The Last Ruler: The Return of the Goddess
Those who are left behind are never truly alone

Elsewhere, the forest is far from the city. Some people are busy casting spells in the magic circle that surrounds them. A moment later, one of them stopped, and it made the other one stop as well.

" The monsters are dead" said the man who was greeted with a surprised look from the others.

" How can it be so fast? They're over 200."

" Who's the one who's been cleaning them up at once? Or... how many came to eradicate??"

His other members were curious about it, yet the person leading the way, who was probably the one controlling the monsters shook his head at them.

" At first there were only four people, when then someone came. It was he who killed them." replied the leader.

" What?! How could? Did you see his face?"

" Sadly not. For some reason, the vision I shared with the monsters couldn't see it. As if something was blocking him. But obviously what I saw was a woman, she was spitting out such a strong bluish flame."

" woman?? Is he one of the 'heroes'?"

" I don't think so. I didn't hear that any woman could spout bluish fire between them."

They were confused by all the curiosity they had themselves. Very sure no one will come there quickly, they do not realize the danger from above those who are immersed in darkness. Till...

Shutt!!

" Back...!!"

...Until one of them fell down with a big wound on his back, by a figure they did not expect.

" Damn it! Who are..!!"

One of them tried to attack her while the other moved to capture the person. But he moved quickly, twisted his body and jumped high after stabbing the neck of the person who wanted to attack him. And his figure disappeared again in the darkness around them.

There was no need to ask who it was, because from the beginning there was only one person who came to the same when Altair and the others focused on what was happening in the city.

While those who were shocked by the surprise attack gathered at the same place, such a thing only facilitated the attacks of the person who had targeted them from the very beginning.

He dropped down from the air, right in the middle of those people. As his sharp red eyes swept across every face shocked by his presence, the blade from his sword moved swiftly cutting through the wind and slashing at all of them.

" Back!"

" Aagh!"

They all fell down one by one on the ground, Israhi looked at them in silence and cleaned the blood on her face. His eyes then turned to the only member of those mysterious people who had survived his sword.

The person shivered in fear and only looked at him with a look of despair. And as Israhi walked up to her, the man immediately inched away from her.

" To-Please don't kill me. I promise I won't do this again." said the frightened man, as Israhi pointed her sword at him.

" You dare ask for forgiveness after causing the lives of innocent people to die before? Since you could easily do all this, then you should be ready to endure all the consequences as well."

There was no chance of negotiating, even just for the safety of the one person who had made trouble.

" Say where you come from?" Israhi wanted to know what motivations this unknown group had for attacking the city that clearly did not give them any advantage.

" O-us.. star. fa-.. heukk!!"

But before that person finished his words, he was acting strangely. He suddenly looked as if he was choking and wriggling in pain.

Israhi who saw it was quite surprised, but he acted quickly and directly hit the man so that he fainted. And as she expected, she also returned to normal after losing her consciousness.

He could not lose the source of important info, even though it was just the smallest piece.

" Israhi, what are you going to do with that guy??"

Just then another voice came from back there, and the figure of the owner was revealed from the darkness. Aksa, walking leisurely while placing both of his hands behind his head.

" Basic, you asked me to come here. But it turned out that everything was done before I even got my turn. "

" It doesn't matter, does it? The most important thing is to get information. This guy's gonna be useful, so we better not lose him."

Aksa who heard her turned her eyes towards the man whom Israhi had previously hit, then approached her while setting up a rope to tie her.

" He may make a pact with someone, so he will not be able to open his mouth easily. Even if he himself wants to do it. "

Israhi knew very well what Aksa meant. The man was sworn not to open his mouth to anyone.

" That's hard. "

" It won't be hard if you can find someone who can break that vow."

" The cost of breaking the oath is huge, do you think anyone wants to take a risk?."

Thas right. Because of the expensive price, if it fails, a person can be severely injured to death if it cannot withstand the effects of breaking. Only those who are experts can do it, it also clearly needs high caution.

They think long enough while waiting. Finally their other friends also came, Remilia immediately explained what had happened there and the problem was finished. They looked fine without any serious injuries, it was good considering they faced such a large number of monsters. There were no reports of casualties from them either.

Although Israhi and Aksa are curious how powerful the attack carried out by Altair.

" I know he's strong. But I didn't know that he was that strong." said Aksa, looking at Altair who was sitting and being bullied by Yi and Mira because of the wounds he had caused himself. "...You said the heat was about 3000° centigrade more? it was enough to burn someone to ashes in an instant." he continued.

" Dad, we were surprised, too..." Remilia could not say anything about it. Anyone would not have thought.

But the curiosity of Remilia is now diverted to the person who fainted and bound there.

" so... Who is this guy?" Remilia wanted to know that.

Hearing the question, Aksa and Israhi also simultaneously to the man. " Ah, he's the survivor of all the masterminds behind this monster attack. We couldn't extract information from him because of the oath he took, so we tied him up first" Aksa said.

" So we need to find a person who can break that vow and a place to interrogate him, huh?"

Yeah, Remilia's right. But where can they do that...

When a hand then grabbed the shoulder of Remilia who was seriously thinking about it, and she immediately turned her attention.

" What are you worried about? We can hand it over to the Foldes" Mira said casually.

" To the Foldes?" Remilia remembered that.

In reality, Mira was still the first army chief of the Foldes empire. Of course he had access to the palace to open the imperial prison. But.what empire could really accept this man in his imprisonment or not.

As if knowing his thoughts, Mira raised her hand and touched Remilia's nose. " You don't have to worry about that. In any case, criminals are still criminals, and prisons are made to lock up criminals. If you're worried about the information, we can share it. Isn't that a good thing?" said Mira.

" It makes sense. "and Israhi also thinks it's good. There is nothing more to argue between them.

" By the way, where did this damn kid come from? He must have a group, right?" ask Mira to be more sure.

Israhi who heard him tilted her head slightly, when her right hand touched her chin. " If it's not wrong, he says he's from.. Star fu.. fa.." but he doesn't seem sure what to end it with.

Until it was Yi who finished it for her, "You mean the Morning Star?"

Hearing the name made Mira gasp in shock, where maybe she did not know it. The group that destroyed the village of GoldenRose, in the empire of Foldes. The place where Altair lived before.

Even Altair himself who heard that, immediately turned his head with an indecipherable expression.

" The Morning Star Group... It was more than important enough reason than I thought. "murm Mira muttered with a very serious expression. " It just so happens that the Empire is also investigating the group since 18 years ago. Caught this guy really helps" said Mira anyway.

" Since. 18 years ago..?" Aksa and Remilia were quite surprised by that.

" Why?"

" That's because-...!"

Cringg...

And there he saw, Altair who stood with a dark expression, and a sharp sword in his hand.

As Mira became aware of the situation, Altair quickly moved forward towards the bound man, clasping his sword tightly. Even Israhi and the others were not given the opportunity to process their shock.

Because of the urgent situation, Mira finally installed the body and blocked the Altair road there. Because of that, of course Altair had to stop in front of his teacher.

It was a really cold situation, whether it was the expression or the aura released by Altair was equally cold. While Mira survives in front of him.

Altair's expression hardened and he asked, "Guru... What are you doing..?"

Mira herself knew what was going on here, the sensitive Altair by the name of 'Star of Dawn' and the initial situation threatening the city reminded her of her devastated village.

And now in front of him was a person who became one of the members of that group.

" Duh, really... Yin gave me a troublesome brat..."

Mira knew it was a situation where Altair could slash him without hesitation for blocking his path, yet somehow he could not hide the smile he was licking. Elsewhere, Israhi and her friends who do not know anything just silence do not know what to do.

All the decisions are in Mira's hands now, letting Altair kill the man out of his anger or giving the man into Yin's hands for introigation.

" Guru-.."

" Altair, you can't kill him right now." in the end Mira doesn't want to lose track of what the group left.

Even though that meant making his poor disciple sulk, "Why?! He's a member of that group, that guy's dangerous!."

" He's harmless because he's alone." Mira stepped forward near Altair, this teacher and disciple quarrel would not end if she did not bite into his weakness.

Altair wouldn't listen to anyone either, but...

" Did the teacher forget what these people did to my village?! They burned everything!!."

" It's because of that.."

...Mira knows best what Altair's weaknesses are.

He made it right in front of Altair, he grabbed both shoulders and stared fixedly at him. "... If you want to succeed your revenge plan, you have to let this guy live. He could have useful information. The group of 'Stars of Dawn' is not a small group of Altair, they have long been rooted in this arena. Their groups were also scattered everywhere. You won't make it if you kill him now."

Mira's words were reality, Altair also knew that because Yin told him. In fact, if he wanted to get rid of all the members of the group to their roots, he had to know where they were and who was in it. He must have a lot of information.

Altair closed both of his eyes briefly, as he brushed off Mira's hand and moved his sword. Mira became tense with that, Altair was not an opponent who had distance. Both near, medium and far, Altair can carry out deadly attacks from anywhere.

But in that case right now, Altair had only cut through the empty air beside them. At the same time, a spark appeared between the person they had captured and Altair's sword.

Aksa who saw him who first realized that, her facial expression was filled with shock. " Did he just cut that guy's vow bond? That easy?"

While Altair casually again sheathed a sword in his hand. " From earlier that thread continued to disturb my mind" he said briefly.

While Mira, who heard him say such a thing, only laughed weakly, between having to thank him or be shocked by what he had done, her heart raced fiercely. Calming Altair was much more nerve-wracking than fighting a dragon for him.

But he also realizes Altair agrees with him for now, or.

Altair turned back to him, "If the man is useless, I want him dead." and that is the last word Altair said before he walked away and disappeared.

Mira who saw that just kept quiet and snorted for a while, then turned towards the captured person.

"...As you wish." he muttered.

He also pulled the person in his hand, "Alright, I will send this person first with a special. Please take care of Altair for a moment. It won't be too long" Mira told Israhi and others who still didn't say a word after seeing Altair like that.

Of course, that does not mean they are not curious, until Remilia breaks the silence between them first.

" ...What happened to the village of Altair?"

Mira was silent for a while, while then lightly shrugging both of her shoulders. " You heard it yourself. The village is on fire."

" I heard about the GoldenRose village that was attacked..." Remilia paused for a moment and looked around, and hesitantly continued her words. "...Is there anyone else who survived there?"

Well, the news about the collapse of GoldenRose is indeed widespread, because it is a famous village. And it is also natural that people do not know too much about the number of casualties, because the empire never published it to anyone clearly.

For the sake of maintaining Altair's mental calm...

" ....Only Altair survived." Mira wasn't too comfortable saying that, but there was no point in her keeping it from them.

" If only Altair survives, does that mean there's really nothing left?" sahut Aksa who then covered his own mouth with a surprised expression.

Mira nodded her head confirming that, "Uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, friends and everything she knew there. His village is now just a cemetery with a pile of roses everywhere. Only Altair remembers the village, as the only one left behind. "

Because of that he could also be what he is now, and grow up with a vengeance and loneliness.

" Well, I'm leaving now. You don't have to do anything, just keep an eye on him from afar" said Mira, who switched the conversation, and began activating teleportation magic.

" Come back." and Yi then replied.

Mira just smiled, as she and the person in her hand immediately disappeared from the place.

Dawn is coming up soon, the rays are starting to be seen from the east. Remilia and the others rushed back to the city to check things out and explain the conditions to the residents. While Israhi...

He went to the place Altair might have been, just to make sure he was really there.

And it was true, Altair sat there pensively with a sad face. Facing the rising direction of the sun, its dazzling light gradually illuminated his face.

Zico was beside him, and then rubbed his head against Altair's arm to call for his attention. Altair, who knew it, rubbed Zico's head with his hands.

"...Am I being too sensitive?" said slowly.

Kyu..

Zico doesn't think, everyone has what they hate and what they don't hate.

" Thank you. But it didn't comfort me at all. "

Zico just silently looked at him, what he expected if Altair would understand with such a brief explanation as his own mind was troubled in anger.

Human emotions are weak. Sometimes it is more dominant than rationality.

Something else caught Zico's attention, a paper bird flying above them. Zico who saw it immediately sparkled quickly jumped behind Altair, and pulled his hair hard until Altair's head looked up there.

" Ackk!! Zico, what are you..."

Ky! Kyu~

Altair was fixated on what Zico showed, or rather what he pointed out above. The paper stork that he was waiting for at all times, the mysterious friend who always filled his heart with the writing on the paper.

They have been doing it for a long time, and it always makes Altair feel better.

As soon as Altair realized the existence of the paper crane, by itself. Altair immediately unfolded the paper, and Zico climbed over his shoulder to peek at the contents as well.

~'Altair, if you have difficulty, try to remember something valuable. If that doesn't help you, try taking a few breaths to get your emotions under control. Do not be consumed by fire, or you will lose again.

You're not alone anymore, are you? : )'~

" I... am not alone..?" Altair did not feel that way, but when he thought that way.The faces of the people who had been waiting for him flashed through his head.

Unknowingly, even a gentle smile fell on his face. He hugged the paper in his chest. Zico looked at his face which no longer looked glum, and nodded his head lightly.

" right... I'm not alone anymore. Everything is here..." Altair knew she was never truly left alone, all that was precious to her was well stored in her heart.

Everything was...