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Arpe hates Sorceress Bel.

There are various reasons for this, but the main one is that she’s a foolish woman who insisted on protecting humans until the very end, despite having fallen to “that.”

The belief in humanity as a Hero is something she just cannot comprehend.

Thanks to her relentless insistence to have faith in humans and her plea to not annihilate them, the Demon King refrained from destroying humanity.

But who would have guessed that it would lead to the Demon King’s death?

“…Huh.”

Though she’s a traitorous witch that I can’t bear to look at, she fulfilled her duty as a human until the last moment.

From the witch’s perspective, she might even feel like a traitor, having chosen ‘the world’ over being human, even while holding the Holy Sword.

The perspectives of the Hero, who has learned the truth about humanity and the world, are clearly different.

The witch believed in the possibilities of humanity.

While the Hero thought that humanity should vanish and die out.

Both Arpe and witch Bel share the viewpoint of being “women,” yet they differ drastically in how they view humanity.

As far as Arpe is concerned, humanity was never worth it.

– Humans deserve to perish.

– I hate humans!

Arpe was born human, but after becoming a Hero, she was greatly disappointed to see the ugly and dirty side of humanity.

– We shouldn’t give up on humanity. Even if a million are wicked, if even one holds hope, we must not abandon humanity.

But witch Bel, the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, stubbornly believed in humanity until the end.

– There, …? Why would you do that….

– You are merely a sacrifice to defeat the Demon King, Bel.

– Why…. I believed…!

– Believing is foolish! Haha! Serves you right! When the Demon King arrives, it’ll be an absolute mess! Ahahaha!!

She believed in humanity, was betrayed by humanity, and ultimately met a pitiful death.

Is she really alive?

The Demon King himself died fighting the Hero of Wind, yet the witch Bel, who died even before that, is alive?

Certainly.

“…The Demon Lord saved her.”

Creak.

Arpe hates witch Bel.

At her last moment, for some reason, she was elsewhere, not in the Demon King’s Castle.

She hated that she provided the opportunity for the Demon King to meet his end, that she faced the end alongside the Demon King, and that the Demon Lord, even when facing his end, exerted all his remaining magic to ensure the witch’s soul wouldn’t perish and instead transferred into another body.

…Whether it’s true or not, the situation before her eyes indicated so.

Witch Bel.

From the small girl’s body, she felt the familiar scent of magic.

Basically, she is an ordinary sorceress, but subtly, her body and magic gives off the traces of the Great Demon Lord like perfume.

It made her feel envious, irritated, and deeply angry that witch Bel, and not her, shared the final moments with Demon King Belphegor.

Look.

Even as the Demon King perishes, he prepares another body to revive witch Bel and offers her a seal of protection.

Surely, the moment the seal is broken, she will regain her form from 500 years ago, not this childish appearance.

“…….”

Arpe glanced down briefly and bit her nails.

“Not possible, it can’t be….”

I can’t allow her to unleash her power.

Though it may seem like an undead from a distance, if the Great Demon Lord Belphegor turned her into an undead, everything aligns.

It’s impossible now due to lack of mana, but once her mana returns, she will definitely recover her previous form.

Though her feelings were complicated in many ways, Arpe neither liked nor disliked witch Bel.

In the end.

No matter how much she hated her, she…

“!!”

It’s dangerous.

The moment she sensed the power of Demon King Beelzebub.

The power of Demon King Beelzebub was directed toward the village where witch Bel was.

Arpe seriously contemplated whether she should step forward regardless of her identity.

Should she save them?

Or should she believe they could win?

“…….”

Arpe silently observed the battlefield.

Watching the witch soothing the Hero with determination to defeat the Demon King while nervously battling against Beelzebub made Arpe feel a pang of self-loathing.

The witch is struggling to save humans that much.

And.

“……This is absurd.”

She tries to help people by infusing her power into the Hero wielding the Holy Sword that pierced the Great Demon Lord.

“……Who on earth are you…?”

Creak.

Arpe merely chewed on her innocent nails while watching the battlefield.

Gazing at the golden-haired Hero using the Holy Wind Sword—Ascalon, who seems to have become a step stronger through the witch’s power.

“…….”

She had no choice but to think deeply about the Hero.

*

Creak!

Kiiiiiiing!!

Beelzebub screams.

The hand that tried to reach for me in an attempt to stop me split wide open and dropped.

‘How do you like that! This is the sword that killed me!’

It’s self-derisive, but the power of Ascalon is truly formidable.

If the Holy Flame Sword burns everything down.

If the Holy Water Sword locks everything in water or freezes it.

The Holy Wind Sword tears everything apart.

“Wind God’s Summoning!”

With a light shout, I swing Ascalon toward the ground.

The cutting wind hits the ground and whooshes upwards, while Beelzebub’s hand that was reaching toward me is quickly shredded by the gale.

Kihihihihih.

Along with a trace like electricity surging over my body, Beelzebub’s arm is heavily marked with wounds.

Thud, thud.

Even the remains of Diptera falling from the wounds are sliced into pieces by the wind.

The toxic liquid is also torn apart as if at a molecular level; the golden wind rips everything apart.

Beelzebub can’t attack me with any counterattack and is merely helpless.

“Don’t look so wronged. It’s just the nature of being a Holy Sword Hero.”

Right.

This doesn’t mean Beelzebub is weak.

It’s just that the Holy Sword is overwhelmingly powerful.

‘Moreover, it’s not even at full power.’

This isn’t Beelzebub’s full strength.

He may not be particularly strong as an individual, but he is definitely not weak enough to crumble this easily just by unleashing Ascalon.

‘He’s resisting.’

He’s resisting from unleashing his full power.

He’s struggling against whoever is controlling him.

If he were to unleash his full strength, he wouldn’t be launching direct attacks like this.

Kyaaaah!!

Beelzebub spreads his wings wide, and the Diptera that burst forth from them rush toward me in unison.

“Wind Barrier!”

With a light kick off the ground, golden winds start to swirl around me in coiled circles, and the rushing Diptera can’t breach the barrier and are shredded upward.

To the naked eye, it looks like a swirling mass of gold, but in reality, sharp cutting winds are swirling around me.

With the Demon King Beelzebub unable to reveal his true form, he cannot win against me wielding Ascalon.

A Demon King is not something to be taken lightly!

I’m here to prove that!!

For the final blow, I leap off the ground.

It’s a jump I have never shown until now.

In one leap, I soar several meters toward Beelzebub’s solar plexus, causing him to gasp in shock, jaw dropped.

Kyaaaaaahhhh!!

He attempts to unleash a shockwave to suppress me, but it’s pointless.

I counter the shockwave with the power of Ascalon, spreading the golden wind forward, neutralizing it while I spring forth.

“Shatter!!”

With that battle cry, I swing Ascalon, cutting vertically through his solar plexus, plunging into his body.

Kishik!

The countless Diptera surrounding me try to bite this body, this body of Lucius, but it’s futile.

This body is that of the Hero.

Having enveloped my entire body with wind by opening the Holy Sword, they are ripped apart by the cutting winds before they even reach me.

Crash!

I thrust my hand into the mass of insects.

The slicing winds coming from my arm shred the bugs blocking my vision, and I finally find the one hiding behind them.

[Kyiik! Kyiik….]

Beelzebub.

Caught by other insects, he’s merely breathing, with only the seal on his forehead sparkling.

Ah.

So this is how it is.

I escaped by embedding myself in a girl’s body, but Beelzebub was forcibly dwelling in this insect’s body.

“Demon King Beelzebub.”

Will you recognize me?

Sure, I look like Lucius, and I may be wielding a Holy Sword now.

“Sleep now.”

As a fellow Demon King.

As a member of the Demon Race.

And as someone from the same world.

“Farewell.”

Puh!

I yank his neck, then sever it.

[You, you bastard—!!]

Faint voices like screams echo from afar.

A sound I hate to hear, yet desperately want to.

Zephar.

It’s him.

It’s not the absolute worst-case scenario, but still, Beelzebub was summoned and used by Zephar.

[Curse you and kill—]

“Shut up.”

[Kyaaah!]

With a swing of Ascalon, I released a gale of wind around me.

Centered on me, the air was violently expelled, creating a void except for Beelzebub, whom I held.

The golden tempest’s power shredded even the flesh of the insects, leaving no trace, not even a magic stone.

“Demon King Beelzebub.”

Zephar cannot even let out a sound here now.

It’s time to release Beelzebub from this bondage.

Now, serve me.

By the command of the Great Demon Lord, Belphegor.

“I will free you from the chains of evil.”

Puh.

I embed a small magic stone into his seal.

Beelzebub’s body begins to slowly crumble to ashes, while the seal gradually starts to merge with the magic stone.

[…Human scum, you…!]

The voice conveyed through the magic stone.

No, a will.

[You dare treatment me…!!]

The feeling of a girl unleashing her murderous intent, looming from the depths like a violet-wreathed light.

[You vile—]

[Hey, It’s Me. Bro.]

[……Demon Language?]

Through my will, I can finally reveal my identity to my companion.

[This mana wave, could it be…!]

[Yes, I, Am!]

[…But why does your body dwell within a Hero while your soul is female?]

“…….”

No, damn—

 

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