[Amelia] The Level Zero Hero Chapter 198 (Patreon)

The baby queen bastion bee couldn’t believe it. She had been trapped— defeated by the pointy-eared giant. It was a trick that had defeated her, but because of her failure, her entire colony was in danger. She was certain she would have died there and then, slain by the overwhelming power of the green projectile.

But she was rescued. And it wasn’t just anyone who saved her. It wasn’t the nursing bees who were just watching from the side. It was a giant. One of the many who dared to threaten her colony. No— not just one of them.

It was the Invader.

The very first one who had dared intrude upon her hive. The baby queen bastion bee refused to believe her eyes. But it was true. The brown-haired human was the one who saved her.

And now, it faced down the pointy-eared giant as it spoke in a dangerous voice, protecting the baby queen bastion bee and her colony.

“Your reign of terror ends here, Jax the Forsaken Archer—”

—--

“...that is why I will not allow you to harm these poor, defenseless animals any longer. That is why I shall stop you.”

I spoke simply as I crushed his [Superior Blooming Deathhowl] in one hand. I unsheathed my sword and pointed the blade at the elf. We faced-off against each other for a long moment. And then he blinked a few times, before lowering his bow.

“...what’s with the long speech?” Jax asked flatly.

I glanced back fractionally, before turning back to him and whispering, “I’m trying to make it believable.”

“I see.” The elf wore an unamused look on his face. He reached for an arrow as he sighed, “Can we duel now?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes. But I’m going to hold back, alright?”

“What?” Jax said sharply as his brows snapped together.

“Yeah, I’m going to go easy on you at first—” I started.

But the elf immediately unleashed a flurry of arrows my way. I easily knocked them to the side as he leapt into the air, screaming angrily.

“You tricked me! You promised me you’d go all out!”

“That would end the fight too quickly,” I said simply as he landed on top of my restaurant.

The Forsaken Archer snorted and produced a vial of water. I narrowed my eyes, recognizing this attack. He tossed the vial of water my way, before shooting at it, shattering the glass and raining water down all around me.

It was an enchanted vial— designed to hold more water than it seemed to carry. I just stood there as I was assailed by this wave, not even budging. Jax nocked a glinting arrow on his bow.

“You’ve already tried this once,” I sighed as I shook my head. I knew what was going to happen next. He was going to try to entangle me in some vines and stop me from moving. “It’s not going to—”

“[Undying Sprout Tempest].” He loosed the arrow.

I blinked. I’m pretty sure the Skill name was different…

The thought crossed my mind as the arrow landed at my feet. And all at once, thousands of giant roots sprouted out to entangle me as I expected. I sighed and raised a sword, cutting straight through the vines and thorns. But even though that single slash had shredded through this snare, the roots didn’t stop growing.

No— they didn’t just continue growing. I watched as the torn roots regenerated and coiled around me. I swung up again, with enough force to dispel this encroaching entanglement. But it immediately restored itself and caught me once again.

“Interesting.” I raised an impressed brow. “So it’s stronger than before.”

“That’s not all that’s new…” Jax laughed.

I looked up at him quizzically, and a moment later, I realized what he was talking about. There was a flash of light. I watched as a crackle of electricity ran through the wet vines, before blasting up at me like lightning.

—--

What is that power? the baby queen bastion bee stared at the blast of lightning. It shot up to the sky, blinding her vision.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her colony looked away from the explosion, but she couldn’t bring herself to peel away from the scene. Because even amidst the flashing light, she saw the Invader standing there, completely unscathed.

But I defeated the Invader, the baby queen bastion bee thought. Together with her swarm, she had brought it down after a relentless battle. And yet, here it was, tanking an attack that could eradicate her colony a thousand times over.

So the question crossed her mind. Did I actually defeat the Invader?

And she just stared on as the Invader stood there amidst the blasting lightning.

—--

I felt a tingling feeling run through my skin as I looked down at myself. Jax was just grinning, watching his new Skill blast me ceaselessly. I nodded approvingly. “I can see how this will be a problem for most people. But—”

I stepped forward, breaking through this forest of roots. Jax watched as I casually walked out of his [Undying Sprout Tempest] without any effort.

“You know as well as I do that this won’t stop me,” I said as I walked up to the base of my restaurant. I looked up at the elf.

He shook his head at me. “That’s not all of my tricks— [Sluggish Salvo]!”

Jax unleashed a familiar attack my way. But I easily knocked it out of the way. I continued walking up towards him, and he leapt over me. He flipped in the air, unleashing a trio of arrows down at me.

“[Triple Starbolts]!” he shouted.

The arrows sparkled as they curved down my way. I casually deflected the oncoming projectiles. Jax landed across from me as he laughed.

“That’s right, that’s right! I have got you now!” He loosed another [Superior Blooming Deathhowl] my way as I rolled my eyes.

“No, you really don’t.” And I just flicked the arrow out of the air.

—--

It was an intense battle. The baby queen bastion bee didn’t know who was winning. But one thing was for sure. The Invader had become… the Protector.

She was sure of it. The Protector was fighting off the pointy-eared giant with all her might. Neither side was clearly winning. The tide of battle seemed to be locked in place, with both sides refusing to budge. Their frustrations made quite clear with the words they spoke which the baby queen bastion bee couldn’t quite understand.

“Stop holding back!”

“No.”

“Show me your full power.”

“I said no.”

“Why not?”

“Because this battle will end too quickly. I told you, I need to make it convincing.”

“If you won’t show me your full power, I will make you—”

The baby queen bastion bee truly couldn’t comprehend their words. But in their epic unfolding battle, one thing was clear. The Protector was there to save her colony.

Even after she had attacked the Protector. Even after she had unleashed a relentless onslaught against the Protector. The Protector didn’t care.

The Protector continued to protect them.

And the baby queen bastion bee couldn’t understand why the Protector was fighting for them. She couldn’t understand it. But she could understand her own feelings. She could understand that she was… grateful.

Grateful for being saved.

—--

“Alright,” I muttered to myself as I glanced back at the baby bastion bees.

I saw the way they were staring back at me. Their angry gazes were gone. They barely even paid attention to Jax. They were simply looking my way, and I nodded to myself.

“Now that they trust me…” I spun around and dispelled a volley of oncoming arrows with a swing of my blade.

I looked at Jax who was standing right before a thicket of trees. He was panting— evidently exhausted. But he wasn’t hurt, and he wore a crazed smile on his face. He was enjoying this, even if he was annoyed that I was still holding back.

I shook my head and called out, “Hey, Jax— you said you wanted me to go all out, right?”

The elf perked up. His ears twitched in excitement as he straightened. “That’s right. I… are you going to go all out for me?”

He looked at me with wide eyes. I spotted Noele looking up in shock as she hid behind a bush. Even Arthur, Edlyn, and Harlan, all of whom were waiting back at the restaurant, watching through the glass window, seemed to react at my words.

I smirked as I gestured vaguely around us. “Well, unfortunately, for the sake of everyone in Vacuos, I’m not going to go all out. But I’m just going to put in enough effort to defeat you in one hit.”

Jax paused. He stared at me for a long moment, processing my words. Then he took a step forward, enraged.

“How dare you trick—” he started.

And I appeared behind him, knocking him across the back of the head. Jax collapsed to the ground, unconscious. I dusted my hands off casually.

“Sorry,” that was all I said.

Author's Notes:

What thonk?

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