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Boooom!
"Kgh...!! At last, at last the seal on that [Hero] has been broken! The calamity that will destroy this world will lay waste to everything with the same might it had thousands of years ago!"
At the main gate of [Ruberios].
Granbell, the white-haired old swordsman who had been dueling Hinata just moments ago, twisted his lips savagely as he stared at Chronoa, now freed after shattering the sacred ark.
"Granbell, so it really was you...!"
At the same moment Chronoa's seal broke, Luminous found herself facing him in place of Hinata, who had vanished together with Chloe. She summoned her beloved sword, [Night Rose], and drew up a blood-red aura from her entire body.
She had already heard in advance that when Chronoa was released from her seal at the appointed time, Chloe and Hinata's souls would be sent into the past along with her. Even so, Luminous had no intention of hiding her killing intent toward Granbell.
"Here and now, I'll settle the score with you that should have been settled thousands of years ago!"
<—Confirmed. The [Unique Skill] [Lust] of the individual Luminous Valentine has evolved into the [Ultimate Skill] [Asmodeus], [King of Lust].>
With a power that had reached the ultimate, she once more faced the long fate entwining a [Demon Lord] and a [Hero].
**
"...Looks like things are about to start over there too. So, shall we begin on this side as well?"
"......"
Crackle...!
On the roadway a short distance from the main gate, where Luminous and Granbell's battlefield had formed.
This place, where Velgrynd's barrier had been concentrated most heavily, had now changed from the battlefield of two [Demon Lord]s into the battlefield of two [Hero]es.
"W-wait. Adelio, who exactly is that person who looks like Chloe...?"
"...What in the world is even going on here?"
Just minutes ago, Rimuru and Leon had still been pretending to fight each other to draw out an opening from Granbell. Now they let out low groans as they looked back and forth between Chronoa, who had suddenly burst up from underground, and Adelio.
Hinata and Chloe had already vanished like mirages out of nowhere, and then a [Hero] who resembled Chloe... no, who looked almost exactly like her had appeared and started radiating fury without explanation. It was only natural that they couldn't make sense of the situation.
But—
Boom!
"...I'd like to explain it too, but as you can see, I don't have the time for that right now. So—"
"......"
"—just stay put until that girl, Chronoa, shows an opening!"
Clang!
Chronoa, now little different from a monster made flesh from wrath itself, launched a storm of sharp attacks that instantly aimed for Adelio's vital points.
"......!"
Adelio swiftly met Chronoa's sword strikes head-on with [Holy King]. Then he gathered magic power into the blade and, at the same time he widened the distance between them, slashed out in a great crescent arc.
".......Ah."
A faint sound slipped from Chronoa's lips when she saw Adelio's attack.
Raging anger, and amid that anger, courage, sorrow, interest, and even something like enjoyment all churned together.
Those emotions, running along the single thread of a [Hero]'s competitive spirit, brought forth a fighting will strong enough to overturn her rage, if only for a brief moment.
For a being at the pinnacle, it was simply too wasteful to fight a battle like this with nothing but anger.
Her pride as the strongest had been stirred.
"...Ah."
And once Chronoa realized that the opponent before her was a warrior on a level close to her own, she pressed her assault even harder.
Clang! Clang! Kagang!
Chronoa's charge, wielding the overwhelming defense of [Divine Spirit Armament] and the top-tier God-grade blade [Moon Mistress] with complete freedom, was the very definition of offense and defense as one.
If the one standing here had been someone like Veldora in the past, trying to crush everything through brute force alone, it would have been no surprise if they had already suffered a fatal wound.
"......"
'Her attack power is about on par with mine, or maybe mine is a little higher... but her defense is a step above mine, huh...?'
And in this situation, where he had to subdue Chronoa, every one of her strengths was a troublesome condition for Adelio.
If her attack power had been higher instead, he could have simply charged straight at her with the intent to deal each other fatal blows. But because she had [Divine Spirit Armament], there was a real chance he would be the one to fall first.
'...And Chronoa's authority is more suited to drawn-out battles, like Guy and Velzard. Mine is like Velgrynd's—better suited for short fights.'
If Chronoa was a knight of prolonged warfare, excelling at wearing down her opponent by using time itself freely,
then Adelio was a swordsman specialized in short battles, piercing through the single instant his enemy let slip, like a burst of flame.
'......In other words, if I'm going to win this one-on-one—'
Kaaang!
—then I have no choice but to force this into a short battle somehow.
"...Hoo..."
Deflecting Chronoa's charge, Adelio once more drew magic power into the blade of [Holy King] and steadied himself again.
[Arts].
'If I have to gamble anyway...'
Then make sure it ends in a single strike—
'[White Lotus Flame Thunder].'
—with everything he had.
**
"Hehe, looks like he's finally gotten fired up for the first time in a while."
Meanwhile, high above the battlefield where Adelio and Chronoa's fierce clash continued,
Velgrynd, who was protecting [Ruberios] from collapsing under the attacks of the only two [Hero]es in human history to reach [Catastrophe]-class, smiled deeply as she watched her beloved finally begin fighting at full power for the first time in years.
"I don't know whether he was aiming for this situation from the start, but he always does know how to create something interesting."
She had barriers spread not only over Adelio's battlefield, but also over the battlefield where Luminous and Granbell fought, and the one where Shion and Shizue were facing Razul. As she waved her fan, she recalled the one thing all the humans gathered here had in common.
"Every last one of them is either a human who has awakened as a [Hero] or a human with the potential to become one... If Rudra from thousands of years ago had seen this, he would have gone wild trying to recruit every single one of them as his subordinates. Hehe."
For Rudra, who had always wished for powerful humans—especially heroic figures and [Hero]es able to rival [Demon Lord]s—to appear and defeat the [Demon Lord]s standing on Guy's side, this battlefield was nothing less than a jewel box.
Starting with the strongest [Hero], there was the Hero of Light, the wandering Hero, the Hero of Flash, and even [saint]s and [sage]s with the potential to become [Hero]es.
Even Velgrynd, who normally had little interest in humans, found it remarkable. For the Rudra of the past, it would have been beyond compare.
"—Adelio, just as you did in your previous life, I hope you enjoy this battlefield to your heart's content. I'm sure your former self would have preferred it this way too."
After confirming that the battles involving Granbell and Razul were gradually nearing their end, Velgrynd lowered her gaze to Adelio's battlefield, which would surely become the final place where this conflict was decided.
The first and last battlefield between [Hero]es, where the question of who truly was the strongest [Hero] would be answered.
**
Kaaang! Clang!
The sharp metallic cries of colliding blades rang out without end, slicing the surrounding air cold.
"......"
At the center of the battlefield stood only two figures still.
Nothing but the two [Hero]es who bore the names of the first and the strongest.
And yet, not even the battlefields with more participants than this one were as fierce as the fight here.
Every other battlefield had already reached some degree of conclusion, or at least begun to show its end.
Now, just as Velgrynd had predicted, this place would clearly become the final ground where the battle was decided.
Kwarrrboom!!
"...Hey, Leon, let me ask just in case... You were a [Hero] too before you became a [Demon Lord], right? So does that mean you could also fight those two on equal footing—"
"—If that's what you're asking, then I can answer with certainty. Absolutely not."
"...Isn't that a little too definite? There could always be some tiny chance."
"......It's not that I want to underestimate my own strength. But those two have already gone beyond the framework of [Hero]es. They're practically transcendents. Unless you're the same kind of transcendent who has stepped beyond the framework of [Demon Lord]s, like Guy or Milim, fighting them on equal terms is impossible."
Rimuru and Leon, the two [Demon Lord]s waiting a short distance away from Adelio and Chronoa's battle for a chance to intervene, clicked their tongues as they watched the two [Hero]es crossing blades with all their might.
For now, they were following Adelio's request and looking for an opening in Chronoa's defense, but there was no way Chronoa's senses—having reached [Half-God]—would easily allow such an opening to be found.
Crackle—!!
Even as they spoke, Adelio's [Holy King], wrapped in [White Lotus Flame Thunder], came crashing down over Chronoa's head like a bolt of lightning.
"......"
In sheer power, it was more than twice as strong as the [Black Heaven, Nether's End] from earlier.
And yet Chronoa, still expressionless and showing no emotion, watched Adelio's sword strikes before spreading wings from her [Divine Spirit Armament] and retreating backward.
Whoosh!
Then came the thrust of [Moon Mistress].
It was a sword strike without [Arts] or will infused into it, but even so, the thrust boasted terrifying destructive power thanks to the amount of magicules rivaling a [True Dragon], and it came straight for Adelio's heart.
'So she hasn't been completely consumed by rage. Her level of skill is still intact?'
Clang!
Adelio calmly blocked Chronoa's thrust. Though surprised by the way she moved—not like a machine, but as if she had brought back the exact movements of her prime—he also felt a faint sense of delight.
Because he had read the competitive spirit she felt in fighting him, and the fighting will at its root.
'...As expected, she didn't earn the title of the strongest [Hero] for nothing.'
Normally, Adelio refused to accept that he was Rudra's reincarnation. But whenever he became deeply absorbed in battle, he began to find joy in combat as though the Rudra of the past had truly descended once more. This time too, he swung his sword while enjoying the fight against Chronoa.
'Originally, I was going to leave this to Leon and Rimuru, but... if she's coming at me like this, then I have to answer her.'
He boldly gave up on waiting for an opening.
Instead—
Clang!
little by little, he learned the rhythm of it,
Clang!
matching spirit with divine blade, body with instinct,
Clang!
covering what he lacked compared to her and pressing the advantages where he surpassed her,
Clang!
and then,
[Arts].
using even the martial power of his previous life—everything he had.
"......!"
—he would finish it head-on.
"[Nova Break]."
Since the creation of the world until now,
the most destructive ultimate technique humanity had ever produced
fell upon the incarnation of wrath.
KWA-AAAAAANG—!!!
**
...
......
.........
"It's over."
The red demon rose from his seat with a low murmur.
"Hm? You're just leaving like this?"
The black demon standing beside him sounded puzzled.
In the direction the red demon had been watching until just now, the two [Demon Lord]s could be seen rushing toward the two [Hero]es, who had both collapsed at the same time.
The instant Adelio brought down Chronoa with [Nova Break], he too had fallen.
"Yeah. There's nothing more to see."
"...How unexpected. I thought that if it were you, you'd go there this very moment, wake the [Hero]es up, and make them fight again."
Diablo, the black demon, added that this was a truly unforeseen answer, then laughed that the plan he had prepared in advance had now become useless.
"In case you personally stepped in, I had already cast [Disintegration] on that [Hero] yesterday... but if this is how it ends, then that secret measure goes to waste, doesn't it?"
Openly admitting that he had laid a trap during yesterday's meeting, Diablo let out a sigh and said it was a real shame that Guy, the red demon, wasn't as frightening as expected.
"Hah, that's none of my concern."
If it had been another [Primordial Demons], they might have taken Diablo's words as a provocation and started a fight. But Guy, the [Primordial Demons] who understood him best, knew that Diablo meant every word sincerely, so he simply let it pass.
After all, the more one tried to understand the kind of lunatics known as eccentrics, the harder they became to understand. He had decided it was better to ignore it.
"Looks like today isn't the day for me to face that brat in person yet, so next time I'll go find him myself. And I'll be seeing Rimuru again then too, so make sure you're ready, Diablo."
"Kuhuhuhu, very well. When that time comes, in honor of our long-standing acquaintance, I'll be sure to give you a proper welcome, Guy."
And so the kings of demons—brothers... no, a pair better described as wicked old friends—returned once more to the places where they belonged.
One engraved in his eyes the reincarnation of a rival he would soon meet again.
The other thinking of the intention of the [Creator God], which would one day be understood.
**
And then,
last of all,
the battlefield of the one who had caused all these gazes and all these battles had already reached its end before the clash between the two [Hero]es was decided.
"Heh... heheh... this is... truly... a surprising... result..."
"...Is this the outcome you wanted, Granbell?"
Founder of the Council, Hero of Light, leader of the Seven Luminaries, Sun Priest.
The old man once known by countless titles had been defeated by Luminous, and while doing so, he watched Adelio and Chronoa's battle to the very end, engraving the final scene of the battlefield into his eyes.
"...Yes... this... is exactly... the result... I wanted..."
The result Granbell had desired, even at the cost of driving his already broken reason into madness once more.
It was the will passed down to him by his former comrades, and the very first ideal his master had taught him.
"...[Hope]. Through... this battle... humanity... has gained... hope..."
Before creating the [Council of the West], he had once been one of Rudra's disciples as the Hero of Light. And through what had just happened, he had tasted hope.
The power of two [Hero]es standing infinitely close to the summit—power that could protect humanity in this world, where [Demon Lord]s and [True Dragon]s lurked and calamities from another world stirred.
"...And besides... apart from... my master... there is now... another [Hero]... who can protect... humanity... and here... on this battlefield... I have seen... all the [Hero]es... so now... it is enough..."
"......I see."
Only then was Luminous finally able to understand Granbell's heart, if only a little.
Compared to monsters, who continued to evolve without end, humanity's power had remained far too weak. What they needed was a new hope to preserve the balance between those two forces.
At the dawn of creation, Rudra had been that hope. Thousands of years ago, Chronoa had been that hope.
And in the present age as well, there had to be a hope like them.
"So you understood from the beginning. That the only true [Hero]es who can give humanity hope in this world, in the past, the present, and the future, are those two—and always will be."
"...That... is correct..."
Granbell had already reached his limit long ago.
He had fought Luminous with every last bit of strength he had left, but he had never reached the realm where Rudra and Chronoa stood.
And because he could not become one of them, he could not become hope either.
But precisely because of that, he had simply chosen to create hope anew.
That was all.
"...To create hope anew because you could not become it yourself... enough. You have done your duty more than well enough. In the name of God, I pray that you now find rest at last beside your comrades."
Fwaaa...
Warm holy power rose from Luminous's hand and wrapped around Granbell's body.
By granting him rest in the name of God, she was showing her own kind of mercy.
Whatever path he had taken until now, it was still true that he, the Hero of Light, had protected the hope of this world until Rudra and Chronoa appeared again as the humans Adelio and Chloe.
"...Farewell, Gran."
"......Ah... thank... you... Lumi...nous..."
......
"......"
At last, the old man closed his eyes.
And at the same time, the [Hero]'s Egg that had hatched in this world returned once more to the form of an egg.
Until the day, whether in the near future or the distant one, when someone would appear to inherit his will and be reborn as a [Hero].
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