"Who... are you?"
Hero Eligion’s voice trembled. Of everyone present, he was clearly the most shaken by Ageha’s sudden manifestation.
It stood to reason. After all, Noc and I had been expecting this.
"Ageha Tsubaki. I may not look the part, but I am the True Hero."
"What are you saying...? I am the Hero."
"You hold but a fragment of the Hero's Authority," Ageha countered. "Technically speaking, you are merely a Hero's Apostle."
The term "Hero's Apostle" struck a chord with me. Warrior Golgano had used those exact words to describe me before. Since I also possessed Hero skills, it made sense; perhaps both Eligion and I were considered Apostles.
"This is nonsense. There is no way I could possibly believe—"
Eligion never got to finish his sentence. Ageha’s foot buried itself in his stomach with sickening force. The impact sent him hurtling backward, a human projectile that only stopped when he slammed into the dungeon wall.
Ageha didn't give him a moment to breathe. She followed up immediately, driving a full-power fist into his face. The masonry shattered, leaving Eligion’s head embedded deep within a fresh crater in the wall.
She was overwhelmingly superior. Was this truly the gap between a True Hero and a mere Apostle?
Even so, Ageha didn't slacken her assault. She raised her fist once more to strike.
Hey, that’s going too far. Weren't we supposed to keep him alive? The thought that I should step in and stop her flashed through my mind.
"<Save>."
It was Eligion’s voice. The moment the word left his lips, his silhouette blurred. In an instant, his figure fractured into multiple people.
I had seen this before. He had used a similar phenomenon when he defeated Demon King Zoga. Unlike my own ability, Eligion’s power as a Hero allowed him to repeat short bursts of time over and over. He would loop the moment until he achieved victory, the afterimages of his alternate selves lingering like temporal ghosts.
"Unfortunately for you," Ageha said, her own form beginning to multiply, "I can do anything you can."
A surreal brawl erupted as the clones clashed. One by one, the temporal phantoms vanished until only a single Ageha remained standing.
"I don't think he's dead yet," she said, grabbing the unconscious Eligion by the scruff of his neck and rolling him onto the floor. He was out cold, no matter how you looked at him.
"Kiska!"
Her tone shifted instantly to one of pure delight. She came trotting over and threw her arms around me with enough force to knock the wind out of me.
"I missed you so much!" she cried, nuzzling her face against mine.
"Hey, have some shame. We're in front of people." I grabbed Ageha’s shoulders and pried her off. Assassin Noc was standing right there, silently watching the whole display.
"Okaay," Ageha replied, finally stepping back. "So what you’re saying is... as long as we’re not in front of people, I can do things like this all I want?"
She shot me a provocative look from under her lashes. I had no idea what "things like this" she was referring to, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"Don't tease me," I muttered, clutching my head.
◆
Hero Eligion was unconscious, but he was still alive.
"If I tried to take down Holy Knight Kanaria, this guy would inevitably get in the way, so I knocked him out just in case," Ageha explained.
It was a fair point. Eligion seemed to trust Kanaria implicitly; even if we tried to explain her impending betrayal, he likely wouldn't have listened to reason.
"What’s the plan now?" I asked.
"Next are Holy Knight Kanaria and Warrior Golgano. They’re likely waiting in ambush for us together. I want us to cooperate to take them down... but it’s okay to kill these two, right, Kiska?"
Ageha looked to me for confirmation.
"Yeah, I don't mind."
There was no helping it where those two were concerned. To be honest, it might have been better to keep them alive so Noc wouldn't be branded a traitor, but since Ageha claimed she would handle the logistics of that, I decided not to overthink it.
"Then shall we head out? Noc, could you carry him?"
"Understood."
Noc gave a low nod, hoisted the unconscious Hero Eligion onto his shoulder, and we set off toward the place where Warrior Golgano and Holy Knight Kanaria lay in wait.