The demon chose self-destruction over enduring Dorothy’s torment.

The crimson flesh rotted and stank within moments after its soul vanished, while only Bruler’s half remained intact.

Dorothy knew he couldn’t survive this. His life had long fused with the demon’s.

*Cough… cough…*

Bruler’s hazy eyes regained a trace of clarity. He strained to turn his head, fixing his gaze on Dorothy’s face beneath her hood.

“Any last wishes, Hero Bruler?”

Though accustomed to farewells, Dorothy still felt a pang of sorrow for him.

His chest heaved violently, each breath rasping like bellows with holes. Death was near.

Blood bubbling at his lips, he trembled: “A-Are you… the Silver Blossom Sword Maiden?”

Surprised he’d recognized her, Dorothy paused—then lifted her hood and gave a soft nod.

“Mm.”

Blood blurred his vision, but her answer made half his face curl into a faint smile.

“Thank goodness… you’re still alive…”

His voice faded. Consciousness slipped. In the haze, he saw his two idiot friends from the tavern again.

He’d been right. Elder Silverflower hadn’t fallen at the Demon King’s Castle.

As long as she lived, the era of Silverbloom would never fade. Who could claim her glory belonged only to twenty years past?

He longed to shove this truth in his friends’ faces—but time had run out.

Another cough wracked him. With his last strength, he whispered: “Beast Tide… danger… hide…”

His chest stilled.

Silence settled over Dorothy. She’d meant to fulfill his final wish.

Instead, his dying breath held her name.

*Beast Tide?* So dangerous even she must hide? Or was someone targeting her during the chaos?

A dozen possibilities flashed through her mind—unanswered, unreal.

Sighing, she closed his eyes, took his wristband, and buried him beneath a simple grave marker.

*For his family. The Heroes Guild will rebury him in Vedona after the Tide.*

Her steps grew heavy as she turned toward the forest’s edge. She glanced back at Ron, still dazed, and beckoned him to follow.

The demon’s death had avenged Ron. Now homeward-bound, he stared at the black-robed woman’s back—

He’d heard every word between her and Bruler. *This* was the legendary Silver Blossom Sword Maiden?

He’d nearly choked when she casually slew a fourth-tier demon beast lunging at them. Disbelief shattered.

He became a chatterbox.

“Silver Blossom Sword Maiden? You’re really her, Senior?”

“I grew up on your stories! I dreamed of being a Hero too!”

“But… Heroes die too easily. So I became a Vedona knight instead.”

“Those rumors about you dying at the Demon King’s Castle—they were lies! That damned Demon King couldn’t touch you, could he?”

“But why have you been hiding all these years—”

Dorothy stopped. She turned, smiling sweetly, a needle of silvery mana glinting between her fingers—sharp enough to pierce bone.

“Shall I sew your mouth shut?” she offered kindly. “Painless, I promise.”

Ron’s jaw twitched. Phantom pain flared. “...No, thank you.”

He stayed quiet all the way out of the Silent Forest.

Back in familiar Vedona, survival felt unreal.

He’d been hopeless—until the Silver Blossom Sword Maiden descended like salvation.

After parting ways, he watched her vanish into the night. Suddenly, he shouted:

“Senior! I don’t know what you’ve endured—but many are waiting for you!”

“I don’t know your choice… but we’ll keep hoping. Hoping for the day you return!”

The shout tore at his wound. He winced, clutching his blood-soaked bandages.

Ahead, the Sword Maiden’s figure paused—then disappeared into darkness without a word.

Like clinging to an unfinished story, Ron didn’t know where his courage came from. He just wanted to see the era of the Silver Blossom Sword Maiden reborn. To hear legends of her and her comrades again.

*But maybe… that’s just a dream?*

Shaking his head, he limped toward Vedona’s clinic under flickering streetlights.

---

The next day, Dorothy visited the Heroes Guild to train Celia’s team—and met Sharin.

“The Beast Tide will be massive. Prepare all Heroes,” she warned, handing over Bruler’s wristband.

*Thud!*

Sharin slammed her palm on the desk. The golden chain on her glasses swayed gently.

Even this outburst radiated elegance.

“I knew it! That bastard Roy told me it was ‘slightly larger than usual’—is he trying to feed Heroes to his knights?”

Hiding the truth from citizens? Understandable to prevent panic. But lying to the Guild? Treachery.

Roy’s political scheming as Vedona’s governor infuriated her.

Dorothy rose to leave. Her duty was done.

At the door, Sharin called out:

“Elder Silverflower… Roy requested aid from nearby cities. Reinforcements arrive in four days. If the Beast Tide hits before then—and we fall…”

“Will you help us?”

Dorothy fell silent.

Bruler’s warning echoed: *Hide.* Even she might die if she didn’t.

Fighting the Tide would expose her. “Silver Blossom Sword Maiden returns” would shatter her quiet life.

She wasn’t a Hero anymore. She had a daughter to raise. No more risks.

But if she refused… Vedona would burn. Its people would perish.

No answer came.

“…Hope the Tide holds off,” she murmured, leaving with a heavy heart.