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Chapter 284 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (6) / Not Giving Up (Part 1)

284 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (6) / Not Giving Up (Part 1)

『How can I ever become a strong hero like you, dad?』

When I was little, I once asked the Unyielding Hero this question.

『The important thing is not to give up』

『Force of will…』

I stared up at dad with scornful eyes.

『Hmm, you know some difficult words… But the feeling is what matters, right? Still… To be more specific…』

『More specific?』

『Not giving up means to keep thinking.』

Dad smiled kindly, but his eyes were so full of vigor that they gave me goosebumps.

At that time, since I wasn’t familiar with a hero’s ambition, I couldn’t understand the reason for my trembling, so I simply started spewing out words in order to gloss over that feeling.

『Huh? Don’t say such obvious things. If you stop thinking, then you’re giving up, isn’t that right? You’re just saying it backwards.』

『If you just think about it, giving up really is the same as stopping thinking. The ability to think about what needs to be done in order to overcome adversity, to help friends, to defeat those who are stronger than yourself, and to find your answers… That’s what matters.』

I chewed at dad’s words for a bit.

『…So, you mean like when you’re sure that you’ll lose, if you keep trying to hit someone bigger than you from the front, you figure why not try to hitting them from behind?』

『Ahahaha. In the sense of outsmarting them, yes, but as a parent, I can’t really encourage you to resort to attacking someone from behind.』

『Then what? Should I set up a pitfall trap? Or bring a shield? Ah, what if I’m the only one using a weapon? 』

『Those measures would require some preparation in advance, but they are certainly useful. Though if your opponent also has time to prepare, you might not be the only one that would have some kind of advantage at the moment of the fight.』

『Then what should I do?』

『Once you have an accurate grasp of both your own strength and that of your opponent, you will be able to come up with a strategy. In the example we’ve been going over, you already know that your opponent is bigger and stronger than you, so if I were you… Wait, this is all hypothetically speaking, right, Wraith?』

On another occasion, I made a strategy with Dad’s words in mind.

I had a quarrel with that leader brat who laughed at my friend Fran’s right arm, saying, “You look like a monster,” and proceeded to beat him up spectacularly.

I figured out the way he liked to attack, which was to throw himself at his opponent with all of his strength and pray that it was enough to beat them, and managed to use it against him by grabbing him by the arm and throwing him away using his own momentum.

Not used to the pain of defeat, he actually burst into tears.

When I told my parents about it at dinner, I remember Mom scolding Dad, saying『Are you encouraging our son to pick fights with others?』

Come to think of it, the Unyielding Hero may be the strongest hero around, but he’s never been able to win against Mom…

◇

It happened in an instant.

If you’re not a Hero, you can’t even feel it happening.

Me, Fen, and Old Man Air pulled out the Magical Energy of our Spirits in an instant, unleashing each of our Spirit Magic at the same time.

Dad used only Wind Magic.

His spell created a path made as if drawing an arc.

A portion of Old Man Air’s storming winds were sucked into the vacuum path Dad had created.

They were led to Fen’s crimson flames, which gained intensity after being fanned by the winds produced by the Storm Hero.

Then, the flames made by the Flame Hero came into contact with the torrent I created, and in a matter of seconds, the surroundings were filled with fog.

It was the result of my Water Spirit Magic evaporating after clashing with Feni’s Fire Spirit Magic.

Are we the “bigger and stronger enemies you can’t compete with”, dad?!

No, it goes without saying that I should have understood that from the start.

Dad doesn’t have access to Spirit Magic, but we do.

So the Unyielding Hero had to think about what to do, and the answer came with a single move.

If we were to rush towards him at the same time, he would use our own abilities to break through our assault.

The steam that was heated by the Fire Spirit’s Magical Energy was spread out explosively, causing our field of view to turn completely white.

And that’s not all. The water itself was generated by Spirit Magic, so this entire area is now filled with a Spirit’s Magical Energy!

As a result, we won’t be able to detect our enemies’ location with our magic.

To think that with that single first move, he would be able to hinder his opponent’s next move…

But there was no time to stand there in awe.

Either Aerial or Ewan should be trying to clear away the fog.

Since Old Man Air is our only Wind user, it would make sense for Dad to aim for the Storm Hero next.

By doing that, he could interfere with our efforts to clear away this fog.

But Ewan was outside of the fog’s range, so Dad won’t be able to attack them both at the same time.

All three of us Four Great Spirit Contractors were around the Unyielding Hero.

Which of us are you going to go for?

Come at me!!

「Guh…!」

A groan from Fenix, and the sound of swords clashing against one another.

So he went for the Flame Hero first… No!

I immediately hold my short sword above my head.

At that moment, Dad’s sword came down on that spot.

Due to the shock, the side of my Holy Sword’s blade hit my forehead. If I hadn’t laid the blade horizontally, I would have cut my own forehead with it. Dad’s slashes were so powerful that they left their mark even on this stone field.

「Your reaction time is a moment too slow…Water Hero.」

Even though it was Dad’s voice, it sounded as if he was someone else.

I see, this is the voice of the Unyielding Hero.

Right after that, I felt his knee being driven into my abdomen.

「Now that’s a bit more like it.」

I immediately produced a water ball around my abdomen in order to dampen the impact of his knee strike.

Or at least that was the plan.

「But not enough.」

「…Gah, ha.」

Did he just use Wind Magic in order to further accelerate his own knee strike?!

The resulting shock went through the water ball and forced my body to bend as I was blown away, and my body was soon rolling on the field.

It’s just that simple.

This is the best Hero. A very, very strong person who will definitely win this whole thing in the coolest way possible…

And yet no one can see how good of a show he’s putting up.

Fighting in such a fog, attacking Fenix with a wind blade to create a diversion, speeding up his own attacks with a small amount of magic so that the fog doesn’t clear… It’s just that simple!!

And at the same, it’s really, really cool.

I want everyone to know that.

In the past, I had sometimes lost sight of what was important.

Soon enough, the Unyielding Hero Altreed was already coming at me again through the fog.

After having rolled on the ground for a few meters to suppress the impact of his attack, I finally stood up.

「Where are those Spirit Magics of yours, Wraith?」

「I’m already using them, Altreed.」

I had already prepared them back when his first swing was blocked by my Holy Sword.

I activate Freezing, and Dad’s sword is enveloped in ice. This ice spread at a tremendous speed, and if I hadn’t cut off the spell earlier, it would’ve frozen Dad’s arms as well.

At that moment, Dad’s movements were disrupted… Or so I thought.

Instead of letting go of the sword, he threw it at me.

I had to prevent it from hitting me, so I deployed a defensive Ice Wall, which was instantly split in half vertically the moment the sword touched it. As expected, he had charged up his sword with Wind Magic before throwing it.

How are you able to react to a surprise attack with a counterattack!?

「Isn’t this fun?」

Dad’s voice sounded like he was a bit out of breath.

「That’s right.」

…This is extremely fun.