kscans

Chapter 100 - To Hell with Friends. I'll Show You My Power.

Hero Ares's sword flashed, slamming against Mamoru's shield with crushing force.

"Guh...!"

Mamoru put his entire body into withstanding Ares's fierce assault. He was pushed back little by little but desperately held his ground.

"Not yet, Mamoru. Your defense is already at its limit," Ares's voice echoed through the cavern.

Mamoru, breathing heavily, forced out his words.

"...I will never fall. I will stop your sword. And by then... my comrades will finish you."

At that moment, a battered and bleeding Mel Aria, the doll princess, staggered into the throne room, crawling on the ground.

"Prince... h, help me... My eyes... I can't see anymore..."

Ares turned a cold gaze on Mel Aria.

"Huh? You were still alive? I was planning to kill you after this fight was over from the start. One reincarnator is more than enough."

Mel Aria pleaded in a trembling voice.

"Please... Prince... me..."

But Ares's foot came down heavily, mercilessly applying pressure to Mel Aria's head.

"I ain't no prince. It's over. You're gonna disappear right here."

"Gyaaaaaaa." Mel Aria's doll head shattered to pieces.

Magical energy surged enough to make the cavern ceiling tremble, and a dazzling golden aura erupted from Ares's entire body. Within it, his sword's radiance intensified, as if it were a divine weapon. Hero Ares had leveled up.

"This... is my next level of power."

As Ares spoke those words, Mel Aria's body, crumpled at his feet, twitched once and then fell completely still. Faced with the life of a young girl so mercilessly crushed, Mamoru's eyes burned with rage.

"You bastard...!"

But just then.

"Mamoruuu."

Along with a sharp voice, shadows leaped one after another from a gap in the collapsed wall at the back of the throne room. It was Defray, holding his ladle-staff. Koni-chan, his round body jiggling as he shouted with a ball of fire in his hand. Amy, still clutching her bow despite her many wounds. And Tiris, descending on black wings.

"Did we make it in time...?"

Tiris's ice magic pierced the ground at Ares's feet with icicles, momentarily halting his movement.

Ares glanced at them, his face twisting in annoyance.

"...Tch, so the small fry have come swarming in."

He swung his sword, and its aura cleaved through the very space around them.

"Friends? Hah, to hell with that crap. What the hell can a bunch of good-for-nothing losers do when they get together."

Ares's eyes glowed red, and his mouth twisted into a crazed grin.

"I'm fine on my own. I don't rely on anyone, I ain't bound by anyone, I'll take care of everything with this power. That's what a hero is, ain't it."

At that moment, the ground split, and a shockwave shot out in all directions.

Koni-chan yelled, "Whoa. What is this pressure. My stomach's doing flips."

Defray stepped forward to stand beside Mamoru. "We'll back you up, Mamoru. You're not alone."

Mamoru gave a wry smile, gripping his shield anew as if strengthened by those words.

"...You're late, you know. But thank you for coming."

His comrades all took their stances at once. Opposite them, Ares was laughing, laughing like a madman.

"Alright then. I'll crush you all at once... with this new power of mine."

The air of the battlefield began to heat up once more. It was the beginning of the end, a conclusion colored by blood and fate.