1.
Nahan realized it immediately.
‘That crazy old man designated Hestia as his Incarnation.’
The reason he knew was simple.
【Founder of the Gardners – <Balak Gardner (SS+)> has designated <Hestia Gardner (F)> as his Incarnation.】
Because he could see it.
As if worrying about being exposed as the <Black Wolf> wasn’t bad enough, now Balak himself was practically shouting, “The thief is right here!” and causing a commotion.
The only fortunate thing was,
【*However, upon contact with the Incarnation – <Hestia Gardner (F)>, the descent of <Balak Gardner (SS+)> can be dispelled.】
There was a solution in sight.
‘Last time, I scouted the place during the attack and found the way to the rooftop. Plus, the recent assault has left security lax…’
Before that crazy old man stirred up more trouble, I should slip up there, resolve this quietly, and get out.
“Hah…”
Climbing stairs was exhausting.
With Tehelan half out of his mind, Nahan naturally made his way toward the rooftop where Hestia was.
2.
“Hey! You there, the cold-looking one!”
A thunderous voice.
All eyes turned toward Hestia as she appeared, brimming with excitement.
“That thing you just did, hit me with it too! I’ll block whatever comes my way!”
Unlike her usual composed demeanor, her voice now carried a supreme confidence—almost arrogance.
Her once-calm brown eyes gleamed with an unprecedented vigor, and the raised Vulcanus’ Shield shone brilliantly under the light.
But what truly shocked everyone was—
“Her legs…?”
Hestia’s legs.
The mobility she had lost while saving Vulcan as a child—now, as if it had never been missing, as if she had been waiting for this moment, she stood firmly on the ground.
“W-What?! How is that possible?!”
Count Tehelan’s eyes widened as he trembled in disbelief.
“…Huh?”
Vulcan, who had been rushing frantically to reclaim his shield, froze, speechless.
“…Hestia?”
Even Asha, usually expressionless, murmured as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
It was only natural.
Legs afflicted by the special magic of a high-class beast couldn’t be healed by any elixir.
The most skilled individuals in the Empire, even in the world, had examined her legs, but none could heal them. They had given up.
Even the Hero Party, the strongest in the world, could do nothing but suppress the cursed magic in her spine to prevent it from spreading throughout her body.
Yet now—
“Gardner’s Shield is the strongest in the world!! No force can ever break it!!”
She was standing on two feet.
Because of this, the direct descendants and warriors of the Gardner family clenched their fists and whispered among themselves.
“Has she awakened?!”
“She’s finally awakened!!”
“She protected us even with a frail body—just how much stronger will she become…?!”
They believed Hestia had finally awakened the power of the Gardner family.
Awakening.
A process that shattered and reconstructed one’s entire body, granting unparalleled physical abilities—a miraculous transformation possible only for the direct lineage of the Gardners.
But the Hero Party—the Heroes—had a different perspective.
While the Gardner family fixated on her physical transformation, Asha focused on the changes within her.
‘Hestia was always a reserved child.’
Unlike the characteristic recklessness and valor of the Gardners, she was calm, always thinking things through before acting.
But now, Hestia—
“If you won’t come to me, then I shall go to you!!”
—Was completely different, embodying the very essence of the Gardners.
Almost as if—
‘Something has been overlaid onto her.’
At that moment, Asha recalled what Duke Halorand had told her.
– Four of the Great Ten have changed as if they are different people. There are many similar cases, but one thing is certain—it’s dangerous. Be on your guard, Hero.
Four of the Great Ten had defected to an unknown organization.
Marin, who had encountered them directly, had added that she caught glimpses of demonic energy from them.
‘No way.’
Could Hestia have been afflicted by something as well?
‘That unknown organization Duke Halorand spoke of… those dangerous beings.’
Their every action was horrifying, yet they were so elusive that capturing them was nearly impossible.
– I hesitate to say this, but it seems they are the private soldiers of the Empress.
The Empress’s private army.
A force serving the villainous woman who was rotting the Empire from within. An enemy faction they had intended to eliminate entirely after dealing with the <Black Wolf> Mercenary Corps.
“Am I truly that terrifying!!”
Had they really extended their wicked hand even to that child, Hestia?
– If you encounter them, Hero, it would be best to deal with them immediately. Their numbers have grown so rapidly that they are now difficult to restrain.
– Subdue them?
– Impossible. It seems they have some kind of magical implant. The moment they are captured, they explode and die. Moreover, though I cannot confirm if it is due to the same magic, they exhibit unprovoked hostility toward everyone except their own.
Asha let out a small sigh as she recalled Duke Halorand’s words once more.
Kwak.
Her grip tightened around the Holy Sword.
‘If Hestia has been affected…’
If she had become a puppet of the Empress, aligning herself with the legion and turning against them—
‘Then an unprecedented adversary will be born.’
So if Hestia had truly been corrupted and transformed by something—
‘…I must kill her.’
She was an exceptional strategist.
If she became an enemy, her tactical genius alone would double the casualties suffered by their forces.
‘…But it is not certain yet.’
Vulcan had once mentioned that some people experienced personality changes upon Awakening.
‘If it’s a result of Awakening, then there should be no trace of demonic energy in her body.’
To confirm this, Asha swiftly descended to the ground.
She landed at the center of the banquet hall, where an array of sweet desserts was laid out.
Ignoring the commotion, she stepped through an 8th-circle high-grade barrier, where a blue-haired woman was casually munching on cookies.
“Marin.”
“Ah, are we done?”
“Not yet.”
Asha naturally entered the barrier and brushed away the cookie crumbs from Marin’s lips before pointing to the rooftop where Hestia stood.
“Is there any demonic energy left in her?”
“Hmmm? That girl? My smart little sister?”
Asha nodded, and in response, Marin’s crimson eyes gleamed with a cold blue radiance.
The girl on the rooftop was gripping a brown shield, her excitement childlike as she shouted.
Crunch!
The sweet cookie snapped in half as Marin’s gaze traveled like a dense web, scanning from head to toe—until it halted at the base of Hestia’s spine.
“She’s the same.”
“Are you certain?”
“Eeeeh? Are you doubting me? Hah! Fine, believe what you want.”
Marin pouted, puffing out her cheeks like a child.
Despite the lighthearted atmosphere, Asha’s energy grew noticeably heavier.
Residual demonic energy.
Unexplained hostility.
A sudden shift in personality.
All signs pointed to a rapid transformation caused by the Empress’s sorcery, just as Duke Halorand had warned.
Which meant—
‘Hestia is fated to die.’
Subjugation would trigger an explosion.
Leaving her unchecked would lead to others dying by her hand.
“…Why?”
Asha muttered unconsciously.
– I will do whatever it takes to assist you, Hero…!! Please, just wait a little longer!!
A girl with no innate talent.
A girl who had been disabled, yet had clawed her way to greatness through relentless effort, becoming a brilliant strategist.
A girl who had quietly worked behind the scenes, maintaining balance within the Empire and securing crucial resources for the Hero Party in Asha’s absence.
A girl who could not walk—yet had been sharper than anyone, and had ultimately fulfilled the promise she made.
That very girl had finally stood upon her own two feet, reaching toward the dream she had fought for her entire life.
– If you encounter them, Hero, it would be best to deal with them immediately.
And now, Asha had to cut her down with her own hands.
Why?
Why did she have to live a life like this?
Dark, clinging emotions weighed heavier and heavier as guilt consumed her.
Had she been capable of expressing emotions, she might have shed tears to suppress them.
But even that was forbidden to Asha.
The only thing she could do was—
‘To help you, so that you won’t have to harm the very people you tried to protect with your own hands.’
For that, I—
– T-Then, if… if I ever become truly helpful to you someday… th-then… would I be allowed to call you Sister?
– …As much as you’d like.
– R-Really!?
—I must kill you with my own hands.
Crunch.
Her clenched jaw ground together so tightly that the tendons beneath her chin stood out.
This wretched fate… it was more than enough for her to bear alone.
…Why?
Her despair-laden fingertips slowly rose, her face still devoid of expression.
The target—Hestia.
‘Child, resent me.’
It is something I have grown far too accustomed to.
Do not blame yourself—blame me.
‘Hate me with all you have.’
Hate this so-called Hero, who couldn’t even protect the one who had blossomed so brilliantly.
‘And then…’
After hating me for a very long time,
Once even a sliver of that anger has faded—
At that moment—
‘Just once more, show me the warmth you once did.’
Crack!
With the last lingering hesitation shattered, she unleashed her fastest, strongest attack, aiming directly for the slender, pale neck beyond the shield—
—At that exact moment.
【Dispelled the descent of <Balak Gardner (SS+)> from <Hestia Gardner (F)>!】
…Shhh.
As a shabby-looking priest laid a hand on her, a greenish light flowed out of Hestia’s body.
“…!!”
“…”
A brief exchange of words—
And then, Hestia’s body leaned against the priest, gently collapsing into his arms.
“…What just happened?”
To so easily subdue her, the one who had been more of a Gardner than any other Gardner?
Asha’s dazed murmur reflected the bewilderment of everyone present.
But she quickly snapped back to her senses, and once the initial shock faded, only one thought remained in her mind.
‘I pushed him away, thinking he might get caught up in the crossfire… Yet once again, that man has saved me.’
…Thump.
A strange emotion—one she had never experienced before—welled up in her chest, and for the first time in her life, tears formed in her eyes.
Meanwhile, the priest who had subdued Hestia in an instant looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms and muttered in a low voice—
“Ugh, so many damn stairs. …Maybe I should invent an elevator and patent it.”
Might actually sell well.
