Hero Leon stood in the rain-drenched schoolyard, staring up at the Thunder Beast.
The beast stared back, its dark eyes set within its form as an Incarnation of Thunder. It seemed to have no interest in the teachers; its gaze was fixed solely on Leon.
Lightning crackled around the creature, releasing an intimidating roar of static.
Under normal circumstances, his biological instincts would have sounded a frantic alarm. His legs should have frozen, his throat should have gone dry, and he should have been seized by a desperate impulse to flee.
But in Leon's heart, there was only silence.
He felt no fear of his enemy.
He felt no anxiety over the possibility of failure.
He didn't even feel the rush of excitement for the fight.
There was simply an "obstacle to be eliminated" before him, and the task of "processing" it.
The Thunder Beast let out a roar, and countless bolts of lightning lashed out at Leon like whips.
The old Leon would have been shaken by the sheer fact that he was being targeted, panicking as he tried to track the incoming strikes.
The current Leon, however, was a void.
His unwavering mind received the information exactly as it was presented. Without the noise of emotion, his processing speed was instantaneous.
—Slow.
Leon sprinted through the swarm of zig-zagging lightning.
"You there, that’s enough! Fall back! You’re going to die!"
The teachers’ desperate screams echoed across the yard.
In the past, Leon would have felt a surge of gratitude toward those who worried for him. Now, nothing welled up. It was just noise.
(I will defeat it.)
That was his only concern.
He closed the distance—
"GUGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Thunder Beast’s claws swept through the air to crush him.
But the Hero was already gone. It was a blow capable of turning a man into a lump of mangled flesh, but it meant nothing if it didn't land.
Having lunged into the beast’s guard, Leon swung his sword.
The creature was, after all, merely a mass of lightning held together by mana. It had no scales or flesh. Once the magical barrier was breached, the blade sliced through it with ease.
There was no tactile sensation of resistance.
But that didn't matter.
(I will simply carve you apart until you can no longer recover.)
Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash!
Empowered by the maximum buffs Saint Seraphina could provide, Leon’s body moved with a superhuman fluidity as he circled the monster.
A flurry of Godspeed Consecutive Strikes, moving faster than the eye could track, began to dismantle the beast’s massive form.
The Thunder Beast roared—whether in pain or rage, it was impossible to tell.
It unleashed an Omnidirectional Lightning Strike, a desperate burst intended to incinerate the insolent pest attacking its entire body at once.
It looked like a direct hit, but—
The lightning was intercepted by a Golden Barrier that materialized in front of Leon.
It was the ward of Saint Seraphina.
"Leon-sama! Show them your power!"
Previously, the profound trust in Seraphina’s voice would have brought him joy, and its heavy responsibility would have weighed on him. Now, Leon felt nothing.
The words simply slid past his ears.
(Seraphina will handle defense. I only need to focus on the attack.)
He processed the fact as cold data.
This wasn't a "passionate bond" or "trusting his partner." It was merely a confirmation of operational roles.
Leon continued to rain slashes upon the Thunder Beast.
(Is its recovery speed dropping compared to before...?)
He thought he noticed a change, but it wasn't a significant concern. His actions remained the same. He would dismantle the giant body of lightning until it could no longer regenerate.
"O, o, o, oooo, ooo..."
Sliced apart faster than it could heal, the Thunder Beast gradually lost its strength. Finally reaching its limit, the creature vanished with a sound like a dying scream.
Leon came to a halt and watched the final fragments dissipate with cold, detached eyes.
In his chest, there was no thrill of victory.
The joy of the "major achievement" he had once craved so desperately did not come. With a hollow heart, he simply accepted the reality that the enemy he was supposed to kill was dead.
"I won."
He processed the fact while standing in the downpour.
Suddenly, his legs gave out. His body swayed, and Leon collapsed face-first into the mud. He tried to move his hands to push himself up, but his limbs wouldn't support him.
"............?"
Seraphina appeared beside him as he struggled to understand.
"Even with Painlessness—the physical burden on your body is not reduced. Your body could not endure the strain, Leon-sama. It reached its limit long ago."
Because of the Painlessness, he hadn't noticed his own condition.
Because of the Painlessness, he had been able to fight to the end, oblivious to the fact that his body was failing.
"Am I... broken?"
He felt no sentiment. It was the same sensation as realizing his favorite pen had run out of ink.
Seraphina knelt in the mud beside him, heedless of the filth. She reached out and gently stroked his cheek.
"Please, do not worry. You may be broken as many times as you like. You may fall as often as you must. Each time, I will heal you. I will make sure you can stand up again and again."
A warm tear, distinct from the cold rain, fell onto Leon’s face.
"Ah, Leon-sama, you have finally arrived. You have become the True Hero who discards himself to fight for the people, protect the masses, and strike down evil. I am overcome with emotion. I believe I was born for this day, to hone my power for this very moment."
She held her hands over him.
"Let us fight together to fulfill the Mission of the Great God. I will support you until the very end—'Heavenly Light Healing'."
A soft light enveloped Leon, knitting his wounds back together. Shattered bones reconnected, and torn muscles were repaired.
(With this, I can fight again.)
He could fulfill his duty as a Hero.
Yet, there was no joy or pride in the thought. The "Hero's Pride" Leon had so desperately craved—now that it was finally his, it held no more value than a simple statement of fact to the boy who had discarded his heart.
As the healing light bathed him, the heavy rain began to taper off. The clouds covering the sky parted, and a single beam of light pierced through.
Dazzling sunlight poured down as if to bless the victorious Hero.
The world was filled with light.
But to Leon, the world was inorganic, silent, and utterly devoid of color.