Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in another world
Chapter 71. Before me
In the Mid-Land domain, outside and on their way to Constal, is the world's strongest man, the unstoppable force, Lincoln Valentine. Since it’s a long journey from Greenvale to Constal, and all of the paperwork that went into Lincoln being able to actually enter the country of Valatrositce, he’s had a lot of time to himself.
Somehow, even though he hasn’t trained or worked on his body as much as he did in his prime, none of his muscles had faded. Even after only eating meat, drinking booze, and sitting in his cabin for four years, he was still at his peak, but this is due to the strain he had put on his body at such a young age. His bones, muscles, and even his mana, underwent so much stress they can't even seem to atrophy. So throughout his journey, all he did was drink and tell stories to anybody who recognized him.
But every once and a while, quite a big party would spring up in one of the many bars he visited, and he would make sure he out-drank everyone. There is one thing he made sure he didn’t do, which was sleeping with anybody, as it made him feel as if he was betraying his wife, even though she’s been dead for years. Aside from that one thing, he had fun doing anything else. Teaching somebody a new trick, stopping a monster from attacking a village or town, helping anybody in need, and of course, out-drinking anybody that challenged him.
The entire time he was traveling to Constal, he was either drunk or tipsy. Though to be more accurate, he’s been either drunk or tipsy for over twenty years, to seemingly dull his senses. But once he was around the halfway point, flying on the now larger Dema to get there, he was informed by Ryo through astral projection that Gray and the others may need some help.
Lincoln knows that Gray and the others are strong, but they’re still far from perfect, especially in their leadership abilities. While Rosemary and Edward have a basic education, Soku and Gray know very little. But even Edward's education is slim, as Musashi didn’t want him to go to a school for knights, all of his teachings were in basic studies. Rosemary also only has knowledge of basic studies, being a result of being born into an army for higher, not intending to be a knight.
And to further hold back their studies, with everything that happened in Walgonia with the Sect, Walgoina as a nation was exceedingly set back. Since the Sect had fired every soldier and knight, rebuilding the system is still far from over. Walgonia’s School for Knights was shut down, alongside Valors School for Magic, so the group was unable to attend such schools or be taught by the teachers. Then another issue is that Greenvale is the home and training grounds for the Leviathan army, but the Leviathan army has already attended the School for Knights, so they’re isn't a single teacher in Greenvale.
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So he sped up, but only slightly, though this led to the unseen consequence of the current even going on in Eclis. Eventually, Gordon informed Lincoln that he needed to wait and not enter the country because Valatrocitus had failed to confirm Lincolns' entrance, but Lincoln being Lincoln, he went in anyway.
Then in Constal, all of the knights are trying to kill all of Yoru’s monsters. With the knights being composed mainly of swordsmen, the strategy has been to protect the small number of mages and healers with them. Then, the rampaging mutated Arch-Gorilla moves in, about to attack the knights. They send in their strongest swordsmen, but their small amount of power is nothing to the Arch-Gorilla. Though luckily their lives are saved when the beast explodes, showering the area in blood.
All of the knights are bewildered to see Lincoln there, but Lincoln pays no mind to them. He clears out a large number of the monsters and quickly informs the mages and anyone with an affinity for fire magic to burn the decimated beasts. But the monsters aren't his main concern, his main concern is still helping Walgonia’s heroes. As he nears closer to the Mayor's office, he can feel the strange presence of misshapen and unfiltered mana. He ups his speed, leaping into the air to get back onto Dema and blast toward the area.
Once they arrive, he sees a small dome of reddish-black mana swirling around. Once he lands, he’s surprised to see Peter and Lisa trying to break through, so he speaks to them.
Lincoln: “What is this!? What happened!?”
Peter runs over to Lincoln, ecstatic to see him.
Peter: “LINCOLN YOU’RE HERE! IT’S THEM! THEY’VE BEEN TAKEN SOMEWHERE! JULIUS DID IT! WE NEED TO BREAK THROUGH THIS OR SOMETHING! THEY’RE IN DANGER!”
Lincoln hits the dome with his full strength, creating so much force that both Peter and Lisa are blown back by the wind. Peter catches Lisa, though Lisa pays no mind to this as all of her attention is on the legend in front of her.
Lisa: “That’s….no way…no way….IT’S A GOD OF WAR! IT’S THE WORLDS STRONGEST MAN! I can’t…this is crazy…”
Lisa begins to have a panic attack while Peter simply watches Lincoln strike the dome over and over.
Lincoln: “Dammit…if only Ryo were here, he could have this thing broken in a matter of seconds…whatever, I think I’m getting through.”
He strikes the dome with a dragon's fist, pushing Peter and Lisa further back. This creates a small crack, so he does it again, and again, giving him enough room to grab the crack. He begins pulling with all of his might, activating the dragon's spirit to boost all of his strength to break the dome open. Dema swoops down, covering Peter and Lisa in her wings to keep them safe while Lincoln gets closer and closer to breaking open the dome.
Peter: “Dema! Nice to see you.”
Lisa: “AN EARTHBOUND DRAGON! GREATER THAN A GROUND DRAGON, THE WINGS! IT REALLY IS ONE! OH MY GOD! YOU’RE SURROUNDED BY ALL OF THIS COOL AND RARE STUFF AND YOU DON’T BAT AN EYE!?”
Dema rubs her rough scales on Peter's face while Peter doesn't know how to respond to Lisa, only playfully shrugging his shoulders.
Finally, Lincoln breaks open the front of the dome, creating a vast amount of mana to flow into the sky. He sees Gray and the others lying on the ground wounded. Gray’s burnt body, Rosemary’s unconscious body, Soku’s stone form, and Edward's mutilation. A wave of immense anger fills Lincoln, but then he sees the cause of all of this pain.
Prometheus, Lazarus, Severus, Julius, Smolder, Yoru, and Ganga, all stand before him. From their perspective, they had just watched an area in the sky begin to pound and crack open, being broken and shattered for them to see Lincoln looking at them. He drops down, clenching his fist.
Prometheus: “This is exciting. We were able to take on two previous Gods of War in our apostle bodies, and now to stand here before our real forms. Do you really think you will be able to defeat us?”
Lincoln: “The others had weaknesses to exploit, but me, I ain’t got one”
End of Chapter seventy-one