"That monster... it's strong...!"
Genos couldn't afford to dwell on his complicated feelings right now. Having just suffered a bitter defeat due to his own carelessness, he didn't want Alice to follow in his footsteps.
"If you let your guard down, you'll pay for it..." he warned.
"Don't worry, Genos. Everyone is going to be fine," Alice said, scanning their surroundings. Her eyes slipped past the fleeing crowd and caught sight of several figures strewn across the grounds.
"They are..."
"Those are the heroes who were just protecting us..." Seeing that the immediate danger had seemingly passed, the survivors finally crept back toward the center of the shelter.
A few good Samaritans carried the fallen heroes over, laying them together as everyone began chattering at once about what had just happened.
"The highest-ranked among them is at the bottom of A-Class, and the lowest are only C-Class." Now that they were safe, the survivors finally had the breathing room to praise and thank the heroes for their sacrifice.
When they thought about how these heroes had been taken down almost one by one, with a single blow each, yet still threw themselves forward wave after wave just to buy time, a profound wave of admiration washed over the crowd.
At the same time, they felt a pang of sorrow seeing them in their current state—either completely unconscious or unable to move.
Among all the heroes, only Sneck of A-Class managed to remain conscious.
"An... S-Class hero..."
The heroes were laid out flat on the ground, with some citizens taking off their jackets to use as makeshift pillows. Under the circumstances, no one could afford to be picky.
"I've already notified the Hero Association's rescue team. An ambulance should be here in an hour or two." Nearby, Genos had managed to steady himself enough to stand.
Although his arms and upper torso were practically melted away, basic movement wasn't an issue.
He truly lived up to his reputation as the guy who always tries to flex even on a sliver of health.
"Thanks..."
Sneck's consciousness felt incredibly heavy. The crushing frustration of being useless made him reluctant to speak. Surrounded by so many survivors, even knowing their intentions were pure, the sheer humiliation made him want to crawl into a hole and disappear.
"You all did exactly what true heroes would do."
Alice spoke up, offering words of comfort.
"Heroes...?" Only then did Sneck realize there was another S-Class hero present.
"Thanks to you dragging out the monster's movements, Genos and Alice were able to make it in time. Thank you so much for not letting Alice become a hero in name only." The girl's gentle, sincere words slowly cleared Sneck's hazy mind.
He had never imagined that a day would come when he would be thanked by an S-Class hero.
Woah...
A low whisper rippled through the crowd. It wasn't that they had never seen an approachable S-Class hero before, but someone like Alice was a first.
Many fans who only knew Alice through the internet were ecstatic to see her in person, especially while she was actively doing hero work.
Witnessing her shine even brighter than she did on screen naturally made them adore her all the more.
A few people who were recording the scene felt a surge of excitement. An A-Class and an S-Class hero sharing mutual respect—this video was absolutely going to rake in the views, wasn't it?
Sneck didn't share those shallow thoughts; he was simply deeply moved.
"No... it was your arrival that kept our efforts from being in vain..."
Thud!
Just as the atmosphere was turning warm and reassuring, the heavy sound of a massive object slamming onto the ground echoed from the other side of the shelter.
The Deep Sea King, who had just been blasted away by Alice's strike, had returned to the shelter. His face had completely reverted to its fish-like form, and his entire physique had practically doubled in size. Like a suffocating man finally breathing in fresh oxygen, his aura had completely transformed.
"It—It's still alive!"
Seeing the monster that had defeated countless heroes reappear right before their eyes, the survivors, who had thought the disaster was over, instantly froze in terror.
"You've got some kick in you. You're not human, are you?"
The Deep Sea King's dead-fish eyes locked onto Alice, who stood in front of everyone. His face was a mask of sheer amusement and mockery.
"Too bad for you. Now that there's water, the damage you did to me has already healed."
Genos kept his guard up while warning her, "He's a Seafolk. The rain makes him stronger."
At the same time, a sense of shame washed over him. He was completely stripped of his combat capability right now; otherwise, he could have used his incinerating flames to help Alice dry the monster out.
"Alice will defeat you—Light of—!"
Paying no mind to the monster's questions, Alice pointed the muzzle of the Sword of Light directly at him. A brilliant blue light coalesced in an instant, accompanied by the volatile crackle of snapping electrical arcs as it fired.
Neither Alice nor Genos expected this shot to actually land.
The power of the Sword of Light was unquestionable; if it hit, it could easily be called Alice's ultimate attack.
But hitting the target was the hard part. No enemy would just stand there and take a blast to the face without dodging. While they couldn't outrun the beam of light once it was fired, getting away from the muzzle before the trigger was pulled wasn't difficult.
Every time the Sword of Light had landed a hit before, it was either by catching the enemy off guard with a sneak attack of justice, a self-detonation when the enemy least expected it, or hitting them dead-on when they couldn't move.
No matter how it hit, the enemy was always forced to take it because they had no other choice.
Yet, this time was different.
Even as the Sword of Light unleashed its blinding blue beam, the Deep Sea King didn't shift his feet even an inch. Genos and Alice watched in utter shock as he wore an arrogant smirk and thrust out a single hand to block it.
In the next second, that entire hand, along with more than half of his body, was brutally shaved away by the unstoppable force and searing heat.
"Huh?"
The Deep Sea King looked down in confusion at his missing right arm, and at the empty, instantly charred cavity that made up half of his body, where not a single drop of blood could even flow out.
What happened? How did it end in a split second? Am I really this weak?
His brief moment of clarity wasn't enough to sustain his thoughts, and his mangled body left him unable to take any action.
As his consciousness plunged entirely into darkness, his body simply tipped backward, stiff as a board.
He... he's just dead?
Everyone stared at the scene in absolute disbelief.
A monster that so many heroes couldn't handle, who had beaten them down one after another and made them feel he was utterly invincible, was just dead? In a single strike?
The survivors felt like they were dreaming. Were S-Class heroes really this powerful? But Genos was an S-Class too, wasn't he?
"It's all thanks to everyone."
Standing at the very front, her back to the crowd, the girl suddenly turned around and flashed a bright smile.
She held the Sword of Light upright by her side, closed her eyes, and pressed her hands together in front of her chest like a devout cleric.
It wasn't a posture a typical hero would assume.
"It's all thanks to everyone wearing down the enemy's stamina. In the end, the enemy couldn't even dodge the judgment of the light."
"O brave heroes, may the light be with you."
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL