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"...Huh?"
Gale stared blankly at his beloved sword, now snapped clean in two.
"Whew. Well, you're without a weapon now. Do you still want to keep fighting?"
Halt pointed Hakoku's tip at Gale, but he wasn't letting his guard down. Just because he'd destroyed the guy's weapon didn't an this was over.
The reason Gale was the strongest in the western half of the world wasn't because of so fancy sword. It was because he was a monster—soone with the Limit Break skill who'd actually gone to the Demon Realm to grind his stats all the way to level 370.
However, Gale didn't move.
"I-Impossible... It's scarletite! Immutable tal! The strongest sword in the world! How... HOW?!"
He couldn't accept it.
Vermilion was the greatsword he'd spent thirty years forging. For an ogre-man with a five-hundred-year lifespan, thirty years wasn't that long, but he'd devoted almost all of it to shaping that raw lump of tal into a blade.
Seeing his life's work reduced to scrap had left him completely hollow.
On top of that, Vermilion was a sword that could cleave even demons. It had slain three high-ranking demons and saved the world multiple tis. It had blocked demon attacks and kept him alive.
He couldn’t believe a weapon that could withstand demonic assaults had been destroyed just like that.
"W-What's going on?! What is that sword of yours?!"
"This blade is made from the sa material as yours, it’s scarletite."
"Impossible!! The only scarletite weapon in this world is Hakoku, the national treasure of the Elven Kingdom of Alheim—wait. No way?!"
"Yes. This is Hakoku."
Apparently, Gale had once visited Alheim after becoming known as the world's strongest. He wanted a weapon worthy of his title and had asked the Elven King to let him have Hakoku, rumored to be the strongest sword in the world.
However, the Elven King, Sairos Alheim, refused.
Gale wasn't a hero. The previous king had decreed Hakoku should go to a hero. Besides, there was no Demon Lord threatening the world at the ti—it was an era of peace.
Giving soone as strong as Gale—already ranked alongside Tina as one of the world's strongest—even more power might tip the global balance too far. No matter how hard Gale negotiated, the Elven King didn’t relent.
And so Gale, dead set on obtaining the ultimate weapon, made a decision after much agonizing: he'd just have to forge one himself.
"Impossible. Are you saying you're the hero? ...No. That's wrong. YOU don't deserve that sword! I will NEVER accept anyone other than HIM as the hero!!"
Gale's despair twisted into sothing else—rage burning in his eyes.
"Hakoku belongs to ! I'm the one HE entrusted this world to!!"
Mana exploded around him as he prepared to lunge at Halt—
"Enough, Gale."
Tina's voice cut through the chaos.
The killing intent radiating from Gale, who'd been on the verge of losing himself, softened.
"...Tina-sama. It's been a long ti."
"Yes. It has."
For so reason, Gale's posture shifted to sothing almost deferential around Tina. It seed they went way back. Not just as two of the world's strongest—they'd known each other long before that.
Gale pointed at Halt and demanded answers.
"This man is strong. Probably far beyond now. I'd even call him the strongest in history. But WHY, Tina-sama?! YOUR partner should be HIM!! You always said you'd wait for him—"
"Fufu. That's exactly why it's Halt-sama."
Tina smiled and wrapped herself around Halt's arm.
"After he returned to his world, countless n approached . I waited for him for a hundred years. Sotis I received proposals so wonderful they almost made my heart waver. But I could never accept them. My soul must have rejected anyone but him."
"W-wait. What do you an by that?"
Tina looked up at Halt, seeking permission. He nodded slightly.
"The Guardian Hero I waited for all those years... has been reborn in this world as a human once more. He stands here before you. Halt-sama."
"You're—no. You're... the Guardian Hero?"
"Yeah. That's right. When I found out you were still using the na I gave you... it made really happy."
Halt answered with a warm smile, his tone shifting to sothing more casual, like the old days.
About a hundred years ago, when Gale was still just an ogre, it was Haruto Saijo—the Guardian Hero—who gave him his na. And that sa Haruto had been forcibly reincarnated by the Calamity God, becoming Halt.
Gale had never told anyone about being nad by the Guardian Hero. Tina hadn't been there either. The fact that Halt knew about the na was proof enough.
"Ah... AhhhhhhHAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The ogre-man known as the world's strongest broke down completely, tears streaming down his face as he threw his arms around his long-lost benefactor.
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