TFHITS Chapter 237
Added 2025-12-16 19:45:19 +0000 UTCA chill crawled up from my heels to the top of my head.
Kaeld spoke.
“Nhuh. Looks like you have already realized it.”
“…….”
“If you don’t want to answer, I will kindly explain it for you. If Mide’s world collapses, the Bosom of the World will collapse with it.”
Grit.
I ground my teeth once.
“Tonight, I plan to destroy your world.”
“…….”
“You, your party members, and everyone in the world will be annihilated. Trail as well. I will save only Idria.”
Even if Mide’s world is destroyed, there are still countless humans left across the universe.
Worlds created by heroes of the past.
There, humanity would go on creating countless negative energy over eternal ages.
Since the hero system is shared across all worlds, all of that negative energy would forever flow into Idria.
And then...
“Once Idria is sufficiently qualified to stand on the same level as me, I will erase your humanity. Look forward to it.”
“…….”
“Or perhaps you can’t look forward to it. After all, you won’t see tomorrow’s sun.”
The smile on his lips was irritating.
Just as I was about to snap back at him, he spoke first.
“Come to think of it, you suggested we fight somewhere else without people around, didn’t you?”
“……Yeah.”
“The starting point? The Koscart Mountains? You probably thought something like that would make a suitable stage.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why I agreed to that proposal?”
I realized my body was trembling.
Because I could already see what he was about to do.
“It was only a brief encounter of about 230,000 years, but in any case, Mide, you were the only individual who ever truly unsettled me. So I simply indulged in a bit of conversation with you at the end.”
“……!”
“There is no need to go to the starting point or the Koscart Mountains. There is no such thing as a ‘suitable stage’ left in this world now.”
Swoosh.
Kaeld lightly floated up into the air.
“Because every world will become the stage. Your final stage.”
I shouted like a thunderclap.
“Attack! Kill him before he does ‘that’!”
By the time I finished shouting that single sentence...
Kaeld had already vanished into a dot.
He had risen high enough to pierce the clouds.
The party stared in shock at that absurd speed.
“Damn it.”
“Couldn’t he just die nicely without being such a pain until the very end?”
“He has gotten stronger, but his personality is just as rotten as ever.”
“What do we do? Can our attacks even reach him?”
“Everyone. Don’t think about spells or techniques. Just attack with whatever energy each of you can wield.”
Lisel’s final shout was spot-on.
With every party member boasting over ten million fame, there was no need for elaborate optimization or special methods to boost destructive power.
What mattered now was speed.
Lisel fixed her eyes on Kaeld, now no bigger than a fingernail, and continued.
“I will hold him. Prepare one big hit.”
“Y-yes.”
“Mime... no, all the spirits under me, gather!”
Soon, the sky grew dim.
I couldn’t see the spirits, but Lisel had likely just summoned every spirit in the world at once.
I sharpened my vision and stared at Kaeld.
He was struck by countless attacks from the spirits.
Yet his ascending speed didn’t slow by even a fingernail’s breadth.
And worse...
“Damn it. Look at that relaxed expression.”
Then Neril’s voice rang out.
“Serein, Xenia. Spread as much holy power as you can. Onto that mana sphere of mine.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s combine them. I don’t think separate attacks will work.”
“Combine mana and holy power?”
“Yeah. It feels like it might work, so just try it.”
Serein and Xenia gathered holy power with all their strength.
Then they scattered it over the pure mana sphere that had been floating in the air this whole time.
‘Incredible…’
Neril was creating magic in real time.
No, this was something that couldn’t even be called magic.
Even in a situation like this, I found myself awed by her genius.
—Whiiiiiing.
Neril’s mana and the holy power of Xenia and Serein began to merge.
An absurdly massive force roiled.
Simply by existing, it was erasing everything around it.
“N-Neril.”
“Just a moment. A little more… okay!”
A power formed from the fusion of mana and holy power.
Because it had never existed before, it didn’t even have a name.
That nameless force flew toward Kaeld.
Kaeld glanced at the sphere, then accelerated upward again.
“Damn it, he is running. He is going to dodge.”
“Wait. Adwin, boost my concentration a bit.”
At Offense’s words, Adwin answered firmly.
“Done. Uh, how is it?”
“I feel like I just crossed some kind of wall.”
“That means…?”
“That this is possible too.”
Sweat streaming down his face, Offense unleashed his shadow sorcery.
The sphere that Kaeld was sure to evade vanished from midair!
Then, the sphere that had disappeared for a moment fell straight down from above Kaeld’s head.
Offense had finally succeeded in using shadow sorcery in a place with no shadows!
Perfect spatial transfer.
Kaeld tilted his head up slightly and muttered.
Thanks to the blood vessels in my eyes nearly bursting from concentration, I could tell what he said.
It was a mutter that disappointed me deeply.
—So much weaker resistance than expected.
And the next moment...
The sphere struck directly into the crown of Kaeld’s head.
—Kugwaaaaang!
A colossal roar exploded outward, so immense that one might think the world itself was ending, not the Primordial Demon King.
And the midnight world turned into broad daylight.
“Ugh. I thought my eardrums were going to burst.”
“The glare’s worse for me. My eyes are tearing up.”
“That light is incredible. At that level… it’s probably illuminating the entire world.”
They were right.
The light was far too bright.
Saying night had turned into day wasn’t a metaphor, it was literal.
‘At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire continent just woke up.’
Not only the light, but the thunderous explosion from earlier would have reached the ears of everyone on the continent as well.
“……How long do you think this will last?”
As our eyes gradually adjusted to the brightness, one by one, we cautiously looked toward where Kaeld was.
In truth, the intensity of the light was so great that Kaeld himself couldn’t be seen at all.
But everyone knew.
Something was happening inside that brilliant light.
Neril asked me carefully.
“Mide, what do you think?”
“…….”
“Do you think our attack killed him? Kaeld.”
I stayed silent for a moment, then answered.
“How would I know. No matter how good my eyes are, I can’t see through that kind of light.”
“I’m not asking you to see it with your eyes. I’m asking about your intuition.”
“…….”
“So it’s no good. I figured.”
Neril wore a hollow expression.
The faces of the party members darkened as well.
All of them possessed unprecedented fame exceeding ten million… but it still wasn’t enough to kill the Primordial Demon King.
Lisel spoke up.
“The light is fading. Just a little, but steadily.”
“Hm.”
“Somehow, once all that light clears… I feel like he is going to do ‘that.’”
“I think so too.”
“Then what do we do now?”
I don’t know.
No, that’s a lie.
I do know what needs to be done.
“Fame has always been what opposes the negative energy.”
“……”
“Realistically, the only way for us to get any stronger than this is fame.”
“That’s something you already said when we entered the capital tonight. Mr. Mide is officially dead. It’s impossible to raise your fame any further.”
I lightly bit my lip.
That was when.
Neril’s eyes lit up as she asked,
“Then why don’t we just stay dead?”
“What are you talking about.”
“We can say that the fight everyone’s about to see is happening in the underworld.”
“……?”
“Won’t that guy create a stage convincing enough for it to look that way? With ‘that.’”
My mouth fell open.
Without realizing it, I grabbed Neril’s hand and said,
“You have really gotten a lot more crafty!”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“It means you’re starting to resemble me.”
“Yeah. Then it’s a compliment.”
I looked at the party members.
“Did everyone understand what Neril just meant?”
We have been together for a long time now.
And even if we don’t remember it, we have shared a full 230,000 years side by side.
They realized it instantly and nodded.
Then, just as quickly, they began setting the stage.
When everyone finished their frantic preparations.
Sssshk.
At last, the light completely faded and Kaeld revealed himself.
The worst possible villain, essential to a great stage, had made his entrance.
But he was no longer in human form.
“That’s Kaeld.”
“And the primordial demon king.”
The ‘that’ we had been talking about was about to happen.
-Soaaaaaah!
The primordial demon king stretched out his enormous hand, trying to seize the world.
***
The holy magic created by Neril and Xenia.
It produced a tremendous light and thunderous roar.
Enough for the entire continent to notice.
But they hadn’t exactly been asleep.
In truth, among the people of the continent, the only ones who had been sleeping were infants and the sick.
How could anyone sleep.
How could anyone lie comfortably in bed.
-Had it even been that long since Hero Mide Mohan sacrificed himself for them.
That was why, when the light and roar erupted, more than seventy percent of the continent’s people rushed outside.
“Hey. Did you hear that just now? That roar.”
“I did. But is it daytime right now?”
“If I’m still sane, it’s definitely night. I was reading to my kid and put them to sleep just a few minutes ago.”
“Then why is it so bright?”
They were confused for a while, but soon the commotion began to settle.
People of this era were more accustomed to the ‘abnormal’ than those of any other age.
Just the fact that they lived in the era of the Demon King’s descent made them exceptional, but the demon king of this era was far too special.
And the hero of this era was even more so.
“Could it be that thing from the Great Flood?”
“No. The feeling is completely different. That was a golden oracle.”
“Bah. An oracle, my foot. There is no such thing as Celestial God.”
“Then maybe it’s the magic from the Demon King’s trial.”
“No. This feels like a pure accident somewhere on the continent.”
So it was only natural that their thoughts reached the following conclusion.
“Could it be that Lord Mide……”
But Mide was dead.
Without raging at humanity’s foolish choices or falling into despair, hadn’t he departed for the underworld of his own will, just to protect even people like them.
That was when.
“Oh! Everyone, look over there!”
Someone pointed at the sky with wide eyes.
Before they realized it, the blinding light had vanished.
Darkness returned.
But it was different from ordinary darkness.
Under the faint moonlight, something alien was being illuminated.
“W-what is that.”
It was blood red.
Something blood red was slowly ‘pouring down.’
“What is it.”
“It looks a little… no, it looks pretty dangerous.”
“Shouldn’t we run?”
“It’s fine. The Hero said he gave us a world where the demon king wouldn’t descend. That’s not the demon king.”
“No, but.”
Then someone muttered,
“That shape kind of… looks like a finger.”
As he said, what was descending where they stood was a single joint of the primordial demon king’s finger.
But for people on the ground, it wasn’t easy to grasp its overall shape.
So they were about to chuckle and dismiss his words.
That was when.
-Idriaaaa!
A voice they knew all too well.
A voice they missed.
A sorrowful voice.
And a voice befitting a hero.
“Wasn’t that Lord Mide’s voice?”
“You heard it too?”
“No doubt about it. That’s him.”
And in the next moment.
-How dare you try to seize the world before me. There is no place for a demon king in this world anymore!
As if by a lie.
People saw another gigantic hand covering the sky.
The hand of Hero Mide Mohan.