The beginning of the End~3!

"Something terrifying is incoming."

As the whisper left Rachael's lips, a humongous amount of mana serged around the atmosphere, before a figure covered in flames rained down from the sky, attracting almost every gaze upon it.

The demons who were crowding over the place where Kyouki was a moment ago, were suddenly lit up by the silhouette as it landed right in the middle of it.

**BOOOOOOOM** 

The heavy blow that the strange flaming figure created upon landing at a furious pace shook the ground and made the air around the battlefield tremble at a violent rate.

Every eye was now focused on the place where the heavy cloud of dust emerged all of a sudden, as the demons too changed their projectile and started moving toward the explosion site, in greed of the mana which everyone felt from the burning figure.

The eyes of various people were wide open as the realization of the hero's death with that explosion, made them shocked beyond belief.

But the most shocked were the three beauties who had their eyes fixated on nothingness, as what they saw made their minds go numb.

'Ky..ou..ki...'

Sicily dropped to the ground as she stared at the scene like her life had been cut off by that explosion. Beads of tears clouded her ruby eyes, as she felt her world collapsing right in front of her, but there wasn't anything she was able to do in order to stop it.

But as soon as the cloud of dust started to fade away, her world regained its color as she saw a spectacle that she might not have believed unless she wasn't witnessing it herself. 

The one who appeared from the cloud of dust was a blonde youth with a stoic expression spread on his face as he supported the ragged yet alive body of the hero.

"It can't be..."

"Is he Austin..?!"

"Did he just save hero-sama?!"

"Idiot! He saved all of us!"

The demons around the two men were about two and a half dozen, which signified that the other demons who were suppressing Kyouki earlier had been vaporized entirely from existence. These still visible demons were those who rushed at them after hearing the explosion.

Not only that, even the old man Hachi, was freed from his battle as he panted heavily while kneeling on the ground. The demons around him also disappeared like they never existed in the first place.

'Is it even possible ..?'

Rachael's mouth was agape as he was the only stable mind who was able to perceive the situation entirely, and from what he concluded, he still wasn't able to recover from it.

Austin soon disappeared from his site and appeared just beside Sicily, who was kneeling on the ground with some drop of tears still adorning her charming eyes. But these tears weren't of grief; instead, of relief.

Austin didn't wait for much longer as he dropped Kyouki beside his girl, as he also pulled out something from the inventory.

"Sicily."

"Ah."

She was about to check on Kyouki's condition when suddenly the person, whom Sicily has very seldom conversed with, called out for her.

"Take these."

Saying so, he threw five containers of potions toward Sicily, which the latter one caught somehow in her embrace before she saw something more coming out of thin air.

Something interesting.

"A-Austin, this..?"

Her eyes were continuously fixated on the mage staff, which Austin pulled out of the air. The magic wand, by outer appearance, had a brown stick with a black snake-like sculpture running around the shaft. There was a big eye that was dormant at the head of the staff with feathers connected on either side of the eye.

"This wand will help you draw your mana circles efficiently and boost your mana up to 30%. There is an additional feature that comes in handy when you run out of mana, so don't hold back and handle the front lines."

Without waiting for a response, Austin grounded the staff on the dusty surface as the staff stood straight.

Sicily, being flustered by the absurd amount of features, suddenly got called again by Austin as she stared at his back while he spoke.

"Get him up. I will need him real soon."

Without any further ado, Austin levitated slightly in the air before he launched away, leaving a speechless Sicily along with an unconscious Kyouki at their spot.

The next place Austin flew toward was a group of soldiers fighting side by side while trying to protect the small framed girl at their back. The sole female in the group was trying her best to enhance the soldiers using her mana but was failing each time awfully.

**DHAK** 

**SWOOOSH** 

As Austin landed on the ground, a deep amber-like flame erupted from his hand before he burnt every demon who was crowding the group of soldiers. 

It only took less than half a minute for him to deal with around 30 demons with just a single attack, much to everyone's shock.

Lilia's eyes were wide open, too, not because of the attack but the person who had suddenly appeared.

"Regroup with Commander Rachael and help those who have been injured on the way. Now keep moving!"

He commanded in an authoritative tone that no one dared to deny as they instantly joined their legs and saluted simultaneously.

"Sir, Yes, Sir!"

Saying so, the group of soldiers started marching toward the center of the battlefield, where stood the main force of the rear vanguard. 

Lilia was also about to move, thinking the command was for her too, but suddenly when everyone left, Austin called for her.

"Lilia. Come here."

Being called like this when no one was around, even if it was a battlefield, made Lilia quite flustered as she meekly looked at Austin's very changed temperament. 

Walking slowly toward him, she saw Austin taking out something from thin air before a wooden stick appeared in his left hand.

'Wait...that...'

Her eyes glimmered strangely as she felt deep and profound energy leaking from the wand, which she felt to be inviting her as now her feet moved toward Austin, subconsciously. 

"Take this and try to forget about the blessing for some time. Draw your mana as you used to draw before you were bestowed, and let this wand be the channel."

Lilia got out of her daze as she heard Austin's words, which contained a bit of their past. Before the time when Lilia and Austin weren't baptized in the church and received their blessings, Lilia often showed her proficiency with mana and enjoyed the praise which Austin showered on her.

Hearing him talk about those times, Lilia's mind drifted strangely as she stared at Austin's face for quite some moments in a stupor. 

If it wasn't for Austin, she might not have gotten out anytime soon.

"Get out of your thoughts before you die."

Without waiting for her response, Austin handed the wand before he went away from the spot.

"Ah ...thank you for saving m.."

Her words slowed down, and at the end, her voice turned into a whisper as she stared toward the open air, which still gave her a sense of Austin's presence around her.

The last place where Austin landed was at the center of the rear line of the guarding units, which Venessa and Rachael had been handling until now before Austin arrived.

Just using his overwhelming mana, Austin annihilated the demons like they were nothing but ants, on which he trampled without even noticing.

"You know, after seeing you overpowering them so easily, it kinda hurts."

The one who voiced his thoughts was the current on-ground commander Rachael as he felt sighing in amusement at his own foolishness to think how confidently he invited Austin to spar without holding back.

Now he was thankful. 

"Sir Rachael, how many soldiers are we left with?"

Austin asked without any intention of responding to Rachael's defeated reaction, as he saw the latter contemplating before answering.

"Around two hundred, more or less."

"Okay, then gather them at a place and protect the rear line as you were but with the help of these things ."

Saying so, Austin swung his arm before tens of potions and artifacts appeared on the ground, which made the spectator gasp in shock.

There were swords, daggers, shields, and other equipment too, which gave a strange kind of energy that no one had ever sensed before. 

"Come on, grab them. We don't have all day to waste."

Austin urged in a slight irritation as he felt everyone around him falling in a daze since earlier.

"Yeah, right. Hey, come here and help the injured one with the potions and..."

As Rachael actively commanded the soldiers, Austin walked toward a specific warrior who had torn armor on her body which hid her natural charm. Her beautiful face was slightly pale from the battle she had faced in such a short amount of time.

Seeing Austin's approach, Venessa straightened her back as genuine respect for Austin emerged out of her subconscious self. 

"Throw that sword ."

"Eh?"

Being asked to throw her weapon was way out of what she expected as she stared at Austin in perplexion.

Only after he followed his words did Venessa realize why he asked to discard the blade.

"Without blessing, that sword is nothing but steel crap. Rather use this...."

Saying such, Austin pulled out something from his inventory which not only Venessa but everyone around them made freeze in a dead fret.

"A-A-Au-Austin...this...?"

__________________ 

A/N:- Next chapter = Op moments.     

Editor : Zenon #4120