The King of Ruin and the Hero who would save the world.
The combined intimidation from the two players surged at once, causing the rank-and-file Succubus soldiers assembled there to falter.
The conference, convened under the banner of peace and drawing every faction into its orbit, had already collapsed—primal conflict now erupting between those who had discarded words.
"I'm going in! Come on!"
Yū switched from axe to blade in the blink of an eye, closing the distance toward Vagia with a slash that moved faster than the eye could follow.
A strike that exceeded human reaction speed, one even supernatural beings would struggle to track.
Charging headlong at the enemy leader's neck without a care for the danger to himself—that was truly befitting of one called brave.
But an instant before that blade of desperation could reap the life of the Succubus Queen, an interception cut across its path.
A sharp metallic ring sang out as a tall Succubus swung her spear, moving to shield her queen.
Yū, his attack parried, unleashed a second strike without a word—as though he had planned for this all along—yet that slash too was caught and turned aside.
"Sloppy. You won't bring down a Noble Succubus with just that."
"Then how about this?"
With a swift whistle of air, Yū sheathed his blade. The moment he dropped into a low stance, an immense killing intent crashed over the Succubus.
A single flash—followed by a shockwave and thunderclap born of breaking the sound barrier—sent the chamber's debris and World Tree leaves flying.
The shockwave subsided, and the situation became clear.
There stood a petite Succubus bodyguard, drenched in cold sweat, who had nonetheless caught Yū's attack dead-on with an enormous shield.
"A Noble Succubus is... is the aristocratic class among Succubus. We serve as the shield and spear that guards the queen. We are... not weak."
"That's right, ♥. Girls carry spears too, you know!"
Vagia offered words of encouragement to her two brave subordinates.
Yet judging by the fact that her expression never relaxed, she understood all too well that the exchange had been far from proof of their superiority.
Indeed, Takuto was shown that very spectacle in vivid detail, yet he showed not a flicker of disturbance, merely watching the situation unfold.
"Quite the display. But in the end, they are merely a subordinate, not a player. Can something that isn't a player truly compete? At the very least, aren't you underestimating the existence of a Hero?"
The opponent would soon understand the meaning of those words.
Because, that last strike...
Was merely an 'attack' from the Hero's perspective.
"Master! Elpower! Elspeed!"
"Oh! Power's surging in! Alright—Hyah!"
Through Ai's support magic, Yuu's attack power and speed increased several times over.
The next strike possessed a power so immense it was foolish to merely call it an 'attack'.
Death... was right here.
"Yikes ♥ Forest Mana 2, release! —Magic Card: [Forest's Might], activate!"
"Urgh!"
"Ngh!"
This impact was incomparable to the last.
Shockwaves were a gentle notion; what raged there now was nothing but pure, disorderly violence that would reap their lives.
The two Noble Succubus bodyguards and the player Vagia might have endured it, but there was absolutely no opening for the ordinary Succubus to intervene in this battle.
"Well, this is bad ♥ I knew it, but they're stronger than expected!"
Vagia cried out in alarm.
She had no composure left, and was no doubt fully aware that she herself had unintentionally been placed at a disadvantage.
In a one-on-one fight, the Hero was strongest.
Just as Takuto had predicted beforehand, that power was undoubtedly being demonstrated here as well.
(I underestimated what a hero truly represents. Their strength goes without saying, but that equipment which multiplies their abilities by several times is monstrous. Probably an unreleased rare item that even I don't know about... Just how much did they play?)
Brave Questus is an RPG.
The weapons and armor held by the protagonist, the hero, are fundamentally obtainable from shops or treasure chests.
However, among those, there existed a category called rare items that dropped from enemy monsters at a certain probability.
Implemented as an element of dedicated play, the difficulty of obtaining these rare items could only be described as brutal.
It was common to defeat enemies continuously for dozens of hours without obtaining a single one, and there were even items that required years of challenging to acquire.
These miraculous weapons and armor, naturally, had abilities that could only be described as top-tier.
Takuto sometimes questions the meaning of dedicating oneself to end-game content that could defeat even a Demon Lord in a single blow, but that is often the nature of games.
It is precisely because of that nature that the euphoria and sense of achievement upon obtaining them are irreplaceable.
Yuu was equipped with that vast accumulation of time and miracles.
There was no element where a hero fighting seriously could lose...
(But... I cannot let my guard down. Although the situation is unexpectedly in our favor, if they receive reinforcements, it could be easily reversed. Our weakness is the inability to fight for twenty-four hours straight. Still, it was fortunate the Elven saints were not here. If they had been, we would be finished at this point.)
Takuto was analyzing this situation calmly.
Of course, he wasn't playing passively, leaving everything to Yuu.
He had ordered Vittorio to carry out insidious interference using his abilities, and was manipulating the "failure" to protect the messengers of Ai and Fonkavun from the Succubus soldiers.
However, there was a specific reason why he wasn't moving much from this location.
That reason was, in other words, the existence of the last player.
(If they are going to make a move, it should be soon...)
And then... just as Takuto had predicted, H, frustrated by Vagia's disadvantage, made his move.
"...Lady Vagia. Please, make your move."
"No choice, I suppose... Then I'll show you my trump card!"
She had expected to use her ability. The question was, what kind of attack would she unleash? If Takuto could discern that, he could understand her game. If he understood her game, he could devise a countermeasure.
Takuto had held his ground partly out of trust in Yuu, but also to use him as bait to draw out H-san's ability. And, prepared to support Yuu no matter what happened, he had chosen to stay back where he could oversee everything.
But that decision now proved to be a grave mistake.
H-san spoke to Vagia through a statue, and something appeared in her hand.
The instant he saw the object, Takuto’s eyes flew open and he screamed, too late.
"Yuu! Dodge it!"
A line sliced through the air, splitting left and right.
At its end stood the Hero Yuu.
"—Huh? Guuahh!"
"Master!"
Crimson blood sprayed forth.
It gushed from a deep wound that cleaved straight across Yuu’s torso.
He leapt back to their side in a single bound, his face contorted in agony. He was alive, but he had clearly taken a solid hit.
Ai hurriedly cast healing magic, but it would be a while before he could return to the fight.
"Are you alright? Fall back for now."
"No, I'm fine. This will heal quickly. More importantly—"
Standing forcefully as if rejecting Taakuto's offer, Yuu glared at Vagia. The expression he wore was no longer composed; it was pure anger.
"What did you use?"
Armor of the highest rarity. A specialty piece focused not on unique abilities but raw defensive power.
Though it looked like a uniform, what Yuu wore was exactly that kind of equipment.
And it had been sliced through effortlessly.
While glaring at Vagia—left hand clutching an H statue, right hand gripping a strangely curved sword—Yuu spat out those words.