North God the Third, Alexander's, words made everyone there widen their eyes.
Whether it was Roxy, Talhand, Elinalise, Geese, Rudeus, or even Paul, with wide eyes and an angry glare, everyone looked at Alexander in disbelief, never expecting him to say he would destroy the teleportation labyrinth along with Zenith.
"Are you crazy?!"
Paul was undoubtedly the most unable to accept this fact.
He stood up without hesitation and roared, "It's just a teleportation labyrinth, how could it be more important than Zenith's life?!"
"Tsk, the voice of a minor character is really annoying."
Alexander looked at Paul with a look of helplessness, seemingly unwilling to talk to him. "I don't know what Zenith means to you, but are you planning to keep the entire teleportation labyrinth to save one person? Once a person merges with the core of the labyrinth, even if they are forcibly separated, there will still be a deep connection. That little one over there should understand this, right?"
"This..."
Not expecting the topic to be brought up to her, Roxy's expression immediately showed some confusion.
She thought for a moment, and finally had to admit with a troubled face, "He's right. A labyrinth is essentially a living monster. After Zenith is swallowed by the core of the labyrinth, she is basically one with the entire labyrinth. If the labyrinth itself ceases to exist, Zenith's life will also be threatened. Conversely, if Zenith survives, the teleportation labyrinth will continue to exist, forever maintaining its current state."
"There's such a thing?"
Everyone was surprised to hear Roxy's words.
It was the first time they had heard that a labyrinth could merge with humans and become inseparable.
If that was the case, they would have to choose between destroying the teleportation labyrinth and saving Zenith, they had to choose one or the other.
"Hehe, it seems you all understand."
Alexander smiled and looked at everyone, waving his hand with a calm expression. "You all saw the little one destroying the monster eggs just now, right? If you don't cut off the source of the monsters, endless monsters will continue to appear, ultimately causing the sacrifice and death of innocent people. The demon eggs are like that, and the teleportation labyrinth itself is an even greater threat. Ordinary people on the Begaritt Continent could die at any time at the hands of monsters spreading out from the teleportation labyrinth. Can you understand what that's like? It's like giving up on destroying the teleportation labyrinth, you will indirectly kill many people!"
"How could this happen?!"
"It's happening, you're not so stupid that you can't see reality at this point, are you!"
Alexander looked at everyone present with calm but firm eyes.
Under his pressure, Roxy and the others lowered their heads, revealing an attitude of not knowing what to say. At least in terms of reasoning, they could not refute him at all.
Even Rudeus was silenced by Alexander's words, unsure how to react.
"..."
In this silence, the first person who couldn't bear it was undoubtedly Paul, Zenith's husband. He stood motionless at the front of the group, his whole being like a condensation of the word "killing intent." His eyes were fixed, and his whole body exuded an astonishing murderous aura.
"Do you want to say something else?"
Alexander was not afraid of Paul's hostility at all, still looking calm.
"...That's Zenith, there's no mistake."
Paul did not respond to Alexander's words, but looked at the sleeping beauty princess sleeping in the crystal in the distance.
He then suddenly drew the greatsword from his back and said sharply, "I will protect Zenith no matter what, even if the world says I'm wrong, I will never change!"
"Oh? You mean to say that you intend to be my enemy? To fight against me, the current North God?"
"Who cares what South God or North God you are, there's only one thing I want to do, and that's to protect Zenith!"
Paul was completely overcome with anger and determination. He didn't even care about the reactions of those around him, directly gripped the sword in his hand, and rushed out!
Alexander shook his head lightly when he saw this.
Then he didn't even move the sword behind his back, and casually greeted Paul.
"Haaaah!!"
Paul didn't hesitate at all, he swung the sword in his hand with all his might, but in the next second he completely failed to catch Alexander's movements and was kicked in the stomach by the latter. Then, a series of punches and elbow strikes sent him flying directly on the spot.
"As the North God, I have dabbled in all techniques besides swordsmanship."
Alexander said casually, "It's more than enough to deal with minor characters like you."
"Damn it... bastard!!!"
Paul obviously couldn't accept this reality. He got up from the ground in exasperation and wanted to continue fighting him.
But Rudeus quickly stopped him and said, "Father, please calm down a little."
"..."
Paul obviously didn't have any intention of calming down at Rudeus's words, but he did see the difference between himself and Alexander and didn't do anything impulsive.
In the eyes of others, Paul was less calm at the moment and more like the calm before the storm. He was just trying to restrain the anger in his heart, in fact, the more he suppressed it, the more it increased layer by layer until the moment it completely erupted.
Rudeus then tried his best to comfort him, "Maybe there's another way that can allow us to both not fight the North God and save Mother!"
"Of course there's a way, and that's to beat that self-righteous guy!"
"But can we really be a match for a North God?"
"Does it matter if we can be a match or not?!"
Paul glared at Rudeus, making the latter couldn't help but shrink back a little.
"Stop arguing!"
Geese spoke to stop them, but Paul still couldn't accept it and continued to glare at Rudeus's face, shouting, "Rudy, Zenith is right there, your mother is right in front of you, why can you still be so calm?"
"Would it be better to be flustered? Can panic solve any problems?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"This..."
Rudeus also knew what Paul meant.
The other party felt that he was too indifferent towards Zenith, but Rudeus himself couldn't help it. He didn't have much interaction with Zenith since he was a child, he didn't spend much time with her, and after growing up, he went to magic university, further separating him from her for a long time.
If he had a strong sense of this, he probably wouldn't have stagnated due to depression at the first moment of the great transfer, but would have looked for clues about his family as soon as possible. It was understandable that Paul was questioning his feelings for his family.
But Rudeus also wanted to deny the other party's thoughts.
He truly cared about the existence of his family, because this was the only thing he had left.
Under the confrontation between Paul and Rudeus, Alexander, who was far away, seemed to be a little bored. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "Are you done talking? If you acknowledge me, I will prepare to completely destroy this magic crystal."
"You're dreaming!"
Paul once again angrily rebuked Alexander.
But Rudeus was still trying to stop him for Paul's safety and analyzed, "It's difficult for us to face the North God head-on. Paul, you remember the terrifying strength the North God showed when he was eliminating monsters before, right? Even if we all add up, we can't win! Rather than fighting, it's more hopeful to persuade him!"
"Persuade? You want me to beg such a self-righteous guy who doesn't care about Zenith's life or death? Do you think that's right?"
"It's not about whether it's right or wrong, it's the only way! Otherwise, everyone will die!"
"Even if it means death, we must save Zenith, that's what we should do as family members!"
Paul and Rudeus's voices of argument resounded throughout the scene.
Roxy and the others didn't know what to say at all.
Alexander, on the other hand, seemed to have completely lost interest in them. He slowly placed his hand on the greatsword behind his back and began to move step by step towards the magic crystal.
Paul wanted to go and stop him, but Rudeus really didn't want Paul to go and die.
The others also didn't know what to do, and fell into disagreement.
Just when everyone was about to watch Alexander destroy the crystal, killing Zenith along with it, Shirou's figure slowly walked out from the side and stood in front of Alexander.
"Oh? Are you going to stop me too, Shirou?"
A look of interest finally appeared on Alexander's face. "I thought you would be like me, putting justice above all else."
"I'm past that age."
Shirou shook his head, silently watched Alexander, and said seriously, "If I bow my head and beg you, would you be willing to let Zenith go?"
"Eh? You're willing to go this far?"
Alexander was still smiling. "But you don't understand. For me, becoming a hero is the only important thing. And solving the troubles of most ordinary people and fulfilling the great cause of saving the world is what a hero does."
"Even if that means killing another innocent person?"
"Between two evils, choose the lesser. A so-called hero is destined to experience such choices."
"...It seems there's no way to persuade you."
Shirou took a deep breath and silently clenched his fists.
He then looked at Paul and Rudeus on the side and said, "Paul, Rudy, you all stand over there, don't come over."
"Eh?"
Shirou's words silenced Paul and Rudeus.
Neither of them understood what he meant.
Shirou put his hand on the longsword at his waist and watched Alexander with an unprecedentedly serious look.
"North God the Third, Alexander, if you must destroy the teleportation labyrinth and harm Zenith, then step over me."
"Oh? You're going to fight me?"
Alexander looked at Shirou with a face full of confusion. "But why don't you ask them to help you? Although they're all boring minor characters, that King-level magician can be of some use, right? Don't tell me you think you can beat me alone?"
As he spoke, Alexander revealed a cold expression. Obviously, the thing he couldn't accept the most was being looked down upon by others.
If anyone dared to do this to him, he would make the person who looked down on him pay the price.
Shirou shook his head at this and said silently, "Because I don't want them to die in vain. If it's a fight to the death, I alone am enough."
"Eh? You're willing to risk your life to save one person? But have you forgotten that you're doing evil? If the teleportation labyrinth continues to exist, I don't know how many innocent people will be harmed."
"There are countless ways to block the teleportation labyrinth, just don't let people near it."
Shirou said firmly, "Also, I've been prepared for this for a long time. If it's to save my family, I'm willing to give up that boring justice, no matter what!"
"Boring justice... you really dare to say that!"
Alexander's gaze towards Shirou finally became serious.
He gripped the hilt of the sword behind his back with a cold expression and said in a voice as cold as the winter, "It seems I was wrong. You're not worthy of my recognition, not a heroic companion who can become a part of my heroic saga, but you're not even a minor character. Hmm, a villain, you're a complete villain, Shirou."
"It doesn't matter if I'm a villain."
Shirou didn't hesitate at all and gripped the sword at his waist, and first drew the sword out of its sheath. "In fact, I've been such a villain once before a long time ago."
"Hehe, you're really interesting, Shirou. After you die, I will occasionally miss you."
Alexander said this with a smile.
In the next second, his expression turned as cold as frost. The sword scabbard behind his back suddenly swung, even though the giant sword had not yet been drawn, the terrifying pressure instantly swept the entire field, making people's legs weak.
"Shirou..."
"Brother Shirou!"
Paul and Rudeus saw this scene and couldn't bear to watch Shirou fight Alexander alone.
But before they could act, they were sent flying directly by the North God's pressure.
Yes, Alexander had completely unleashed the fighting spirit he had unleashed when killing monsters before. The power of the fighting spirit was so exaggerated that it was almost visible to the naked eye.
Shirou even clearly judged that the quality of this fighting spirit was far above that of the Demon King Badigadi he had fought before!
"Pa!"
Without time to think too much, Shirou also unleashed Sword King-level fighting spirit with all his might, but his fighting spirit in front of Alexander was like duckweed in the waves, and there seemed to be no comparison at all!
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