Chapter 10: Mortal's Struggle (Patreon)

"Urgh! Ugh—!"

Raul knelt at the edge of the broken flagstone road, both hands braced against the cold, wet ground, retching up what little remained in his stomach.

Stomach acid burned his throat, its sour stench tangling with the street's reek of blood, charred wood, and rotting corpses, all of it flooding his nose at once.

He'd barely managed one ragged breath before his gut clenched again, curling his spine as another violent dry heave tore through him.

Nothing was left to bring up.

But his body kept shaking.

"Raul!"

Hurried footsteps splashed through standing water. Anakitty reached his side and dropped to a crouch at once, pressing a hand to his back.

"Rest for a bit! You've been running since the night of the Great Feud — you haven't actually slept at all!"

Her palm moved gently over his soaked clothing, trying to steady his ragged breathing.

Her cat ears were pressed flat with worry, and her voice had begun to crack toward tears.

Raul wiped his mouth with his sleeve, looking wretched.

"I can't... there's still intel that needs delivering."

"Someone else can carry the messages for the southern district."

"Everyone's busy. Some are hurt, some are too exhausted to walk, and some aren't coming back at all."

Raul coughed twice, fingers clawing at the ground.

"At least I can still run."

He forced the words out, as if speaking firmly enough would make his weakening legs obey again.

But his body didn't answer to his will.

The moment he tried to lift his knee, his vision went black and his shoulder swayed. Anakitty caught his arm just in time to keep him from pitching face-first into his own vomit.

"You call that still running?"

Anakitty bit her lip, her eyes reddening.

"You're at your limit."

Raul didn't argue.

He knew his own condition well enough.

He hadn't been cleared to join the front-line fight against Evilus's main force — only to carry messages, help with evacuation, and move the wounded. Compared to the first-class adventurers bleeding beneath the city walls, everything he did felt insignificant.

But every street he'd walked these past few days had worn away at him, piece by piece.

An adventurer on a stretcher, missing an arm.

A mother weeping over her child's belongings.

A resident lying at the mouth of an alley, too late for anyone to help.

At first Raul had looked away. Later, he no longer had the strength to. He told himself to just keep running, just get the intel to Finn. As long as he didn't stop, he wouldn't have to think about why those people had died, or admit how terrified he truly was.

Now the numbness had worn off.

Fear, exhaustion, and nausea crashed over him at once, tearing easily through the thin shell of resolve he'd been holding together.

"Why am I so weak..."

Raul lowered his head, his voice hoarse.

"The seniors are fighting those monsters, the captain's commanding the whole city, and even that Artorias kid without a blessing has been out there in the ruins looking for enemies and survivors."

Anakitty froze for a moment.

Raul had heard about the black-haired boy too.

The boy named Artorias had no level, no strength to stand against high-tier adventurers.

His body still carried unhealed wounds; his companions had to watch his footing when he walked.

Yet through hearing far beyond what any ordinary person could, he'd picked out breathing hidden in the ruins again and again, pinpointing Evilus ambush positions.

Because of him, Lidith of the Hermes Familia had avoided a fatal explosion.

Because of him, residents of the industrial district had evacuated in time.

Several rescue teams that had nearly walked into ambush zones changed course thanks to his warnings.

Raul had once seen Artorias from a distance in the Central Plaza.

The boy had just finished a scouting run, his abdominal bandages soaked with blood, his face pale.

Adi had told him to rest, but he'd only pointed toward a collapsed building to the north, saying there were two people still alive inside.

He hadn't said anything grand.

He'd simply confirmed he'd heard a cry for help, then passed the word along.

The adventurers nearby had followed his direction and dug through the rubble — and really had pulled out a father and daughter.

That scene had stayed with Raul ever since.

"He's hurt worse than me."

Raul's fist pressed against the flagstones, knuckles trembling faintly.

"He doesn't even have a blessing, and he's still helping. I can't even manage to deliver a message. And I'm supposed to be a Loki Familia adventurer too...!"

Anakitty lowered her eyes.

She couldn't easily say "You've already done well enough."

The words might comfort Raul, but they wouldn't erase the fear they'd both lived through.

She felt it too.

Fear, seeing enemies stronger than herself. Hesitation, hearing screams in the distance. She understood the gap in strength between the two sides all too clearly, which was exactly why she knew that if it came to a direct clash, she might not even get the chance to run.

"Raul."

Anakitty gripped his shoulder, slowly tightening her fingers.

"I'm scared too."

Raul looked up.

The girl's cat ears were still flattened against her hair, and there was no forced composure on her face.

"Every time I finish delivering a message, I hope the next one never comes. Every time I hear an explosion, I want to find somewhere to hide."

She drew a deep breath, forcing her trembling voice steady.

"But I remember something Artorias said, when someone asked him why he wouldn't rest."

"What did he say?"

"He said, he can hear."

Anakitty looked at Raul steadily.

"If he can hear that someone's still alive, he can't just pretend he doesn't know."

Light rain fell between them.

Raul stared at her, stunned.

The words were too simple to pass for some heroic oath, yet they pressed down on his chest like a weight.

If you can hear, then you warn people.

If you can run, then you carry messages.

If you can raise a sword, then you stand between danger and those who need protecting.

Everyone was only doing what they were still able to do.

Artorias had never demanded of himself that he become a first-class adventurer, and he'd never denied his own worth just because his strength fell short. He stood behind Adi and Ais, pointing out every danger he could hear, letting those better suited to fighting swing their swords.

Raul, meanwhile, had kept measuring himself against Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, as if being unable to stand on the same battlefield made everything he did meaningless.

"I'm such an idiot."

He let out a long breath, a bitter smile curling his mouth.

"I've wanted to say that for a while now."

Anakitty's eyes were still wet, but her tone had regained a touch of its usual calm.

Raul gave a weak protest.

"You don't have to agree that fast."

"Then sit up straight. At least drink some water first."

She unhooked the waterskin at her waist and handed it to him.

Raul rinsed the sourness from his mouth, then took a couple of small sips. Cold water washing down his burning throat slowly cleared his scattered thoughts.

Just then, a rhythmic sound cut through the thin mist.

Clang.

Clang.

Steady. Clear. Without a trace of panic.

Anakitty's ears shot up at once.

"Did you hear that?"

"Sounds like a hammer."

Raul pushed himself up, bracing against his knees.

They were in the city's western district, where a crosshatch of canals cut the streets into uneven blocks. The drizzle and low temperature had gathered into a thin haze above the water, blurring the distant buildings into vague outlines.

The hammering sounded again.

Anakitty checked for signs of enemies nearby, then helped Raul to his feet.

"Let's go look."

They followed the sound through the alleys beside the canal.

The mist gradually thinned, revealing a massive stone bridge spanning the river ahead.

The bridge stretched over sixty meters, wide enough for several carriages to pass side by side. Thirty-one statues lined its railings, each representing a hero who had once fought monsters in ancient times and carved a path for humankind.

"Hero's Bridge..."

Raul slowed his steps.

When he and Anakitty had first arrived in Orario, they had come here specifically.

Back then, they'd stood beneath these statues, gazing up at heroes who'd crossed long ages, imagining that one day they too might leave behind deeds worth telling in the Dungeon.

Now the bridge was riddled with cracks.

The railings had been blasted apart in several places by magic, and the arches supporting the stone bridge had broken. Some statues had lost their heads, others were snapped at the waist, and a few had been knocked over entirely by explosions, leaving only bare pedestals.

Clang.

The hammering came from the middle of the bridge.

A short old god stood alone beside a fallen statue, repairing a cracked pedestal. His clothes were covered in stone dust, his bare arms lined with small wounds, and a blood-soaked strip of cloth wrapped around his palm.

"Lord Goibniu?"

Raul stepped closer.

The old god didn't turn around, driving nails inch by inch into the frame that would hold a statue in place.

"Why are you here alone?"

"My Familia's all at the forge."

Goibniu switched to a smaller hammer, checking a gap in a statue's leg.

"There's no free flame in the workshop right now."

Raul looked around.

"But there's so much else that needs repairing right now. The infirmary, the gates, the food storehouses — aren't those more urgent than this bridge?"

Goibniu struck one final blow.

"This is the only place that can't be abandoned."

Raul froze.

The old god wiped the grime from the statue's surface with a coarse cloth, revealing the stone's original color beneath.

"This bridge, of all things, cannot be lost."

Anakitty looked at the row of heroes lining the bridge.

Goibniu's voice carried with each hammer strike.

"A granary destroyed can be rebuilt. A broken road can be repaved. A snapped weapon can be forged again."

He bent down, straightened a frame, and gently pushed a repaired statue back onto its pedestal.

"But once the legend of heroes dies out of people's hearts, this city will never stand again."

Raul's breath caught.

Hero's Bridge had been built before the gods descended.

The people of that ancient age had fought here against monsters pouring out of the great hole. They'd had no blessings, no knowledge of when victory might come, yet they'd taken up arms anyway, carving a path for those who came after with nothing but flesh and blood.

Over thousands of years, the stone bridge had weathered monster attacks, floods, wars, and fires. Every time it was damaged, someone had come to repair it.

Many of those who'd repaired it had left no name behind.

They had simply refused to let the heroes' images vanish.

Goibniu stepped back half a pace.

The statue he'd just restored was of a Pallum hero, holding a spear and leading a warhorse. The figure wore armor over its face, its cape flung out behind it, spear tip aimed toward the far end of the bridge.

Legend said this hero had once carved a path through a monster siege, guiding countless refugees to safety.

Raul stared at the statue, his vision blurring.

He raised a hand to rub his eyes, but rain and tears mixed together, and no amount of wiping could clear them.

Anakitty stood beside him, her shoulders trembling faintly.

"Artorias is like this too, isn't he."

Raul spoke suddenly.

"What?"

"He hasn't beaten Zald. He hasn't retaken the walls."

Raul kept his eyes on the hero statues.

"But he's always pointing the way for other people."

Anakitty nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Then let's keep running."

Raul held out his hand.

The girl looked at his mud-streaked palm, then took it.

"Let's agree — if you can't run anymore, you tell me."

"Same goes for you."

"I will."

"Then so will I."

Their clasped hands tightened together at the same moment.

Raul was still exhausted, his stomach still cramping, his legs still nowhere near full strength. He hadn't suddenly become brave, hadn't gained the power to defeat a strong enemy.

But he stood steady again.

As long as he could still deliver one more message, he'd keep running.

As long as he could still lead one more resident to safety, he'd keep reaching out.

Even if, in the end, no one remembered his name, none of it would lose its worth.

"Are those adventurers over there!"

A sharp shout rang out from the bridgehead.

Six figures in off-white robes — Evilus members — swept through the arch and up onto the bridge. They carried katanas, curved sabers, and short spears, cloth masks over their faces showing nothing but eyes full of malice.

Their leader spotted Goibniu, alone, working on the bridge, and let out a mocking laugh.

"One god and two brats who can barely stand?"

Another tapped the bridge with his blade tip, sweeping a contemptuous glance over the damaged statues.

"Orario's practically finished — why bother fixing these broken rocks?"

"Kill them, then push the rest of the statues off the bridge."

The six spread out, gradually sealing off the bridge.

Raul could tell their level.

None of them had reached Lv. 2.

But every one of them had killed before. That undisguised bloodlust still put cold sweat on Raul's palms.

He could hear his own heartbeat.

Fast. Heavy.

His sword hand began to shake again.

"Lord Goibniu."

Raul didn't take his eyes off the enemy.

"Please get down off the bridge."

"I'm going to keep repairing it."

The old god picked up his chisel, turning his back on the approaching enemies.

"They're yours to handle."

Raul froze for half a breath, then straightened his spine.

"Understood!"

His blade left its sheath.

Anakitty drew her twin shortswords as well, stepping forward to stand beside Raul.

"I'll take the three on the left."

"That's a lot, isn't it?"

"Fine, two, then."

"So you're leaving all four to me?"

"You still have breath to complain — guess you're doing fine."

Raul's mouth twisted into a grin.

Their banter clearly enraged the enemy.

"You're dead!"

Two soldiers charged first.

Raul raised his shield to block the first katana. The heavy impact numbed his arm, but instead of standing his ground like before, he stepped back at once, shifting the enemy's weight forward.

"Aki!"

Anakitty cut in from his side.

Her right-hand shortsword knocked aside the second attacker's saber; her left-hand blade grazed his vambrace. The man recoiled in pain, and Raul lunged forward, slamming his shield's edge into the first man's jaw.

Teeth and blood flew.

"Damn it!"

A short spear stabbed in from the side.

Raul heard Anakitty's sharp intake of breath and spun to raise his shield at once. The spear tip struck the shield's face, sparks scattering. His feet slid on the wet ground until his back foot found purchase against a statue's pedestal, steadying him.

"Stay away from the statues!"

Raul roared, shoving the spear aside.

"You care about a rock?"

The enemy sneered, thrusting again.

"I'm protecting something you don't deserve to touch!"

Raul charged straight at him.

In such close quarters, the spear had no room to maneuver. Raul pinned the shaft down with his shield and slammed his sword pommel into the man's nose. As the man reeled back, Anakitty darted past from the other side, her twin blades crossing to knock the weapon from his hands.

The remaining enemies rushed in together.

Raul and Anakitty fought back to back.

They didn't have Finn's ability to read a battlefield at a glance, or Ais's power to shatter an enemy formation with a single stroke, or Artorias's hearing that could catch danger from far away.

What they had was a year and a half of accumulated experience in the Dungeon.

How to angle a shield to deflect a blow.

How to step around slick ground.

Where one should move in to cover the other when they were surrounded.

These fundamentals, once taken for granted, had become the very thing keeping them alive now.

A katana grazed Raul's cheek, leaving a stinging cut.

A saber sliced Anakitty's shoulder, blood quickly soaking through her clothes.

Neither of them retreated.

Behind them, Goibniu's hammering continued, steady as ever.

Clang.

Clang.

Each strike seemed to tell them: the bridge was still here.

The heroes were still here.

"You worthless brats, hiding behind the high-tier adventurers!"

The enemy leader gripped his sword with both hands, cutting straight down at Raul.

Raul raised his shield.

The shield face buckled with a crash, pain flaring through his arm as if the bone might snap. He went down on one knee as the enemy's blade kept pressing down.

"Raul!"

Anakitty was blocked by the other two, unable to reach him in time.

The leader loomed over the boy through the shield.

"I hear the Loki Familia's got a few monsters. Clearly you're not one of them."

Raul clenched his teeth.

"I know."

"Then die!"

"But I'm still a Loki Familia adventurer!"

He let out a battle cry, twisting the shield sharply to the side.

The blade pressing down on it slid off toward the ground. Raul abandoned the now-warped shield, gripped his sword with both hands, and drove his whole body into the enemy's chest.

The sword's hilt struck the breastbone.

The leader staggered backward.

Raul gave him no chance to regain his balance, swinging his blade upward, tearing through the leather armor over his chest. Before the man's scream had even faded, Raul had already spun toward the two attacking Anakitty.

"Get down!"

Anakitty dropped at once.

Raul's blade swept over her head, driving back the enemy on the right. The girl planted both hands on the ground, swept her legs to knock the other man's ankles out from under him, then flipped upright, both shortswords instantly at the fallen man's throat.

"Don't move."

Her voice was still shaking.

But her blades held perfectly still.

Seeing their leader down, the last two enemies turned to flee the bridge.

Several figures suddenly appeared at the bridgehead.

At the front was a wounded human adventurer, followed by a Beast Human, a dwarf, and a few young adventurers with crude gear.

They'd only come to check what the sounds of battle meant.

Someone in the group recognized Raul.

"That's the Loki Familia!"

"Just two young ones guarding the bridge?"

"They held off six Evilus members!"

The fleeing enemies swung their sabers, trying to force a path through the newcomers.

The human adventurer instinctively stepped back half a pace.

He was only Lv. 1.

So were his companions.

For the past two days, they'd only been assigned to carry supplies, retreating on command whenever Evilus attacked. Some of them had started to feel like a burden; some had even thought about slipping away and hiding in the ruins until the war ended.

But now, seeing Raul and Anakitty standing in the middle of the bridge —

both of them gasping for breath, covered in wounds —

and still refusing to give ground.

"That kid, Artorias — he saves people even while he's hurt."

The dwarf in the group gripped his battleaxe.

"And a couple of Loki Familia rookies are holding this bridge."

The human adventurer looked at the charging enemy and drew his own chipped katana.

"Can we really not manage to block even this much?"

No one answered.

The next instant, several weapons came out at once.

"Stop them!"

The ordinary adventurers charged forward.

Their movements weren't elegant, their coordination far from that of a seasoned party. One nearly clipped an ally with his sword; another was forced back several steps by a saber.

But they held the enemy's path all the same.

The human adventurer took a slash on his shoulder to shield the others; the dwarf used the opening to bowl into the enemy's legs. The Beast Human wrenched a saber free from an attacker's grip, and the two remaining young adventurers pinned the last man to the ground together.

When the fighting ended, everyone on the bridge was out of breath.

Then someone laughed, unexpectedly.

"We won?"

"Six of them — we actually beat all six."

"Don't just stand there gawking, tie them up!"

The adventurers scrambled to pull out rope.

Raul leaned on his sword, watching these ordinary adventurers he'd never met before, and a wave of warmth rose in his chest.

Artorias hadn't come to this bridge.

He didn't even know his actions had been witnessed by these people.

But every time he pointed toward a voice calling for help in the ruins, he'd told everyone watching something important.

You didn't need overwhelming strength to find your place.

If you couldn't defeat the strongest enemy, you could still save the person right in front of you.

If you couldn't become the hero who lit up the whole city, you could still hold a stretch of road for the people beside you.

More and more adventurers arrived from the bridgehead.

Some took over guarding the prisoners; some pulled out medicine to bandage the wounded; others picked up tools, asking Goibniu how to repair the broken railings.

The old god handed a hammer to one of them.

"Clear out the cracks first."

"Got it!"

The hammering, once a single sound, became two, then more.

Raul looked toward Anakitty.

The girl's face was streaked with blood and rain, but she wore a tired, genuine smile.

"Still delivering the intel?"

"Of course."

Raul flexed his injured arm and winced at the pain.

"But five minutes' rest first."

"Finally, you're listening."

The two of them sat down together beneath the statue of the Pallum hero.

Neither of them noticed that defeating a strong enemy, holding Hero's Bridge, and standing back up on the verge of collapse had become a feat great enough to drive their growth forward.

When Loki next updated their Ability Values, both Raul and Anakitty would cross beyond Lv. 1.

Around them, more ordinary adventurers had already begun to move.

Some ran toward camps that had come under attack.

Some headed for the infirmary.

Some carried word of the underground passage Artorias had discovered onward to other districts.

The resistance hadn't begun with a single order.

It had begun with one person stopping to listen for a cry for help, with two young adventurers drawing their weapons on Hero's Bridge, and with countless ordinary people finally deciding not to rest all their hopes on a handful of heroes.

Goibniu swung his hammer down, driving the last fixing nail into the pedestal.

The restored Pallum hero raised his spear toward the road ahead once more.

Beneath the bridge, the river rushed on.

On the bridge, Raul pushed himself upright, leaning on his sword.

"Let's go, Aki."

"Where to next?"

"The Central Plaza. The captain's still waiting for our report."

The two of them walked across the crack-riddled bridge.

Behind them, the steady hammering continued; ahead of them, Orario still lay beneath dark clouds.

The city was still scarred, and Evilus hadn't been driven back.

But ordinary adventurers had taken up arms.

They would still feel fear, still be sick to their stomachs, still find their legs buckling at the sight of death.

But they would also stand back up whenever a friend reached out a hand.

The legend of heroes was still unfolding.

And this time, among those turning its next page were Raul, Anakitty, countless low-level adventurers whose names no one knew, and a black-haired boy who didn't yet realize how many people he'd inspired.

Each of them walked the path they were able to walk, moving toward the same horizon.

Orario's counterattack had begun.