Wandering Mercenary in an Open World

King of Thunder, Imrek. He died like that.

He was a warrior with the bloodline of the giant, the guardian of the Clorensis mountain range, and a strength and will that matched his sturdy body. He crushed his enemies with a hammer that he modified from the cornerstone that supported the altar of lightning. He died like that.

How could such a simple sentence end the life of a hero who had made a mark on an era, even though his life was as twisted as a farmer’s? But death was always like that.

Empty and fleeting.

Ruon slowly opened his eyes in the darkness that swallowed him like a tidal wave. In front of him, a huge man with an impressive skeleton was looking at him with his arms crossed. It was obvious who he was.

“…Imrek.”

The giant smiled warmly at Ruon, who called his name. As soon as he uncrossed his arms and reached out his thick palm as if to shake hands, a sharp voice came from behind.

“You bastard, son of a giant! What are you staring at? Kill him now! Kill your enemy! Don’t let him take over your body!”

A woman appeared from the dark shadows, spitting out venomous words. She was a beauty with calm hair that reached her waist and sharp eyes that contrasted with it. She was Hella.

It was too easy to end it.

Ruon clenched his fist quietly. As he was about to put strength into his legs to finish off the witch who was more resilient than a cockroach,

Imrek moved faster.

He grabbed his fist that he had offered as a handshake and swung it hard at Hella’s sneering face that was approaching from behind.

“Ugh!”

With a creepy cracking sound, the witch fell to the ground, holding her broken face. Imrek looked down at her and said.

“Do you still believe you can control me? Now you are nothing but a soul without a body, with nowhere to go.”

He then kicked her torso with his log-like foot. She screamed and flew away, and before her back hit the ground, Imrek ran over and grabbed her by the collar and slammed her to the floor like a wet rag.

“Ah…”

He turned his body away from Hella, who was writhing in pain, and reached out his hand to Ruon again. His face was a relieved expression as if he had fulfilled his wish.

“Thanks to your efforts, I finally got to hit that damn witch. Even though she’s just a soul without substance.”

Ruon shook Imrek’s hand with a hearty laugh and said.

“I don’t know what’s going on. Did you show me the previous scene?”

As he asked that question, Imrek felt a presence behind him and turned his body like lightning and swung his arm.

Boom!

“Kyaah!”

Hella, who was hit by the white lightning, spewed out white smoke from her mouth that was secretly chanting a spell and fell stiffly. Thunder poured over her body, which had shriveled up in an instant.

Crash! Crash!

After the thunder baptism was over, Imrek growled lowly at the witch who was motionless.

“Stop messing around and lie down quietly. No matter how hard you struggle, you can’t scratch this iron fortress of a mind. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”

After warning her, Imrek looked at the hammer in his hand with a faint gaze for a while and then swung it lightly. Surprisingly, the hammer disappeared like a bubble. As if it had never existed in the first place.

“…Really, your inner world is amazing. It’s not a waste of words. You can easily create my hammer like this. I wonder if I would have been different if I were like you…”

Ruon looked around with a tilted head.

“Is this my inner world?”

He saw the colorless world with vague boundaries belatedly, but he couldn’t tell what was amazing about it, so he shrugged his shoulders lightly and continued.

“That’s one thing, but how did you get in here? And who is that uninvited guest over there?”

As Ruon pointed at Hella, who was crumbling like ash, with his index finger, Imrek smiled faintly and answered.

“It’s thanks to your colleague. He took us out of our rotting bodies, which should have naturally disappeared, and gave us a precious opportunity to talk to you.”

He noticed Ruon’s subtle expression at the word ‘us’ and added with a bitter expression.

“It’s not a pleasant experience to be mixed with the mastermind who drove our souls to the rag. But thanks to that, I was able to restore my broken self and talk to you like this… I guess you never know what will happen in this world.”

He muttered to himself and then slapped his forehead with an exclamation.

“Ha ha! This, this. I’ve been sharing my mind with the witch for so long that I’ve become unlike myself. This kind of chatter doesn’t suit a swordsman. Don’t you think?”

What a strange fellow.

Ruon muttered to himself as he watched Imrek laugh heartily. He looked like he hadn’t suffered for a long time in the witch’s clutches.

Well, he was a being with such a will that Hella had to resort to an extreme measure of abandoning her body to achieve perfect control.

Then Imrek stopped laughing and opened his mouth.

“Caliban is doing well. I’m glad that rascal found a great new owner.”

Caliban?

Ruon asked with a doubtful mind.

“Was the Nightmare’s name Caliban?”

Imrek smiled with his teeth showing.

“I named him after my great-great-grandfather, who was a giant. He suits him well, doesn’t he?”

He murmured with a warm gaze that didn’t suit his nickname, the ‘Thunder King.’

“The reason he was reborn in such a state, amidst cursed corpses, must be due to the influence of lingering thoughts after death. The witch’s knowledge tells me so. Anyway, he didn’t choose to be that way, so don’t hate him too much for his occasional violent behavior.”

Huh?

Ruon was momentarily taken aback, recalling how he often struck Nightmare’s forehead with the edge of his hand, but he smoothly changed the subject with another question.

“So, what are you trying to say?”

Imrek quietly replied,

“Actually, everything I wanted to say is contained in my insignificant end. You’ve seen it yourself, so there’s no need to say it twice, right?”

Ruon, clad in shining armor, recalled the being who had displayed astonishing divinity and asked,

“Is there really something about Ganax?”

Imrek stroked his short beard and answered,

“I’m not sure myself.”

“That’s irresponsible, isn’t it?”

“Please understand. Embarrassing as it is, my hammer couldn’t even reach him.”

After a pause, he glanced at Hella sprawled on the ground and continued,

“But I’m confident you’ll have a different outcome. That pathetic witch weighed you and me on the same scale, but I know best how foolish that assumption was.”

He stopped mid-sentence and craned his neck to look up at the sky.

“Those brilliant achievements…”

Ruon noticed something twinkling in Imrek’s eyes and immediately looked up.

There was a small Milky Way.

A feast of stars, large and small, covered the monochrome sky. In their sparkle, Ruon could feel the history they held, the stories he had built.

Then Imrek pointed to the largest and brightest star among the many and began to speak, his voice now damp with emotion,

“To see the memory of a warrior who killed a great demon. Could there be any greater honor?”

It was then that Imrek, who had been muttering to himself, began to crumble into dust.

“The allotted time is far too short. This must be the price for forcibly showing you the past.”

With a mix of regret and a faint sigh, Imrek placed his palm on Ruon’s sturdy shoulder and said,

“I feel guilty for leaving you with such a burden, but such tasks are inevitable for a hero like you, aren’t they?”

Ruon chuckled and responded,

“I don’t need such a flashy title.”

Imrek laughed heartily,

“Right, you’ve got a point.”

His body, now completely disintegrated, floated like the remaining ashes, soaring into the star-filled sky.

From beyond, a deep voice echoed,

“I hope I’ve been of some help on your journey.”

Ruon couldn’t ask what it was. The world, gradually fading to white, soon plunged into darkness.

***

“Oh, Ruon! Are you coming to?”

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Stravo’s face.

What?

Ruon instinctively threw a punch at the closeness, pulling back at the last moment, but the dwarf, already struck in the face, clutched his nose and fell on his backside.

“Argh! Ruon has fallen! Everyone, be careful!”

“Why were you so close?”

Ruon propped himself up with his hands and sat up. The rest of the party quickly gathered around him.

“Are you alright? It seemed like the soul was trying to burn itself to convey something to you at the last moment, so we just watched. It didn’t seem like Hella’s trickery.”

At Tarwen’s worried voice, Ruon nodded lightly and replied,

“Hella was there, too. But before she could do anything, Imrek smashed her.”

Hearing this, the party exchanged glances, puzzled.

Stravo, still not bothering to wipe the blood dripping from his nose, asked,

“Imrek? The Thunder King Imrek?”

As Ruon nodded, Stravo jumped in shock,

“No way… My favorite song is ‘Thunder Steps’! The invincible steps thundering─ filling the world with the sound of thunder─”

Ignoring Stravo’s sudden singing, Tarwen asked,

“So Imrek fell into Hella’s hands. That’s why he acted alone. Even the fusion body shows the effort put into it.”

She inquired,

“What did Imrek show you?”

Ruon briefly explained the series of events related to the Thunder King’s demise. There wasn’t much to elaborate on. The main point was that the entity that killed Imrek was clad in the armor of Ganax’s holy knight.

“Why does that place reek so much?” Kyle asked.

Stravo, his face scrunched up in disgust, chimed in. He was visibly angry at the thought that the hero he admired might have been killed by a holy knight of Ganax.

“What a despicable act for someone who claims to have unbreakable courage.”

“It’s too early to generalize, but it’s definitely not a good sign.”

As Igor finished his words, Tarwen added briefly, as if to lighten the mood.

“Since he mentioned Fleur, maybe we can find some clues if we wrap up this matter well?”

Meanwhile, Ruon got up. He shook off the slight dizziness and checked his condition. He soon realized that his strength and stamina had increased slightly, even though he hadn’t leveled up. It didn’t take him long to recognize that it was thanks to the power of the sentence that had settled in his inner self.

[Hero]

I’m not a hero.

It was a word that was too pompous to say out loud, but thanks to it, his power grew again and writhed roughly under his solid muscles. Ruon was confident that he could overpower even a giant with his strength. Of course, he had never faced a giant directly, but that was his feeling.

“Tarwen, how far is it to Yoram from here?”

Tarwen pondered for a moment at Igor’s question and answered.

“Not much left. If we ride horses, it’ll take four to five days?”

“···I see.”

The priest nodded and quietly added.

“It seems a bit awkward to pass by this village as it is. As Tarwen said, it would be hard to find decent food or water in this land where the harmony of nature has been broken.”

He glanced around the ruined village and continued.

“There are quite a few intact buildings, so why don’t we take a look around?”

Kyle agreed.

“Yeah, that sounds good. We can’t fight the witches on an empty stomach. I’m against fighting while hungry.”

The rest of the party also shared the same opinion, so they all scattered to find some edible ingredients.

Ruon also walked toward a building that was less damaged with a wobbly gait. He thought he might find something to eat if the kitchen was intact. But he suddenly stopped, realizing that he had missed something very simple.

He chuckled at the fact that he had moved around with something much more valuable than food in front of his eyes.

Would Garan make something for me if I brought it to him?

His eyes reflected the huge rune hammer and the shiny scale pieces that were lying on the floor.