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On a dark night in the Empire’s territory,

not far away on the Deep Forest Path,

a doll was trudging along, bleeding profusely.

“Seems the worst was avoided; I wanted to squash it in the bud.”

Clutching at the throbbing wound,

the mask couldn’t help but snicker.

“But it’s clear now—Divine.

If I remove that, that guy can’t interfere

with this world anymore, that’s for sure.”

Even with a severed hand and a body in tatters,

the mask’s crazed laughter didn’t cease.

“Well then, before returning to the Demon Realm,”

the mask wiped away the insanity and casually looked around.

“Come out, you little rat; don’t hide.”

In the tranquil forest, at first glance devoid of humans,

let alone beasts, the atmosphere changed with that one line.

Dozens, hundreds of dolls began to surround the mask.

“Sounds about right, huh?”

“The mask is broken, but it’s certain.”

“Just like the boss predicted—ah… truly a magnificent person!”

The assailants surrounding the mask

were equipped with an assortment of weapons—

spears, swords, shurikens, and wands.

What’s for sure is that they definitely didn’t seem

like an ordinary band of adventurers.

A significant number of them exuded an atmosphere

tainted with madness.

“…Is conversation unnecessary?”

The masked figure, observing the surroundings,

emitted an overwhelming killing intent.

“Well, it doesn’t matter; if they come at me, I’ll just kill them.

Only those whose lives aren’t worth anything should come.”

Surrounded by the mask’s killing intent,

the assailants gulped as they braced themselves.

“Ah… either way, if we break the world, we’ll all die!”

“Kill!”

At the shout of the assailant,

dozens charged at the mask.

*

The dense forest had somehow transformed into a wide plain.

The one responsible for this was casually

grabbing the hair of an assailant with an indifferent gaze.

“Mon… Monster…”

Crack!

With the sound of a skull shattering,

one corpse piled atop another.

By the time the mountain of bodies had formed,

the mask sighed and spoke.

“What exactly do you hope to achieve by doing this?

If you just ran away, you could probably

maintain your life a little longer.”

Even with countless corpses stacked, the assailants’ spirits remained

entirely unbroken.

“Doesn’t seem to matter; just die…”

Thud!

Just as the mask was about to bring down

his hands,

a massive conical shadow stabbed behind him.

“…?”

“Wow~ the forest became a plain!”

Suddenly, someone, without a sound, came up from behind the mask,

speaking casually while throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“Hm… you’ve really done a number, huh? Still, I gathered

only the elite from our organization.”

“What the hell are you?”

“Yeah, well, it seems the sacrifice for catching a mask-wearing demon like you

is quite the bargain?”

“Lord Ned!”

“Oh… you’ve finally arrived, my lord…”

As the half-squinted man appeared, the assailants, who were radiating killing intent,

all knelt and looked up at him.

“Ned… the leader of the continent’s worst criminal organization, Akandis?”

“Hmm… the noble Demon Executioner knows our organization and its name;

what an honor! Seems like all the effort was worth it~”

“How did you know my location?”

“Why, just a week ago, you guys attacked the academy, didn’t you?

Usually, the perpetrator reemerges at the scene of the crime.

I had sent quite a few operatives to the Holy Kingdom too, but

this is quite the wild goose chase.”

Ned gestured merrily as he continued speaking.

“Anyway, I’m curious about your objectives,

but before that, I have to ask—”

Whoosh!

KABOOM!

As the mask swung an arm behind him, the ground burst apart

like a cup of water spilling over.

“Wow, that’s quite violent; no wonder there’s no forest left.”

In the blink of an eye, Ned had distanced himself,

summoning a dark magical sphere into the air.

Dark Orb.

The magical ball grew larger and then

burst with a bang.

Immediately after, hundreds of magical bullets fell like a meteor shower.

KABOOM!

The force created a crater about ten meters wide in the ground

as if a meteor had struck.

“Um… it’s a solid Tier 6 spell, but is it too much that I’m not wounded at all?”

With a nonchalant stride, the mask emerged unharmed from the deep pit,

but a slight wrinkle appeared on Ned’s face, who had maintained a

smiling expression thus far.

“This is troublesome… I wanted to ask you something

after half-killing you.”

“Why don’t you target me?”

At the mask’s question, Ned replied cheekily.

“Why, for world peace, of course?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

At that moment, Ned noticed something off about the mask’s movements.

“I’m not really being looked at.”

As if something invisible were present,

the gaze was concentrated on a strange spot.

“Don’t act innocent; I’m trying my best to act benevolently too, right?”

“Ned Orion, you were a member of the Former Hero Party, right?”

“…You know quite a lot, huh?”

“You were destined to die seven years ago.”

“…What?”

The mask’s words cracked Ned’s smiling face.

“During your battle with Rockpelikan,

you were supposed to be reduced to a permanent state of disability;

you should have perished then.”

“What kind of nonsense…”

“This must be the influence of the Divine; history seems quite changed.”

“Hey, you little punk!”

KABOOM!

As a magical bullet flew toward his forehead,

the mask dodged it effortlessly

as the pile of scrap and fallen trees behind him

were obliterated with a thunderous sound.

“Don’t talk to yourself in front of a person; you want to kill me, don’t you?”

“So… what’s your business?”

Ned let out a heavy sigh and then opened his eyes like a snake, emitting an

intensity far beyond his usual laid-back demeanor.

“Is there a demon among the masked ones named Paimon?

Could you tell me where that brat is?”

“…Paimon?”

The mask stroked his chin briefly before speaking again.

“Why are you looking for him?”

“That’s none of your business, but you know, right?

Let’s cooperate, and it would be great if you could take me to him.”

“Revenge against a comrade? You can’t win against him.”

“Hah… I really can’t talk to you.”

Scratching the back of his head, Ned suddenly approached the mask

and delivered an uppercut to his abdomen.

Thwack!

But the mask caught the uppercut with one hand

without even looking.

“So stop the chatter and give me the location.”

Swoosh!

As the moment the mask snatched Ned’s hand,

something resembling a black thorn pierced through the mask’s palm.

“…Dark magic? You’ve given up your humanity, haven’t you?”

“I don’t want to hear that from a demon!

By the way, are you really a demon? The aura feels different.”

Krrk, krrk!

During the ongoing struggle, it was Ned who first released his power.

“Well, if you aren’t going to tell me, I’ll take you and torture you.”

As his words ended, something resembling black tentacles emerged behind Ned

and wrapped around the mask’s limbs.

Soon the ground started darkening like a swamp, and both of their legs began to sink.

As the mask’s left eye opened, glowing with a blue light,

Planeta Ardeo [Blessing of the Stars] echoed out.

With an explosion, the surroundings shot out into space.

Swish!

Ned managed to dodge, scattering eight-tenths of the tentacles,

barely protecting himself.

“You…”

Emerging from the explosion, Ned displayed a serious expression unseen until now as he surveyed the scene.

“Why are you using her technique?”

The mask’s man, gripping his half-destroyed mask,

still didn’t respond to the inquiry.

“Ned Orion, I’ll spare you for now;

you’d actually be good for the growth of the stars.”

“Answer me, you little brat!”

“Cherish your precious life while you can.”

“Where are you going!”

Multiple black tentacles ensnared the mask,

but there was nothing left in that very spot.

“…Shit.”

*

“How’s the damage report?”

“Including the sparring hall, some paths have been damaged,

and four guards have been killed.”

“…Is that so?”

Even holding absolute authority over the Academy,

Chairman Valderon Aegis was listening to a report from a teacher in his office.

“This incident is my responsibility.

I can’t deny that I failed to protect the students, even with ten mouths.”

“…Don’t think so pessimistically.

Considering the level of damage when up against the Amelia mask demon,

it is fortunate.”

“However, I offered to take the responsibility.

I no longer deserve to be called a teacher after failing to protect the students.

I will resign from my teaching position as of today.”

At those words, Valderon seemed unexpectedly surprised.

“If you understand your responsibilities, that means you still have the qualifications;

and even if another teacher were appointed, the same situation would play out.

No, it would have likely worsened—

I thought you were just a madwoman, but it seems otherwise.”

“…Father?”

“Ahem… By the way, we can’t pretend this incident didn’t happen.”

“Yes… with the children of the great houses injured,

there were casualties, after all.”

“Right… especially the reaction from the Vladimir Clan was quite intense.”

“They weren’t killed, but their daughter was half torn apart,

and her subordinate Anubis was seriously injured,

with three weeks of recovery ahead.”

“And there’s one more problem.”

Valderon put a hand on his head and spoke.

“What other problem is there?”

“I hear Rockpelikan is coming to the academy.”

“…Excuse me? That old man?”

 

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