Volume 5 Chapter 8 The Eastern Hero Party, Struggling
After leaving Act, the Hero Party came to face the final battle against the Demon King.
They crossed the barrier of the Demon King's castle, just as they tried to enter.
Countless black beasts erupted from the ground.
There were so many, it would be silly to even try to count them.
"AH! If just ONE of those is at the Four Heavenly Kings LEVEL, we're gonna DIE with this many!"
Demon Vivre clung to Lawrence, half in tears.
"Come ON, you gotta DO something, Mr. LAWRENCE!"
The power of the Great Hero surpasses human limits.
One swing of that sword can tear the heavens apart, shatter the earth, and split stars in two.
"You can HANDLE this EASILY, right!?"
But Lawrence didn't draw his sword.
He stood there with his arms crossed, grounded and composed.
"HMM! But... I'm not MOVING!"
"WHY not!?"
While sniffling, Vivre clung tightly to Lawrence's body.
"Because I'm leaving it to THEM!"
In Lawrence's line of sight, five swordsmen stood firm.
Each with different attributes.
Heroes from the Far East.
There was a moment when the party was at risk of breaking up, but now they stood united again for the final stage.
The leader, Higami, clad in black with flames on her clothes, was at the forefront.
Next was the blue-haired Suigetsu.
Followed by Domon, Nikkou, and Mokuren.
"Alright, let's GO you guys."
Leader Higami drew her sword.
But unlike before, she didn't leap out ahead.
"Are you all SET?"
"Of course-DEGOZARU!"
Suigetsu, a girl who had once been banished from the party by Higami.
She had joined Lawrence's party in the past but returned to this team for the final battle.
"This is the LAST fight. EVERYONE... let's get PUMPED up!"
The other four swordsmen exchanged glances and chuckled.
"What, what's so FUNNY...?"
"Wow, Lady Higami has really CHANGED, huh?"
Everyone else nods in agreement.
"Mmm, let's not dwell on the past... Alright, I'm GOING!"
Even though they're about to head into a deadly battle, everyone is relaxed.
The Lawrence party standing by doesn't seem to mind this at all.
They trust their power...
"Mr. LAWRENCE! Hey! Come ON! Draw your SWORD, for real! We're gonna DIE, help MEEE!"
"Can you at least TRY to trust me a LITTLE?"
Vivre gets poked in the knee by Ulgar's spear tip, "thud."
Higami focuses intently on her hands.
"Alright... here we GO!"
Whoosh...!
Five types of magical energy explode into action.
Suigetsu raises his blue-bladed sword high.
"Water DRAGON... Water Dragon DANCE!"
Suigetsu stabs his sword into the ground.
Suddenly, an incredible amount of water gushes from the earth.
"WAHHH! I'm gonna DROWN! Wait, is that OKAY?!"
A massive tidal wave sweeps away just the enemies.
The black beasts can't withstand the water pressure and drown or get swept away.
"Forest BARRIER!"
Mokuren similarly stabs her sword into the ground.
Forty-two giant trees surround the flowing water like a cage.
"NUUUH! Super EARTH Wall!"
The barrier of trees is further covered with earthen walls.
A huge dome made of earth is completed, its surface turning to metal.
"Whoa... we TRAPPED them... but this won't be ENOUGH to win!"
"I know that, so stop WHINING."
Higami dances gracefully, like a divine performance.
Flames explode from her blade in rhythm with her movements.
They shift from red to blue.
Intense blue flames scorch the earth.
"Go NOW... blue flame PHOENIX!"
As she finishes her dance, the blue flames soar into the sky.
Then, they transform into a massive phoenix, charging fiercely at the barrier.
The moment they collide, Vivre instinctively shuts her eyes.
A shockwave hits, followed by a violent gust of wind.
The ground tears apart, burning everything around them.
The enemies surrounded by a cage of iron are melting away, with no escape, dissolving into a gloopy mess....
Soon, there won't be anything left.
Everything has turned to ashes.
"Ah, you've finally... stopped being HUMAN too... Ms. HIGAMI..."
It's clear that it's not the kind of firepower a human could produce.
The ground has turned into a sloppy lava flow.
"Yeah, I guess it's a bit LATE for that..."
Suigetsu narrows his eyes.
"I've cut down about FORTY percent, I suppose. But... the remaining SIXTY percent are... MERGING together."
The black beasts must have thought they were at a disadvantage.
They're gathering in one spot, clustering together.
Like clay sculptures, they squirm and twist, taking on a single form....
"Oh, a GIANT!? UWAAAHHHH!"
A black giant, formed from the solidified black beasts, appears.
Rumble, rumble...!
"EEK! The ground is SHAKING! What is THIS!?"
Eli closes his eyes to sense as a magician.
"It seems the WEIGHT of that giant is too MUCH, and the planet's SURFACE is sinking."
"WHAT!? The planet's getting DENTED!? What kind of MASS is this!?"
With each step the giant takes, the foundation sinks further.
The earth, this planet, is getting hurt....
"We knew it'd be a SHORT battle, didn't we, all of YOU."
Higami, quickly understanding the situation, rapidly gives instructions to her companions.
Drawing their swords, Higami and the others overlap their blades.
"......"
Higami closes her eyes, reminiscing about the past.
It's been a truly long journey.
Crossing the sea as a Hero, getting a bit too confident and getting my nose broken...
Facing the towering wall Lawrence, I got fed up.
But...
Even so, Higami thought it was fine.
There's no need to climb the wall.
"All of YOU, we probably won't be the main CHARACTERS. If we use this POWER, we'll be EXHAUSTED and barely able to MOVE."
That means we can't challenge the Demon King.
No one seems to object.
That included Higami too.
"I HATED being a minor character in the STORY, you know. 'Cause being PLAIN and SAD isn't fun. I want to leave a MARK in everyone's HEARTS, something FLASHY..."
So, she always went off on her own, causing trouble... and then failing.
But... she decided it was okay now.
"Being a side CHARACTER is fine. I don't need to stick in a lot of people's HEARTS. I don't have to be REMEMBERED or recorded by ANYONE..."
The blades of Higami and the others began to shine with a fierce cling....
Their five powers merged together, forming a single ultimate technique.
"If in the FUTURE, our descendants can live without FEARING anything... then that's GOOD enough."
Higami had stopped wanting to stand out.
She sacrificed herself, fighting evil... just for the sake of world peace.
In other words, she became a true Hero.
"Here we GO, ultimate TECHNIQUE...!"
The five powers combined and began to manifest as one force.
"[AMATERASU]!"
The five-colored light pierced the heavens.
It created a giant goddess so immense, it overshadowed the black giant.
The goddess of light had a thousand hands.
With those hands, she enveloped evil.
Sizzle...!
With a sound of evaporation, the black giant rapidly vanished.
Eventually... nothing was left.
And the wounded earth was restored to its original state.
"The MONSTERS that were all around... gone so COMPLETELY... like nothing ever HAPPENED..."
Vivre stared in disbelief.
The Heroes of the Far East slumped down on the spot.
They had put their all into wiping out the weaklings.
As the recovery mage Luna rushed over... Higami raised a hand to stop her.
"Look... we've carved out a PATH!"
Higami raised her hand elegantly.
"Go ahead, HERO!"
"YEAH!"
Smack!
Lawrence clapped Higami's hand, then dashed off.
His comrades conserved their strength, successfully entering the enemy camp at their best.
"This is... what I WANTED..."
The remaining Higami crumbled to the ground.
Her companions nodded with satisfied smiles.
"Act... I finally became a HERO... thanks to YOU..."
She expressed her gratitude to the benefactor who wasn't there.
"Thank you, kind Villainous Guildmaster."
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