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The Advance of the Anari Principality.

News of the recovery of ‘Dragon Tail,’ the last remnant of the territory taken by the Demon King, quickly spread to the Empire.

“Did you hear? The Anari Principality has reclaimed land from the Demon King’s army!”

“What? No way. How could those weaklings do that? They lost to us ten years ago and became essentially our colony!”

“Could it be that a Hero of the Holy Sword has appeared?”

“It’s not the Hero of the Holy Sword, but a hero has emerged. Have you heard of the Magic King Endymion? Her weapon created with her magical engineering played a significant role this time.”

In the heart of Leberced, the capital of the Empire.

Naturally, people were buzzing about the Demon King’s army and the power of the Anari Principality that defeated them.

“…Hmm.”

Sitting on a terrace with a view outside, the white-haired lady was merely sipping her tea and listening to the conversations around her.

Though her gaze seemed somewhat detached and indifferent to the world, she perked up her ears and focused on the discussions, especially those about the Demon King’s army.

“Isn’t it good if the Demon King Satan is defeated? Why so serious?”

“Hey, it’s because if the Demon King is defeated by anyone other than our Empire, it doesn’t reflect well on us!”

“Why should it matter who defeats the Demon King?”

“It shows that the Anari Principality is strong enough to defeat the Demon King. Who knows, there might even be a royal restoration movement there. They can claim, ‘We defeated the Demon King’s army! We have the power to stand against the Empire!’”

“That’s a bit concerning.”

While they weren’t thinking about teaming up to defeat the Demon King’s army, they were indeed wary of the power that the Anari Principality was gaining from defeating them alone.

“I just wish the Anari Principality would collapse completely, and our Emperor would kill the Demon King and take all their technology.”

“Hey, watch your words. Someone from the Anari Principality might hear you.”

“Do you think there are people like that in the system? Haha, if you ask them, they’ll probably claim they’re from the Empire!”

“Hahaha!”

Ah, what selfish citizens of the Empire they were.

But since this was the system, no one could say anything, despite the ongoing gossip.

“If the Anari Principality were to be destroyed, what would happen to it? Would it become Anari County?”

“If I were in charge there, I’d want to change that name ‘Dragon Lift’ right away. How about ‘Dragon Raift’ in my name? Haha!”

“Tsk, I’d rather capture the missing princess and marry her than leave it to you. Hehe, she should be an adult by now…”

“Crazy people. They’re all filled with nothing but greed.”

“What? Hey, who are you to talk? You’re the one who jacked up the carriage fare to five times the usual price after the downfall of Count Scouter’s Territory!”

“I just charged the market rate. Ask those who were scared of the Demon King’s army if they wouldn’t pay a fortune for a carriage!”

Even though they were all human.

As long as there were Heroes of the Holy Sword, the Demon King’s army was nothing more than a small rebellion in the countryside.

So, nobody took it seriously.

Even if Count Scouter’s Territory had completely fallen, and the demon race began to run rampant there, it didn’t differ much from some knight naively declaring, “Twenty thousand knights have started a rebellion!”

-This is the Holy Sword. Turn the continent upside down.

And if some urgent matter arose, the Emperor would intervene to suppress it.

And the Demon King’s army would suffer a bloody retaliation for daring to provoke the Emperor directly.

“All for the Empire!”

While the crowd buzzed with activity, the lady downed her tea in one go and stood up.

“…All for the Empire, indeed.”

She touched the white ring on her left-hand ring finger with a bitter smile.

“…While it’s certainly a good thing for the Empire to act in its own best interest, I never imagined that even the defeat of a Hero would go unheard of until now.”

The defeat of the Hero of the Holy Sword, Mercenary King Bearnes.

Though the key powers of the Empire, including the Emperor, likely knew of the defeat, the fact that a Hero was defeated was certainly a serious matter.

In the past.

Five hundred years ago, when humanity first heard that a Hero of the Holy Sword had been defeated.

The reaction was mostly, “There are still six others, so it should be fine.”

When another one fell, people thought, “Well, still five, so it should be fine.”

And when they realized that three had fallen in succession, it was already too late.

The Demon King’s army swiftly occupied the continent, and even the last Hero was defeated.

“The last protector of humanity, the Earth Hero… Ha, in reality, she only fled without even having a proper fight.”

If it hadn’t been for the Wind Hero who suddenly appeared from somewhere, the existence of the Earth Hero would surely have been non-existent.

The Earth’s Holy Sword.

The Demon King had at one time acquired it and handed over a ‘perfectly made fake.’

Although a woman later returned the Earth’s Holy Sword to the Empire, it was considered a disgrace for the Arpe Empire and was not even recorded in the Empire’s history.

“…Should I have left it behind? Tsk.”

The lady gritted her lower lip and lamented.

“…Humans sit idly by while their fellow humans engage desperately against the Demon King’s army for the nation’s benefit. …Demon King, you were right.”

Thud.

The lady slumped down on the alleyway.

“Did the Empire, no, humanity need to face annihilation at least once…?”

“Leberced! Arpe Empire! Long live!!”

Clink.

The clinking sound of glass cups clashing together echoed since the day.

The lady remained still in the dark for a while before slowly rising to her feet.

“…Is the hope of humanity solely in the Demon King? It’s truly absurd.”

Swish.

The lady took to the main road, turning her gaze toward the palace.

“…If humanity unites in times of crisis, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad outcome…”

Whoosh.

The lady was enveloped in white light and vanished.

Even though a person suddenly disappeared from the main road, no one cared at all.

“Everyone focus! Anyone who bets that the Anari Principality will fail to subdue the Demon King’s army, come this way!!”

To them, the war between the Anari Principality and the Demon King’s army was merely a source of entertainment.

*

“…Human cannon fodder?”

“Yep. More precisely, it’s Hero cannon fodder. Ah, don’t say anything. I don’t want to spend time receiving counterarguments.”

I waved my hand at the astonished party.

“It’s not dangerous. It’s like casting a finishing move from the start. I’m not just sending Lucius alone. The body will be Lucius’s, but I’m going.”

“…So you’re saying you’ll borrow Lucius’s body to fight instead.”

“Exactly.”

Rosemas had already seen our joint effort with Lucius several times before.

With that, I planned to swing the Holy Wind Sword to take down Satan immediately.

“Don’t stop me. Even right now, Satan may have caught on and left. So we need to move quickly.”

The opponent is Satan.

We need to act before they catch wind of the plan to fire off the Hero.

“Not informing us because….”

“I figured you wouldn’t spread the word, but as soon as we talk here, it’ll get into the enemy’s ear, and they would run away.”

“Isn’t it possible to fight back?”

“Against a Hero wielding the Holy Wind Sword? It’s doubtful they’d be able to think that way readily.”

“Enough.”

Lucius approached me, extending his hand backward.

“Master, let’s go. I can go at once.”

“Lucius!”

“Don’t stop me. It’s a mission where speed is crucial, and postponing it by discussing it here won’t do.”

Lucius reached for my hand, and I clasped it with Lucius’s.

Swish.

My consciousness was instantly drawn into Lucius, and I let my collapsing body be taken care of by Rosemas.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“…Oh, I see. Is that how it works?”

“Magic King, prepare the artillery.”

“Understood!”

Mammon, with an excited expression, headed toward the artillery, and I jumped directly into the artillery’s firing chamber.

“Winds.”

As soon as I activated the ignition phrase, the ring transformed into the Holy Wind Sword, Ascalon.

I positioned the tip of Ascalon inward, and behind me, a green light gradually began to sparkle.

Three, two, one—

“Fire———!!”

KABOOM!!

A huge explosion engulfed me from behind.

I spread a hemispherical shield behind me and soared into the sky with the blast.

At least 100 meters high, no, thanks to the artillery’s immense power, I climbed hundreds of meters into the air, moving forward.

Zzzzzzz—!!

Faster than sound.

I shot through the sky at super speed, as if light were propelling me forward.

“I remember this.”

Once.

Back when I invaded the capital of the Arpe Empire, I descended in such a manner.

At that time, I fell vertically from the sky and wrecked the Empire’s party, but now it’s time to smash the Demon King’s army.

“Ascalon, Overdrive—!!”

As the explosions subsided, I charged Ascalon’s wind to unleash one more surge of magical power.

The artillery’s magical explosion served as the first thrust, and the current magical explosion represented the sword’s explosion, a single strike to shatter the Demon King’s castle.

Before long.

I could see Satan’s castle.

“Sorry, Satan.”

I too have to survive.

If the Demon King’s army exists, I am the one who suffers.

“Bound to strike.”

A strike that killed the dragon, distinctly—

“…Huh?”

Satan’s aura, it’s gone?

KABOOM!!!!

The light of the Holy Sword enveloped the Demon King’s castle.

 

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