The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 137: Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia (3)

Whoosh!

The embers began to ignite, swirling around his body.

Thick gray smoke billowed from the pores of his skin.

"You…."

Lactasia squinted as she looked at Dale, who was engulfed in flames.

"Hmph. So you do know a few tricks?"

She crossed her arms, scoffing.

"But…."

She wore a sly smile.

"Do you really think that will be enough to defeat me?"

Despite the impressive display, the mana she sensed from this "Dale" was not particularly strong.

At best, it was comparable to a hero ranked around the top 100.

While that wasn't a small amount of power in the grand scheme of all heroes, from the perspective of her, an 'Archbishop,' it was laughably insignificant.

"Didn't they teach you that in school when you were just a candidate? Unless you're a hero ranked in the top 5, you shouldn't dare draw your sword in front of an Archbishop."

"Well, I guess I missed that lesson."

Dale smirked as he raised his sword.

"I wasn't exactly the top student, you see."

Bang!

With a burst of speed, he charged forward.

"Is that so? Then I guess this big sister needs to give you a little extra lesson!"

Lactasia lashed out with her whip.

The whip, enveloped in violet magic, sliced through the air like a hungry beast, aiming for Dale's throat.

The sword and whip clashed.

Clang!

The sound of metal rang out, even louder than before.

Crack!

The sword in Dale's hand shattered into pieces.

"Oh dear~ What a shame. Your sword broke, didn't it?"

Lactasia wasted no time, swinging her whip again.

Whoosh!

Now tipped with sharp spikes, the whip shot toward Dale's throat.

Dale reached out toward the speeding whip.

Berald’s Martial Arts.

Sword-Breaking Technique.

Crack!

He grabbed the spiked tip with his mana-infused hand and snapped it off.

The broken shards dug into his palm.

Dale slowly raised his bleeding hand and let out a small chuckle.

"When it breaks, you just make a new one."

Drip, drip.

The blood trickling from his hand morphed into the shape of a sword.

Demonic Sword, Vescal.

A cursed blade that granted its wielder immense power in exchange for their blood, emitting an eerie glow.

"Hmm… Should a hero be using something like that?"

Lactasia, sensing the familiar aura emanating from the sword, narrowed her eyes.

"It's not the weapon that makes the hero."

"You really can't resist a comeback, can you, little brat?"

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Lactasia glared at him.

"Let's see how long that sharp tongue of yours lasts!"

She gathered her dark magic.

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The violet magic rippled along the length of her whip.

"Die!"

With a savage shout, she lashed out.

Boom!

The sound of the whip's crack echoed through the cavern like a thunderclap.

Clang! Clack!

The sword and whip clashed once again.

As the battle continued, a grin spread across Lactasia’s face.

'He must be running out of mana by now, right?'

Even with the mana she had stolen through her 'Blessing of Absorption,' it had already surpassed what most high-ranking heroes could muster.

If what she had sensed earlier was correct, he should be close to running out of mana soon....

Whoosh!

"Ugh…!"

The flame-clad blade narrowly missed her.

Lactasia narrowed her eyes as she stared at Dale.

'Why is he still fine?'

Dale’s mana, far from diminishing, seemed to be holding steady at the same level.

No, it even felt like it had increased compared to when the fight began.

"How… how is your mana not decreasing…."

"Has it been about five minutes?"

"What?"

Dale glanced at his Hero Watch to check the time.

"At Yuren’s speed, they should be nearing the ruins’ exit soon."

"...Now isn’t the time to be worrying about that, don’t you think?"

"Oh, but I have to."

A confident smile spread across Dale’s face as he placed a hand over his chest.

"I wouldn’t want to get caught up in it."

Ignite.

With a soft murmur.

Whoosh!

Like a spark landing on dry wood, the embers that wrapped around Dale’s body suddenly erupted into a fierce blaze.

"What the…!"

Lactasia’s eyes widened in shock.

Whatever magic he had cast, his power surged, multiplying twofold… no, threefold in an instant.

'What the hell is with this guy?'

Despite having his mana drained through the 'Blessing of Absorption,' Dale’s power wasn’t diminishing—if anything, it was growing.

"Grr…! All you’re doing is giving me more mana to 'absorb!'"

Lactasia shouted in rage, swinging her whip once more.

The whip, infused with the 'Blessing of Absorption,' darted sharply toward Dale.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With every strike, more of his magic was drained into her.

With each attack, her 'Stigma' became filled to the point of bursting with mana.

"Hah, hah!"

Lactasia gasped for breath, her chest heaving.

Though her 'Stigma' was overflowing with immense mana, the amount of dark magic she could wield rapidly depleted.

Although magic and dark magic stemmed from the same power derived from the Tree of Creation, they required a simple conversion to be used.

But in a battle where every second counts, there was no time for even a 'simple conversion.'

'Why… why isn’t his mana decreasing!'

Despite the vast amount of mana she had absorbed, Dale’s mana remained undiminished.

In fact, the longer the battle went on, the more it seemed to increase.

It was as if…

"Ah… ugh."

Like an endless ocean.

Like an infinite sky.

Like an eternal flame.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"Where did this monster even come from!!!"

Lactasia screamed in despair.

Some might say she was careless.

'But how could I have prepared for a monster like this to drop out of the sky?'

It was like telling someone to never go outside for fear of an earthquake.

Who could have predicted that among a party of fledgling heroes, none of whom were even ranked in the top three nations, such a monster would be hiding?

A natural disaster.

Yes, to her, Dale was nothing short of a natural disaster she had the misfortune of encountering.

"You cursed brat!!!"

Lactasia swung her whip violently, spitting out fierce insults.

"Heh."

Dale smirked as he caught the whip in midair.

With a rough tug, Lactasia’s body was pulled towards him.

Smack!

Dale delivered a punch straight to Lactasia's face as she was drawn toward him.

"Ugh!"

Lactasia gasped for breath as she was flung backward.

"You... you...! How dare you leave a mark on my beautiful face?!"

Grinding her teeth in rage, Lactasia extended her hand.

A dark purple aura erupted from her body, forming sharp spikes in the air.

"I’ll tear you apart!"

Shwick! Shwick! Shwick!

Countless purple spikes rained down like a storm from every direction.

Dale looked at the oncoming spikes with a slight chuckle.

"Why so mad? It's not like your face is all that great."

He slowly raised his sword, aiming it at the falling spikes.

Flames of ash spread along the blade and gathered at its tip.

The ash flames condensed into a massive sphere, greedily pulling everything around it inward.

Ashen Sword, Form Three.

Flame Spear.

Whoosh!

The burning sphere of ash shot toward Lactasia.

"Ahhhhh!"

Lactasia screamed as the flames swept her away.

"Ack…"

Clutching her battered body, Lactasia trembled as she looked at Dale with wide eyes.

"Who... what are you?"

Even though she was considered the weakest among the archbishops in terms of pure strength, that was only compared to the other archbishops.

She had been confident that any hero ranked outside the top five would be no problem for her.

"How... how can some nobody like you possess such ridiculous power?!"

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she would be overwhelmed by a hero who wasn’t even ranked in the top 100.

"Ugh!"

She desperately tried to muster her power and swung her whip again.

But...

Whoosh!

The flames of ash devoured her whip hungrily.

The whip disintegrated into ash, scattering to the floor.

"N-no..."

Lactasia stared at Dale with trembling eyes.

Step. Step.

Dale slowly walked toward her.

Thick gray smoke hung in the air like a mist.

Flickering flames roared violently.

His eerie green eyes gleamed ominously.

“N-no…”

Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

A vile sense of dread constricted her.

An unbearable thirst scorched her throat.

‘I can’t win.’

She instinctively knew.

This creature before her was something fundamentally different from any hero she had ever faced.

It was like rolling a dice that only went up to six and suddenly seeing a seven appear.

Dale's very existence defied everything she knew.

The moment she realized that, overwhelming terror consumed her.

"P-please, spare me."

Her voice trembled as she begged.

Desires like greed, hunger, lust, sleep, vanity, and possession — there were countless kinds of desires.

But among them, the most primal and powerful was the desire to survive.

The will to live.

That intense longing for life trampled all over her pride.

“I-I’ll do anything you want!”

She clung to Dale’s legs, her expression pitiful.

Dale stopped in his tracks and looked down at Lactasia, who was groveling on the ground.

"I’ll become your woman... Please? Aren’t you dating that Iris girl right now? I can give you pleasures she could never match."

"......"

Lactasia peeked up at Dale with a seductive smile as he paused.

Good, I've got him.

The hope of survival flickered in Lactasia’s eyes, which had been clouded by fear.

"How about it? It’s a good offer, right?"

"I don't think so."

"...What?"

Lactasia’s face twisted in confusion.

"A-are you worried I might betray you? I can agree to a binding spell or—"

"No, that’s not it."

Dale scrutinized her face slowly.

To be fair, her appearance wasn’t anything to be ashamed of, but...

"It's just that, well... hmm."

The faces of Iris and Yurina flashed beside Lactasia's in his mind.

Seeing them side by side, it was obvious.

"You're not really that good-looking."

"...What?"

It was a roundabout way of saying she wasn’t attractive enough.

Not only as the Archbishop of Desire but also as Lactasia herself, her once lofty pride was thoroughly crushed.

"You... you... you bastard...!"

Stab.

As she tried to lunge at him in a fit of rage, Dale’s ashen flame-imbued sword pierced through her.

"Ugh...!"

Her body crumbled into black ash, scattering in the wind.

“Phew.”

Dale looked down at the pile of ashes that had once been Lactasia and slowly extinguished the flames surrounding him.

Unlike the last time he had lost control, this time the fierce ash flames calmed at his will.

‘That was a bit of a childish revenge.’

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he recalled Lactasia’s furious expression at the end.

Iris had once told him that the Seven-Star Church’s teachings included something along the lines of, “Revenge is a cloud that obscures the heart, while forgiveness is the sunlight that clears it.”

“What nonsense.”

It felt damn refreshing.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]