Chapter 16: Fighting against Helmios the Hero

With Dverg’s admission of defeat, his duel with Krena ended as her victory. This no-holds-barred match between two Sword Lords had been witnessed by visiting dignitaries from multiple countries, the crown prince of Ratash and other Ratashian nobility, and the entire student body. Everyone had been staying stock-still and silent in an effort to catch every last detail of the fight, but once it was over, they naturally burst into a huge uproar.

As Allen made his way to the stage for his own fight, he cast a look toward Krena, who had returned to the spectator stands. She still appeared down.

“You worried about your friend?” Helmios asked him. This man standing in front of Allen was his opponent for the coming match. He was wearing the same smile that he had never let slip since Allen first met him.

“I suppose I am. Thank you for saving her just now.” Allen bowed his head in sincere gratitude. There was no telling what might have become of Krena if Helmios had not stopped Dverg in time.

“Oh, psh, don’t worry about it. Dverg’s just a sore loser—I was just ready for it, that’s all.” In other words, Helmios had predicted both Krena putting up a good fight and Dverg going berserk, and had therefore readied himself to rush onto stage at any moment.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer cried, interrupting their conversation, “that brings us to the last match of the day! As I’m sure all of our esteemed visitors are aware, normally we end the Martial Arts Tournament with a fight between the champion and Sword Lord Dverg. Today, however, Hero Helmios has said that he wishes to give a student some personal instruction!”

Allen and Helmios both turned and assumed their starting positions as the announcer’s voice continued ringing throughout the venue.

“Everyone, please take a look at the pamphlets that you were handed. It details the history of today’s champion, Allen. He is the founder and leader of the adventurer party No-life Gamers, which consists of only eight members. And with just those eight, they have already cleared five Rank A dungeons!”

Though three of us still have three more to go.

As members of the audience tried to get a better look at Allen, more than one person murmured things along the lines of “That does sound impressive, but is he really that big a deal?” He was indeed strong, but they failed to understand why the Hero wished to personally have a match with him. Bewilderment filled the atmosphere in the arena.

“Ha ha ha! Look at you, being the center of attention!”

“A downright bother. I wonder whose fault it is.”

“Hey, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it soon. After all, I did. Oh, right—feel free to use whatever skill you want. No matter what happens this match, the headmaster and Rohzenheim will take full responsibility!”

So this was what he was confirming with the headmaster earlier. Well, it’s not like I planned on holding back in the first place.

“I see. However, I don’t like unnecessary conflict. If you surrender now and hand over your MP Recovery Ring without a fuss, you’ll be spared a lot of pain.”

The referee, who had been waiting for a good time to signal the start of the match, goggled at Allen like a fish when he heard this. He was an Academy teacher and naturally knew about the Demon Lord. In the eyes of everyone who knew of the Demon Lord’s existence, the Hero was an apostle sent by the gods, the one to bring salvation to their world that was on a path of certain doom, the one who stood against the Demon Lord Army that had already massacred millions. The Hero was an existence that stood much, much higher than a Sword Lord. And yet, a mere school student had just asked this Hero to surrender. The teacher could not imagine it happening even if the sun were to rise from the west.

“That’s a funny joke. I don’t know how much unnecessary effort you put in, but you won’t beat me. You know that, right?”

“No effort is ever unnecessary,” Allen coolly replied.

“Hm! An interesting take.”

Helmios was still grinning with composure, but Allen was not bothered in the slightest. He was a hundred percent sure the Hero was only in Normal Mode after seeing Helmios’s Status during his entrance exam. The referee, looking somewhat bothered by the disturbing conversation he had just overheard, proceeded to go through his explanation spiel.

I swear I’ll make you assume the surrender pose.

As Allen psyched himself up, Helmios, who had actually been listening to the referee, drew his sword. The golden blade was made of orichalcum, the very material that Allen had been searching for to no avail.

“FIGHT!”

Helmios adopted a fighting stance, then remained motionless.

I see. So he wants me to make the first move.

Seeing this, Allen brazenly chose to look away from the Hero to check his own Status and cards.

---

Name: Allen
Age: 14
Class: Summoner
Level: 55
HP: 1,390 + 550
MP: 2,180
Attack: 766 + 4,900
Endurance: 766 + 750
Agility: 1,429 + 4,920 + 2,000 (Ring)
Intelligence: 2,190 + 220
Luck: 1,429
Skills: Summoning {7}, Creation {7}, Synthesis {7}, Strengthening {7}, Awakening {7}, Expansion {6}, Storage, Sharing, Quick Summoning, Deputize (Sealed), Deletion, Sword Mastery {3}, Throwing {3}

XP: 489,264,755/1,000,000,000

---

Of course, Allen was still on guard. He was Sharing with two Bird Es up in the sky that were constantly observing Helmios with Hawk Eye. This was an Ability that not only allowed him to observe enemies from high up in the sky, but it was also capable of picking up even incredibly slight movements.

“What’s wrong, Allen? You’re not going to come at me?”

“Huh? I’m showing you an opening, so why aren’t you attacking me, oh esteemed Hero?”

“Ahhh...I see. Okay then, here I come!”

Judging by the look of understanding on his face, Helmios was not rising to Allen’s provocation. Even so, he took a step forward; that single step cracked the stage. With as much speed as Krena had displayed when using Limit Break, he charged toward Allen in a straight line.

Damn, that speed of his really is ridiculous! Though I already had an inkling of how fast he could be when he saved Krena from Dverg.

In the blink of an eye, Helmios was right in front of Allen, already swinging his orichalcum sword. Allen met it with his adamantite one, filling the entire venue with the sound of a single piercing metallic crash. Visitors and students alike buzzed with excitement.

“Dude, did you see that?! He just blocked the Hero’s attack!”

“Isn’t he just holding back so the student can save some face?”

“I bet that’s it. I heard that the Hero’s sword can cut even a dragon with ease!”

Excitement quickly filled the air as the spectators grew more invested in their first time seeing the Hero in action. VIPs from various countries began appraising this match in earnest.

Oof, I tried blocking the strike head-on to see how powerful it is, but now I’m really regretting it. So, this is how powerful he is without his skills. I mean, I’m sure that lowering my Endurance didn’t help me any.

Allen was actually a bit panicked from getting a direct taste of Helmios’s Attack. Because his own Attack was currently over five thousand, he was able to tell that if Helmios’s attacks landed anywhere other than his sword, that alone would be enough to be fatal. He therefore shifted his fighting style from being defensive to being evasive.

Allen pulled away with a powerful backward jump, but Helmios showed no signs of giving chase.

“Huuuuh? That’s strange. With your Attack, you shouldn’t have been able to block that blow just now,” the Hero murmured, puzzled, as he kept his body frozen in the same position it had been when his sword had met Allen’s. He gripped and re-gripped his sword as if reliving the sensation from just now.

“Whatever can you be talking about?” Allen replied.

Yep, that confirms that the Analyze skill does show him what my stats are in combination with the boosts from my skills; conversely, it doesn’t show him my Summons’ blessings. Which means he can’t see it when I adjust my stats. I had suspected as much during my entrance exam, but now I know for certain.

“Well, either way, let’s continue!” Unfortunately, Helmios was not about to just stand around. He resumed his assault, not giving Allen any more time to think. The boy dodged the attacks as best he could but still ended up taking a few hits.

Eventually, he ended up using his sword to block an attack he could not invade in time. The impact of the blow shook him to his core, drawing a grunt from him. Seeing him off-balance, the Hero pressed his attack, leaving Allen completely on the back foot.

“Aww, you’re already done?” the Hero sighed in disappointment.

So, my Agility is about on par with the Hero’s. His Sword Mastery is significantly higher than mine, which means I won’t be able to catch him with normal attacks. All right, let’s try upping the number of attacks I dish out at the same time.

Allen called out a Summon that he had on standby. “Dora, let’s do this.”

“So, my time has finally come, Master!”

A ten-meter-long dragon, a Dragon B, charged at Helmios from his blind spot. Allen had gained access to this Summon when he reached Summoning Lvl. 7.

“Huh?!”

Ignoring the astonishment on Helmios’s face, the creature rushed at him with its mouth opened wide, its razor-sharp teeth glistening. Although he had been caught by surprise, the Hero managed to bring his sword up in time to defend himself. That instant, Allen landed a sideways swing on the Hero’s flank.

The sudden appearance of the dragon plunged the audience into a huge panic.

“IT’S A DRAGOOOOOON!!!”

“A DRAGON’S APPEARED IN THE ARENA!!!”

They screamed and elbowed each other while making a mad scramble for the exits. The headmaster immediately gave the announcer instructions, but there was something else that was occupying Allen’s attention. Namely, how it felt when he landed his very first blow on the Hero.

He’s so freakin’ tough!

Allen’s hands hurt many times worse than when he had fought that dragon boss in one of the Rank A dungeons. He could not even imagine how high Helmios’s Endurance stat was.

And he hasn’t even used a skill yet.

There was no changing the fact that this was a situation in which Allen could not afford to let down his guard, even for one second. He had managed to throw off the Hero’s equilibrium with his Summon, but Helmios still did not feel cornered enough to break out any skills.

“Dora, use Hellfire of Fury!”

“Understood, Master.”

As Allen continued attacking with his weapon, the Dragon B beside him gathered red-hot flames in its open mouth. Helmios tried to move out of the way, but Allen doubled his attacks.

“You’re not getting away!”

While keeping the Hero in place, Allen kept an eye on the situation through his dragon’s eyes. Suddenly, he backed off and made a feint, then instructed Dora to unleash its Awakened Ability, Hellfire of Fury. A blinding stream of infernal flames enveloped the Hero, blasting him head-on. Unable to bear the attack, Helmios immediately retreated into the sky and hovered there, recollecting himself.

The Hero can fly too? That’s the third skill he’s used. Huh? Now he’s using Healing Magic on himself.

Before long, all of the Hero’s wounds disappeared without a trace. As he floated there in the air, the audience, who now understood that they were safe from the dragon, watched him with praise on their lips.

“The Hero is fighting on even ground with the dragon!” someone cried.

With his golden sword and armor, the Hero seemed almost divine the way he was floating high up, striking awe into the hearts of the beholders.

Not even a scratch on his armor. However, the fact that he used Healing Magic means at least some damage got through to him.

The audience were absolutely smitten with this figure in orichalcum armor who looked like a messenger from the Divine Realm. In the eyes of this world, teetering on the edge of complete annihilation by the Demon Lord Army as it was, the Hero was truly the hope of all humanity.

I wonder how much HP we shaved off just now. Anyway, my analysis is largely complete. I think I have a pretty good estimate of the Hero’s stats.

Helmios’s Cumulative Stats (Status, Class Skill Boost, Equipment)
Attack: 10,400 (2,400 + 3,000 + 5,000)
Endurance: 10,400 (2,400 + 3,000 + 5,000)
Agility: 8,400 (2,400 +3,000 + 3,000)

Our Agility is about the same, and I’m completely behind in the other stats. He’s most likely wearing Agility-boosting equipment too. Did he want to beat me that badly?

“Well, that was dangerous...” Helmios grumbled from up in the sky, much higher than even where Dora was hovering.

“Why did you say that like the match is over?” Allen asked in feigned confusion from where he was standing on the arena stage. “We’ve only just gotten started.”

“Ha ha ha! What’re you saying? Your attacks won’t reach me anymore, Allen. I can fly pretty fast, I’ll have you know.”

“And what are you saying? I actually want to thank you for taking to the sky.”

“What?”

Allen thrust a hand forward, smiling. “Wallys, Explode!”

Ten Stone Es abruptly appeared around the Hero, promptly turned red, and went off in one massive explosion. Allen had carefully calculated the distance and concluded that this midair explosion would not affect anyone in the spectator stands. However, there was no way for the audience to know this, so they screamed all the same. The second- and third-year students who had already raised their levels to a certain degree remained unfazed by a little gust of hot wind, but the various aristocrats already had their guards standing protectively in front of them—in fact, they had been there ever since the dragon first appeared.

“Dear esteemed guests, we ask that you please calm down!” the headmaster called through the loudspeaker system, desperately trying to reassure the crowd.

Eventually, the smoke blew away and Helmios came back into sight.

“Ouch. That actually hurt, Allen.”

“I did say it, didn’t I? That you’ll be spared pain if you just hand over the ring.”

Okay, good, he cast Healing Magic on himself again. That means this attack also works on him. Quick Summoning is really proving its worth here.

One more time, Allen called out ten more Strengthened Stone Es. In the instant it took Helmios to recognize them, they glowed red and exploded once again.

Someone in Normal Mode could only raise their class skill to Lvl. 6, meaning they could only possess a maximum of six skills. However, when Allen reached Summoning Lvl. 7, he had obtained two new skills.

One of them was Quick Summoning, which he had been using to attack Helmios with. Up till now, the processes of Creation, Synthesis, and Strengthening had all taken roughly half a second, according to Allen’s internal clock. Being able to Create a Summon in under a second was quite amazing, but the higher his Summoning became, the more complicated it became to create the newer Summons, with all the iterations of Creation and Synthesis adding up to quite a bit of time.

His new skill, Quick Summoning, greatly shortened the duration of all of his Summoning skills. Whereas a Spirit-type Summon used to require, from Creation to Strengthening and Awakening, around ten seconds, that time was now cut down to practically nothing. It did not matter if he was making ten Summons—twenty, even—it now happened almost instantaneously.

All Allen had to do was focus on a mental image of which Summon he wanted, how many, and in what position they should appear, then—voilà! If he wanted to recall them, he just had to imagine it and the Summons would all return to their card holders. He felt like he had been entirely freed of the time constraints tied to Summoning.

There was one issue he had to be aware of, however: just as before, he still needed to expend MP and magic stones to make new Summons. As such, he would be helpless if he were to run out of either. Even so, the skill was just so useful that Allen considered it a sign he had surpassed Normal Mode.

The other new skill, Deputize, was the first skill that came sealed. When Allen, who was currently Lvl. 55, had attempted to use it, the follow message appeared:

<You do not have the requisite level for using Deputize.>

Allen had no idea exactly what level he needed to be at in order to use the spell, but he was eager to see it in action.

As Allen was occupied thinking about his skills, Helmios appeared from within the cloud of fire, charging straight at Allen. The Hero had clearly come to the conclusion that keeping his distance only made him a sitting duck. Just as he had said, he was quick and mobile in the air.

Allen dodged the incoming sword slash, then backed away in order to maintain a certain distance from Helmios. Now that he knew Stone Es were effective against the Hero, there was no longer any need for him to continue fighting at close quarters.

“Come on out, Cerby! Keep the Hero busy!”

“Yes, Master!”

When Allen called its name, a giant wolf with three heads rivaling the dragon in size appeared, prompting someone in the audience to scream, “A cerberus has joined the dragon!” The Beast B Summon rushed toward the Hero, the vicious fangs in all three maws glinting dangerously.

Go on, choose either me or Cerby.

The Beast B’s stats were only around a third of the Hero’s. So when Helmios targeted the wolf, Allen stopped running away and turned around to attack him as well, tag teaming with his Summons. Then, when Helmios tried to create some distance, he found Stone Es waiting for him instead. Eventually, Helmios defeated Dragon B and Beast B, but Allen immediately called out replacements.

However, every time he got hurt, the Hero healed himself back up. Allen did the same, only with items instead of magic. After this dogged fighting continued for a while, Helmios suddenly lowered his weapon.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

Allen backed up a step. “You mean you’re gonna surrender? Good fight, then.” He had no attachment to the fight itself, so he would not mind it at all if Helmios were to throw in the towel now.

“Ha ha ha, of course not! I mean, I’m gonna put an end to this match. If you want to surrender, now’s the time to do it. After all, if you’re unlucky, you could actually die from this next move.”

“So you’re a comedian too, I see!” Allen laughed provocatively, waving a hand to dismiss Helmios’s words. There was no way he would surrender. Looks like that’s my confirmation that the Hero’s fourth skill is an attack one. All right, gimme your best shot. I’ll teach you how I defeat Heroes.

So far, Helmios had demonstrated three skills: Analyze, Healing, and Flight. Therefore, Allen was sure that one of the remaining ones must be an offensive skill.

“Well, you asked for it. Just saying right now, I can’t really hold back when I use this.”

The Hero gripped his sword tighter, still maintaining his smile. The blade with a golden glow suddenly lit up as if something incredible was being gathered within it. Allen held up his own sword at the ready, flanked on both sides by his Summons.

“Oh? You’re gonna block it?” Helmios asked, sounding genuinely surprised. When his sword grew blindingly bright, he shouted, “Phoenix Blade!” and abruptly charged forward at breakneck speed.

“Dora! Cerby! NOW!” Allen cried, quickly turning tail and running. Dragon B and Beast B stepped forward to meet the Hero, roaring furiously.

“Ha ha ha! Now that’s the Allen I know! You can’t trick me!”

A swing of the glowing orichalcum sword was all that was needed to reduce the Dragon B into bubbles of light. Beast B attempted to get in an attack while the Hero was occupied, but it, too, was defeated without much more effort. Helmios continued closing in on the retreating Allen as if to not give him time to call out any more Summons.

It was basically impossible to directly look at Helmios’s sword anymore. He was clearly pouring every drop of his power into this single attack.

The arena stage was only fifty meters long on each edge. As he had demonstrated when he saved Krena from Dverg, this was a distance that Helmios could traverse in the blink of an eye.

Hah! Fool, you misjudged how fast my Summoning works!

Thanks to Quick Summoning, Allen could call out Summons in no time at all. The process was so fast that in the instant just before Krena was about to land her attack on him, he had been able to Summon a Stone C behind her back and have it use Substitute to shoulder all the damage for him.

Just as Helmios was about to close in, a gleaming suit of full-body armor that towered ten meters high appeared between him and Allen. This Summon, a Stone B, braced with its massive round shield in front of it, indicating its intention on taking Helmios’s strike head-on. Helmios, for his part, discerned with one glance that this was a Summon specialized for defense and decided to cut his way past, swinging his powered-up sword with all the power he could muster.

When the orichalcum sword smashed against the shield that covered nearly half of Stone B’s entire body, a shower of sparks and a deafening boom erupted. Cracks ran along the shield, quickly spreading to the rest of the Summon’s body.

However, even though Helmios expected it to immediately disappear—it certainly seemed at risk of crumbling at any moment—the glow that enveloped his sword suddenly disappeared and reappeared around the shield.

“Well done bearing it, Mirror! Now, REFLECT!”

CRAAAAAASH!

Like a jet engine blasting to life, the round shield held by the Summon named Mirror blasted all the damage it had just taken straight back at Helmios. The shock wave of blinding light slammed directly into the Hero’s face, blowing him backward with enough force to rip up much of the stone arena behind him.

It was a merciless attack from him—someone said to possess the most powerful Status of all of humanity wielding a sword made of the world’s strongest material, orichalcum. All that combined with the world’s one and only Hero’s attack skill, no less.

Allen had been waiting for all these conditions to fall into place. He was fighting with a sword, but he did not possess any skills to use with it. At the same time, his opponent was so powerful that he had barely been hurt after even taking Dragon B’s Awakened Ability directly. And so, Allen had focused on creating the perfect situation for Stone B’s Ability to shine.

As I’d thought, there’s nothing better for defeating a hero than the hero’s own attack. Well done, Mirror.

Although Stone B could not talk, it still managed to convey a sense of pride. Its Ability, Reflect, basically absorbed physical damage and sent it back out as an attack. While this Summon was using its Ability, its Endurance would be doubled, but it still would take damage. If the incoming damage was beyond what it was able to withstand and it was defeated, then its Ability would not activate.

Allen marveled at how much Stone B’s HP had been depleted as he used a recovery item to top it back up to full. The cracks in the shield and armor started fading away as the metal pulled itself back together with loud screeches.

Now then, is it over?

At the far end of the arena, Helmios lay on the ground spread-eagle. A closer look revealed he was simply looking up at the sky as if he was just sunbathing.

“Simply incredible. I’d been waiting for this kind of opportunity all this time...”

He had figured out that he had been instigated into using his skill. Despite the terrible blow he had just suffered, he was so happy that there was a big grin on his face.

“What’re you gonna do?” Allen asked. “If you don’t surrender, I’ll just continue throwing your attacks back at you. If you give me your MP Recovery Ring, though, I’m willing to let you off the hook.”

The speed at which Allen could call out Summons was overwhelmingly faster than Helmios’s movement speed. What was more, Mirror could reflect normal physical attacks as well as skills. Now that Allen was sure Helmios did not possess any Attack Magic, he was confident he could repel everything the Hero had to throw his way.

“That sounds scary, all right. Ha ha ha! I see, I see. That’s good. That’s really good.”

“What is?”

Allen could not understand why Helmios looked so happy despite the situation.

“Turns out the Sovereign of Spirits was right after all. So there is still hope for humanity after all.”

Huh? Don’t people call him the hope of humanity? Why does he sound like he only just found it?

The light of Healing Magic enveloped Helmios’s prone body, regenerating his HP back up. Then he slowly stood up and faced Allen.

“What? You still wanna fight?” Allen asked.

“Of course. It’s my job to teach you that there is always someone better, after all.”

“Oh, no, there’s no need. I am already fully aware of that fact. Omigosh, oh esteemed Hero, you’re so powerful!”

C’mon, just hand over the ring already. We can both recover our HP and MP, so any further fighting is just gonna be a waste of magic stones. Do you know how many I’ve already used up today?

“Ha ha ha! You sure don’t change, do you, Allen? Now, don’t say that—take a good look this time. This is the greatest strike that humanity is capable of.”

Suddenly, a heat haze sprung up around Helmios’s body.

Why? Why’re you doing this? What, you’re like Dverg? Are you a bad loser too? So now I’ve gotta deal with the Hero’s Extra Skill? I did just heal Mirror back up, but I don’t think two Steelys are gonna be enough. Will five—no, will ten do?

As Allen rapidly swapped out the cards in his holders, Helmios raised his sword. He then started running toward Allen.

“Take this! God Strike!”

Wait, hold on, are we not doing the “You gonna surrender?” exchange this time?!

Once again, a Stone B appeared in front of Helmios, but he slashed through it with little effort this time, not giving it any opportunity to activate Reflect.

“Ugh!” Allen raised his sword to block Helmios’s attack, but with his Extra Skill activated, Helmios sliced off both of Allen’s arms along with his weapon. The ten Stone Cs promptly disappeared into bubbles of light, having failed to take on all the damage that Allen suffered. The ground of the arena was shattered, leaving behind a huge crater.

“Oof...”

“So, how is it?! A serious attack from the Hero? You still alive, Allen?”

“Ugh... Yes, I’m alive.”

Okay, dragged-out fight it is. Guess I’m gonna have to pick up the ring from your corpse. Don’t expect mercy when you showed none yourself.

Allen’s grimoire materialized above his head, dropping a fruit-like item onto his head. The next instant, his arms regrew in a graphic display. Pieces of his equipment had either been ruined or were lying far away, so there was nothing he could do to recover them. He slowly got to his feet, glaring at Helmios.

“What was that? You recovered in a split second. Did you use an elven elixir?”

“Well, something like that,” Allen replied offhandedly, taking out a spare adamantite sword from Storage. It had actually been a recovery item made from a Grass-type Summon, but he was hardly going to go into the details. One made from Grass E could not heal lost limbs, but this one could.

Helmios’s eyes widened as he understood that Allen still very much intended on continuing the fight. “Huh? Why aren’t you giving up?”

“What do you mean why? I want your ring.”

What’s he saying after coming at me with his Extra Skill and all? Wait, don’t tell me he wants to renege on his promise?

“No, that’s not what I was asking. I just showed you how far apart our power levels were. Aren’t you going to give up?”

“If I always gave up the moment I realized an opponent’s stronger than me, where’s that gonna get me? It’s a given that my opponents are going to be stronger.”

Things had been the same in Allen’s previous life. He had always been the weaker one, and his opponents had always been stronger. And in order to get strong himself, he had to pour in the time and effort.

“What if...I told you that once you obtain power, all that you’ll find is despair?”

Allen stared at Helmios with a baffled look, not quite understanding what he was getting at. The smile that had been plastered on Helmios’s face for so long was now gone, replaced by an expression of earnest questioning.

I see. So he’s been grappling with despair for years now.

As it turned out, Helmios’s smile had been a mask to hide his own utter hopelessness. At the same time, it had also been to reassure those who had no choice but to cling to him as the so-called “hope of humanity.”

“Helmios,” Allen said, calling the Hero by his name for the first time, “I promise you that I will overcome that despair.”

“Overcome...the despair? Is that even possible? Who...who are you?”

“You want to know who I am?”

“Yes, I do. Tell me.” The Hero’s eyes had reverted to that of a boy desperately seeking answers.

“I’ve heard that this Demon Lord calls himself Demon Lord of the End.”

“He does indeed. And you?”

“If that’s the case...then I am the Summoner of the Beginning.”

I just came up with the title. Makes sense, since I’m the very first Summoner in this world. Plus, it sets me up as a foil to the Demon Lord.

“Summoner of the Beginning...Allen,” Helmios repeated, as if considering each word. All of a sudden, he walked up to Allen, took something out from a pouch on his waist, and handed it over.

It was an MP Recovery Ring.

“What? Are you sure about this?”

Woo-hoo! I got the ring! Huh? So was the condition for receiving it withstanding his Extra Skill? Or is this the reward for putting up a good fight?

Allen wondered if he had misremembered what Helmios had said in the headmaster’s office. When he checked his grimoire, however, he found “Defeat the Hero” clearly written there. In other words, he was not the one who had made a mistake.

“Of course. The Sovereign of Spirits told me to hand this ring to the Summoner of the Beginning, after all.”

Got it, so the condition was to call myself “Summoner of the Beginning”!

Based on what Helmios said, the Sovereign of Spirits, Rohzen, had prophesied Allen’s title in his sleep.

“But won’t you need this when you’re fighting on the front lines?” Allen asked. I can’t have you dying just because you gave me your ring.

Helmios grinned and showed off another ring on his hand. “Look, now we’re a match. This one was for ‘Hero Helmios.’ Rohzen is a pretty generous guy.”

As it turned out, the Sovereign of Spirits had not created only one ring.

All right, I guess I’ll help myself, then. Now that leaves me with only one thing to do.

Allen abruptly raised his hand, catching Helmios by surprise.

At the moment, they were being watched by a sizable audience including Allen’s own companions. The crown prince and other aristocrats were huddled in their seats, desperately wanting to flee the venue but afraid of looking shameful in front of the foreign dignitaries. This had led to a strange game of chicken where the noble spectators hid behind their guards, waiting for others to leave first. As a result, the large majority were still present and watching.

Helmios’s Extra Skill had left a huge crater in the arena, but Allen and Helmios were still clearly in sight. The audience members who had been unable to keep up with what they had just witnessed returned to themselves and remembered where they were and what they had been watching. The sight of the black-haired boy raising one hand had all of them at the edge of their seats, and they waited with bated breath for what was coming next.

“I surrender,” Allen called out in a flat voice as he made the submission gesture. “Damn, the Hero, am I right? I’m so tired, I can’t fight a second more. Ugh, I was so close! This sucks so much!”

I no longer have a reason to fight, right? All right, that’s a wrap, everyone!

Helmios stared blankly at Allen in confusion for a split second, then broke into a wry smile. “I guess you’re you after all.”

And so the match between Allen and Helmios ended as Helmios’s victory. All the students, foreign dignitaries, aristocrats, and the crown prince could do was gape at the two standing on the thoroughly ruined stage, unable to understand what had just happened.