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Chapter 1166

The two men began to fight. Their weapons were practically blurs, and as they fought, they used skills as naturally as they were breathing. This was truly a higher-tier battle. Up until now, the fights I had seen were usually powerful, but they weren’t smooth. People would call out attacks, spending time on offense and defense. While attacks would happen in flurries, there would often be breaks.

The difference here was that the battle felt more frantic and the moves felt smoother. A skill wasn’t just performed, but it occurred and then melded into the next which melded into the next. They’d even perform combos, which were popping multiple skills off at the right time to take advantage of the previous skill. When I attacked, I’d use something like Quick Attack. These fighters would use Quick Attack, but then that would set them into the position to do a Fireslash, which would then blind their opponent and allow them to perform a Break Slice, leading into a Rapid Flurry.

Lydia had said that she didn’t feel like she could become better with the sword without finding a master. I had understood what she meant at the time, but it had never been clearer until seeing two masters fighting. Some things couldn’t be overcome with speed and levels. Prediction, intuition, reaction… these were things that could only come with training and experience. It was clear that both of them were extremely experienced. Remarkably, both men were only a few years older than me. Yet, they had been training since they were teenagers, while I had only been handed my strength a half year before.

“Please, stop!” Faeyna cried out desperately as her brother and the Elf Hero fought violently.

Her brother had been pushed into a fate that he wanted no part of. He desired to be free and love who he wanted. Yet, the woman he tried to be with died too young. At that point, he was found by a master who began to train him. Although he had told his sister he was a dungeon diver, the truth was that he was a True Dungeon Diver with aspirations of becoming a powerful hero. Only a true hero could be able to defy their fate. It was that kind of thing. Did that mean that the day I had stopped Shao, I had become a True Hero because I defied her fate?

Well, just because I had that job didn’t mean I was a hero by the way these guys were using it. There were multiple heroes in this world. There were the local heroes. They received the tokens given by cities, and thus had the selfless job Hero. Then, there were the legacy heroes. That was the best way to describe the likes of the Maid Hero, the Hero King, and so on… These were all people who had become heroes by absorbing the legacy of a heroic lore.

The final type of hero, the one that Faeyna’s brother was trying to reach, I guess I could call a true hero. This was someone who had gained a great deal of power by their own right, forging their name into history. If a true hero met a tragic end, they may end up becoming a legacy hero, only being able to pass down their mantle to the next qualified person.

What did that make me? Was I following the path of a true hero? I had various blessings, and my soul had been grown and expanded. I was no longer a normal person bound to live a normal life. As I was lost in thought, the fight had reached a critical point. The victor of the fight had been obvious, and I had already guessed who it would be.

“Brother!” Faeyna cried out in horror as a sword pierced right through his chest.

Chapter 1167

Faeyna ran up to her brother as he collapsed to the ground. She had her arms wrapped around his head. There were only three elves in the world, and they were still killing each other. Well, I didn’t know how many elves there were. To the best of my knowledge, they were exceedingly rare, just like deep dwarves. There could be a village of them out there somewhere. At one point, they had come from a dungeon, so if we were talking worlds there might even be an entire world dedicated to elves. One day, it would be nice to take Faeyna to such a place.

At that thought, I came to two realizations. The first was that Faeyna had killed herself two months ago. My opportunity to take her anywhere had passed. The second was that I wasn’t powerful enough. I could barely travel between Earth and this world. There was no way I could travel to another world beyond this one. If I wanted to be able to fulfill the wishes of everyone who followed me, I would have to become stronger.

“F-Faeyna…” Her brother declared, blood spurting out of his mouth.

“Brother… you didn’t have to do this!”

“I… I just want… you to be… free. Find… the one you truly love. Please. Never let them… go…”

“I will! I will. Just get back up!” She cried. “Brother? Brother!”

“Hmph… he didn’t have to force my hand.” The Elf Hero sniffed.

“You killed him!”

“He was a criminal. He earned his fate.”

“Resurrect him!” She shouted, tears running down her eyes.

He narrowed his eyes. “I can’t. What Priest would resurrect a criminal? Even if I could find one that would risk becoming a forsaken Dark Priest, I wouldn’t. Don’t think he’ll be lucky again to find some random vagabond who illegally resurrects him.”

I coughed awkwardly. I knew that historically, it was probably this mysterious master who had brought him back, but I had technically been the one to do it. Being called a forsaken vagabond, even by this arrogant guy, pissed me off a bit. I pulled Xin’s blade out of my Inventory anyway. This guy deserved a thrashing.

Although the scene had been playing out as if I was a ghost, I had already walked across this front line before. Thus, I felt like I should be able to engage now. Plus, the man’s unpleasant eyes were on Faeyna, and it was making me angry.

“I will never forgive you!”

“You will, with time.” He smiled. “You will become my woman. Once you pop out a couple of babies, you’ll be far too busy to hate me.”

“Okay, that’s enough-”

“He’s not your opponent.” A voice came from behind me. I turned around to see Faeyna’s brother standing there.

“Didn’t you just die?” I turned back to the scene unfolding between Faeyna and the Elf Hero.

The body of her brother was mysteriously missing, but neither seemed to notice. I turned back to the man in front of me. He had his blades out, and he gave a helpless shrug.

“He is too strong for you to defeat.”

“I don’t care, I want to protect Faeyna.”

“So, did I… but we both failed, didn’t we?” He asked.

I made a bitter expression. He wasn’t able to protect her from the Elf Hero. I could already see her body changing. This moment was the moment she became the Maid Hero. It was her brother’s sacrifice, and that promise, that had driven her to take on the mantle. It was my failure that had driven her to death.

“I won’t fail her again.” I declared. “It may be too late for you, but I can fix this?”

“Can you?” He smirked. “First, you’ll have to show me you have the strength!”

Chapter 1168

“Don’t look so mopey. I will make you a happy woman.” The Elf Hero spoke with a conceited grin on his face.

While I was squaring off against her brother, the Faeyna from the past was facing the mocking smile of the Elf Hero, who from beginning to end was acting like he had everything under his control. It was clear that he felt no guilt over killing her brother. As for his aims, if they were to keep the elf line going, murdering another male elf seemed like a funny way to show it.

“I will never go with you!” Faeyna cried out. “You’re a murderer!”

The Elf Hero’s smile froze on his face. “If I’m a murderer, then it would be best if you didn’t defy me!”

“I don’t have to be freed if I don’t want to! A slave must be willing for the payment to allow release!”

“Heh… you think that I will give you a choice? If I can’t have you as my wife… then I’ll use you as my slave!” He started to take several steps toward her.

“I won’t! The man I choose to be with… it will be my choice!” Faeyna declared resolutely, seemingly honoring her brother’s desires.

He stopped for a second and then smiled once again. “Is that what your mother would have wanted?”

“My mother…” Faeyna looked uncertain for a moment.

Her mother had pushed her and her brother together. She had wanted a continuation of the species. Surely, had she known about the Elf Hero, she would have been ecstatic if her daughter was both freed and could continue the elf line. Plus, it’d be with a hero, so the babies would undoubtedly be strong. Faeyna’s will faltered for a bit, but when he took another step, her resolve returned.

“Don’t you want to honor your mother?”

Faeyna looked away. “Even so… mother is dead now. I must do what will make me happy! I can’t live for her anymore!”

“Heh…” The Elf Hero’s smile turned violent. “Hehehehe… if I had realized things would have ended up like this, I wouldn’t have arranged to have her killed.”

“Wh-what?”

“I could have probably used her as a bargaining chip.”

“Y-you…” Her expression turned pale. “You killed my mother?”

“Everyone in town said that it was your mother that kept you here. I figured you’d never let go of her as long as she remained alive, so I prepared her removal from the picture.” He responded, a disgusted look on his face.

“Y-you killed her!”

At first, it looked like Faeyna fell to her knees in despair, but a moment later, she shakily stood back up, holding a broom that had been knocked off the porch during the earlier fight.

He grinned. “She even begged me. She apologized to your brother with her dying words, she said that he was right all along. I wonder what that meant?”

The Elf Hero had been taunting her in his insolence, but he hadn’t seen their past as I had, and he also hadn’t heard or cared about her brother’s dying words. Her mother had lived with regret. In the end, she realized she had wronged both her children, and all she had wanted was to get forgiveness for not supporting her son. As for her daughter, she should only marry the man that she wanted. That was what her mother’s final words meant.

“You…” Energy started to swirl around her. “You’ve… made a mess of everything!”

The elf’s smile started to drop as he felt her growing power. “Y-you…”

“It’s time… to clean up the mess!”

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