Give Me Your All!
Elisa was completely lost in a profound wave of happiness as she clashed with the hero. But… just as she was swaying, utterly swept away by her emotions—
“!! Hup!”
—Clang!
The next instant, the hero suddenly shoved her back with tremendous force. The fact that he, who had focused solely on defense until now, was launching his first counterattack made Elisa feel as if her mind had snapped back into focus.
This… this is bad. I let myself get too relaxed for a moment… No matter how happy I am about the hero’s consideration, I really must give it my absolute best here…
Since the hero had been devoting himself purely to defense in order to draw out her full power, Elisa’s loosened attitude could easily be seen as insulting his goodwill. And then—
“Get a hold of yourself, Elisa!”
The hero raised his voice as if precisely pointing out her thoughts. He continued speaking to her in the tone of a teacher scolding a student for their mistake.
“Your strength, the power of one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Kingdom, cannot possibly be limited to this! Give me your all! Come at me with everything you have!”
“H-Hero…”
The hero’s resolute voice as he called her name. At that, Elisa genuinely reflected on her momentarily sloppy behavior. At the same time, the hero’s request for her to give it her all once more made her body feel as if it were burning up. She gripped her sword tighter, pouring strength into her hand.
That’s right… The hero is cheering me on this much. I can’t show him anything half-hearted here. I have to do my very best and live up to his expectations!
With that thought, Elisa firmly decided to stop enjoying the situation any further. And… the result of that resolve began to draw out her true, full-powered attack.
—Gurgle!
The black shadow at her feet. In an instant, ripples spread across it as if a stone had been dropped into a lake. And then—
—Goooooo…
With an eerie sound, Elisa’s shadow began to spread across the arena floor like water spilling from a bowl, dyeing everything pitch black. It then took on the form of something enormous and alive, surging and writhing with terrifying majesty like a tidal wave ready to crash down, centered directly on the hero.
This was Elisa’s strongest and most terrible attack technique—her true full power. Although she had used it against her mother Ilios in the previous battle, unlike then when she had held back somewhat, this time Elisa was pouring every ounce of her strength into it without any regard for the consequences.
“You said you’d accept all of me, right? Then take it, hero! This is… my heart, directed entirely at you!”
Elisa declared it boldly, as if making a love confession. Watching her, the hero let out a small chuckle and adjusted his stance, preparing to swing his sword.
“That’s the spirit! Come at me! I’ll accept that heart of yours with everything I have!”
“!! Hnnngh…!”
The hero’s unhesitating response to her declaration. Even though Elisa knew it wasn’t truly a confession, her heart couldn’t help but flutter automatically. Nevertheless, setting those feelings aside, she refused to let her affection for the hero distract her any longer and continued her attack without hesitation.
“Here I come!!!!”
With Elisa’s shout, her attack began to descend upon the hero. Dozens, hundreds of black blades formed from shadow poured down solely toward him. If interpreted normally, this attack was nothing more nor less than a strike meant to kill the person before her eyes without fail. However, the one receiving it was no ordinary being—it was the hero.
One of the strongest existences Elisa acknowledged, and someone she trusted with all her heart. She was certain that the hero could easily deflect an attack of this level.
And then—
“Haaaaah!!!”
As if answering her expectations, the hero let out a battle cry and swung his sword toward the wave of shadows rushing at him. At the same time, the immense magical power condensed in his greatsword erupted outward in a single streak of light toward the shadows.
—Kwaaaaaang!!!
A tremendous explosion erupted, shaking the entire arena with the hero’s strike. The spectators watching the match, the high-ranking demons present, and even the Demon King—who had swapped places with her proxy after her defeat and was now seated in the VIP room—all had expressions of automatic astonishment on their faces.
And a moment later.
“…”
“Ah…”
The new scene that appeared before their eyes was this: half the arena floor had been blown away by the hero’s strike, and at its center sat Elisa, collapsed. And before her… stood the hero, sword held firmly, standing tall with dignity.
The final winner is the Black Hero!
“Uwaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
The moment they grasped the situation, the referee’s victory declaration rang out. At the same time, cheers erupted throughout the arena, congratulating the champion’s victory. And at the center of those cheers stood the hero—the one who had displayed overwhelming power until the very end, and the first human in demon history to claim the title of Narsil.
“You fought well. And… I’m sorry, Elisa. You worked so hard, yet it ended up like this.”
“Th-that’s not true! There’s no need to apologize at all. You won fair and square. Rather…”
“Rather…?”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing. Um… anyway. Congratulations on becoming Narsil, hero.”
Elisa spoke in a trembling voice, her face flushed beneath the helmet that hid her expression. Seeing her like this—seemingly forcing down her frustration while doing her best to be considerate of the hero—the hero once again felt a rather unpleasant discomfort in his heart.
She looks quite disheartened after all… Even though she says she’s fine, I’ll need to comfort her somehow later.
With that thought, the hero took Elisa’s hand amid the cheers of countless spectators and helped her to her feet. At his action, Elisa trembled slightly but took his hand and stood up. Then, out of consideration for her, the hero supported the injured Elisa—who had been hurt by his final strike—and returned with her to the waiting room.
All the while they moved to the waiting room with his support, inside her helmet, Elisa wore a happy smile with a face as red as an apple. Yet the hero never noticed.
*
The Narsil Selection Tournament ended in a grand fashion with the hero’s victory. While the pure impact of the match itself was simply that the hero’s fame spread widely throughout the Demon Kingdom, the aftermath of the events that occurred during the tournament was not so simple.
“So… the current internal situation of the Racial Alliance has reached the point where they’re openly pointing blades at each other? Is that what you’re saying?”
“According to that Hero MK.2, that is indeed the case.”
To Belzebeuty’s question, Shamyuel answered in her usual flat, robotic tone with her ●△● face. At that, Belzebeuty felt that the situation was developing far more interestingly than she had anticipated and a smile automatically formed on her lips.
She already knew well that a major rift had formed within the Racial Alliance after their effective defeat in the last war. However, even so, the fact that those who had been firm allies just a few months ago had deteriorated to the point of all-out war was not something to be taken lightly.
If things go well… perhaps we can use this opportunity to gain something even greater.
Although they had succeeded in recovering their entire territory, the Demon Kingdom’s current national strength required full focus on internal affairs. Rebuilding the destroyed castles and lands, and resettling the citizens who had fled, would require at least several years. Until then, engaging in external conflicts like war was absolutely impossible.
However… regardless of the Demon Kingdom’s internal circumstances, in this current situation where they were tearing at each other, Belzebeuty judged that there was a way to reap benefits while minimizing the consumption of their own power.
“Thank you for your hard work, Shamyuel. Then… please continue reporting if any more detailed information emerges.”
“Understood.”
With those words, Shamyuel left Belzebeuty’s office. Immediately afterward, left alone in the room, Belzebeuty began going through the information regarding the events unfolding between the Racial Alliance on the mainland.
But as expected, the information we have right now is too lacking. To proceed with more detailed plans, it seems we’ll need to send more useful spies into enemy territory.
While organizing her thoughts and beginning to draft plans for the most urgent tasks, Belzebeuty noticed a sheet of paper beside her. It contained a report from one of the spies active on the continent.
It was information that Belzebeuty herself had no particular reason to pay attention to. The content was this: Shude, a former member of the old Hero Party and the Archwitch of the Magic Kingdom, had suddenly gone missing.