Doro looked at the A·Gedora in front of him.

To say that his heart felt nothing would be a lie—rather, there were many, many thoughts swirling in his mind.

In fact, he felt somewhat grateful to those women.

If not for those women, he would almost have forgotten what he used to look like in the past; he had almost forgotten what kind of gaze he once used to view the world.

The other's gaze was so determined, the other's will was so steadfast.

And he knew, the A·Gedora in front of him clearly knew he was an impostor, yet still came here, still stood in front of him, so...

"Let me see if you are worthy of being called a Hero."

Under the shroud of notes, space seemed to become immensely vast; originally confined within tight quarters, it now seemed to transform into a boundless world.

"This is the power of the Demon King. In my memory, I was on the way to crusade against the Demon King. Seeing the power of the Demon King will benefit my crusade against her."

Doro laughed.

In response to A·Gedora's words, he merely laughed and raised his hands: "You want to know the power of the Demon King, then I can demonstrate for you how the Demon King fought me with pure strength back then."

Upon seeing Doro take that stance, Charlette's expression changed. It was with this posture that she had been beaten senseless, her arms pulled off. At this moment, Doro once again revealed such a stance, reigning like a Demon King over the world, as if to tear down the sky, as if to shatter the ground entirely!

Clearly, it looked like he was just raising his fist high.

Clearly, the two stood there as equals.

Clearly, Doro's body even appeared more hunched than A·Gedora's, far less upright than when he was eighteen.

But when he adopted this posture, his body seemed immensely large, his shadow seemingly enveloping the A·Gedora before him completely, the enemy abruptly transforming into a tiny ant.

The imposter then drew his sword.

The Hero's Sword at this moment shone with its rightful brilliance, its name the Sword of the Sun and Light.

Sunlight glinted on the sword, the golden blood of the Demon King it once touched reflecting this sunlight, appearing dazzling and sacred, its holy radiance infinitely shining.

The Hero's sword lifted upward from below, while Doro's fist came crashing down from above.

The two arcs intersected in mid-air!

The melody Mohe played suddenly became urgent, countless notes incessantly emerging from the Celestial Scale, then constantly drifting to the side of the two, visible to the naked eye as those notes shattered repeatedly, and thus, the combat forces of the two were finally limited to such a narrow space, visible in the banquet hall.

The people could finally recognize—the clash of this era's most powerful forces.

The Hero's confrontation with himself.

The power of the sun could scorch all things unclean, the power of light guided people, and now, the imposter's radiance was countless times more dazzling than the true brilliance, however... power is not measured by radiance.

Justice, righteousness, courage, mercy... these things, as Mohe once told Doro, were the surplus of the strong, the whims of the strong; what the strong alone have, and should only have, is the power to support all whims, to support all whims.

And Doro just happened to possess that.

Alchemy? Magic? Curses? Divine Art?

Such things Doro did not learn; such things were meaningless to him, merely things that could be destroyed at any moment, merely...

His fist fell with greater force than the Hero's Sword.

The Hero's Sword that could wound the Demon King's body left a faint bloodstain on Doro's fist, but correspondingly... A·Gedora's sword slipped from his hand.

To think that with just one punch, he could no longer hold onto the Hero's Sword.

When he was about to make his next move, Doro's fist had already reached his throat, lingering there: "It seems you do not possess the strength worthy of being called a Hero."

Doro's gaze was exceedingly cold, nearly scrutinizing as he looked at the other: "You cannot defeat me, nor can you defeat the Demon King—you are too weak."

A·Gedora looked at Doro, convinced Doro couldn't kill him with one punch, the Hero's Armor was still on his body; Doro's flesh could be harmed by the Hero's Sword, theoretically speaking, he still had a chance to win, so...

He moved again.

In the instant he moved, Doro's fist once again struck his body, but it didn't rightfully hit his throat; instead, it hit his rib area.

The Hero's Armor shimmered with radiance, constantly wearing down the force of Doro's punch, but even so, A·Gedora's expression changed.

Evidently, this punch was quite painful.

But he successfully picked up the Hero's Sword from the ground, and then—attacked Doro with extreme speed!

In an instant, countless sword lights flickered, and Doro's defense was also very simple, blocking the slashes of the Hero's Sword with his bare hands.

Countless fine wounds remained on Doro's arms.

"This!"

The sight exhilarated the onlookers; A·Gedora, armed with the Hero's might, seemed to have gained the upper hand against the current Tearing Celestial King!

Rastina watched Mohe with some anxiety.

Mohe merely shook her head slightly and continued playing her music.

Doro, this guy is such a jerk. He says he's dueling with the Hero, but isn't he just testing my abilities? Although Doro doesn't seem to be that cunning!

Yet Mohe had no choice but to consider this; she had every reason to feel Doro was testing her, and that dueling with another version of himself was just an ugly excuse!

The music alternated between soaring and urgent, with endless notes safeguarding everyone in this arena.

This was a power beyond ordinary understanding, power never imagined by the world, power accumulated by the Demon King over long years, a style unique to the Demon King.

But when A·Gedora finally sheathed his sword, Doro merely looked calmly at him, his arms covered in wounds: "With just this level, you cannot kill me. You should have already felt it; like the Demon King, I have obtained an eternal nature, just like this."

His body instantly returned to its original state. The wounds left by the Hero's Sword seemed to vanish, and the Demon King's blood that originally stained them inflicted no harm upon Doro.

"Only I, wielding that sword, can decapitate the Demon King; you can't do it."

"..."

The Hero A·Gedora continued to wield his sword.

He kept striving relentlessly.

Doro's expression became somewhat moved.

Back when he dueled with the Demon King, it was just like this. If he persevered, might he reach that realm?

He held some vague expectation, akin to how the past Demon King once hoped, and at this moment, Doro also hoped, hoped for this A·Gedora in front of him, even knowing he couldn't defeat him, yet still continuously challenging him — breaking through previous limits.

——But he failed.

Such thoughts failed.

Such battle lasted half an hour.

To the strong, perhaps half an hour of battle isn't long, but to A·Gedora, to Doro, it was already long enough; the impostor nearly exhausted everything, all swordsmanship, all strength, all perseverance — almost used himself up completely.

However, Doro's expression gradually dimmed.

"You can't do it."

His words were filled with disappointment. He looked at Mohe, and Mohe ceased playing the scale.

Doro looked toward Mohe: "You knew he couldn't do it, right?"

"I waited for a you, with time marked in millennia; you wait for the next him, with time counted in days? In such matters, waiting is the most commonplace thing, Mr. Doro, you should have known this. I never had expectations from the start."

"You are right."

The notes completely disappeared, and A·Gedora collapsed to the ground, having exhausted all his strength.

Yet he still wasn't a match for Doro.

"Even though you failed to reach this realm, you fought to the end. I recognize your will as a Hero; you can bear the name A·Gedora — I pass this name to you, but you lack the power to bring peace to the world."

Doro's gaze fell on Charlette: "Take him away. This is not something you should be involved in. If the White Church wants to interfere with my will on this matter, you're welcome to stay and demonstrate your resolve."

Charlette stared blankly at Doro; A·Gedora had failed.

They created such an existence just to fight Doro, yet the battle was so one-sided. This created A·Gedora couldn't even inflict any substantial harm on Doro.

The balance of strength within mutual opponents truly existed only in fantasy. Can their power, even combined, contend with Doro?

The light of the Divine Art fell upon A·Gedora, and Adriana opened the Gate of Space, using magic power to transport A·Gedora into it.

Doro then stood between the Wise King and Duke Regulus, right in the middle of the two.

"Do you know why I came late?"

Without waiting for the two to reply, Doro answered his own question: "First, I went to Duke Regulus's battalion, witnessing the situation there, then proceeded to the Wise King's battalion, observing the conditions there. I saw starving citizens, maimed soldiers, many — so many sorrows, yet also vast ugliness. After that, I came here."

"Do you still wish to continue fighting?"

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