"Alexander Leibach?"
Hearing this name, Shirou felt strangely familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere, but he couldn't connect it to any famous person.
And the way the person looked didn't seem special.
They were wearing a normal adventurer's coat, carrying two sword sheaths like most North God Style swordsmen. They looked dusty, as if they'd been stuck in the transfer maze for a long time. The only slightly unusual thing was that they didn't seem to have any monster blood on them.
Even Roxy, who fought from a distance as a magician, had a lot of monster blood on her. But this Alexander looked like they'd never been in a fight, spotless, which was confusing.
Besides that, what bothered Shirou the most was when the person tore apart a stone wall with their bare hands. It wasn't a big deal, Shirou could easily break such walls with a sword, but the way they did it was too easy, like they didn't use any extra power at all, tearing it like tearing a piece of paper.
Also, the sword behind this young man named Alexander was huge. Even though it was still in its sheath, it looked more like a giant battle axe than a normal weapon.
Because Alexander wasn't particularly tall, the huge sheath almost dragged on the ground…
While Shirou was observing Alexander, and feeling a little cautious, Alexander walked up cheerfully.
At the same time, the huge sheath behind him dragged on the ground as he walked, leaving a long trail on the narrow path.
"Wow, this place is really narrow."
Alexander seemed to have a problem with the surroundings.
He casually made a move to draw his sword.
Even though he didn't take the sword out of the sheath, he swung it with the sheath, but the speed was so fast that the eye could barely follow.
"Boom."
Roxy didn't see what happened, but found that the narrow path had a big gap chopped out of it. A strong wave of sword energy directly cut out a long path.
He created such power without even taking the sword out!
She covered her mouth in shock.
Shirou saw it more clearly than Roxy. He even figured out that Alexander used the North God Style Twenty Slashes.
But compared to normal Twenty Slashes, Alexander's speed and power were beyond words.
At least with Shirou's North Saint level, he couldn't use Twenty Slashes of that level.
Who is this person?
Is he the North King? Or the North Emperor?
Shirou thought, and unconsciously put his hand on the Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace at his waist. He wasn't wearing the armor given by the Sword God, so he wasn't limited from using sword skills.
Even though he hadn't used Sword God Style for so long, Shirou's Sword God Style skills had improved instead of gotten worse, and were now close to the Sword King's level.
Wearing armor that blocked his power for so long had further improved Shirou's body. The many skills made up for each other, giving Shirou a better understanding of Sword God Style.
If he hadn't been recognized and taught by the Sword God, he could have called himself Sword King without any problem.
But even with the power of a Sword King, Shirou wasn't sure he could beat this suddenly appearing young man who called himself an adventurer, let alone protect Roxy…
Shirou prepared to use all his secret weapons to fight this powerful young man.
But just as Shirou became wary and was about to take out the distant paradise and give it to Roxy to protect herself, the area where Alexander was seemed to collapse.
As Geese had said, the maze environment was fragile and dangerous.
Alexander's act of smashing the wall to widen the road had further damaged the maze's already weak support points.
Shirou even suspected that he had been smashing his way through, already messing up the maze's supports.
The wall above Alexander's head could no longer hold.
With cracking sounds, the ceiling shattered completely, dropping countless stones and burying Alexander.
"Boom!"
Shirou and Roxy were stunned.
They watched as Alexander was buried under the collapsed ceiling.
When the stones fell, Shirou instinctively protected Roxy, making the girl blush obviously, even to her ears.
"Is... is he okay?"
Roxy was worried when she saw Alexander buried under the stones.
Shirou was also a little worried, but he quickly shook his head, not believing he would be hurt so easily.
In fact, he wasn't.
The next second after Alexander was buried, a crossed slash came from underground, breaking all the stones.
"Bang!"
Alexander still didn't take out his sword, but used the sheath to break all the stones and walk out unharmed.
He then smiled and said, "Wow, I didn't expect the stones above to suddenly break, the maze is really interesting."
"..."
Shirou and Roxy were strange when they heard him use the word interesting to describe the difficult maze environment.
But after what happened, Shirou thought that the person really might not be hostile.
He relaxed and didn't look ready to fight.
Most importantly, he wasn't confident he could fight such a powerful enemy in this environment and still protect Roxy.
It was better to try to be friendly for now.
…
Shirou and the others soon met up with Paul and the others.
When they found that Roxy was safe, they happily left the maze to rest, and then challenge the maze again.
After leaving the maze, Shirou officially introduced himself to Roxy.
Roxy was surprised that Shirou had changed so much, not only was he much taller, but he also had the power of a Sword King.
Roxy herself hadn't changed much, and looked the same as before.
Roxy also seemed concerned about that.
Because she was trapped in the maze for a month, Roxy looked weak, thin and tired, so she went back to rest as soon as she returned to the maze city.
Rudeus was interested in discussing magic with Roxy, especially the King-level magic she knew, but he knew she wasn't doing well, so he didn't bother her.
He turned to Shirou and discussed the Alexander who had come back with them.
Yes, Alexander also returned to the maze city with Shirou and the others.
He seemed to have been trapped in the transfer maze for weeks like Roxy. He couldn't use magic to get food or water, but he looked like nothing had happened. Roxy fainted as soon as she got back to the inn, but Alexander was still energetic.
"This guy isn't a normal human, is he?"
Rudeus couldn't help but think.
"I think so too, but he doesn't look like a non-human..."
Shirou didn't know what was going on with Alexander, so he could only try to test him first.
That night, Alexander was drinking water at the inn counter.
Unlike most adventurers, he didn't plan to drink alcohol. Instead, he was properly drinking a cup of hot water, quietly tasting it, and looking at the road at night.
"The moonlight is really beautiful tonight."
As soon as Shirou approached, Alexander noticed him and sighed.
"..."
Shirou didn't know what to say, and felt like the person was giving off a feeling that he didn't want to get close to.
But he had to test him, so he quietly said, "Mr. Alexander, why were you trapped in the transfer maze?"
"Well, that's a good question."
What's good about it?
Shirou almost couldn't help but say.
Alexander said to himself, "Actually, I want to become a world-famous hero."
"???"
Shirou was stunned, not expecting the topic to change so quickly.
Alexander seemed to be talking a lot, and continued, "The reason I came to Begaritt Continent is because I heard that it is full of suffering and disaster, full of monsters, and people are suffering from the pain of monsters, so sad. So, if I can kill all the monsters on this continent, destroy all evil, I might be respected and worshiped by the world like the second North God, and become a hero."
"..."
Hearing Alexander's words, Shirou fell silent.
He didn't expect the person to have such a purpose, which made him remember himself in the past. Perhaps a long time ago, he also gave everything to save the suffering people, to achieve all justice in the world, like Alexander.
But sadly, he can't do it now.
"Wanting to become a hero will mean sacrificing a lot."
Maybe because Alexander's words touched him, Shirou couldn't help but answer.
"Oh? You understand!"
Alexander's eyes lit up when he heard Shirou's answer, as if he had found a friend. "The road of a hero is destined to be difficult, with countless sacrifices and pain. My father always told me that, but I still won't give up, and I'll do my best to pursue the path of a true hero."
"Why?"
Shirou couldn't help but ask Alexander's words, "Why do you have to pursue the path of a hero?"
Shirou was asking Alexander, and the old him.
Now he had almost forgotten his original intention to become a partner of justice.
The young man, or rather, the black-haired boy who still had some childishness, Alexander thought for a long time about Shirou's question.
After a long time, he quietly said, "To say why, it's because I want to surpass him."
"Surpass him?"
"Yes, surpass my father. My father is a great hero. If I want to surpass him, I must become a greater person."
"Uh..."
Shirou didn't expect the reason to be so straightforward, and the complex emotions he had built up were like ordering a glass of plain water in a nice coffee shop, and became strange.
"There's no way, the reason for doing something is always simple, isn't it?"
Alexander didn't have many complex emotions. "It may be based on the simplest longing, or it may be pure competitiveness. In short, the starting point for me to take this path was that simple emotion at that time. As for who I am now, I no longer just aim to surpass my father, I hope that one day I will surpass all the great figures in history and become a hero that has never been seen before or since."
"So you challenged the transfer maze?"
"Yes, after all, becoming a hero is something that doesn't have a real basis, right? Although I want to surpass great existence, there's the problem of what is the basis for proving that I have surpassed them."
Alexander said on his own, "Someone told me to directly challenge the great strong from the past, but that has no meaning. After all, people have so-called prime times, and battles also depend on the situation and luck. Even if you win, if people say you just won because you were lucky or you used sneak attacks, it's all for nothing."
"I don't plan to deny the victories that rely on luck or sneak attacks. But the world doesn't think that way. It's only when someone recognizes greatness that it can be called truly great. So, I've come to the conclusion that I need to get achievements, challenge mazes, or defeat giant beasts. As long as I can be known to people and let the world admit my greatness, I can become a hero!"
"Since the transfer maze is one of the most difficult mazes in the maze city, as long as I cross this maze, I will immediately be praised and praised by people. After destroying the maze, I will completely destroy the core of the maze and destroy all the monsters in the maze. In this way, the lives of the people of Begaritt Continent will become better, and they will praise me more."
"..."
After listening to Alexander, Shirou realized that he was different from himself.
Or rather, Alexander's own thoughts were too shallow.
Although the original intention may be based on longing, the end that Alexander is trying to reach is too simple.
Of course, Shirou won't deny Alexander's thoughts because of this. He has already given up on the ideal of becoming a partner of justice, and he is not as good as Alexander now.
It's just that he can't easily feel relieved about it.
While Shirou had complex emotions, Alexander smiled and said, "I was originally ready to challenge the maze alone, but that transfer magic circle is too complicated and difficult. I went around for half a month without finding an exit. Although I can find an exit sooner or later if I try for a few more years, but as the saying goes, the last part of the journey is always the hardest, if it takes such a long time to challenge the maze, I really can't call myself a hero."
"You mean?"
"Can I join your team? Mr. Shirou, you were able to save that girl, which means you have the ability to see through transfer magic circles, right?"
"Aren't you going to become a hero?"
"Heroes are not without companions, or rather, all the heroes in history created great achievements with the help of their companions."
Alexander said without worry, "If you let me join, I will defeat the BOSS in the depths of the maze. Don't worry, even if monsters of Behemoth level appear, I can destroy them!"
"Who are you?"
Hearing that he was so confident that he could even destroy Behemoth, Shirou finally couldn't help but ask.
Alexander didn't hide it anymore and said with a smile, "I said, my name is Alexander Leibach. If you want to be more specific, you can use the name the world calls me—North God Third! And my father is Alex Leibach , the Second North God who killed Behemoth!"
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