Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Hero
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The light that enveloped me showed me a vision, just like before.
Barren plain.
A sea of dark red monsters filling it endlessly.
She was fighting alone in the middle of that sea of monsters.
She was quite tall for a woman.
Around 180, 190 cm?
Beautiful and resolute face.
Red long hair fluttering gorgeously like flames.
Well-trained toned body, sun-tanned bronze skin, and numerous large and small scars visible on it.
Those scars didn't make her look ugly; instead, they made her even more attractive.
She was armed like an ancient Greek female warrior.
Every time she thrust the extraordinary spear in her right hand, dozens of monsters along that line exploded.
When she bashed monsters with the round shield, gorgeously dyed in monster blood, in her other hand, the shockwave burst numerous monsters.
But other monsters immediately filled the gap.
Dozens died to her strikes, but far from decreasing, they seemed to increase.
Yet her spirit remained firm.
Endless battle.
As time passed, I could feel her body gradually tiring.
The number of monsters dying to her thrusts decreased.
She wasn't outputting her previous attack power.
Still, with an unchanging stoic expression, she endlessly thrust her spear and bashed her shield at the monsters.
How many days and nights had she fought?
Eventually, she stood alone atop a mountain of monster corpses.
But it wasn't the end.
A new black wave approached from afar.
An endless horde of monsters.
One might tire just looking at it.
Her body might be exhausted.
But the spirit in her eyes as she gazed at that horde hadn't diminished in the slightest from the start.
However, her body had already reached its limit.
At that moment, her gaze, fixed on the approaching monsters, wandered into empty air.
And her mouth opened.
"Hmm... So this world is done for after all?"
Strong and clear voice.
"...Fine. I permit it."
With those words, her body dissolved into light and scattered.
The vision the light showed me ended.
The golden light was gradually taking on a form.
"She's here!"
I raised both hands high.
-Clap. Clap. Clap.
Applause came naturally from the excitement.
I was convinced.
In gacha game terms, a Triple S-grade legendary hero had appeared.
The golden light faded, and the woman with the gorgeous red hair from the vision stood there.
"Hmm. Are you the one who will become my lord?"
"Become... the one?"
This... the conversation was going differently.
"When summoned, don't I become the master?"
"I can't serve some unknown human as lord on the spot."
With that, Ignis scanned me over.
I scanned her too.
She was tall, but nothing compared to me.
Relative to me, she was rather average.
Her large breasts, proportional to her height, caught my eye.
"A body trained to beautiful perfection. If my subordinates were still alive, I'd want to show them. It shows how disciplined your daily life is."
"Y-Yeah?"
I decided not to reveal the truth to her.
"The body is more than satisfactory."
"Should I say thanks?"
"Next is martial prowess. I hope you possess power befitting that body. Take up your arms! Warriors converse with their bodies!"
What she meant by 'body talk' was a bit different from what I enjoyed.
"If I win, you'll serve me as lord?"
"You beat me? That would be ideal."
I pondered briefly what to use against her.
For me now, armed or unarmed made little difference.
I'd seen her power in the vision.
Not an easy opponent.
I pulled a greatsword from my inventory.
Stowed the mage robe in my inventory and formed black armor with mana.
"Hm? Sorcery?"
"Something like that."
"Seems you're prepared! Please don't disappoint me!"
She charged at me with shield and spear at the ready.
I dodged her thrust.
But the shockwave jolted my mana armor.
An ordinary human would have been torn to shreds.
I swung my greatsword down at her without hesitation.
Not a mere swing.
I added a twisting force to prevent her from deflecting it.
-Boom!
She raised her shield to block my greatsword.
"Amazing technique. I almost took a hit."
I was surprised too.
She was the first to properly block my twisting power.
Not human? Strictly speaking, an alien?
We rapidly exchanged blows.
Destructive shockwaves spread around us.
She'd impressed me even in the vision.
But facing her directly, she was even more incredible.
A look of enjoyment appeared on her face as we clashed.
Her spear shot toward me.
I lightly blocked it with the flat of my greatsword.
"Huh?"
The spear pierced through the flat of the blade, aiming straight for my eye.
In that instant.
Time seemed to slow.
No, it just felt that way to me.
My body had reacted to the crisis.
I barely tilted my head back to dodge the spear.
"I thought I'd pierced you, but what astonishing reaction speed."
She seemed impressed as I evaded, but I was shocked too.
"Pierced this?"
I knew well the hardness of my mana fixation.
Yet Ignis had pierced it.
"Longinus Spear."
"L-Longinus?"
A familiar name.
"This spear is a divine artifact said to pierce even gods."
"D-Divine artifact? What the hell! That's a cheat weapon!"
I had one Gungnir too.
Compared to her spear, mine felt like an embarrassing mass-produced sturdy knockoff.
"Warriors don't discriminate against weapons. Overcoming them is what makes a warrior!"
"You say that?"
I'd nearly lost an eye from carelessness.
My fault.
She'd been fully committed to the fight from start to finish.
I grew more cautious of her spear and intensified the battle.
-Bang! Bang!
She easily blocked my greatsword's heavy impacts with that round shield.
"No way... The shield's a divine artifact too?"
"Indeed. It's called Aegis."
.........My gear felt even more pathetic.
Pressuring her with overwhelming physical ability, she endured my attacks with shield and spear, prolonging the fight.
Ignis was the strongest being I'd ever faced, among monsters and humans alike.
Had we fought one or two hours?
She pulled away from me.
"Your attacks are straightforward. But fast and powerful. I admit it. You are stronger than me. For some reason, you're not going all out. Even so, this is my defeat."
Ignis wasn't some woman I could toy with half-heartedly like the others.
To bring her down, I'd have to sever or smash somewhere vital...
But I couldn't do that to a hero I'd summoned.
"Then you're mine now?"
"Yes. I will serve you as my lord."
Her weapons dissolved into light and were absorbed into her body.
"Incredible."
"These armaments are fused not only with my body, but my soul as well. One with me, you could say."
Mythic-grade items. Enviable.
In my envy, I grabbed her large breast.
Firm yet soft texture.
"What?!"
-Slap.
She smacked my hand away from her breast.
"What are you doing! My lord!"
An unexpected rejection.
"Hmm. I want your body. You refuse?"
"Yes."
Her face was resolute.
"Am I not your lord?"
"A lord shouldn't treat a subordinate roughly."
Irrefutable logic.
".........Pity."
"My lord, don't be disappointed. I don't dislike you. Let's start by building feelings for each other."
Ignis comforted my disappointment.
"......"
What kind of elementary schooler line was that?
But forcing myself on such a formidable being wasn't feasible.
I decided to take a step back.
"O-Okay..."
It was a shame I couldn't have her right away, but I'd bide my time for a chance later.
Albert had come to Slubber with Eileen, full of ambitious dreams of becoming a great adventurer.
Sword Master.
An existence every sword-wielder aspired to.
He'd met one. And now had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become their disciple.
To fulfill the test's requirements, Albert hurried to the Adventurer's Guild first.
They could hire porters and such manpower there.
"Cooking? Gardening? Isn't that gardeners' work? Hire a cook or gardener. What? Looking for a beautiful maid who can do it? You joking?"
Albert got an earful from the job posting receptionist.
She barely introduced one woman who somewhat matched.
"I can do maid work. My cooking skills are quite renowned."
Said the woman whose girth was twice Albert's sideways.
'Ah, no good.'
Albert left the guild empty-handed and wandered aimlessly.
If time were plentiful, he'd search slowly.
But tomorrow...
No solution in sight.
It felt hopeless.
Albert tore at his hair.
That was when.
Someone grabbed the hem of the wandering Albert's clothes.
"Adventurer! Please, help me!"
Albert's gaze reflexively turned there.
A young beauty stood with a desperate expression.