NH Chapter 11

[Nameless Hero - Chapter 11]

In the midst of the terror and carnage of the hero’s rampage, a single man had the capacity to rise from his seat while all others buckled to fear. This man was the Lord Steward of the Royal treasury, Master of the Knightly Academy of Arms, Lord Merchant of the Eight Merchant Houses, headmaster of the Steward’s Academy, Baron of the King Cities of Zel and Tor, Baron of the port cities of Keldre, Zor, Nahk, and Neldrek, Feudal lord over the castles of Bretzan and Kremara, Lord bestower and keeper of the crown, and Grand overseer of the High Noble houses, Lord Isaac Keylock

The old man’s gaze was cast upon the figure of the girl that he had spoken to just one day’s past. Her figure tainted by blood, most of which had been her own. The lovely smiling face that she had once shown him, filled with both respect and an endless kindness, was now twisted and deformed in the most unnatural of manner. Yet, Lord Isaac did not show the slightest signs of fear, nor hesitation as the old man walked from his seat and leaned on the railing.

The aged man then spoke loudly and with great clarity, his eyes focused upon the figure that cast fear upon the hearts of all others within her reach. His words were for the hero, a single sentence that was intended to break the silence gripping the room.

(Lord Isaac) “Little girl, just how long do you really intend to maintain this little act of yours?”

The hero took one more step towards Gregory, then, sliding her foot along the ground, turned to face Lord Isaac’s direction. Her head slowly turned upwards to meet his gaze, her eyes had dulled, a haze had taken place within them as if any vitality that had once been within had vanished. Her mouth seemed unlatched and remained open, yet no words were spoken. As she swung around, her body flailed as if it were a ragdoll.

(Lord Isaac) “Honestly… What? Were you planning on putting up some act as if you had lost your mind and rampage about in this room after you had your fill of Gregory?

I may be old, but my years haven’t worked against my mind just yet. 

This is a rather dull plan if you wanted to disappear from the Royal Family’s reach or avoid being abused by authority don’t you think?”

The hero remained silent for several minutes, simply gazing at Lord Isaac with a blank stare. As the minutes passed, the strong and overwhelming gaze of Lord Isaac continued to pour down upon the hero. Then, after a certain period of time, the twisted smile slowly returned to her face. She began to mutter incoherently for several minutes before a single comprehensible word came from her mouth before she returned to her silence.

“kill…”

As if surprised by her own word, she began to look pleased, a bright look beamed from her eyes and began to repeat the word, louder and louder,

“kill… Kill.. KiLL. Kill! Kill!! KILL, KILL, KIIIILLLL!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she turned from Lord Isaac and charged at Gregory, who was now writhing on the ground hardly conscious as he lay in a pool of his blood.

Just as the hero was right on top of Gregory, Lord Isaac spoke once again.

(Lord Isaac) “You know that i’ll have to confront you if you actually continue this game of yours little one. I’ll demonize your character to the masses and you’ll never be able to gather anyone to your side. Eventually you’ll run yourself into a corner or make some mistake. One person against over a hundred thousand pursuers, you’re only human after all, so we’ll eventually run you down.”

The hero’s hand froze right before she was about to impale Gregory with his own broken blade. She paused for only a moment before her smiling face filled with madness turned back at Lord Isaac. Just as their eyes met, Lord Isaac spoke as if replying to the hero’s suggestion.

(Lord Isaac) “Hmm, i’m afraid that i’m rather popular with the lower masses. People tend to appreciate lowered taxes as well as more money and a system of education to elevate their status. Even if those were created years back, plenty of noble houses also only now prosper due to my patronage. Those combined will press you heavily in my demise.

You’re someone who I know for a fact can match my wit blow for blow. you tell me what would happen in either scenario.”

What Lord Isaac was referring to was the hero killing him to eliminate his capacity for resisting her in the future.

The hero’s silence carried on for several minutes without any sign of stopping. She had gotten off of Gregory and her face was directed at the ceiling, both her mouth and eyes were closed.

Then, she let out a sigh.

She turned to Lord Isaac again, however, this time her face was akin to a woman’s pout, one hand on her waist as her posture leaned on one hip. She began to speak as if she were merely talking to an old friend after losing a board game.

“Haaah, no fair Old Isaac, that’s playing dirty!”

(Lord Isaac) “Hah hah, and I suppose making that suggestive motion that you were going to kill me was playing fair?”

“Oh foooh, I was just trying to get you to back down ya know If I had a moment of insanity, I could use it to purge the people who were against me. Heck, even the Royalty are just human, with this body of mine, I could just take them all out and leave. What guard would be capable of stopping me on my way out, if they even knew what I had done.”

(Lord Isaac) “Then you would inspire the peasants to rise against the nobility and crush the standing society. You’d probably leave the power to someone else though. You are simply too similar to how I was in my youth.”

“Ooooooh, scary, a Young Isaac… How cute, Aaaaahh!”

The hero over emphasized her words and hugged herself as if she were hugging a younger brother, swinging her closed arms side to side slightly.

(Lord Isaac) “Shame though, I might have lost here if we hadn’t met the other day.

You let it slip that you study the human mind as well as the fact you were a soldier in your youth. No person who learned the martial path as a child would be that bothered by seeing death on the streets unless they were a coward.”

“Oh shoot, no wonder you didn’t buy it. Ya, sadly all the madness from a few days ago doesn’t bother me at all after the fact. The fear was healthy, especially since it is a useful survival instinct so I generally don’t suppress it, but i’ve had mental training, so i’m rather resistant to shock.

That study is a majoring in psychology, the study of the mind. I’ve already had to analyze dozens of madmen and several hundreds of other people during that time, so a little crazy routine wasn’t that hard to do.

It really is too bad you’re the loyal powerful noble type. We’d have been able to clear everything if you had any sense of power lust, though given that you don’t already have it all at your age I already guessed as much.”

(Lord Isaac) “Sadly not.

It is always best to let others lead while you yourself keep the world running with you as the core. Prosperity will spread far, far faster if there are two centers of power and influence moving towards the same goal rather than against one another.”

“Same in all honesty, but there’s also the type who inspires loyalty through charisma and purity of will. If that person leaves an electorate based foundation for after they’re gone, those governments tend to last into the centuries. My leader was one of those types.”

Lord Isaac sighed as if he was expecting something more from the mysterious leader.

(Lord Isaac) “No, once that man passes on, the residual people who truly lust for money, power, and influence will rise from the woodworks and begin to seize and corrupt the system again. The more dominating a person is, the more the hounds lie in wait for him to vanish to sweep up the corpse. Those foundations will probably vanish within a hundred years and be completely different after two or three. That’s a shame, I thought that leader of yours was a more thinking type of man to have you so head over heals towards him.”

“Hmph, no, his body wasn’t very human Isaac, there were some estimates that he would have ended up living several hundred years because of that body. That’s what mine is based off of more or less, but far less in just about every regard. He had plenty of time to rip out the groundwork of the nation using his dominating influence and reform not only the world, but also change the minds of the people over several generations. The very nature of the human race was going to go through a revolution.”

His eyes wide open, Lord Isaac began to understand the nature of the person she was talking about.

(Lord Isaac) “Then i’m simply jealous of his pure fortune, and for the fortune of your world. Truly, some spirit beyond our comprehension has offered its full blessings. With your little performance just now, I highly doubt that there are any of those present who doubt those stories of yours now.

Well, now that we’ve played a little, would you mind finishing off that trash before something happens where he doesn’t die? He’s been plaguing the Princess’s mind for years now, warping her beyond recognition by this point. It’s probably best that the First Prince takes the role of heir now, the Princess is no longer that kind and diligent girl that I once raised..”

Lord Isaac sighed, looking onwards as if his gaze would pierce into the past where his life knew far greater joy.

“What the hell?

That spoiled brat used to be a good person? No, forget good, she used to be a normal person?!”

(Lord Isaac) “She used to be, simply perfect for the roles that the throne required of her until she fell for Gregory. He was probably twisting her mind intentionally to become his puppet, totally dependent on him for everything. The intent was probably to isolate her from everyone else so that he could steal the throne from the Royal Family after the Princess took the throne. Men really do manage some possessive things when a woman’s mind is filled with love. A bad match in the end.

She simply fell for the wrong man and ended up losing herself as a cost, throwing away her everything one by one for that single emotion…

So, I personally ask this favor, please kill that wretch for me if you would.”

The hero sighed with a ‘haah’ before turning towards Gregory. He had long since slipped into a coma due to the blood loss and internal hemorrhaging that he was experiencing. The hero readied and threw the broken sword in her hand at him, and with a *Dunwhakump* the blade passed through Gregory’s armor, splitting his heart and entered the stone floor beneath. Gregory died instantly in his sleep-like state without any further pain. With the idea of Gregory only suffering to this level and then not feeling the pain and horrors of death itself, both the hero and even Lord Isaac felt rather displeased with the end result. 

Having killed Gregory, the link of light once more appeared between the First Princess and the hero. The Princess’s face turned pale as she looked at it, the King let out a faint sigh as he looked on. The link of light, having turned black after the verdict, had disappeared after the hero made her fist attack. Now the band reappeared with its original golden hue.

But, this too was only for a moment before the mysterious band of light once again changed. This time, into a deep and burning red, as if one would burn should they touch it.

The First Princess screamed in agony as a bolt of red energy struck her. It was only for a few seconds before a golden glowing mass of energy no larger than a hand shot over towards the hero, entering through where the link between the two people was. As if her life had been ripped from her body, the princess remained standing there, both hands dropped to her side, her eyes and face lacking any emotion s if she had become a withered husk. All the color from her face slowly drained away.

After the golden energy entered the hero, the link once again vanished.

Various nobles as well as both the King and Lord Isaac tilted their heads down as if they were mourning a death, or perhaps a sense of regret for what happened. 

The hero, confused, asked Lord Isaac what had just occurred.

In response,

(Lord Isaac) “When a Royal Family member falsely accuses someone during a holy trial before the spirits or lords of light, the will lose their very soul to their accused should their accused actually win. If you were actually guilty, the Princess would have at least not lost her soul, but instead, serve you for the rest of her life through obeying your orders. We take this occurrence as a form of ‘divine’ punishment.

That body is merely your puppet now, you can take your anger out on it as much as you wish. After it dies you can determine where the soul will rest, be it in hell or within the light.

If I can ask… just one more favor, please end it quickly for her and let her join the light with her ancestors. While Gregory may have warped her, she was still such a good child, I truly treated her as if she were one of my own, so please… do me this favor..”

After Lord Isaac finished what he had to say, the hero took a moment to think, gazing up at the ceiling as she had done before. Then, as if making up her mind, walked over to the standing hust that had once been the First Princess.

The hero stood right in front of the hust, its lifeless eyes raised from the ground to meet the hero’s, like that of a drone sensing its master’s presence. There truly was no life left within her.

The hero stared at the princess for a moment, then, smacked the Princess across the face with the back of her hand with a *Pshhh*

“That, was for being such a stupid Princess. Honestly, what girl actually lets herself be manipulated and dominated by such a pathetic person like Gregory?”

The husk merely returned its head back to the original position, locking its eyes back on the hero. Since the hero hadn’t lifted the Princess, nor struck her in an upwards direction, the resulting strike only amounted to that of a light smack such as the hero intended. While her physical strength is similar to that of the average peasant male, if not facilitated by her abilities, the situation would result as if she were a normal human, similar to when Gregory had squeezed her hand the previous day.

After the husk’s gaze returned to the hero, the hero grabbed the hust by the face with her right hand, pushing it back and causing it to fall to the ground.

Seeing this, Lord Isaac only sighed, his head sunk slightly as he could only understand that the girl simply couldn’t leave it without venting some stress first.

But…

“Hey Old Isaac, I think i’ll do you one better.”

Surprised, Lord Isaac’s head rose again, questioning eyes were cast out as he looked down at the scene of the former Princess lying on her back, the hero hunched over her.

“After I give you my orders, your soul shall return to this husk you call a body.

Now hear my words, your soul be the bastion of memory, may it cast the locks to oblivion.

Gregory’s entire existence within your mind, your heart, your soul, shall vanish. Your memories, your encounters, your feelings and dreams, everything that he was, gone. You grew up under the instruction of the kind Lord Isaac Keylock for the many years of your youth, knowing just how much he cared for you, and you felt the same, to you, he truly was like a second father, perhaps a grandfather watching out for you.

Now, gaze beyond the oblivion, into that which is the realm of my mind. Gaze into the depths of my realm, my home, my life, through my eyes, learn upon that of my reality, everything that I saw for the last two years shall become one with your mind, just as it is to me.

In this world, I am alone with no other who shares the guidance of the Savior, I suppose i’ll need a friend, so you’ll be forever free from my control. A connection between the two worlds, the only soul from this realm who hath gazed upon my reality and returned. You are of one mind, that is your own and forever your own, your thoughts return, your own being begins anew.

Now, return to your husk, little Princess.”

The hero’s hand glowed golden for a moment as it rested over the Princess’s eyes. 

After a few seconds, the Princess gasped, as if having been held under water, and slowly rose herself up from the ground. Looking around the room, the First Princess’s eyes eventually met with those of the hero. The Princess was puzzled at first, as if looking in a mirror, but she quickly smiled warmly and spoke. It was as if she was speaking for the first time, a moment that she cherished from the bottom of her heart, she was free.

(-Princess- Sophia) “My name is Sophia, pleased to be in the company of… my~~ hero~~”

Sophia had said this while placing both of her hands together over her heart, falsely swooning when she said ‘my hero’ in a stereotypical fashion.

The hero laughed at the gesture for a few seconds and then stood up. With both arms on her waist, she looked up at the ceiling, as was her habit currently, and spoke.

“Well, after all that fun, I really feel all stuffed up in this castle. 

Say, I feel like a walk.”

The hero looked down at the sitting Sophia and said,

“Care to join me?”

Smiling as she said it, the hero offered her hand to Sophia. Confused for a second, Sophia quickly caught up and smiled back.

(Sophia) “I’d be delighted, anywhere in particular?”

“Well, I suppose we’ll just walk outside for now, then we’ll eventually have to go and check out that island. It really sounds interesting, like a deserted island with a bunch of scary ghosts.

Then again, you already knew that didn’t you?”

Sophia winked and together, the two began to walk towards the door, but as they were walking, the hero spoke up in an exaggerated tone.”

“Though, I do suppose we ladies will need a guide. Two beautiful women simply can’t be seen out in the countryside without a responsible male with them.

Now wheeeere on this planet will we ever find someone like that?”

The hero made a drawn out response as she slowly made her way towards the door. Sophia, knowing what the hero was doing, couldn’t help but stop and laughed to herself with a hand over her mouth.

Seeming to get the hint, a certain man spoke up.

(Lord Isaac) “Well then, i’ve been sitting for such a long time on these hard stone chairs, I think I need to let some air blow off all the dust. Would you two ladies mind me escorting you out of the castle, I simply must stretch these worn legs of mine.”

Lord Isaac spoke with a wry smile on his face as the hero turned to him with a face full of over the top confusion, a hand over her opened mouth. Though she quickly turned back to her usual face with a smile and said,

“I simply couldn’t hope to refuse the great Lo~~rd Isaac escorting us. What a privilege Fi~~rst Princess Sophia!”

The hero then walked over to the wall under Lord Isaac’s current position and then jumped up. Using the rough stone walls as a handhold, she jumped up the several meters into the stands where Lord Isaac was currently standing.

“May I help you down my dear Lord Isaac?”

The hero said such, but she had already grabbed Lord Isaacs arm and slung it over her shoulder. Lord Isaac then wore a pained smile as he quickly retorted,

(Lord Isaac) “Oh, erm… I can just walk down you know… you do remember that you’re covered in blood yes… on that topic, shouldn’t we get you a doctor for those wounds?...”

“Ah, that reminds me, hey Sophia, I think I’ll need a bath first, i’m a total mess. At any rate though, Old Isaac, i’ll be fine, these cuts will heal up in another twenty minutes, if that. Doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

After she said that, she picked up Lord Isaac, without allowing his a chance to resist, and jumped down.

After grabbing her purse, the three of them left the room together.

In the many years to come, historians will look back to this day, the day where the course of the world was forever changed. Many events had occurred and many things would come about from them, but the greatest was what would be known as the age, of the Heroes. There would be many, perhaps hundreds, perhaps thousands or millions to claim such titles, but historians from all races, all creeds, and all nations will agree on a single thing throughout all time. That on this day, the first, true hero, was born.

[NH Chapter 11 - END]