"It''s okay, Lucy."


    Before she realized it, the Hero closed his distance and locked her small frame into his warm embrace.


    "A-ah…?" She yelped in surprise.


    She was beyond shocked by the sudden action of the Hero that her heart jumped by leaps and bounds. It raced beyond anything she had ever experienced.


    "H-Hero, the mes…!!!" Someone from the audience called out, but he ignored those words.


    Despite the violent mes around her, the Hero didn''t let go.


    He kept her close, ignoring the irrelevant bursts of me that singed his body and outfit.


    As expected of the Hero… even mes didn''t bother him in the slightest.


    "I''m sorry… I''m so sorry!" Lucy bawled as she tightly embraced him as well.


    Her hot tears kept falling as she cried, but the Hero never let her go. He simply hugged her in silence…forting silence.


    Still, silence provided more than enoughfort, the moment was pure bliss for Lucy.


    Just as the legends said, a Hero would descend from the Heavens to save the world. Lucy thought everything to be utter bullshit and poppycock.


    However, as she was beingforted by the powerful being in her embrace, Lucy found out that the legends were actually true.


    The Hero had just saved her from the shackles of her pride… and solitude.


    And so, if he could do that, then saving the rest of mankind wouldn''t be too hard for him.


    ''I-if it''s him… if it''s the Hero… then I''m sure he can do it!''


    ******************


    ''Sweeeeeeetttt!!!'' I squealed in excitement.


    My heart had been racing ufortably back then, but I was d everything was finally over. That was the most intense moment of my life, to be quite honest.


    ''I thought I would have a heart attack!''


    My body shivered when I recollected various moments during the battle when Lucy''s immensely powerful strikes almost got me.


    ''I think I have PTSD!'' I still felt the aftershocks of the immense fear I had felt earlier.


    Was this ferociousdy actually trying to kill me, or something? Throughout the match, she kept ring and angrily charging at me. I could tell that she was out for blood.


    ''I don''t even know who you are!'' I wailed internally, was this some kind of personal beef or what.


    Fortunately, it seemed like I didn''t have to worry about being sliced into two. Even with that, I nned on staying far away from such a psychopathic Loli. She was definitely bad news.


    ''Haa… we had a close call back there, didn''t we? Thankfully, everything worked out fine!''


    Now here''s the question of the decade… just how did I pull this off?


    I was quite surprised by the oue as well. But, once I realized what I had to do, the rest simply yed out as a result of convenience and sheer diligence.


    For one, I utilized my Skills in this battle.


    Using [Freedom Of Expression], I was able to stay calm and calcted at all times—at least externally. I was totally freaking out within.


    Then, there was the Skill [With Great Responsibility Must Also Come Great Power]. Due to its effects, I was able to utilize one Skill each from three of my already established subordinates.


    It sounded nice and all, but in the whole vige, there were only three fairlypetent people around;


    Sarah.


    The Vige Chief—I always forget his name.


    Lucy.


    Fortunately, I had Sarah and Byron—yep, I remember now—under my rule. As a result, I took a Skill from each of them. For Sarah, I obtained a Blessing for Mana Recovery, [Blessing Of Recovery]. As for Byron, I got a boost in Defense [Warrior''s Skin].


    To be honest, increasing my strength with a buff would be meaningless, considering the huge gap in my ability and Lucy''s, so I didn''t even bother. I never intended to attack, to begin with.


    The minute I obtained those Skills, I knew figuring out the next thing to do was going to be quite dicey.


    Fortunately, I had the perfect skill set to ovee my troubles.


    [Insight] allowed me to get a good grasp of my surroundings. It also let me pay close attention to an object of focus. Utilizing it in a battle where I had to be on the constant defensive and consecutive evasion was indispensable. It basically gave me impable focus.


    But, the most important Skill of them all was [Five Seconds Rule]. By seeing five seconds into the future, I was able to see the next course of action my opponent would take before they made it. Precognition at its finest.


    Five seconds were enough for me to tell that Lucy was really going to kill me if I wasn''t careful. Every sh and strike she made was seen by me beforehand. It was a most convenient Skill. Unfortunately, it cost quite a bit of MP to maintain.


    ''3 MP is a fortune to a Level 5 noob like me!''


    It was a good thing I had Sarah''s Skill that restored my MP, so I never had a drawback from using [Five Seconds Rule].


    The duration of her Blessing wasn''t long, though, and the Cooldown was also an eternity. That meant I had to end the fight fast! To do that, I needed to give a wless performance to break Lucy''s will to fight.


    Still, despite all my avable Skills, I couldn''t make up for the difference between me and Lucy. Our physical abilities were too far apart. That was why I threw everything into Agility. There would be no point in seeing her future actions if my body could not act in response.


    This was also when my most convenient Skill came into y.


    [Freedom Of Expression] was a Skill that didn''t just give me the power to disy whatever emotion I wanted. It actually allowed me to perform any course of action as intended. Even unrealistic moves from Anime and movies, as well as coordinated movements that I spent a lot of my time watching—but never replicating—were now possible through the use of this Skill.


    Thanks to that, I was able to move fluidly and respond to Lucy''s unrelenting assaults.


    ''Haaa! I''ll be forever grateful for this Skill!''