Unlike the previous two matches which ended quickly, our third opponent was Peridot of the Earth, a North God Style King-rank magic swordsman. This guy was strong and extremely versatile; besides his incredibly annoying swordsmanship, Peridot could also use wind and fire magic with extreme flexibility.
When facing mages like Roxy, the North King used his swordsmanship to harass them. Meanwhile, against warriors like Elinalise and me, he used wind magic to continuously launch tricky attacks.
However, thanks to our trump card for this match, Talhand, a mage capable of close combat, we managed to stall him for a moment. Eventually, it took me, Elinalise, and Roxy attacking together to defeat him.
"Urgh… You are indeed very strong. I have truly lost." Peridot said those words before passing out cold.
Thus ended the third match. Everyone was tired and battered. Luckily, Roxy and I know healing magic, so the team quickly returned to peak condition.
"Hahaha! Though considered the strongest of the Ultimate Four, Peridot couldn't stand against the heroes! How could he win a one-vs-four!"
Of course, after every match, the segment where the stupidest ones speak up is indispensable.
"Using both battle magic and swordsmanship is strong!"
"But how could he win against four people alone!"
"He is truly the stupidest of us all! Hahaha!"
After speaking, the final one finally deigned to step onto the arena. It was the biggest guy in the Ultimate Four, and accompanying him were five large, growling wolves.
"Hear me, champions!" That guy drew his sword and pointed it straight at us. "I am Arcantos, a North God Style King-rank Swordsman and the final Ultimate Four member who will face you. Tremble before the might of Arcantos of the Fire and his familiars!"
Honestly, this was the most majestic and charismatic entrance among those four idiots. I almost clapped, but what caught my attention were the wolves accompanying Arcantos.
Actually, I have a confession to make: in my past life, I quite liked cats and dogs. But throughout my childhood, I wasn't allowed to touch them because my dad didn't like furry things. When I grew up, work kept me busy, and then I was drowning in debt, so I had no intention of raising any pets.
And now, standing before me were not just one, but five huge, fluffy wolves.
"So cute…"
The craving for soft things from my past life, combined with the Boreas family's love for animals, made me freeze. I just let all five beasts rush at me without moving a muscle.
"Careful Atur!" Someone shouted my name, but it didn't matter anymore.
"Ahahaha! Come to papa, my babies!" I spread my arms wide to welcome them.
…
I think I passed out right after. I don't know what happened immediately following that, but it seems I'm still alive and kicking. And somehow, Arcantos was defeated and lay in a heap with his five wolves being dragged out.
"What happened?" I groaned, holding my throbbing head.
"You were 'attacked' by the dogs' tongues and got poisoned, they licked you for the whole time," Roxy explained. Only now did I realize she was placing her hand on my neck. "Don't move, let me detoxify you."
"Ah, right, thanks."
So I lay back down for Roxy to use healing magic, even though I could use it without incantations. Well, shouldn't stop people from doing good deeds. Besides, she has more mana than I do anyway.
For around a minute later, Roxy successfully healed me. I could sit up and move my limbs normally. Although I had once been in a poisoned state for months on end, I still can't get used to this feeling.
Looking at Roxy, although she seemed fully recovered thanks to magic, her outfit looked tattered. Seeing that, I could guess how difficult the battle with Arcantos must have been while I suddenly passed out.
"Sorry for being careless," I said sincerely. "If I had followed the plan then…"
"Ah, it's fine," Roxy immediately reassured me. "Thanks to you, we didn't have to deal with the familiars, so actually, it was just like the plan."
"Is that so?"
According to the original plan, I was the one supposed to clean up the final Ultimate Four member's familiars. The reason is that these familiars have the ability to sense power and attack when the opponent is most careless. Once they attack, they are extremely vicious and strong, enough to tear apart any Saint-rank warrior.
And since I'm the only one in the party capable of regeneration due to being a Blood Tribe, I was assigned the task of dealing with them. In the end, for some unknown reason, those familiars just licked and nuzzled me throughout the battle without biting at all. But since the result was as expected, I didn't need to question it.
"But how did you guys defeat Arcantos? Wasn't he really strong?" I asked curiously.
"Actually, we couldn't beat him." Roxy sighed and looked behind me. "But when we were on the verge of losing, we got reinforcement."
"Reinforcement?" I followed her gaze and couldn't believe who I saw. "Isolde?"
"Hi Atur." Isolde raised her hand. "You seemed to have a good sleep, didn't you?"
"Haha." I forced a smile. Sarcastic right off the bat; definitely the real Isolde I knew. "But aren't you a hostage?"
Something about being captured as a princess and imprisoned forever until we defeat the Demon King or whatever.
"It's a long story." My friend gave a slightly forced smile as well. "But to summarize, do you know the legend of Demon King Keserapasera and the Hero Steel-Cutting Atmos?"
"Huh?" My face went blank.
"In that story, the princess finds the Eternal Flame and uses it to burn the Demon King's fur, which was harder than iron. Thanks to that, the hero in the story won and ultimately married the princess."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"That's exactly what I thought when that guy over there told me the exact same thing." Isolde glanced at the MC who had welcomed us earlier. Oh he waved at us, what a cool guy. "But to make it short. He said I could fight alongside you guys during the battle with the Demon King. But seeing everyone struggling, I decided to join the previous fight too."
"So…" I rubbed my forehead. "Did we do anything wrong?"
"No." Moore appeared from nowhere and shook his head. "In many stories, princesses occasionally help heroes turn the tide when things seem hopeless. So it's fine."
Hearing that, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, I see."
I was afraid I had messed up the procedure and would be forced to fight from the beginning or something. Turns out, as long as it creates drama, everyone seems willing to ignore it, or even support it.
"Sometimes I feel like you guys are rooting for us." I admit.
"We can't deny that," Moore agreed. "It's been a few hundred years since someone came to challenge Lady Atofe to win back a princess like this. So everyone is excited."
"I see."
Sounds like some kind of festival, doesn't it? Well, I don't think I should try to understand the mindset of the people here.
But speaking of the current situation, I had to bow my head to Isolde.
"Ah Isolde. Sorry for pushing you into this awkward situation. I intended to help but ended up letting you get imprisoned like this."
"Come on, it's fine." As expected, Isolde didn't look angry at all. She even smiled. "A month here helped me learn quite a lot, so this turned out well."
"Learn?" I frowned.
"Actually, they say I'm imprisoned, but my room wasn't locked, so I could go anywhere in the fortress. Whenever I was hungry, someone brought food. If I was thirsty, someone brewed tea. So every day I went to the training hall here to practice swordsmanship with everyone."
Why does that sound more like a vacation than a kidnapping?
While we were chatting, it seemed Roxy had successfully healed Talhand and Elinalise. Although they looked more battered than I thought, they could probably continue to the next battle as planned.
Ah speaking of plans, I think I should discuss it with Isolde a bit.
"Ah, Isolde. I heard you could duel Atofe, right?"
"I 'held my ground' for nearly an hour," Isolde admitted. "If you intend to ask me to fight her alone again, I'm afraid that I can't win. Or rather, even with all our strength combined, we wouldn't win."
"Is that why you can be so calm?"
"If you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed, right?"
"That is true."
Looking at her, she really didn't seem worried. Maybe she really wants to stay here. Perhaps I should leave her and go home to avoid trouble?
"Don't misunderstand." Isolde, as always, could read my thoughts and spoke up. "Although I really enjoy learning swordsmanship here, I don't want to be imprisoned forever. So I will still fight with all I have until the end."
"Ah, yeah, me too. After all, this situation is my fault," I sighed.
"That's right."
She didn't even bother to deny it.
Well, Isolde's current situation is 100% because of me. If she hadn't come here looking for me, she wouldn't have met Atofe and been forced to fight to become a guard. And even when I appeared trying to rescue her, she accidentally got captured as a princess like this. Truly ironic.
"And don't worry, I came looking for you voluntarily. Don't take it all as your fault."
"Thank you but can you stop reading my mind?" I sighed.
"No I won't. He he."
I think I've said this many times, but Isolde has a really pretty smile. Come to think of it, it's been six years since we last met, right? She must be seventeen or eighteen now. Although she's wearing full-body armor, based on the last time I healed her, my friend must have a very sexy body—
"Okay. That's enough."
"Sorry."
And thus my train of indecent thoughts had to come to an abrupt halt.
Back to the main topic.
"Well, just as you said." I cleared my throat to keep my mind clean. "I don't think we gotta have a chance to fight against the Demon King."
"Aw, just cut to the chase. You already found a way to win right?"
I froze. "Huh?"
"Because you have a plan, right?" Isolde tilted her head, her blue hair gently cascading over her shoulder, making that small smile even more radiant. "You always have a plan. There's no way you would come here without a trick to defeat the Demon King. Although you're a bit different from before, I believe you have some shocking plans, don't you?"
"You have a lot of faith in me."
"Do you think I'm this calm because I think I'll really lose? You're underestimating me, Atur."
True, Isolde isn't the type to easily say 'we lost, no need to worry.' I should have realized that sooner. Sigh, tricked by her again
"Alright." I grinned and scratched my head. "So, are you ready to follow my plan no matter how crazy it is?"
Isolde nodded immediately, her blue eyes flashing with a look full of confidence. "As long as it's not perverted or dirty."
That's all I needed.
"Then listen carefully." I raised my index finger. "I will only say this once."
And as I began to recount my entire intention, Isolde's expression shifted continuously from worry to horror, then to confusion. After I finished speaking, she just stared at me silently for a long time and asked:
"You… can actually do that?"
"Yeah. Besides that, I'm also very good in bed. Lord Lan Xin said so."
"I don't need to know that, you pervert." Isolde shook her head. She didn't seem affected by my terrible joke. Instead, she seemed to think for a long while before nodding. "Alright, I will follow your plan. However, can you actually win? Because this is the first time I've heard of this fighting method."
I looked at Isolde, who was showing concern. Perhaps this was the first time she clearly showed worry for me. My, my, even my ice-cold friend has moments like this? Quite cute if you ask me.
But winning or not huh?
Although I'm not sure if my plan, even if successful, really has a high win rate as Isolde judged earlier. But about a month ago, when I told my intention to Lord Lan Xin, he even laughed heartily, called me a madman, and was willing to prepare the 'ingredients'. He said I would become a legend after this stunt (if I succeed), so I'm quite confident.
That's only if the plan succeeds. If it fails, we're all toast. But now that we have Isolde, who could hold out against Atofe for a whole hour, our chances of survival are probably much higher.
So I could nod with my most confident smile.
"Nah. I would win."
Suddenly, just as I finished speaking, a ghostly laugh rang out as if coming from the depths of hell.
"E he he, mu wa ha ha ha ha…"
Turning back, I saw the entire arena obscured by smoke. From within, a magic circle glowed. But instead of the usual soft blue, it emitted a ghostly purple. According to what Moore explained beforehand, it was just a magic circle that emitted purple light, so none of us had to worry.
Instead, everyone including Roxy, Elinalise, Talhand, and Isolde got into a battle stance. Except I, who slowly walked away from the platform.
From within that smoke screen, the sound continued to ring out. "Mu wa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You have overcome my guards, defeated the mightiest Ultimate Four of this Necross Fortress!"
Sometimes I wish there was a skip button to bypass these long monologues. But having more time for me to prepare 'that thing' is convenient. So I ignored it, sheathing my sword and rummaging through my luggage, while Atofe continued to speak.
"You are truly praiseworthy! All of you deserve the title of champion! And all of you should be rewarded!"
A gust of wind suddenly blew across the stands, sweeping all the smoke away. Although I didn't want to, I felt goosebumps rise.
From a pit where the smoke was blown out, a mighty silhouette began to rise. And naturally, who else could it be but our Immortal Demon King Atofe.
"Your reward…"
A stronger gust of wind blew past again, letting the Demon King's hair fly, while she spread her arms under the setting sun. The bonfires around the arena suddenly flared up, illuminating the place where the final battle would take place.
The woman with blue skin and white hair smiled. Her massive sword was drawn and stabbed into the arena floor, striking an extremely majestic pose.
"Your reward is the right to fight me!"
And the battle against the Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe Rybak began.