Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 169 The Final Chapter: Hero VS Malice

"Xiao Shi, are you sure you want to go?"

Ling Yin, with dark circles under her eyes, looked into her pupils again and asked, leaving Ling Shidao at a loss for what to do.

"Miss Lingyin? What are you doing here..."

In this situation, the two looked at each other in silence, and Shido put his hands behind his back, not understanding her attitude and not knowing what to do.

She glanced at herself, staring at her abdomen, and seemed to ponder for a moment.

'Has Xiaoshi's spiritual energy channel been expanded to its limit? It must be that piece of flesh inside his body...'

But on the surface, Lingyin smiled slightly, and then her other hand was warmly grasped, feeling the sensation of holding a cold object.

Shido looked down and saw a black dagger. His expression changed from serious to puzzled.

"Yes, I understand. I won't stop you. Although Kotori has given me the task of watching over you, as a friend, I don't want her to take any risks. It's alright, Shi. Go ahead and do it."

Shido looked at the dagger in his hand in surprise, then looked up at Reine.

Reine's eyes were full of trust and encouragement, and her smile seemed to have a magical power, gradually calming Shido's originally uneasy heart.

"This...this dagger is?"

"This is something we created recently to weaken the beast. However, this one is special because it is used to break through the spiritual energy layer of similar spirit armor."

"Then give it to me..."

“Shi, I understand your thoughts. Kotori risked her life for you so that after everyone was weakened, she could destroy the spirit armor covering Beast. Judging from the time, he should still be fighting Tohka.”

"..."

Shido gripped the dagger tightly, a surge of unwavering strength welling up within him.

He took a deep breath and nodded to Lingyin.

"Thank you, Miss Lingyin. I will return safely."

Having said that, Shido bypassed Reine and ran towards the transfer room.

Meanwhile, Reine, watching Shido's retreating figure, picked up the walkie-talkie that had been on and held it to her ear, speaking to everyone listening in the strategy meeting room:

"Everyone, can you hear me?"

"We can hear you, Commander. We all understand that we all care about the Commander, so let's all indulge ourselves this once."

The walkie-talkie was then disconnected. Lingyin looked towards Mount Fuji, where Shido and Ming were, and stroked the small bear plush toy with many stitches on its body in her pocket.

"Shi, Shi really looks like you... It's a pity that he will never be you... So wait for me, we will see each other again soon."

She muttered to herself incoherently. Although Ming and she were the same kind of people, she might feel guilty, but they both understood that they would never stand on each other's side in the end.

Everything stemmed from her own actions. She might feel guilty, and there might have been some feelings for each other when they were ship crew members, but these feelings were completely overshadowed by her obsession with Shinji. Therefore, Reine would only offer Mei a gift called:

"May you reach the other shore as you wish." With this, I bid farewell.

...Mount Fuji stained with black mud~

'boom! '

Under the impact of the powerful force, Tohka's body was suddenly slammed to the ground. The black mud from the mountain flowed like ink, quickly soaking into her body.

The terrifying Beast mercilessly stomped on her, the malice and evil intent contained within its shadow stimulating her body.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!"

“Tohka-san is meaningless. Your nonchalant resistance only bores me. Call her out, or hand over Shido. I really don’t want to kill you…”

The crimson spear was held in reverse in His hand, and pointed downwards at Tohka's body, whose spiritual attire had been completely destroyed.

Tohka gritted her teeth, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She glared at Beast, her voice resolute:

"I won't let you hurt Shido or anyone else!"

"I'm sorry."

Just as Beast was about to thrust his spear down, a figure rushed over like lightning.

"Tohka! Stop!"

The boy's voice suddenly rang out in Tohka's already unconscious ears, but Keming did not stop and instead stabbed down directly.

At that critical moment, the black dagger in Shido's hand resonated with the boy's unwavering determination, and the flames, balanced by spiritual energy, enveloped the dagger, instantly colliding with the spear.

A violent surge of spiritual energy exploded above Mount Fuji, sending the black mud flying everywhere.

Beast was slightly taken aback, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but more so excitement, because his spiritual power had just been mobilized for a moment.

"Here he comes! Itsuka Shido! The hero of the spirits!"

"Yes, I'm here."

Shido gripped the dagger tightly, facing off against Beast.

"Shido...how did you get here? You shouldn't be here..."

Tohka helped herself to her feet, and looked at the boy who had saved her with a look of confusion in her beautiful purple eyes.

Shido glanced at Tohka, then stood in front of her and said:

"Tohka, I'm so sorry! I'm really not satisfied with all the protective measures you've taken for me... no, I would even say I'm incredibly angry about it!"

"What..."

“I never wanted to hide behind you like a coward. I longed to stand up and save you! This is something we promised each other long ago!”

"Shido..."

"I said I would protect you and save you, so why not choose to trust me one more time! We can fight together!"

Shido reached out to Tohka with unwavering determination, just like when he first saved the girl at dusk, and Tohka, as if possessed, swept the hand over to him.

Tohka uses Shido's body to stand up, her hands clashing with the black daggers in Shido's and her own, while simultaneously aiming at the Beast in front of her.

Looking at the two people pointing their swords at him, Ming's eyes began to hallucinate again, as if it were Sawa and him watching the story of Mio Takamiya together.

...Unfortunately, this was destined to be impossible, and she had already degenerated into the very thing she hated most, but for her sake, she had to keep acting!

"Excellent! Excellent! That's it! That's it! Come on, hero! Let me see your courage, and everything you have!"

Ming's smile gradually turned manic, his right hand already gripping the Flame Demon King tightly, looking at Shido as if he were a work of art unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Immediately, He transformed into a golden stream, the Flame Demon King in his right hand already poised to strike, flames blazing as He charged directly toward Shido, accompanied by the triumphant roar of his weapon.

However, Shido also sensed a touch of melancholy envy from Beast's already convincingly manic performance.

But he shook his head, realizing that Beast could absolutely not be Ming.

"Shido!"

"I understand, Tohka!"

Faced with flames powerful enough to consume the world, the two men simultaneously brandished their weapons without hesitation, neither retreating a step but instead choosing to confront each other.

"Kill the Duke! The Ultimate Sword!!"

The throne in the air disintegrated and reassembled onto the silver-glowing sword of the Ao Sha Gong, transforming into a massive giant sword.

Shido put down his dagger and, together with Tohka, picked up the final sword to face the enemy before them.

This time, the purple sword light clashed with the pitch-black flames. It was no longer the sword light being swallowed by the black flames, but rather a clash between two equally matched forces.

Shido and Tohka gripped the final sword tightly in their hands, as if it were their entire lives. They held only one belief in their hearts—to protect each other until the very last moment.

This determination and conviction allowed their power to erupt like a volcano, elevating them once again.

The purple sword light continued to increase during the battle, its brilliance growing ever brighter, illuminating the cold weather of the entire Mount Fuji.

However, the beast that confronted them... appeared somewhat lonely and helpless under the bright light.

There was no one left to protect by his side; all he had in his heart was the determination to see her again, and gradually, Ming's flame began to wane.

Although this attack was not enough to sever Ming's connection with the tree or break the curse of "immortality," Ming still let go.

Tears flowed from His golden body, falling onto the darkness, where they were wiped away by the pervasive malice, and the flames were weakened as a result.

"It's not over yet, but I'm so tired..."

Ming sighed softly as the soaring flames were severed by the purple sword light, even affecting the entire active volcano of Mount Fuji, which was also severed.

On the battlefield in Russia, Yoshino is facing off against a gigantic dragon covered in frost. The dragon opens its gaping maw, and the icy breath it exhales seems capable of freezing the entire world.

Yoshino, clad in ice armor, stood fearlessly in place, her dagger pointing at the dragon before her, fighting to protect the world that Shido was meant to protect.

Suddenly the dragon paused for a moment, and seeing this, Yoshino did not hesitate to stab at the dragon.

"For Shido-nii! I...I can't lose!"

Meanwhile, in an American city, Yuzuru is facing countless black monsters made of paper.

These monsters came in various shapes, some humanoid and some animaloid, and they lunged at Xixian with bared teeth and claws.

Yuzuru nimbly weaved among the monsters, swinging her pendulum chains to knock them down one by one, until she reached the suddenly frozen 'Raziel'.

"Finally...are we going to win...?"

On the streets of France, Yagyu was surrounded by a group of humans who looked like zombies.

These humans all had grayish-white, lifeless eyes, and their movements were stiff and slow, yet their numbers were astonishing.

Holding a knight's lance, Yagyuu felt her head throbbing as the sound waves emanating from the monster's song nearly split open. She tried to stop the controlled humans from getting closer, yet dared not attack.

But the surrounded Gabriel suddenly stopped, and the people being controlled also stopped moving.

Seeing this, she dragged her somewhat tired body and picked up a dagger to stab the monster.

"Phew...ah, did it work?!"

Finally, in the skies above Britain, Kotori Itsuka is engaged in a thrilling final battle with a giant meteor.

The meteor, like a burning fireball, descended from the sky with a long tail, causing violent explosions and fires wherever it passed.

Kotori Itsuka flew rapidly through the air, her Blazing Demon in one hand and the dagger in the other, charging towards Megakin above with all her might.

Raziel

—Zandkiel

—Mical

—Gabriel

The four guardian angels were all struck, their bodies turning into specks of light, while the demon king surrounding them began to gradually return.

"We...did it!!!"

People all over the world shouted in unison, announcing the arrival of hope.