The Grand Summoning Hall did not return to normal after the old man was taken away.
The sacred circle still glowed faintly, as if the magic itself refused to accept what had just happened. Priests whispered among themselves in shaken voices, their chants long since broken into uneasy silence.
Outside, the bells of the capital continued to ring.
Hope had not yet died among the people.
Inside the hall, however, uncertainty spread like poison.
The High Priest stood motionless at the center of the ritual formation, his aged hands gripping his staff so tightly they trembled. His eyes remained fixed on the fading runes carved into the marble.
"This cannot be coincidence…" he murmured.
Another priest approached carefully.
"Your Eminence… perhaps the divine crystal malfunctioned."
The High Priest slowly turned his head.
"That crystal has guided hero summoning rituals for five hundred years," he replied. "It has never once given a false reading."
"But… he was—"
"Old," the High Priest finished.
"Yes. Painfully so."
His gaze shifted toward the palace doors where the knights had carried the summoned man away. A faint unease lingered in his chest — a feeling that the kingdom had just made a mistake far greater than a failed ritual.
Meanwhile, King Rodem had retreated to the throne platform.
Nobles surrounded him in a storm of anxious voices.
"We must conduct another summoning immediately!"
"The public cannot learn of this disgrace!"
"If the demons attack before we secure a true hero—"
"Enough."
The king's voice cut through the chaos like steel.
Sweat beaded across his brow. He had imagined many outcomes for this ritual — failure, success, even divine wrath. But he had never imagined receiving a hero who had already reached the end of his life.
"We will not act in panic," he said. "We must confirm the situation."
Princess Elmia stood quietly beside the throne, her thoughts far from politics. The image of the old man's frightened expression refused to leave her mind.
He had looked… abandoned.
"Father," she said softly, "should we truly have sent him away so quickly?"
King Rodem did not meet her eyes.
"A kingdom cannot be protected by sympathy," he replied. "We must be realistic."
"But the gods—"
"The gods demand results," he said firmly.
"And that man could not even stand."
The words felt heavy in the air.
Across the hall, the divine crystal suddenly pulsed with light again.
Every priest turned toward it at once.
The young acolyte holding the stone gasped as heat spread through his hands. The crystal vibrated violently, casting shards of gold across the chamber walls.
"What is happening?" one noble whispered.
The High Priest approached slowly.
"Place it on the circle."
The acolyte obeyed. The moment the crystal touched the ritual formation, blinding radiance burst outward. Runes reignited with terrifying intensity, forming symbols none of the priests had ever seen before.
A voice echoed from within the light.
Not spoken aloud.
Not heard by the ears.
Felt.
—SUMMONING COMPLETE.
The High Priest's eyes widened.
"…Complete?"
Another surge of power filled the hall.
—HERO STATUS CONFIRMED.
King Rodem stepped forward, his composure cracking for the first time.
"You mean to say… the ritual succeeded?"
—DIVINE SELECTION ABSOLUTE.
The light faded as suddenly as it had appeared.
Silence followed.
The meaning was clear.
The gods had not made a mistake.
The old man truly was the chosen hero.
Fear spread through the nobles more quickly than hope ever had.
"What have we done…?" someone whispered.
Princess Elmia felt her heart sink. The cold certainty of guilt settled deep within her chest. Somewhere beyond the kingdom walls, a man chosen by divine will had been abandoned to die.
And yet the ritual had declared him irreplaceable.
King Rodem clenched his fists.
"Prepare another summoning," he ordered harshly.
"We will not stake our survival on a miracle that cannot fight."
The High Priest hesitated.
"Your Majesty… the divine law states only one hero may be chosen at a time."
"Then we will break divine law if necessary," the king replied.
"I will not allow this kingdom to fall because of a cruel joke."
Outside the palace, thunder rolled across distant mountains.
Beyond the frontier, beneath falling snow and the jaws of monsters, the rejected hero's life was already reaching its end.
But fate had not finished with him yet.