"The sun is already setting," Gamble says to himself before they stop near a lake a short while later. Akira and Aki set up the tents while Gamble places a shield under a tree, setting up a simple barrier around the area. "How about a campfire?" Akira asks, and Kaen immediately offers, "I can get some sticks." "I can help too," Kaido adds, but Gamble, ignoring Kaen and Kaido, tells Akira, "I'll go get some sticks and cut down a tree. You prepare things here." He then heads toward a small forest, leaving a saddened Kaen to help with the tents. Elarina asks Kaido, "Have you known each other long?" Kaido replies, "No, we met just a day before you," then goes to help the others while Elarina sits by the water, looking at the distant Three Dragons Mountain. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Aki says, joining her. Elarina immediately asks, "How is love among humans?" Aki thinks for a moment and replies, "It's different for everyone, but it usually takes time for love to develop... Why do you ask?" Looking toward the setting sun, Elarina says, "Sun elves fall in love only once, and it's always at first sight..." Aki, understanding where this is going, says, "Kaen is a fox. From what I know, foxes fall in love more easily than they fall out of it." Aki tries to comfort Elarina as Akira calls them to the campfire. Akira lights the fire and pulls out some sausages made from pork-bats. "Just looking at them makes me hungry," he says, opening the bag. Gamble notices a wagon approaching and sees it's a traveling merchant. Akira asks about jewelry-making supplies and buys a set along with some minerals. Gamble, annoyed, says, "You know we have little money, and you're buying trinkets?" Akira defends himself, "Calm down, I'll make some nice ornaments from these." Gamble facepalms while the others start roasting sausages. Kaen reminds them about the story of Akira and Gamble's past. "The other characters are Seraphina Evans and Elara Nightshade. An axe and a bow. Both are strong, but one has an ego bigger than her breasts, and the other probably has depression. We were good friends in school. But they're idiots," Akira says, swallowing. Kaen, curious, asks, "Why?" Akira, swallowing, explains, "They follow the second princess like dogs and believe her every word." Kaido asks, "Is that bad?" Gamble, adding wood to the fire, replies, "Obviously." His expression looked like he was ready to kill someone. The silence is broken by Elarina asking, "Who is currently the strongest among the heroes?" Akira thinks for a moment and replies, "Physically, that would be Seraphina. Tactically, Elara. Magically, Gamble." Kaen, surprised, asks, "And you?" "I combine all of them," Akira says confidently. Gamble smirks and adds, "He may look like an idiot who'll go down with one shot, but his trait is adapting to the enemy. You'll be surprised how annoying it is to fight him on equal terms." Kaen, Kaido, and Elarina are impressed. Akira then says, "Alright, eat up and go to sleep. We'll have morning training before we leave." He then goes to his tent. The group stayed up for another 40 minutes before everyone went to sleep. Around midnight, Aki tried to leave the tent but saw Akira forging something a little farther away. She decided to go back to sleep. In the morning, everyone started packing. An excited Akira gathered everyone under a tree and said, "I know you're mad at me for buying those jewelry tools, but I have gifts for you in return." He went behind the tree and brought out a small bag, from which he pulled out earrings, a bracelet, a necklace, and a hairpin. He gave the hairpin to Aki, the bracelet to Kaido, the earrings to Elarina, and the necklace to Gamble. Kaen, slightly saddened, asked, "Is there something for me?" Akira looked at Kaen with a sparkle in his eyes and said, "I have something special for you," pulling out a katana from behind the tree. "Red material, black and red-gold scabbard, red-black handle, and a black guard in the shape of the fox clan's crest. I named this sword HinoHa. Flame Blade," he said, handing the sword to Kaen. Kaen immediately drew the blade, which released golden flames, and the blade turned a golden sand color. Kaen was impressed and, after a moment, sheathed the sword and bowed to Akira. "Instead of a bow, I'd prefer a small sparring session with you three." After packing everything onto the wagon, Kaen, Kaido, and Elarina warmed up. "How long do you think they'll last?" Aki asked Gamble. Gamble replied, "If they're lucky, five minutes." Akira stood ready for the fight, removing his top again. "Kaido, try to use HellBall with Elarina when you get a chance," he instructed. The girls nodded and charged at Akira. Akira dodged every attack effortlessly, and when he jumped back and clasped his hands together, Kaen interrupted, trying to strike Akira with the blunt side of his sword from behind. Akira dodged the blow, and from the side, Kaido and Elarina attempted to perform HellBall. Kaido extended a hand with a ball of wind, and Elarina added... lightning? Kaido rushed at Akira with extraordinary speed, but Akira dodged Kaido and took the ball of wind. Looking at it for a moment, he thought, "Thanks to the lightning element, it increased her speed? She has a real talent for combining magic and using the advantages of each element." He clenched his fist, dispelling the spell, and in the same hand created a fireball that he hurled at Kaido. Kaido blocked the fire, but Akira came up from behind and knocked her out. Elarina used the wind to lift herself into the air and attack Akira from above, but he caught her and slammed her into the ground. "You're the only one left," he said, pointing at Kaen, who immediately charged at Akira, making a few cuts. Akira dodged all of them effortlessly, and when he grabbed Kaen's sword, the sound of drums filled the air. Gamble shouted to Akira, "The problem came to us." Akira looked in the direction of the noise and saw a royal escort approaching, soon followed by the king of the demihumans himself. Gamble quickly healed Elarina and Kaido, while Akira dressed and said to Aki, "Can you protect the kids?" Aki said nothing, just looking at the ground, trying to hold back tears. When the king reached the heroes, he began to speak, "Heroes of the sword and shield. What brings you to my land?" Gamble responded bluntly, "To end your reign." Pretending to be surprised, the king asked why, and Gamble listed all the crimes he had committed. When Gamble finished speaking, a girl similar to Akena, also a half-fox but with one orange and one icy blue tail, emerged from the guards. "I told him to stop," she said. "Kyoko?!" Kaen shouted, but she didn't even look at him, speaking to the king instead, "As your advisor, I advise you to stop hunting for those foolish weapons." The king dismissed the girl and said, "I have a chance... I'll kill them here and now and obtain the demonic sword and angelic shield." He then removed his cloak and drew a spear. "And by the way, good job, Aki." The surprised heroes looked at Aki as Gamble asked, "What does he mean?" Aki could only apologize with tears in her eyes. The king began to speak, "Aki is my agent, sent to spy on you and reveal your location." Akira calmly asked, "Is that why she has an explosion seal on her?" Shocked, Gamble looked at Aki in disbelief and tried to say something, but the king interrupted, "Removing the seal is impossible because it will automatically explode. If you want to remove it, you must kill me." Without a word, Akira grabbed his sword and, with fury in his eyes, slowly walked towards the king. Gamble gathered the children and Aki, shielding them with his shield and forming a small dome. "Why don't you help him?" Kaido asked worriedly. "Akira is in a rage, and a raging Akira is unstoppable. I'm here to protect; Akira is here to kill, so I won't get in his way," Gamble replied. Meanwhile, Akira was effortlessly cutting through the king's army, and soon stood face to face with the king, who was four times his size. They stared deeply into each other's eyes. "Ahhh, there's nothing left for me here, I'm leaving... Goodbye, brother!" the girl said before disappearing. Kaen seemed confused. From a cloudless morning, the sky turned full of dark clouds. Akira, with an angry voice, said, "Know that I will not hold back." The king wiped away a tear and, in a serious tone, said "A talentless fool, but I sense one of the greatest talents on this continent, and... dear Akira, you are the first hero with... infinite potential," the King said. Akira ignored the king's words and shouted to Gamble, "What are you waiting for? We fight together, come here!" Gamble thought for a moment, then detached his shield from his arm, leaving it suspended in the air with its barrier activated. "If anything happens, touch the shield, and the barrier will renew," he said as he walked toward Akira, shedding his cloak and jacket along the way. Akira pushed the king back, then took off his scarf and tied it around his head like a headband. "Finally, I can have some fun," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Five minutes, and you return," said Akira, and Gamble nodded. A moment of silence, which felt like an eternity, was finally broken by the heroes' attack. The king blocked it effortlessly, and as the heroes leapt back, they struck him with fire and lightning. The king shielded himself with a wall of earth, but Gamble dashed to the side, attempting to attack, only to be blocked. Akira flanked him, stabbing a small knife into the ground, then unleashed a series of strikes that hit their mark. After the series, he pulled out the previously embedded knife. "Not bad," the king said, wiping blood from his chin before charging at Akira. Gamble blocked him with a shield created by the "projection of mana" spell, which formed a solid mana barrier allowing the user to create anything they imagined. Upon impact, the shield exploded towards the king, and Akira leapt from behind, slamming the king into the ground with a shout of "Explosive Fist," creating a sizeable crater. The heroes jumped back, and Gamble returned to the barrier. "Why did you come back?" asked Kaen. "Akira wants to make sure he dies... he'll resort to his curse," Gamble replied, glancing at Aki, who watched the fight with tears in her eyes. Akira removed the scarf from his head and used wind magic to send it gently around Aki's neck, tying it delicately. Then Akira crouched slightly and began to scream with all his might. Kaen, Elarina, and Kaido were frightened by how loudly Akira was screaming. After a moment, Akira's hair started to glow red, and an aura like flames surrounded him. But Akira didn't stop straining his muscles, trying to draw out more power. The king regained consciousness and, seeing Akira continually powering up, said, "YES! YES!... THIS IS WHAT I WANTED. COME ON, BOY," tearing off his armor and robes. Akira finished screaming and, with a simple hand gesture, dismissed the aura. The king's face shifted from laughter to fear, and Akira began to laugh loudly. Falling to the ground, he said, "I haven't felt such power in a long time," then stood up, pointed at the king, and said, "Hey, old man... have fun with me." Meanwhile, Gamble began explaining to the children what had happened. "Akira was born with a curse that made his muscles practically nonexistent and his bones as brittle as bread... in exchange for such a birth, Akira also received a power called the 'hermit's power' from an ancient mage who was born with unlimited potential. However, like Akira, he had to be born talentless. The hermit's power strengthens the body and mana. But the user also behaves as if they were not themselves. In Akira's case, he doesn't take the fight seriously and mocks his opponent. A minor drawback, but it can be used against the user. This drawback can be eliminated through training, but the drawback that makes mastering this form nearly impossible is the body's deterioration. The strengthening slowly destroys the bones and muscles. While they can be healed after the battle, the rate of destruction is never predictable. In short, Akira gained a transformation into the 'Celestial Sage,' which grants him strength while deteriorating his body. With his current base power, I estimate this mode will last no more than 3 minutes and 12 seconds. But..."Akira, using basic healing, is able to extend the time to 10 minutes.." Gamble finishes explaining and everyone watches Akira fight the king. Akira is clearly toying with him, pushing him back and mocking him after each failed attack, and akira is laughing at the king in every possible way. Gamble senses someone with strong mana approaching. "You'll have to fight after all," he says to the kids. After a moment, the sisters from the previous attack appear from behind the hill. Shocked, Gamble asks, "Didn't she blow herself up?" The woman, looking at Gamble with disdain, says to her sister, "I don't care about transferring the shield. We're killing him." Then she looks towards Akira, who is staring at her with wide open and, terrifying eyes, which frightens her. The woman, looking scornfully at the king, says, "He couldn't help himself." Pulling out a note with a circle drawn on it, she says, "You could have been more useful," and then shoots the note towards Aki, who is paralyzed, only watching Akira. The note disintegrates from the barrier, and Gamble realizes, "So you need a magic circle to activate it?... I have a plan," he thinks, then grabs Kaen's katana and places it next to Aki, whispering something in his ear, and then says out loud, "You three take the ugly little one; I'll take the older one... just kill her." He then enhances everyone with the Light Boost spell, adding, "You have 10 minutes before the boost ends, so don't play around." Gamble immediately launches himself at the woman with basic wind magic, pushing her far away. He then sends Joe towards Kaen. Gamble heads towards the woman, and Kaen attacks Joe with simple strikes, but Joe counters the last one. Kaido joins the fight, repeating the trick of surrounding her hand with stones, hitting Joe in the face and breaking her tooth. "YOU!!! MORTAL!," says the enraged Joe. In Joe's eyes, the numbers nine and two(92) appear. Realizing this, Joe immediately attacks Kaido but is parried by Elarina. Kaen uses the moment to kick Joe, sending her into the water, giving the kids time to explain the plan. In the meanwhile, Gamble reaches the woman, who also has a symbol in her eyes, this time "91." Ignoring this, Gamble asks, "Why are you attacking? Can I know your goal?" The woman replies, "For our race, you are an enemy nu-" she doesn't finish as Gamble rushes at her, saying, "I was joking, I don't give a shi#," then forms a mana club in his hand and strikes the woman, sending her flying. When Gamble tries to jump to her, she's already gone. Gamble gets hit in the back but immediately gets up and blocks more attacks. "You are tough, I'll give you that," says the woman, but Gamble says nothing and continues attacking her. The woman blocks all the attacks except the last one aimed at her legs. She quickly stands up, and Gamble changes the club into a shield, blocking more of her attacks. The fight continues, and Akira keeps toying with the king. "Come on, old man, entertain me," taunts Akira. "That the sage's power has reincarnated in you... laughable," says the battered king, whose forehead has grown a horn and part of his body has turned black as nothingness. Akira's expression changes from a smile to a terrifying murderous look. He stares at the king just as he did at the woman, but the king is not scared and attacks Akira, who takes the hit. The king tries to attack again, but this time Akira breaks his spear and drives his knee into the king's ribs. "Damn demons," says Akira, wiping blood from his nose. Looking to the right, Akira notices Gamble struggling. Ignoring the king, Akira leaps towards Gamble, kicking the woman and sending her into a tree. "Are you okay?" asks Akira, who then spits blood and clutches his shoulders. Knowing that Akira is slowly reaching his limit, Gamble tells him, "Deactivate the sage form. I have an idea." Unwillingly, Akira deactivates the transformation, and Gamble explains his plan to him. When the king, fully transformed into a demon, and the woman, also transformed into a demon, approach from both sides, Akira and Gamble face the king, ignoring the woman. Enraged, she attacks the heroes but is stopped by the "Solar Sphere" spell cast by Aki. "YOU BITCH!" screams the woman, wanting to jump at Aki and finish her off but noticing Joe in trouble, she tries to help but is killed by Aki, who pierces her head with her sword, pinning it and the sword into the ground. Aki returns to help the kids while Akira and Gamble start emitting their auras. Akira has a flaming orange aura, while Gamble emits a calm yellow aura. After a moment, Akira and Gamble open their eyes, and armor appears on their battered bodies. Akira gets orange armor with flames, while Gamble has a classic green knight's armor with a yellow cape. "A 50/50 chance, I love gambling," says an excited Gamble. Akira notices Gamble's eye has changed and asks, "Why is your eye blue?" Gamble, confused, doesn't know what Akira means, and the king bursts into loud laughter, saying, "So we have a sage and a Seinarume user here." Akira and Gamble look at each other and then attack the king. Akira summons a sword and tries to cut off the king's head, but the sword doesn't penetrate and bounces off. Gamble strikes the demon's ribs but feels like he's hitting an unbreakable wall. Seeing the demon trying to hit him, Gamble dodges, but it doesn't happen, leaving him wondering if he had a hallucination. Akira continues his attacks, starting to injure the demon. Gamble joins in to help Akira, who soon gets knocked out. Akira's armor disappears, and the demon has a perfect opportunity to finish him off but is blocked by Gamble, who has discarded his armor and summoned a shield, channeling the power he put into the armor into the shield. He then shouts, "Light!" and the shield explodes with light. Gamble immediately summons his armor, but nothing happens when mana surrounds him. Distracted, Gamble gets hit by a mana ball from the demon, who then ignites his broken spear. "You could have lived, but now I have to kill your familiars," he says, creating a wooden cage and setting it on fire, then running towards Aki and the others. Aki and the kids managed to kill Joe, but Elarina, Kaen, and Kaido are exhausted. Aki looks at the black smoke and, clutching Akira's scarf, says, "Don't die," when suddenly the demon appears beside her. "Why do you resist? Did you forget our deal?" he asks without attacking. "What deal?" asks Elarina, to which the demon replies, "For helping me get the Satanic Sword and Heavenly Shield, I will find her childhood boyfriend," he says, laughing slightly. Aki clenches her fist and says calmly, "The deal is off... I found him." The demon bursts into laughter, which quickly turns into fear. Slowly, he turns his gaze towards the fire he started, and from behind the smoke in tattered clothes, Akira and Gamble emerge. However, Gamble now wears a long green coat, and Akira is once again in the sage state. The demon looks closely at Gamble and notices a blue star tattoo on his eye. Aki takes the kids to a safe place where they can rest. "Looks like I have something special too," says Gamble, placing his hand on the tattoo. Akira is no longer cocky but asks, "How far can I go?" to which Gamble responds, "About 40 steps." Akira thinks for a moment, and they both rush to attack, with the demon realizing, after receiving a series of blows and kicks, that he made a mistake trying to kill both of them at once. Garrett Gamble, as the Shield Hero, possesses 10 spells/skills unique to the Shield Hero, including "Holy Cage" and "Shield Barrage." Now, in his desire to save his friend, he awakened an ability called "Manto Sanador (Healing Cloak)." The boys have some trouble coordinating their attacks because Gamble also possesses Seinarume, which can show images of the future, enhance vision, and allows seeing further. The tattoo also strengthens his resistance to illusions and boosts his defense. Returning to the fight, the boys began to perfectly execute their combos, and the demon barely blocks their attacks. The attacks might work, but even if they hit, they don't cause significant wounds on the demon's body. Akira seems to have an idea, pushing Gamble away and throwing a wind ball at the demon, sending him far away. Akira stands opposite Gamble and says, "If you occupy him for 20 minutes, I can kill him." Gamble objects, saying, "What if I go too far? The sage form will start destroying your body." Akira flicks Gamble's forehead and responds, "Is 40 steps enough? I can move while preparing." Gamble agrees to the plan. Akira stands behind Gamble, starting to gather mana, surrounding himself with his aura, while Gamble keeps the demon occupied. When Gamble jumps further away or gets pushed back, Akira has to approach Gamble within 40 steps because Gamble's cloak doesn't heal his wounds but those of selected people within 40 steps. Akira can use this as fuel for the sage mode. The demon begins to weaken, and Gamble stabs his shield into the demon's back, causing his cloak to disappear. "Damn Akira, are you done yet?" Akira nods and deactivates his transformation. Gamble grabs his shield and runs to Akira, who this time speaks to Aki, "Do you know wind magic?" Aki nods, and Akira says, "Great. You and Gamble need to keep him high up in the air." Gamble says to Aki, "Copy what I do. I have an idea." Aki agrees, and they both run towards the demon, but instead of attacking, they run around him. The demon realizes what they want to do, but when he tries to interrupt, Gamble shouts the name of a spell, "Spark!" The demon gets pushed to the center by a spark. Aki and Gamble use wind magic to create a huge tornado, and the demon, inside it, surrounds himself with a shield. Meanwhile, Akira starts accumulating fire around him, swirling under his feet. Gamble and Aki begin to tire, and after a while, they are pushed away by Elarina and Kaido. Gamble shouts, "What are you doing, Kaido?" Kaido points towards Akira, who smiles and gives a thumbs up, then gestures for them to get out of the way. The tornado disappears, and the demon, disoriented, deactivates his shield but is immediately shot into the air. Gamble, seeing the shield, focuses on delaying its effect because he had an idea to outsmart him. Akira jumps towards the demon, who realizes too late and takes a kick to the stomach. The flames Akira had gathered start swirling around him like a drill and he drives it into the demon. Akira shouts the name of the technique, "FLAME DRILL!!." Akira and the demon begin to fall, but the drill does not pierce the demon. In desperation, Akira enters sage mode, and the drill starts piercing the demon's hard body. When they hit the ground, the demon ends up with a huge hole in his stomach, and Akira, after standing up, starts screaming in pain and grabbing his shoulders. Gamble quickly runs to Akira, casting a healing spell, but before he finishes, he spits blood, and blood starts flowing from his left eye. This doesn't stop the Shield Hero from completing the spell and healing Akira. When the pain subsides, Akira exits sage mode and faints. Gamble temporarily goes blind in his left eye, and when he regains his sight, the star tattoo and Seinarume disappear from his eye. Everyone, thinking it's over, runs to the boys, but the demon gets up. "Damn humans..." he doesn't finish as his head is cut off by the Battle Axe Heroine, Seraphina. The demon's body turns to ash. Seraphina asks Aki and the kids, "Is everything alright?" to which a furious Gamble replies, "What about asking me?" Seraphina responds with disdain, "I won't ask a hero who can heal himself if everything's alright." At that moment, Akira starts coughing up blood and tries to get up. When he succeeds and turns to the rest, his eyes have turned completely red. Seeing this, Seraphina aims at the approaching Akira, saying, "If you've changed sides, know that I won't..." she doesn't finish as Akira approaches Aki, looking at the scarf, and then the red in his eyes disappears. Akira collapses onto Aki, who catches him. At this moment, he loses consciousness and has hallucinations of the past... residents avoiding him and people who cursed and beat him for no reason. When he hears a girl's cry, he remembers his first meeting with Aki. Once, while walking with Gamble in an abandoned district, he heard the voice of a crying girl. Out of curiosity, he went to check it out, and Gamble followed him. When they reached the source of the crying, they saw a girl dressed like a noble. Gamble wanted to leave, but Akira walked down to the girl and asked, "What happened?" The girl, out of fear, threw a pebble at Akira, but he dodged it and, crouching, said, "I won't hurt you." He said it with a very convincing smile, and the girl wiped her tears and said, "I don't want my father to choose a husband for me." Akira thought for a moment and approached Gamble, asking in his ear, "What's a husband?" Gamble, irritated, replied, "A man who proposed to a woman." Akira thought for a moment and asked again, "What is a proposal?" Gamble facepalmed and replied, "Entering an inseparable relationship with the woman you love." Akira seemed to understand and went back to the girl, saying with a big smile, "I have no idea what a husband is, but—" he didn't finish and got hit on the head by Gamble. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING TO YOU, YOU IDIOT?" shouted Gamble at Akira. The good moment made the girl laugh instead of cry. Akira looked at Gamble with a face that said, "Just as planned." Gamble looked at Akira and facepalmed again, while Akira offered his hand to the girl and said, "Let's go home together." The girl took Akira's hand. Adult Akira watched from a distance, saying to himself, "Maybe I really lost memories of someone important to me? Just like Mom said." Then he woke up in a bed in Gamble's guest room. Kaen and Elarina were sleeping on a chair beside him. Rising with pain, he took a blanket from the closet and covered them. As he slowly returned to bed, the bedroom door opened. Aki entered, wanting to take Kaen and Elarina, but she didn't expect Akira to be awake. Aki hugged Akira without a word, and a moment later, Gamble entered, saying, "Aki, take another purple blanket because..." he didn't finish and ran to the living room. Akira, surprised, asked Aki, "How long did I sleep?" Aki, with a tear in her eye, said a month, and Akira, after a moment, lost consciousness again, thinking, "This time, I really overdid it with mana use."

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