TFHITS Chapter 238

We were standing at the highest place in the capital, the very top floor of the Imperial Palace.

In the sky, the hand of the Primordial Demon King was still descending.

And against it, my own hand was trying to seize that thing.

Neril, breaking into a cold sweat, spoke through our souls.

[This is surprisingly not easy.]

[Coming from the greatest genius of all time, that sounds awfully modest.]

[Hey. I’m mixing ‘illusion’ and ‘reality’ right now and showing it to the entire continent.]

[So which is harder, this or combining mana and divine power?]

[……When you put it that way, I have got nothing to say.]

Append View was originally a spell that shared a real scene with everyone.

Dor Ascané was a spell that showed an illusion.

Neril had combined the two, showing the entire continent both the ‘reality’ of a blood red hand falling from the sky and the ‘illusion’ of my own hand appearing to confront it.

Xenia spoke.

[The Demon King’s hand is much closer than before. I think we need to move on to the next part right away.]

[Right. Where did we leave off?]

[“How dare you before whom…” and so on.]

[I see. Hold on a second.]

My next line.

I cleared my throat and shouted.

“Demon King Idria. Even from the Underworld, you seek to interfere with this world at last. Do you intend to cross the Redby River and return to the living world?”

Neril activated her magic in perfect timing.

Soon, a giant image of my raised index finger appeared in the sky, pointing at the blood red hand.

I glanced to the side.

[Offense. Hurry.]

Offense touched his neck, then opened his mouth.

Of course, it was Idria’s voice.

“Ghk. I never thought you would chase me even this far. Just what are you, anyway?”

I quickly responded.

“I’m the one who should be asking. I never thought you would cross the Redby River. Truly befitting a Demon King.”

“…….”

“You will have to return with me. Back to the Underworld.”

After reciting that, I asked Bion.

[How much has my fame increased?]

For reference, before today’s battle, Adwin had connected Bion’s soul as well, making secret conversations possible.

Connecting souls with someone as far as the bosom of the world. Just how far does that guy plan to evolve?

In any case, it had only been a short while since I declared that I would go to the Underworld with Idria and watch over her for eternity.

Wasn’t it, quite literally, something that had happened just the other day, still vividly etched into the minds of the entire continent?

With Neril now showing this scene through magic, it could not help but strike straight to the bone.

[Just a moment. Um.]

I expected a meaningful number.

But then.

<Mide Mohan cumulative fame: 33,221,400>

I almost shouted out loud.

[That’s it? It only went up this much?]

[Yes. I’m sorry.]

[No. Why are you apologizing? Still, this is way lower than I expected.]

[Mr. Mide.]

She continued in a gloomy voice.

[Your intuition was right.]

[About what.]

[At the time of the second trial, you said this would be the last time your fame would rise. That was correct.]

[…….]

[With the people of this world, Mr. Mide can no longer increase fame.]

Her explanation went like this.

From the very beginning, when the Hero system was first created, fame was set so that only humans could grant it.

And humans give fame to those who make them happy.

[But human imagination has limits.]

[Limits?]

[Mr. Mide surpassed even the celestial god long ago. The people of this world can no longer find a place to elevate you.]

[…….]

[“You cannot make me any happier than this”… that thought has been engraved into everyone’s unconscious.]

She was already choking up.

[Mr. Mide has even surpassed the fame of Aktion, a world with more than three times the population. That alone was already nothing short of a miracle.]

[Bion.]

[Any more than this is too much. People believe that there can be nothing beyond the happiness you have created. Sob.]

So that was why I felt that intuition.

Even as we spoke, the blood red hand continued to draw closer.

Neril, turning pale, said.

[M-Mide. Even so, your fame did go up a little. Just try attacking for now.]

[……Right.]

Even though I could sense it would be useless, I drew my sword.

To face a gigantic hand descending from the sky, this technique was probably the best choice.

‘Attack with Light!’

A colossal beam of light, on a completely different scale from when I attacked Adin or wiped out monsters, shot up into the sky.

Neril adjusted the illusion at the right moment.

The people of the entire continent were probably seeing the illusion of ‘Mide’s hand grasping Idria’s hand’.

Kwaaaaaang!

My technique struck the blood red hand.

It seemed to stop moving for just a moment.

But then.

“How unfortunate, Hero.”

The voice of the Primordial Demon King echoed from the sky.

Serein exclaimed in alarm.

[That voice. Did it spread across the continent too? It sounds completely different from Idria’s.]

[It’s fine. I adjusted it so it doesn’t enter the Dor Ascané illusion. You guys can speak out loud normally too.]

Relieved, I spoke aloud.

“Doesn’t look like it did any damage, does it?”

“……No.”

“Ah. No. Didn’t it work a little? Look over there.”

Adwin pointed at the night sky.

From the hand that had been struck by my ‘Attack with Light’, something was crumbling and falling.

Skin…?

Something that could reasonably be called skin scattered in all directions.

I shouted in shock.

“Xenia, Serein! Block that.”

“Yes. Serein, hurry.”

“Just a moment.”

They clasped hands and used all the divine power they had.

Wiiiiing.

Soon, a shielding spell unfolded over the capital… no, over the entire continent.

Kugugung!

The fragments of skin crashed down onto the spell, producing a tremendous noise.

The two frowned as they spoke.

“One piece fell on the capital. One each fell on the Drucker territory and the Tetra territory.”

“How was it? How much power did they have?”

“The spell cracked for an instant.”

I swallowed dryly.

It was a spell deployed by two people, each possessing ten million fame.

And yet, just a fragment of skin falling was enough to briefly shatter it.

Lisel shouted.

“Mr. Mide, keep attacking.”

“But the spell…”

“I will have the spirits catch the falling fragments. Adwin, help me a bit. I think I need to focus.”

“Yes, yes!”

Clenching my teeth, I nodded.

There was no choice.

My fame would not rise any further.

All I had left was to pour out every last bit of strength I had.

I raised my sword again.

‘Attack with Light!’

Attack with Light.

Attack with light… with.

Light… .

The attacks continued.

Fragments of its skin broke apart.

And my party members strained with all their might to block the pieces that rained down across the continent.

And so time kept passing.

How many times had it repeated?

Thirty times? Fifty?

No.

At the very least, it had gone past a hundred.

Not just me. Everyone’s faces had turned gaunt.

No matter how overwhelming my fame was, I had already used a destructive technique capable of wiping out an entire territory in a single blow more than a hundred times.

‘Any more than this is absolutely impossible.’

Was this the end?

That was when it happened.

Tap.

A screen window appeared.

<You’re working hard, I see.>

“Ahhh.”

When Mide’s attack failed for the fifth time in a row, Bion finally collapsed onto the spot.

Trail, who had been watching the situation together with her through the Eye of Omniscience, spoke heavily.

“It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“……That Demon King seems far stronger than Kaeld, who possessed eighty billion units of negative energy two hundred and thirty thousand years ago.”

“He was said to be a being born from a different civilization, wasn’t he.”

“Yes. Sob.”

In both Bion’s mind and Trail’s mind, a single word kept circling.

-End.

The end of the world.

That was when it happened.

“Bion.”

“Yes, yes?”

“I wasn’t calling you. Haven’t you changed your name yet?”

“…….”

“Bion. Come over here.”

It was Idria.

She was continuously pouring negative energy into the storage tank inside the laboratory.

Trail staggered toward Idria.

“What is it.”

“Let’s keep doing what we were doing earlier.”

“……?”

“The situation looks bad, but times like this are when you should stay faithful to your duty.”

“Idria. It’s all useless now.”

What Idria meant by ‘what we were doing earlier’ was pouring negative energy into the storage tank.

Originally, it had been something only Idria took the lead on.

But if you thought about it, Trail was also sharing negative energy with her.

Which meant that even now, it wasn’t only Idria who was growing stronger by the second.

That was why he had volunteered to help, pulling out his own hair or nails and tossing them into the storage tank.

Unlike Idria, who regenerated endlessly, Trail had to prepare a new body if he lost his limbs, so the cost outweighed the benefit.

Of course, Idria hadn’t liked even that at first, but when he said he wanted to help, she quickly changed her mind and allowed it.

However, that was only until just a moment ago.

After realizing that Mide’s attacks showed no sign of working at all, Trail had lost heart and motivation.

“Negative energy can’t make Mide stronger. No matter how much effort we pour into this storage tank, it won’t help the battle.”

“Just help me for now. I have an idea.”

Seeing the seriousness on Idria’s face, Trail nodded.

He grabbed another handful of hair and cut it off.

“I’m just helping for peace of mind. You know I don’t need to go bald for this, right?”

“Don’t say pointless things.”

“Anyway, hey. You there, woman impersonating Bion.”

Bion, who was suddenly about to have her name stolen, opened her mouth.

“Me?”

“How full is the negative energy in this storage tank right now?”

“I don’t know what standard you’re using, but compared to when it held forty billion, it’s nowhere near enough.”

“This is the standard. Contacting other worlds.”

At those words, Bion flinched.

Tuk.

Idria cut off another finger and tossed it in as she spoke.

“You said Mide can’t raise his fame any further in his own world, right?”

“……Yes.”

“Then ask the heroes who went to other worlds. Tell them to raise Mide’s fame.”

“No, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Bion let out a hollow laugh as she spoke.

“Heroes in other worlds don’t even know who Mide is. How are they supposed to raise the fame of someone whose face they have never even seen?”

“You really are more stiff headed than Mide.”

“That’s something I used to hear often back when I was a researcher, but still.”

“For example, Impelium knows Mide.”

Bion’s mouth fell open.

Idria continued.

“It’s not just Impelium. Mide’s world is what you call the ‘origin’, right. The one that produced the most heroes. Twenty four of them, if I remember correctly.”

“……!”

“Of course, the first twenty three heroes probably don’t know who Mide is. But if they learn that their ‘home world’ is in danger, they will react sensitively.”

“…….”

“And among those twenty four heroes’ worlds, there will be other heroes who also call those places home. Heroes who were born in those worlds, slew a Demon King, and then departed for yet another world.”

Idria’s words were not wrong in the slightest.

Mide’s world was the origin world where everything began.

Excluding the era after Grade went to the underworld, a total of twenty four heroes had passed through this place.

If they contacted those twenty four and told them this place was in danger, wouldn’t they try to help?

And what if they asked them to spread the word to heroes born in those twenty four heroes’ worlds as well?

If it branched out and spread again and again like that?

“Th-then in that case…… this story could spread to ‘the lords of all worlds’.”

“Right. Well, you might be able to contact them yourself through the Eye of Omniscience.”

“I can’t.”

“Of course you can’t. You said when Aktion invaded various places and you contacted them that way, some hero had a seizure.”

“……Yes. So.”

“Right. So.”

The two spoke at the same time.

“We should use connections.”

“We should use connections.”