The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Whooosh!
Ashen flames enveloped my entire body, burning fiercely.
The sound of flesh being scorched mixed with the gray smoke rising from my pores, creating a dense fog that clung to the air.
“You’re telling me you’re not going to look for the bomb...?”
Seto frowned, as if he couldn’t comprehend it.
His blood-red eyes reflected a swirl of emotions, but if they could be summed up in one phrase, it would likely be: Is this guy really a hero candidate?
“Oh, I see! That’s what it is!”
Seto clapped his hands together and let out a cackling laugh.
His crimson eyes, glistening with madness, fixed themselves on me.
“So, the reason the ‘Spider’ isn’t here... You’re expecting them to find the bomb for you, aren’t you?”
“.......”
“Hahaha! Oh, how unfortunate for you!”
Seto stretched out his arms with a grin so wide it seemed his face would split.
“The ‘Insight’s Blessing’ that your Spider possesses isn’t enough to uncover where I’ve hidden the bomb!”
“Is that so?”
I shrugged and stepped toward the Archbishop of Madness.
“...What? I said it’s impossible!”
“You seem to be mistaken about something.”
Another step forward.
“Professor Elisha isn’t at the central plaza right now.”
“...What?”
As soon as Seto’s eyes widened in shock—
Boom!
I sprang into motion.
Against the Archbishop of Madness—ranked second in sheer strength among the six Archbishops, after the Archbishop of Destruction—there was no room for complacency.
“Rise.”
Hisssss!
Primordial Flame erupted, consuming my body with a fierce blaze.
From ignition to full combustion in an instant, I drew upon the power of the Primordial Flame to its fullest extent.
“Haa.”
Mana surged through my body like a raging torrent.
Channeling the burning ash into my sword, I swung.
Whooosh!
The fiercely blazing flames raced toward Seto.
“Ugh...!”
Seto gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand to counter the inferno.
Shhhk!
From the ground, blood-red spikes surged upward to clash with the flames.
Boom!
A deafening roar reverberated as the blood-red spikes and ashen flames collided.
Under normal circumstances, the sound would’ve reached the central plaza, several hundred meters away, but Seto quickly cast a barrier, trapping the noise within.
“You...”
The ashen flames grew, consuming the blood-red spikes, as Seto stared at the fiery onslaught in disbelief.
To think sheer power alone could overpower his magic.
“Who the hell are you?”
He questioned if this was the same person he had faced before.
Only a few months had passed, yet this once-insignificant fledgling had become strong enough to gain the upper hand against the Archbishop of Madness.
“Haven’t we already introduced ourselves?”
Slash!
Cutting through the blood-red spikes, I closed the distance between us.
From below, I swung my flame-shrouded sword upward.
“Ugh!”
Seto barely dodged, retreating just in time.
Clenching his teeth, he stomped the ground.
Blood-red energy poured out from his Stigma, like a drop of crimson ink spreading in a clear glass of water.
The area around him turned into a sticky pool of blood, staining the space itself.
“No matter how strong you’ve become!”
Countless crimson spikes surged upward from the blood-soaked space like a tidal wave.
“You think you can defeat me?!”
Shhhhkkk!
The crimson spikes rained down.
I raised a wall of ashen flames to block them.
While most of the spikes burned away in the fiery defense—
Thud!
One pierced through, embedding itself deep into my left forearm.
A searing pain radiated from the wound as the spike lodged in my flesh.
The veins around the injury grotesquely bulged, pulsating unnaturally.
I frowned, staring down at my left arm.
“What’s the matter? Can’t move your arm?”
Seto chuckled, his carefree smile twisting into something sinister as he pointed at me.
“That’s the power of my blessing—the ‘Blessing of Blood!’”
He gestured to the crimson spike embedded in my arm.
“Once my blood spike pierces you, I gain control over that part of your body! Like this!”
Snap.
With a snap of his fingers, the veins in my left arm exploded.
Crunch!
Bones shattered, flesh tore, and blood gushed out.
“Hahaha! Does it hurt? Does it? Does it?”
Seto hopped around like a child playing a game, tongue flicking out mockingly.
“Once it’s in you, there’s no escape! My blessing will seep through your veins and slowly consume your entire body....”
“So it spreads through the veins, huh?”
Slash.
I raised my sword and severed my left arm from the shoulder before it could spread any further.
“Then I’ll just cut it off beforehand.”
“......”
Seto fell silent, staring at the severed arm on the ground.
“...Ha.”
He chuckled, shoulders shaking as he laughed quietly.
Just as he said, his blessing resembled poison, spreading through the bloodstream.
Cutting off the affected area was the only way to stop it.
But still.
How many people could sever their own arm without hesitation?
Especially a swordsman, whose arm was their primary weapon?
“Haah.”
Seto looked at me, his lips curling into a wide grin.
“Yes, yes, yes! This is it!”
Seto erupted into joyous laughter, as if he’d been waiting his entire life for this moment.
It wasn’t just Dale’s strength that thrilled him so much.
If it were simply about raw power, he could’ve gone after the current top-ranked hero, the Empress.
No, Dale wasn’t merely strong.
“You... you’re completely insane, aren’t you?”
Maybe even more than himself.
“Well then, let’s keep playing!”
Seto spread his arms wide and stomped the ground.
A crimson aura erupted like an explosion, and blood-red spikes shot out viciously.
“Ugh!”
Bending low, I dodged the onslaught of crimson spikes.
Darting between the spikes that barely missed me, I gripped my sword tightly and pulled my arm back.
Like throwing a spear, I stepped forward with full force and swung the arm I had pulled back.
Whoosh!
The sword, engulfed in embers, pierced Seto’s side and flew far beyond.
“Argh! That hurts!”
Seto screamed, looking down at the fist-sized hole in his side.
“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts, I said!!!”
He flailed around like a child who had scraped their knee.
Blood poured from his side as he sobbed loudly—but only for a moment.
Suddenly, Seto froze and stared at my right hand.
“But now you’ve lost your sword, huh?”
Grinning, he stuck out his tongue and burst into laughter.
Looking at him, I simply said:
“Guess again.”
I spread my right hand wide.
The palm split open, revealing a blood-red sword.
It had been a while since I last used my cursed sword.
“Eek?! What the heck? You had something like that?”
Seto pouted as though disappointed.
After staring intently at the red sword in my hand, he smirked.
“But that sword... Do you even know what it is?”
“I know it better than you ever could.”
I hadn’t used it much recently, but the cursed sword Vescal had been my primary weapon in my previous life.
“Whew.”
I took a deep breath and drew out the power of the cursed sword, feeling a sudden dizziness, as though my blood was being drained.
But only for a moment.
Vitality surged through me, and explosive power boiled within.
“Haha! Do you think you’ve got extra lives or something?”
Seto cackled and charged forward.
Blood-red spikes erupted wherever he stepped.
Clang! Crack!
The sword clashed with the spikes.
Blood-red spikes rose endlessly from all directions.
Even one hit from those spikes would result in a fatal wound, thanks to his Blessing of Blood.
“Ha.”
I took another step closer.
I swung my sword at Seto.
I didn’t care about my life.
I didn’t consider death.
I swung my sword madly like running across a tightrope over a chasm.
“Argh!”
Seto was slashed by the ember-covered sword and thrown backward.
He gritted his teeth, his blood-red eyes trembling in fury.
“You...!”
He must have felt the effects of the Blessing of Blood firsthand, yet he showed no signs of retreating.
“Well then, try blocking this!”
Seto crossed his arms and stomped the ground violently.
Rumble!
A sticky crimson liquid engulfed the entire area.
It was a massive barrier made of blood.
The same blood barrier I had seen the first time I faced him.
“Rise!”
Above, below, front, back, left, and right.
Thousands—no, tens of thousands—of blood-red spikes rained down.
An attack so overwhelming there wasn’t even room for a fist to escape.
Facing that attack, which could only be described as despair-inducing—
“Ha.”
I let out a small laugh.
“Who would’ve thought challenge mode would actually come in handy?”
Smirking, I twisted the corners of my mouth upward and kicked off toward the onslaught of crimson spikes.
Just as the blood-red spikes closed in, ready to pierce me—
Boom!
Suddenly, my vision blacked out as my entire body exploded into fragments.
“What the...!”
Seto’s face twisted in shock, his jaw dropping wide open.
How could he not be horrified when faced with a human who blew up their own body without warning?
“What... What is this?”
He stared at the pieces of flesh scattered around him, taking a few steps back—only for a moment.
“...Huh?”
A thick gray smoke brushed past his cheek.
And then—
Thud!
In an instant, I “revived” and plunged my cursed sword into Seto’s abdomen while he stood frozen.
“Guh... Guhhh!”
Seto collapsed, clutching the sword embedded in his stomach.
His wide, terrified eyes met mine as he looked up.
“You asked earlier if I had extra lives, didn’t you?”
I smiled, looking down at Seto.
“You’re right. I do.”

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