There was a hero in the sky.
He ran through the air as though kicking off invisible steps, blindingly fast. His massive sword crashed against the dragon's body again and again, each strike ringing like thunder.
The bulky, rugged armor he wore was twisted and shattered in places—bent metal hanging by threads, no longer armor at all. Where plates had torn away, raw flesh showed: red, blistered, rotting as though scorched by hellfire itself. His left arm ended halfway down, the rest simply gone, erased.
How he still moved was a mystery. His body should have collapsed long ago.
Yet he fought on—alone, relentless—against the dragon that towered over the town.
To everyone below, he looked exactly like the heroes from old stories: soaring, unbreakable, a single human standing against impossible evil.
The townspeople stared upward in stunned silence. Knights paused mid-spell. Adventurers froze with weapons raised. Hope flickered in every wide-eyed face.
This man—battered, bleeding, half-dead—was holding the dragon at bay. Equal. Maybe even winning.
"Why... how...!"
To Eve, the sight brought no hope.
Because the figure in the sky was Rei.
She could not understand. Why was he fighting? Why was the person who had told her she was the most important thing to him now throwing his life away to protect a town full of strangers?
Seeing him so broken—armor ruined, body burned, arm missing—tightened something painfully in her chest. Fear clawed at her. He looked like someone about to disappear forever.
Rei was hundreds of times stronger than she had ever imagined. Strong enough to level countries. Strong enough to match—and even slightly overpower—a dragon.
He took the dragon's breath head-on when he could have dodged, absorbing the damage to shield the town below. Every movement screamed his intent: protect them, no matter the cost.
The dragon, enraged that a mere human dared challenge it, shifted focus. No longer attacking the city. All its fury turned on Rei alone.
Roars shook the earth. The air trembled with each clash. Explosions of force tore through the sky. Dragon and man traded blows that should have ended either one instantly.
The battle stretched—seconds or centuries, impossible to tell—until finally...
"...Finally, huh?"
Rei stood alone.
His greatsword plunged deep into the dragon's neck. The beast collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash, eyes dull, lifeless.
Rei spoke in a weak, broken voice.
The dragon was dead.
One man. Alone. Had slain a dragon.
The scene looked like something torn from legend: hero standing over fallen monster, sword buried to the hilt.
Silence held the town for one heartbeat.
Then cheers exploded—raw, joyous, tearful. Knights roared. Townspeople wept and shouted. Adventurers raised weapons in salute.
A hero had appeared.
"Rei—!"
Eve ran.
She had to reach him. He swayed on his feet, barely clinging to the sword for support. She had to let him rest, had to—
A deafening roar split the sky.
She looked up.
Two more dragons—identical to the first, black scales gleaming with the same sinister power—floated high above.
They moved lazily, almost mockingly, as though the battle below had been nothing more than entertainment.
"There's still... more?" Rei sighed, exhausted. "How troublesome..."
He dragged his ruined body forward, using the sword as a crutch.
A knight in dented armor stepped forward. "Wait! We should evacuate the city! You need healing right now—your injuries—"
"Don't interfere." Rei's voice cut through, cold and certain. "This is a golden opportunity. I'll decide what's impossible."
"But with that body—!"
Rei ignored him. He sat heavily, channeling mana into the feathered boots on his feet.
Eve stared, heart pounding.
Why?
Why was he still fighting?
He had told her to value herself. To run when it was hopeless. To live.
Yet here he was—half-dead—refusing to flee.
"I am... the man who will become a hero."
The words fell quietly.
The knights blinked. The crowd stilled.
"I have a dream," Rei continued, staring at the sky. "To become a hero. Defeat the Demon King. Become king. But I'm not one yet. No matter how strong I get, without the Holy Seal appearing, it's meaningless."
He forced himself upright, leaning on the sword.
"I couldn't find the conditions for the Seal. So I thought... what does it take to become a hero?"
The knight tried again. "This isn't the time! You need—"
Rei kept speaking, as though to himself.
"It's simple, really. In stories, heroes are stronger than anyone. Braver than anyone. Absolute existences who save people from evil. That's what everyone expects. So... to become a hero... I just have to become that."
He took a ragged breath.
"I just have to get stronger than anyone else. And save people. If I do that... surely someday... the Seal will appear. Then I can be a hero. Then—"
His voice hardened.
"I can't run away here...!"
Ignoring every shout to stop, he launched upward.
The feathered boots flared. He moved faster than eyes could follow, slamming his sword into the dragons again and again.
He took breath attacks head-on—armor melting, flesh charring—shielding the town below.
The dragons hammered him into the ground. He rose. Again. Again.
One arm gone. The other burned to bone. Armor barely recognizable.
Yet his movements grew sharper. Faster. Deadlier.
He fought two dragons at once—dodging, striking, enduring—and made them falter.
Eve had thought it impossible. Everyone had. One dragon had nearly killed him. Two should have been certain death.
But Rei fought on.
And then—
The dragons fell.
One neck severed messily. The other with a sword through its eye.
Both dead.
Rei collapsed against one massive corpse, arms gone at the shoulders, body fused to ruined armor by heat, barely recognizable as human.
"......Done......?"
His voice cracked.
The town stared in disbelief.
Then realization hit.
"He won...?"
"Alone... against dragons...?"
Cheers erupted again—wilder, louder.
But Eve was already running.
She reached him—saw the ruin of his body—and her knees nearly buckled.
"Rei—"
He had saved her—no, saved everyone.
And then—
A roar.
She looked up.
One dragon—eye pierced—slowly opened its remaining eye.
The black curse that had once bound her stirred.
It flowed from her body, writhing with dark joy, and poured into the dragon.
The beast's eye focused.
On her.
Its mouth opened.
A black inferno roared forth—straight at Eve.
Time slowed.
The flames approached, scorching the ground, heat blistering her skin.
She tried to move. Too slow.
Rei's voice echoed in her mind—old words about her blessing.
"The power isn't absolute. It can weaken. Vanish. There's always a sign. A feeling like something is leaving you..."
She felt it now.
The curse had left her.
And gone straight to the dragon.
The black flames filled her vision.
She closed her eyes.
Then—
"? ...Huh...?"
No impact.
She opened her eyes.
Rei stood in front of her.
He had thrown himself between her and the breath.
The dragon's fire washed over him. His body—already broken—took the full force.
He collapsed forward.
The dragon's remaining eye dimmed. Lifeless.
Rei had blocked the final attack.
Eve stared.
"Why...?"
He had said she did not matter.
Said he cared only for himself.
Yet he had shielded her.
"...If... you... died... it'd be... troublesome..."
His voice was shredded, barely audible.
"No... no...! Someone—help Rei!"
Knights and white mages rushed forward.
They cast Recovery spells—dozens, hundreds.
Nothing worked.
The magic dissolved just before touching him, as though blocked by invisible force.
"Please... don't die...!"
Rei whispered something weak.
"...It's... fine... I won't... die... yet..."
Eve clung to that.
He had to be right.
He always came back.
He would tease her again. Grumble. Laugh.
They still had training left.
He had to wake up.
She believed it.
She had to.
But from that day forward...
Rei never opened his eyes again.