The night was cool and the breeze brought a sweet, and spicy scent to Dora's nose as he sat alone on a plain. He had his arms crossed and kept his eyes closed.
"You're awfully quiet tonight, little toy."
A familiar voice woke him from his torpor.
"I'm just thinking."
"Are you sure? I should be able to read your thoughts, so what is this silent thought?"
He opened his eyes and looked at the starry night.
"My heart and brain are bothering me."
" What's wrong? Do you regret parting with your friends?
He remained silent for a few seconds and sighed.
"I don't know, I've never felt like this before... We have to go our own way but... I wouldn't mind if it lasted longer."
The silence was deafening, broken only by Dora's breathing.
Suddenly, he felt the presence of someone or something behind him. A chill ran down his spine as a shadowy figure materialized and sat beside him.
Midgard was next to him, in her normal form, that of a young adult with tired eyes and unkempt hair.
"... Oh, I forgot you were also an auntie in disguise."
"You really know how to run your mouth, but I prefer you to be like this. So tell me, what's bothering you?"
"Hm... Nothing more than what I said, it's just a phase, maybe all this time with them has given me some regrets."
They looked at the stars together without a word, Midgar then placed a hand on Dora's hair and surprisingly, the boy did not reject her.
"You've changed a lot, the way you care for them, the sadness you feel for those whose dream will be shattered tomorrow... The fact that you share all the stone with them."
"I knew it was coming."
"Hm, don't worry, I'm not mad at you, I'm the one who asked you to use all the synergies with Beta... I suspect he's the one with physical power, but it seems that we're still missing something... Dora, after what's going to happen tomorrow, I think we need to talk about your true nature."
Dora glanced at her, a little surprised, and looked at the stars again.
Morning came and everyone was gathered in the living room.
On one side, the 3 nobles and Hope, and on the other, the members of Shining Sword and Kraim. The latter seemed very annoyed by the subject of the meeting.
Dora, in the middle, behaved like a monitor.
"Alright, you've had a day to think about it and now it's time to decide. Will you accept the big guilds' offer, or will you fight for your team? Decide your fate now."
Everyone exchanged looks, the pain was visible on some faces and Morgiana was trembling slightly.
Among them, only Sana remained calm. Dora noticed their concerns and continued his speech.
"Not trying to influence you or anything, but... If you refuse this offer, you won't be able to but will remain at your current level. You will advance to C rank, but you will encounter the same wall, 100% of course. If you accept, on the other hand, a brighter and better future awaits you. And you won't have to wait forever."
"This... Snake..." Leon sighed.
He stared at the 3 girls, a look that conveyed a warning, but it was enough to set one of them off.
Mary stood up and walked over to stand next to Dora.
"I have made my choice and I will accept the offer. I want to continue adventuring with you all so much... But Dora and Freya are right, this cannot last forever. I made a promise, a promise that requires me to quickly become stronger, and... There is no future for us as a team."
She looked at the ground, her eyes trembling slightly, but when she felt Dora's hand on her shoulder, she calmed down a little and smiled.
"That's what you taught me, isn't it? That's my story."
"Yes, the Dora Show will continue but you are better than a supporting character, leave your own story."
Leon was shaking in his seat, muttering inaudible words.
Once the tap was turned on, there was no stopping it, so Lilith got up and joined them.
Her eyes were a little red, but she tried to act firm and showed a smug look.
"I'll join Crimson Rhapsody, they need someone to train as a berserker and they have taste, so I'll be sure to become the scariest monster in the world."
She leaned on Dora.
"I'm warning you, enjoy while you're stronger than me because once I'm the strongest monster, I'll come and kick your ass and we're off on another adventure."
"Hm~hm, against me, strongest is a lot of assumption but... If you grow taller then I'll be really scared."
She attempted to punch him, but her hand passed through him like a hologram. They then shared a light-hearted laugh.
Liliana looked at her remaining teammates and raised her hand.
"Um, Mr. Dora, just to confirm, you said you would take care of Morgiana, right?"
Dora's expression suddenly changed and he glanced at Freya. The girl looked up at the ceiling.
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"Don't forget everything I did for you. The magic swordswoman and the spearwoman will be a little different than expected."
Everyone, intrigued, turned to her.
"For the swordswoman, there is a greater opportunity, one of the holy knights of the kingdom has disappeared, so there is an announcement to recruit a replacement. The only criterion is to be a swordsman... And something ridiculous who follows you well".
She stood up and walked over to Liliana and leaned closer to see her face.
"I guess you're cute."
"Eh?"
"I said what I said, we'll talk about the details later, but for now what about you try to join the holy knights? You'll be assigned to a noble like Dora but you will receive a special formation, at my mansion."
Liliana widened her eyes, she had difficulty understanding what was happening so she turned to Morgiana.
The latter was as lost as she was but nodded in agreement, at this point, every opportunity was welcome.
"W-Well... So, Morgiana and I will be royal knights? Like Mister Dora?"
"You will be 'trained' to become a holy knight. Places are limited, and right now the role of magic swordsman is in demand. It's like the warrior girl situation. As for the spearwoman, well since Dora asked for it, you will join her for now, but you will be deployed to the Rifts a lot, as a personal employee of our mansion. This will give you plenty of opportunities if you want to attract the attention of larger guilds."
Morgiana shivered a little and lowered her head. She tried to make a sound, but her face struggled to contain her emotions.
After feeling defeated, she was certain that her chances were over. She knew that getting back up as an emissary would be more difficult for her, especially since she didn't have a special job like the others or a miraculous opportunity like Lilith.
She had lost all hope and didn't expect to be given another chance.
"Th... Thank... Y..." Her words were muffled by a broken voice, Liliana quickly got up and hugged her, soon joined by Marie and Lilith.
"Oh, you said never to show our weakness to others, don't break your own rule now!" Lilith patted his back, barely containing her tears.
"She's right, I told you Idiora wouldn't abandon you."
They shared this moment of emotion, under the tender gaze of Mercy, the indifference of Zuri, and the little annoyance of Freya.
"You shouldn't thank me, thank instead Dora... No, in fact, encourage him, because now he owes a huge debt to me."
She threw a burning gaze on the young boy who grimaced and looked to the side.
Morgiana got up weakly and went to hug him.
"Thank you... thank you for everything..."
She was known for not controlling her energy in emotional moments, but, perhaps because she was morally exhausted or because of his enormous defensive stats, Dora felt almost nothing.
"It's... okay, I don't like it when you get too emotional... It's a win for everyone, so stop crying."
They wiped their tears while smiling, it was a beautiful moment, the death of Shining Sword, but the resurrection of their dreams, as individuals.
But not everyone won. The principal concerned exchanged a look with his goon and his girlfriend before getting up and slowly walking toward Dora.
As he got closer, Morgiana and Liliana intervened while Lilith and Marie remained worried near a Dora smiling, a smile engraved in the memory of the nobles who stood up in turn.
“Leon, don’t come any closer!" Morgiana warned, arms outstretched, ready to block him.
"... How funny, you always said you didn't want to depend on anyone, but look at you licking his boots now."
She flinched for a moment but did not lose her composure.
“It’s not bootlicking, it’s defending a friend! Bootlicking is what you expected from us!"
He spat on the ground, much to Freya's disgust, and drew his sword, alarming everyone.
“Hey, Leon, stop that now!” Hope quickly walked towards him, but something happened.
Leon stopped and pointed his sword at Dora.
"People who have nothing to do with Shining Sword can go fuck themselves! This is a private matter: Anesidora, I challenge you to a duel!"
This statement surprised everyone, causing even Dora to raise an eyebrow. It had to be a joke.
Hope looked at Dora, then Leon, lips trembling. He felt the hideous feeling that kept him from sleeping the past few days.
Liliana was the first to break this new silence.
"Mr. Leon... What are you saying?"
"You can't be serious..." Lilith whispered.
No one could understand what his intentions were, the most expected reaction was an attempt to attack Dora, in anger, but asking for a duel was the stupidest thing they could imagine, and for a specific reason.
"And what exactly do you expect? Do you want to go out with some humiliation? Because you can't hope to defeat him." Freya crossed her arms.
"She... She's right, no offense, aren't you way outclassed here?" Mercy added.
Leon did not move, all the time, his sword was still pointing at Dora, he hesitated to answer because this scenario made no sense.
"Hmm... I don't understand. Care to repeat that?"
"I'm telling you, you bastard, I challenge you to a duel, right now, anywhere will be fine."
Dora was so intrigued that he decided not to consider his insult, after the undead rift, no one could doubt his power, and after that, he got even stronger. There was simply no world where he could lose to Leon.
"Hmm... No, why would I? It's not that I don't want to crush your face but... Your hatred for me is matched only by my indifference towards you. I have no reason to give you what you want.”
Leon laughed and glanced at Zuri, alarmed, Hope rushed towards the girl.
"Leon, are you crazy?! Dora, don't stay like a tree, do something!"
He called on his old “rival,” but something had changed in the atmosphere. Dora didn't react and just smiled.
"You really need to control your emotions, Balder, there's only 5 meters between us, he won't even take a step forward."
"... Maybe, but he challenged you, so show a little pride as..."
"You will give me advice the day you can land a single blow on me, right now, as the uncrowned prince said, let it count for the members of Shining Sword."
Hope shuddered, he wanted to say something, but as he looked around, he saw the annoyed looks of Freya and Mercy.
"You're just a nuisance" No one said the words, but that was what their looks conveyed.
Dora took 2 steps forward and placed himself a few centimeters from Leon's sword.
"So, you... Want me... To beat you? You know that's not a feat, right?"
"Hmph, I'm the leader of Shining Sword, I created this team from scratch, we fought together and rose through the ranks. Do you think I'm going to let you destroy everything?"
"... Okay, but what are you trying to prove anyway? You are childish but not an idiot, you know I could wipe the floor with your body. What is your real intention?"
“Will you just shut your fucking mouth for a second?!” He screamed and delivered a swing that grazed Dora's shoulder and landed on the ground.
"I'm tired of your stupid words, you understand? You're a nuisance, idiot, everyone hated you in the village and that hasn't changed... no... you're even worse. At least before you were just the idiot mommy child, by the way, how is your widowed mother? Does she know that you are trying to break our team bond? No wonder Daddy ran away in the after-"
“LEON!!!”
Marie screamed for the first time. Her breathing was heavy and her shoulder was shaking.
"One word... If you say one more word, I'll be the one to shut you up."
"... Oh? Coming from the always selfless Marie, it's great, you finally recognize m-m...!!!!!" It was a second too late, but he finally realized that her scream was not meant to intimidate him but to save him from a future wave.
In front of him, Dora's expression had changed, and the atmosphere was literally becoming heavier.
"D-Dora, let me take care of him..."
"... Marie." He closed his eyes and the pressure disappeared. Marie shuddered slightly and lowered her head.
"This is not something that can be resolved with words, false impressions have brought us here, so an explosive conclusion is necessary to get out of this."
He walked up to her and patted her on the head, to the surprise of the others who expected him to simply bury Leon.
"I'm not angry against him, it was the requiem of a wounded animal, he knows he's screwed anyway."
"... Understood."
He smiled and turned to Leon, hands on his hips, with a sad expression on his face.
"I don't know what you have in mind, don't try to make me angry, there are better ways to commit suicide... But just to be safe, this is your last warning: if you make me fight you..."
He closed his eyes and opened them again, no need for words, the message was clear.
Leon pointed his sword at him again.
"I am a hero and a leader. I will never go back to my words. But I have one condition."
"... Someone else fighting for me? Even so, I doubt you could beat anyone here."
"If I win, Shining Sword will not be dismantled, no one will leave, and we will continue to fight together, like a real family. If you win... I will quit being an emissary."
That statement left everyone in a state of shock and surprise. Even Freya's facial expression turned into a frown, while Dora's eyes widened in disbelief and then slowly narrowed.
“You will regret it.”