Chapter 41 - Meet Again

All the heroes descended onto the battlefield. The path to the Demon King's castle lay wide open, with only a few obstacles remaining before entering the castle grounds.

"Jilk Burst!"

"Mountain Strike!" Zack swung his large sword.

In the blink of an eye, all the monsters disappeared from their view.

"Finally, the heroes have descended!" Demon Lord Dolce exclaimed.

"Now it's our turn to act, tehee!" Pico replied.

"You take care of that group of humans over there! Let me handle the Hero group!" says Demon Lord Dolce.

"Uhhh.. Huhhhh.. Pico wants to play with the Heroes, not with those weaklings."

"Do you think now is a good time to play?" Demon Lord Dolce became serious.

"Pico will go first!" Pico followed Dolce's orders, muttering to herself, "Dolce is no fun at all!"

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"Is Shara okay?" Wells asked while dealing with monsters in another area.

"Shara is fine, Grandpa!"

"Garggghh!" One of the Goblins suddenly tried to attack Shara swiftly.

"Huh?" Shara didn't have time to dodge because she was too busy dealing with another monster. Without her realizing it, a cunning monster attempted a sneak attack.

*I don't have time to dodge!*

'Zhossh!'

As the monster was about to attack, an arrow appeared behind its head. Shara was surprised to see the monster suddenly collapse.

"An arrow? Who?" Shara's gaze turned towards the arrow behind the monster's head.

Once again, in a perilous situation, Shara was absorbed in the battle. She then looked up to see Demon soldiers falling one by one in front of her.

'Zhossh!'

'Zhossh!'

'Zhossh!'

Arrows swiftly passed Shara, killing the Demon soldiers behind her.

From a distance, someone wearing a black cloak with their head covered appeared. That person glanced at Shara and, in the blink of an eye, 'Shoooshhh,' he was in front of her. Shara couldn't react; the person's response was so swift. The person then leaped past Shara with a backflip.

'Dum!' The sound of landing on the ground.

'Zhossh!'

'Zhossh!'

'Zhossh!'

They killed all the Demon soldiers attempting to approach Shara.

Shara shifted her gaze to the person behind her.

"Huh?"

'Zhossh!'

Another arrow released by the person targeted the Demon soldiers behind Shara. The arrow missed Shara's face by an inch. In an instant, the monsters surrounding Shara were killed.

Shara's eyes were fixed on the person rather than her surroundings. She saw the face of the cloaked man just a few steps away.

"Raqnid!" For the first time, Shara uttered Raqnid's name in front of him.

Shara was stunned because she had believed that the man who was once her first love had perished. Now, he stood before her, holding a bow to save her. Her emotions were mixed with sadness and joy.

"Shara!"

For the first time, Shara heard her real name spoken by the man she loved. Shara just stood there, offering no response.

"SHARA!"

"Huh? Yes!"

"What were you daydreaming about?"

"Aaaaa.. Aaa.. D-do you know me?" asked Shara curious.

"You're the Elf kingdom's princess, right!" Raqnid replied.

*Hah! So that's how it is. Raqnid knows me only as a princess, not as Shara!* Shara thinks to herself.

"SHARA!"

"Huh? Yes!"

"Don't daydream here, princess! Get ready!"

"Hmm, alright!"

Raqnid and Shara turned away from each other. Shara's face looked grim, realizing that she was only known as a princess by Raqnid.

"Let's do as we trained before!" Raqnid said.

"Huh? Trained?"

"Yes! Trained!"

Shara began to recall the times when she trained with Raqnid.

*Wait! The time I trained with Raqnid! Isn't...* A smile began to form on Shara's face after learning that Raqnid was just teasing her.

"Raqnid stupid!"

"Heh," Raqnid chuckled.

Demon soldiers started surrounding them again. Wells, busy with his battles, hadn't had a chance to see Shara. His focus shifted to where his granddaughter was, and all he saw was a swarm of Demon soldiers.

"SHARA!"

Wells ran towards Shara intending to save her.

'GARGHH!'

As he approached Shara, one by one, Demon soldiers retreated cautiously.

Wells could then catch a glimpse of his granddaughter's face through the gaps in the Demon soldiers.

"Why does Shara look happy?"

The combination of Shara and Raqnid was so powerful that the Demon soldiers had no room to attack.

"Is someone with Shara?"

"Wait!"

"That black cloak!"

"RAQNID!"

"Why is he with Shara?"

"Their combination is so perfect as if they've trained together before!"

Wells' mind processed all the information he knew. He began to recall that Shara had mentioned training with someone when she was in the Human kingdom. She had described this person as an exceptional archer. Wells reminisced about how he was defeated by Raqnid and became curious about Raqnid's strength, eventually joining the Razor group.

"Argghhh! So you're that person, Raqnid!!!"

Wells had known Shara since she was a child, and he could discern Shara's feelings towards Raqnid just by observing her reactions.

"How dare you, Raqnid, try to take my granddaughter... I won't allow it unless you can defeat the Demon King," Wells spoke to himself.

'Zhossh'

'Zhossh'

Anyone who tried to approach them was killed. Raqnid kept an eye on Shara's back, while Shara watched behind Raqnid. As time passed, they moved forward.

*(Smiling) It's been so long since I felt this way. The joy and happiness of training together,* Shara thought.

Their movements towards the Demon King's castle were swift. Every obstacle in front or around them was eliminated. Raqnid used the 'Arrow Back' skill to retrieve all arrows after hitting their targets to make sure he did not run out of arrows and ensure he wouldn't run out of mana so fast. Moreover, Raqnid could control the arrows like guided missiles.

Shara, on the other hand, utilized 'Mana Arrow,' where the arrows were made of mana. To use this skill, Shara needed a substantial amount of mana. It was a renowned skill often used by the Elf tribe due to their larger mana pool compared to other tribes.

"Shara!"

"Got it!"

Both of them understood each other's move. The next step was a combination of their attacks, something they hadn't succeeded in before because Shara wasn't strong enough at that time.

*This time, we'll succeed,* Shara whispered in her heart.

The two of them turned in the same direction, targeting the enemies that gathered, blocking the path to the Demon King's castle. Both of their bows charged to release their shots.

"Unite Ultra Burst," Shara and Raqnid declared in unison.

'Zhoosh'

'Zhoosh'

Both of their arrows began to merge into one larger arrow. For the combination to succeed, both arrows had to possess the same power level. No one arrow could be too strong or too weak. The timing of the release and the strength of the release also needed to be synchronized to ensure that both arrows traveled at the same speed.

The two arrows started merging into one. The power unleashed by this arrow became 100 times stronger than the original.

"Success!" Shara exclaimed in excitement.

'Zhooooosh'

The arrow obliterated all obstacles in its path. Unlike a Full Moon Shot, this attack produced a significantly greater force, allowing it to destroy a larger number of enemies. If compared, the Full Moon Shot was several times stronger than this attack.

"What is that?" one of the soldiers shouted.

"That attack, isn't it the Unite Ultra Burst?" Leonel observed from afar.

*Unite Ultra Burst is a combined attack between two archers... It requires high precision and understanding between each other... The last time I saw this attack was 50 years ago... They were a married couple who successfully executed the attack after being married for almost 20 years... Anyone who can perform it must be incredibly compatible with each other... Ugh, why does my granddaughter have to be with that kid... Arghh!* Wells scratched his head.

The attack was witnessed by almost everyone. It soared towards the Demon King's castle, arriving right in front of it, and 'Shrinnk,' the attack disappeared.

"Weak creatures, congratulations on making it this far!"

The Demon King began to reveal himself atop his castle. His voice echoed for everyone present in Mardi to hear.