Crack—!!
"Despite possessing such vast!! And blessed talent!!"
Thud—!!
"What did you do with it!!!?"
Crunch—!!!
Epimetheus's heavy fists slammed into Akumo.
"Cough...!"
"You sought nothing but battle!!!"
Boom—!!!
Despite having strength, despite possessing the flames of destruction that could incinerate everything.
"You were obsessed only with fighting!!!"
Whoosh—!!!
Purple flames erupting from Epimetheus's sword severed Akumo's arm, burning it to ash instantly.
"....!! Argh...!!!?"
"Does it hurt!!? You foolish bastard who kicked away the opportunities you were given!!!"
What if, at that time, Akumo had made a different decision?
What if he had simply accepted his fate and used the immense power granted to him solely for the sake of the world?
What if he had abandoned his own pioneering path and protected everyone's adventure instead?
"You could have saved everyone!!!!!"
'Unlike me, you could have written a success story...!!!'
"So why!!!!!!"
He had already saved many, and many precious people had entered his life.
—"Bell, Ryu."
Crackle—!!
—"Trust me."
Step—!!
And yet, he had been willing to throw away his life just to save a boy and an elf.
And yet, he fought while accepting the price of his body breaking, all to defeat the greatest enemy at their absolute peak.
"Your stupid greed!!!"
It was utterly revolting.
Why did the heavens bestow a blessing upon such a man?
"Just why!!!!!!"
Why can't you let go of that stubborn, almost nonsensical desire to save everyone?
"Just once!!! No, even just one word!!!!"
—"I want to save everyone."
"If you had just accepted that!!!"
Then he, too, would have been satisfied and simply vanished into ash.
Grip—!!
"!!"
'He should have been dead long ago...!?'
Even though Epimetheus's sword had cut him, his fists had crushed him, and the flames had scorched his entire body.
"Cough...!! Cough...."
Spurt—!
Even as he vomited blood, Akumo was still standing.
"Is your story... really that important?"
Squeeze—!!
"Could you not have used that will... even a little bit for the greater good!!!!?"
'If I had such power...!! If I were you...!!'
If it were him, if it were me, I would have surely done it for everyone.
Smack—!
".....Uh?"
As if to shatter those thoughts, a fist struck Epimetheus directly in the face.
"Stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Bell's fist, filled with rage and firm resolve.
It exploded against Epimetheus.
"You're saying you are Epimetheus...?"
"....That is correct."
Bell, who had just thrown the punch.
Swallowing his boiling anger, Bell spoke calmly to the man before him.
"From the moment I was chosen by the loathsome divine artifact containing the [Primordial Flame] and donned its fire... I transcended my lifespan."
"Then the priestesses....!"
"Yes, that traitor lying there, Leana, and all the other priestesses! They've been held captive for hundreds of years."
Having answered, Epimetheus kicked Akumo, who was still standing before him.
"That is why!!!!"
Thud—!!!
"....!! Brother!!!!"
"To us, he is the most foolish and idiotic of all."
Epimetheus was filled with rage and hatred, wanting to burn everything to the ground.
"Why... why are you doing this!!!"
This time, it wasn't a question about his goal.
He was asking not Eton, but Epimetheus—the hero—why he was doing this.
"It's simple."
However, without a moment's hesitation, he opened his mouth and answered.
"I was angry."
"...What?"
That one phrase.
Bell asked back as if it were hollow, as if he couldn't understand.
"I defeated countless monsters and saved countless nations."
Grit—!
"And yet!!!!!"
At the end of such a desperate and grand story, he earned the title of 'The Foolish One.'
His story was recorded as a failure, earning him nothing but endless criticism, contempt, and ridicule.
"What remains besides humiliation!!!? I've looked for anything else, and there is nothing!! Not in the past, the present, or the future!!"
—"I like Epimetheus more than Argonaut."
"Nonsense!!!! And a lie!!!!!"
—"You are a finer hero than anyone."
"In the end, those are just pitiful words of comfort spoken over a crumbling corpse!!!!!!"
Primitive and cruel humans who don't care about the countless people who have fallen, seeking only victory and success.
"There's no way I could just stand by and watch!!!!!"
"That's not true! The people of Olympia...."
"Shut up!! What could you disgusting people, who only beg for salvation, possibly understand!?"
As long as they continued to exist, as long as this rotten lower world continued to exist.
The vicious cycle would never end. The fate of sacrifice. The wheel of destiny.
"You should have been the one to break it!!!!!!"
Stomp—!!
"Brother!!!!!" "Akumo!!!"
Filled with rage, Epimetheus trampled on the fallen Akumo.
"You disgusting piece of shit, obsessed only with climbing higher!!!"
Crunch—!!
"You battle-crazed bastard who gave up being a hero because of your own greed!!!!"
Crunch—!!!
"I'd rather burn everyone!!! Every dirty and hideous thing...!!!!!!"
Epimetheus continued to stomp on the fallen Akumo, pouring out his words as if venting a long-held grudge.
Grip—!
"What!!!! Are you begging for your life now!!?"
"....."
"Ugh...!! Say something!!!!"
Even after being stomped on and subjected to an endless barrage of attacks....
"What the world wants is only the hero who saved the world."
"!!"
"Then what about the hero who couldn't save the world...?"
"They are [Trash]!! That is exactly what the world said!!!!"
Akumo's question.
The terrible and cruel question that had tormented Epimetheus for three thousand years made him explode.
"That is why!!!!! Since I'm trash, I'll burn everything down like the trash I am!!!!!!"
Thud—!!
Stab—!!
Why did I go on an adventure again?
Did I really want to be a hero?
I just... wanted to be strong enough to be greedy, to protect the things I wanted to protect.
"Stop it...!!"
"Please stop, God's Ne—"
"Shut up!!!"
""!!""
The voices of the people are drifting away.
Just like at the Coliseum in the Deep Floors, my vision and hearing are growing dark.
"Huff... huff...."
—"More respectable than anyone..."
"Shut up...!! You who couldn't possibly understand...!!!"
Through his blurred vision, Epimetheus's face didn't look good.
The madness-tinged, clown-like grin was gone, replaced by a look of deep agony.
"....."
".....I'll end this, Akumo."
Schwing—!
But that was only for a moment; he raised his sword.
Creeeeak—!
"Stop it...!! Please...!!!"
Whoosh—!!
"Lord Epimetheus...!!!!!"
Bell's sword couldn't pierce the man at all.
Ilia's flames couldn't even leave a soot mark on him.
"Epi... metheus..."
"....? What, are you going to leave some last words?"
Someone spoke.
"I... don't know how you've lived...."
That's why I can't understand, and that's why your power feels so resentful.
"Of course you don't!! You people don't kno—"
"And you. You don't know how I've lived either."
Because it was no different for Epimetheus.
"!! Die!!!!"
In the end, Akumo's words found no meaning.
Thrust—!!
".....Brother?"
Finally, the moment Epimetheus's sword pierced Akumo's heart.
Shatter—!!
It crumbled.
Crack—!!
The will of the heroes, which had never broken even while facing a [God's Nemesis] or confronting a God.
The longing they had protected like a child's stubbornness, no matter how painful or desperate... crumbled away pointlessly.
"..."
"Broken at last? Just as well. I'll cut off your limbs and take you with me."
Schwing—
"Even without using Ichor, the Goddess will surely come charging out in a rage when she sees her child with severed limbs."
I remembered.
Grip—
"....What?"
'My feet... won't move...?'
The heroes who endured trials.
They were neither warriors nor heroes, but pitiful beings.
Slide—
Beings crazed for revenge, beings who wandered the roadsides piteously, those who resisted fate, and those swept away by it.
Rumble—
"....How.....!!!"
'I should have taken all the flames...!!'
Just how foolish they are.... the beings known as heroes.
"[Black Holy Sword, Bloom.]"
Why do you think that only flames exist in this world?
Clang—!!
"You...! Who the hell are you!?"
Akumo, holding the [Black Holy Sword].
The scars etched into his body shook off the flames, maintaining a perfectly healthy appearance.
"Ah... my head feels clear now...."
The hero in front of him? The warrior? No, it doesn't matter anymore.
Shiver—!
"You are my enemy."
"!!"
Once I've decided that, there's no need for long words between us.
Clash-clash-clash—!!!!!!!
Countless sword strikes unfolded in an instant.
Compared to the cursed sword Epimetheus held, those strikes were imbued with a faint but unmistakable black aura.
".....What on earth is that....?"
"Akumo...!!"
"A clash between a hero from three thousand years ago and a hero of the present? This will be interesting!!"
Freya, Artemis, and Aphrodite arrived late.
The goddesses couldn't take their eyes off the clash between the hero of the past and the hero of the present for their own various reasons.
"Even if you stand alone amidst the ashes."
"Shut up!!"
"There is still a present to move toward, something to protect."
"Damn it...!! Shut up and die!!"
Whoosh—!
After exchanging several blows, Epimetheus's basic attack power and speed were still superior.
The moment he aimed for the empty left arm to cleave the body diagonally from the shoulder.
Smack—!!!
"Cough.... hock...?"
Akumo's regenerated left arm struck Epimetheus in the face.
Stagger—!
"Guh...!!"
A weight and destructive power on a completely different level from Bell's punch.
"Has your brain hardened over three thousand years?"
"You brat!!!"
"Look at that, you fell for it immediately."
At Akumo's provocation, Epimetheus immediately readjusted his sword. He lunged to pierce Akumo's heart, but.
Shimmer—!
"!?"
The Goddesses of Beauty entered his field of vision.
Simultaneously, Epimetheus showed a momentary opening due to the mind-shaking aura of [Charm].
Slash—!!!
"I'll take this, Epimetheus."
He paid for that lapse in concentration with his right arm being sliced.
"The power of [Charm]...! I received reports, but to think it would work on me...!!"
"Of cour~~~~~se! Even an [Ancient] hero is helpless before me! Haah~ being beautiful truly is a sin!!!!"
"Heh.... even after coming back from the dead, I can't get used to this...."
Even Akumo was dumbfounded by her sky-high vanity and intoxication with her own beauty, yet he saw the potential in having more cards to play.
"Fufu. Now, I'll end this for you! Throw away your weapon and obey me. If you do it now, I'll let you be a dolphin!"
""Long live Lady Aphrodite!!!!!""
"I wonder if this is how Loki felt when she looked at me..."
"No, definitely not."
Freya, who was supporting the [Charm] power, took a moment for self-reflection at that sight, but Akumo flatly assured her that she and Aphrodite were not alike.
"....Heh, hahahaha. It's troublesome if you underestimate me, Goddess."
"What!?"
"Did you think I hadn't anticipated your intervention?"
Rumble—!!!!
The playful atmosphere vanished as the cursed sword began to replace Epimetheus's severed arm.
"....That's going to be dangerous."
"Be quiet!!!"
With a black arm formed, Epimetheus's eyes took on a fierce red hue like that of a predatory dragon.
Grip—!!
"I'll take even the Gods into my grasp like this!!"
In his hand was Epimetheus's sword.
His own armament was gripped tight, pointing toward Akumo and the goddesses.
"Peck away!! You tiresome sword!!!"
Clang—!!
"""!!"""
'The [Charm] was repelled...!'
"....! Forced deactivation of ability!"
The ability that bloomed from his sword took a form familiar to Akumo.
Clash—!!
"The eagle that pecks at the livers of Gods...!?"
"Don't just be surprised, explain it quickly!!"
"An artifact bestowed to control the [Primordial Flame], but to think he'd use it like that...!!"
Akumo immediately lunged at Epimetheus again, unleashing a barrage of attacks.
However, unlike before when he had been repeatedly caught off guard, Epimetheus had now regained his stance.
Clash—!!
"The name of this sword is [Eton]!! It is the pseudonym I have been using until now!"
"Oh, is that so!? What, are you going to control the Sacred Flame with that too?"
"!!"
Crack—!!
"You fell for it again!!"
Now that things had come this far, Epimetheus's intentions were an element Akumo could easily read.
'What...!? There's no way I'm lacking in experience...!'
Whoosh—!!!
"Lady Aphrodite!!"
Just then, sensing something was wrong, Epimetheus fired a blast of flame toward the Goddesses of Beauty.
'I can only endure it...! I can't block that!'
Grin—!
"In that case!"
A blue aura flowed through Akumo's body, making him leap once more.
Boom—!!!
"I'll just take the hit and endure it instead, okay!?"
"Impossible...!!"
If I'm not enough alone, then let us all charge together.
"Bell!!!!!!!!!!"
"!!!!!"
Akumo, who had kept rising even after his body turned to ash.
He didn't have a single doubt.
Ding—!
Ding—!
Ding—!
That his child would also rise, and that the moonlight they had saved together would bless him.
"[Fire Bolt]."