TheMangaGod

We're finally here! The climax of the arc! The end of my first major villain! Ah, what a bittersweet moment it is. Our protagonist, Rose, just barely eking out a victory by the skin of her teeth and with considerable help from other people to boot. It shows just how large a gap there still is between Rose and some of the really powerful people in the world and that her journey is just beginning. This is sort of an emotional moment for me too since I really wasn't sure what to expect from my first "real" antagonist, especially since I set up the Prince as the one that everyone was supposed to hate for most of this arc then pulled the rug under you at the last moment. Although to be honest I like the Hero as the bad guy far more than just having an arrogant Prince be the one as having a corrupt asshole be a bad guy is a overdone trope in most situations.

Spoiler

Oh and for those of you not on my Discord I'll let you know the same thing I told them, this next arc will resume immediately after the Tournament with almost entirely fluff as well as the fallout from all this stuff. I've been starved for the fluffiness of earlier, pre-tournament chapters and need my dose of cute!

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 Just a reminder that the next chapter is on Patreon as always! You can also support me on PayPal if you can't afford monthly amounts! Please support me there if you enjoy my novel and can afford to do so! Thank you and enjoy the new chapter!

Nothing happened.

[What the fuck?!? <snap> Why- <snap> -won't- <snap> -it work?!?] - Keitaro

[Phew, what a relief!] - Malaise

[Yeah, I don't know why it didn't work this time but whatever the reason we should use this chance! HAH!] - Edgar

[YOU!] - Keitaro

Furiously snapping his fingers as he looked around at the decidedly still existing Arena audience the Hero stomped his feet like a child, his reactions seeming even more childish now that we knew his true age. On our side however, relief spread through the ranks as we realized that our surroundings weren't bursting into flames suddenly. Somehow the explosion had been prevented.

Edgar, realizing that now was the best time to end this entire thing, didn't allow this opportunity to pass as he called on us to follow him. His body rocketing forward at unimaginable speeds as the Hero turned his insane bloodshot eyes on our party.

[IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!] - Keitaro

Obviously reacting to the blur that was Edgar, the Hero stepped forward, his hands in a combat stance, unarmed but apparently not down for the count yet as he directed the powerful punch to the side, his own punch catching our ally in the stomach. Angrily approaching us as Edgar staggered off to the side slightly I noticed Karen also rushing forward as I struggled to regain control over my body.

[YOU DID THIS!] - Keitaro

Forming her hands into sharp, gooey blades Karen swiped her scythe-like arms only for an uppercut to send her flying. The Hero, barely reacting to a small cut as some of her slime hit under his eye. And yet he continued towards me as I finally succeeded in shakily regaining my bearings. Not fast enough for Veronica though as she repeatedly fired off arrows at the approaching man, Malaise buffing her as she did so.

[DIE YOU FURRY FREAKS!] - Keitaro

Dodging the flying arrows with minimal movement the hate-filled man finally reached us, his eyes filled with an insanity of one pushed too far as he pulled his still embedded sword out of the Arena floor. His following swing cutting Veronica's bow in half as she attempted to gain some distance.

Far away from the hectic battle elsewhere in the Arena a lone figure watched by bodyguards approached a familiar body. The man, tears falling from his eyes, knelt beside the cold body of his little boy. His child, killed by those Church bastards.

King Nero, his face a mess of tears, held his son's hand as he held his body to himself. The surrounding bodyguards, silent in their vigil watched their powerful King holding his son's body with a stoicism that some would mistake as uncaring but instead was respect. Some of them, longtime guardians of the Royal family, had been around since the Prince's childhood and they felt the same grief as the King, though not as deep. They had seen the Prince go from a precocious child to the man haunted by his country’s future and they, same as the King, had been confused at the sudden changes in the last few years.

Each of them, nursing a silent hate, trembled as they prayed for the Prince's safe voyage to the afterlife. Silence reigned, for a moment, as the world paused as if in reverence.

[Fucking DIE already!!!] - Keitaro

[Fuck you Old Man!] - Rose

[I agree with that sentiment.] - Edgar

Finally regaining a measure of control of my shaking body I deflected the Hero's wild, uncontrolled sword swing with my gauntlet. The metal squealing as it nearly buckled under the extreme strain I luckily succeeded in throwing the Hero off-balance as he attempted to deal with the change in momentum.

Not letting such a chance pass me by I immediately swept my tail under the Hero's feet, knocking him off the ground as Edgar, now recovered from the earlier blow, once more came rushing in for another strike. Jumping into the air as I swept the Hero's feet out from under him his knee blew the man higher into the air as his follow-up attack drove him back into the ground, the powerful attack spiderwebbing the hard stone floor that was below the layer of dirt and sand.

[Rafflasia!] - Karen

[By my word I call upon the Spirit of Blessings, Speed Up!] - Malaise

Still dazed from the repeated strikes from the two of us I noticed my friends finally recovering from their own received attacks behind the Hero as Karen called forth the monster she had used to take many opponents on during the Tournament. The ground cracked and exploded as the slime monster rose from the ground while Malaise applied buffs to everyone in sight, her efforts probably the only reason we were fighting on such a high level currently.

[RAAAAAAAAH!] - Rafflasia

[...die.] - Shade

[Ah! U-Umm! Take this!] - Veronica

Shade, the only person to avoid a prior attack, jumping into the mix as she attempted to cut off the Hero as he stumbled back to his feet. Her blow barely dodged by the still dazed old man. Veronica, for her part, looked around for something to attack with before flinging a stone with deadly precision with her tail, catching the Hero in the shoulder. My own attack immediately following the sound of the heavy stone hitting metal as I went for a throw.

[Enough!] - Keitaro

[Ah!] - Everyone

Grabbing the Hero by the arm I expected him to get tossed like a ragdoll a moment later but instead I felt a sense of weightlessness as I skidded to a halt several feet away. The unexpected attack from the Hero throwing me away from him.

What followed though was an overwhelming sense of pressure as I felt my body being pushed into the ground, the force feeling like gravity had been increased by several times. Struggling against the pressure pushing down on me I noted the similar positions of each of my friends, Edgar even forced to take a knee as he struggled against the invisible force.

[Hahahaha! IT WORKED!!! They work once more! I tried it before and nothing happened but now it works! Hahahaha!] - Keitaro

[What. Do. You. Mean?] - Rose

Struggling to gasp out my question as I futilely pushed against the force holding me down I watched as the angry expression on the insane old man's face morphed into one of complete bliss. His expression, relishing his regained power, pulled into a smirk at my question as he looked down upon our helpless forms.

[Oh it's just the natural order being restored, don't worry your ugly little head about it. Not that you'll have that head for much longer! Hahahaha!] - Keitaro

[Fuck you! Leave her alone you goddamn coward!] - Karen

[Yeah! You were getting your ass kicked in a fair fight! Fight us for rea- Ugh!] - Veronica

Gently patting my head as I struggled there helplessly his smirk widened into a full smile seeing my inability to shake off his hand. Cocky now that he seemingly had control of the situation he didn't seem in too much of a hurry to end it as he jokingly brought his blade close to my exposed neck. His threat was postponed however at the words of my friends, who were yelling at him, just as helpless as myself. His face, once more filled with annoyance and rage, turned towards the two that had interrupted him as he quickly approached and kicked Veronica in the face. Her pain filled cry filling me with rage as I struggled even harder against the power containing me. His continued blows against her pushing me to my limits as I finally regained my "feet".

[Huh? You resisted it? Again?!? You got up AGAIN?!? AHHHHHHH!] - Keitaro

[Fuck!] - Rose

[I'll end it!] - Edgar

My effort, eliciting gasps from my watching friends, got the attention of the Hero once more as his face shifted from arrogant confidence to confusion and finally fear. Seeing me defy the odds once again scaring the cowardly old man to the core. The Hero, his voice hoarse as he seemingly slipped back into the madness that had been present behind his eyes the entire time, lunged forward. His blow, aimed for my neck, seemingly attempting to end it before anything else happened.

My reaction however was to allow the increased gravity to pull me down with it, narrowly dodging his thrust as I brought my fist into the bottom of his jaw, the blow snapping his mouth closed on him as he screamed, forcing him to bite off his tongue in the process. Edgar, finally overcoming the increase gravity himself also went for one last blow, his fist deforming the Hero's face as he flew into the distance leaving broken teeth behind.

[Hah... Finally, it's over. Ah!] - Rose

Breathing a sigh of relief as the pressure faded away I turned towards my friends, only to see them rushing towards me already.

[Rose!] - Karen

[You're safe! Ow ow ow, yelling hurts...] - Veronica

It was over, it was finally done. It'd been a difficult battle, one that we realistically shouldn't have won, but we had overcame it! Karen, the first to reach me, jumped into my arms, her hug pressing around my body somewhat. The next was Veronica, her face riddled with bruises and a black eye from the beating of a moment ago.

[...alive.] - Shade

[Phew, we all made it...] - Malaise

[Yeah it was a close call but we persevered and-] - Edgar

Next was Shade and Malaise as they brought up the rear, their expressions of relief mirrored by my own.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. As Edgar congratulated us on our hard-fought victory his face suddenly filled with shock, forcing us to all turn towards where his eyes were focused on.

[Always! ALWAYS! ALWAAYS! YOU ALWAYS GET UP! WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU?!? YOU'RE WEAK! YOUR FRIENDS ARE WEAK! WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!?] - Keitaro

The Hero, shining a blinding white light, rose from the dirt he'd slumped down on, his injuries healing at a remarkable rate as he ranted and raved like a madman. His power looking like a saint but his madness ruining any illusion of righteousness.

[We could say the same thing buddy. Seems you have all sorts of cheat abilities huh?] - Edgar

[SILENCE! I DEMAND SILENCE!] - Keitaro

Nervousness pervaded our group as we readied ourselves, Edgar's quip only serving to drive home how screwed we all felt as we watched the person we'd seemingly defeated looking untouched by our previous battle, all his previous injuries nothing more than a memory which could easily be silenced in a few seconds.

Suddenly feeling a massive drain of the surrounding mana I reacted by pushing my way to the front of our group as a massive number of spell projectiles began to gather above the Hero's head. It seemed he was finally getting serious now. Sort of a "you haven't seen my final form" type situation as it were. But unlike those video games seeing it happen in front of you was fucking terrifying!

Smirking slightly from my thoughts and the seemingly untenable battle we suddenly found ourselves in I decided to try out something I'd learned in the last 5 months but had never really gotten the hang of completely, something myself and the Summoned Heroes were uniquely skilled at.

[Malaise cast every buff you can think of on Edgar, Karen and Shade will back him up, and Veronica... keep distracting him with rocks.] - Rose

[Got it!!] - Everyone

[Will do, you got a plan?] - Edgar

[More or less? Kind of making this up as I go.] - Rose

[Good enough. HAAAAAAAA!] - Edgar

Getting a confirmation from everyone involved I briefly glanced at the crowd that was still trapped in the Arena, many of them now cheering their group on as they clung to any hope they could. I even noticed that that Announcer dude from before, Judico, had apparently been narrating our battle this entire time in an attempt to spread that hope to those still trapped here. It was a little admirable actually now that I thought of it and I briefly considered having King Nero give the man a medal if we all ended up surviving this before focusing back on what I needed to do.

Noting the charging forms of my friends and the glowing one of Edgar I concentrated on calling a basic spell into existence, just a fireball, nothing too fancy. Then another, and another. Still operating under the pretense of at least pretending like I needed to chant to cast spells I automatically made up some impressive sounding bullshit to cover my tracks without even thinking about it. Habit is a funny thing, even in the worst of situations you still follow those regular actions when doing something familiar.

Either way, now was when the hard part began, I'd always had a hard time stacking spells on top of each other and they had a tendency to blow up in my face when I used too many at once. This time however it wasn't an option since we'd all die if I didn't succeed!

[OH?!? YOU'RE APPROACHING ME?!?] - Keitaro ¹I HAD to, JoJo's memes are required in Boss stand-offs

[Well bring it on! Take this! HA!] - Keitaro

[Not so fast!] - Rose

Concentrating on maintaining my connection with my spells I didn't even notice when I'd finally caught up to the amount that the Hero had, his attention being drawn to the ones that were running his way quickly forcing him to split his focus.

It was then that I put my plan into effect, as the Hero used his waiting spells to attack all of us at once, the confident smirk on his face replaced by one of shock and confusion as my own spells ran into his in midair, replacing themselves as fast as they kamikazed into their targets. The look of confusion, quickly replaced with anger once more as he saw me behind my group of friends and realized that I was behind this recent turn of events.

[AHHHH! Take this!] - Edgar

Edgar was the first to reach our enemy, his fist effortlessly deflected by the man as a projectile spell appeared behind his head. Only my own intercepting spell saving the martial artist as he used the momentum from the redirected blow to try and land a blow to the Hero's knees.

[STOP GETTING IN THE WAY!] - Keitaro

[FUCK YOU!] - Rose

Sweating bullets as I focused my thoughts on controlling the many spells firing off I intercepted each spell as they launched, the amount of projectiles flying around the Arena quickly approaching an uncountable number as we each attempted to overwhelm the other with pure numbers. But I was losing ground.

From an outside perspective it might look like I was keeping up with the older combatant but in reality the situation was getting worse by the second, my spells replenishing themselves at a far slower rate than the Hero's did and the margin for error getting less and less as each subsequent spell got closer to its target; at this rate, my friends and I were going to lose. I had no idea how to fix that. It was the unexpected that finally gave us a chance, just the slightest of slips as the Hero faltered over a loose rock. The opening, not enough to actually trip the Hero, was just enough for his concentration to slip just slightly as the combined blows from Edgar, Shade and Karen took all of his ability to dodge. Seeing my chance I immediately called down a wave of destruction on the distracted Old Man with every single one of my spells focused on beating him into submission.

And it was a hit! Then another! Followed by several more as dozens and dozens of fireballs reined down on the staggering Hero. The number overwhelming him in his distracted state along with our teamwork helping it along!

He was down!!! Right?!? We'd thought that several times now but he had to be.

[H-He's finally dead right?] - Veronica

[Don't raise any flags!] - Karen and Rose

[Flags?] - Malaise and Edgar

[Later, let's make sure this ti-] - Rose

[AH! <kof kof> HOw DaRe YOu! I'lL KiLl! I'll-] - Keitaro

Nervously gaining distance from the raining fireballs until they finally petered out Veronica finally asked the one question on all our minds but also the one that Karen and I would never ask. Especially after the last few times this damn cockroach had somehow survived. Our pop culture tinged response pure nonsense to the people from this world, who tilted their heads in confusion.

Unfortunately that damn voice I was dreading emanated from the crater that I'd created with my continued spells, the one that I wasn't sure I'd be able to put up any more of a fight against, that last volley draining any chance I had of continuing in any major capacity.
Tensing as a shadow crested the rim of the crater I squinted through the cloud of dust that had been thrown up in the explosion, expecting to see that damn arrogant face peeking through the dirt once again.

What I saw shocked me!

Covered in blackened skin and barely on his feet the man looked close enough to death that a stiff breeze could have killed him, the pain he was feeling visible on his face as his charred skin sloughed off in long ribbons. It was clear that the only thing keeping this man alive was his own magic, his condition terrible enough that it was a miracle he could still move.

That wasn't what forced him to stop however. Instead it was the suffocating presence of something beyond belief pressing down on the entire city. The pressure forcing anyone standing into the ground as if they were ants. And it felt familiar.

[What did you do to our grandbaby?!?] - Grandma Daisy

[Where's the fucking dead man that hurt our Princess?!?] - Grampa Richard

[Phew! They made it in time!] - Annabelle

Feeling the comforting presence of the Matriarch and Patriarch of the Amchier family arriving I breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever was going on above us was finally over if they were here, nothing she knew of could even be a threat to the two of them combined when they were truly serious.

Thinking back to the last few minutes she thought of just how incredibly lucky they'd been today. So many things going right to lead to the only way through the horrible plans of their enemies.

The one that had informed her of their enemies’ plans, the singing canary as it were, was that shivering mess of a man in the corner, his arms wrapped around his knees as he muttered to himself. Pansy.

[That they did, but if we hadn't dealt with the explosives none of us would have made it out of here alive so thank you for your assistance.] - Queensguard Miriam

[Ah don't worry about it, I found this place by pure luck. Plus it saved the Young Miss so it's in my best interest regardless.] - Annabelle

[Understood. I will however inform the Queen of your extreme loyalty and sense of duty to the future King's Consort.] - Queensguard Miriam

[Hahaha! I wouldn't bet on it, the Young Miss isn't someone to take that sort of thing lying down.] - Annabelle

[Mmm, well we shall see. I've rarely witnessed the Queen being wrong about these sorts of plans and I doubt she'll start now.] - Queensguard Miriam

[Hmm, well whatever. I need to rejoin the Young Miss as soon as possible. Farewell.] - Annabelle

[Farewell.] - Queensguard Miriam

It was dumb luck, sheer dumb luck that I'd come across the trigger for the explosives. I hadn't even known about further explosives actually, it was only the intervention of a Queensguard that had informed me of what exactly I had found as the two of us tore through all of the people holding the trigger for the chaos above them. Their chance encounter one of the factors that led to the Church failing in their plan, and one that the Hero could not have possibly planned for.

And with that last curt exchange this event ended, what would come of it in the future only the Goddess could know.