Partner, let’s do this!
Ssss.
The shockwave from the explosion settles down.
Berserk’s strike was nullified by defensive skills.
Berserk’s brow quietly furrows.
In his line of sight, an unexpected guest appears, having blocked his final blow.
“The British princess, Evangelin Stewart…”
Berserk’s red eyes turn to the British princess.
Evangelin, with her pink twin tails fluttering, glares at Berserk, sword in hand.
“I cannot forgive anyone who threatens Kim Deok-Sung!”
Evangelin tightens her grip on the hilt of Ascalon.
Just like when she faced Ivan Antonov at summer school.
This time, she won’t back down.
She will be his shield.
“Ascalon──! True Name Release!”
Goooooo!
A storm erupts from Evangelin’s body.
Her eyes shine pink.
From the enormous great sword, Ascalon, pink light bursts forth.
“──The great sword that subdues the dragon’s neck!”
Flash.
Dragon scales rise from the blade of Ascalon.
Behind her, fairy wings and pink dragon wings flutter and overlap.
Drip, drip.
Bloody magical energy, reminiscent of dragon’s blood, flows from the blade.
Coupled with her gift that has earned her the title of Fairy Princess, Evangelin’s four magical wings sprinkle pink light.
“Quite an impressive show of spirit.”
Drip, drip.
Berserk, holding Hrunting which also drips with bloody magic, laughs.
“But… you’re still not enough to face me. Even if a bunch of scum like you gathers, it won’t be enough to stop me… Either way, get out of my way cleanly.”
Whooooooo!
In the moment Berserk’s Hrunting howled chillingly.
“O chains of crimson! By my name, I command you! Bind my enemies!”
Flash.
With a burst of purple light, chains rise from the ground.
Clink, clank.
Berserk’s limbs are bound by the chains.
“?!”
For the first time, confusion appears in Berserk’s eyes.
Beatrice.
Her chains have successfully bound Berserk.
“Ugh! My vision is going wild…”
Thud.
Beatrice’s eyes, freed from the eyepatch, glow purple.
Tears of blood stream down her face.
“Now’s the time!”
Olivia, who quietly laid the badly injured Kim Deok-Sung on the ground, shouts.
With her command, Eri appears right behind Berserk.
“Master’s enemy! Disappear! Yap!”
Swish!
A scythe of burning orange magic strikes Berserk’s rock-like muscles head-on.
Thud!
A red barrier of magic rises from Berserk’s body, deflecting the scythe.
“How annoying.”
Berserk states with a blank expression.
“To think you would dare to bind me with such a pathetic chain.”
Berserk moves his arms.
Creeeak!
The chains immediately crack under the force of his movement.
“Graaaaaaaaaah! My vision!!!”
“Ahhhh! My Mystic Eye!!!”
In an instant.
Drop by drop.
Beatrice screams.
Blood bursts from her violet-glowing Mystic Eye.
‘This is different from when Ivan Antonov was here.’
Evangeline’s eyes sharpen.
Chains of Crimson.
A Mystic Eye’s power that can temporarily bind even an EX Rank Hero.
However, despite being an EX Rank, there was an insurmountable gap in capabilities between Ivan Antonov and Berserk.
Thus, the chains that bound Berserk were being consumed much faster than against Ivan Antonov.
Clang!
Berserk blocks Evangeline’s attack.
‘Defense is a level above Ivan Antonov.’
Assessing the enemy’s defense from the recent attack, Evangeline urgently turns to Olivia and shouts.
“Princess Bonaparte! We don’t have time! The enemy will break free soon!”
“Everyone, come out!”
With a roar, Olivia bites her lip upon hearing Evangeline’s words.
From her Flamberge, platinum flames ignite. The surrounding area freezes white with a chilling breeze.
At the center of the cold wind, a beautiful girl with a navy ponytail appears, wielding a katana.
“I will join the fight too.”
“For my lord… I too!”
Whoosh!
With a green whirlwind, Makoto appears, her bobbed hair flowing as she wields a wakizashi.
“I won’t be outdone!”
Lastly, drawing her katana, Haru manifests a serious expression, igniting crimson mana in a way that’s different from her usual self.
A total of seven beautiful girls.
Olivia, Rin, and Evangeline in their true release state, along with Haru, Makoto, Eri whose talents were comparable, and Beatrice binding Berserk.
Berserk’s face contorts as he takes in the determined glances of these girls.
He didn’t want to take down worthless beings.
Because the gap between him and them was greater than that of man and bug.
However, if they were this persistent and bothersome, he had no choice but to crush them.
Like a human swatting a pesky bug.
But the very idea of having to exert force against these worthless beings felt insulting to Berserk.
A needless fight was a disgrace to him, a combat fanatic.
“How dare you, bug-like women…”
“Attack!”
The moment Berserk finishes his words.
An attack composed of six different colored powers crashes into Berserk’s body at Olivia’s command.
Ka-boom!!
The explosion of the six powers shakes the ground.
The earth sinks, and a pillar of light shoots up into the sky.
The midnight Beppu suddenly brightens as if it were daytime.
The true battle had begun.
*
At the Beppu branch of the Japan Hero Association.
A building completely dyed black.
Inside that eerily dark building, covered in unpleasant ivory mist like the insides of a living creature, he was there.
A figure clad in a black robe.
The Undertaker.
The strongest of the Four Horsemen and the second in command of the New World League, the right arm of Messiah, appeared.
“Subdue all of them…”
As he pulled his hood deeply over his head, a displeasing sound akin to nails on a chalkboard emerged from the depths of the abyss.
Along with that, mannequin-like dolls started to walk out from behind him.
Marionettes.
Puppets crafted from the corpses of beings from another realm.
Each possessed the strength equal to a hero and began to swarm the association’s heroes with grotesque grins.
“Oh, no!”
“Guh!”
The heroes of the association are helpless against the assault from the army of dolls armed with mass-produced automaton weaponry.
Beyond the endless tide of dolls, the Undertaker stands by with his arms crossed.
An ivory orb floats in his grasp.
From the orb, murky ivory mist is seeping out.
This magic, known as Death Smog, disrupts the opponent’s perception while amplifying his own, enhancing the physical abilities of the puppets.
He is manifesting.
Orb-type portrait weapon Necronomicon.
It was a unique weapon handcrafted by him, inscribed with countless magical rituals studied by the Undertaker.
Wuuuuuuuung!
The ivory orb trembles.
“Enemies… It’s you…”
The Undertaker’s voice rasps.
“Come forth… Teddy Bear…”
As soon as the Undertaker’s words finish, a red glow flashes from his shadow.
[Uwooooooooooooooooooo!!]
With a fierce roar from the shadow, a monster resembling a ragged teddy bear, with stuffing bursting out here and there, leaps up holding a kitchen knife.
A unique marionette painstakingly crafted by the Undertaker.
The teddy bear was a guardian with monstrous strength comparable to an EX Rank hero, made from the corpse of an Omega Rank otherworldly creature.
Clang!
The middle-aged man frowns as he intercepts the attack of the kitchen knife swung by the teddy bear.
“What?”
A man wielding a sharp naginata that doesn’t match his office attire.
It was the Vice President, Meiou Nakayama Sojiro.
An ambush launched with all his might by an EX Rank hero.
What on earth is this monstrous teddy bear that casually deflected it?
“President! Hurry up! Are you planning to leave everything to your subordinates?”
Zing.
A green blade cuts through the purple mist as it flies, only to be blocked by an ivory shield that bursts forth from the orb along with a magical formation.
Emerging through the unnaturally smooth-cut ivory mist is a man with gloomy eyes, clad in green full-body gloves.
The figure of the Association President, Black Beast Shinozaki Ichiro, reveals itself.
The Undertaker’s eyes glow ivory.
The appearance of two EX Rank heroes.
But the Undertaker was not flustered.
“I am… the Undertaker… ranked 2nd in the League…”
Upon hearing the Undertaker’s name, Sojiro flinches, and Ichiro’s brow furrows.
EX Rank villain.
Second in command of the League.
The most heinous, terrifying villain who can single-handedly overwhelm the power of an entire country and turn a city into ruins in half a day has now appeared right before them.
No matter how much the Demon King and Black Beast fight together, one cannot easily guarantee the odds of victory against such a monster.
With the absurd power that can only be defeated if an entire nation gives its all, ivory mana flares from the monster’s body.
“You little punks… I’ll take you all on at once…”
A smile blooms from beneath the robe.
Wuuuuuuuung!
The Undertaker’s orb shudders and spews ivory light.
*
[…Tner, partner! Partner!!]
Someone’s voice echoes in my head.
It’s an urgent tone.
I open my eyes.
My head hurts.
[Partner! Wake up! Wake up!!]
Black Prince?
The moment I hear his voice, memories flash back like a video just before I passed out.
I was holding on against Berserk, then Olivia and the other heroines came, and I collapsed into Olivia’s arms, then lost consciousness.
Wait, the heroines came?
‘With their current skills, there’s no way they could beat Berserk even if they came back to life!’
My mind snaps wide awake.
The blood throughout my body goes cold.
As I open my eyes, the sight before me is…
A gigantic ruin where there’s no trace of the ryokan left, as if a meteor had fallen and the ground had collapsed.
And there lie the girls, battered and torn.
“Uugh…”
I see Rin trembling as she groans.
I see Makoto collapsed on her knees, face down.
“Master… You…”
I see Eri calling me, blood at her lips.
I also see Haru barely holding herself up with flickering crimson mana.
And Beatrice, fainted with a hand covering her left eye, which is smeared with dried blood.
It can be seen.
There’s also the sight of Evangelin, blood-soaked, her lush twin tails unbound and flowing as she lies fallen with long hair.
“That fool… I will protect her…”
Lastly, the image of Olivia, arms stretched out, disheveled and her platinum hair fluttering, comes into view.
Her words pierce my ears like a nail.
“Why are you shielding that author? I can’t comprehend.”
“Because…”
Olivia lifts Flamberge.
Faint platinum flames flicker on the blade.
“That fool… No, Kim Deok-Sung is the only hero I acknowledge, and I, Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte, am his personal maid!!”
Her shout stabs into my heart like a dagger.
A personal maid, huh.
Why cling to that damned, utterly meaningless promise?
Why, indeed.
“What a pointless answer. Just collapse already.”
With Berserk’s cold words, a crimson flash ignites.
Boom!
Vroom.
Olivia’s body is flung back from the explosion.
[Partner!]
Before the Black Prince’s voice echoes, I rise from my position.
Woooooong!
The Magic Core and Black Stone resonate and extract magical energy on their own.
The magic flowing through my battered body forcibly grants vitality.
I kick off the ground and catch the flung Olivia in the embrace of the princess.
“…You.”
Olivia, her face stained with blood, weakly reaches out a trembling hand to touch my cheek.
“…I’m glad you’re okay.”
Her head droops.
“Ah…”
A sigh escapes my lips involuntarily.
With Olivia being the last, everyone falls unconscious.
Haru, Evangelin, Rin, Makoto, Beatrice.
Mayuzumi Mayu, too.
All of them are wounded and collapsed.
Because of me.
To protect me, they all threw their lives away like fools.
They should have just taken care of themselves.
There’s no fool like this fool.
There’s never been a bigger sweet potato than this.
I don’t understand why they love meddling so much.
Why are they so selflessly kind?
I can’t comprehend why they throw away their lives like cheap junk.
If this were a web novel, I’d send a 5700-character message and set the comments ablaze.
I truly hate this damned light novel world.
Anger wells up.
[······.]
The Black Prince falls silent.
He gently and cautiously sets Olivia down on the ground.
He wipes her blood-stained face clean.
“Being protected by women, while those women can’t even provide proper help. What a farce. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Berserk’s voice echoes in my ears.
[Partner.]
The Black Prince’s voice resonates in my head.
[I’m furious. The one who did this to my lovely sister… ]
The Black Prince’s voice is laced with unusual anger.
“Me too.”
I agree with the Black Prince.
I’m angry.
At the heroines who foolishly threw their lives away for me.
At myself for putting on a show against the enemy and accomplishing nothing.
At that damned villain who turned them all into wrecks and humiliated them.
And at this wretched light novel world that produces nothing but idiots and feeds on sweet potatoes.
At that moment, when my anger surpasses a threshold.
Woooooong!
Durandal trembles in my hand.
And along with it, I instinctively feel it.
That my consciousness is connected to someone else’s consciousness.
That is.
[Partner.]
The Black Prince’s consciousness.
Union.
In that instant of realization, where the moment I yearned for finally arrives.
[Let’s do it.]
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Without hesitation, I pressed the large red button in my consciousness.
Flash!
An unknown sense of elation envelops my entire being in darkness.
It was the moment of union.
