The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia - Chapter 140

Translator: Raizu

Chapter 140 – Conquering the North part 9 – ~Amqa~

Ares sped up, cutting his way down a bloody road to the main enemy camp at the center.

[I have a bad feeling. Hopefully I make it in time…]

Ares muttered to himself. Meanwhile, his hands were still busy swinging Renart, killing any soldiers that came in his way.

[4th Head! The feeling is getting stronger and stronger. This is…]

Shu informed Ares as he swept the enemy in front of him with his cross-shaped spear.

[Oioi, isn’t it weird? There are a lot of soldiers but all of them are fleeing from the center instead…]

Batu caught one of the soldiers that were escaping from the central camp by the neck.

[Let go! Release me! I still don’t wanna die!]

[Shut up!]

Batu slapped the delirious soldier’s cheek to wake him up, then asked.

[Oi, what’s with that place? What’s going on? Is everything alright?]

[…..Amqa-sama has sold his soul to the devil…]

The soldier’s face turned miserable.

[That was…certainly a devil’s work. I’d rather be killed by the enemy soldiers than being killed by that…thing.]

The soldier then began squealing frantically once more.

[Dammit! What is going on here!?]

Batu muttered to himself as he loosened his grip on the soldier, who promptly scurried away after he fell to the ground on his butt.

[In any case we should forge ahead… Amqa is over there… But maybe I should prepare for the worst…]

Ares mumbled that last part with a very low voice so that Shu and Batu didn’t hear him.

Tightening his grip on Renard, he pushed his way to the center. Looking behind him, he saw Shu and Batu nodded back as they followed.

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◆

The first things that entered Ares’ sight were the large number of torn corpses and a man standing in the middle of it.

Man…was that even the right word? The appearance was certainly no longer that of a man.

Its height was over 2 meters tall with bulging muscles all over its body. But the most shocking feature was its head.

[No way, is that…Amqa? That thing doesn’t even resemble Amqa…at all. Looks more like a monster to me.]

Batu was surprised upon seeing the creature.

[I knew it… It’s too late… He used the 『Demon King Artifact』]

Yes, the creature was Amqa. However, the head was no longer that of a human. Instead, it was an elongated skull with a pair of twisting horns growing from its temple.

[Ahh, this feels so good…I’ve been feeling wary this whole time, but now I feel so calm the worries from earlier felt like a lie…]

The skull murmured, then laughed. Its boney jaw crackled as it kept talking.

[With this, I will never lose to anyone anymore. I’ve become the strongest in the world.]

The skull-headed creature…Amqa trampled through the many strewn corpses. It looked around at its tragic victims, but soon turned its focus to the three men who just arrived.

[And then….the sacrificial lambs to celebrate my ascension actually brought themselves to me. Be my stepping stones and crumble to dust!]

Amqa brandished its sword. The sword itself emitted a dark aura as though it’s a sentient being.

[Alright then, lambs. Come at me. Though I don’t think I’ll lose to anyone right now.]

Having said so, Amqa launched itself at the three at a terrifying speed.

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◆

[Kuh! I won’t let you!]

Jumping off from his horse as he shouted that, Shu was the first to receive Amqa’s attack.

Upon landing on the ground he forego his cross spear, reaching out to the katana on his waist.

[Haaaaaa!]

Along with his roar, Shu’s body emanated with a white glow. He instinctively knew. The creature before him must not be trifled with so he went full throttle from the very beginning.

Shu blocked Amqa’s sword with his katana.

Clank!

The noise of metal colliding reverberated through the battlefield. At that point…

[What!?]

Shu was knocked back a good distance away.

[Shu!]

Batu hurriedly ran toward Shu, helping the latter get up as his body was lodged into the ground.

[Guhaa!]

[Oi! Get a hold of yourself!]

[…..I am fine, Batu. More importantly, you should focus on the enemy before us. I cannot protect you this time.]

Shu replied as he got back up to his feet on his own.

When Ares confirmed the situation, he also thrust Renard to the ground and dismounted from Saint.

<O’ Master, this one is dangerous. One of the strongest I have ever seen. Be careful.>

[I know. This guy, I think there is more than one 『Demon King’s Artifact』 embedded in its body… I can feel that its magic power is stronger from the other one.]

Ares’ eyes darted at Amqa’s forehead then to his shoulders. Brown colored objects were embedded on those spots. Undoubtedly, those are the 『Demon King’s Artifacts』.

Reaching out to the Seven Heavenly Sword hanging around his chest, Ares gently called out the sword’s name.

[Divine Sword Oldeus!]

A sword with a shimmering blue blade appeared on Ares’ hand upon being called.

[If only Sigurd and Darius are also here….but, beggars can’t be choosers… I have to find a way to kill that thing with only the three of us here…]

If Sigurd and Darius were there in addition to Shu and Batu, Ares wouldn’t be as troubled to fight Amqa but since the former two were on a different mission, he had no other choice but to make do with what he has.

Ares twirled Oldeus in jest. But it was actually the invisible slash launched to attack Amqa. But…

[Gaaaaaaaa!]

Amqa’s body swelled even further following that roar. And surprisingly, it tanked the attack while receiving nary a scratch.

[Wha!?]

Ares was obviously amazed.

[How naive! Little bastard!! ….Mu!?]

But at that moment, an arrow bearing tremendous pressure shot toward Amqa.

[Fly!]

It was an arrow that Batu let loose. And it’s not just one arrow, but multiple of them, each swirling with wind magic. He’s shooting from a bow called the 『Supreme King Bow』, once wielded by the King Jamka Ran and had been passed down for generations within the Wind tribe.

The arrows released from this bow were known to be capable of piercing through metal.

However…

[Impudent!]

But the arrows bounced off Amqa’s skin too.

[No way…]

Seeing the result, Batu was stunned.

[Now it’s my turn! Gaaaaaa!]

That roar sounded inhuman. Along with that, Amqa started moving once more, swinging the sword in its hand horizontally. Following that swing, the ground was gouged out. Almost as if it was an invisible slash just like what Ares did.

[Tsk!]

Ares launched his own invisible slash to offset that attack.

In response to this, Shu, who was in the opposite direction, launched himself towards Amqa, katana slashing at the creature. But Amqa didn’t react with his sword and instead threw a bare handed fist with its free left hand.

Shu, managing to avoid the fist, attempted to land a powerful blow. Amqa managed to block that attack with its sword, but the force behind Shu’s slash was enough to cause its feet to sink into the ground.

[Tsk!]

At the same time, Ares closed in once Amqa turned away from him. With Amqa in the middle of raising its sword to block Shu, Ares aimed for the opening on its flank. But as if having predicted that, Amqa managed to disengage from Shu and jumped away to avoid Ares’ attack in time.

[He’s so swift despite his size!!]

Landing back on the ground almost gracefully, Amqa retaliated with yet another invisible slash at Ares.

[Damn!]

[Ha!]

Again, Ares’ party worked together to counteract and distract Amqa. This time, Batu also shot an arrow from a seemingly blind spot. But again, Amqa deflected the arrow as though he had predicted the sneak attack.

[Dammit! It’s a monster!]

Batu cursed as his arrow was denied once again. Both Ares and Shu silently agreed, but brandished their swords nonetheless.

[No opening at all…]

Shu muttered.

No matter how they attacked, Amqa had seemingly always predicted it.

[We can’t afford to waste time… this is supposed to be a surprise attack. If the enemy finds that our numbers are actually very little…they’ll surround us from all sides…]

Batu nodded in agreement to Ares’ assessment. The key in a surprise attack is to strike at the enemy’s head as quickly as possible. Unable to achieve that is the same as failure of the entire operation.

[That’s not all…over time, the horde of magic beasts that Sigurd is blocking will eventually rush over here…attracted by the 『Demon King’s Artifact』]

That would be the worst case scenario in Ares’ mind. If that happens, they would be grossly outnumbered.

Ares took a glance at Shu who’s now right beside him. The man was looking at Amqa with a little impatience. Seeing this, Ares gently reached out to his shoulder. At the same time, waves of magic power were transmitted to Shu.

Images suddenly flashed in Shu’s mind. Surprised, he turned to Ares.

[4th Head!? That was…]

[Did you see images in your head?]

[Yes. But…that was…]

[Yes, that was Murakumo-style Special Art 『Dragon’s Roar』. Well, at the moment I can only impart images. Exercising it is still the most important. But in your case, the basics are already there, so…with this, you should be able to figure out how to use the 『Dragon’s Roar』properly.]

Using Wind magic, Ares covertly transmitted his plan to Shu and Batu.

[Our targets are the 『Demon King’s Artifacts』. Shu and I will handle the ones on the shoulders each. At the same time, Batu should aim for the one on the forehead.]

Shu and Batu listened to the plan without saying anything.

[This is probably our last chance. Let’s make it count.]

The two then nodded in silent approval.

Ares recalled Oldeus and replaced it with Murasame. The spirits inhabiting the magnificent katana danced furiously around the blade.

[Shu, do as the images you saw. This time you’ll certainly able to control the 『Dragon』]

[Yes!]

Shu chuckled shortly after.

[What’s wrong?]

[Nothing…if the people back at home learn how I received guidance from the 4th Head himself…they, especially the Shiranui clan head, will certainly go into an uproar.]

Ares also chuckled hearing Shu’s comment. The two then quietly took position with katanas readied at the hip. Closing their eyes as they emitted eerie auras, both strengthened their body with magic power and fighting spirit to the utmost.

[What are you planning now?]

Amqa watched the scene in suspicion, trying to gauge the situation.

Meanwhile, magic power and fighting spirit also coalesced into Ares’ and Shu’s katanas.

At the same time, Batu began to nock an arrow on the 『Supreme King Bow』 .

Opening his eyes, Ares shouted.

[Batu, aim at that spot I mentioned. Don’t miss!]

[Leave it to me!]

Hearing the answer, Ares had a small smile on his face. He then turned to Shu, who also opened his eyes in response.

[Ready to go?]

[Yes! I never thought that the secret to properly use the special art is like this. Not only magic power and fighting spirit, but one must also infuse part of their life force…]

Shu then nodded to Ares, who also nodded in return…. Ares then shouted powerfully.

[Yosh!! Shu, whenever you’re ready. Let’s go!]

[Yes!]

[ [ Murakumo-ryu Ougi, Ryuu no Hokō!! ] ]

The attacks were released with the shout. Twin dragons burst forth from Shu’s and Ares’ katana swings, blasting their way towards Amqa.

[What!? Those are!?]

The two golden dragons insistently chased after Amqa regardless of how it tried to evade. They finally managed to catch up, rising from the ground toward its shoulders.

[Guaaaaa!]

As the twin dragons phased through their target…the two demon king’s artifacts embedded inside Amqa’s shoulders began to creak.

[Guhaaa! No way!?]

[Now! Batu!]

[On it!]

Batu took aim.

[This arrow shall decide the destiny of the steppe… O’ Meadow God, grants me power…]

Batu then released his arrow. The arrow flew true with a whistling noise, hitting a bullseye on the Demon King’s artifact embedded on Amqa’s forehead.

[Yosh! I got it!]

[Impossiiiiiiiiibbbleeeeeeee!! My body, my body is crumbliiiiiiiiing!!?]

At that moment…Amqa’s body spasmed in pain as it started to crumble slowly.

[Bogdan, this wasn’t how you told me! I should’ve been the strongest in the world. Losing to these three pieces of garbage here is…]

Apparently it’s a very painful process. Amqa fell to its knees, flailing its arms as if trying to get a hold of something.

[Bogdan! Answer me, Bogdan! Do something, anything! Help meeeeeeeeeee!]

Amqa’s body collapsed along with that last cry.

Meanwhile, Ares, Batu and Shu also fell on their butts.

Silence lingered for a while.

[Did we…do it?]

[…..it seems so.]

Finally Ares loosened his serious expression.

[This time it’s more difficult…]

Ares mumbled then took a deep sigh. He turned to Batu next.

[Batu, I will use wind magic so that the entire Gayag hill could hear it. Announce that you’ve defeated Amqa. The battle isn’t over yet.]

Batu also had a relieved look on his face, but received Ares’ hand and jumped back up to standing position.

[You’re right…the battle isn’t over yet. I have to put an end to it…]

That said, Batu walked away towards a spot that could be seen from the entire hill. He then shouted.

[The enemy general Amqa has fallen! I, Batu, along with my blood brother Ares and my friend Shu, have vanquished the Barbaric King Amqa!]

The wind carried Batu’s voice to echo through the entire hill.

[The battle is over!! Everyone, lower your spears. Drop your weapons. Everyone, surrender to this Batu!]

The Iron Tribe under Amqa crumbled. Meanwhile, the Wind Tribe cheered in victory.

With Batu’s proclamation, the battle against Amqa had finally come to an end.