“Lord Weiss?! Frozen armor, protect me!”
Rosalia forced herself between Hades and me, now clad in armor made of ice. The evil god was attempting to strike back at me, even as he grimaced from the pain of his wound. His sinister crimson arm of death collided with Rosalia. In an instant, she lost her balance and we were both flung backward.
“What terrible power,” I muttered.
Rosalia groaned, coughing up blood from where she was on top of me. I had managed to catch her, but she was clearly in pain. The only reason she was alive was because of her ice armor, but her ribs might’ve been broken, and she was still in mortal danger.
“Lord Weiss…please flee,” she said as she gasped for air. “I’ll…buy you time to escape…”
Despite the agony she was in, she got to her feet with a smile, gripping her spear.
Oh no! At this rate, Rosalia was going to die. Everyone was going to die! We’d come so far, and yet…
This can’t be happening…but what am I supposed to do?
Hades laughed malevolently as he approached. “Did you really think you could defeat me using Cerberus’s power? I was surprised to discover you can wield such magic, but that is ultimately meaningless. You can do nothing else. This woman will die like a worm, and you are a worthless fool who would have been better off doing nothing at all!”
Hades looked at me, then looked at Rosalia and laughed.
“What a foolish woman. If she had simply abandoned you, she would have been able to flee!”
That unearthly voice had insulted Rosalia.
You son of a—and wait, what did he call me? Call us?
“We’re not worthless…”
“What?”
“Lord Weiss ain’t worthless, and Rosalia is no fool!” I shouted at him. “Unlike you and your shitty cheats, those two have done their best to live in this world!”
The verbal abuse against Weiss and Rosalia brought me back from the edge of despair. I couldn’t let this guy get away with insulting my faves without knowing a damn thing about either of them.
This might’ve been the same as the auto-fail event with the protagonist, but…that was the protagonist who lost, and I wasn’t him. I was Weiss, the lord meant to be a stepping stone for the hero. Because Weiss died so early, no one knew just how powerful Weiss could’ve become. That was why I believed—I believed that he could push through the obstacles before him and wield this spell!
“Heed my call, oh sword that rules over the everlasting darkness that protects the princess! God-devouring blade!”
“What?! That’s King-rank magic… How could someone like you…?”
This time, my shadow took the form of a person made of pure darkness, so pitch-black that it looked like the king of all shadows. I took a piece of the sharp ice that protected Rosalia and wrapped it in that black void.
For an agonizing moment, I felt like my brain was being burned to a crisp.
This isn’t good… I don’t have the magic power to pull this off…
Was this as far as I could go? Was I going to be unable to save Weiss and Rosalia?
No, that was bullshit! If I didn’t come through now, when was I going to?!
“The two of us together can make anything possible.”
Recalling what Weiss said to me earlier, I felt magic power welling up inside of me, forcing a scream from my chest. “GAAAH!”
“As if I’ll just let you devour me!” Hades gloated as he tried to dodge my attack, only to find his body bound by icy chains. “Wait, what?!”
It was Rosalia. She had mustered the last of her strength to bind our enemy. I sprinted toward the god and thrust the sword in my hand straight into his abdomen!
The ice pierced Hades’s body, and an oppressive amount of darkness began to spread through him as if he were being devoured.
“How dare you!” he howled. “You aren’t even one of Zeus’s chosen ones!”
He could still move after taking this much damage? Was this because I wasn’t the protagonist? Could only the true hero actually defeat him?
In my moment of weakness, I worried for Rosalia, but then I felt someone cheering me on from within.
That’s right. I wasn’t alone. Both Weiss and Rosalia were here for me.
“I’m not losing! I may not be the protagonist, but I have a power that belongs only to me! Right, Weiss?! Together, we can do anything! We’re not going to let anyone die!”
I vowed to protect everyone, and just as I poured my strength into my sword—
“Keww!”
Having been hiding in the trees throughout all of this, the Divine Beast suddenly cried out and leaped onto my shoulder. As soon as it did, I felt a mysterious power rising within me.
Wait, was this a contract?
I silently expressed my gratitude toward the small creature and continued to pour my strength into my blade, which shone with a radiant light that further damaged Hades.
“Urgh, the blessings of a Divine Beast? I’m at the limit of this vessel, then… Tell me your name, my…”
“I got no name to give you, you damn creep!”
This time, Rosalia’s ice spear pierced Hades’s face, ending him for good. The Hades worshipper he had possessed, at long last, became little more than a corpse.
“Lord Weiss, are you all right?” Rosalia must have healed herself with a potion while I was fighting. Though she was still out of breath, she rushed to me and handed me one.
“Yeah. Thanks, Rosalia… You too.”
“Kew!”
“Please don’t scare me like that. How could you face such a fierce being?” Rosalia frowned, then wrapped her arms around me, as if she were trying to keep me from disappearing. “If something had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done…”
Unfortunately, the proximity meant that I could feel her large chest pressed up against me. I started sweating.
Crap, this is a little much for a virgin like me…
At the same time, I felt tremendously at peace. I didn’t even realize just how tense I had been until now. The exhaustion came rushing forward all at once. I just wanted to give myself over to her warmth…but that wasn’t going to happen. Not yet.
“What the? It looks like people fought here—wait, that guy’s dead?” Aigis said.
“You’re more than welcome to get all lovey-dovey,” Nyarl teased, “but I would prefer it if you saved that for your mansion. Ah, unless you’re into outdoor play?”
“This isn’t what it looks like!” As soon as I noticed the returning pair, I frantically stepped away from Rosalia.
“Ah, Lord Weiss,” Rosalia murmured.
C’mon, don’t make such a sad face at me…
I explained to Aigis and Nyarl that the slender worshipper had gone on a rampage, although I left out the details regarding Hades. Then, we finally used the Divine Spring to make the cure for Aigis’s mom.