Malaise

　Upon arriving at the town, we secured lodgings and then headed to the guild as usual. Big Sis was also with us until we secured lodgings, but probably because she was not an adventurer, we parted at the inn.

　We can talk to her anytime since we’re staying at the same inn, but it seems that she had no particular thing to do, so she decided to rest in her room. It was just right, so I pushed Nico-chan’s babysitting onto her. Higurd-san is also with them, so there should be no particular problem. And as one would expect, the big-sisterly Big Sis accepted it with big-heartedness as she said『Haha! Leave it to me』.

　Well then, and so we— though specifically speaking it’s the three of me, Rishe-chan and Leila-chan, have arrived at the guild, and there are several adventurers there. In terms of the ratio of men to women, it’s 4:6, with more men, but the number of female adventurers is by no means low.

　Moreover, every one of them extends their hands to their weapons after taking a glance at us.

「… You guys—or rather, you and you.」

　One of them, a male adventurer, points to me and Leila with his chin. Even as I tilt my head in wonder, I ask back while plastering a faint smile on my face.

「What is it?」

「Who are you? Leaving the young miss over there aside, you and the woman over there… are you two human?」

　Leaving Leila-chan aside, why am I being called out? I just don’t get it, simply don’t get it! Or rather, why does everyone keep questioning whether I’m human or not? Rishe-chan father even called me a『Shinigami』… I hope they’ll stop looking at me like they do monsters.

　Ah, could it be because of this left eye? It’s red, after all, right?

「More or less, I’m human, though? You acting like that… Could you be, a guy?」

「It’s completely beyond me why you can say such a thing in this atmosphere, though.」

　At my words, the male adventurer loses his stance, slipping slightly. The serious air seems to have been broken, and although he has released his hand from his sword, he has not yet let down his guard against us.

　First of all, I hope he can do something about this situation where we can’t get in through the guild’s entrance. Well, there seems to be room for conversation, so let’s try to poke fun at it for a bit.

「About that, you know, following that thing that says you mustn’t judge people by their looks?」

「By that logic, we can’t even tell whether you’re human or not by your looks, can we?」

「… Care to tell me why you thought I wasn’t human?」

「The smell is different, the presence I sense from you… It’s not that of a normal human.」

　What’s with this calling out? Just what did I do wrong?!

　In this case, if they want to call out someone, it has to be Liela-chan, right? I’m a normal human being. I do have a left eye made of demon flesh, but other than that, I am a purely cultured human being. Why do I have to be called out as if I were a monster?

　I can’t accept it. If you put it that way, then A-ranked adventurers are also monsters, no? If they feel like it, they could kill ordinary people in one punch, you know? I’m so insignificant compared to that, aren’t I?

「Say, Rishe-chan, aren’t these people so rude? Why am I being called out like shit like this? Did I do something wrong?」

「If I have to say, perhaps it’s because you have a bad habitual conduct?」

「Was that supposed to be a clever remark? It splendidly gouged out my heart, though?」

　I have no such a thing as allies. Both to my front and to my rear are enemies… Leila-chan is useless in relationship-based conversations like this, after all.

　But, well, I guess it can’t be helped, I should say. 『Eerie Constitution』 for instance, in case it’s activated, even an A-ranked Knight Commander would treat me like a Shinigami, after all.

　Or rather, it just occurred to me, but isn’t this situation caused by the『Eerie Constitution』? It’s a passive skill, so isn’t it activated pretty much all the time? Even if they don’t think of me as an enemy, they’d still be a little wary of people they meet for the first time, wouldn’t they? Because of that, maybe the skill is slightly triggered?

　Yikes, this is one hell of a communication-disorder skill.

「Anyway, we’re human. Us coming here is also simply to take requests, after all… And look, we have guild cards, too! Comrades, you know, comrades, we are C-O-M-R-A-D-E-S.」

「… I see. My bad, but there have been reports of demons showing up around these parts lately, so everyone is on guard, you see.」

「Demon? But why?」

「Hell if I know, but… As the Demon Lord has been resurrected, the demonic beasts are also becoming active. So it’s not that surprising even if a demon showed up, no?」

　I guess so, in fact, there’s one next to me, demon, I mean. I don’t care about Demon Lord, but there’s an S-ranked monster right next to me.

「…..」

「Hmm? What is it~? Kitsune-kun ♪」

「No, it’s nothing.」

　I give her a quick glance, but she doesn’t seem to catch my meaning. I’ve never seen a demon, except for Leila-chan, but I wonder if they are all like this? If so, then talk about sucks, I hope they can be at least a little intelligent demon. For instance, it’d suck big time if the Demon Lord were to be a spoiled child. Like, there’s no romance in it.

　But I’m a little curious about the news that a demon has shown up. I wonder if I should gather more information, I don’t want to come across them and die, after all.

「For now, let me introduce myself. My name is Kitsune, an H-ranked adventurer.」

「Y, yeah… You’re H-ranked, huh… My name is Dolan, more or less, I’m going by as a B-ranked adventurer.」

　I don’t really get it, but it seems that before I encountered the demon, I unexpectedly came across a monster of national disaster class.

◇ ◇ ◇

　The Demon Lord was the demon that reigned as the lord of all demons and boasted the greatest power capable of destroying the world. The race was not well known even among demons, not to mention humans.

　Those who knew what kind of demon race the Demon Lord was from, or what kind of power he possessed were few in number, even among demons.

　Then, why did they follow the Demon Lord, whose details were unknown?

　The reason was simple. They followed the Demon Lord because he was the『Demon Lord』.

　The Demon Lord was the counterpart of the Hero. He boasted overwhelming power, and had an ominous yet beautiful charm that attracted all who saw him, the strongest and worst being.

　The demons were enchanted by that figure of his at the first sight, and they got their hearts won over by his words. And then, they were enthralled by the powerhouse eyes of the Demon Lord, and they understood it with both reason and instinct.

　— That, this one was worthy of being the Demon Lord.

　And then, the existence of the Demon Lord, to whom the demons naturally bent their knees and bowed their head, fascinated even the demonic beasts that weren’t endowed with intelligence. Just like the owner and his pets, the demonic beasts followed the Demon Lord. As expected, they, too, knew by instinct that this existence known as the Demon Lord was someone who stood above them.

　And then, those who still dared to bare their fangs towards him despite that were all defeated before his overwhelming power. They died without being able to land even a single blow to the Demon Lord. Seeing this, others became even more enamored with the Demon Lord.

「… What’s the movement of the Hero of this generation like?」

　At the innermost part of the Demon Lord’s castle that towered in the Dark Continent, the Demon Lord muttered.

「… Yes, I have a demon under my command tracking signs of another world.」

「Well, they are visitors from another world… And their souls are different in quality from the inhabitants of this world.  So, if you track the presence of the soul, you should naturally reach the hero… Tell that underling of yours that if it looks like they can take them down, then it’s okay to kill the Hero. If that guy dies, it will mean that the Hero will have gained some strength, after all.」

「Certainly.」

　The one who appeared at the words of the Demon Lord was the demon that was the Demon Lord’s right-hand man. He, too, was an S-ranked demon, one that boasted prowess not inferior to that of the Demon Lord.

「Ah, and… I have a report for you, Demon Lord-sama.」

「Hm? What’s up?」

「It seems that the Red Night, which has been roaming the world since ages ago, has evolved into a demon.」

「Hoh? That halfwit has finally become a full-blown demon, huh… Isn’t that interesting? Nonetheless, it has only just stepped into our realm, hasn’t it? It’s true that that ability is a threat, but that guy is not much of an opponent in itself. It’s not much different than a low-grade demon.」

　In response to the report, the Demon Lord laughed fearlessly and then instructed him to leave it alone. The『Red Night』 was not that much of a threat to the Demon Lord. The ability to control miasma and the infectiousness of the miasma were certainly a threat that could even destroy the world, but if they were to actually fight, the Demon Lord would win 10 times out of 10.

　Even though she had become a demon, just becoming a demon was nowhere near enough. Her S-rank rating was ultimately a reference to the danger of her miasma ability. Her own status was no more than that of a C-rank demon, let alone S-rank.

　To show it in an easier to understand manner, one would surely understand once taking a look at the status of the Demon Lord.

　◇Status◇

　Name               :???

　Race                  :???　Lv???

　Strength          : 5628200

　Stamina           : 3451400

　Resistance      : 23000:STOP!

　Agility              : 5267960

　Magical Energy : 10201820

　Titles            : 『Demon Lord』

　Skills                 : ???

　Unique Skills : ???

　◇

　Although his name, race, and skills were hidden, his status was clearly out of the ordinary. One could tell a glance that he was a being who stood at the top of the S rank realm. The gushing magical energy, as well as the physical power and life force contained in his body were all out of the ordinary. There was no way she could win, no matter how you looked at it.

「The Heroes who existed in the past were strong. But the current me… Sits at a far higher height than those Heroes.」

「… Yes. Without a doubt — The strongest being is you, Demon Lord-sama.」

「No matter how tough of a being the Hero of this generation is, I will crush all of them at once.」

　The Demon Lord laughed.

　In the depths of the Demon Lord’s castle, he awaited for the Hero. Along with the strongest power contained in his body.

　Turning the world upside down, in order to make those words come true—-

　◇ ◇ ◇

　And then, speaking of the Hero for whom the Demon Lord was waiting, he was having disadvantages imposed upon him in the face of the white apostle.

　The pale spear of lightning couldn’t be taken on with a sword. The blade of the spear, made of lightning itself, would end up melting the sword with the superheated electric heat contained in its body the moment they clashed against each other. The battered sword he had been using had already become a victim of it.

　Fortunately, right now, except for the『comet strike』 that was fired as the first blow, the apostle’s attacks were not so fast that they couldn’t be avoided. It was unknown whether she was holding back or what, but the『comet strike』 was not released when the apostle was brought into point-blank close quarter combat.

　Hence, Nagi and Sieg were limiting the scope of her attacks by moving forward and bringing Stella into a two-on-one close quarter combat.

　However, what should be feared was Stella’s prowess. Nagi was a no-brainer, but even Sieg was by no means weak either, and yet she was completely suppressing them even though she was up against the two of them at the same time. As she wielded her spear as if it were her own hand, not even a single of Nagi and Sieg’s attacks could break through it.  Moreover, since the spear was made of lightning, it was impossible to destroy, and its shape could also be transformed to some extent.

　Just as there were times where sharp thorns grew from the spear swinging toward them when they thought they had evaded it, there were also times where it launched flexible attacks like a whip.

　They were completely incapable of coping with it.

「Kuh…!」

「Step back, 『Spear of Fire』!」

「Let the fury of the wind blow away my obstacles—『Storm Tempest』!」

　When Nagi and Sieg had slightly distanced themselves from Stella, Finia and Sylphy activated their magic. If physical attacks didn’t work, then they had no choice but to use magic. The reason why Nagi and Sieg were still able to continue fighting was because they had supports in the form of magic.

　However, these magic were all wiped with a single swing of the spear. And then, making use of the opening created by that one swing, Nagi and Sieg commenced their attacks again.

　Rinse and repeat. If the disadvantageous battle were to continue to drag on, it was only a matter of time before Nagi and the others would be defeated.

　Miko Cecil understood this and was looking for a way out of the situation. She was racking her brain coming up with a way to deal with it. Lulu was protecting Cecil from the stone fragments flying in the aftermath of their battle and the aftermath of the lightning created by Stella’s swing of her spear so that she could concentrate on her thoughts.

「Something… Is there nothing…!」

「Kuh…! You, if you’re going after me, an otherworldly person… Then why did you overlook Kitsune-senpai?!」

「I deemed that he did not deserve to be purified.」

「Guha!!」

「Nagii!」

　Cecil was impatient. She couldn’t get her thoughts together.

　In the midst of all this, as Nagi slashed at Stella, he probed how Kitsune, who was also an otherworldly person, survived when he fought against Stella.

　However, that was all Stella gave in response, and Nagi was sent flying backward by Stella’s kick. Sieg caught Nagi, but the force of the kick, which was driven into his stomach, had without a doubt inflicted damage to him.

「*Cough cough*…! Ouch… Damn it, we can’t fucking hold a candle to her…!」

「Yeah… That chick is a little too strong… Just who in the world are you, young miss…?!」

　Even as Nagi landed on his knees on the ground, he got his upper body up and coughed violently. And then, perhaps cutting his mouth slightly, blood was dripping from his mouth. As he wiped it with his hand, he looked at Stella.

　The difference in prowess was obvious, even so, the reason why Stella hadn’t proceeded to kill Nagi was probably because she was still observing something in him. Her dayflower-colored eyes were looking at Nagi as if they were seeing through his heart.

　And then she said…

「… How strange… You… For a Hero, you are too weak.」