[44] A Golden Sword

The night sky had become a deep sparse of purple and dying orange, highlighted by a sun reaching its last breath and finally falling behind the walls of the grand city. Claire gazed at that for a moment, taking in the air of the completely deserted Felcius.

'It's beautiful but. . .'

It felt as if she had been transported into a ghost town in a matter of minutes.

'I suppose, everything aside, the people of this city still respect the words of the Hero Killer,' She thought.

The sheet of ice under her feet moved swiftly, her hair and clothing blowing in the night breeze. She stood, arms crossed, flying above the city and towards the adventure guild. Yet, at that moment, the wind whistled near her.

Claire turned her gaze as her hair fluttered brazenly.

Silver hair, silver eyes, and pointed ears. There was a girl dressed in leather of white, riding atop a creature with massive wings and crimson scales and black horns, glistening under a silver moon.

'Is that a dragon?'

She locked eyes with the girl for only a brief moment, then the wings of the creature flapped, and they were gone, leaving behind a hurtling wind that broke the air. The force slammed into the barrier of ice Claire raised to shield herself, the wind shredding most of it before it died down.

"Interesting. . ." She murmured, eyes squinting into the distance.

In one blink, that figure atop the dragon had disappeared past the skies of Felcius, and deeper into the territory of the kingdom of Tress.

Claire descended from the sky, the ice under her feet disappearing as she stopped before three individuals.

"Miss!" A jubilant, young, voice called out to her immediately, "Please heal me, miss!"

Claire blinked her eyes at Asta, his arms missing, his figure full of cracks. She sighed, and her mana enveloped him, his body repairing.

"Ooooh, thank you, miss!"

"No problem, you can rest now."

Asta was in disbelief, his voice sounded as if he'd cry at any moment. "I-I can?"

"Certainly."

He disappeared from the street, returning into her Glacial Tower. That completed, Claire turned to the remaining two girls.

"You look kinda pissed?" Via said, raising a brow as her bunny-ears twitched.

"Oh? You can tell?"

"Well. . ." Via said, "Your face is more frosty than normal."

"That's how you can tell?"

The bunny shrugged. "Kinda."

On the other hand, Lara stared at her silently, brows scrunched while Claire turned to her with a smile.

"You have your powers back, correct?" She asked.

The girl nodded.

"You still refuse to leave this world and never return?"

Lara shrugged, now grinning as she folded her arms. "I like it here, and I'm pretty sure the other Lara would rather I continue to help her."

"You're pretty sure?"

"I can communicate with her a bit now, while I'm here."

"I see. . ."

Claire nodded, it wasn't as if she could stop the girl from entering the world anyhow, even if she were running away from reality. She reached out her hand, a flurry of snow rolled, and she grasped a greatsword of red and silver, currently sheathed. It was heavy. Heavy enough that she had to use all her strength to hold it. There was reason enough why Lara De. Frag was considered the Hero of Strength.

"Here."

She tossed it over. The girl's hand blurred, catching the weapon. In the next moment, she swung it onto her back, strapping it into place with a red belt that ran across her chest. Then she was all smiles while Via rolled her eyes.

"Via. . .I just 'met' a silver-haired, silver-eyed elf riding atop a crimson dragon. . ." Claire said right after, "Do you know anything about that?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes."

Via blinked her eyes, face scrunching in thought.

"Well?"

"It's probably one of the 5 Dragons of Arion," Via shrugged. "Led by the White Dragon of Loyalty, the Hero, Aurora Pendridge, they are Arion's strongest force. They say that each of them is, at least, as strong as a dragon in strength, comparable to the 4 Horsemen of Tress."

'First there's the 7 Heroes, then there's the 7 Seed Guardians, the 7 Deadly Sins and the Demon Lord, and now there's the 5 Dragons of Arion and the 4 Horsemen of Tress? This isekai never ceases to amaze me. . .' Claire raised a brow at these new words, tucking them neatly into the back of her mind.

"Each as strong as a dragon?" She asked the pressing thought on her mind, curious about just how strong that was.

Via nodded, her bunny ears drooped. "Yeah, well. . .rumor has it that Aurora fought the Sword Saint before, and no one knows the result."

At that moment, Lara chipped in.

"She's still alive, so it was probably at least a draw? I've never heard of the Sword Saint not killing anyone who fought him," She said, "You know I had to run away from that guy before? It was hell. He wanted to challenge me, but my system told me to flee."

"Run away from Bell?" Via scoffed, "He can slash through space. No one runs from him unless he wants them to."

Lara tilted her head in confusion. "Bell? Do you know him?"

"We used to be friends, actually."

The Dragon Slayer shrugged. "You? Him? No offense, but I don't believe you, he doesn't feel like the type that has friends."

Via stared at her placidly. "And how do you know that?"

"I'm the same." Lara shrugged. "At least, the Sora Casburn in Merim is the same. Just like me over there, he's the type that has his head stuck in his goal, forever chasing something higher. I chased my work, and he feels like he chases strength."

At that, Claire and Via were silent. For the Ice Queen's part, she was silently studying the girl's expression. For Via's part, she was silently agreeing with the girl, though unwillingly with a sigh.

"Well, yeah. . .you're right there," Via grumbled. "He tossed me aside because I was weak."

"You're weak?" Lara asked.

Via chuckled, sighing once more. "Well, I guess now you know."

"Wow I should have attacked you after all."

What were these two talking about? Claire frowned.

"Via isn't weak," She said.

"Compared to you and a lot of other people, I am."

At that, Lara laughed.

"The hell are you laughing for? Do you wanna be stabbed?" The bunny glared at her.

Lara shrugged, crimson mana seeping out of her and the eye patch that covered her right eye. "Do you want to fight me?"

"Tch."

"Tch right back."

"I should have fucking stabbed you while you still didn't have your powers."

"I should have kicked you in the dungeon instead of thinking you were as broken as Claire. That's what I get for believing an NPC."

"Why you. . .this world isn't a game!"

Though Via didn't know what the word 'NPC' meant, she knew it was connected to the girl's earlier actions, and that it wasn't something she wanted to be called, and was immediately pissed off.

"Slip of the tongue, okay?" Lara quickly replied.

Staring expressionlessly at the two girls who still didn't get along, though bunny-girl and half-dragon, they were more like cat and dog. Claire swiftly changed the subject.

"On the note of Arion's 5 Dragons, which one was the one I mentioned?" She asked.

They stopped their hollowing.

Via's ears perked up. "Oh that. . .that'd probably be the Crimson Dragon of Courage, Aria Stanza, the one who works mostly as the diplomatic envoy of Arion."

Lara grinned, "And now the only one with an actual dragon as a companion."

Via rolled her eyes. "Well, that's true."

"I've actually met them, you know? They tried to recruit me because I'm a half-dragon," Lara said, sighing, "Too many restrictions for my taste, though. It's like joining an hardcore MMO guild."

"Oh? How did the meeting go?" Claire asked.

At that, Via remembered why she had initially been afraid of the girl when they had first seen her fighting Vander Slade, and partly why she wanted to kick her while she was down. Though her persona had mostly been role play, it still didn't change the fact that Lara was a feared Hero.

". . .that's how she got the name 'Dragon Slayer' stuck to her." She murmured, remembering the vision that had entered the minds of everyone in the world, "She barely killed the Brown Dragon's companion on her Second Chapter."

"What do you mean barely?" Lara frowned, then she patted the weapon on her back with a contented smile. "I killed it, then took it to the Forgotten Forest and traded it in for my sword while the Brown Dragon of Strength and Jade Dragon of Justice chased after me. Fun times, fun times."

What was this girl saying? Via scoffed.

"You? Forgotten forest?" She asked, "They let you in? You're fucking kidding. You sure they didn't shoot you dead with magic?"

As the two butted heads once more, Claire held her chin, realizing again that perhaps there were still a lot of 'overpowered' people besides her in this world. If the mere companion of one of the 5 Dragons was enough to challenge Lara De. Frag, then she wondered how strong the actual person was.

"By the way. . .where's the vampire?"

The two looked at her.

"Alice is sleeping," Claire replied, plainly.

"Really?" Via asked, doubtful.

As Claire shrugged, a bright, golden light filled the night sky, drawing the three's eyes towards Felcius's second section. In the distance, beyond that wall, a massive golden sword of light crashed down from the sky, shadowed by a silver moonlight.

"The hell is that?" Via raised a brow. Then her eyes widened. ". . .oh. . .oh fuck."

"Ah this is gonna be fun," Lara muttered.

The ground rumbled, shaking as Claire felt a large spike in mana coming from the city's second district. Then, a voice rang into the mind of all the denizens of the world.

[Legend of the Hero of Heart, Third Chapter, 'I'm Sorry.']