The clash between Akumo and Akuo, the Black Dragon and the Divine Sword, shook the very foundations of Orario.
Kwagagak—!!!
Countless strikes from the Divine Sword danced in a lethal surge, met by the Black Dragon's gale that blanketed the sky of Orario in black flames.
Fwaruru—!!!
It was a sight that seemed to herald an apocalypse far greater than the Six-fold Ritual Dionysus had prepared.
Grin—!
Yet, the two beings wielding such colossal power maintained a perfect equilibrium between the blinding light and the absolute darkness. Under the name of the Pioneer, they continued their mythological struggle.
And the conclusion of that battle was—
"I won."
Akumo's victory.
Akumo's declaration of victory signaled the end of the combat. He folded his radiant wings of darkness.
Everyone watching him felt a collective shiver of awe.
"Ah...♡ How magnificent...♡"
Witnessing a hero—no, a Pioneer—straight out of a dream, Freya gazed at Akumo with eyes filled with deep heat and affection.
Ironically, the desire for a partner that Akumo had once suppressed was now burning more fiercely than ever because of him.
Grit—!
However, her smile soon faltered, replaced by the sound of grinding teeth as jealousy surged through her.
"Akumo~!! I knew ye'd win, aye~!"
Grab—!
"Of course, Loki!"
It was undoubtedly because of a certain Trickster who was currently clinging to the man who had captivated her, smiling more brightly than anyone else.
'This brat is truly the best, I'm tellin' ye...!'
Loki was so infatuated with the man named Akumo that she didn't even notice the glares.
"It's been a long time since I've seen such a grand sight!"
Just as when she first began her antics as a Trickster, a childlike excitement—bordering on madness—welled up within her.
Just as when she first descended to the lower world, a deep-seated anticipation and the satisfaction of having it fulfilled made her body tremble.
'I can't even think of anythin' else when I'm in front of him...'
But that Trickster's madness did not lead her down a path of slaughter as it once might have.
"So I'm never~ gonna let ye go!♡"
Squeeze—!
Her crimson eyes merely shone with an absolute love for a single man.
Similar to the goddesses, there were many others who were struck by the weight of his pioneering path.
"That form is certainly..."
'The shape of that monster... No, it was a different kind of dread compared to that beast...'
Ouranos, the administrator of Orario and the God who governed the Dungeon.
Being who he was, he could not help but be startled by the image of the Black Dragon that Akumo had manifested.
"To think the worst monster born of the Dungeon would lead the hero of Orario to victory... Is this also a mystery of the lower world?"
The battle between the colossal Black Dragon and the shining Divine Sword. Though their appearances were polar opposites, both possessed souls of incomparable brilliance.
'It is the same soul I saw back then...'
Just like the soul he witnessed the day the second moon in the sky was stopped and Artemis was saved.
The memories of a radiant pioneer were etched into them.
"The Black Dragon."
The memory of an Emperor who unified the world by wielding the darkest of powers.
"Excalibur."
The beginning of a legend who took up the Divine Sword to cut through an era of chaos and unify the world.
It wasn't just the Gods who witnessed this.
"I truly... seem to have become entangled with an absurd man."
Even for Fels, who had walked the path of magic for ages and reached the state of a Sage, the black mana emitted by Akumo was profoundly mysterious.
Slide—
"I... should try a little harder as well."
Fels caressed a part of her own body—a physical result of the miracle Akumo had bestowed upon her.
The enthusiasm of a Sage blooming in her heart made her chest throb with excitement.
Smile—!
"As expected, you saved everyone again, didn't you?"
The Goddess of the Moon sat in the forest the hero had saved.
She smiled faintly at the warm, familiar energy felt from afar and looked toward Orario.
She recalled the image of the massive black wings and the Divine Sword that had just clashed.
"So this was the story... the story held within your justice..."
The Goddess of Justice ruminated on the mythological battle she had witnessed.
The strikes of the Divine Sword that split the heavens, and the black flames that made the sky itself waver.
That transcendent sight allowed Astraea to read a single memory.
"Because everything is in disarray, it is truly a pioneering path."
Having seen someone's deep memories, Astraea smiled for the hero, the king, and every pioneer who pursued their own justice.
_.....
A mythological scene where hundreds of blades targeted Akumo and black flames lit up the sky.
Thump—!
At that sight, the Black Dragon imprisoned in the Valley of Dragons reacted.
Saaaa—
-....!
The strongest and worst existence born of the Dungeon.
Even the One-Eyed Black Dragon trembled with an emotion it was feeling for the first time in its life, its remaining eye gleaming.
""Farewell.""
The feeling of being overwhelmed by someone—for the first time since its birth.
The sight of someone overwhelming even the monster that had annihilated the Zeus and Hera Familias, once the strongest in history, reached them as well.
"Hoho... I don't know whether to be happy about this or not..."
Zeus looked on with concern, seeing the monster that had wiped out his children overlapping with the image Akumo displayed.
"Rather than him being similar to that monster, it's more like that monster is similar to him."
Hera felt that he was fundamentally different from that beast.
"So do not worry, and rest in peace now."
As if speaking to her children who had fallen on the path to becoming heroes, Hera soothed the souls of her departed kin.
"...Good grief, it's been years since I felt this way."
The man standing beside the Gods spoke.
It was Zard, one of the strongest, once known by the epithet Gluttony.
'The pioneering path you showed us that day.'
Because he had seen that path many times, and because he had seen its beauty, Zard could feel it.
"Thank you."
His heart as an adventurer—which had once been broken, leading him to abandon his sword and declare he was no hero—was coming back to life.
The heart that had been shattered by the black monster had overcome that fear through another black existence, which breathed the dream of adventure back into him.
Step—!
"Ah~ that feels good..."
Akumo looked up at the black staff in his hand with a more refreshed expression than ever before.
"Thank you."
Akumo smiled at the grateful power that had brought him victory.
"And..."
Naturally, he raised his left hand and sent a bright smile to the single sword held there as well.
"Thank you very much, too."
Akumo expressed his gratitude to all the powers that had lent him the strength to reenact the brilliant battle of the Pioneer.
With the power of the Black Dragon in one hand and the Divine Sword in the other, he began to head somewhere.
"Loki~"
His steps were directed toward the Goddess who believed in him and cherished him, and the Goddess replied with joy.
"Akumo~!!!!"
"Wait, wha—!?"
Grab—!
Loki rushed at Akumo with intense force, her eyes sparkling as she clung to his face.
Akumo was flustered by her actions and tried to pull her off.
"Uh... Loki...?"
"Hehehe! Akumo~"
"You're not listening..."
At the Goddess's affectionate voice and wide, sparkling eyes, Akumo eventually gave up on trying to detach her.
"Well, I guess this can't be helped...."
Slide—
Holding Loki, Akumo quietly looked toward a certain spot.
Since there was only one person left there besides the Pioneer and his Goddess, his target was obvious.
Step, step—
"How do you feel?"
"....."
Dionysus was kneeling blankly.
He couldn't answer. His wide-open eyes and stupidly agape mouth told the story of his state of mind.
Despite his appearance—or rather, because of it—Akumo continued to smile as he spoke to Dionysus.
"Was it entertaining? Lord Dionysus."
Grin—
"The performance staged by the 'clowns' known as Akumo and Akuo."
Akumo's words dug deep into Dionysus's nerves.
"It was the best performance, aye! Wasn't it, Dionysus!?"
Loki's joyful reaction to Akumo's words and the smile on her face further twisted Dionysus's mind.
"The best performance...?"
Dionysus spoke as he looked at Akumo and Loki with bloodshot eyes.
"I prepared so thoroughly for this..."
Gnash—!
"For today!! For the frenzy of this moment!!!!"
Dionysus screamed, pouring out his rage and resentment over his dreams and desires vanishing into nothingness. He looked like a literal demon.
"You... you ruined everything...! You pieces of shit...!!!"
He had kept Hestia and Ouranos in check from Heaven, and even deceived himself by drinking divine wine in the lower world to prepare for this frenzy.
The one who ruined that frenzy wasn't Hestia or Ouranos, whom he found bothersome.
Grin—!
It was just a single Pioneer smiling brightly in front of him.
"If this isn't frenzy, then what is?"
A single sentence escaped Akumo's lips.
That one sentence made even Dionysus's anger evaporate.
"What....?"
Doubt. It was pure doubt.
'What on earth is this guy talking about...?'
Wasn't the reason Akumo tried to stop him to prevent the frenzy? Wasn't it because he was a hero, a disgusting light?
Countless questions muddled Dionysus's head and shook his sanity.
"Tonight is truly beautiful, isn't it?"
Seeing Dionysus like that, Akumo smiled and spoke clearly.
"Everyone here is mad, after all."
Smile—!
"Adventurers, Gods, the strong, the weak... Heh..."
Akumo's words were cut off by his own laughter.
"Heh... hehe...!"
"Ahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!"
Akumo laughed like a madman, as if he were truly happy, as if expressing how ecstatic tonight was.
That sight even overwhelmed Dionysus.
"Everyone is mad for what they want, and a night like tonight where that madness is all mixed together!!!!!"
Clench—!!!
"Isn't it just too beautiful!!!!!"
Countless adventurers wanting to become heroes.
The white-haired boy, the golden-haired girl, the retainers of the clown, the retainers of the Goddess—everyone fought to shine.
Even the monsters of the Dungeon and the fallen fought for what they desired.
"Frenzy? Sure, fine..."
Step, step—
Akumo stopped laughing and put on an incredibly serious face as he approached Dionysus.
"However."
Slide—
"The frenzy doesn't belong to you."
Frenzy is not knowing what miracle or what chaos will occur.
"The frenzy you wanted, you see...."
Akumo didn't finish his sentence. No, he chose not to.
"Because it was a frenzy only for yourself."
The one who answered him was the Elf who had been saved by an evil god, and simultaneously saved by a Pioneer.