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The dark weapons close in on me from all directions. I swept it all away with the sword of light in my hand. At first, I was feeling good. I felt like I could nullify dozens of weapons with a single swing. But now, it seemed like I could only cancel out a dozen or so at most.

The glow of my sword had noticeably dimmed.

I had been wrong. Light was strong against Dark. But Dark, in turn, was also strong against Light. No matter how strong the sword I’d created with my Messenger of Light skill was, if it continued to be bombarded by dark magic like this, it would be overwhelmed. It would eventually become useless.

If that was the case, my only option was to create a barrier. Protecting myself with a barrier didn’t feel very heroic, but I had no choice. While swinging the sword, I cast a Wall of Light around myself.

The barrier managed to nullify all the dark magic thrown at me, but as the number of attacks continued, each one shaved it off, making the barrier thinner and smaller. It consumed a significant amount of Mana, but it gave me enough time to begin creating a new sword of light. The density of mana in the air had thinned quite a bit, so I hoped the barrier would hold off long enough.

Despite everything, I had quite a bit of leeway.

The Wall of Light lasted only a few minutes, and right before it shattered, a huge explosion erupted at my feet. The blast shattered the barrier, and I was swallowed by the explosion. I lost consciousness soon after.

But I couldn’t let myself stay like that. I had a few wounds on my body, but they were shallow and didn’t do much damage. It helped that I had increased my stats and boosted my durability with the Hero spell.

I had been keeping that spell in reserve while monitoring the situation, but I hadn’t expected to need it.

“And here I thought I had you. I would expect nothing less from the famous heroes who have managed to defeat the Demon Lords of the past.”

When the smoke from the explosion cleared, the queen stared at me, sounding stunned that I was still standing. It had been a close call. If I hadn’t cast the Hero skill on time, I would’ve been taken out. Without question, this was the strongest enemy I had ever faced.

Even with all my strength, I could still lose. That was the kind of opponent I was dealing with.

“It looks like I may have to get a little more serious.”
“You mean to say you’ve been holding back all this time?” The queen asked.
“No. But I haven’t gone all out. You could say I still have an ace up my sleeve.”
“I see. So if I hold that off, it’ll be my victory then.”
“I guess so.”

The Hero skill wasn’t something to use casually. My stat increase lasted over thirty minutes now, but increasing the multiplier shortened the available time significantly. Currently, the maximum boost I could muster was seven to eight times, but that only lasted about two minutes. If I exceeded the time limit, my entire body would ache like I had the worst muscle cramps, and I wouldn’t be able to move properly.

So if I dragged things out, I’d lose.

But for the queen, a double boost in status was enough. I could bring her down in just a few minutes.

With the sword of light in hand, I shouted, “Let’s go!”

I hoped the queen would just sit back and watch, but of course, she didn’t. She hurled spears imbued with various attributes at me as I rushed in. This time, I easily spotted an opening I hadn’t seen before and closed in, threading my way through the flying spears.

This was my second time approaching like this. I now realized that during my first advance on the queen, I had walked straight into a route she had deliberately prepared. That was why she’d countered just when I thought I had found an opening. So this time, I intentionally took the difficult route. One I couldn’t have passed through unless I was in a boosted state.

I moved towards the queen, who was having trouble keeping up with my movements.

Three steps left. Two steps… One.

My sword of light pierced the queen’s chest. Blood spurted from the wound, and her eyes widened, filling with pain as she vomited blood.

Ah… I missed this feeling.

It reminded me of the moment I first tasted strength after coming to this world. When everyone around praised me. The difference now was that no one was here to witness it. And the queen’s expression, though I’d gouged through her heart, wasn’t one of despair. She was somehow smiling and laughing.

“Is something funny?” I asked.
“No. It’s not the first time you’ve killed someone like this, is it?”

She was laughing despite having one foot in the grave. Just when I thought that was all she’d say, she coughed up blood, more blood. The end of the war. The final boss. Since she was going to die anyway, I figured I might as well go along with the conversation. “So what if I have?”

“Nothing. I just feel sorry for you.”
“Should the lord of evil say something like that?”
“The lord of evil, huh… It seems like my pity isn’t enough.”

The queen laughed in a low, amused voice and then stopped moving. It felt like she’d wanted to say something more, but it didn’t matter. I had defeated the queen. If the soldiers found out, even the royal family wouldn’t be able to treat me lightly from now on.

I did not need pity. Maybe she was sympathizing with Toriyama, as I’d killed him in the same way. If that were the case, then I could understand it. After all, if he and I met once more, that would be the end of him. He would be deserving of her pity if he came back to life only to be killed by me again.

The only question that remained was… how did she know about this?

I had many things on my mind, but as the other heroes finally caught up with me, I decided to greet them with a smile.