605 Afterword – The Hero’s Melancholy (10)

605.

The next day.

The morning passed without incident. Blade, who had spent the night in my room, had already cleaned himself up and disappeared.

It doesn’t seem like they’ll be rushing to challenge me to a duel. Well, even if they were to launch a tiring relay operation, the first batter would have to fight with almost certain defeat. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t be so keen.

In the late afternoon, someone finally issued me a challenge. But the method was not what I expected.

,Wait a minute, all at once?”

,Yes. Is that not allowed?”

Riel has a strangely confident look on her face. Behind Riel, Selina, Blade, Ver, and Elena were lined up.

They’re going to gang up on me? Are they serious?

I had completely ruled out this possibility. After all, this contest is a fight for the right to impregnate me. It’s not the kind of fight where the spoils of victory can be shared by many.

,It doesn’t matter if it’s all at once. But I want to ask if you’re sure you’re okay with it. You haven’t forgotten, have you? The one who defeats me gets the right to impregnate me first. But if you’re going to fight together…”

Are they planning to hog the last hit? It seemed that Riel was the one who led this coalition. I was amazed at how she managed to pull it off.

,Yes, we’ve already agreed on that part. So, Hero-nim. Shall we move to the arena?”

In yesterday’s fight, I felt a surge of excitement.

It felt like the winds of adventure were blowing again in my somewhat monotonous life. Elena, Blade, Selina, Ver… each one was an excellent battle.

And now they’re all coming at me at once? With Riel joining in?

My heart won’t stop pounding. It’s like I’ve become a raid boss. A powerful boss that the hero party has to face with all their might. Well, it’s a hero party without a hero, though.

My chances of winning… well, maybe 9 to 1 at best. Of course, I’m the 9. That’s a reasonable assessment based on my experience in yesterday’s battle. Even if Riel joins in, my overwhelming advantage won’t change.

But as we headed towards the clearing in the Arnaham Forest, Riel’s confident smile didn’t leave her face.

If Riel watched yesterday’s fight from beginning to end, she would know that simply having everyone attack at once would give them little chance of winning.

So, does she still have some secret weapon hidden?

She definitely does.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure today’s match will be fun too.

=======================================

The spacious clearing has become cramped. The clearing, which would have been ample for a 1:1 match, now seems a bit tight. The main reason is those two people, no, those two dragons.

Selina and Ver were in their dragon forms from the start. The majesty of the red dragon and the gold dragon, who looked like they would soar high into the sky at any moment, filled my heart with awe.

And in front of them stood two warriors.

Blade in black armor. And Elena. Elena is wearing the red Sacred Armor that is a set with mine. But unlike usual, she was holding a large hammer and a tower shield in her hands.

Why a hammer instead of a sword? Since her days as a hero in a dating sim, Elena’s main weapon has been a sword. Is there a reason to use such a blunt weapon now?

Riel, who orchestrated this whole situation, was standing at the very back. She looked like the Succubus Queen herself, as if she was about to fully unleash her power as the Queen of Succubi. With the battle imminent, Riel had dropped her smile and was looking at me with a serious face.

Well, I’ll just have to find out for myself what Riel has prepared for me.

I’m a little sorry to say this to everyone, but throughout yesterday’s match, I hardly showed my true strength. The only time I went all out was when I countered Ver’s amplified breath.

Not to mention Elena, even when I was fighting Blade and Selina, I deliberately hardly used my sword.

But today is different. I might as well go all out from the start. I stood facing the challengers, feeling like I wanted to jump up and down.

,Is everyone ready? Can we start?”

,Um, Hero-nim. I’d like to confirm one thing. Is it okay to limit the battle space to the boundaries of this clearing?”

The clearing created for this match was about the size of a soccer field. That should be fine, but… what’s the merit of restricting the space?

,Yes, that’s fine. The match is only within this clearing. That’s good.”

,Yes, thank you for confirming.”

What is it? It’s as if this clearing has some important meaning…

The unsettling feeling was quickly swept away by the magnificent sight before me. Two warriors, two dragons, and the Queen of Succubi.

It’s a lineup worthy of being the Hero’s opponents.

The blade of the True Abyss Sword gleams with a blue light. Not to be outdone, the pure white wings of light from Overdrive drew a splendid figure behind my back.

,Now, can we really start? I, Hero Lena, will face you all. Today, I’m going all out from the start!”

At the same time as I declared that, the Dragon Lord roared with a terrifying sound. As if trying to sound the gong for the match.

=======================================

Elena approaches, wielding a huge hammer with one hand, wearing a red bikini armor with a considerable amount of exposure.

As expected, she doesn’t seem to be as skilled with the hammer as she is with the sword. It was an attack full of openings. I dodged the attack with a light step and was about to counterattack, but Elena immediately raised her tower shield and solidified her defense.

It seems she didn’t intend to hit me with the hammer from the start. Meanwhile, I noticed in the corner of my vision that Blade, using Boost Speed, was trying to get behind me.

I tried attacking the top of the tower shield with a strong blow, but it didn’t seem to work. It seems that Elena’s role in this fight is to be a tank, with the sole purpose of focusing on defense and drawing my attention.

,Status Open.’

Paying attention to the surprise attack from behind, I opened the status window. Elena… it was as I thought. All the equipment she was wearing was set up only for defense.

Unlike my balanced green Sacred Armor, the Sacred Armor that Elena is wearing now is a custom-made item only for defense. Otherwise, there’s no way Elena could withstand my attack, even on top of the tower shield.

,Such an old-fashioned tactic…’

I’m sorry, but I’m not a monster that randomly attacks the enemy in front of me. If I can’t easily defeat Elena, who is all-in on defense, I can just ignore her. Elena, who is equipped with a ‘Stun Hammer’ instead of my beloved Eternal Sword, is no threat to me.

Ignore Elena completely. The moment I made up my mind, I felt a sharp presence from behind.

,Sonic Blow!”

,Whirlwind Slash!”

Blade’s and my skills collide. Both are skills of rapid attacks. But the difference between my and Blade’s stats, who is going all out, was obvious.

,Keuk…”

The cheek and shoulder parts of the black armor were broken, and Blade took a step back. When I checked the status window, the loss of HP was also significant. At that moment, two streams of breath were fired at me from the air.

Golden and fiery breath. I couldn’t avoid it, as it filled the space. Then I’ll just break through! I put strength into the True Abyss Sword and flew towards the breath.

,Brave Sword Assault!”

It was a desperate moment, but the timing was perfect. At the same time as the Brave Sword was fired, I broke through the breath and was already positioned between the two dragons in the air.

,Kkyaaaa!”

Selina Dragon roars and flaps her wings. She was aiming for the gap in the Brave Sword, but there was no such gap for me now. Rather, it was Selina who showed a big movement that created the gap.

,Iyaap!”

My heel, which rotated horizontally in the air, struck down on the dragon’s huge body. With tremendous force, Selina crashed to the ground. A roar and dust exploded like a bomb.

Meanwhile, Ver was preparing another breath. But this time, I had plenty of time to respond. There was no need to use the emergency maneuver of Brave Sword Assault.

,Brave Sword!”

This time, the normal version of Brave Sword. The strike of light cut through the golden breath and hit the Dragon Lord. It was weakened by breaking through the breath, but it was still powerful enough to shoot down the Dragon Lord.

Kuguguung-!

Ver’s location after the fall was right above Selina. The sight of two house-sized dragons stacked on top of each other was magnificent and cathartic.

I descended from the air back to the ground.

Overwhelming strength. The two giants who were staggering and getting up, and Blade in the black armor with a hole in it, seemed to be experiencing the overwhelming power of the Hero. It makes me feel a little proud when they look at me with such awe.

But a voice that pours cold water on that pride.

,Great Healing Blessing, Healing Field.”

The HP of the dragons and Blade, who had suffered considerable damage, was rapidly recovering. To be in such a full-fledged succubus form and use a priest’s skill.

,Is she not using buffs…?’

It seems that Riel is going to stick to a position of supporting from the rear rather than stepping forward. If I don’t defeat Riel first, the continuous recovery will drag on for a long time.

No, maybe that was the goal from the start.

Maybe she’s trying to implement the attrition strategy I initially expected in a more aggressive form. Facing everyone at once means that my stamina and energy consumption is also more intense.

If Riel’s continuous recovery is added to that, it might be possible to tire me out in a much shorter time than fighting one person at a time.

,But is that really all there is to it?’

A strange feeling of unease. If it’s just that, it’s within my expectations. I had prepared enough countermeasures.

Well, I’ll find out if that’s really all there is to it when I reveal my hand.

The dragons, refreshed by the blessing of recovery, stood up again in a dignified manner. I also straightened the True Abyss Sword and prepared for the next strike.