He couldn't wake up. South Hero could clearly realize that he was currently in a dream. The approaching danger stimulated his nerves, but no matter what, he couldn't wake up.
*If just one person can wake up, they can rouse everyone else from the outside. I have to think of a way.*
Almost instantly, South Hero thought of it. He just needed to follow his body's instincts. Lately, he had been constantly suppressing the urge to slash Orcini, and the longer it went on, the stronger the urge became.
*If I relax my consciousness, my body will move on its own. The injured Orcini will wake up, and then he can bring the others back to their senses.*
It was a great idea, and the success rate of pulling it off was very high. But the problem was that South Hero wasn't the only one—everyone else had the exact same thought.
Orcini let out a difficult sigh and climbed out of the ruins.
*The Seven Curses buff on my body is almost maxed out. If these guys had hit just a little harder, they would have triggered my Totem of Undying!*
But fortunately, they had woken up. Now, the real battle would begin.
With deafening noises and flashy effects, a row of matchbox houses was completely demolished into splintered wood within a few rounds. Serie had no choice but to fly out with a shield raised, landing right next to Zenith.
"You're just going to sit here and watch?" Serie asked. "With your personality, wouldn't your heart ache if someone died?"
Even while fleeing the destruction, Serie had somehow found the time to grab two chairs. She placed them on the ground and sat down as she spoke.
Zenith rolled his eyes at her in annoyance. "If they can still lose this, they might as well bash their heads against a block of tofu and die."
The biggest threat among the demons, the prophet, had already been dealt by Zenith. The only remaining major threat was Macht of El Dorado.
After all, he was someone who had defeated Frieren. His strength could not be underestimated, even if that had happened centuries ago.
Six against seven. It seemed like the Seven Sages of Destruction had the numbers advantage, but in reality, South Hero alone had surrounded all seven of them.
His twin swords would give them the answer. With reliable teammates supporting him and an invincible, taunt-drawing frontline tank, three of the Seven Sages were taken out before the battle even truly began.
What else could be expected? After all, in the original story, those three were killed by South Hero before their abilities were even revealed.
This time, the situation was completely reversed. Orcini charged at the very front, raising his shield to block. Eisen and Himmel flanked from the left and right, while South Hero acted as the main attacker.
Heiter and Frieren stayed at the very back of the formation, ready to provide support at a moment's notice and waiting for the perfect opportunity to create openings with their magic.
It was simply too luxurious. With this star-studded lineup, fighting all the way to the Demon King's face and stripping him down to a bare commander with no subordinates wouldn't be a problem at all.
The four great demons of various forms each had their own ulterior motives. They obeyed the Demon King's orders not out of some noble racial loyalty, but simply because the Demon King's power was greater than theirs.
Demons were a race devoid of emotions and clan concepts. The only way they distinguished their status in society was by the strength of their mana.
The strongest was the Demon King, and the current Demon King had sat at the absolute pinnacle for nearly a millennium.
Between their own lives and the Demon King's orders, they heavily leaned toward the former. However, in the current situation, escaping wouldn't be easy.
Even ignoring the perfectly coordinated squad in front of them and the god-of-war-like twin-sword warrior leading the charge, there were two absolute monsters watching the battle from the nearby hilltop.
Macht of El Dorado, Böse the Immortal, Grausam the Miraculous, and Aura the Guillotine.
These four names that struck terror into the hearts of humanity were already nearing the end of their lives.
"There's no suspense at all," Serie remarked. "It's as boring as watching a mystery show where the ending is already decided."
After watching for a little while, Serie shifted her attention. Watching these people fight was far less interesting than studying the amulet.
And that so-called genius mage, Frieren, still made the amateur mistake of interrupting her mana detection the exact moment she cast a spell—a low-level error that only an apprentice would make.
"Hurry up and finish so we can go to sleep!"
Zenith shouted, and his voice seemed to act as some sort of signal. Swords and magic launched a synchronized offensive, and Macht took the opportunity to move at high speed, stopping right beside Zenith.
A golden sword was pressed against Zenith's neck. "Humans are creatures bound by the flimsy concept of comrades," Macht declared. "Cease fire and let us leave. Otherwise, after I kill this man, even if it costs us our lives, we'll take down at least two of you with us in a desperate struggle!"
South Hero and Orcini instinctively stopped fighting. Himmel and the others, seeing the situation, were too shocked to continue their attacks.
Macht smiled, and Zenith smiled too.
"Has he always been this brave?" Zenith asked. "They might as well just give him the title of Hero."
South Hero gulped. "Looks like it's going to be six against three now."
The blade of the golden sword was exceptionally sharp, and it carried a curse that turned all things into gold.
The thin layer of skin touching the blade had already begun to turn to gold, and a prompt simultaneously appeared in Zenith's status bar.
Turning into gold means you can't move? As everyone knows, turning your body into metal is a buff!
"Then why don't you try?" Zenith grabbed Macht's wrist. "If you can really hack me to death, I'll have them let you go."
Macht's brain crashed for a few seconds. He completely failed to process how someone could order others around *after* being hacked to death. Furthermore, how could a weakling with such mediocre mana strength command anyone at all?
Curse of Gold! Macht wouldn't hesitate; hard-won opportunities like this didn't come around every time.
After turning someone into gold, only he himself could undo it. If he died, the transmuted object would be permanently fixed in that state.
This was his pass to escape the battle. The more righteous the human, the more they fell for this trick; conversely, it didn't work on villains.
After all, the prerequisite for moral blackmail is that the target must first actually have morals.
*It's in the bag!* Watching Zenith completely turn into gold, the corners of Macht's mouth curled up. His magic was truly invincible. Out of concern for their comrade's life, these self-proclaimed righteous humans would definitely let them leave obediently.
"Didn't I tell you to hack me? What's the meaning of just giving me a new paint job?" Zenith used his mana to condense a mirror in front of him, looking himself up and down. "Interesting. When I go to a Wuxia world later, I can totally cosplay the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art with this."
The sudden voice startled Macht so badly that he shivered, dropping the golden sword in his hand to the ground.
"Why do you still have consciousness? This is impossible!" Macht cried out.
"There are plenty of impossible things in this world." Zenith slapped Macht to the ground with a single palm strike. This magic was really quite nice; complete goldification had forcibly granted him a Resistance II and Strength III buff.
His gaze met Serie's, and the latter instantly understood Zenith's meaning. "I know the magic to turn all things into gold," Serie said. "Let's see what you'll trade me for it."
The now-useless Macht was casually decapitated by Zenith, who had switched to his Aether Broadsword. What should he trade with Serie? He might as well just give her a Nether Star.
Magic books were given to Frieren to analyze, while item-type objects were given to Serie. A clear division of labor. Just according to plan.
As for whether the two of them would take the items and run, Zenith had never doubted them. Of course, there was no need to doubt them either.
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