The 5th Hero

Prepare for Battle

And now, all three teams are on their way to return to Melromarc. What awaits them back in their home world? You'll find out soon enough. And, will all three teams reappear at the same time? Again, the same answer as before. This is what everything has been leading to and it's going to bring so much to the table. Amazing action, thrilling interactions, iconic characters from multiple series, and maybe even some heartbreak down the line. That's right, best get those tissues ready. I've got something brewing and it's getting close for me to spill it. Now, i'd say I've talked for long enough. Let's begin the final act of this mega arc. Enjoy!

-POV: Ren-

In the matter of a few seconds, all of us reemerged from the portal and stepped back into our world. We all took a long look around and, thankfully, everything looked the same as when we left. I let out a huge sigh of relief because I was actually expecting to be attacked when we stepped into Melromarc again. I looked to where the other two portals to the other worlds had spawned, and I noticed that one of them was gone. It had been closed.

"Let's just hope that whoever went to that world already came back before it was closed." I said to myself. Luckily for all of us, the carriage we had taken to get here was still where we left it. We all hopped in, even though it was a bit of a tight squeeze now, and we headed back to the royal kingdom. I'm sure the queen would appreciate it if we reported back to her of our success.

We were let into the kingdom and we stopped at the entrance to the castle. We exited our carriage and then walked through the castle to the throne room where we expected to find the queen. However, she met us about halfway through and we walked together back to her throne room. 

"Greetings, your majesty. It is so good to see you again." I said to her as she gave me a nod. 

"As are my feelings towards you, sword hero. It appears your mission to your world was a success. You've brought back several warriors with you who look quite skilled in their own right." The queen said as she seemed to examine the three teams we had brought back with us. 

"Tell me, have any of the other teams returned from their worlds yet? We noticed one of the three portals had already been closed upon our return." I said as she sadly shook her head. 

"Unfortunately, you are the first to return. The team containing the axe and bow hero, they were the ones who had their portal closed. I'm trying to think of a solution to reopen it, but the answer is still eluding me." The queen said as we all just received a massive blow to our confidence. 

"Itsuki and Ayuma's team.... not having them here.... that's going to make things so much harder for all of us. And, all we can do is hope Motoyasu and Naofumi's team makes it back before the other portal closes." I said as we arrived in the throne room. In the centre was a large table that had been set up with a bunch of maps all over it. 

"A lot has happened since you all left. To start, the demon king, Aidoneus has begun to mobilize his forces. Every day you've been gone, he'd send some of the monsters within the underworld to the surface to attack us. My troops have been able to fend them off so far, but i'm sure these forces from the world the axe and bow hero went to will surely change the tide quickly." The queen explained as I became concerned about what she just said. 

"Did you just say "every day we've been gone?" Our team has only been gone for a full day though." I said to her as she shook her head. 

"If that is the case for you, then that means time flows differently within those portals. It's been 4 days since you all left, to be exact." The queen informed us all.