Crates and bags of rose petals surrounded Izick in the darkness. He strapped on his Scout gear, loaded his knives onto his belt, then pulled his hood over his face and a black mask over his mouth.

  Knocks sounded off on the door behind him before opening and letting through a vicious stream of light.

  "Izick, we're about to start. I need you up here with everyone else," Klint said as he peeked his head in.

  "I just finished putting my gear on, but is any of this necessary?"

  "Yes? I thought you liked wearing masks because you didn't like exposing your identity as a Scout."

  "No, not that. This parade. What's the point of an event of this scale? Aren't we telegraphing our intentions to the Death Emperor? We strike the Death Emperor's castle in a mere four days," Izick said while rising from the crate he sat on.

  "This is happening because we're about to mount our attack. The people need something to give them hope. Nothing does that better than an event like this," Klint said as Izick sighed and walked past him to exit through the door.

  Izick squinted his eyes as light bombarded his sight.

  He blinked to readjust his eyes and found himself surrounded by red roses, exotic plants and flowers, golden suits of armor on stone platforms, along with many other majestic and expensive-looking decor fit for a royal courtyard.

  This massive parade float carried the Staff Hero's party seamlessly across the red brick road that stretched out ahead.

  The float passed by towering buildings and cheering people held back by thick stone barricades.

  Izick felt himself becoming nauseous from the wall of noise from the screaming crowd, but his condition was made worse when he turned around and saw a stuffed red wyvern behind him.

  Its blood-red scales and serrated teeth gave it an imposing figure, while its jewel-like orange eyes seemed to stare back at Izick, sending a shiver down his spine.

  "You don't like wyverns? I know they're pretty fierce, but this one can't hurt you," Mill said as she walked up to Izick with her white hood obscuring most of her face.

  "I had a bad experience with one about a year and a half ago. I was on a scouting mission when I suddenly got picked up by one, taken for a ride, and then thrown into a lake. Not a fond memory."

  Alister and Klint walked past Izick and Mill. Alister waved to the cheering people below him, who only got louder. He looked around the decor and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

  "Those Reklians got nothing to offer in the looks department, but man, can they build and engineer. This float is majestic!" Alister said while taking a seat at a red and gold throne at the helm of the parade float.

  "I don't have any regrets paying them all that coin now that I feel like a king."

  "I think the throne was a bit much, but this is overall impressive. The Mysteria Skills etched into the float's base let us move without horses. That level of Artification is outstanding. Ah, looks like they're starting," Klint said as a large white rectangular object materialized in the sky above them.

  The rectangular screen flickered, then showed the faces of countless people cheering and waving the green-and-yellow flags of Arekia.

  It flickered a few more times, showing different angles of the crowd, before settling on a white-haired man in a white suit, with a ball of green energy floating in front of him. He tapped the green orb and brought it up to his mouth.

  "My esteemed guests, I welcome you to the first annual Hero Parade!" The man said while speaking into the green orb that amplified his voice throughout the area. Loud applause and cheering erupted from the crowds.

  "I, your Master of Ceremonies, Garrison, implore you to look at the sky for our opening event!"

  Bird-like cries sounded off in the distance as twelve large golden-feathered griffons with Humin riders on their backs approached at high speeds.

  Each rider had a crate of confetti in hand, which they emptied over the crowds before the birds jetted off, leaving behind a sonic boom.

  The crowds continued to cheer as the white screen went back to Garrison.

  "Now for the main event! The reason why we're all here, the five Summoned Heroes of Arekia!" Garrison said, pointing to his right with his right hand.

  "First, joined by his party of merchants, we have the rock-solid Paladin of the Heroes from the Elseworld land of Puerto Rico, whose strong arms and deep merchant connections have given him the moniker the 'Foundation'. Give it up for the Gauntlet Hero, Raul Moreno!"

  On a plain and simple float with just a platform and railing, Raul Moreno batted away falling confetti with his heavy white and gold armored gloves before accepting a pen and clipboard from the bespectacled assistant next to him.

  He signed the papers with a blank expression, completely ignoring the festivities and crowd cheering for him.

  "Next, from the Elseworld land of Chicago, we have the champion of Dark Elves and Kenomi himself, the Hero of Wilds, Warren Peterson, the Bow Hero!"

  Cheers mixed in with deafening boos rained down as the forest-themed float rolled by. The Bow Hero Warren stared straight ahead with a nervous expression as he gripped the massive white and gold longbow in front of him.

  Multiple Dark Elves with their coffee-colored skin and white hair, and fox Kenomi beastmen stood around him.

  A Dark Elf woman came up to him and placed a hand on his back and whispered in his ear, causing him to stiffly raise his bow into the air, bringing more cheers to overpower the boos.

  "Coming from the land of Seattle in Elseworld, she is known for her masterful palate as a chef and her brilliant tactical mind, the Queen of Flavor, Helen Ritter, the Spear Hero!"

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Helen held a long, white-and-gold spear and waved enthusiastically, blowing kisses to the crowd with her free hand, sending them into a frenzy.

  An expertly crafted ice swan rested in the middle of her float while a line of sous chefs prepared a meal on the stoves outfitted on the float.

  A sous chef brought a plate with steak-like meat with multiple sides to Helen, who inspected it before snapping her fingers. Speedlines of white light surrounded the plate before it suddenly disappeared.

  Garrison jumped back in his chair in shock as the plate of food phased into existence on the announcer's table in front of him.

  Helen motioned with her hand for Garrison to eat the food in front of him.

  "Outstanding! This is the Spear Hero's Dimension Mysteria! But more importantly, this is a meal from a world-class chef. Excuse me..."

  Garrison picked up the knife and fork and cut off a piece of the steak. He took a bite and leaned back to savor its flavor.

  "Ah, I don't know what that was, but it was amazing! I would sit here and eat this for the rest of the day, but I have a Hero Parade to get back to. Thank you so much, Spear Hero!"

  Helen smiled and gave a quick bow, leading to more applause.

  Alister rubbed his hands together and summoned the Honor Rod to his right hand. Klint walked around the platform and got everyone in position.

  "All right, everybody. We're next. Make sure you're presentable since this event will be broadcast across the country of Arekia," Klint said as he walked past each of the rough and battered members of Alister's party.

  "How can I be presentable with teeth like this?" The old dwarf said while giving a smile full of rotting teeth to Klint, who quickly turned away.

  "Just keep your mouth closed, Nurk. Izick, stand by Mill. You don't belong with the Warriors," Klint said, pointing to Mill with his thumb.

  Izick sighed as he walked over to Mill and looked around at the party members who were all standing in exaggerated and forced poses, trying to look as tough as possible.

  "Honestly, I think everyone looks ridiculous right now," Mill said as she leaned against the railing of the float.

  "Yeah, well, I'd rather look ridiculous than full of myself..." Izick said while taking a quick glance at Alister, who began to rhythmically bang the Honor Rod into the floor.

  The crowd quickly caught on and began to chant the words 'Shoot! Shoot!' in rhythm with Alister.

  "Here he is! Coming from the Elseworld land of Georgia, the Hero, many call the strongest and the man whose staff, the Honor Rod—which oddly looks like an Elseworld shotgun—can pierce mountains and crush enemy strongholds with one shot! The DoomBreaker, the Hero of Light himself, Alister Black, the Staff Hero!"

  The chants from the crowd to shoot only grew louder until Alister lifted the Honor Rod and pulled its trigger to let off a huge blast of yellow light that gathered into a massive ball above the float.

  Alister spun the Honor Rod and held it out in front of him like a staff. The ball of light unfurled to take on the shape of a dragon.

  It roared as it circled the sky above Alister, releasing squeals of joy from the entranced crowd and Garrison from his booth.

  The dragon of light flew over the crowds until it stopped at the most densely populated area, where it paused and roared once more.

  It lifted its head to the sky and shot a stream of fire, lighting up the sky and filling everyone's eyes in the crowd with flaming red and orange.

  Mill looked on while shaking her head.

  "What a horrifying display of skill. Izick. You might not fully understand since you're not a Mage, but seamlessly mixing Light, Fire, Sound, and Animation Mysteria without abnormalities with that amount of pure Mana is at the level of an Archmage. I can't believe he got this good within the four years of being in our world," Mill said as the dragon of light continued to shoot fire and do tricks in the air.

  "Yeah, but it likely has something to do with the Blessing he received upon being summoned here."

  Izick and Mill's musings abruptly came to an end when the crowd behind them erupted in wild cheering.

  Everyone in the float turned around to see what the commotion was. The last float in the line had a steep artificial mountain built into its center, sloping upward toward the sky.

  At the very top of the mountain stood a single figure who leaned forward with a white rapier in hand.

  Various individuals of different races, from Elves and Dwarves to Humins and Kenomi with varying traits of beasts, all stood around the base of the mountain.

  "Last but certainly not least, hailing out of the land of New York from the Elseworld, all of you know him so well that I might as well not introduce him, but I'll do it anyway! Piercing through doubt and darkness, he is the Hero who never sleeps, and most importantly, the People's Champion who scarred the face of the Death Emperor himself, Richard Nightingale, the Sword Hero!"

  The loudest cheers of the day shook the entire area as guards had to stop some members of the crowd from jumping over the barricades to get closer.

  Richard drew back his white rapier and thrust it forward at Alister's dragon of light. A nearly invisible gust of wind blasted out of Richard's sword and smashed into the flying monstrosity.

  It shivered and dispelled, crumbling into tiny specks of light that harmlessly fell down to the crowd like rain made of light, spawning oohs and ahs from them.

  Alister, with the Honor Rod in hand, leapt out of his throne and ran to the back of his float.

  Richard looked down from his mountain and stared down at Alister, who stared back at him, full of rage.

  Richard mouthed the words 'knock it off' at the fuming Alister before waving to the crowds of people around him.

  "Bastard, you always want the last laugh, don't you?" Alister said as he gripped the Honor Rod in his hands.

  "What a show of light! That's the Honor Blade for you, dispelling and cutting through Mysteria of all elements with ease!" Garrison said, staring at the falling lights in awe.

  Richard lifted his empty left hand. A ball of green wind twirled into his hand before stabilizing into a ball of green energy like the one with Garrison.

  "Esteemed people of Arekia," Richard said, with his voice booming from the green ball of energy. "Your Heroes have not forsaken you!"

  Deafening cheers of admiration followed these words as the people continued to rally behind him.

  "Lend me your hearts as we charge forward and strike down your enemies! I am your Sword, and I—as well as the other Heroes who serve you—will not rest until victory and freedom from the Death Emperor is ours!" Richard said as he raised his sword above his head, captivating his entire audience and making them forget the other Heroes, focusing solely on him.

  Alister walked to his throne and kicked it over as his party members watched Richard from afar. A swordsman watched in awe as he shook his head.

  "Wow, I want to run through a wall right now. That speech was inspiring."

  "Shh, shut up, you idiot!" Said another party member as he looked back at Alister, who leaned over the railing of the float, mumbling to himself.

  Garrison tried to restore order to the crowd, but the Hero Parade was focused entirely on Richard Nightingale. Mill turned away from Alister and stared back at Richard, who continued to greet the crowds of people.

  "I can definitely see why they call him the leader of Arekia's Summoned Heroes. Not a soul here believes that the Heroes will lose."

  "Yeah, if only wars could be won with incredible speeches," Izick said as he leaned against the railing beside Mill.

  Izick looked away from Richard and his party and turned to the crowds cheering their idolized Heroes.

  They screamed their hearts out for people they didn't even know, believing they would save them.

  But what if they fail?

  What if the Death Emperor proved too much for the summoned Heroes?

  Would he even still be alive if everything went south? Izick quickly shook the thoughts away and took a deep breath.

  The Heroes will win. He will win no matter what. He'll get his pension and walk away from this life forever in a mere four days.

  This was the only thought that mattered.