Prologue Reincarnated SS+ Class hero:
Marvo sat quietly beneath the cherry tree atop the hill, the setting sun bathing him in golden evening light. The wind brushed gently against his silk-soft skin, carrying the faint scent of petals through the air.
Four figures slowly climbed the hill, each clad in splendid armor and garments fit for royalty. A small smile tugged at Marvo's lips. These people were his party his closest companions.
"Oiii, Marvo!" a shout rang out from the tallest of the group. "You've got your rest, right?!"
Unlike the loudmouthed idiot approaching him, Marvo had no intention of yelling back like a mad dog. He simply waited for them to draw closer.
When they finally reached the hill's peak, all four stopped before the man who now appeared half-asleep. His white hair was tied neatly into a ponytail, his armor dark scarred yet it still looked far more imposing than theirs. After weeks of relentless battle against the demon army, none of them had found the time to rest, let alone replace their battered equipment.
The short lady on the left, clearly vexed by the sight of their supposed captain resting peacefully beneath the tree while an upcoming battle loomed, angrily kicked him in the shin.
"Ow! What is wrong with you?!" Marvo yelled as he shot to his feet, hopping on his right leg while clutching the left.
"Hmph." She snorted, folding her arms. "Well… why were you sleeping? I wouldn't have kicked you if you weren't," she replied.
"You short imp," Marvo shot back without missing a beat.
"Huh? What did you just call me?" Her face flushed red with fury.
"An imph. That's what I called you. I-M-P-H. An imph."
Anger surged through her as she reached for the wand tucked in a pouch around her left thigh, lifting it to cast a spell. But a long, veined arm shot out from beside her, stopping her mid-motion. The arm was unnaturally long, almost stretching beyond its limits.
"Alexia," a calm voice called. The man shook his head. She couldn't waste her mana not now. Everyone knew it, especially when it came to that man.
"Marvo, you shouldn't be picking fights with your teammates," he said, adjusting his glasses and settling them neatly on the bridge of his nose. His fiery red hair contrasted sharply with his dark green armor, which was covered in scars and dents. A massive sword rested at his waist far too large for his lean frame.
A heavy sigh followed.
A man standing over six feet tall, bare-chested and clad only in massive gauntlets, stepped forward. A short knife hung at his belt. He knew that if those two started fighting, he'd be the one forced to step between them…. again.
"Marvo. Alexia." His voice was hoarse, almost scratchy. "We should get movin'. The sun's settin'."
His words were an attempt to pour sand over the rising smoke.
"Tch… I guess we should," Alexia muttered, tucking her wand back into its pouch. "Before it gets dark." She said.
Venny, the last of the party, stood in silence almost invisible to the rest of the group. She absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair, lost in her thoughts, the wind weaving through her golden locks as if even it had taken an interest in her.
Allen walked ahead of the group, tapping Marvo on the shoulder. "Let's get going. This is our last battle. Let's defeat the Demon Lord and go home to our families, to our loved ones."
"Who died and made you captain?" Alexia muttered as she brushed past him and started down the slope of the hill.
Marvo, having heard her comment, let out a chuckle as he followed after Allen. "Certainly not me," he said, clearly joking.
Brol burst into laughter, and even Alexia couldn't hold it in anymore. A moment later, Venny let out a soft chuckle of her own.
Allen, red with embarrassment, adjusted his glasses, trying to calm his racing heart. His teammates were already halfway down the hill, heading toward the battlefield. After a brief pause, he followed after them.
An hour and five close calls later they arrived at an open plain. The grass was short, the wind howled as if welcoming them, and the evening sun had dipped fully beneath the horizon.
Marvo's gaze swept across the empty field, finding no sign of any enemy. He walked over to an old olive tree and dropped down beneath it, stretching out lazily.
Allen turned toward him, as if wanting to say something, but thought better of it. He continued farther into the plain before sitting down on the warm sand, the cool wind brushing through his hair.
Alexia on the other hand made her way toward the edge of the vast plain and took a seat on a fallen log.
Brol gently lowered himself onto the grass. His arms ached beneath the crushing weight of his gauntlets, but he endured it in silence. His feet were bruised from a full day of marching, his back sore from the relentless sun. Unlike the others, who wore armor or protective clothing, he was bare, letting the harsh weather take its toll on him.
And then there was Marvo.
Runes etched into his gear pulsed faintly one propelling him forward with unnatural ease, another keeping him cool beneath the sun's unforgiving heat. "Lucky bastard" he muttered under his breath
"Hm?" A soft voice came from beside him.
Venny was now seated at his side. She must have caught his faint murmur—her blue eyes wide, puppy-like, filled with confusion at her master's strange words.
"Nothin', nothin'," Marvo replied, a small smile cracking across his dry lips.
The two of them sat in silence, waiting.
Marvo lay perfectly still, eyes half-lidded as though he'd dozed off. But he wasn't asleep. He was using a spell one that projected his consciousness far beyond his body, spreading it across the vast land around them.
He saw everything.
The plain unfolded in all directions at once, as if he were everywhere and nowhere. He heard Allen humming quietly under his breath. Venny smiled brightly at Brol's painfully redundant jokes.
Love birds, he thought, his face scrunching in mild disgust.
Alexia sat apart, watching the first stars appear in the evening sky.
Then
Footsteps.
Dozens. No hundreds.
They came from every direction, distant but closing in. Roughly two hundred meters out.
Plenty of time.
Marvo pulled his consciousness back into his body, a complete mental map of the battlefield forming instantly in his mind.
The game could begin.
Standing to his feet, Marvo whispered a spell beneath his breath, threads of thought linking with the others. He could hear their personal thoughts but they could only hear his. Or the ones he allowed.
~Prepare~
Allen snapped his head up toward Marvo, who was already crouching to scoop dirt from the ground.
Brol and Venny both glanced at themselves instinctively, then at the others to confirm it. Seeing Allen already on his feet and Alexia gripping her wand, they rose as well Venny letting out a small yawn as if this were nothing more than another walk.
~100 meters~
Another mental note echoed through them.
Marvo gathered the dirt into small balls fifty of them, barely enough to fill his palm and laid them neatly before him. From his pocket, he produced a knife. Rusted. Old. Dark, dried blood stained its edge.
Without hesitation, he slit his palm.
Blood rushed out, dripping heavily onto the ground… and soaking into the dirt balls one by one.
The rumbling beneath the earth grew louder.
The team gathered at the center of the plain.
All except Marvo.
He remained beneath the tree blood-stained dirt spread before him. Then, in a blur, he kicked off the ground and sprinted toward the far end of the plain moving so fast, so lightly, that his feet barely touched the earth.
~Who needs flight when you can jump~ he thought
Landing lightly, Marvo repeated the motion but this time he drew a rune: a chained circle that could host a spell and keep it running continuously, feeding off the caster's mana. Once the mana ran out, the spell would fade. Around it, he arranged twenty-five dirt balls, ready for whatever he planned next.
A sudden, piercing scream split the air.
Above them, a wyvern appeared, wings blending into the darkening sky, its body armored with jagged scales. With a deafening screech, it lifted its head and spat blue flames across the grass landing just a step from where Venny and Brol sat. The flames were too hot for the ground to handle, sparking smaller fires across the plain.
"Alexia!" Allen shouted, hefting his massive blade into his arms.
Both Brol and Venny quick on their feet. Venny twirled two small daggers in her hands, moving with deadly grace to dodge the spreading flames.
"On it!" Alexia yelled, swinging her wand while chanting a spell "TOO-krah!" as dark air flowed from her wand, spreading across the plain, instantly snuffing out every flame it touched.
Marvo leaped high into the air, landing beside his crew as he sent one final thought through the mental link.
~We need that chicken off the air. Now~
Then he cut the spell.
No words followed. No hesitation. They all nodded in agreement.
The wyvern suddenly banked midair, wings snapping as it dove straight toward Alexia. Her eyes widened in shock as the massive beast plummeted like a shooting arrow, its razor-sharp teeth spreading wide.
Marvo shot Allen a sharp, authoritative glance.
This was their moment.
Allen understood instantly. He sprinted a few feet away from Alexia, gripping his massive sword tightly as if it might leap from his hands at any second.
Alexia noticed the movement and froze in place as the monster hurtled downward.
Marvo began counting under his breath.
His eyes glowed.
He turned toward Allen casting an inheritance spell on him sharing part of his lightlas ability as green light erupted around Allen. Whom felt it instantly. His strength doubled. His armor became light almost too light, as if it had never existed to begin with. Veins bulged along his arms, his sword flaring with violent aura.
His eyes locked onto the incoming mass of flesh.
The wyvern, fangs wide, was so absorbed by the promise of an easy meal one that seemed too terrified to move that it failed to notice the two men standing at either side of its path.
Allen launched himself from the ground, his foot shattering the soil beneath him. Scorched grass and smoking earth were left behind as he surged forward his speed far too great for the wyvern to react… or even perceive.
The blade swept through the air.
It struck the beast's neck, cleaving through muscle and sinew. A split second later came a heavy thud as the sword tore through bone, severing the spine in one brutal motion.
The wyvern screamed its cry echoing across the plains before its head was sent flying.
The massive skull slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash, followed shortly by the lifeless body plummeting from the sky.
Allen twisted midair, leaping backward to avoid the creature's dark blood from splashing onto his already battered armor.
Looking around at his teammates he smiled but he knew the fight had just begun