Chapter 238. Siegfried (3)
Siegfried stopped moving.
The one weak point in his invulnerable body was the spot between his shoulder blades, where a leaf had stuck to his skin and kept the dragon’s blood from touching him.
According to legend, Siegfried met his death when his friend Hagen betrayed him and stabbed him in the back with Balmung.
And now...
Charlemagne’s holy sword, Joyeuse, had pierced straight through that very spot.
"..."
Balmung slowly slipped from Siegfried’s hand.
After confirming it, I pulled Joyeuse out of his body.
Blood immediately sprayed from the wound.
Even though we were no longer human, the bodies of us Constellations still reacted much like human ones.
“My defeat, then.”
Siegfried’s stiff voice came out.
“I wanted to fight Kang Yujin as well... but I suppose that will no longer be possible.”
I knew how deeply Siegfried had cared for Kang Yujin.
Because I knew that, I couldn’t help feeling regret over the way things had ended for him.
“Ah...”
Jason suddenly flinched and turned his head.
In the direction he was looking...
Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun were standing there.
Kang Yujin couldn’t understand what was happening.
Kim Nameless stood there with Jason, surrounding a blood-covered man who had collapsed to the ground.
“So you are Kang Yujin.”
The bloodied man looked at him with a complicated expression.
Even in his ruined state, Kang Yujin could sense an inexplicable dignity from him.
“Who are you?”
“I am Siegfried... the Dragon-Slaying Immortal.”
The Dragon-Slaying Immortal.
Kang Yujin remembered that name.
“I’ve seen your name plenty of times.”
“I see. Thank you for remembering me.”
Of course he remembered.
Siegfried was the Constellation who often sent enormous sponsorships along with thoughtful, lengthy comments.
“Whenever I read your messages, they made me think about what my actions really meant.”
“So even my pointless rambling had some value.”
Siegfried smiled faintly.
“Kang Yujin, would you allow me to say one final thing?”
“I don’t really understand what’s going on... but say whatever you want.”
“I see. Thank you...”
Siegfried nodded, then took a deep breath.
“What do you think a hero is?”
And just like usual, he began laying out his thoughts.
“I believe a hero is someone who reveals the nature of the human spirit.”
“The human spirit...?”
“Yes. Humanity’s spirit.”
“We do not call a machine that endlessly repeats acts of destruction without will a hero.”
Siegfried spoke solemnly.
“All heroes, from every age and every land, possessed a spirit that was uniquely their own.”
“Sometimes it was a sense of justice that could not tolerate wrongdoing.”
“Sometimes it was a fighting spirit that relentlessly pursued victory.”
“Sometimes it was an indomitable will that refused to yield to any hardship.”
“Heroes exist as embodiments of the countless qualities humanity considers admirable.”
"..."
“But that is not all.”
“Even qualities people consider undesirable can become objects of worship.”
“There are quite a few evil beings among the Constellations.”
“Why do you think such beings were able to become Constellations?”
“I believe it is because they too laid bare an aspect of the human spirit.”
Siegfried continued.
“Through heroes, humanity witnesses the extremes of its own nature.”
“It does not matter whether that person was a warrior, a sage, a king, or a thief.”
“Those who reveal, without disguise, that humanity is capable of being this way... are revered as heroes.”
"..."
“Kang Yujin, people felt that spirit in you.”
“The drive that keeps you moving forward without hesitation.”
“The boldness to challenge powerful enemies without fear.”
“The indomitable nature that makes you stand back up and continue fighting no matter how many times you fall.”
“That is why people were drawn to you.”
Siegfried paused.
“Your Constellation was the same kind of person.”
“My Constellation?”
“Yes.”
“The Nameless King...”
Siegfried continued before the confused Kang Yujin.
“The Nameless King was always someone who showed people something new.”
“He broke apart the things everyone vaguely assumed had to be a certain way.”
“He boldly showed them something different.”
“And then he won with it.”
“He succeeded.”
“That was how he captured people’s hearts.”
That was unfamiliar to Kang Yujin.
“He is unquestionably highly capable.”
“But I do not believe ability alone could have captured this many hearts.”
“He clearly possessed the bearing of a hero.”
“Initiative.”
“Creativity.”
“Boldness.”
“Qualities many other Constellations themselves had forgotten.”
Seeing Kang Yujin listening carefully, Siegfried smiled faintly.
“That is why you resemble him, Kang Yujin.”
“I resemble my Constellation?”
“Yes.”
“You seem completely different from each other... and yet, in some ways, you are alike.”
Kang Yujin didn’t really understand.
It didn’t quite match the image he had built up of that person over all this time.
“You do not need to understand right now.”
“Someday, you will.”
“To be honest... I don’t really get it.”
“I see.”
Siegfried nodded as though there was nothing to be done about that.
“I rambled on again.”
“A bad habit of mine.”
“No.”
“I don’t dislike the things you say.”
The messages this Constellation had sent had always given Kang Yujin something to think about.
Of course, he didn’t understand even half of what Siegfried had just said.
But perhaps, with time...
he would eventually understand.
“I’ll remember it.”
“Yes.”
“That is enough.”
Siegfried’s outline had already begun to blur.
Kang Yujin instinctively understood.
Siegfried could no longer maintain his existence in this world.
“Kang Yujin.”
“Do not waver.”
"..."
“Even if you are defeated.”
“Even if you fail.”
“As long as you do not lose the spirit that defines you, you can continue to exist as a hero.”
“But if you lose that spirit...”
“you will no longer be a hero.”
“You will become something that merely used to be one.”
After saying that, Siegfried looked back for a moment.
Then he spoke words whose intended recipient was unclear.
“This is something I would like to say to you as well.”
That was the end.
He slowly began to disappear.
Like a sandcastle scattering in the wind...
his body broke apart into tiny particles and vanished.
Siegfried...
I watched his disappearance with a heavy heart.
If our positions had been only slightly different...
Siegfried might have become a valuable mentor to both Kang Yujin and me.
But Siegfried had followed Merlin.
And in the end, that had made us enemies.
“What exactly happened here?”
Kang Yujin stared for a while at the place where Siegfried had vanished.
Then he glared at me.
“Why were you people fighting a Constellation?”
"..."
“Answer me, Kim Nameless.”
