"...", Hyrince didn't want to respond. He simply walked silently toward Ash and held out his hand.
"What?"
"Give me the Hero Sword. I'll dispose of it."
"No need. I'll deal with it myself."
"Why?", Hyrince frowned.
"Who knows what this clone of yours is thinking? You share the same memories, but you're obviously two different consciousnesses, aren't you? Since that's the case, I can't hand this thing over to you. Who knows if you'll betray us because of your clone's unique consciousness and experiences?", Ash remembered how he had hinted for this guy to do something earlier, only for him to completely ignore the hint and let things turn out like this. So now, he didn't bother being polite at all.
After saying that, he didn't even want to look at Hyrince again. He turned around, his figure flashed, and he disappeared in an instant, leaving Hyrince standing there alone, filled with regret.
At that moment, a light rain began to fall from the sky, as though heaven itself were shedding tears for the fallen Hero, mourning this tragedy.
Unlike his quiet original body, Hyrince had always been cheerful and talkative. But now he only let out a long sigh, slowly raised his head, and looked up at the gloomy sky, letting the rain beat mercilessly against his face.
Because... Ash's suspicion wasn't wrong.
Just as the original Gulie wanted the freedom to act on his own, this clone had also developed the desire to act according to his own will.
Although he was Gulie's clone, becoming Hero Julius's childhood friend had been entirely accidental.
After all, Gulie would never take the initiative to approach someone like a Hero, someone with such great influence over the world. Yet before he knew it, he had been drawn to Julius, becoming unable to ignore his safety and always sticking his nose into his affairs.
But in the end, the result was so heartbreaking.
"Am I really the same as the original? Unable to do anything?"
The cold rain struck Hyrince's face without mercy, but his heart was even colder than the rain. All that remained in his heart was deep despair for humanity's future.
After the Divine Dragon Barrier disappeared, the soldiers who had been anxiously pounding against it from outside finally had the chance to rush onto the tragic battlefield.
However, when they saw the devastated scene before them, along with the already dead Hero and Saint, everyone stood there as though their souls had been taken away. Not a single person could speak. Only a suffocating atmosphere lingered over the scene like thick fog, refusing to disperse.
Within the capital's bustling districts, news of the Hero's death spread through the kingdom with unstoppable speed, as though it had grown wings.
Soon after, the news swept across the entire human world, causing an enormous uproar.
An uncontrollable atmosphere of panic spread through human society like a plague.
———
After Ash returned to demon territory, Kumoko was still inside her cocoon and had yet to emerge.
At the internal meeting of the demons, however, he was the first to learn that this operation had failed.
Ordinarily, this didn't seem like a particularly serious problem. After all, the new Hero would most likely be neither better nor stronger than Julius.
Julius could be called the strongest among humanity. From childhood, he had received the best education and training possible. Under these rushed circumstances, it was impossible to find someone more outstanding than him.
However, before Ariel could take revenge for Ash's earlier actions, intelligence sent by the demon spies through the Long-Distance Communication skill brought astonishing news, the successor was actually a reincarnator.
Julius's younger brother from the same father and mother, the son of the Third Side Consort, Shun, originally Shunsuke Yamada.
Although he could be considered a genius in this world, that was because D had granted reincarnators special advantages.
Compared to the other reincarnators, however, he wasn't particularly remarkable. His strength was merely average, and there was a huge gap between him and the Earth Dragon reincarnator beside him.
Compared to the elf reincarnator, the two adventurer reincarnators, and the reincarnator on the Pope's side, he also fell noticeably behind.
Of course, with the Hero title boosting him, he might barely be able to stand alongside those adventurer reincarnators.
"Could Lady Sariel have done this on purpose?", In the dimly lit meeting room, the normally calm Ariel trembled, spilling the wine from her glass all over the floor. Her expression became rather unpleasant.
"I'd like to deny it, but whether we're talking about strength or character, this flower raised in a greenhouse shouldn't have been chosen no matter how you look at it," After reading the information on the new Hero, Ash wore a rather subtle expression. He glanced at the stunned Ariel and couldn't help shaking his head.
He understood that, to Ariel, the goddess's actions amounted to a betrayal to some extent. After all, Ariel wanted to save her. But this... wasn't this stabbing them in the back? She had deliberately given them someone difficult to deal with.
Still, he merely reached out, patted Ariel on the head, and smiled gently.
"But then again, you don't need to care too much. You know exactly what kind of person Sariel is, don't you? At the end of the day, even if there's a new Hero, we can just kill him too."
"But... Shiro seems to have a natural fondness for that teacher that even she herself doesn't understand, and that teacher has always wanted to protect the reincarnators."
It was precisely because of Kumoko's powerful feelings that Ariel, who was naturally influenced by them, found herself hesitating. Of course, that wasn't the biggest reason. Mainly, she didn't want Kumoko to be sad.
"Are you really going to stand by and watch your friend become another Gulie? Someone who throws everything away just to please the person they like? And do nothing the whole time?", Ariel had only hesitated for a moment, but Ash looked like someone disappointed by wasted potential. Hearing him put it that way, she unconsciously nodded in reluctant agreement.
"You do have a point."
"You two can talk all you want, but why drag me into it now? This is revenge, isn't it?"
Gulie, who had been sitting silently in the corner the whole time, immediately wore the face of someone caught in the crossfire after hearing such a strange example. He couldn't help remembering what his clone had said to Ash earlier.
As for being called a simp, although he had heard Ash explain the term before, he still found it extremely grating... and very hard to refute.
"How could it be? Do I look like someone who holds grudges?"
"Isn't that exactly what you are?", Ariel asked curiously.
To both of their surprise, Ash nodded, "No, I am."
"He actually admitted it?", Ariel didn't know how she was supposed to respond.
She looked at Ash, wanting to say something, but in the end decided to pretend she hadn't heard it.
Despite these little interruptions, Ash's proposal ultimately passed unanimously.
Of course, with Kumoko absent... only the three of them had participated in this internal decision.
———
Under normal circumstances, given the current situation, launching a direct invasion would have been the best option.
However... what they had discovered in the Wind Dragon's territory became the key factor that changed the plan.
Those things had the potential to become weapons for the final battle, so they decided to repair them properly and see whether they could use them.
Nothing complicated, if they simply removed the authentication modules from the firearms, they could automatically assemble an army equipped with energy weapons.
And if they could repair the battleship as well, wouldn't they have a spaceship?
However, Ash wasn't good at this sort of thing, so he left it to Ariel and Gulie.
That very night... perhaps because of the issue with the goddess, Ariel suffered quite a blow and became noticeably listless.
Like a wounded little beast, she curled up in a corner. Her earlier determination to get revenge on Ash had long since vanished.
Instead, Ash held her on his lap. Without resisting at all, she curled up on his knees, unexpectedly well-behaved as she let him stroke her hair.
After a long silence, Ariel finally murmured softly with self-doubt,
"Was I wrong? Even if I succeed in the end, will Lady Sariel blame me?"
Her voice was so quiet that it seemed a light breeze could scatter it. It carried too many emotions, worry, fear, and deep self-denial.
"Are you an idiot?"
Even while gently stroking the girl in his arms, Ash gave that blunt evaluation without hesitation.
Hearing that, Ariel looked up at him from below, her eyes full of protest.
But he ignored her gaze completely and continued.
"Once you've found the meaning of your life, your pride, your convictions, and something you absolutely have to do, is there any need to be lost anymore?"
"But..."
"If there's something you absolutely can't compromise on, then there's no need to worry about anything else, right? Even if Sariel wants to protect the native species, would that change your desire to protect her? Or are you planning to give up just like this?", Ash looked into Ariel's eyes, as though trying to pass his convictions to her through his gaze.
Ariel bit her lip, "I won't give up."
"Then the answer is obvious. None of this matters. You knew what kind of person she was from the beginning, didn't you? And even knowing that, you still wanted to save her. As for how she feels, leave that aside for now. This is your life. You should decide for yourself what you're going to do."
Ash's voice became gentler as he lightly patted Ariel on the back, as though encouraging her.
"You make it sound so easy," Ariel sighed softly, a bitter smile appearing on her lips.
"But isn't that how it is?", Ash smiled at her.
"It is."
Ariel nodded slightly and gazed deeply at his face. In her crimson eyes, only Ash's reflection remained, as though he were all that was left in the world.
She quietly let him continue holding her, feeling his warmth through their clothes.
In the end, she quietly lowered her head. A faint blush spread across her fair neck. Without realizing it, she wrapped her arms around him in return, her fingers tightening slightly as though afraid that warmth might suddenly disappear.
'I really didn't stay strong for nothing. But... this doesn't seem so bad either.'
She silently accepted that she was still a coward, and almost instinctively began to cling to the warm embrace that had gradually become both familiar and impossible to part with.
———
The next day, Ash departed for the human royal capital with Sophia.
According to reliable intelligence, the elves and the kingdom would be holding an important meeting there, in the royal capital he had visited not long ago.
At the same time, Ariel wasn't idle either. She had already gathered her elite force the previous night, the Tenth Army of the Demon Army.
Although they were nowhere near as strong as Ariel herself, who could split mountains and sever rivers with a single punch, a monster whose mere battle aftershocks could devastate everything around her, among humans, every one of these soldiers had stats exceeding one thousand. Each could be called a hero, a level that only a handful of exceptionally talented adventurers could ever reach.
The soldiers were already fully prepared, waiting for Ash's teleportation so they could immediately seize control of the upper ranks of the royal capital before taking over the human kingdom.
As for Sophia, she simply had nothing to do and was curious about the outside world. After repeatedly promising Ash that she wouldn't cause trouble, she finally managed to tag along.
"If possible, just lock them up. If that doesn't work... well, killing them once or killing them twice doesn't make much difference. I refuse to believe the third or fourth one will also be troublesome. As for you..."
Having just arrived in an alley through teleportation, Ash found his gaze drifting toward Sophia, who had already poked her head out to observe the human streets.
"It's fine! I absolutely won't fool around! I won't interfere with you either, I swear!", Sophia turned around and immediately raised a hand to swear an oath, looking like a child desperate to prove herself.
"Fine."
Although he still wasn't entirely reassured, he reluctantly nodded and decided to trust the willful girl for now.
The two of them then walked side by side onto the street, heading toward the royal castle.
As they walked, Ash felt the back of his hand brushed by the girl's smooth skin from time to time.
Once, twice...
It happened far too often, and it didn't feel accidental at all.
He instinctively turned his head, only to see the girl beside him immediately look away like a child caught doing something naughty. She deliberately put on an indifferent expression, looking elsewhere while softly humming an unknown tune.
Ash was completely baffled.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm? Mr. Ash, do you want to hold my hand?", Sophia looked at him in surprise, a trace of delight shining in her eyes.
Ash was full of question marks, "?? Is that what I said?"
"I really can't do anything with you~ Th-then let's hold hands!"
Although the two of them weren't even talking about the same thing, Sophia still blushed and shyly reached out, quietly taking Ash's hand.
She looked exactly like a young girl in love holding hands with the person she liked for the first time, and not just holding hands, but interlocking their fingers like lovers.
Although Ash had held her hand when she was little and led her along many roads, this way of holding hands was a first.
Ash himself remained calm. If anything, he looked a little speechless.
"You seem unusually excited. And why are you holding my hand like this?"
"B-Because! Aren't we on a date?"
".We're just going to do something important."
Ash genuinely couldn't understand how this girl's train of thought had suddenly arrived at dating.
"A man and a woman walking together through the streets of a foreign country, if that's not a date, then what is it? Ah! Are we eloping?"
Her misunderstanding had already gone far enough, but after only a couple more sentences, she took it even further. She moved right up beside him, pressing her chest against his waist while looking up at him eagerly. Her expression was filled with expectation, completely unlike the cold and aloof attitude she usually showed to others.
However...
"Stop thinking about weird things."
Ash's face darkened. He placed a hand on Sophia's head and pushed this girl with the overactive imagination slightly farther away.
"We're not having an affair or anything like that. Why would we go through the trouble of eloping?"
"Because~ when we go back, there are two troublesome people waiting~"
"You're talking about people who are basically your foster mothers that way?", Ash laughed helplessly.
"They're not exactly gentle people."
The moment Sophia thought of Ariel and Kumoko, she wore a strange expression, as though recalling some frightening memory.
"Enough fooling around. We have serious business. Be good, okay?"
As he spoke, Ash gently rested his hand on Sophia's head, as though calming an overly energetic pet.
That alone made Sophia forget her worries. Happily tightening her grip on his hand, she hugged his arm like a spoiled girl and stayed pressed tightly against him.
Her excessive closeness made it somewhat difficult for Ash to walk.
But...
With Sophia's overly ample figure pressed tightly against him, it was hard for Ash to complain.
That soft, warm sensation felt incredibly comfortable no matter how hard he tried not to think about anything strange. On top of that, a faint fragrance drifted from her body.
The only problem was... every passerby around them seemed drawn toward them like nails to a magnet. Their gazes were filled with surprise, envy, curiosity, and more than a little jealousy.
———
Although the two of them weren't doing anything particularly strange and looked like an ordinary couple... perhaps they weren't quite that ordinary after all.
Ash himself was fairly handsome, but not to an outrageous degree.
Sophia, however, was another matter.
She looked to be around nineteen or twenty years old. Her skin was so fair it bordered on perfection, pure as fresh winter snow.
Her smooth silver hair looked as though it had been woven from moonlight. The ends curled gently as if they had been carefully styled, the slightly curled strands falling naturally over her shoulders and back.