1.
The battlefield, shattered without even a sound, due to the clash between Heroes.
Watching them with sunken eyes, <Black Wolf> finally opened his mouth.
“Vulcan Gardner. Asha Mirabelle. If you do not stop fighting immediately. I will kill Hestia.”
These words were carefully calculated by Nahan.
‘Since this is not just a planned scenario but an actual situation, there are undoubtedly many variables. However, some facts remain unchanged.’
And the most certain fact was just one.
‘Those two accepted the information that Hestia is alive as truth.’
That was the reason for this conflict.
Vulcan stood in defense of <Black Wolf> to obtain information related to Hestia. Meanwhile, Asha charged in, seeking to annihilate the Black Wolves to rescue Hestia as quickly as possible.
In other words.
‘Both of them consider <Hestia’s safety> their top priority.’
And as if proving Nahan’s prediction correct, both of them stopped moving.
“…”
Vulcan, whose face had been dyed red like a berserker, showed a thin layer of fear, while Asha, still indifferent, spoke.
“So she was alive after all.”
The moment she spoke, Vulcan’s head snapped around.
“Asha, you knew?”
“…To some extent.”
Just when all suspicions toward Ian Red had faded, Vulcan roared in frustration.
“You knew…!! And yet you attacked first, putting Hestia in danger?!!”
“The chances of her being alive were high, so I planned to kill them first and safely retrieve her.”
“You call that a justification?!”
Just as Vulcan was about to raise his voice again, Nahan let out a sigh and grasped the air.
“I’ll say it once more—if the fight resumes, I will kill Lady Hestia.”
Click.
As he twisted the air like turning a doorknob, space itself cracked open.
【<Legendary> Artifact – <Robin Hood’s Pocket Dimension (A-)> is activating.】
【“A space just for you.”】
As Nahan swirled his hand in the air, an old doorknob appeared in his grasp, and through the open doorway, the interior of an aged cabin was revealed.
And inside, bound by the limbs and asleep in front of the fireplace, was a girl.
“Hestia!!!”
Vulcan, his eyes burning with fury, attempted to charge into the cabin in an instant.
Grab!
Standing still, Asha stretched out her hand and seized Vulcan’s shoulder.
“Let go, Asha!!! Hestia is in there!!!”
“Calm down and look more carefully.”
Following her cold voice, Vulcan’s frantic gaze moved beyond Hestia.
And then, he saw it.
“…”
Another member of <Black Wolf>, calmly tending to the burning fireplace with a poker.
At the perfect moment, Nahan turned to Dalan, who had just returned, and spoke in a calm voice.
“Veteran. At my signal, kill the girl.”
“Yes, Captain.”
…Crackle, Crackle.
The response, quiet and subdued yet carrying an undeniable heat, blended with the sound of the burning fireplace.
That alone made both Vulcan and Asha realize—
‘A formidable opponent.’
He wasn’t just someone lingering around the A-rank threshold. He was something else—someone who had surpassed human limits, just like them.
‘If <Black Wolf> so much as moves a finger, Hestia will die immediately.’
Relying on their past experiences, the two Heroes reached the same conclusion in an instant and halted.
Once again, it was Vulcan—whose family was taken hostage—who spoke first.
This time, instead of despair or rage, his face was filled with concern and caution as he addressed Nahan.
“Tell me what you want.”
“What I want?” “Yes…!! If you’re holding a hostage, you must want something…!! ……You wouldn’t be holding a hostage unless you wanted something from us.”
Vulcan seemed to regain his composure, recalling Dalan who sat quietly.
Observing him, Nahan thought.
‘Now we’re back in a stalemate. But how do I separate these two? I need to ensure both my and Luna’s safety while finding the best course of action.’
As he followed <Black Wolf>’s habit of tapping his thigh, an idea formed.
‘Vulcan is reckless. If Asha weren’t here, he would have already lost control and attacked. In that case, what I need to do now is…’
…To remove Asha from the battlefield.
With a short pause, he spoke.
“Kill yourself.”
The chilling words descended upon them, devoid of any jest.
Boom!!!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Vulcan drove a shattered shield blade into the ground and asked,
“If I do that, will you release Hestia?”
“I promise.”
“Protect.”
The moment the words left his lips, Vulcan’s thick neck tilted swiftly toward the shield blade. He intended to sever his own neck with the blade buried in the ground.
‘I’m sorry, Hestia.’
I always wanted to properly apologize to you someday, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry for that.
With that as his final thought, just before his thick, sharp neck met the shield blade—
“What about you?”
The mocking voice of <Black Wolf> cut through the air, stopping Vulcan in his tracks.
Zzzt.
Unaware that he had nearly been beheaded, Vulcan lifted his head and looked toward <Black Wolf>.
“…What about me? What do you mean?”
“What else?”
The cold gaze that had been fixed on Vulcan shifted slightly toward Asha.
“You should kill yourself too.”
This was yet another calculated move by Nahan.
‘I really hope she reacts just as she was described in the original story.’
Even as he trembled internally, he maintained the high-pressure persona of <Black Wolf> on the surface.
Then, Asha, still expressionless, grasped her holy sword once more and answered.
“The negotiations are over.”
Her tied-up sky-blue hair swayed with the wind.
As the murderous intent engulfed the area in an instant, Nahan slightly heightened the effect of <Veil of Shadows> and shrugged at Asha.
“Abandoning your comrade’s sister just to save yourself? Vulcan must be disappointed.”
“This is your doing.”
“And that was your choice.”
“Shut up. You can talk in the afterlife.”
Crunch.
Her grip on the holy sword tightened, and energy gathered in the foot she had planted on the rooftop.
Like a finger resting on the trigger of a loaded gun, she was ready to charge.
And in that moment, as Nahan felt the overwhelming fear of death creeping closer—
‘Success.’
Asha Mirabelle of the original story.
A woman who cursed her given fate and mission, yet still became a Hero.
A woman who could feel emotions but could not express them, and because she could not express them, they dulled over time.
She always maintained her composure, always calculated the best possible outcome in any situation, and moved forward without hesitation.
But even she had moments when her emotions surfaced, clouding her judgment.
—…No more deaths.
That was when her own life was in danger.
‘I don’t know the exact reason.’
But one thing was certain—she was wary of death. And the plan, built upon that fact, had worked flawlessly.
‘Now, only the final step remains.’
Feigning a relaxed demeanor, Nahan raised his hand naturally.
“You want me to give the signal?”
“You’ll be dead before then.”
“Oh, how terrifying.”
Pretending it was a joke, but truly afraid, Nahan kept his act up while Asha Mirabelle fell into thought.
She began calculating the probability of actually killing him before he could give the signal.
‘That eerie energy. The way he remains composed suggests that he isn’t even using his full power. He’s at my level. Maybe slightly above or below. Judging by his subordinates’ abilities, it’s unlikely he ranks lower than me.’
The pressure, combined with the word ‘s*icide’, had triggered the ‘Goddess’s Restriction’.
On top of that, she had already used <Judgment>, which could only be activated once a day upon entering a battle. Her Aura and stamina had already dropped to nearly half.
‘One by Hestia, one by the mercenaries, one behind the rooftop, and one unaccounted for. On my side? Just Vulcan… No, just Vulcan.’
Applying the enemy’s numbers and her allies’ conditions to her calculations—
‘The probability of subduing <Black Wolf> before he gives the signal… Less than 2%.’
A far lower figure than expected.
A situation where not only Hestia but even her own life could be lost due to the shift in momentum.
【“■■ comes at the cost of ■■.”】
Asha, pushed into a dizzying abyss, found herself imagining a desperate scenario.
If,
just if—
‘…What if I abandoned Hestia?’
If she focused solely on killing <Black Wolf> and prioritized annihilating the mercenaries?
The numbers would immediately rise. Assuming the worst-case scenario—that he was slightly stronger than her—the probability of victory in a direct fight with him would be—
‘67%.’
If she abandoned Hestia, she could absolutely kill <Black Wolf> by any means necessary…
Grit!
Like someone being chased, she forced herself to discard the process and focus solely on the outcome.
‘Get a grip.’
Abandon Hestia?
Forget being a Hero—what kind of person would do that?
A cruel wave of self-loathing gnawed at her.
But perhaps because of that, her narrowing vision expanded once more.
That was when Asha noticed the pocket dimension.
Her thoughts spun rapidly.
‘…Wait. Do I really need to kill <Black Wolf> first?’
Instead of targeting <Black Wolf>, who was at her level—or possibly even stronger—
‘Wouldn’t it be better to break into the pocket dimension and protect Hestia from this so-called <Veteran> instead?’
The pocket dimension likely had entry restrictions, but at the end of the day, it was only a <Legendary> item.
‘Breaking in is possible.’
Regaining her composure, Asha lowered her stance while keeping her gaze locked on <Black Wolf>.
‘I’ll pretend to charge at him, then change direction and enter the pocket dimension.’
The moment she finalized her plan—
Crack.
The energy she had been radiating scattered and compressed into a single point beneath her feet.
Twitch.
‘Now.’
Noticing the subtle twitch in <Black Wolf>’s fingers, Asha seized the opportunity.
Paang!
She vanished in an instant.
Feigning an attack on <Black Wolf>, she instead threw herself toward the slightly open entrance of the pocket dimension.
‘Got it.’
With this, Hestia’s safety was secured, and she had won the battle of wits against <Black Wolf>.
Even so, Asha remained cautious. She lifted her gaze to observe <Black Wolf>’s reaction.
Although she couldn’t express emotions, she could still feel them to some extent.
‘I got him.’
That was the thought in her mind as she turned her head—
“Got it.”
“…?”
What she met was not panic, but a sly, crescent-eyed grin hidden beneath the mask.
‘…What?’
She was just about to rescue Hestia. Why was he smiling?
Noticing Asha’s confusion, <Black Wolf> chuckled softly and waved a hand.
“Let’s not see each other too often.”
As a bewildered Asha leaped inside and Dalan swiftly stepped out—
Click.
The door shut, sealing the space.
Thud!
Asha tumbled forward, rolling into a landing.
A severed space.
The Veteran was gone.
Only Hestia and herself remained.
“…!!”
Startled, Asha rushed to open the cabin door, only to be met with the sight of a deep emerald forest.
In the darkness of the forest’s heart, the expressionless empress muttered as if lamenting.
“You never intended to kill her from the start…?”
…Then why?
…What was his goal?
…What was this? What was really going on?
The more she thought, the deeper her confusion grew.
“…Mmm. Cold. Can someone close the door…?”
A brown-haired woman pulled her knee blanket closer—
On a late, chilly night.
2.
Meanwhile, back on the rooftop of the Gardner estate, where Asha had disappeared.
I muttered to myself in satisfaction.
“Hero eliminated.”
Now, all that remained—
“…Return Asha too.”
Was this idiot.
I sighed and began to ponder again.
‘How do I trick him? What excuse do I use this time to make him fight Luna? Think. Think harder.’
He needed a plausible reason to pit Vulcan against Luna.
“I shall kill myself twice… No, wait, I only have one life. Is there a way to split it into two? If I divide it into two, then I can save both of them… Wait, if I split it into three, I can save them both and still survive! This is the path to immortality!!”
“Please shut up.”
“Understood.”
The moment I instinctively scolded Vulcan, a thought surfaced in my mind.
“…Wait. How long am I supposed to stay quiet? Can I still breathe? And what about Hestia— Oh, right, I should shut up.”
…Did I even need to come up with an elaborate trick for this guy?
“If you fight, I’ll let them go.”
Immediately—
Pop.
Vulcan yanked his shield out of the ground and slid it onto his arm like a buckle, his eyes gleaming.
“My opponent?”
“…I’ll decide that for you.”
I felt slightly cheated.
