This Hero is Sleeping!

"[Fire Magic: Fire Arrows]"

"[Light Magic: Light Aura]"

Claude chanted multiple spells as lowered his stance. He still had enough mana to pull some off. Even though the drain from the armor set was crazy, he was able to manage it well.

His sword grazed the ground. And Claude shot ahead.

Not a single sound spread as Claude charged toward the snake. He could have used the mist again, but the sounds in his head made him think against it.

The snake dived in front of Claude.

Claude swung his sword back and was about to swing it ahead when he jumped back in a faint out. The snake that had lowered its head to face the swing didn't notice the rows of flaming arrows right in front of its eyes.

Claude clenched his fists, and the arrows tore through the air as they barged into the snake's eyes.

"KRAH! MOMMYY!"

"Hah, you're just a wild beast at the end!"

The young boy jumped ahead. He slid onto the ground and reached under the snake's body. The glow of the light hero filled his blade to the brim. In a wild fit, Claude started swinging his blade.

Uneven, untamed, his sword left obtuse wounds as it gaped through the flesh of the snake.

"KRAAAH!"

It screamed, but the boy's attacks didn't stop. A smile spread through his face as he kept swinging. Even if the snake regenerated the wounds, Claude didn't stop. Flesh hung and fell while blood dripped on his forehead, but none of it fazed Claude.

Kill or be killed.

Kill or be killed.

Years. For two entire years, that principle had dictated his existence.

Now, be killed wasn't an option for him.

All the threatened him was to die. It was as simple as that.

And so, the boy swung. His blade tore through the snake's depths until even the regeneration couldn't keep up anymore. With every hit, the Light Aura seeped deeper and deeper into the wounds and eventually, started taking over its constitution.

"Die! Stupid snake!!"

"MOMMY! SAVE ME!!"

The voices in Claude's head grew, and he tried to suppress them with his own. Screaming louder and louder.

And then, the snake's eyes changed.

It rolled on its back and coiled its body around. Claude jumped up and hopped off the snake to avoid it, but the snake was a step faster.

Its head was already behind him.

Mid-air, Claude was knocked away from the snake and sent reeling through the skies yet again.

Faster than before, he bounced on the ground and got back on his feet. Blood poured from the top of his head while his muscles creaked.

His sight went hazy for a second, so he slapped his head hard until it returned. And then, he saw. The snake's head faced the sky as magic power trembled in the air.

As he thought. It had some ability that made these rats worship it.

Claude narrowed his eyes and gripped the blade again.

A wet sensation landed on his hand.

"Hm?"

He gazed up. Like the sight underneath a waterfall, a stream of raindrops was on its way down the sky.

Lightning roared and thunder flashed.

The hailstorm of rain came closer.

A smirk left Claude.

"That's your trump card? Dumb animal…" Shaking his head, he screamed into the air. "ELRIC!!"

A pond flooded faster than the ocean.

A cup filled quicker than a bucket.

Low mana filled much faster than a whole ton of it.

Low mana, that Elric Wald had complete control over.

A chill spread in the air.

And the falling drops stopped in their tracks.

"Kra…?"

Nothing, nothing moved. As if time itself was frozen, like a myriad of mirrors, the shining orbs of water remained studded into the skies.

And then, they flowed up.

"Ahh… rain is just too much…"

Elric's weak groans resounded in the air, but Claude didn't think it was a complaint at all.

The snake had handed the worst person some water. It was time for round two.

The rainwater whirred as it started flowing back up.

"KRA!?" The snake was startled.

Drop after drop, all the water merged into one and formed a giant sphere of water yet again. This time.

"Elric! Make a dragon!" Claude excitedly screamed, but his friend was in no mood.

Whack a moles were to be whacked.

The water formed the same giant hammer as before.

Screaming, the snake tried to find the controller of the water, but it was too late.

"Face the rage, of the Ruler of Water."

The hammer swerved back.

"Judgment falls, the water rises. Truth… remains constant."

Elric's word salad served as the precursor to mayhem as the hammer flipped above and came crashing down at the snake.

"KRAK!"

Once.

"KRAA!"

Twice.

Thrice.

Over and over, Elric cackled out loud as his hammer crashed into the snake. He pummeled it straight into oblivion, sending it flying behind with each hit. The snake's scales cracked, its teeth broke apart and fell off but the pummeling did not stop.

Claude knew.

Eventually, it would regenerate. But there was something he held that could handle it.

No matter how much it regenerated, Claude could defeat the snake.

"[Light Hero]" He called upon his main unique skill. An ability that existed for him and only him.

The sword of the Lord of Shadows creaked in pain as an opposing force flushed through its very being.

The sounds in his ears cleared away while his eyes glowed. A white aura appeared around his body.

Claude hated it.

Even more than the Lord of Shadows.

Even more than spending years in the forest.

His heart, at this very moment, was filled with hate.

For having to use the skills of those damned gods again. He hated it.

Day after day facing horrors he wouldn't have dreamt of had brought him revelations about his own abilities. Unlike Elric, Claude was filled with skills, and he knew just what to pull after seeing the beast unable to regenerate from his attacks.

A strong, swift attack to chop its head off.

"[Light Hero's Aura]"

A level above Magic. A skill only for heroes.

The Light Hero's aura filled his sword, and Claude rushed off the ground.

His mind trembled as agony worse than the Lord of Shadows could ever bring emerged from the depths of his heart.

The snake was constantly being struck by the hammer of water.

"Elric!" Claude called, holding his sword down with both his arms.

At that time, a small glimmer appeared in front of his eyes.

Standing in front of the snake, was the same blonde ghost he had seen earlier. The ghost spread its arms wide, as if trying to protect the snake.

"What…?" Claude muttered.

"Holy is that a ghost!?" Before Claude could react, Elric's scream reached his ears.

And in the very next moment, the hammer struck the ghost. Like a grown man kicking a football, the ghost was sent tumbling through the air by a single hit of Elric's hammer.

Claude couldn't suppress the sensation of it being something important, but honestly, he couldn't care anymore.

The hammer slammed down on the snake again, pinning it against the ground.

Claude jumped high into the sky.

A grunt escaped his lips as he brought his blade down.

And the white aura fell against the snake's head.

"KRAAA!" It screamed, sparks flying through the air as the sword flashed against the metal-like scales.

"DIE!!"

The screams merged into one.

Seconds that felt like days passed by.

And at last, the blade passed through the snake's head. In a single, swift arc, it tore through the entirety of the monster's neck and chopped it off.

The sparks disappeared. Claude fell from the skies and back to the ground.

The snake's head rolled over the ground. But this time, not a single bit of flesh squirmed.

It couldn't regenerate anymore.

Tears streamed down the snake's eyes.

Drop after drop, streak after streak.

The tears didn't stop.

"Mo-mmy… help… me…"

Its eyes flickered.

"M-ommy…"