Chapter 1

## Last Hope

**Last Hope** (最 (さい) 後 (ご) の望 (のぞ) み, *Saigo no nozomi*?) is the 1st chapter of the *Versus* manga series.

## Summary

At a fortress, the 47 Heroes gather with their support fairies. The Unnamed King then announces it's time to fight for humanity's survival. He explains how the world had fallen under the Great Demon King's control, and now different areas are controlled by his 47 Demon Kings. Humanity is doomed, but they have poured all their efforts and resources into training 47 heroes who will oppose the demons.

While the king continues to motivate them, Bolst notes that each of the heroes will have its own group and is assigned to defeat one of the Demon Kings. The heroes are ready to face them, but Liwan tries to suggest them for not underestimating the demons. Ario explains that everyone knows how frightening they are, as every hero has encountered them in some way. Ario is sure they will win and asks to Hallow for confirmation. However, Hallow is super nervous. Panepane, his support fairy, offers him water to help him calm down.

As he relaxes, Hallow apologizes, explaining that after hearing the king's speech, he has realized how heavy his responsibility is. Ario notes that Hallow is the most stronghearted among all the heroes, which is the most necessary thing for all heroes, and they make a promise to congratulate each other after they take out the Great Demon King. The King then dispatches the 47 Heroes to their respective battles.

Half a year later, Hallow's party has almost reached their assigned Demon King. They receive a letter from the kingdom in which Hallow reads that several heroes like Bolst, Fecaccio, Alicia, Liwan and Abyss have fallen. Lyle is shocked to learn the "Thunder Hero" Abyss has failed. He is annoyed as they have only received news of how other heroes have fallen up until now, while not a single letter about a Demon King getting defeated.

Regis asks Hallow what they should do as they have reached the 11th Demon King Jachi's palace. Panepane decides to go home, stating humanity is at it's end, and that only a idiot will go to face certain death. Hallow reads in the letter that the battle between Ario and the Demon king got stopped, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Hallow then agrees with Panepane and adds that he needs to be the only idiot that will go and die, and will go to face the demon king alone. His party sees that the **Sword of Courage**, a holy magical anti-demon sword which reacts to wielder's magic and willpower, is shining, indicating that Hallow's will is still not defeated. The party decides to go with Hallow, stating that their existence was to support the hero, and for them, Hallow is a true hero. Panepane still decides to head home, but as he sees some demons, he returns to the party and joins them.

As the party enters Jachi's castle, they reach the throne room and find Jachi with other demons. Jachi states they are there only to watch and won't interfere. He mentions that he was bored waiting for them to come. Right away, Regis uses **Hellflame**, the **Highest class supreme flame magic**. Jachi puts the magic out without an effort and kills Regis only by flicking his ear wax at him. Hallow notices that Lyle and Mazrina are also dead, covered in blood. Jachi explains that they must have been affected by the dense magic surrounding his body and that it's impressive for Hallow to withstand it for even 10 seconds.

Hallow rushes in and attacks Jachi, who dodges easily, but gets a slight cut on his arm. He guesses it to be the rumored holy sword. While dodging Hallow's attacks, he notes that the latter's swordsmanship isn't bad, but it's also not enough. He grabs Hallow's sword and rips it along with his right arm. Trying to intimidate him, Jachi returns the weapon to Hallow and tells him to cut him as he won't move. Angry, Hallow picks up the sword and attacks Jachi, but as he hits him, the sword breaks.

Disappointed with the limit of the humans, Jachi blows Hallow away from his castle, noting that he can't even challenge a Demon King at his level. Hallow falls into the river, dreaming about an incident nine years ago when his brother Zaybi was doing magic. He shows him the summoning magic and summons an apple, stating that it got brought from the apple tree. However, he explains that if anyone messes up the summoning circle a bit, it results in a failed summon, which summons a strange-looking apple. Zaybi adds that this apple is not from the tree and wonders from where it came.

Hallow wakes up with Panepane by his side. He sees that his wounds have got treated. Panepane explains that after he washed up by the riverside, some passing people helped him. Hallow then sees his older brother Zaybi, who had got assigned to the mage squad. Zaybi notes that the mage squads got a different task than the heroes. Hallow apologizes for the heroes getting defeated, but his brother comforts him and explains that while the heroes were diverting the demon's attention, they were able to work on the other plan. Suddenly, a storm appears, and Zaybi states that the time is here.

Zaybi reminds Hallow about the incident the latter was dreaming about and states that he had summoned an apple from another world. He explains that while the heroes were heading towards the Demon King castles, the mage squads had been dispatched to different locations too, and they all created a gigantic summoning circle around the globe.

Hallow wonders about what they plan to summon, but before Zaybi can answer, some demons approach them. Zaybi states their plan had succeeded before his mage squad fought with the demons. Hallow, devasted from his previous defeat, cries that they don't stand a chance and can't win, recalling how strong Jachi was, but Zaybi tells him they won't be the ones fighting.

The demons then get shot down, and a gun-armed squad shows up. Their captain, Kayla, orders them to rescue the humans from the other life forms. Seeing them, Zaybi gets excited as they summoned an entire world from a different time-space. He explains that since humans no longer stood a chance against the demons, they decided to seek help from humankind from another world. Kayla and the soldiers then approach Zaybi and the rest. They reveal that mankind's enemies have driven them to near extinction and ask Zaybi and the rest to save them.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

1. Unnamed King *(Debut)*
2. Great Demon King *(Mentioned)*
3. Bolst *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
4. Fecaccio *(Debut)*
5. Alicia *(Debut)*
6. Abyss *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
7. Liwan *(Debut)*
8. Ario *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
9. Hallow *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
10. Panepane *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
11. Lyle *(Debut)*
12. Regis *(Debut)*
13. Mazrina *(Debut)*
14. Diganazaru *(Mentioned)*
15. Vanigames *(Mentioned)*
16. Vanishukorgi *(Mentioned)*
17. Macbuk *(Debut)*
18. Nudou *(Mentioned)*
19. Jachi *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
20. Zaybi *(Debut)* *(Cover)*
21. Freen *(Debut)*
22. Wally *(Debut)*
23. Kayla *(Debut)*
24. Olly *(1st Appearance)*
25. Pedro *(1st Appearance)*