"Well, you see..."
Hermes let his voice trail off, looking hesitant.
"Lord Hermes, I am not a god."
Step—
"Therefore, I cannot see the form of my own soul."
However, Akumo had no intention of backing down.
Just why?
Unlike Bell, who harmonized perfectly with his Falna the more he exceeded his limits, Akumo felt himself drifting further away from his Falna every time he surpassed a boundary.
Crrrack!
"Listen carefully, Akumo."
The calling of the soul through Falna was a cheat that even the gods found astonishing.
But that alone couldn't explain this phenomenon.
"Bell, could you step outside for a moment?"
"No, Lord Hermes. Let Bell hear this too."
'Hiding things anymore is just a chore.'
"...I see."
Akumo needed to know his own condition.
"Lady Freya?"
"...This is quite nasty, Hermes."
"You can see it most clearly, can't you?"
He was a hero, and he was a technician who used power as a mere tool.
Shuuuuu—!
To Freya's eyes, his soul was no longer divided into an inner and outer layer.
It was simply a single, massive light, shining with absolute brilliance.
"That's exactly the problem."
"You have achieved a feat in a different sense than Bell Cranel."
Just before Freya could say more, Artemis and Hephaestus spoke up, sharing the burden of the explanation.
"...!! No way..."
"Bell, for now, just... No, never mind."
'I can't hide it from a hero any longer.'
Realizing something, Bell's eyes shook as he reached out as if to deny Akumo's [Destiny].
"Are you saying... I must distance myself from the gods?"
For one who treats power as a tool to be bound under someone else's power...
Crack!
It was an impossible contradiction.
"Normally, your soul should have rejected the Falna long ago."
However, the Falna had been engraved before Akumo had fully awakened.
"In that state, you experienced growth mixed with the power of the Falna, and then you awakened as a hero on your own."
Crrrack!
"Until now, it was fine because your soul born as a technician and your soul that lived as an adventurer operated like two separate hearts."
Now, of course, that was no longer the case.
The moment they achieved complete unity into a single soul.
Akumo—or rather, the massive soul within him—began to view being bound by a god's power as an impurity.
"So they're clashing, and my body is starting to break."
"...Exactly."
His very essence, which viewed any power as a mere tool.
To think that would be what held him back...
"...The correct course of action is to remove the Falna, Akumo."
"I refuse."
"Akumo...!!"
"This is where 'my' story is recorded."
The link that connected him to his goddess, and the link where his memories were inscribed.
"Even if I throw it away, it won't be much different from how I am now, will it?"
"You must discard it if you want to move further forward!"
Currently, all he could do was use borrowed divine authority to create and wield divine artifacts.
He was merely enduring and holding on with a body that had surpassed its limits.
"I don't want to~"
Despite everything, Akumo did not want to sever this link so easily.
"""Akumo!"""
"....."
Step!
As Akumo tried to leave the room to cool his head in the wind, the goddesses caught him.
"We're doing this because we're worried about you. Because we're afraid you'll break...!!"
"Please... we don't want to see you like that."
"Please reconsider... Akumo."
However, Akumo silently pulled his hands away and walked out.
Creak—
"I'll be back after I've had some time to think."
Thud!
The door closed, leaving the gods and Bell in the room enveloped in silence.
"...Everyone."
"For now, Akumo and you are the only hope, Bell."
"Even so..."
"If you are a hero of the modern era, Akumo is a hero of ancient times... no, a hero of myth."
A being who becomes his own standard, who defines the world himself.
"A being who is not bound by what is called the royal road."
A [Heretical Hero] who overturns divine foresight. Hermes had wanted that from Bell, but...
Akumo was different.
"Are you saying my brother is already [Heretical] just by existing...!!!?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"My brother is just my brother!!!"
The incredibly powerful light sleeping within Akumo.
For that light to shine brilliantly on its own, this was the only way.
To remove the Falna and sever the link with the gods.
"There's no way... he would want that!!!!"
"""".....""""
At Bell's cry, the gods fell silent.
"Why do you keep... pushing us away regardless of our opinions!!?"
""""!!""""
"Lady Hestia too... and all of you...!!"
The memories sleeping within him were so beautiful.
I want to become that being, and just having that being smile at me makes me happy.
"That's why... that isn't me."
He hadn't lived his life simply desiring power.
I, the being known as Akumo, am...
Grip!
"Answer me. No, don't answer me."
Crunch!
Placing a hand over his heart, Akumo gripped so hard his fingers dug into his flesh.
"I want to save everyone, but I don't want to discard the story I've walked."
'The Falna is like an autobiography... how can I just throw it away...'
"What on earth am I supposed to do!!! Should I just close my eyes and pray again!!!!?"
'Just like back then...'
The battle of that day had been so beautiful.
That was why, purely as myself, I wanted to reach that level.
Because I possessed a massive soul, I didn't want to be satisfied with less.
Rumble!
As if echoing his agony, thunder rolled in the sky.
Slowly—
Soon, Akumo closed his eyes and began to recall his own story.
—'Come at me!!!!!!'
The body.
The days of a boy who traveled the world, fascinated by pure strength.
—'Here I go.'
The hero.
The years of a young man who achieved countless successes under that magnificent yet burdensome name.
—'Black Dragon'
—'Excalibur'
Pioneer.
The present—now the past—where he reenacted myths by borrowing their power.
"So... is that why you put this kind of thing inside me?"
Crackle!
Before he knew it, a single spear was held in Akumo's hand.
—'Akumo, listen well...'
"Zeus, is this what you wanted in the end!?"
Clang!!
—'Just think of it as a gift.'
"Since it seemed like Bell wouldn't make it, you dumped it on me..."
The talent he saw in Bell when they were young was certainly nonexistent.
Ordinary talent; thus, Zeus had also judged him as having no talent.
'But... look, Bell surpassed even the gods' expectations.'
Within the miracle of Falna, he manifested his own miracle.
".....What about me."
He wanted to be a hero and a warrior, but it seemed the world wouldn't allow it.
No matter how hard I try, must I ultimately choose only one?
—'Just use it all, what does it matter?'
If I did that, hope might vanish.
His own story might come to a hollow end.
"Zeus!!!! Is this what you wanted!!!?"
Clatter!!
Filled with rage, Akumo threw the spear of lightning onto the ground.
"....."
Freya could only watch him in that state.
"Akumo...."
Tighten!
She called his name softly, but Freya's body wouldn't move.
She couldn't move.
Tremble—
"....."
The sight of Akumo raging while holding a god's spear was simply too terrifying.
If she approached him now and that spear was aimed at her... she wouldn't be able to bear it.
—'Please be a bit more selfish, Akumo.'
"I know... I know, but..."
There was an easy way. He could just be like them, following their path.
"I don't want to... I hate it..."
Why do I keep doing this? Why do I keep acting noble in the face of absurdity?
I could just say the opponent is too overwhelming.
Smile!
Those who smiled at me are kind; they aren't beings who would abandon me.
Grit!
"That's why I hate it...!!!"
Boom!!
"To those people, like those people...!! I..."
I don't know anymore. I don't know what I should do.
Crackle!
"...I'm tired."
Should I just accept the old man's lightning and make reenactment my life's work again? Should I become a clown who makes a living following a story I've already seen?
Step—
"Please don't do that...."
"....Lady Freya?"
A god-slaying spear aimed at him.
In the face of his love, who was trying to create limits to surpass his own limits.
Drip—
"Please, don't do that!"
Such things were no longer important to Freya.
Thump—
"Since when were you listening?"
"....From the beginning."
"Ahaha... how mischievous of you...."
Akumo laughed awkwardly at the fact that he had shown such an embarrassing side, but Freya's face was full of sorrow.
Tremble—
"Lady Freya, let's go now."
'I'm the mischievous one for making her so afraid—'
Hug!
"....Lady Freya?"
Even if a spear that could kill her was right there, even if it brought back past traumas.
"No, let's stay together. Let's stay together."
Thanks to that, he could live in the present. Thanks to that, the other children could shine on their own.
Slowly—
"Even if nothing gets resolved, it's fine, so..."
Akumo was held in the embrace of the Goddess of Beauty.
What choice did he ultimately make?
Or rather, did he even make a choice at all?
—'What the spear must target is not the girl, but destiny!'
There was no need to worry so much.
For he had already been deciding the answer for himself, from the past to the present, and into the future.
"According to plan, early tomorrow morning, the ship that evacuated the citizens outside the barrier will return."
"So we'll take that ship and go straight to the altar via the sea?"
Akumo anticipated Aphrodite's next words immediately.
"Exactly. The land is still crawling with swarms of Flame Men. The polluted flames are elusive, but the sea route will be much better."
Just as Hermes said, what they were currently aiming for was an all-out war.
"If we storm the place where Lady Hestia is shut in with our current total strength... I have no idea what kind of battle awaits us."
"Don't forget the existence of the Order. That Epimetheus fellow will come at us too."
"Including the Flame Men attacking indiscriminately, it's a three-way... no, a four-way battle..."
They fell into deep thought while briefing the complicated situation.
However, one person shouted cheerfully with a smile.
"Why all the worry! My Bell has fully awakened! He will surely save the world, not to mention Hestia! ☆☆☆"
Apollo was a master at breaking the mood as usual, and Lili's retort followed immediately.
"Lord Bell doesn't belong to anyone!! Not to Lord Apollo, nor to Lady Hestia! Why are the gods so selfish!!"
"Stop it, Lili-doll. We can't move the conversation forward...."
Despite the retort, Apollo just gave his trademark smile and looked at Bell.
"Ah~~ Beeell~~~~!! You looked so radiant and magnificent when you took down that dragon with Akumo!!"
"I-I'm sorry... please forgive me...!!"
"Lord Apollo, could you please stop?"
"We're grateful for your help, certainly! Really!"
"Indeed, we are grateful for that. Lord Apollo."
As Akumo and Bell chided him while expressing their thanks, Apollo became even more excited.
"Aah...!! To use the carrot-and-stick method, you really are something! My reason is on the verge of snapping from being toyed with like this~~~!!"
Just as Apollo was about to lung at Bell and do something perverted.
Crackle!
"Gyah!?"
"Since you helped us, I'm ending it with just this, okay?"
Apollo was sent flying by Akumo's fist, which appeared like [Lightning].
"!!"
'That feeling just now... it's like what I felt from Grandpa long ago...'
"Lord Apollo!!!!"
"Bell Cranel, you brat!!!!!!"
"At me!!?"
Luthos and Hyakinthos rushed over to the fallen Apollo in worry.
At the same time, they vented their anger at Bell, and a noisy scene broke out with the others.
"....!! Akumo!"
"It's fine, it's fine. I've finished my worrying."
However, Hermes called out to him in surprise at the sight of him using the lightning that had been sleeping within him.
Smile!
"I'm sorry for worrying in a situation like this, Lord Hermes."
Akumo smiled at Hermes.
Had he resolved his dilemma? Well, that went without saying.
The question was how he had resolved it.
"Please believe in me."
"....."
"It might be baffling, but this is who I am."
Someone who agonizes alone, who sometimes tries to do everything by himself and succeeds a few times but is also normally afraid of failure.
And then realizes things on his own and does what needs to be done—someone who seems to be messing around but is constantly climbing up.
A strange and annoying clown who is stubborn yet possesses something that looks like conviction.
"Lady Freya..."
"Let's just believe, Hermes."
"Just like when he saved me?"
"Hehe, exactly, Artemis."
Hermes looked questioningly at Freya, who had gone out to talk with him, while Artemis understood her heart and smiled along with her.
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