"Hahaha!! Kill us? That's a good one. Haven't laughed that much in ages. You probably don't know who I am. I am Kouga Takeru, hero of the Amalthea Empire. Currently level 71."

"So? That doesn't mean anything. I'm still going to kill you."

"Takeru-sama, remember…" (Serena)

"Yeah. We need her to spill the beans. Don't worry. I'll just spank her a little."

Yare yare. This guy has no sense at all. He can't even judge the difference between us. Oh well. Let's see if I can scare him enough first. I'd actually rather avoid killing him. If it's found out that I killed him, it might just draw attention to me and that's the last thing I need.

"Here goes."

The hero prepared his spear and swiftly approached me. He adjusted his grip and took a swing. He clearly avoided pointing the sharp tip at me and just wanted to smash me with the pole. Unfortunately for him… all I had to do was raise my hand and the impact is easily blocked by the back of my palm.

"Huh!?"

"You won't be able to beat me like that."

I tried plunging Kaa and Laa into his chest, but he immediately made a limbo move and then jumped backwards.

"Ooo? You dodged that?"

"Don't underestimate me, you brat. My reflexes are on another level. You won't manage to hit me."

"Yeah… I doubt it."

I put a little more mana into my feet and quickly circled behind him. He had such a dumb face. He lost track of me. I was ready to kick him in the torso. It did appear that his body was trying to react. If I were to guess, his reflexes are roughly at around 0.1 seconds, which is pretty impressive. 

But that equals zero compared to Edel-chan's full counter. Her reflexes in that state are under 0.01 seconds. This guy might as well be standing still. My kick connected and sent him crashing in the wall.

"Guuaaah!!"

"Takeru-sama! Pull yourself together. Don't let a brat like that have her way with you!!"

"Kuh… this… doesn't make any sense. I am a hero!! I can't fall before a child!"

The so-called hero lifts his spear and from its tip fires a yellow bullet like spell towards me.

"Useless."

One tap of my staff and his little ball evaporated in the blink of an eye. The hero seems angry and just keeps firing more at me.

"Umm… I hate to break it to you, but increasing the numbers won't help."

46 beams of light… easily intercepted and dealt with.

"Kuh. I'm done playing games. Oh, light, grant me strength!!"

Light gathers and pours down upon him. His spear… no his whole body was wrapped with it.

"Ohhhhhh!!!"(Takeru)

"You know, for such an exaggerated battle cry… you're still too weak." 

I parried the thrust that was aimed at me with Kaa and Laa and at the same time I pierce his chest with my left hand.

"Devour… Beelzebub!"

Beelzebub is the name of the black fire flames. Flames of darkness that will literally burn the soul to oblivion. I never thought I would ever use this. The flames generated by hand cause a small explosion. His body scatters into dust particles.

5 seconds later light particles formed and his body was back in one piece.

"Tsk. It seems that ability really is troublesome. I thought if I target the soul I could end this. But it seems I can't manage to grasp it properly."

"Darn brat. What kind of monster are you?"

"I'm a loli. Not a monster."

"Hey, princess, maybe it would be better if we fall back and come back with more…"

"Unacceptable… this is unacceptable. Do you know how much time I invested in raising your strength? How many strings I had to pull to keep you in a good light? I won't stand for more!! Takeru, use that! Use your trump card and eradicate this nuisance once and for all!!"

Yeah. That girl is one big rotten apple. Her face twisted from a dignified royalty to a complete lunatic.

"Oi, Serena, what's up with that attitude change? I can't just use that thing. You know very well that I can't…"

"Enough excuses!! You're not a hero! You're nothing more than a dog, and I'm the one holding your leash!!"

The Hero's body stiffened drastically. For a few seconds it was like he was a puppet on strings.

"What… what's going on?"

"Honestly, I would never have anticipated this. To think I actually need to use the countermeasure I placed in you… but enough is enough!! Takeru, I, Princess Serena, order you to use your secret ability and destroy that child! Use your Blood Festival!!"

"Yameroooo!!"

Looks like these 2 aren't on the same wavelength. I don't know what that bitch princess did, but magic is flowing from her right hand towards this hero. It's safe to assume that it's similar to a command seal like in the popular Fate series. Although how the hell did she develop a means to implant something like that on him is beyond me. 

The reason why the hero was because he turned his spear towards himself and…

"Gaaaaahh!!"

…he plunged it straight into his chest. From there on blood gushed out, but at the same time it seems like it enveloped him. He went through some sort of transformation which wasn't pretty to watch. 

"Graaww!!"

Yup. He became like a red berserker. He lost all sight of reason. These 2 really don't make a good couple. Whatever this ability is, I better be careful, just in case.

"Now go, Takeru!! Kill her right now with your ultimate ability!!"

Howling and screams echoed across the room. Even with his reason gone it still seems like he sees me as an enemy. A raging spear berserker… his reflexes were tricky to handle even before and now I can feel he got stronger, but the price isn't worth it. Honestly, nobody should suffer like this, even if it's a good for nothing hero like him. Killing him will be my way of showing mercy. As for that bitch princess… death would be too good for someone like her.

"Come at me, then. I'll properly put you out of your misery this time!"