“You…! How did you…?! I AM A HERO!”

Cherro swayed on his feet, regaining his balance but losing his composure before launching himself at Zoemi’s beastly form.

“A fluke! THAT TIME MUST HAVE BEEN A FLUKE! I AM BETTER THAN YOU!”

Cherro roared, swinging the overpowered blade wildly as if it was a broom and he was swatting at some bug.

No technique, no style whatsoever, the drop in his skill was staggering.

“…”

Because of that, each and every strike was parried with minimal movement of the beast whose shape did not suggest either the composure or technique it displayed.

“SCREW THIS! DIE! DIE! JUST DIE! YOU…! YOU MONSTER…!”

The more Cherro was swinging the blade around and the more he could not land a proper hit, the more desperate he was becoming.

By the end of another failed combo, his voice started cracking and a glimpse of Cherro’s real feelings was revealed.

Fear.

Cherro was scared out of his mind.

His bravado and smile from before were nothing but a front he put up to give himself a boost in morale.

The monstrosity in front of him, was the very same thing that killed him, tore his flesh apart with pure savagery and no hint of hesitation or mercy.

It was unstoppable, and the part of Cherro’s mind that retained the memories of every single timeline he went through never forgot or even blocked the numbing, incapacitating terror the toy known as Zoemi implanted in.

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Cherro cried, increasing the output of his mana, adding more power to his spells.

The stone armor swelled up so that he became a giant golem – a mountain towering over the beach – the green light of the enchantments got almost blinding, augmenting every move he made so that even a step back caused a tornado to form, while the water enchantment turned into ice and causing the armor to grow spikes. The earth lance being the base of the sword grew into a tower, the blades of light and darkness spread out into wings as the sword changed into a two-sided axe while the blazing inferno surrounding it was evaporating the salty water at a staggering speed as if the ocean was nothing compared to its might.

“You are shaking, filth.”

“…!”

Despite going full swing about to crush the beast of darkness that looked like an ant, the moment Zoemi opened its jaws and spoke in an almost dismissive tone, Cherro flinched and stopped with the axe mid-air.

“A hero this… defeat me that… Just die, just die, just die…”

Zoemi continued to talk without even looking up at the towering figure that Cherro became thanks to the combination of his spells.

“Have you not noticed it yourself? Just die? You can’t even squeeze -I will kill you- through your throat. You know why, don’t you? Because you know you can’t, so you hope and pray from me to hesitate and drop dead… pathetic…”

The toy Zoemi declared and scoffed, flicking its claws as if getting rid of the dirt sprayed on by all the failed attacks Cherro threw at him.

“I…! I AM NO AFR…!”

Cherro gritted his teeth and roared down at the beast that raised its head at him for the first time…

“GRAUGHFGHARAGGARGH!”

“HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

*SPLASH*

…but when Zoemi spread its jaws and let out an overexaggerated beastly roar, Cherro let out a high-pitched cry of fear and backed off so fast that it tripped and the entire gigantic armor of his fell down into the ocean causing a rising tide to flood the beach and the road behind it.

“Tha… THAT MEANS NOTHING! Th-the massive armor is impractical!”

Cherro growled furious and embarrassed out of his mind, expelling the excess of mana and getting his armor and weapon to shrink back into a reasonable and easily manageable size.

“I… I will defeat you! I will overcome my fear as a hero, and show off to my little princess in the showcase of true…!”

*SWOOOOOOSH*

The young man tried to act tough, but the very next second he realized that the beastly toy Zoemi raised its clawed paw about to strike him, so he jumped back with all of his might, sending himself gliding on top of the ocean.

*haaaa*

He did that in the last possible frame of time too, because as he was escaping, toy Zoemi did attack and the reality got shredded apart by its claws, causing the mana in the air to evaporate with a sound of a person breathing out with relief.𝓞𝗏𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

*splurt*

As Cherro was away, the body of the monstrosity that became Zoemi fluctuated as if boiling from the inside and spilled apart from the side when the body of the unconscious black-haired boy bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth almost fell out of the darkness.

“Whoa there… we can’t have this now, can we? Without you, this will not work.”

The monster clapped its jaws, as its clawed paw gently grabbed the boy’s body and pushed it back inside its torso, where the foul darkness embraced him protectively.

“…you just need to hold out for a little bit longer, while I will do my job…”

Toy Zoemi said, patting its stomach while looking above the surface of the water towards the horizon, where the sudden explosion marked the spot where Cherro kicked off in order to return to the beach and reassume the fight.

And the monster was ready.

“I WILL NOT ALLOW THE FEAR TO RULE OVER ME!”

Cherro roared and put all of his strength and mana, plus the power of the momentum that he gained, into a finishing move, an overhead chop with the two-sided flaming axe of light and darkness.

The attack was lightning fast – a fraction of a fraction of a second…

…real-time, that is…

Because the moment that shouting self-proclaimed hero showed up in front of the beastly toy made out of darkness, a shadow of a clock appeared behind the royal protector’s back, and on its face, the hands were frozen in place.

The power of Cherro’s attack was so humongous though, that even with that spell active, his axe was still moving, albeit at a snail’s peace.

On the other hand, Zoemi wasn’t affected by it…

“This ends today – I know what I have to do to set my master free.”

The beast spoke and spread its arms around, showcasing the massive claws of the deadliest attributes in existence, substances, and elements so foul that there was no chance of a magician or a sage ever being born.

“I hope you will have a good life… Zoemi.”

The toy smiled to itself and the next moment its counterattack began.

With furious swipes it cut through and turned the Cherro’s weapon and armor into scrap, the sizzling remains of mana that even the world itself had no idea what to do with, as some were thrown out of the time and space, existing, but no, dead, but alive, stagnant, but in motion.

Cherro’s body got turned into mincemeat that barely resembled the humanoid shape t was supposed to have, the bones shattered, and the internal organs burst apart.

*thump*

When the clock behind the toy Zoemi disappeared, the remains of the multicolored-hair young man crumbled onto the ground as he didn’t even get the chance to speak another world, having the brave words about not letting the fear rule over him being his last.

Truth be told, those were far too good last words for a vile scum like him.

“Now, perish. You filth.”

The beast grumbled and waved its paw dismissively, causing its claws to break off and break down, combining and forming a grayish, half-transparent cloud that began to slowly descend upon the remains of the defeated Cherro.