I understand!
“You! Samimi’s goal must be to make herself able to command the Adventurer Army!”
“She went through all that hardship to make herself into a true Hero! So she has always, always loved the Hero Party! She loves me too!”
“Loves us… how could… why didn’t she ever say it? Why did she have to hide it from me… I never wanted you to do this…”
The Hero of the Gale couldn’t believe it, yet she couldn’t accept this “reality.”
The Hero of the Gale’s head was a chaotic mess, wild thoughts swirling, as if struck by lightning from a clear sky, unable to regain her senses for a long time.
If Bemore were here, she would definitely punch her awake. Unfortunately, she had already been carried away, unable to warn her teammate in time.
Thud!
A dull thump.
The Hero of the Gale’s back of the head suddenly took a heavy blow from an iron rod, knocking her flat on the ground, her head buzzing.
The entire arena fell silent, collectively speechless.
The mighty Hero of the Gale had shown off spectacularly, only to be knocked down in the end by such a despicable, shameless sneak attack.
“Standing there dazed for so long, you actually believed what I said?”
That familiar voice came from behind, startling the Hero of the Gale, her pupils contracting sharply. Struggling against her shaken consciousness, she forced herself to look up.
She saw Samimi standing perfectly intact behind her, holding an iron rod in her hand—clearly the culprit.
The Hero of the Gale’s eyes were full of questions.
She looked down at the “Samimi” lying beside her, but needed no explanation—that body was gradually dissolving into pages of golden pages, filled with deep red magic power inside, even the “blood” was simulated by magic.
It wasn’t Samimi’s real body at all.
Even without having read books, the Hero of the Gale instantly understood everything.
She had been completely and utterly fooled.
Everything Samimi had said was fake. All those wild thoughts in her head just now were nothing but wishful thinking.
What she couldn’t accept the most was—she had actually believed Samimi’s nonsense, even felt sentimental about it.
But it wasn’t entirely her fault.
The “Feigned Death Substitute Technique”—Samimi had used it who knows how many times.
Her other abilities might have come from cheats, but this move alone was something she comprehended herself based on her unique worldview.
Her substitutes died more and more realistically, completely simulating the state after death, almost impossible to distinguish.
Especially for those entangled with her deeply, it was even harder to see through.
Just making up a few outrageous lines was enough to completely fry the Hero of the Gale’s brain.
“To die so you could establish your authority? You actually believed that kind of reason?”
Samimi sneered.
The Hero of the Gale had no retort, wishing she could bury her face in the sand, it was just too embarrassing.
At the same time, her originally gentle “protagonist personality” had been completely shattered by that iron rod.
From now on, the Hero of the Gale would have no more gentleness, and would never believe another half-sentence of Samimi’s nonsense.
And this precisely meant Samimi had already won—the Protagonist Halo had been easily shattered by her.
“You’ve lost, The Hero of the Gale. Do you have anything else to say?”
Samimi raised the enchanted iron rod, aimed at the back of her head, and stepped on her butt with one foot.
The Hero of the Gale would rather die than admit defeat, filled with unwillingness and humiliation.
If the protagonist of any other novel were rubbed into the ground like this, the author would have been flamed to death.
But now, this precisely showed that Samimi had broken the plot conventions—she might even be targeted by the “World Will” in the future.
“The match is over!”
Finally, the Beauty Referee rushed up to separate the two.
In this kind of duel, the referee intervening itself meant the weaker side had already lost.
The referee determined the outcome was decided, and continuing would only cause unnecessary harm.
Here, a question needs to be explained—why didn’t the referee stop the match when Samimi’s substitute was pierced by the sword energy earlier?
The reason was simple.
Because the real Samimi had already teleported behind the Hero of the Gale, stealthily picking up an iron rod from the ground.
The entire audience could see her, only the Hero of the Gale was completely fooled.
Although this move was indeed despicable, lacking all Martial Virtue, pure deception.
But the audience had no objections.
After all, she was a Magic User, who valued wisdom and tactics.
These audience members were adventurers who fought magic beasts year-round, long past naivety, and wouldn’t consider tactics as improper means.
Finally, a word about the iron rod in Samimi’s hand.
That wasn’t her Rune Staff—the staff had already been knocked away.
And this iron rod was a weapon the Hero of the Gale had “borrowed” from some adventurer earlier.
Who knows who would use an iron rod as a sword, only to have it swept onto the arena by the gale, conveniently picked up by Samimi.
Success due to Unlimited Blade Works, failure due to Unlimited Blade Works—the consequence of liking to throw weapons around.
“Hmph.”
Samimi casually tossed the iron rod aside, retrieved her own Rune Staff, leaned on the ground, looked up at the ceiling, feeling a bit dizzy.
She was a bit tired too.
But this time, she hadn’t activated “Strength Overload,” and had restrained that “addiction to drawing the blade.”
She had simply exhausted her magic power.
Compared to past battles, this was already huge progress—at least she wouldn’t have to recuperate in bed for dozens of days.
“Why didn’t you ever say it? Why did you have to hide it from us? I never wanted you to do this…”
Samimi walked to the Hero of the Gale’s side, mimicking her earlier words like a repeater, vividly.
It could be called the most cruel taunt in history.
But the Hero of the Gale had completely sealed her heart and locked away love, saying nothing, squatting on the ground hugging her head, her face deeply buried in the sand.
“Being sad for a while is enough. According to the bet, if you lose, you work for me. A bet’s a bet, remember to report tomorrow.”
Samimi didn’t continue taunting.
Leave a line of retreat, meet again another day.
After saying that, she turned and left.
Niubao and the Twin Heroes immediately surrounded her to welcome her back, everyone laughing and chatting happily.
The First Guild and Second Guild people had already started the victory celebration.
The audience also gradually left the dueling arena.
Only the Hero of the Gale remained curled up in place, not leaving.
The Third Guild members stayed nearby, keeping watch over her.
They could only wait for that person to come and persuade her, but no one dared to go forward and comfort her—they simply didn’t know what to say.
…
By the time the sun set.
The Hero Sword Saint Cresia finally arrived at the dueling arena.
She had originally been resting in bed, was woken up and came to comfort the Hero of the Gale.
She had also just gone through a big battle with the Twin Heroes and wasn’t in good shape.
Cresia never expected the Hero of the Gale to lose.
Listening to everyone’s description, she was actually defeated by a Priest Girl sneaking around behind her for a sneak attack—winning by foul means, despicable and shameless.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.
A Priest… how on earth did she sneak behind and defeat a Hero?