The Anomaly's Path

Chapter 240: What It Means to Be a Hero

"You really have no idea how scary your grandfather actually is, do you, little bird?" Seren said smoothly, her voice echoing through the quiet hall.

"No," I replied bluntly.

My quick, dry answer made Seren’s eyebrow twitch.

She let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking her head as she took another sip of her coffee. The playful energy that had filled the room during her fight with Morgana vanished, replaced by a sudden, heavy weight.

"You have heard the stories, of course," Seren said, setting her cup down on a nearby crate. "Everyone learns about the Great Gate Incursion in history books. They call Zephyr a hero. They call him the Lightning Sovereign who saved the Human Domain. But you do not know what really happened. The books make it sound like a great victory. It was not."

Beside me, Morgana did not crack a joke. She did not smile. Her hands, usually relaxed or holding a drink, were resting heavy on her knees. I looked closely and noticed a faint tremble in her fingers.

"It was hell, kid," Morgana spoke up, her voice dropping into a tone I had never heard from her before. "No... it was worse than that. I saw it with my own eyes. I was there."

She leaned back, staring up at the high ceiling as if she could see the past written above.

"Twelve years ago, before that disaster, gate incursions were normal," Morgana went on.

"A gate would open, a local guild or army would clear it, and life would go on. The world felt safe. At the top stood the pillars — beings who had broken past the Transcendent rank and reached Sovereign. Your grandfather Zephyr, Orion, the Arcanum Sage, and High Elder Sylas. They were the final defense. We believed nothing could break through a line guarded by them."

"Then the Frozen Cross tore open," Seren took over, her violet eyes clouded with dark memories.

"...It was not a normal incursion. It felt like someone had ripped reality apart at the border where many domains meet. A wasteland of ice and ash. And out of that tear stepped something that should not have existed in our world. A Demon General. That thing was not just a monster. It was a walking disaster, an entity that brought an overwhelming power that crushed the local mana fields just by breathing."

"No one knew where it came from until it was too late," Morgana said, her jaw tight.

"It brought an army of abominations that broke everything we knew. It started in that one region, but it spread like fire across the borders. Every domain suffered. The Astra Union, every great noble house, the highest guilds, and the rulers of every land had to send everything they had just to slow the advance. Millions died within weeks. Entire armies were wiped out in hours. I lost friends I had fought beside for years. People I grew up with... swallowed by the dark."

She paused, taking a breath that sounded ragged.

"The final stand happened at the Frozen Cross," Seren added, her voice sharp. "We were losing, Leo. The sky was black, the ice was red with blood, and we had lost all hope. The battlefield was pure despair. And that was when the pillars took the field."

Seren looked directly at me, her gaze cutting. "Your grandfather did not try to become a hero that day. He did not step forward looking for glory or a legend. The people called him a hero later because they needed something to believe in, but the truth is much heavier."

"He took on the Demon General directly," Morgana whispered, her knuckles white.

"The sheer force of their clash was terrifying. The General was a monster that looked down on everything, swinging a power that could flatten continents. But Zephyr fought it, driving it back through sheer violence. Even with the combined forces of the other Sovereigns, we could not kill that thing. Your grandfather managed to wound it badly, forcing it to escape back through the gate before the tear was sealed. But the cost was huge."

Morgana turned her face toward me.

"Right after the gate closed, your grandfather disappeared. He did not stay to celebrate. He went into hiding in a Forbidden Zone, bleeding from injuries that would have killed anyone else, carrying the weight of the thousands who died on that ice. Orion, the Arcanum Sage, and High Elder Sylas also retreated into the shadows, badly hurt or completely worn out. That battle left a scar on everyone who survived it. I owe my life to your grandfather’s sword from that day. If he had not forced that monster back, none of us would be standing here."

"And that empty space changed the world," Seren explained, crossing her arms.

"With the old monsters hurt or forced into hiding, a new era began. The current rulers rose to fill the gap — Emperor Aldric took the throne, King Thandril took control of the Elves, Matriarch Liliana ruled the Vampires, High Chieftain Varga led the Beastkin, and King Borin took the Dwarven forge. The older generation retreated into the inner circles of the Astra Union, and people like Morgana and me became the new wave of Transcendents trying to hold things together."

Seren let out a short, hollow laugh. "If we did not have people like Zephyr back then, every single one of us would be dead by now. That is what a Sovereign at the top represents. Terrifying power. But it is power bought with blood and scars."

The hall fell into a heavy silence. I processed everything, putting the pieces together. The old man I had sparred with, the wild, unpredictable lunatic who almost destroyed a training field for fun, was carrying that kind of history.

I stared down at my hands, my chest tight as the weight of their words settled over me. I knew about the war. I knew about the threat of the Abyss. But seeing it as lore in a game was entirely different from hearing the raw pain of the people who had lived through it.

In the game, Zephyr was a legend for most of the plot. He only appeared near the end — a figure emerging from the shadows just to sacrifice himself to protect the final defense.

When I first woke up in this world, I had not expected to see him at all, thinking he would appear later." later. But this time, everything had moved faster. He had appeared early. He had sparred with me. I had looked into the eyes of a man who had watched the sky break.

Could I ever understand what it takes to carry the weight of millions of lives?

The thought sent a cold chill down my back. Millions dead. An entire region turned to ash. Did my grandfather carry the ghosts of everyone he could not save every day? Was that heavy burden the reason his will was so unbreakable?

Is that what it really meant to be a Sovereign?

I did not have that kind of strength. I remembered the trial I had faced — the horror of watching Wayford destroyed. Seeing the people I knew slaughtered in front of me had nearly broken my mind. That was just one city. A tiny part of the world.

But what about Arthur?

That foolish hero of ours... is he supposed to carry even more than that?

I used to control him behind a screen, making choices without thinking, treating his fate as just another quest.

But it was not a game anymore.

I remembered the end of the story, the dark path it always took. One by one, the people who followed Arthur, the friends who fought by his side — everyone died. They were wiped out until he stood alone at the edge of the abyss.

What did Arthur feel in those final moments of the game? Did he feel absolute, crushing despair? Pain? Sadness? Regret? A numbness so deep that it hollowed him out until nothing was left?

I did not know. I could not imagine it.

To be a hero meant carrying the hopes and the deaths of everyone who looked up to you. I let out a slow, quiet breath, a wave of dark relief washing over me.

I am glad I am not the hero. I did not have the heart for it.

"But that was twelve years ago," Morgana said, breaking the silence with a long sigh as she leaned back on the bench.

"And now, the gates are appearing more often every day. The Astra Union tries to hide the numbers from the public to stop panic, but anyone with a brain can see what is happening. The seals are breaking. No one predicted a Demon General back then, and who is to say something like that — or worse — will not come through in the future?"

She shook her head, looking out over the empty arena.

"In times like this, a hero is needed. We have Arthur, but relying only on a hero is the dumbest thing the world could do. He is just a kid right now. He needs more people around him, and the world needs more strong fighters to survive. That is why you need to get strong, Leo. You and the others are the future of the next generation, and you are going to have to fight to save the next generations."