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“I’m going crazy.”

My head hurts.

Even when I ran the Demon King’s Army in the past, managing such a gigantic organization was quite a headache, but now it’s even worse.

“I just want to focus on taking down Satan without any distractions, but that’s not happening.”

There are too many restrictions.

In fact, I haven’t even achieved my goals in the past week, and it seems like Satan has become too slippery since the last bombardment.

There’s no doubt that Satan is in the Demon King’s Castle.

It’s just that right before the hero’s strike landed, Satan teleported away to another location.

I chased the echoes of that teleport to determine the next bombardment point, but just as the strike was launched, Satan used teleportation again to evade capture.

“This is ridiculous; it’s not hide and seek.”

It’s infuriating.

I’m angry at Satan, but I’m even angrier at myself for having to worry about what all these humans think in this situation.

Right now, even Lucius and the other party members are stuck in the Royal Castle, while Yan is being invited to waste time mingling with the so-called “important figures” of the principality as a saintess.

At least I could focus on hunting Satan thanks to the Magic King Endymion, but the problem is that I haven’t produced any results so far.

“Tch.”

Was it too ambitious to think I could catch Satan in a single blow?

Or did I just expect too much luck?

Satan isn’t just some fool; I figured he could easily dodge attacks and fight back.

After all, I’ve dealt with other Demon Kings effortlessly until now.

I wanted to dispose of Satan quickly and head to the Sky Island as soon as possible, eager to ride Ascalon’s Spirit Device even once.

“…I need to concentrate.”

My opponent is Satan.

The Demon King.

Like when I faced the Demon King’s army in the past against heroes.

Or I could think of it from the other side, imagining myself as a hero of the Human Alliance fighting against “my Demon King’s army.”

I will defeat Satan.

“…The hero cannon is still operational.”

The power of the hero cannon is incredibly effective.

As the thick, massive barrel moves, people cheer, and Lucius offers himself up as ammunition every time he flies through the air.

The issue is that while I’ve blasted away about thirty thousand demons using the hero cannon over the past week, it hasn’t produced the result of “Did we catch Satan?”

“…This is annoying.”

I’m frustrated that I can’t catch Satan, even with Ascalon, and the situation surrounding me—specifically the situation surrounding the “Hero Party”—isn’t letting us be.

Especially regarding “rewards,” which is the most sensitive issue for me….

Creeeak.

The door opened.

Entering my makeshift “strategic planning room” for hunting Satan was Yan, the saintess, who looked exhausted.

“…I’m back, Witch.”

“Good work. I’ll brew you a cup of tea.”

“Thank you.”

Yan sat wearily on the sofa, and I handed her the milk tea.

“What’s this…?”

“I modified a tea that people here drink. It’s black tea mixed with honey and milk. I’ll teach you how to make it later. Lucius will like it too.”

“……Thank you.”

Yan sipped the warm milk tea, and I sat across from her at the tea table.

“Should we take a break and chat, or go straight to the main topic?”

“May I speak?”

“It doesn’t matter to me; I’ll leave it up to you.”

“…Understood.”

Yan fluttered her eyes and opened her mouth.

“If we bombard any further, it will be considered a declaration of war against the Empire.” That’s the Empire’s official stance.

“I knew it.”

I expected just that.

“They did the same 500 years ago, and not much has changed since then.”

“Was it like this 500 years ago?”

“Yep. When a hero was defeated and the Demon King’s army appeared, the Empire was throwing a massive party. They acted like a strong demon in the countryside declaring itself a Demon King was just a trivial disturbance. They treated the destruction of a kingdom as if it were no concern to them since it wasn’t their own.”

The Empire is vast.

Even though Count Scouter’s Territory has been attacked, the Empire thinks of it as just a “minor loss” with little reaction.

Rather, they seem to want to profit from it.

What I’m saying is….

“Those filthy bastards are now just slightly exposing themselves, trying to stir things up against the heroes while making a fuss about territorial disputes.”

“…That’s about the gist of it.”

Rather than fighting together against the common enemy, the Demon King’s army, if they keep bombarding from the Anari Principality, they’ll consider it a war?

“A killer burglar broke into our house next door, and when I rushed in to catch him, they’re saying they’ll charge me for trespassing?”

“Really, they’re just eating themselves alive. Do they want to somehow drag Lucius into their side that badly?”

“Because he’s the Hero of the Holy Sword.”

That’s why the Empire is the Empire.

It’s because the Holy Sword is passed down to the emperors through generations.

Knowing that the entire world recognizes the possession of the Holy Sword, no one dares to casually wage war against the Empire, and when the Empire raises its fist, whether it’s a filthy situation or not, everyone has no choice but to bow their heads or step aside.

Sure, if they wielded a Holy Sword themselves, they might be able to swing it, but there are only seven of them in the entire world.

“When Liriez became the Hero of the Holy Sword, her influence within the Empire rose a little, didn’t it?”

“…That’s correct.”

The Holy Sword is truly terrifying.

No matter how wide the blessings of the Moon Goddess spread across the world, even the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess can’t hold their shoulders high against the power of the Holy Sword.

“The strength we can manifest from the Celestial Realm and the strength we can exert from the Intermediate Realm is distinctly different.”

Divine Power might boast even more overwhelming force in the Celestial Realm than the Holy Sword, but this is the Intermediate Realm.

No matter how much the Moon Goddess possesses the miracle of granting invincible power to women touched by moonlight, the Empire possesses the Holy Sword of the Earth.

When the Emperor swings the sword once, it has the power to turn mountains upside down.

With the might to create a massive wall that encompasses the entire Empire overnight.

To possess such power and still want to turn the Hero of Light into one of their own is, in some ways, the ugliest aspect of human nature.

“When you have one, you want ten. If someone else has nine, you want to have even more. But if it becomes difficult to acquire more, do you know what happens?”

“They steal.”

“Exactly. They try to take from others. The same goes for the Holy Sword, especially Ascalon.”

The Holy Sword that killed Demon Lord Belphegor.

Its historical value is beyond words.

“…500 years ago, the Empire actually possessed two Holy Swords.”

“Huh?”

“It’s true. It was said that the Empire only had the Holy Sword of the Earth, but in reality, there was one more. More accurately, a person from the Empire wielded a Holy Sword, and that woman was of royal blood.”

Even the Emperor.

Although her actual reign lasted less than a week, and she was just briefly “an emperor,” she undoubtedly held enough royal blood to be on the throne, even if just for a moment.

“Her name was Leberced Arpe. She was a hero who wielded the Holy Sword of Light.”

“……Leberced is the name of a system.”

“That’s right. The name of the capital was changed in her honor. There were many political reasons behind it.”

“…Was it due to her fleeing?”

“Well, that’s the gist of it. You said you heard this in Belselphia? Then I can tell you the story. Don’t tell anyone in the Empire, or there’ll be an uproar over historical distortion.”

In the past.

The hero wielding the Holy Sword of the Earth, the Emperor of the Empire, took her women and used the power of the Holy Sword to create a moving castle to escape.

The Demon Lord pursued her, took the Holy Sword of the Earth, and threw down a replica that looked just like it. The Emperor could not do anything.

And the hero, who had thrown away her claim to the throne to take on the world and shoulder the responsibility of the empty palace, is—

Leberced Arpe.

The Hero of Light.

“I miss her.”

It feels like just yesterday when we traveled together, yet so much time has passed.

If I ever meet a modern Hero of Light, I will tell her this.

Your predecessor was indeed a great hero.

A hero who took the Demon King’s blade on her body and bit down on the Demon King’s throat, leaving various wounds all over the Demon King in a one-on-one struggle.

“…The Empire might think that they should possess all the Holy Swords. Whoever holds all seven Holy Swords becomes the Emperor of the Empire and aims to become the god of all humanity—the god of the Intermediate Realm.”

If such a hero were to leave descendants and those descendants became the Emperor of the Empire, perhaps the Empire wouldn’t act this way.

“So this is how it plays out. They’re trying to pull Lucius on their side one way or another, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll try to suppress Lucius’s actions. Just look.”

I spread out a map laid on the table.

“It makes no sense that the Demon King is rampaging in the Empire’s territory and that heroes can’t operate freely. Without the cannon, rapid strikes aren’t possible, and they’re telling us not to do that?”

“…Witch.”

Yan took a deep breath and spoke.

“There’s something you must know.”

“What is it?”

“Instead of sending heroes, conditions have been set.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. It states that the magic stones obtained from the demon races killed in the Empire’s territory will be claimed by the Empire, regardless of who killed them, and if that’s accepted, then we’re welcome.”

“…….”

My vision went dark.

Damn Empire scum.

“……Damn it.”

For a moment, I severed the connection with my body.

Thud.

 

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