---

“Breath is coming! Everyone, dodge—!”

The rough shout of the soldier echoed all around.

Simultaneously, the eight heads unleashed sea water that glimmered a dark blue, shooting straight out.

Boom—!!

Even underwater, the straight-shooting breath made the Belselphia army twist their bodies to escape the blast range as much as possible.

“Ugh!!”

“Eastern!! Jerka!!”

However, the artillery fire came from all eight heads, each launching their own attack.

If they dodged one, another shot from a different head was already flying at them.

“Ugh, haah…!”

The soldiers of Belselphia were reduced to rags in an instant by the attack from a demon lord-level existence.

Though their combat suits weren’t completely torn, the shock caused helmets to shatter, and those hit by the breath lost consciousness in a heartbeat.

“Shockwave! If you get hit by the breath, your brain shakes! Damn it, save Eastern and Jerka!”

The Belselphia navy hurried towards those who were struck by the breath, but there were faster movers than them.

Kiaaa!!

If someone lost consciousness and floated in a battlefield swarming with man-eating sea monsters, it was as good as asking to be eaten.

Particularly, those bleeding from the shock caused by the breath only served to attract a swarm of sea piranhas, which swam rapidly towards the unconscious victims.

Their speed was such that the suits would be torn before the Belselphia navy even arrived.

No matter how combat-ready the suits were, they couldn’t withstand the powerful jaws of the sea creatures that had strengthened through a year of fighting.

That meant they had to deal with the sea monsters before they arrived, but what if they arrived first?

“Oh no…!”

With a crunching sound, surely flesh would be torn away.

Before witnessing such a horrific sight, just—

Pababat!!

From below, a rain of arrows surged towards the swarm of piranhas.

Each arrow that pierced through the jaws of the piranhas embodied the Water Spirit.

“That’s….”

“An elf!”

Below, the high elf Rosmas, a member of the hero party, was raising her bow, aimed precisely at the piranha swarm.

Though she had no arrows, the ones she shot swam back towards her bow like fish.

“Once more! Undine!”

Pababat.

Thanks to Rosmas’s shooting, which transformed the water spirit into arrows, over half of the piranhas flipped over with holes in their bodies.

However, more piranhas emerged, some eating their fallen comrades while others continued to target Eastern and Jerka.

“Haah!”

Swish, swish.

Wielding a sword imbued with aura, the knight cut down the piranhas.

“Droniel!”

“Don’t worry!”

Droniel, radiating a brown aura like her hair, summoned a sea dragon to stand guard over Eastern and Jerka while wildly swinging her sword forward.

Papababat.

The aura slashes flew forward, overwhelming the swarm of piranhas, and as the sword winds grazed by, a blood mist spread all around.

“That takes care of those little pests!”

“Droniel! Above!!”

Just as Rosmas’s scream echoed, a massive claw fell from above Droniel.

“Ugh…?!”

The appearance of a blood-colored lobster, several meters long.

Even the solid strike of its massive claw looked like it could shatter everything in its grasp, but Droniel swung her aura blade just in time to deflect the attack. However, the blood-colored lobster had another claw.

“Danger—”

“In the name of the Goddess.”

Swoosh—!!

“Holy Hammer—!!”

A blue moonlight flew straight ahead like a breath, smashing into the bloody lobster.

With overwhelming physical strength, the lobster was sent flying as if struck by a hammer, and a woman approached Droniel slowly.

“Are you alright?”

“…….”

Droniel was at a loss for words as the saintess Yan approached her.

“Um, your suit…?”

“I took off the air purification device. Luckily, even in this deep sea, the blessing of the Moon Goddess still reaches us.”

An almost naked woman with a glass helmet.

Almost naked, but not really.

The blessing of the Moon Goddess surrounded her, sparkling like blue flames while covering dangerous areas.

“My main role is to heal using divine power, but if I grant divine power to these people, it could backfire. Therefore, it’s better to wield the spear of divine punishment as I am now.”

“R-right….”

“While you do that, make sure to retrieve the injured!!”

“Y-yes!!”

Despite being a saint’s command, they didn’t nitpick each other’s factions, as they were once enemies of the Order of the Crescent Moon, but when it came to saving a life in danger, they disregarded such matters.

“Are you sure it’s okay? Saintess, it wouldn’t be like hearing that we rescued some remnants of the Demon King’s army later, right?”

“It’s fine. This isn’t the surface….”

Yan briefly glanced at the insides of the Kraken and then up towards the sky.

“If the Moon Goddess thought it wrong for me to help those in need, she would have taken away my power. But.”

Swoosh!

A massive shark charged towards Yan from a distance, mouth wide open.

Blood oozing from its mouth, and bits of other sea creatures clinging to its teeth, it looked like it would chew her up at any moment.

“With the power of moonlight.”

Yan stretched out her hand back before thrusting it forward like a spear.

Purr—!

The shark’s body was instantly pierced.

The divine power contained in Yan’s outstretched hand created a cavalry spear far longer and thicker than the shark’s body, and she swung the invisible spear of divine power aside, throwing the shark away.

“Given that the Goddess grants me this much power, it seems she wants me to focus on defeating that Demon King at the very least.”

“Y-yes….”

“Look over there!”

From below, Rosmas pointed ahead.

“Do you think the three of us can tackle one head together…?”

“It’s not impossible. I’ll assist you both. You two should take off your suits, and the divine power suit….”

“Ah, no, that’s fine. It’s not because of the Goddess’s blessing, but, um….”

Droniel pointed towards the golden storm active in the battlefield.

“…For now, I just want to fight.”

“Understood.”

As the three women readied themselves,

Kreeeek!!

One of the dragon’s heads screamed as it slowly fell below.

The severed end was uneven, like it had been cut with a saw, and nearby, the golden storm swept past.

“I may not be the Hero of the Holy Sword, but we are still part of Lucius’s party, so we have to pull our weight.”

Droniel recharged the aura in her sword and smacked the sea dragon’s waist with her legs.

“I’m going first!!”

“Wait! Let’s go together!”

Droniel charged ahead, followed closely by Rosmas, while Yan looked at them for a moment before glancing up at the surface and the sky.

“…Are they not of the Demon Race, or are we meant to protect even them?”

There was no answer.

To find out, she would have to visit the main branch of the Order of the Goddess.

Grarrrr.

“…For now, I will do my best as a member of the hero party.”

In the bloody battlefield, a being stood alone, shedding her suit and exposing her skin.

To the sea creatures, she appeared as nothing more than a tender meal that was relatively easy to bite into.

However.

“In the name of light.”

With the power of blue moonlight spreading in all directions, she created holes in the foreheads of the approaching sea creatures.

“May you be reborn in your next life as one who follows the Goddess.”

*

“Using the power of the Holy Sword is cheating!”

“So what?”

I swung the Flamberge.

My arms were ridiculously slender; despite my efforts to exercise, wielding even a sword was difficult, but the Flamberge wasn’t too hard to wield.

Swoosh.

Every time I swung the sword, sparks flew around.

It felt less like wielding a sword and more like swinging a torch, and Leviathan struggled to close the distance against me.

“My body is weak right now. But with the power of the Holy Sword backing me, I could take a stand against you.”

“Ugh…!”

“Do you think I’m insane enough to challenge you without any plans?”

I, Belphegor.

A person who acknowledges when it’s due.

“If you wanted to kill me, you should have attacked before I drew the Holy Sword.”

“Ha, shall I return those exact words to you?”

Clash.

The rough magic swirled on Leviathan’s skin.

“I said it’s cheating; I never said I couldn’t win!”

Swoosh!

“!!”

In an instant, Leviathan’s spear buzzed through the air.

I barely managed to evade it by instinctively reacting.

Even when she resumed her attack—

‘No way.’

Clang!

I tried to block the follow-up attack with my Flamberge, but even quicker, Leviathan jabbed her spear into my shoulder.

“Using mana as a shield? How long do you think you can hold on?!”

“Who knows.”

Leviathan pierced my shoulder.

Had I not set up my shield with mana in advance, I would have been skewered without question.

“You’re doing well.”

“That’s not something a cornered opponent should say!”

“Cornered?”

As she relentlessly thrust and attacked from the front, I stepped back while deflecting her strikes with the Flamberge.

Leviathan continued to jab at me while stepping forward, and I let some of her attacks slip while taking others on my body.

This wasn’t a one-sided defense.

I was preparing a counter of my own.

“My role is to buy time until the situation outside is cleared up, you idiot.”

“Hah! The shield you’re using looks like it’s falling apart!”

Clang!

Leviathan’s spear clashed with the Flamberge.

The mana forming the spear was instantly consumed by the flames of the Holy Sword, and the spear shattered.

Right.

This was how it should break.

The problem was.

“Who has more mana? Your one-time-use Holy Sword? Or my mana?”

Leviathan immediately created another spear.

The thorn spear made purely of aura aimed to stab me at a speed akin to light once more, but I predicted her attack and released the Flamberge, using it to deflect the incoming strike.

“…Huh.”

Each time I blocked, the spear shattered.

Each time it was deflected, another spear was created.

To an outsider, it might have looked like a dazzling back-and-forth duel between a swordsman and a spearmaster, but in reality, it was a battle of mana.

‘On this side, I’m fighting by cutting into my lifespan.’

With each attack I allowed through, my mana dwindled, and when my mana ran out, I wouldn’t be able to win.

But simply waiting…

‘Would reveal I’m the Demon King.’

I had to settle things quickly before I was exposed.

Either defeat her or at least force ‘the real body’ to reveal itself.

“Guess this close combat is too overwhelming for me.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“This.”

Flapping.

Releasing the power of the Flamberge, I floated into the air.

“…Flying?”

“There’s no water here. There’s air.”

The inside of the Kraken was larger than I thought, and floating in the sky was feasible, so I checked my purple hair and gathered my magic.

“Flare. Queen Bee.”

Tiny sparks began to spew from the flames of wings behind me, and their shape resembled small butterflies.

“That’s….”

“Beelzebub. His specialty of connecting powers. Often referred to as pheromones, but… it’s just right for a situation like this.”

Swoosh.

“Burn.”

Although they took the shape of butterflies, they spread like a swarm of bees around a queen bee.

“Karmeniac Nova.”

As the butterflies spread their wings,

The flames began to swirl and dance around.

 

---