Chapter 375: Original Kritias: Invasion

-----

Eustace, the Hero of Light, and the one that brought back the peace to Kritias… which only lasted but a few months, before everything went downhill into a catastrophic apocalypse, was doing everything he could to maintain whatever peace there was left, and the last stand of humanity in this world, lying within this large and ruined city, the former Empire of Bestellen.

Now that the world had become too dangerous to simply roam freely, the Heroes were trying their best to protect these people within these ruins, generating a large barrier through Catalina's [Aegis] and maintain whatever order could be left.

The number of responsibilities amounting over his shoulders simply increased every day, and he had to constantly go and battle powerful monsters emerging from the gates and with the help of his companions, force such gates to close so the world would, for at least another day, not end…

It was a battle against time, Eustace and his friends were looking for a way to resolve this issue, to save Kritias, but even as Heroes with powerful cheat Skills, they were left hopeless…

Bestellen had gone mad, and now inhabited the skies within a gigantic black castle, where the Heroes were planning to eventually raid and ask him to fix this world, to do something…

However, it was very unrealistic to ask a mad god to do something coherent, and Gabriel's faction gained more and more supporters who thought that the best thing to do was to kill Bestellen and give back his Divinities to his siblings, which he had sealed.

But even then, this plan was also inherently flawed, as there was no guarantee that they could destroy the seal of these Gods, and if they would even try to cooperate or even wake up when Bestellen died… It was all a rushed plan, but it was not as if Eustace's plan was not rushed either.

He began to contemplate his life choices and what was to come.

He had given for granted how this world was for very long when the truth finally was revealed, his mind was broken.

And when his best friend died at the hands of Gabriel, he could not help but feel even worse.

He hated this, he hated everything that has ever happened… it all felt like a horrible nightmare…

But he could not show such a face to his friends and allies, to his wife and his child…

He needed to be strong, stronger than anyone, he needed to lead the last people, he needed to show them that there was… a way out of this chaos.

But even he, himself, knew deep down that perhaps, everything was truly hopeless.

The weight of his sins and the responsibilities of a Hero of Light were enormous, Eustace could barely bear with everything, with the suffering, with the depression, with the constant desire of dying and end it all for him…

But he could not, he had a child, a wife, and friends to protect, the people too, everyone…

He could not give up on his life for his mere selfish thought of wanting to die to end his suffering.

He had to bear all the suffering, pain, hate, sorrow, sins, and responsibilities, as he was the Hero.

Practicing his sword techniques all day had made his entire body ache terribly, but he needed to keep practicing, to keep killing monsters, and to keep leveling up and becoming stronger, he needed to become stronger at all costs, it all depended… on him.

Eustace glanced at this son, who had recently hit two years of age, he was walking better now, and had begun to talk a bit better, but was still very dependent on his parents.

"Papa!" he said, as he touched Eustace's nose, his sorrowful expression suddenly changing completely, as a bright smile filled with happiness emerged as a face, sealing his true thoughts deeply within his heart.

"Jonathan… You seem to be able to talk better now… have you eaten your food?" asked Eustace.

"Yes, it was yummy!" said Jonathan, he resembled his father and mother a lot, a beautiful young child, with shining aquamarine eyes and long silvery-white hair.

"I am glad…" said Eustace, caressing his son's head.

"Papa… I want… to learn sword!" said Jonathan.

"Sword… Not yet, you are still too small for that, you know?" asked Eustace.

"Booh…" said Jonathan while pouting.

"Jonathan, don't annoy your dad with something like that, you know that he works very hard to protect everyone, right? You can get to learn the sword… when you grow up a bit…" said a beautiful woman with long white hair and emerald eyes, Cecilia, known as the Holy Priestess, the wielder of the Cheat Ability of [Humility], which improves her ability to heal and also lets her generate a large field that constantly regenerates HP to her allies and boost their stats while lowering the stats of her enemies.

If it were not because she was taking care of Jonathan in the fight against Gabriel, perhaps Daniel would not have died that day…

However, more than half a year has gone by since then, and Eustace had already stopped having such foolish thoughts.

The death of his friend was not the fault of his wife nor his son, but his and his alone.

"It's not annoying… I will happily teach you sword technique when you are a bit more grown-up, Jonathan… For now, you can practice magic with your mother, right? She said that you were very talented," said Eustace.

"But magic is boring! I want swords!" said Jonathan.

"How boring?! Magic is what… moves this world! It is a fantastic power, Jonathan, you gotta learn it well! After all, your father doesn't simply swing his sword around, he uses magic with it to do all the fleshy stuff!" said Cecilia.

"Eeeh? Daddy you use magic? I thought you were all about the sword! Slash! Slash!" said Jonathan, grabbing a stick and slashing with it as if it were a sword.

"Haha. It is as your mother said, I also use a lot of magic with my sword techniques to make the best use of all my power. You will also have to learn magic to use your sword techniques to their fullest, Jonathan, make sure to keep that in mind in this big head of yours," said Eustace, petting his son and kissing his forehead.

"Okaaaay… I will learn…" said Jonathan.

"Hm! That is the spirit my boy! Mommy will not rest until you reach at least Level 5 Magic!" said Cecilia, as her emerald eyes gleamed with conviction, Jonathan's face seemed frightened by his mother's boring teachings!

"Uwah… I don't know… maybe not today…" said Jonathan.

"You're not skipping a day young man!" said Eustace with a smile.

"Aw…" sighed Jonathan, as the two parents who had gone through a lot could finally have some time to rest and smile for a few seconds…

…Only for their smiles to break immediately as they heard a thundering sound resonate through the entire camp.

BOOM!

"W-What is that?!" asked Cecilia while being startled.

"That's… AEGIS! Cecilia, protect Jonathan…!" said Eustace, as he grabbed his sword and quickly equipped his armor, running outside!

"But Eustace! Wait!" cried Cecilia.

"…It's probably Gabriel… Go to the basement, and don't get out!" said Eustace.

"B-But I have to help you! My power is what always kept everyone… alive!" said Cecilia.

"Cecilia, Jonathan is more important! Please… I don't… want to lose you! Not… you! Please, just go!" said Eustace.

BOOM!

CLASH!

Suddenly, another explosion resonated, as the sound of glass shattering into pieces covered the entire place!

"Uwaaaaahh, papaaaaaa!" cried Jonathan while being afraid, as Eustace kissed his son.

"You're strong, right, Jonathan? Let's play a game, your mother and you will go to hide so you can seek the holy sword I have saved in the basement… while I am out, if you find it… I will teach you sword technique! Alright?" asked Eustace.

"Sniff… Really?" asked Jonathan.

"Yes…" said Eustace.

"Okay…" said Jonathan.

Eustace hugged his wife once more.. as he kissed her lips.

"I love you… Please… live," said Eustace.

"Eustace…" muttered Cecilia.

"Now go!" said Eustace, as Cecilia hurriedly moved downstairs towards the basement, where Eustace sealed it with several furniture pieces over the entrance on the floor.

The moment afterward, a woman with short green hair and azure eyes wearing light armor rushed inside the house!

Clash!

"Eustace, Gabriel bought Fernando!" she said, she was Catalina, the Barrier Master, and the possessor of the Cheat Ability [Aegis] which gave her the power to generate powerful barriers that could help her resist almost any attack… except against other Heroes with stronger Cheats.

Catalina was a great friend of Cecilia since they were little girls, and had always helped each other, becoming a great ally to her and Eustace when they became Heroes and fought against the armies of Demons and Gods.

Now, after knowing the truth and seeing the world fall apart, she could not help but feel terrible regret, but much like Eustace or Cecilia, she didn't think that the best option was to simply kill Bestellen, as she held a strong emotional attachment to this God who guided the Heroes when they were confused and fearful in this new world.

"Fernando… They bought the only bastard that could actually break our barrier… Damn it!" said Eustace, rushing outside with Catalina at his side, as he saw chaos unfold everywhere, explosions, fire, destruction, the people crying for help as they ran away, the former Heroes that once protected them now did not even care about these people's lives, killing them in a whim so they could provoke the hate and attack of their enemies.

-----