On Vidona’s city walls, both heroes and knights fell into a solemn silence. Though they continued to unleash magic and artillery fire without cease, despair and crushing pressure slowly began to break their spirits.
The appearance of a fifth-tier beast might have still allowed Sharlene to save them. But a sixth-tier demon…
Only the annihilation of their city awaited them.
After observing the demon for a moment, Sharlene removed her gold-rimmed glasses and tucked them into her breast pocket. The next instant, magical energy coalesced into wings, lifting her from the city walls.
As if sensing her intentions, a hero below cried out anxiously, “Guild Master! That’s a sixth-tier demon!”
Casting a fleeting glance back at them, she continued her ascent, flying towards the sixth-tier demon without hesitation.
She knew it was a sixth-tier demon.
As the Guild Master of the Heroes’ Guild, if even she faltered, the heroes would only plunge deeper into the abyss of despair, swiftly torn to shreds by the beast tide.
Yet, the closer she drew to the sixth-tier demon, the more intense the oppressive force became. The immense disparity in power spawned an insurmountable feeling within her.
‘Now, only Senior Silverbloom can defeat it and save Vidona, can’t she?’
‘But would she truly step forward again?’
As that pristine white figure flashed through her mind, Sharlene inexplicably recalled events from before she arrived in Vidona.
Senior Silverbloom had told her long ago that she possessed extraordinary talent, destined to become a formidable hero. Those words had served as her constant motivation, driving her to strive tirelessly towards that goal.
Until her magical power level plateaued at the fifth tier.
Just one step shy of becoming a titled hero, she felt an immense reluctance. Yet, no matter how relentlessly she pushed herself, she saw no glimmer of hope for reaching the sixth tier.
Upon learning this news, those who had once been at odds with her seized the opportunity to relentlessly mock and ridicule her. Despite the comfort offered by her friends, she ultimately returned to Vidona in disappointment.
Though this was her hometown, not a single passerby recognized her. Even her own relatives were few and far between. A profound sense of emptiness and loneliness washed over her, compelling her to seek solace in a tavern that very night.
After getting drunk, she sat on a stool at the counter and caught the attention of a few thugs. However, she had no strong recollection of the incident, as Lena seemed to have effortlessly dealt with them before they could even make a move.
‘Miss Lena was truly beautiful. Even now, I remember the white floral dress she wore that night, her subtly bared shoulders, her vibrant red lips…’
‘What left the deepest impression, though, were those gentle eyes, tinged with a hint of concern. A single glance at her made me feel even more intoxicated.’
Lena’s attire didn’t suggest she was someone who frequented taverns. Sharlene didn’t know why she had saved her that night, but perhaps it was all destiny.
“Has something happened? Why are you drinking like this?”
Miss Lena’s voice was melodious, gentle as flowing water. Most importantly, she was actually concerned about Sharlene.
Drunk and muddled, Sharlene propped her chin up, lamenting pitifully, “My hero level has reached its limit. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never become a sixth-tier hero.”
“Gradually, I can’t even see Silverbloom Sword Princess’s back anymore. And here I was, dreaming of going to the Demon Lord’s castle to save her. It’s truly laughable.”
Lena seemed to have heard of the Silverbloom Sword Princess’s deeds, but her words made Sharlene feel a little unhappy.
“How could you not see her back? She’s always been there. And why would you need to save her? She’s been out of the public eye for years; perhaps she simply stopped being a hero.”
“What are you talking about? *Hiccup*. How could she stop being a hero? And ‘out of the public eye’—it’s just, it’s just because she’s currently a prisoner of the Demon Lord!”
Sharlene felt that Lena’s words were both belittling Senior Silverbloom and, paradoxically, comforting her. Her head spinning, she didn’t know whether to be angry or fond of her.
“If you can’t become a sixth-tier hero, then find another goal. Perhaps there’s more than one way to save the Silverbloom Sword Princess than just becoming a high-tier hero?”
Lena offered comfort from a different angle, and Sharlene’s eyes lit up in response.
“Well, you have a point. Perhaps, perhaps I could become the Guild Master of the Heroes’ Guild, and then command powerful heroes to save her?”
Her mind made up, she resolved to become the Guild Master of Vidona’s Heroes’ Guild!
With a new goal in mind, the drunken Sharlene shed her previous melancholy. She gulped down a few more drinks before finally collapsing.
She didn’t remember much after that. Having forgotten the way home, Lena had no choice but to carry her back to her own house.
On the way, she seemed to have vomited, even on Lena. Though Lena had vehemently declared she’d leave Sharlene by the roadside if she dared throw up on her, Sharlene awoke to find herself in a warm, comfortable bed.
Recalling Lena’s look of utter disdain when she woke up that morning always brought a smile to Sharlene’s face.
Their first encounter had been utterly absurd, yet who could have imagined that ten years later, they would become best friends?
‘Perhaps Senior Silverbloom truly isn’t a hero anymore. But I, Sharlene, am still a hero, and I have people I want to protect.’
A fifth-tier magic array shimmered beneath her feet. Immediately, a colossal earth giant, large enough to blot out the sky, burst forth from the ground. The resulting violent earthquake and billowing dust momentarily plunged the beast tide into chaos.
With a mere raise of its hand, the giant crushed a fourth-tier eagle beast in its grasp. Concurrently, terrifying thunderclouds gathered above it, each magical lightning bolt possessing the power to slay a third-tier beast.
Despite this, the sixth-tier demon did not halt its advance. The lightning bolts inflicted no discernible harm upon it. Approaching the giant, it raised its arm and delivered a powerful punch!
Boom—!
A terrifying sonic wave ripped through the earth, sending soil flying. With barely a pause, the demon effortlessly shattered the giant’s arm and half of its torso.
Sharlene, as the spellcaster, also suffered the repercussions. The backlash of magic caused her to cough up a mouthful of blood. Before she could even regain her footing, the demon’s fist materialized directly before her.
“Sharlene!”
Behind her, Roland frantically attempted to rush to her aid, but the fifth-tier beast seemed to have targeted her earlier, engaging their squad in a fierce entanglement.
Then, she watched as Sharlene was slammed into the ground by the demon’s fist.
‘Dead? She’s dead?’
‘The Guild Master fell in battle?’
Sorrow welled up in the heroes’ hearts. Guild Master Sharlene’s fate would soon be theirs; they were destined to protect nothing against this beast tide.
Yet, just as they plunged into utter despair, magic surged wildly into the spot where Sharlene had fallen. A hexagonal magic array defiantly erupted from the ground, striking the demon and forcing it back several steps!
“Sixth-tier!”
“The Guild Master actually reached the sixth tier!”
Clutching hope from the jaws of despair, these heroes were ecstatic. Their limbs, which had felt powerless moments ago, now surged with renewed strength!
Gazing at the impassioned heroes, Sharlene offered a wry smile.
Only she knew that even if she had become a sixth-tier hero in this critical moment, she still wouldn’t be a match for this demon.
The power gap between them was simply too vast.
The demon also sensed her ascended aura. As if provoked by a mere insect, it angrily spewed two jets of blood mist, sealing off the space around Sharlene.
Next, it raised both arms, concentrating all its demonic power into its fists, then brought them down with brutal force, intending to smash Sharlene into a bloody pulp!
In that moment, Sharlene’s face was utterly devoid of color.
Though she hastily cast defensive magic, it was like a thin sheet of paper, utterly incapable of withstanding the demon’s plummeting fists!
Just as the shadow of the fists completely enveloped her, she suddenly caught the scent of a delicate floral fragrance. Then, she was swept into a princess carry, and the scene before her eyes shifted in a blur.
By the time her vision cleared, the demon’s fists had already crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, sending countless shattered rocks and soil flying skyward, obscuring a portion of the golden sunlight.
Yet, at that moment, she was already outside the blood mist.
‘Saved?’
“Are you alright, Sharlene?”
The voice by her ear was gentle as water, and in her peripheral vision, she saw long, silver-white hair. Her first thought was Lena.
But as she lifted her head, through the dappled light, she clearly saw the person holding her.
It was Senior Silverbloom.