CHAPTER 14 —
The moment the God of Dominion's voice faded, the world resumed.
Wind moved again. Leaves continued falling. The heroes blinked.
But something about them had changed.
Their skin pulsed with black lightning, veins glowing with an unnatural gold radiance. Mana — thick, corrupted, unnatural — leaked from their bodies like steam.
Haruto felt it.
Every instinct in him screamed.
This is not power they earned.This is power they begged for.
His hand tightened around his sword.
HEROES — POV
Hiroshi's pupils widened. His breath hitched.
I can… feel it…
Power surged into him — intoxicating, euphoric, maddening.
I am the protagonist.
Daichi laughed, cracking the ground beneath him with a single stomp.
Rin's eyes sharpened, irises glowing like a hawk's.
Emilia tilted her head, smiling, as black holy light flooded her staff.
Yumi shook, giggling — the thrill overriding her fear.
Akira flexed his hammer, now wrapped in the dark aura of a fallen war god.
Six heroes.
Six corrupted powers.
Hiroshi stepped forward, grinning.
"So this is what it feels like…"
He raised his arms.
"To be the chosen one."
HARUTO — POV
The forest bent around him.
Not from wind.
Not from magic.
From fear.
Haruto's voice dropped, low enough to chill bone.
"You sold your will to a god."
Gold aura sparked around Hiroshi's feet.
"So what?" Hiroshi spat. "If it gives me power—"
Haruto cut him off.
"Power you can't control isn't power."
Hiroshi bared his teeth.
"You think you're stronger?Just because you have overwhelming mana?"
Haruto tilted his head slightly.
"No."
His eyes sharpened.
"I am stronger because I have something to protect."
Airi's laughing face flashed in his mind.
BATTLE BEGINS
Hiroshi vanished.
No footsteps.
No sound.
He appeared right in front of Haruto — face twisted into something feral.
"DIE!"
CLANG!!!
Haruto barely parried.
The impact sent a shockwave through the forest.Trees snapped like twigs.Dust exploded outward.
Hiroshi didn't relent.
He slashed again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike faster.Harder.More unstable.
Haruto slid backward with each hit, boots digging trenches into soil.
This speed… doubled? No, tripled.
Hiroshi cackled, dual blades a blur.
"You can't keep up anymore!I'm the protagonist! I decide the ending!"
Haruto disappeared.
Reappeared behind him.
Sword already mid-swing.
Cut his arm.
But —
CLANG!
Daichi intercepted, fist coated in black rock.
"You aren't touching our leader."
Rin fired seven arrows — all aimed at lethal joints.
Yumi layered lightning spears behind them.
Emilia cast a forbidden spell.
Akira swung a hammer coated in corrupted mana.
Six heroes.
Six angles.
One target.
Haruto exhaled.
"…Fine."
He held his blade sideways.
"Thirty percent."
Mana burst.
The world trembled.
Haruto (30%)
Speed: blur.
Strength: unstoppable.
Presence: crushing.
He stepped once.
Everything moved in slow motion.
Haruto: one draw
Heroes: six attacks incoming
SHING.
Rin's arrows shattered.
Yumi's lightning dispersed.
Akira's hammer cracked.
Daichi flew backward — ribs broken.
Emilia choked blood.
Hiroshi's eyes widened.
I… couldn't see him move.
Haruto pointed his sword at him.
"This is thirty percent."
Hiroshi trembled.
"No… no… I'm the protagonist—"
THE GOD OF DOMINION SPEAKS
A voice — smooth, venomous — slithered through Hiroshi's skull.
Do not fear. The power I gave you has not yet bloomed.
Dark mana erupted beneath Hiroshi.
He screamed — a mixture of pain and ecstasy.
Black tendrils wrapped his arms.
Golden veins exploded across his body.
Haruto's pupils shrank.
This power… isn't mortal.
Hiroshi grinned — too wide.
"You know…"
His voice shifted — layered, echoing with the god's voice.
"You should have killed me earlier."
He flicked his wrist.
Space cracked.
Haruto barely dodged in time, the air behind him slicing open like shattered glass.
Haruto's eyes widened.
He cut space… with borrowed power.
AETHERIA — POV
Airi froze while stirring batter.
"Onii Chan's mana disappeared."
Frost snapped up, fur bristling.
Lyria dropped her teacup.
Lunara's wings unfolded, expression dark.
"Airi," Frost growled, "stay here."
"No!"
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"Bring him back."
Lyria nodded sharply.
"We will."
Three legendary beings shot into the sky.
FOREST AGAIN
Haruto wiped blood from his lip.
"It's time."
He raised his sword.
"Fifty percent."
Mana dropped like a nuclear explosion.
Earth split.Rocks levitated.The air screamed.
Hiroshi gasped.
"Impossible—!"
Haruto dashed.
Not running.
Not teleporting.
Erasing distance.
Steel clashed. Sparks exploded.
Hiroshi barely parried.
"You can't win!" Hiroshi screamed. "I have a god backing me!"
Haruto's voice was cold.
"And I have…"
He thought of Airi.
Her smile.
Her laughter.
Her warmth.
"…a promise."
REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE
WHOOOOOOOOOOOM
Three shadows smashed into the ground behind Haruto.
Frost.Lunara.Lyria.
Their combined aura warped the atmosphere.
"Haruto," Lunara said. "We are here."
Haruto's voice was low, calm.
"Protect the village. I'll finish this."
Frost's grin was savage.
"Finally."
Lyria cracked her knuckles, smiling sweetly.
"Let's erase the insects."
The other heroes paled.
FINAL STRIKE
Hiroshi screamed — voice cracking into madness.
"WHY CAN'T I WIN?!I AM THE PROTAGONIST!!THIS WORLD REVOLVES AROUND ME!"
Haruto raised his sword.
"Seventy percent."
The sky darkened.Space fractured.Reality bent.
Haruto swung.
SHIIIIIIING.
Everything Hiroshi saw —
The trees.The sky.The air.
—split.
The corrupted protagonist's eyes widened in horror.
"No… no no no—"
CUT TO BLACK.
END OF CHAPTER 14
NEXT CHAPTER (15):
Did Haruto's attack kill Hiroshi?Or did the God of Dominion… intervene?