".....What the hell did you do!!!!!!!?"
The [Falna] that should have been erased had reappeared, and Epimetheus was the target.
Thwack—!!!
"Is this your first time in a situation like this? You've wasted three thousand years!"
"You think there's a rule saying you can't gang up on a hero!"
"Grr...!! You bastards!!!!"
Epimetheus, filled with rage, once again wrapped his sword in a blaze and tried to sweep away everything around him.
"[Broken Curse]!!!!!!!!"
"What!?"
Boom—!!!!!!!!!
"There you are!! At last!!!!"
A green flame arrow flew toward Epimetheus.
Seeing it, Akumo joyfully shouted Ryu's name and looked up at the sky.
"Bell!!! Run for it, now!!"
"...!! Got it!"
Akumo quickly grasped the situation.
Most likely, the Goddess of Adventure had come to take them away as usual.
"Akumo-san!!"
"I said I get it!! Call for Lord Hermes!!!!"
"I came running the moment I heard my name~"
"Lord Apollo!? Why are you here...!!"
"I merely thought I would repay a debt someday!"
For a brief moment, they were stunned by Apollo and the reinforcements who had suddenly appeared, but then Akumo's mind began racing coldly, calculating every element.
"Should we retreat first...? No, if the situation is like this..."
"But Bell's condition is bad too... No, escaping with this many people is a problem too..."
"And the remaining people too... You're still thinking that!? Of course I am, what else can I do...!!"
Then Akumo opened his eyes.
Thump—!
"Eek!?"
"Oh my?"
With one arm, Akumo hoisted Aphrodite like luggage, and with the other, he carried Freya in a gentlemanly piggyback hold.
"Lord Apollo!! For a moment, please place your hand on my back!"
"!! I get a chance like this too!!!!"
"As expected! You're quick on the uptake!"
Tap—!
Apollo immediately understood what Akumo meant.
He grinned excitedly and placed his hand on Akumo's back.
Kiiing—!!
""Divine Item"[Apollo's Prophecy Book]."
Before his eyes, an ancient tome dyed a burning crimson floated up, its pages fluttering.
"....!!"
"If you know what it is, hurry up and get down here and lend some strength!!!!"
Hermes, horrified by the sight, immediately jumped down from the ship and reached out toward Akumo.
Goooo—!!
Ten seconds later.
A giant meteor crashed onto the island, and soon everything was engulfed in light along with a massive explosion.
**
The meteor swept away everything.
Its range was enough to threaten even the party, excluding the user Akumo.
Flap—!!
Wearing the divine item created together with the Goddess of Adventure, he succeeded in taking the party aboard the ship safely.
Shff—
"Uh.... Did I pass out again?"
Of course, Akumo, after one battle after another, had fallen asleep immediately after using the divine item.
Creak—
"We were worried you might be so battered that you wouldn't open your eyes again."
"....Bell and the others?"
"They're all safe."
The one who came to find the awakened Akumo was the elf who had inherited his strength.
Ryu could only be shocked when she first saw his condition.
"With a body in that terrible state...."
What Hermes had told her earlier was shocking.
Akumo's soul was a vessel overflowing with power.
If he used that power recklessly, it wouldn't be strange for him to shatter to pieces.
".....How much."
"Ryu...?"
Grip—!!
"Do you know how worried I was!!!!?"
"Kuhwah!!!??"
And yet, in that condition, he had faced Epimetheus, who wielded black flames and [Heavenly Flame], and even used a divine item on top of that. It was far too infuriating.
"W-Wait!? Is there no one outside...!!? Somebody help me!!!!!"
Grip—!!!
"Gyaaaah...!!!!"
Under Ryu's resentful assault, Akumo twisted helplessly.
Creak—!
"Ohhh!!"
As if in response to his wish, help opened the door and came in.
"Calm yourself, [Tempest]."
"You're all too excited."
"...Eh? Asfi, Lady Hephaestus....?"
Though, to be sure, that help was aimed at Ryu, not Akumo.
-!!!!!!!
"Is he really all right...? Akumo-dono's condition is..."
"He's fine, he's fine~ Mikoto-chan."
Shff—
"Even if he doesn't look it, he's probably the liveliest he's been lately."
"Huh...? But Akumo-dono is clearly...."
Because Hermes had directly let his divinity flow into Akumo's body, he could feel it.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but..."
It was quiet.
Until now, it had only been a matter of enlarging the vessel and enduring power too great to contain.
In fact, there had been precedent for a vast vessel containing everything.
"You can feel it too, can't you? Hermes."
"Well now, is that not Lady Freya?"
Most likely, Freya was the first to notice it.
"Goddess. But Akumo is..."
"Enough. It was a choice made by that child and by us, wasn't it?"
"An unwanted guest with another unwanted guest... that's how it is."
"Like Hestia said, it may not be a [Hero's Story]."
No, this was surely a hero's story.
"So all the more reason... I don't want to yield anymore."
Smile—!
Not a story for one girl alone.
But a hero's story for all beings who yearn for hope.
**
"Haaah!!!"
Whoosh—!
"Hyaaah!"
Crash—!!
In the dead of night, while everyone slept, a sword was being swung in the forest near Apollo Familia's base.
".....This doesn't feel... right..."
The one wielding that sword was Yamato Mikoto.
She was a swordswoman learning the teachings of the God of War.
"At this rate... it seems impossible."
She wanted to learn the legendary sword technique. She wanted to bring forth that beautiful sword strike with her own hands.
Tremble—
But right now, she could not possibly reproduce that sword aura.
"Just how did I manage it back then...?"
Overwhelming pressure looming before her. She had to overcome the fear it brought and take one step forward from her own weakness.
"What are you worrying about?"
"...!! Akumo-dono!?"
"I heard the little one woke up long ago?"
"And Lady Aisha too...!"
Akumo and Aisha came to visit her while she was struggling.
"....Bell-dono already has Lady Haruhime and Lady Lili with him."
Grip—!
"I must struggle as hard as I can."
What she needed now was not tears.
It was to move forward, to reach out toward what she had to do, what she wanted to do.
"....A good mindset."
Shing—!
"Then shall we train together, as fellow sufferers?"
"....Please do!!"
The swordsmen and swordswomen who bore the same sword aura crossed blades with one another and tested their skill.
Step, step, step—
"Hedin, want to talk with me?"
"....? Akumo, you suddenly want to talk?"
During the dawn watch, Akumo came to find Hedin and Horn.
He opened his mouth to ask Hedin for something.
"Are you serious...?"
"Of course I am. The most important thing here is unquestionably you lot."
"Haa... I knew you were a madman, Akumo, but..."
"Well... even so..."
After knowing him for so long, if he thought about it, there had never been any doubt.
"I've never staked my life on a guy like you."
"Lord Hedin...!?"
"You know it too, don't you? That we alone cannot protect the goddess."
"Ugh...!"
"Even so, we will gladly involve ourselves in this story."
As the goddess's followers, so as not to bring shame upon their goddess.
Even if we are unwanted guests, we will struggle to the very end.
**
"It's wise to withdraw right now!!"
"However, not yet...!"
"Thanks to your stubbornness, Bell Cranel has been rescued, and we also have enough strength to escape!"
"!!"
The next day, Asfi and Hyakinthos were arguing.
"A clear solution is already underway! What you're saying is nothing but forced reasoning!"
"Then you lot should flee from here by yourselves."
"....!? You bastard, [White-Haired Demon]...!!!"
"I am not forcing sacrifice, nor am I telling anyone to sacrifice themselves in the first place."
Hyakinthos's angered words were aimed at Hedin, but Hedin continued speaking with unwavering eyes.
"Just as you lot move according to the will of your chief god, I will gladly fight according to the will of the goddess."
"Even if it's a pointless death!?"
"....Pointless death?"
They were going to fight against the power of a god.
And on top of that, the cult side also had a transcendent strongman called Epimetheus.
"Haa... so that's why you lost to Bell Cranel."
"!!"
Transcending heroes? The power of a god?
"Since when did fighting someone weaker than yourself become an adventure?"
Thud—!
"Since when did you lot become obsessed only with survival!!"
Defeating the great enemy that blocks your path, and growing stronger through that.
Seeing that, Hyakinthos could also take one more step forward.
"Epimetheus's motive was nothing but rage!"
"Then do our motives need some grand reason!?"
Grip—!!
"Absolutely not!!!"
Hedin's shout reached everyone in Apollo Familia who opposed the battle.
"....!"
Even Asfi, who inwardly thought it was a battle with no chance of victory.
"Call me a lunatic!! Call me a fool!!"
"That's exactly what a hero is, isn't it? Victory and defeat are only a sheet of paper apart, after all."
With Akumo's answer closing the final words, they returned to their rooms to rest for what might be their last respite.
**
"Resources, enemies?"
".....You'll know when you see them. Those guys themselves are like bonfires."
Looking down at the scene engulfed in a sea of flames, Hyakinthos watched the countless fire people arrayed beneath it.
"They burn without end, shining even in the dark night... no need to scout at all."
"They're heading straight for the village. Their numbers... can't even be counted."
Crackle—!!
"And it seems the fire people concentrated around the city are also closing in. By the way, how did the meeting go?"
Having kept watch the whole time, Resources had not heard the result of the meeting, so he asked Hyakinthos whether they would leave Olympia or fight.
"Haa.... We decided to evacuate at least the people. Using the ship those Aphrodite bastards came on."
"Lucky us, having an escape method come in like this."
They follow the decision of their chief god.
By their own will, they save people and throw themselves into their adventure.
Step, step, step—
"Lady Rhea, through the movements of the fire people, we've identified where Vesta's followers are hiding."
"They seem to have set up a base on the mountainside ahead. What shall we do?"
Meanwhile, there were also those embers who still could not make their own decision.
"....At this point, we can't send a messenger telling them to hand over Lady Lily's group. We already tried to take their lives...."
""...""
At Rhea's words, Minukia and Emilia could not answer.
What she was saying was the reality for them.
"A clash is unavoidable.... We have no choice but to settle this by force."
"Lord Eton has sent word regarding that matter. He says they may have joined up with Aphrodite Familia and Orario."
"If we fight head-on, we'll be charmed..."
The wavering flames had no choice but to keep burning.
"Use the fire people to draw their attention, and target Vesta's followers."
"Understood! Then should we simply watch the situation until the fire people reach the enemy base?"
"No.... Let's dig tunnels and guide the fire people in."
For them, the possibility of salvation was not something they could easily let go of.
========================
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