Hero and a Saint [2]

"I'm not in the mood for talking, instead, I have a better idea. Weren't we going to duel anyways? I don't think we need a silly countdown for that, right?"

"Are you serious?"

"I have never been more serious in my life."

'Why is Zero suddenly acting like some edgelord?! Wasn't that me?! No, I mean that's not like us!'

Due to the fact that I could literally only recognize that we were angry, I had no way of finding out what he was thinking. It was as if our entire being was just consumed by rage. However, it wasn't rage directed at Sophie, the teachers, or at any of the students around us.

It was anger towards the world, the world that Theia wanted us to protect. And, if Zero truly believed that his time to walk this world was short because he had to protect it, I could fully understand his anger.

Was there any worth in protecting the humanoid races of Tella is they were going to continue acting like this?

'No, wait! I don't care! I'm not on anyone's side!'

Arthur's face was still stiff, but noticing the emotions on our face, he finally gave his answer, "If I duel you, will you stop acting like this?"

"Is that your demand? This was, after all, a duel with stakes."

Surprised by the sudden mention of the terms of the duel, the hero flinched a bit. Meanwhile, I was finally starting to see the picture that Zero was painting, and if I was right, it would be something better than I could have ever thought of.

"Fine, alright. If I win, I want you to calm down and let us talk to you."

"I accept. However, if I win, you are not allowed to stand in my way, not now as well as in the future."

"I accept."

'Oh Zero, you beautiful bastard! Maybe you aren't so stupid after all!'

I had no idea if my ambition to create a story that could make ripples had in some way affected Zero, but to me, or us... Whatever, it felt like he was doing just that, while at the same time removing any risks of dueling with stakes.

Though I doubted that this was what we had in mind when his little tantrum started, I had a feeling that after he managed to calm down a bit, this was now what he was doing.

It was almost to the point where I wanted to shed a tear from my mental eyes, 'Ah, they grow up so fast!'

"You don't have to duel him, Arthur! And Zero, please, let me talk to you!"

An incredibly sad Sophie intervened in our beautiful interaction, her tears running down her cheeks in both shame and frustration. Most likely, she fully understood that she was ultimately the one in the wrong for bending to the conventions of this world. But, she still couldn't allow two of the people she wanted to support to fight like this.

****

[Sophie's Pov]

"Fine, alright. If I win, I want you to calm down and let us talk to you."

"I accept. However, if I win, you are not allowed to stand in my way, not now as well as in the future."

Seeing the two boys that I had earlier wanted to reprimand for acting childishly, I had now put myself in a position where there was no way I could say I was any better. I couldn't understand how I for a second thought it to be okay to act as some sort of guardian for Zero, to act like I was allowed to test Stella to see if she was strong enough.

In the end, I was just acting like everyone else in this world, the same kinds of people that had decided that James was evil without even allowing him to speak, and though I didn't know what happened, they had used power to overrule the voice of the weak.

However, there was another part about all of this that set a much larger mark in my mind, something that brought a lot of bad memories back. And seeing the cold eyes on the usually smiling Zero only made them stronger.

Images of a certain man flowed in front of my eyes, framed by the white snow that silently fell from the sky, and his voice echoed in my mind.

'-I am not someone who wants your protection, nor am I someone who needs it.'

Just like James, Zero had never asked me to protect him. It was I who had assumed that because he told me his secret, it would be alright for me to make sure he had good people around him. And even if I did believe that Stella was incredibly impressive, it wasn't for me to decide.

And now, my stupidity had led to this, to the duel between Zero and Arthur suddenly having a much bigger meaning than it was supposed to. Luckily, my man was responsible enough to not make an unreasonable demand, but what Zero had said could mean so many things, things that I didn't want to risk happening.

I had already accepted that, for some reason, the teachers had opted not to interrupt, even though just a couple of minutes ago, Zero had berated everyone for not doing so. Seeing the water acting like it was raging around the small boy, and the resolve in Arthur's face, I knew that if they fought, it wouldn't end as just a spar.

As tears started pouring down my eyes in frustration, feeling so powerless yet again, I rose to my feet, "You don't have to duel him, Arthur! And Zero, please, let me talk to you!"

My tears didn't care about my internal vow not to cry anymore, and though I knew it was meaningless, there was still a slight hope in my heart that they would stop. A hope that was quickly destroyed.

"Sophie, please step out of the ring. No, everyone! Step another couple of meters away from the ring, please!"

For the first time, they seemed to be on the same wavelength, with Zero also reinforcing Arthur's words, "Yes, please do so..."

His words complemented by the fact that his determined face weakened for a second created a small thought in my head, a thesis that I wasn't sure I could trust at all, yet still felt so incredibly true.

'Does he still not want to hurt anyone? Then... him attacking me? Was that all to make Arthur step up? Did he miss me on purpose, and did he know Arthur would block his attack? I don't understand... Why is he doing this?'

Still, what I did understand was that there was nothing I could do here. No, for the first time since I got here, I had a feeling that there was nothing I should do. Whatever this was, for some reason, it needed to happen.

So, I conceded and walked out of the ring, finding my place right next to Anna who was just as shocked as the rest of our classmates and our teachers. Adriana and Bellatrix both bit their tongues, and Sarah... Wasn't here?

'Where did she go?'

Sadly, I didn't have time to look for her, as everyone had now complied with the young men's requests, and they were finally settled to fight each other.

'If anyone of them gets hurt for real... I don't think I could ever forgive myself.'

****

[Zero's Pov]

'Haa... guess there's nothing I can do about it. I just have to hope that my suspicions about Zero are correct.'

At this point, I could only lean back and see the performance of my newfound body, to watch how Zero used our vessel to the best of his abilities. Now, there was something that had been bothering me for a little while now, and that was that I felt a slight pain in my chest. A feeling that had emerged when Zero started accumulating mana from the atmosphere.

It wasn't weird that the skill had a downside, but there was still something quite worrying about it. Sadly, I was in no position to do anything about it. Because right now, the fight was finally starting, and it started with Zero using our water like a whip, snapping it toward the hero.

*DONG!*

Dodging to the side while simultaneously trying to decrease the distance, Arthur was well aware of what he needed to do in order to win the battle. "[Arc of Light]!"

*BOM!*

Seeing the familiar blade of light flying toward us, we just redirected our water which quickly destroyed it by surging into it. However, Arthur didn't seem all too surprised, no, it was more like he assumed something like to happen.

Because what he gained from his attack was to close the distance between us, now standing no more than a couple of feet away. Grinding his teeth, Zero wasn't happy with the results, and I could feel our pores opening, even more, to allow more power to seep into us.

Two huge circular vortexes of water emerged from our hands, quickly flying at the swordsman who had gotten dangerously close. "[Arc of Light - Strengthened]!"

*BOOM!*

Though he had to use a lot of mana, Arthur successfully dismantled the monstrous phenomena that were launched at him. However, not only was he pushed back...

*Cough!*

Blood sprayed out of his mouth, showing just how effective the attack had been, and in the small downtime that was created, a very entertaining thought emerged in me.

'What if Zero actually defeats the hero?'