CHAPTER. 160: THE HERO OF HUMANITY (PART 2)

The Hero of Humans couldn’t believe it, Ruvaar, his most loyal servant had betrayed him? No, that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t betrayal, it was closer to a side-effect of his loyalty. His loyalty had driven him; or rather had made him end up enslaved, and yet he still fulfilled his mission to the best of his ability, and to some extent it was incredible he had even managed to accomplish it.

By all measures and accounts, the Hero of Humans had to praise the Dragon of Water, and to some extent he did, but the current situation… made him angry to no end. His servant had been forced to betray him, and it was all due to⁠—

[True Vision].

The Hero of Humans looked past the darkness, and saw the blonde haired girl that was the ruler of Draliz. Ceylon Arlow.

⁠— it was all due to her.

For a moment, the Hero of Humans was about to put an end to her life right then and there, but if he did that then the Dragon of Water would die. His most loyal servant; the only person that kept him company all these years would die just like that. That simply wasn’t something he could accept.

So that left the other option.

Killing the owner of the collar, and then he could kill the despicable girl, Ceylon. That would be his retribution. After all, he had fulfilled his deal, and yet he was being punished for it. All over a two century grudge. It was complete and utter⁠—

“Bullshit!” the Hero of Humans bellowed as he was struck.

In an instant, he covered an unfathomable distance within the black space as he landed rolling, everything hurt. And to make things worse, the stupid skill of the Hero of Spirits had ended. It was only a matter of time but he was going to kill this damn dragon once and for all, he knew that not killing her back then was a mistake.

He tried to stand up, only for darkness to sweep and cut his legs as he grunted, falling back on the ground. He clutched onto his staff, peering into a vision of one of the greatest heroes of humanity, and immediately muttered.

“[O, Life, Grant Me Thy Strength].”

In a single moment all his wounds were healed as he began to shine in a golden light, and then he immediately turned and spotted the Dragon of Shadows, or more specifically sensed her, for she was hidden within this black void they currently resided. Much like other living beings, it too had life, and with this skill, the Hero of Humans could sense it.

He immediately took a breath and used one of his skills— [God Step].

The Hero of Humans vanished from his spot and immediately appeared elsewhere inside the void as he gripped his staff and swung⁠. In an instant, a loud bang echoed accompanied with a pained screech, and for a moment the void itself shook, threatening to fall apart.

Just one more.

He took another breath, [God⁠—] and a voice echoed.

“[Supreme Water Control]!”

At that moment, the Hero of Humans felt his body twist and his bones break; shattering apart. The incredibly strong skill immediately erased any of his control over his body as he gritted his teeth, he wanted to blame the Heroine of Water for this, but he knew she wasn’t the one doing this. No, it was none other than…

“Ruvaar!”

“Remember, I have to protect her at all costs!” his servant said. “Just let her attack you until she exhausts herself, else I’ll keep having to intervene!”

Ruvaar’s words greatly grated him, his advice wasn’t bad, but all this time he had spent hiding away from the world. And now, now that he had gotten his power back he had to hide away once more? It was unacceptable! The Hero of Humans felt indignation and anger as he bellowed.

“You people think an extra SS Tier being can stop me from killing the Dragon of Shadows?!” he screamed. “You are all dead wrong⁠— [Great Control of Life]!”

His voice bellowed throughout the land as the Dragon of Water froze mid-air, his skill being completely overridden as he turned towards the direction where the Dragon of Shadows had been, but contrary to his expectations he was unable to sense her this time.

What⁠— ugh!

And a beam of purple light hit him from underneath, going through his body as he regenerated. Then, he turned in the direction only to not sense anything, and then it happened⁠— again. Another beam perforated his body as he screamed, and then again, and again, and again. Hundreds of purple beams came at him from all sides as he gritted his teeth.

What is this?

And at that moment, the Dragon of Shadows’ voice echoed. “You think I didn’t prepare against you? You thought I was but a mere fool? Think again, scum.”

Along with a growl, a purple explosion engulfed him as he was sent flying. This didn’t make sense, he couldn’t feel the Dragon of Shadows at all now. What was this nonsense? What were these cheap tricks?!

That wasn’t nearly enough to stop him!

“Youuu…” He gripped his staff as he hit the butt into the ground. “[Use My Life to Unleash Hell]!”

It was a new skill, one belonging to the Hero of Flames, but it was the most fitting. In an instant, fire erupted everywhere, consuming the black void as the temperature rose by hundreds of degrees. The beams of purple continuously hit him, but he simply brushed them off as he continued to increase the temperature, hearing grunts of pain.

“In the end, none of you are my rival!”

And a tidal wave of water came from the Dragon of Water, Ruvaar, but it was incinerated all the same. Part of him wanted to shout to him that it was useless, but he knew that it was outside of the dragon’s control. What mattered right now was killing Malz, what mattered now was killing the Dragon of Shadows. Because if they died, Ruvaar would survive.

And so he lifted his staff into the air, preparing yet another skill.

* * *

Ceylon swallowed, her heart racing more than ever before as she stared at the dome of darkness within the forest. It looked so calm, and yet the shockwaves of what was happening inside kept traveling throughout the land. At this point, even the civilians of Vaelith were no longer watching⁠, for they had hidden away in bunkers. Now, only she, the ruler of Draliz and a couple of knights were watching.

And everyone was aghast, after all, the shockwaves were enough to threaten the architecture of the city, and if it weren’t for the work of mages some buildings would’ve long collapsed. And the thing that unsettled Ceylon the most was the fact that the power of the battle still kept on escalating.

She bit her lip, murmuring, “Will things really be fine⁠—”

And fire exploded on the surroundings of the dome as the forest began to burn, even the dome began to shake as Ceylon blinked. That wasn’t good, far from good, but what made her pale wasn’t the fire, but the white light that she saw.

“That is…”

* * *

The Hero of Humans slammed his staff on the ground, using a skill of the now defunct Hero of Stars.

“[Supernova].”

And at that moment, the world went white, as the dome of darkness, burst. Like a bubble it ceased to exist as the dragons present went flying through the air, and one of them in particular the Hero of Humans focused on. Immediately using [God Step] to appear before them.

In a blink, he found himself standing before the pathetic and bleeding Dragon of Shadows, walking towards her ever so slowly with a grin on his face.

“In the end, you made a grave mistake, lizard,” he said.

At last, retribution.

Finally, he was going to put an end to this terrible joke.

“Any last words?”

At that the Dragon of Shadows groaned, before glaring at him in her pathetic dragon form, before spitting. “Fuck you.”

“Hah, if that’s what you want then so be it,” the Hero of Humans took one long step to arrive at her head, and then conjured a sword of light. “Goodbye then, lizard.”

He stabbed down and at that moment a glint of light passed, the Hero of Humans blinked before he felt some pain and then⁠— his body slipped, cut in half as his eyes widened. And at the corner of his eye, he saw her. The woman wearing a blue kimono, the hero with blue eyes and a single small scar, the hero with a dead gaze who was now smiling from ear to ear.

“Water bitch!”

She chuckled. “What, you think I’m going to let you end this so easily? Nop.” She flicked her fingers as the Dragon of Shadows began to shine. “Far from it.”

The Dragon of Shadows blinked. “This is…”

“Neat right? Heals all injuries and restores skill cooldowns,” the Heroine of Water grinned.

At that, the Hero of Humans screamed. “You think this will be enough to stop me⁠—”

“[Supreme Water Control]!”

And he started to asphyxiate as the water within his body was controlled, once more, it belonged to none other than Ruvaar. Then, before he could even react he saw the Dragon of Shadows grin and whispered.

“[My Crown…]”

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She instantly used both of her SS Tier skills as another dome of darkness was made. Lastly the Heroine of Water also grinned, clapping her hands.

“And now, it’s time for round two, where I also join into the fun.”

With those words she reached forward and pulled, pulling his heart out as he screamed in pain.

In a single moment the tide of battle had changed. Now, once more he was surrounded by darkness in a domain, once more he was at the mercy of being controlled, and now he had to deal with a second water user as he gritted his teeth.

In just mere seconds he was once more on the losing end. But was this really it? Was he this weak to lose against these people? He didn’t think so. He couldn’t be this damn weak. He was the damn Hero of Humans, the hero of his own damn race, the one who shouldered all of humanity and used their power.

Of course, he wouldn’t lose here.

The Hero of Humans gritted his teeth as he slammed his staff.

“[Great Barrier⁠—]”

And his SS Tier skill exploded like a bubble as he was sent flying, it didn’t seem good enough, but no matter he had many more.

“[All Protector⁠—]”

Once more he got the same outcome, but the Hero of Humans kept on fighting or trying to; time and time again his skills were shattered. Whether it was blasted by purple light, or his body being controlled, or even his heart ripped out. Despite his attempts, all he felt and all he could do was be hit by the whirlwind of attacks coming his way.

It seemed like none of his skills were strong enough, and now his current active skill, the one granting him his survivability was about to come to an end.

The Hero of Humans was blasted as his mind whirled, losing composure.

Am I really going to die here? Even if he used other skills to stay alive, the same thing would happen. He would just be stuck in an endless loop of getting beat down.

Is this really it? It all seemed hopeless.

Will I die here?

Right now, he had no options other than riskier skills, skills that could potentially kill him, but at the same time. At the same time; between being defeated like this or risking things… between running away once more and triumphing… between being undeserving of being the Hero of Humans or not…

The choice was clear.

* * *

The Heroine of Water was laughing. She derived so much pleasure from seeing such a strong opponent in such dire situations. The Hero of Humans looked like he was on the verge of losing it.

And she couldn’t get enough of it. But unfortunately, it was now time to deliver the finishing blow. Even though the fight hadn’t been fair, she had enjoyed herself. In all honesty, she couldn’t believe it took so many heroes to take the Hero of Humans down in the past. But she supposed that it went to show how much she had grown.

Or how weak he got.

She looked at the kneeling hero that was painting, barely gripping onto his scepter.

Then she smiled, raising both of her hands as she channeled her element.

“Goodbye⁠—”

And he screamed as he began to shine white, and the Heroine of Water blinked as her skill fell apart before her eyes, it was an attack she recognized.

“Shit⁠—”

* * *

The Hero of Humans screamed as he raised his staff, using another skill of the Hero of Stars, this time, his strongest one.

“[Singularity].”

And at that moment, the world began to fall apart. The darkness, the water, everything began to disintegrate as the world started to distort for a brief moment, before it retracted into itself and⁠— exploded.

A loud explosion went off as all his opponents were thrown in all directions, leaving them all near death. It was a massive explosion that broke the world itself even if briefly.

The Hero of Humans was panting, rifts open in the air itself as mysterious energy whirled around. But that no longer mattered, what mattered was that he had won. And now, it was time for his revenge.

In an instant, he appeared before the Dragon of Shadows, only to see…

“You…”

Ceylon Arlow.

* * *

Just what am I doing?

That was what Ceylon asked herself as she stood panting over a fainted Malz, her friend was bloodied and even though they were no longer in their human form, Ceylon felt nothing but kinship with the fallen woman. And that’s why she was here, hovering protectively over the fallen dragon.

She had made use of a teleportation artifact to reach the area as soon as possible, and while she had expected what happened next, she hadn’t expected it to happen so fast. The Hero of Humans had come, and now he stood before her. He looked like a handsome middle aged man, however his expression was twisted with anger.

I’m going to die… No⁠— that was impossible, the Hero of Humans couldn’t hurt her. So, Ceylon took a deep breath, meeting the hero’s gaze as she spoke.

“I won’t let you kill her.”

The Hero of Humans did not reply, as he simply waved his hand with a grunt and in a single moment, she was moved. Not aggressively, not brusquely, she was simply made to float away, causing her to blink.

Then, he stepped forward and loomed over the dragon with a sword as Ceylon’s eyes widened.

“Farewell⁠—”

“No!” she exclaimed, and a ring on her finger flashed.

In an instant she was teleported before the Hero of Humans as he brought his sword down. Ceylon squeaked, closing her eyes preparing herself for the pain, but no attack came. Instead, she was faced with an angry hero who spat.

“Move.”

“I won’t, I won’t let you kill her! And if you kill me the Dragon of Water will die!” she argued. “Malz is not in a condition to fight you anymore, so spare her!”

Upon hearing that the Hero of Humans gritted his teeth. “You, just like her, are getting in my way, even though all of you needed protection from the bitch that is the Heroine of Water. All of you, just keep getting on my way.”

His expression twisted, as he flicked and Ceylon was moved away, this time much faster.

“No more. I’m done with that, I’m done with people getting in the way of my goals,” he said grimly. “If you continue, I’ll kill you as well.”

Ceylon gritted her teeth and teleported, but this time instead of standing before him, she instead appeared clinging to his leg as he immediately gritted his teeth.

“You don’t give up do you?! I’m telling you, enough!”

And he kicked, sending her flying several meters as Ceylon landed on grass, rolling across it as she gritted her teeth. She couldn’t let the Hero of Humans kill Malz. How could she face Arc after that? And more importantly, how could she live with herself if she allowed it to happen.

She couldn’t.

Ceylon teleported, clinging to his neck trying to strangle the man as the hero let out a scream of frustration. Perhaps it was weird for her to do this, perhaps it didn’t make sense for her to rise up to this challenge, but she needed to.

It's what Arc would’ve done. And while at this point she didn’t even know if Arc was alive, she still chose to follow her values.

“I won’t let you!”

“You bitch!” He threw her to the ground as she coughed. “Then I’ll just kill you both!”

Her heart was racing, but she knew it was the right thing to do. And so, Ceylon dodged to the side instinctively as the Hero of Humans swept his sword, causing him to grit his teeth.

“Die!”

He swung again, but missed. Once more, doubt settled in her mind, about whether this was the right thing to do or not, but regardless she committed to it. Even as her heart raced, and her sweat poured down, she did her best to dodge, even throwing herself to the ground as the Hero of Humans reached a new level of anger.

Until, he screamed and used a skill.

“[Slash]!”

And Ceylon blinked, as the sword went right through her heart⁠— and her vision went white.

She blinked as she found herself within a familiar place of light. The Lighthouse. Her skill to save her life had activated, which meant she would’ve died right then and there. She took a deep breath, now conflicted. Her heart was rushing, and unlike Arc, she was no warrior, but yet, she knew she had to go back.

Why?

All this time she had been acting just out of duty, because it was the right thing to do, or because it didn’t sit right with her, but more than anything else, she felt that if she gave up now, it would be akin to giving up on Arc.

They had all been waiting for her return from the Forgotten Places ⁠— if it even was possible ⁠— she and Malz had worked hard to preserve Arc’s legacy, so letting it disappear like that was…

Unforgivable.

Ceylon wouldn’t forgive herself if she stopped trying, and she wouldn’t forgive herself if Malz died either. Whether it was because she was doing it for Arc or herself, to her it was something that she couldn’t let go of. Because she wanted to be able to face Arc with a smile when she returned, because she wanted to be someone deserving of respect, and because she was Ceylon; Arc’s sister.

She took a deep breath, and spoke aloud.

“I wish to leave the Lighthouse.”

In a single moment, her vision shifted and she found herself standing to the side as the Hero of Humans raised a sword before the Dragon of Shadows, and at that moment, Ceylon acted. She summoned a spear from her Storage Ring, and while she doubted it would have any effect, she still moved.

[Light Aura Coat].

Her spear was coated with light as she rushed, and lunged. The Hero of Humans reacted by moving out of the way but the spear still scratched his arm as he glanced at her with unbridled fury in her eyes.

I have to do this, for me, and for Arc. Ceylon bit her lip as she twirled her spear. She had once been a simple noble girl, one that was hopeless and ignorant of the world, but after meeting Arc everything had changed.

She didn’t want to go back to being hopeless!

With a swift movement she stabbed the spear into the shoulder of the Hero of Humans as he flicked⁠— In an instant, blood splattered and Ceylon staggered back as she screamed.

What⁠— and her eyes widened in horror as she saw her own arm on the ground, blood flowing out. This is…

She cried in pain as she stumbled, and the Hero of Humans simply spat.

“Even by getting in the way of my goals I’m allowed to kill you, let alone attacking me, so.” He twirled his sword. “I planned on giving you a quick and painless death, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make it quick, but painful.”

With those words he slashed again, almost taking off another of her extremities as she screamed. Then, with a swift movement he stabbed his sword through her clavicle as she was driven to the ground, and the Hero of Humans smiled savagely, twisting his sword as Ceylon screamed from the pain.

“Now, this is retribution.”

Seeing that, all the courage, all the resolution she had built up, immediately crumbled as she realized she was going to die. Her body was bleeding all over, she was missing an arm, and her other hand had almost been amputated. She really was going to die.

The Hero of Humans grinned viciously. “I really like that expression, but you are merely an obstacle for me to get true satisfaction.”

With those words he raised his sword.

“So I’ll just kill you now.”

This is it.

Ceylon looked at the looming sword as tears began to come out of her eyes. Maybe she shouldn’t have stepped to save Malz, but this was her decision. She tried to look brave, but truth was, she was deadly afraid. She stared as the Hero of Humans prepared his blade, and then, he smiled swinging it.

“Arc!”

She screamed and at that moment a gust of wind swept, and for a moment Ceylon thought her wish had been true, but instead she heard a squeak.

“So you finally stop playing dead,” the hero said coldly.

Ceylon opened her eyes only to see a human Malz struggling within the grip of the Hero of Humans, as he grinned and then, he threw her. The now human dragon crashed against Ceylon knocking the wind out of her.

It was over.

Malz was injured beyond belief, all she could do was grit her teeth and glare at the Hero of Humans, meanwhile Ceylon simply felt despair. The Hero of Humans grinned and pointed his sword towards them. And finally, Ceylon accepted it.

It was her time to die.

She closed her eyes, as a blinding light went past her eyelids, it was the same skill that had ended Malz’s skill in the first place, and now, it was going to end her life along with the life of her draconic friend.

“Die,” he began. “[Singularit⁠—].”

And he paused, speaking warily.

“Who are you?”

“Hey, are you perhaps responsible for Ceylon’s condition?” a familiar voice asked.

And Ceylon froze. Could it be? She opened her eyes as her heart nearly stopped, because after so long her prayers had been answered. A familiar figure stood before her, having stopped the Hero of Humans by holding his arm. She was white like snow, she wore winter clothes, and something about her had changed, however, even if she had changed, Ceylon felt nothing but warmth.

Because she had returned.

Arc had returned.

“Because if so, then…” Arc continued as bloodlust filled the surroundings. “I’ll fucking kill you and rip you by the limbs piece by piece.”