Requiem Of A Failed Hero



"We have deployed our heroes to all areas, and I can confidently assure you that the safety of civilians is now guaranteed," Amber Rose reported.

"Hm, good work, human!" Lord Balam acknowledged with his arms folded, his gaze seemingly distant.

Though Amber Rose found Balam's demeanor irritating, she suppressed her feelings, fully aware that she was dealing with a powerful demon. Observing this, Absalom decided to intervene.

"Lord Balam, is there something specific that concerns you?" Absalom inquired.

The carefully chosen words were meant to prompt Balam to indirectly address why he seemed disinterested in Amber Rose's important report.

Balam squinted his eyes, replying, "They have all awakened and are currently marching toward this place."

Absalom raised his head and followed Balam's gaze, narrowing his eyes to peer into the far distance, a vision exclusive to them. He gasped, nearly staggering.

Converging from all directions, unique in shape and size, the entities approached their location.

"Isn't this within our calculations, considering Mr. Raith was supposed to fetch the betrayer?" Amber Rose interjected.

She was right, and her comment caused Absalom to question why he was surprised in the first place. Nevertheless, the overwhelming presence of the approaching entities would leave anyone breathless.

"All of them gathering in one place will not bode well for them," Balam stated, capturing the attention of everyone present, including Ryou and Kaiser, who stood silently behind.

Absalom sought clarification, asking, "What do you mean, Lord Balam?"

"They created this place to serve as a hiding spot, and you can feel their energy intensifying as they draw nearer. The cosmic power they once suppressed is now swirling around them. With such energy, there's no doubt they will be detected," Balam explained.

"So you're saying..."

"...that someone very powerful might pay us a visit soon, and if it happens to be the most loathsome of them all, it will pose a problem."

"Ha, I doubt that. We have the great King Balam on our side," Absalom expressed confidence.

"Flattery won't help, kid. I'm already exhausted from the fight with my new lord. I pale in comparison to an angel," Balam retorted.

Amber Rose didn't fully grasp the gravity of their conversation; the might and power of other beings remained entirely unknown to her. Nevertheless, she understood that the impending challenge might surpass her abilities.

She gulped.

***

"Ugh? Answer me, what are you doing here Siphis? How are we awake?"

"I have no obligation to satisfy your curiosity. Your insatiable greed has consumed you, and I shall deliver a fitting judgment upon you," replied the sword archon.

His voice seemed to reverberate like echoes, emanating from all directions, considering his lack of a mouth or eyes, with just a sword-shaped head adorned by a halo ring.

With a commanding gesture of his hand, the sword archon unleashed a devastating attack.

BAM!!

The entire area where the hound had been standing moments ago was now obliterated, a colossal crater left behind, as particles and debris disintegrated at an astonishing rate.

The hound archon appeared behind him immediately.

"I hope you didn't believe a feeble attack like that would be enough to defeat me," he taunted.

The recent attack had effortlessly devoured the landscape in a mere second, yet it was dismissed as flimsy. Surely, the celestial concept of battle surpassed anything witnessed thus far, its destructive force cloaked in an almost serene manner.

BAM

BAM

BAM

Massive craters marred the ground, carved in an attempt to obliterate the hound archon as he nimbly evaded the assault. The sword archon showed no signs of movement or even bothering to glance at his adversary, but his mere presence posed a palpable threat to the fleeing hound archon.

Realizing that dodging would not suffice for much longer, the hound archon resolutely decided to take the offensive, his determination evident in the squint of his canine-like eyes.

With a swift leap, he closed the distance between them, unleashing a torrent of rapid strikes in the form of wind blades aimed at the sword archon's weak points. Alas, every blade was effortlessly cut down.

"It appears that our time apart has caused you to forget who I am. Attacking me head-on is the greatest and dumbest mistake you've made," the sword archon remarked.

BAM

The hound archon tried to evade the incoming invisible blade attack with a swift sidestep, but he was too late. His wrist was severed, and his hand, the one holding the crystal, went soaring into the air.

Frowning, the hound archon leaped to catch his hand, only to find it caught by someone else.

"Ha, so this is the source of all the commotion that you didn't even notice I've been around," said the rough voice from the newcomer.

Both archons turned their attention to the speaker.

"Human, know your place and return that," demanded the sword archon.

"Something about this one feels off... the power burning within him seems familiar," murmured the sword archon, while the hound archon stubbornly persisted in trying to retrieve his crystal and hand.

"Uh, I apologize, but for the sake of world peace, I must confiscate this," Raith said as he discreetly stowed the red crystal into the inner pockets of his coat. He then looked at both of them and asked, "Now, which of you was the mastermind behind this betrayal of the entire team? Or was it a joint effort between the two of you?"

"Foool"

WHAAAAAAMMM

A crater, far larger than any witnessed before, materialized, threatening to engulf Raith. In an instant, it consumed part of Noir—the clouds and the earth seemed to blend into a chaotic maelstrom.

Raith was left eyes widened as he saw what happened in an instant, now this was an attack he wasn't even expecting. He knew that the archon was strong and would be difficult for him to handle, when he thought he would be fighting archons, he was already trying to imagine how hard it was going to be. But this? This was beyond his scope of expectation.

The power to cleave an entire space just by the thought of it. Raith was not ready for this, not after the fight with Balam, ever since coming to Therut he had been consistently involved and hadn't even had time to rest his head, this was not a question of physical fatigue, that was something he renewed every time he died and came back to life. He was getting mentally exhausted as time went by.