“This is the worst situation I could have imagined.”

“Even I can’t win against that. Need to…decide before we can’t go back to the dungeon…forever.”

Aikan stopped in the air hurriedly. Daisy stared at me fixedly and pressed me for a decision. She undoubtedly wanted to abandon one child so that the rest could escape.

However, I didn’t want that. The value of a life wasn’t something I could calculate. Furthermore…

I took my attention off of Daisy and looked at Ren. His eyes were fixed on the Panan continent’s Hero. His hands were clenching his sword and shaking. As for Lebuik, she initially had a conflicted expression, but after seeing Ren, she took a battle stance with a resolute expression. She spoke with a stiff voice, “Before my head rolls…Ren-nim must not die.”

“Don’t speak nonsense, Lebuik. Everyone must survive.”

“Coming.”

Daisy made a brief comment immediately following Ren’s heartfelt statement. Immediately afterwards, a light flashed on the ground and a portion of Aikan’s body disintegrated. It was an enormous amount of mana.

“Pure aura…!? What kind of brute strength is that!?”

Ren smiled bitterly. “Ugh, Father’s strength is beyond our imagination. Still, he fell to the scheme that was used against Crown Prince earlier. Damn…!”

I shouted, “Daisy, Aikan is too big of a target! Move the children to Lotte’s back!”

Daisy remarked, “That aura, fast! Living pet, more dangerous!”

[I am the queen of the wyverns, Dark Wing Lotte! Do not look down on me, Elf!]

Lotte quickly transformed into her wyvern form, grabbed children with her mouth, and threw them onto her back. I also helped to move the children.

I immediately gave out orders, “Daisy, open the path with your undead. We need to go straight to the ocean! Ren, Lebuik, get on Lotte and protect the children!”

“What about you, Crown Prince!?” Ren wailed with a voice full of despair.

I held up my Chaotic Spear. It was already surrounded by a whirlpool of chaos flames and Heroic Aura.

I said decisively, “I’ll stop the Hero.”

“With Deific Manifestation?”

Of course, I had not forgotten about Deific Manifestation. However, now wasn’t the time. The situation had developed in one of the worst ways it could have, but it wasn’t the end. Plus, the moment I manifested Peruta with Deific Manifestation, I…

I grinned.

“They’ll try to kill me too. It’s obvious if you think about why they brought out their head.”

Ren asked, “Crown Prince, are you saying you’ll use yourself as bait!?”

I winked at him. “Oh? You’ve gotten smarter, Ren.”

Right, they were aiming for me. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent out the ‘last remaining one.’ The power of the Hero could only be vested into a living creature. There had to be an El Patiz controlling the Hero inside his body.

He protested, “It’s too dangerous.”

I replied, “If you have a better way of keeping the children safe, tell me.”

Of course, there was no other option. I smiled wryly at Daisy, who was glaring at me.

“Don’t worry, I won’t die until I save your world,” I promised.

She scolded, “An outstanding warrior must have…a cool mind, a burning heart. You’re too hot, for both. As a warrior, a second-rate.”

I shrugged. “I know my own weaknesses. Here, take this. It’s the Crystal Lair. With this, the children should be able to stay underwater safely.”

“I won’t accept,” she retorted.

At that moment, a burst of light surged up from the ground once again. This time, Aikan generated a barrier of light at the area concentrated by the attack, but it seemed it wouldn’t be able to last long.

“Daisy, hurry!” I shouted.

“…ughhh, no matter if you win or lose, I’ll hit you.”

Unable to win against my stubbornness, Daisy complained and took the Crystal Lair, then summoned her undead army from her inventory.

“Open the path! Head straight to the ocean!”

[Kuaaaaaaaaa!]

[Kuaaaaaaaaa!]

At the same time, the warriors on the ground roared, marking the start of a war.

“Welcome the other world’s Hero!”

“Uwaaaaaaaak!”

“Kuaaaaaaaa!”

I jumped off of Aikan’s back without hesitation. I immediately summoned Talaria and accelerated as my spear continually blew away monsters in its path. At the same time, I used another one of Hermes’ powers, Caduceus!

[You have summoned Caduceus. All physical abilities have been energized. The two snakes have opened their eyes. You can only use power from one of the snakes.]

Last time, I used the destructive power of the black snake. However, this snake would bring about devastating results if I used it when my opponent was at a higher level than me. Even so, I still chose the black snake.

While the black snake slowly coiled around my arm, a voice rang out from behind.

“Uwuuuuuk!”

“Ugh, Ren-nim!”

I turned around and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Ren was falling through the air along with me. Of course, the frowning Lebuik had also followed him.

“What are you two doing!?” I snapped.

Ren exclaimed, “Miss Ectradion is more than enough to protect the children! Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you were trying to keep us out of harm’s way, Crown Prince!? This is my world! If you shoulder all of the heavy burden and end up dying, I won’t be able to live on as a warrior!”

Lebuik screamed, “Ren-niiiiiim!”

This…idiot! His absurd statement almost made me want to shout at him to stop acting like a kid. However, a golden aura flying toward me wiped the thought off my mind.

“Next time, it will be aimed at your friends.”

That bastard, he knew I was trying to act as the bait! I gritted my teeth and glared at the El Patiz comfortably waving his claymore. Not only did it kill the Hero and steal the Hero’s power, but it also enjoyed itself and used the Hero’s power as if it was its own! The enemy in front of me wasn’t a warrior. It was quite literally an insect! Unfortunately, it was an insect with great power!

“A mere bug dares to dishonor a once mighty warrior! Uoooooooh!”

Before he fell onto the ground, Ren roared and stuck his claymore on the ground. The ground fissured and rocks shot up, shooting towards the monsters around us. That was Outburst! Even though Ren was wearing the Dullahan’s armor, I had forgotten about the skill.

Then, Ren took off his armor and threw it away. Underneath was the Twin-headed Ogre Set! Right. Of note, it didn’t matter how many layers a person put on, only one would be recognized as equipped armor. Using that rule, Ren put on the Twin-headed Ogre Set, which was made out of leather, and overlaid it with the metallic Dullahan Set. By doing that, the Dullahan Set would be in effect, but when he took it off, the Twin-headed Ogre Set would take effect! How clever!

Having to take off one’s armor was slightly annoying, but that was certainly the best thing an explorer without the Collector’s Pocket Watch could do. However, there was no way that was enough to defeat the El Patiz. I also hurriedly descended. Lebuik followed suit.

“Don’t block…me!”

Daisy’s shout rang out through the air. The undead monsters raised their voices and used their skills as they swept through the flying monsters. The El Patiz army on the ground looked uncomfortable, but they were undoubtedly focused on us. Ugh, the damned golden aura was flying toward us again!

[You have been injured by an aura of a powerful league. It is difficult to heal the injury using natural healing or ordinary potions.]

Although I dodged the attack, I was still damaged by it. I gritted my teeth and circulated Peruta Circuit as I landed on the ground. The enemy was laughing, not far away from me.

“Deific Manifestation!”[1]

“Why are you calling me by my name now, Ren…?” I mumbled.

I didn’t look at Ren since I was completely focused on the enemy. However, he didn’t respond. Then, the mana in the air began to burn. Wait, was this…!?

Ren roared violently, “Kuaaaaaang!”

The roar filled with mana even made my ears ring and caused the enemies to stagger. Using this opportunity, I glanced at the distance. The moment they met my eyes, a countless number of enemy soldiers turned to stone.

“Ha, quite a cowardly move for someone who calls himself a hero!”

“Cut the bullshit and attack!”

“Kuhaaaa!”

“Argh, Ren-nim!”

Ren charged across the ground before me. A golden aura enveloped his body as if a golden mane sprouted up. He had undoubtedly used Deific Manifestation. If he solo-cleared the 5th floor, he surely had that skill.

“Little kitten, I’ll take care of you today too! The Panan continent belongs to us, El Patiz!”

“Kuaaang!”

The current Ren felt a bit strange to me. Though he was beastly, he never only roared. What did you summon, Ren!? Furthermore, the amount of aura in his claymore was powerful enough to contend with a Hero’s.

“Hmph, a mere beast!”

The claymore held up by the El Patiz clashed with Ren’s own. It must have been caught off guard by Ren’s powerful strength as it fell back slightly. Meanwhile, I charged forward. Lebuik also charged on with a stern expression I had never seen before.

“I won’t let Ren-nim die!” she shrieked.

“Huaaaaaap!”

[You have used Frozen Roar! All enemies in the battlefield have frozen in place. All allies temporarily become super-armored and all abilities have increased by 50%. Your chance of landing a critical hit doubles when fighting enemies affected by Frozen Roar.]

The moment I used Frozen Roar to help Ren attack, all enemies in the battlefield froze. With their resistance lowered during freezing, many fell to my Evil Eyes’ power and turned to stone. However, the El Patiz in the Hero’s body, the world’s enemy, wasn’t affected. He easily bounced away from Frozen Roar’s effect. Then, Ren roared like a beast as if he was stimulated by my roar.

“Kuaaaaang!”

[Golden Lion’s Roar has activated! All enemies with resistances under SS rank faint temporarily! All those that wield the Golden Lion’s aura have their attack power tripled for one attack! All those following the Golden Lion have their attack power doubled for one attack!]

In an instant, Ren’s claymore shone with a brilliant light. As if to cut apart the heavens, his claymore slashed down. However, the world’s enemy snorted and blocked the attack with his claymore. The earth trembled as if it would crumble, and Ren was pushed backwards. Shouldn’t he be super-armored!?

“Lebuik!”

“Don’t worry!”

Lebuik sped up and caught Ren. Damn, he directly received an attack boosted by Frozen Roar and a unique skill. Just how much of a monster was he!? On another note, if things continued, it was possible for Ren and Lebuik to lose their lives.

“Elemental Tempest!”

However, that was that and this was this. While the enemy was busy blocking Ren’s claymore, I readied my area of effect attack and shot it forward. With the combined effort of Frozen Roar, Evil Eyes, and Elemental Tempest, the enemy’s army had dwindled down quite a bit. My opponent only realized what I did after it pushed away Ren.

It snarled, “You dare attack my subordinates like a sneaky rat!”

I retorted cheekily, “If I’m a rat, you’re a flea! For someone who stole the Hero’s body, you sure must have been afraid if you brought along your army!”

“Kuaaaap!”

It shot out another terrifying golden aura. This attack couldn’t be dodged with ordinary movements. I used Divine Speed to move far away, then charged towards the El Patiz. I couldn’t let it fight Ren! As such, there was only one thing I could do…

At that moment, Daisy messaged me. It was the perfect timing.

[Done! Children, underwater!]

I complained, [That makes it sound like you drowned them!]

In the distance, I could see the large Aikan going underwater. The flying monsters fiercely attacking Aikan just a moment ago lost their target and started attacking the other undead monsters in the air.

With that, I heaved a sigh of relief. Good! The request is a success! The only thing left now is…!

When I took a step forward while thinking such thoughts, a large claymore pierced through my stomach. In front of my eyes was a beastman with a golden lion’s mane. I could feel his powerful energy and see his sinister eyes.

It cackled, “Kuhuhu, I aimed for when your guard was down. Weren’t you too relaxed, Hero? After all, you are our target.”

I gasped, “Ugh…Damn, again. How unpleasant…!”

Seeing his clash with Ren, the only impression I got was that he was incredibly powerful, which was a critical error on my part. I was still under the effect of Divine Speed, but he had caught up to me. I could see my HP falling rapidly. In the end, Diehard activated once again. This was the first time I had used Diehard so often. It was the second time since I came to the world. Really, the Dimensional Mercenary job sucked!

It snickered again, “Huhu, you can’t turn into a fly this time, can you, Hero?”

“So you knew,” I replied calmly.

It smirked and said, “That was a special El Patiz, you see. It can communicate with me. Know thy enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Isn’t that the most basic rule?”

I shrugged.“So, what now?”

It crooned, “Sleep. When you wake up, you will be filled with nothing but happiness.”

The El Patiz twisted its sword. At the same time, a countless number of bugs crawled out of the claymore and tried to enter my stomach. Damn, though I was somewhat expecting it, it wasn’t trying to finish me here! Before the bugs could enter my body, I shouted urgently, “Caduceus, activate!”

[Your target’s level is overwhelmingly higher than you! The physical injuries of the target will be overwritten. The target is currently being corroded by an unknown existence! Prepare for corrosion!]

I smiled after hearing the hopeless sounding notification message. The message noona must be really worried about me!

“With this, we, El Patiz, will come to possess two Heroes’ po—”

Its happy declaration was suddenly cut short. At the same time the possessed Hero’s body fell back weakly, something inside my head stung…and the presence of the world’s enemy completely disappeared.

[You have defeated the world’s enemy of the Panan continent! However, unless you subjugate all seeds, another enemy might appear!]

The notification message that popped up proved that the world’s enemy had disappeared. Plus, the ball of light floating in front me was undoubtedly the power of the Hero.

In an instant, the battlefield became silent and a countless number of eyes fell on me. I took them all in and said cheekily, “Just as planned.”

1. Remember, Deific Manifestation = Kang Shin (it’s the same word) ☜