Chapter 51

Today, I have two works to submit.

Please read chapter 49 first.

"Shadow Spear!"

"Kya!"

The black spear launched by the man in the black robe, Kagerou, pierced through the soldiers of the demon race.

The soldiers surrounded him, but before they could attack, he escaped by merging into the shadows.

"Wh-What do we do?"

"H-He's too strong!"

"Whoa!"

Kagerou, who had swept away the soldiers with a giant shadow fist, looked around with a bored expression.

"I've already unleashed my main power, yet the demons are still holding back?"

A group that can be killed with one hand cannot satisfy his heart.

Just as he was about to swing his shadow fist again—

"Flame Twin Spears!"

"!"

Reacting instinctively, Kagerou jumped to the side.

A flame spear pierced the spot where he had been standing, and another immediately followed, flying toward where he had fled.

"It's a twin spell!"

He rolled away hurriedly, and a spear stabbed into the ground right next to him.

It grazed him slightly, scorching the edge of his robe, but there was no damage.

"Hmm, someone who can put up a fight has appeared!"

"There's no time to rest!"

"Tch!"

Noticing the killing intent from behind, Kagerou jumped forward.

"Crushing Fist!"

The ground shook with a loud noise.

Kagerou, who had landed on the ground, was distracted by the tremor and had to cancel the spell he was about to cast.

"Sure enough, it's not going to be easy."

"Better than being boring, I suppose."

"You... Finally showing up, huh?"

The ones who appeared were a petite girl and a large man.

They were the two subordinates of the Demon King who had faced Kagerou before—

"One of the Fifth Demon Generals, Lily Lavent. Nice to see you again."

"One of the Fifth Demon Generals, Ides Armius. ...Let's go, Black Robe."

"I'm not a Black Robe, my name is Kagerou. ...With two Demon Generals, I have a worthy opponent!"

Kagerou took off his black robe, revealing his appearance.

He had black hair, and a large scar on his well-defined face.

"Wow! Not bad at all!"

Lily began to gather her magic, and Ides readied his fists.

Kagerou also drew the sword hidden at his waist and readied himself.

The powerful pieces boasted by each army clashed here.

"Hmph!"

One of the Fifth Demon Generals, Blood, cast a spell that burned human soldiers.

"Such toys won't work on me!"

"Giiii..."

He jumped to avoid a blow from a mage soldier approaching from behind and landed on its shoulder.

He thrust the red knife in his hand into the mage soldier's neck, where the armor was thin, and it collapsed in convulsions.

(They look like puppets, but since they bleed, they must be living beings.)

When he pulled out the knife, blood spurted from the neck.

The mage soldiers that attacked him as soon as he arrived on the battlefield were several times stronger than regular soldiers.

While they were not a significant threat to Blood, a Fifth Demon General, their numbers made them quite formidable.

"Let's start with the puppets."

Blood shallowly cut his palm, and the blood that flowed out floated up and hovered in his hand. "Bloody Bullet"

The floating blood split and was fired like bullets at the mage soldiers.

The blood bullets pierced the armor and shattered the heads, which seemed to be the command centers of their bodies.

The disabled mage soldiers collapsed, and the human soldiers who saw this regretted underestimating the Fifth Demon Generals.

"The mage soldiers were taken out so easily..."

"R-Retreat for now!"

"Think I'll let you?"

Blood readied his red knife, and the blood flowing from his palm wrapped around it.

"Bloody Saber"

The gathered blood was stretched thin by magic, transforming the blade into an extraordinarily long one.

Swinging the thin, hard, and long blade with all his might, he easily bisected the human soldiers.

And—absorbing the blood of the fallen soldiers, the knife grew even longer, reaping the lives of the other soldiers.

"Is that all... No, it's not."

Blood turned around.

There stood a girl in a raincoat with a face he had never seen before.

(...She's strong.)

Blood immediately sensed it.

She had the same level of strength as him.

While he wouldn't lose, he had a feeling he would suffer serious injuries.

"Who are you?"

As he asked, the girl began to approach him.

There was no hostility, and Blood allowed her to come closer, though he remained slightly cautious.

"My name is Kibashiri Yū. I don't want to fight; I just want to talk."

"Hmm..."

She didn't seem to be lying.

At this point, Blood realized she was a hero summoned from another world.

Her name and appearance were unusual in this world, and while she possessed great power, she still showed signs of immaturity.

She was most likely the hero.

"The content of the conversation will determine whether—"

"Do you know a boy named Setsu?"

"! ...Alright, let's move to another place."

"Got it."

At this moment, Yū inwardly made a fist.

She had heard from Elka that the Fifth Demon Generals knew Setsu, but she was unsure if mentioning his name would get her a conversation.

She seemed to have passed the first hurdle, and Yū felt relieved.

"Let's go—"

"Yū!"

Just as Yū was about to follow Blood, a familiar voice called out to her.

There stood Jirō, looking shocked.

"Do you know him?"

"..."

"Yū! Why are you with someone like that!"

Jirō approached.

Yū, who had a momentary look of confusion, quickly erased it—

"No, I don't know him."

—And released an orange flame at Jirō.

"! Aaaaaah!"

"Hmm..."

Jirō, engulfed in flames, writhed and rolled on the ground.

The rain and wet ground weakened the flames, but Yū's flames were not so easily extinguished.

"Let's go."

Yū immediately turned away from Jirō and walked off.

"Isn't he your comrade? Is it okay?"

"I don't know such a person. Even if I did... he's just in the way now."

"..."

Blood was surprised.

He could tell that the girl and the man were friends.

What surprised him was the lack of will in Yū's eyes.

It seemed as if she had done it because it was necessary.

"...Hmph, a creepy woman."

"Don't be so rude..."

The two started walking toward the demon camp.

Yū's betrayal, as reported by a passing soldier, was that Jirō, who had been rescued and received treatment for minor burns, had told the story.

"—That's the situation!"

"Understood, you may step down."

"Hai!"

Sitting on the throne in the Demon King's castle, Desastre dismissed the soldier who had reported the battle situation and folded his arms, deep in thought.

While the large chest was emphasized by the folded arms, creating a wonderful scene, fortunately, there were only two women in the room, so no one was aroused.

"Strong demons as soldiers, puppet soldiers that three soldiers can't take down, and those in black robes... Even if they haven't entered Evilbrough yet, it's only a matter of time."

"The situation is not good."

"Phew... You're right, Levi."

Levi, standing beside Desastre, handed him a cup of water she had created.

The cup was made of thin ice, and the cold water felt refreshing on his mentally exhausted body.

"I'm sorry..."

"Being a king is tough."

"Hehe... There are always worries."

Desastre laughed self-deprecatingly.

The war in this world had strong elements of the Japanese Sengoku period, where the victory went to the army that killed the king.

Desastre, who was targeted by all soldiers, was mentally worn down, even as the Demon King.

Thinking about the safety of his comrades and the responsibility of losing the war if he were killed, Desastre cursed his own immaturity.

"The number of black robes and the number of forces we have to counter them don't match... If only all the Fifth Demon Generals were here... Damn! What are those two doing? They haven't died, have they?"

A long time ago, the combined army of beasts and demons had set out to invade the human continent.

Among them were the remaining two of the Fifth Demon Generals.

However, it was clear from the fact that humans were now attacking the demon continent that the combined army had been annihilated in an instant.

Despite the considerable forces that had been deployed to prevent the human army from leaving the continent, it was initially hard to believe that they could be defeated so quickly.

But it seemed to be the truth, as none of the soldiers who had been on the mission had returned.

This suggested that the two were also not safe.

"But if they haven't returned, they must be dead, right?"

"No... That's not the case with them. They... sometimes act on their own, but their strength is reliable. They must have escaped unharmed."

There might be a reason they couldn't return—Desastre continued, but Levi thought they would have sent some kind of message if that were the case.

Unless they were in a situation where they couldn't even do that...

"If only they were here, we could turn things around... Damn, they must be hiding and plotting something."

"They're... unique people."

"They're troublemakers too... I hope they don't cause any bad results."

Desastre, who had slumped, was silently handed another cup of water by Levi.

"If we can hold on a little longer, Setsu and the others will come. When they do, the tide of the war will turn."

"Um..."

The mention of Setsu's name brought vitality back to Desastre's eyes.

To Desastre, and indeed to all the demons, Setsu was a symbol of hope.

In fact, once he arrived, this war could be considered a victory.

"So we have to hold on. It would be no joke to say we lost when he arrives."

"That's right. And if we lose—"

Desastre stopped speaking.

He noticed Levi, who was standing next to him, clenching her teeth so hard they made a sound, and radiating anger.

"We won't let those... black robes have their way. We'll kill them all."

"..."

Desastre felt the same way.

If they lost... they would be used by them.

That must be prevented at all costs.

Because—

"We can't let it happen...! The 'End'...!"

—This world would end.

"Setsu, the magic circle is ready."

"Alright. Thanks, Regulus."

"Don't mention it. I can't stand to see a country I've allied with in trouble. I'll send reinforcements by ship later."

"Heh. I'll finish this before they get here, so leave the cleanup to you."

"Quite a statement."

While exchanging banter with Regulus, I woke up the cat sisters, who were sound asleep.

Roa, who had been stretching in a corner, noticed us and came over in her combat gear.

"Come on, let's go! You're still half-asleep!"

"E... Ah! Y-Yes!"

"I'm still sleepy..."

Unlike Mineko, who quickly started to get ready, Shironeko was still half-asleep.

I created a ball of water and threw it at her.

"Are you awake now?"

"Perfectly."

Shironeko glared at me with half-closed eyes, but the fault lies with you for not being fully awake.

While drying her with one hand, we headed to the room with the magic circle.

"Are you all ready?"

"Yeah."

"We're off, Dad."

"Don't take too many risks, okay?"

"I know."

We each checked our equipment.

The cat sisters looked the same as usual.

They were wearing adventurer-style clothes similar to mine.

Roa was dressed in a way that maximized her athletic abilities, with minimal fabric.

She had been flirting with me in this outfit earlier, so I had given her a face slap.

She was indeed sexy and cute, but it felt wrong to be so obvious.

Shyness is important, shyness.

Compared to their outfits, I was carrying a large black sphere on my back, looking heavily armed.

I was a bit worried that the tip would drag on the ground if I carried it diagonally, given my height.

"...Why don't you put it in a magic bag?"

"Roa, you don't get it. This feels more like a battle, doesn't it?"

"Is that so?"

Shironeko and Mineko looked at me with curious expressions.

Carrying a large sword on your back is a man's romantic ideal.

...In any case, with everyone ready, we were set.

"Alright—let's go, everyone."

The light of teleportation enveloped us as we stood in the center of the magic circle.

And so, we plunged into a war that would go down in history.

Here... in this war, I would tear off the shackles of my own beliefs.

By the way, considering the entire story, the first three chapters are still the beginning.