, he instantly summoned a great cone of red flame incinerating all the beasts in front of him.

"Congratulations on herohood!"

"...Th-thank you"

"Well, you are welcome. We won't ever see each other again, so have a good life!"

With that, the stranger disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

...

Sacrosanct was exploring the rubbles of a distant explosion he heard when he saw a hand reaching out from beneath. He quickly dug into the body and checked the pulse, which was thankfully still beating. He decided to bring the body to his abode, the small room the stranger had created months prior.

The room was now filled with various things such as the carcasses of the beasts, various items he found lining the labyrinth, as well as a map he had been creating in order to never get lost. In the many moons he had endured, Sacrosanct had yet to meet another living being other than beasts, giants and other foul critters.

He lay down the girl on the table after moving the map. Her breathing was faint and her pulse weak, he had to take quick action. After checking the body for any external injuries, he recovered a small crate filled with a few healing potions.

For whatever reason, some guards from the city had entered the dungeon with supplies. It seemed that perhaps they were looking for something or someone. Sacrosanct ambushed one of the groups and stole their supplies, which included rare healing potions and armour. The potions quickly depleted by the weeks and he only had 3 left, but he felt that it was a pretty equivalent exchange for some company.

After pouring the contents into the stranger's mouth, Sacrosanct double-checked the labels to make sure that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

According to the label, the healing potion was imbued with magic, which utilized the mana of the user in order to heal parts of the body. There were many magical tools such as this, which used the user's mana to cast spells the user couldn't dream of, such as magic rings conjuring high-level magic or magical scrolls allowing people to teleport objects and people without knowledge of magic.

However, after a few seconds, the stranger began to spit out the potion, as if her body had rejected it. Though it seemed to have successfully woken her up. At a second glance, Sacrosanct noticed that the girl was wearing a precious neckless, decorated with various magical gems, gold and silver.

"Whe-where am I?"

Sacrosanct did not really know how to respond to such a question.

"Uhh... I just found you unconscious within the rubble, this is just my temporary base. Never mind that, are you okay?"

"..."

"Sorry for giving you the healing potion by the way. Are you allergic or something?"

"Heh, no one is allergic to magic potions. No, it's... Well, do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Sure?"

"This here," said the girl "is a royal heirloom. The Remnant of the World Beast of Humanity"

"Woah..."

Sacrosanct did not quite understand what it was, but its name was long so he thought it must've been important.

"This necklace was created with the scales of the World Beast that existed eons ago, which allows the user to partially gain the talent of the World Beast"

"And what is that talent?"

"Wearing this neckless makes you push mana away from you. It is said that the World Beast was a being of Anti-magic, impervious to any spells. This neckless also allows you to gain some invulnerable to spells, though there are limits"

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yep, you got me," said the girl proudly

"That's impressive... I guess?"

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Silence quietly filled the room.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sacrosanct"

"Woah, THAT Sacrosanct? The kingslayer?"

"Is that what they call me up there?"

"Yeah, you're revered by a lot of us up there"

The girl suddenly disrobed herself, which surprised Sacrosanct into looking away. However, she was just trying to show him a tattoo on her shoulder. The tattoo was of a blazing sun, with a snake surrounding it and a goat's head in the centre forming a star. Both were popular symbols associated with the Goddess. The snake is the devout servant of the Goddess, a World Beast and the goat is another legendary beast, though it is unknown whether it is another World Beast or simply a familiar. Of course, Sacrosanct did not know any of this, thinking that it was just a neat tattoo.

"Heheh, it's pretty cool right?!" said the girl, anticipating an applause

"Wo-Wow," said Sacrosanct while clapping

"This is the symbol of the rebellion group known as the Ensemble. Let me explain; firstly, the sun is the main symbol of our group. The sky is fair to all, either shining bright or falling dark. We want a world like that of the sky, equal to all. The goat is a beast belonging to the Goddess. We trust fully in the Goddess and believe that the next hero is soon to arrive to help the rebellion. The goat symbolized balance, like the five points of a star. Finally, the snake. The snake is a beast of cunning tactics and power. Of course, it represents the ancient World Beast, the guardian of humanity, and..."

Sacrosanct just continued to listen as the stranger went off on the various symbolism and about her group. It was nice to hear a talking voice for the first time in what felt like an eternity alone.

"...so how about joining the rebellion and getting out of here?!"

"You got a plan?"

"Yep! But I won't tell you until you agree to work with me"

"Heh, you didn't even tell me your name yet!"

"Ah! You're right," said the girl, reaching her hand out for a handshake "My name is June. It's a pleasure to meet you Sacro!"

"I don't remember allowing you to call me that..."

"Can I not?"

"Fine. Nice to work with ya"

...

The pair had spent a few weeks underground together, looking for a single entrance underground. According to June, she had seen the rare entrance when she was dropped off here by pretending to be unconscious. Of course, after being chased by beasts and falling under rubble, she had completely lost herself and could not recall exactly where it was.

"Hmm... This brick seems a little familiar..."

"Are you even trying here?" said Sacrosanct, annoyed at the lack of progress "I'm not even sure if you're telling the truth anymore"

"I-I am!" said June "...Sorry for being so useless"

Ever since they met, June did not help Sacrosanct much at all. She had basically no combat experience and the only thing she was good at was stealing. Even before, she was usually the scout of the rebels, looking out for enemy locations. Though that wasn't very useful as many of the beasts had an acute sense of smell. June was simply another mouth to feed, though Sacrosanct would agree that it was better than being alone.

"...It's fine. I trust you"

"Look out!"

A large bear-like beast approached Sacrosanct from behind. Without looking back, he simply extended his arm backwards.

"⌈Flame⌋!"

A large cone of fire extended from his palm, incinerating everything within the hall. In the end, all that was left was a small pile of ashes.

"Shoot. We could've had some bear meat for dinner"

"Look at that Sacro" pointed June

She was pointing at the small cubs of the bear, barely weeks old.

"Goddamn it, did I kill a mother bear?"

June carefully approached one of the cubs and held it up.

"Woah! Be careful! It may be small, but it's still a monster!"

"Don't be such a worrywart, it's fine. Can I keep it?"

"What the hell are you talking about? It's a wild animal!"

"But it won't survive out here without a mom! And we're definitely responsible for that"

"Well... Kh..."

"...If you're worried about the rations, I can just share mine with these guys"

"Wait- Alright, goddamnit, you can keep those bears. You don't have to share your food"

"Really? Yay! Thanks, Sacro!"

"But we're going to work extra hard from now on. From what we know so far, we're still around 10 floors underground. We've got a lot of work cut out for us"

"Alright, let's find some meat! Ah, and preferably no bear meat"

"Fine, let's get going. But I am NOT taking care of those bears. They're your responsibility"

...

It was already time to sleep as the night befell, not that they saw any difference between night and day underground. They could only tell from the behaviour of the beasts who were used to living underground and seemed to have similar sleeping patterns to humans. Though for all they knew, they could've been sleeping during the day and awake during the night.

June was already asleep in the makeshift bed within the cabinet while Sacrosanct sat on the homemade stool, made of a particularly large skull of a beast. He was organizing the loot as well as expanding upon the drawn map. Today, they found a great supply of water even deeper underground, natural spring water from an underground pool, which Sacrosanct personally tested to be safe to drink, a great change of pace from filtered blood. They also gained great amounts of meat, though he did not have a way to keep them cold and therefore he would dry most of them into jerkies. However, plants were still very rare here, only roots of deep plants available for harvest and the occasional fruit vines somehow growing their way through the beasts' droppings. It seemed that the royals regularly replenished the beasts of the dungeon.

They had also met some guards again. However this time, many of them escaped his grasp. He tried to follow them to the exit, but a mage within the group created a large wall, which he easily destroyed, but the soldier got away in the dust. Now their enemies had confirmation of their existence. June took the time to mock the soldiers, showing that she still had the heirloom. She assured him that it was a genius act, allowing a greater flow of supply by bringing more soldiers here, but Sacrosanct found the stunt reckless. It wasn't as if he was invincible. If they sent multiple battalions, he wasn't confident they would be able to escape with their lives.

After a long day, Sacrosanct finally lay on his own cramped bed, moving the cubs to a corner. It was like he made a new life for himself here, with June being his little sister and the cubs their pets. However, he knew that none of them would meet again after their escape. He intended to go straight back to Championnat and raise an army. Perhaps the rebellion could help - if it was still standing. From what he had heard, the rebellion seemed to be struggling against their oppressors, many of them being thrown into the dungeon, or executed.

He tightly closed his eyes, trying to sleep as fast as possible. It was going to be another hard day tomorrow.

...

A loud magically amplified announcement rang in Sacrosanct's ears as he woke up.

"Elven warrior and rebellion thief, follow this voice and show yourselves! We have come to bargain"

He was suspicious of the announcement. There was no way he would fall for a trap like that.

"... Sa-Sacro! Help!"

That was the voice of one of Sacrosanct's hunting party. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bow and jumped into action, following the voice.

"Wait for me!" said June as she fell from her bed

The agonized and strained voices continued as Sacrosanct sprinted as fast as possible, turning around corners left and right. When he located the voice, he pulled out his bow, ready to fire and turned around to face a hall filled with various soldiers and mages. This would've been enough for at least 5 battalions. In front of the group, Sacrosanct recognized the face of the girl from his hunting group, Melody, with various bruises covering her body dressed in a white robe. It was obvious what had happened to her as well as the rest of the group.

"...What do you want" asked Sacrosanct

"We're here to make a trade. We would like the heirloom as well as the thief in exchange for your friend here" said the soldier next to the cage, who seemed to be the captain

Sacrosanct thought deeply and hard about the offer, but in the end, he decided that he would never abandon his comrade again.

"...I can't give you the thief. I will never abandon my friends"

"But you can have the heirloom," said June standing next to Sacrosanct without him noticing.

June took off the heirloom and handed it to Sacrosanct.

"She's your friend, right? If it was me, I would give away anything I had to save a friend too... So... Here you go"

"...Thank you, June," said Sacrosanct, holding tightly onto the heirloom

"...Thank you too, my friend"

"So do we have a deal?!" shouted Sacrosanct with enough fervour to push back the soldier

"...Fine"

Now began the standoff of exchange. Both sides did not trust each other and both were right to do so.

"Let's meet in the middle. Only the two of us"

"Leave your weapon on the floor. One of my soldiers will bring your friend to you"

While the unfortunate soldier was being chosen, Sacrosanct gave a knowing look to June, and she hid behind the corner. After the soldier was chosen, the two parties met in the middle, Sacrosanct intimidating the young soldier.

"...The cage is locked, and it's made of metal. Unlock it"

The soldier glanced back at his superior. The captain sighed and tossed the key, which hit the floor, making the soldier carefully lift it back up.

After unlocking the cage, Sacrosanct stood melody up using his shoulder. She seemed barely conscious after losing her voice shouting and screaming.

"Now the heirloom?"

"...The heirloom... You can have the heirloom in hell!"

Sacrosanct quickly put the heirloom on Melody and pushed her towards the corner, whom June barely caught before she touched the floor. They quickly turned away and hid behind the corner.

"⌈Starburst⌋!"

Beams of light shot out from Sacrosanct's palm, exploding in a blinding flash. The dozens of mages easily blocked it with the magecraft, but before they could regain vision, the group had already fled the scene.

Sacrosanct held both June and Melody on each shoulder as he quickly ran aimlessly.

"Sa-Sacro..."

"Melody? You need to rest. I'll just tire out the soldiers and we can go to my base!"

"N-no... There is an entrance... I know where it is"

Both Sacrosanct and June were shocked to hear that the entrance was real and accessible. Knowing Melody, she had a great sense of direction as a hunter so Sacrosanct could trust her. Following her direction, the group quickly left and rose to the surface floor after floor.

However, during the run, Sacrosanct came across Bach, another comrade of his.

"Bach! What are you doing here!"

Bach was slowly bleeding out from his stomach, sitting down against a bloodied wall.

"Sa-Sacro... Is that you?"

"Bach..." said Melody

"It's me, man. What happened to you?" said Sacrosanct, holding his friend's hand

"I-I fought back. I was brought here with Melody. You have to take her home Sacro..."

"O-of course I will, and you're coming too!"

Sacrosanct tried to pull his friend by his arm, but Bach had no strength left in him.

"It's okay Sacrosanct. You only have two shoulders, heheh..."

"No, you-you can hang on my back or-"

"Sacro. Look at me. I'm bleeding to my death here. Promise me you'll get out of here"

"Bach!"

"Sacro! Promise me!"

"...I promise! I promise I'll avenge you!"

"...You've gotten stronger, Sacro, I can see that" whispered Bach "The truly strong, can't have any baggage. You can't look back anymore Sacro. All the suffering, all the pain. Now go! Go and never look back again!"

The captain and his battalions had caught up to the group and the clanging of their boots could be heard.

"I... I understand Bach!"

"Sacro! Live your best life! Melody! You too!"

Sacro wiped the tears from his eyes. He quickly made his way again, so close to the exit.

After Bach confirmed that the captain was right behind them, he pretended to be dead. This would be his final act of resistance, no matter how insignificant.

He gathered all his strength to lunge and hold on to the captain's foot as strong as he could!

"Get off you filthy elf!"

The captain kicked the elf and order his soldier to rip him away, but Bach persevered, holding on. In the end, the barrage of spells from the mages finally ended his life, but even in death, he held on, forcing the captain to remove his boot and leave Bach's corpse.

Even if Bach only gave stalled them for a few moments, this was the way he wanted to go, supporting his comrades.

...

The group had finally reached the exit, but it was covered by a large metal gate, unbudging.

"Godamnit, only if I was stronger..."

Sacrosanct thought about what he could do and finally remembered the stranger that made him the hero. He used a spell that erased the wall from existence, surely that would be powerful enough for the metal door.

The soldiers had already caught up with the group, but it was enough time for Sacrosanct to start charging up a spell he had never done before.

"Stop him!" shouted the captain, as a small white ball slowly grew in front of Sacrosanct's reaching palms

The mages blasted Sacrosanct to stop his attack, but June jumped in front of the blast, wearing the heirloom of the royals.

"See! I can be useful too!"

"You idiot soldiers, what are you doing?! Stop them!"

The soldiers charged at June and Sacrosanct but were quickly apprehended by the still-injured Melody.

"I... I'm still a hunter!"

"Are you okay Melody?" shouted Sacrosanct

"I've rested enough... We can't let Bach's sacrifice go to waste!"

"Alright!"

June and Melody were barely managing to hold the battalions back. The bright orb had grown as big as Sacrosanct himself, and it began to pull objects toward it, including Sacrosanct. June and Melody were barely managing to hold the battalions back.

"Sacro!" shouted June

With quick thinking, June quickly took off her heirloom and put it around Sacrosanct's neck, repelling the orb toward the entrance.

"⌈Nuclear Starburst⌋!"

Sacroquickly guarded June and Melody against the blast as the large white orb quickly expanded in size, destroying everything in its path including the battalions. The mages tried to put up barriers, but no barriers were effective, all dissolving like snow under the sun.

...

The next time Sacrosanct woke up, it was in a foreign bed, and he could finally see the sun for the first time in months. June was sitting right next to him.

"Where am I..."

"Sacro! You're awake!" shouted June in joy as she hugged Sacrosanct

"Geh... Anyways, what is this place?" said Sacrosanct as he pushed June off of him

"This is the Ensemble headquarters!"

Sacrosanct looked around the room. After further inspection, it was actually quite a nice room.

"Huh... From what I've heard, wasn't Ensemble slowly falling apart?"

"Well, that's what I thought at first too! But things really turned around. We have so much support from the people and we've even gotten supplies from Championnat and Sonosis!"

Sacrosanct was surprised that Championnat, a nation usually not interested in global politics, had supported the revolution, but was even more surprised to hear that Sonosis, the demonic kingdom, supported them as well.

"Thank you Sacro!" said June while hugging him

This time, Sacrosanct did not push her away but gave a hug in return. They had both gone through a lot these few weeks. Neither of them could've done it without each other.

"Ouch!" flinched Sacrosanct

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot to tell you about your burn" said June while handing him a hand mirror

Sacrosanct positioned it behind his back to see its state and lo and behold, it was as if it was the surface of the Moon and the hellish desert caves of Sonosis, as various shades of red ran throughout his back.

"It won't hurt after you heal completely and you're capacity will be completely back soon, but the scar will remain... It seems that your spell was too powerful even for the heirloom's protection"

Sacrosanct carefully touched his back, feeling the rough scar.

"Hahah! Well isn't this perfect," said Sacrosanct "This will be the proof that I, Sacrosanct will and have never looked back! Only future awaits"

June smiled as Sacrosanct was back to his usual self.

...

After a long and arduous war between the rebellion joined by elves and demons and the royals, the final victor that stood victorious was...

"We did it Sacro!" shouted June to the heavily damaged Sacrosanct, bandages all around his body

"...About damn time"

"A-and... You'll be super surprised to hear this but..."

"What is it, spit it out"

"I'm going to be the king now!"

"Huh? You? King?"

"Unbelievable right? But they chose by democratic vote!"

"A what now?"

June had to explain to him what democracy was and how it worked as well as what she was going to do as the new king of Avangarden. He didn't understand most of it but, he was still happy to listen to the new king's dreams.

...

"So... You're finally leaving, Sacro?"

"...It seems that my time has come, my liege"

June quickly ran to hug Sacrosanct. She had grown up to be a great adult and a great king. She even had a group of large bear-beasts behind her, the beasts they recovered from the labyrinth. However, the demon lord was finally approaching the kingdom, and it was the job of the hero to set things right.

"...I have to tell you something, June"

"Wh-what is it?" asked June, through the sniffles and tears

"Sometimes, I still look back at my friends and my past. I think since I don't have much future left, I'm left to look back at what I've done. If I ever somehow survive this... You'll find me back at Championnat. I want to spend my last days in my lost home"

"I... I promise Sacro! I'll definitely meet you!"

Sacroturned back showing a thumbs up as he walked towards the carriage.

"Live! Sacro!"

"I'll try!"

Sacrosanct rode the carriage to the night, as the sun set in front of him.

...

"So... This is the place you fear the most," said the demon lord, walking around the now-defunct dungeon

Sacrosanct stood there and looked around. Somehow, the demon lord teleported both of them under the kingdom.

"...I was hoping that there would be more people here, but at least it's dark I guess..."

Spikes began to sprout from the shadows, and as Sacrosanct dodged them, the shadows took form by covering themselves in rubble, creating a shadow golem.

"Damn it... Only if I could use ⌈Starburst⌋..." said Sacrosanct

However, he could not risk the integrity of the city by destroying the labyrinth again. The last time he did so, a dozen buildings had collapsed on itself on the surface, causing havoc.

There was now only one thing he could do...

He lit up his fist, erasing all shadows around them and readied to attack.