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167 [Altora] The Biggest Chance of His Life – Conclusion

To the west, at the edge of Fathie, the defense line raised to keep the monsters out of the city, watched the event happening over the skies of the Leon Enagoris mountains.

The falling meteor swarm made no impact on the ground below—strangely, it caused no shockwave. Perhaps the caster had diverted the force elsewhere. As she gazed up at the heights that she herself might have once reached, Eria guessed as much and gave a small, involuntary shiver.

Behind her, the residents of Fathie’s slums had also turned their eyes to the sky, bursting into cheers.

「We couldn’t see it clearly with all those thick clouds, but…」

「Some huge wolf-looking thing suddenly showed up, then a meteor swarm came crashing down on top of it, and then the wolf vanished. So that means—」

「He won…? We won, didn’t we!? That debt collector guy, or whatever he is, did it!」

At the center of the cheers was a blonde girl. She pointed skyward—where the heavy thunderclouds that had blanketed the heavens just moments ago were now completely dispersed. The starlit sky now fully revealed was proof enough of victory, she proclaimed.

「That’s right! Otherwise, just look—the sky wouldn’t have cleared up like this!」

「R-Right! What about the army?! They’re not coming anymore, are they!?」

A worrywart man looked around in panic, but another resident just laughed him off.

「Idiot. From the army’s point of view, there’s a warrior here who not only held back all those monsters but also killed the ‘King’. Even if their commander gives the order, no soldier’s gonna follow it!」

「Y-Yeah! Now that you mention it, that makes sense!」

「We’re saved! We really made it out of this!」

Another cheer rose—then another, and another.

With every wave of celebration, the sense of victory swelled within them, and even Mina broke into a wide smile.

「We’ll be offering a victory discount! Everyone, come by the shop—I’ll be waiting for you!」

「Yeeaahhh—! …Wait, it’s not free!?」

「You know what they say—nothing’s more expensive than something that’s free. So this is actually cheaper than free!」

「That’s messed up… So how much of a discount we talkin’?」

「Twenty percent off!」

「Twenty percent, huh… Twenty… hmmm…」

「You better come! I’ve memorized every single one of your faces!」

「This girl’s terrifying…」

While the townsfolk continued their commotion, Altora and the others turned their eyes back toward the frontlines. Even though the ‘King’ had been defeated, the monsters that had spilled out across the land were still there. Until they were all exterminated, there was no time to relax.

「Tch. Celebrating like it’s all over when we’re not done yet.」

「Still, no new waves are coming now. We can see the end.」

「Defeat all the monsters in front of us and the battle ends. Request to Altora: take the medicine and finish this quickly. Take ten times the dose for ten times the speed.」

「That’d kill me. And besides, I don’t need it anymore.」

With the dungeon’s core—its ‘King’—destroyed, disarray had begun to spread through the monster ranks. Their momentum had slowed, and there were no more high-level threats left among them. Driving them back was only a matter of time now.

Then, without a word, all three looked up to the sky. The thunderclouds were gone, and several faint trails remained across the night sky, softly glowing in the moonlight.

Imagining the scale of the battle that must have unfolded up there—its ferocity, its sheer intensity—left them speechless. And even more so because the victor was the man they had once dismissed as dead weight and driven away.

「Deadweight Marge actually won, huh…」

「He’s really crossed into another league now. I got Obsidian back, so I thought I might be able to go back to being a gatekeeper or an adventurer again, but… Yeah, I’m sticking with my current job.」

「You’re a merchant and you’re talking about skipping payments? You know that defaulting on a debt is the greatest taboo. Stop with the delusions.」

「Question. Altora, do you still insist you haven’t lost?」

Elia’s blunt, honest question made Altora snort and raise his sword to the sky—pointing its tip toward the distant enemy that had won against the strongest ‘King’.

「Of course. This is the last time I get all chummy with him. Maybe I can’t beat him now, but someday, I will surpass that bastard. Count on it.」

And so, about one bell later, all the monsters around Fathie were completely eliminated. Having lost their advantage, the Narshe army chose to withdraw. With that, the battle for Fathie came to an end—completely and decisively.