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Beelzebub is the lord of gluttony. It hoards what it has eaten and repeatedly vomits it back up.

To be precise, its specialty is to store something in its stomach to the limit and then either regurgitate or explode it.

Its true form is a super giant fly monster.

It is of a size similar to my dragon body and has a physique akin to a Spirit Device.

It might not be quite right to call it a full name, but its alias in the Demon World is ‘Ultimate Complete Great Beelzebub.’

It opens its mouth wide, devouring everything, and melts all that it ingests in its belly to convert it into its own magical power.

Like all demons, it certainly cannot be described as looking cool or cute.

It even brands its mana onto its host’s body, acting like a parasite, using this mana to control the host at will.

And the method it enjoys using the most is ‘explosion.’

Its specialty was turning enemies into its followers and transforming them into fly monsters similar to itself, then exploding that fly monster.

And now.

Its notorious specialty in the Demon World is manifesting in the Intermediate Realm.

Boom—!!

A powerful strike that shakes the entire ice wall.

People began to panic and flock back to Hero Liriez, who urgently infused mana into the barrier.

“Ugh…!”

“It’s too late. They’ve already started to interfere with the barrier.”

Originally.

The golden time can be monitored in minutes, if not seconds.

The moment I gave instructions to Lucius, the moment I heard him speak.

If I had reinforced the barrier immediately, perhaps the barrier wouldn’t have shaken under the enemies’ self-destruct attacks.

“Deploy a new barrier. Smaller, but faster.”

“Understood!”

One mistake.

Liriez promptly buried the Holy Sword into the ground and reformed the barrier to protect the townspeople.

Boom!!!

Explosions erupted everywhere.

The Diptera crashed into the barrier and self-destructed in succession, shaking the barrier with their powerful explosions.

No matter how strong the Holy Sword’s barrier is, it will shatter if mana isn’t continuously supplied.

With lives being sacrificed in such a manner to carry out a physical attack, no barrier could possibly withstand it.

“Everyone! The area may be small, but please hold on as best as you can!”

The rushed barrier that Liriez erected could barely cover the plaza.

Maybe she was momentarily tense about the explosions, but the barrier created by Liriez was considerably thick, yet its range was not wide.

“Where are the people…?!”

“Look over there!!”

The townsfolk screamed.

“What are you doing!! We agreed to run over as soon as an emergency alarm went off!!”

Two men and women rushed to the scene.

Seeing them without proper attire, it was clear that they must have been in the middle of something when they came running in this chaos.

‘I understand.’

Whether an earthquake occurred or monsters attacked, such things are unpredictable.

Who would have guessed that such monsters would come at this hour?

I myself would have acted rather than just staring blankly.

“Run quickly! Come on!”

“W-we can’t…! If we leave it like this, we’ll have to deactivate the barrier and set it up again!”

“What?!”

The townspeople’s eyes began to waver.

“If we deactivate the barrier…?”

“Look! Those bastards are already outside the barrier?!”

Boom—!!

As Liriez fearfully deployed a stronger barrier, the Diptera started to break through the barrier with their bodies.

Already, around 10% of the Diptera had self-destructed and burst.

However, gaps appeared in the ice wall, and one by one, the Diptera began to sacrifice their comrades to enter.

Aaaah—!!

With an unbearable sound of flapping wings, they flew towards us like bees.

Their speed was like that of hawks for mere bugs, and the two men and women approached the barrier and knocked on it.

“Let us in!”

“Please, right now!!”

“W-wait a moment! I—”

“Don’t let them in!!”

Someone shouted with a voice full of malice.

“Do you know what will happen if you let them in!!”

No matter how critical the situation, there are always one or two people who turn harshly cold.

“Chief!!”

“Why the hell are you late when we are being attacked by the Demon King’s army!!”

“Please, please save us!!”

The two outside the barrier were in a desperate state, while those inside exchanged nervous glances.

“Can’t we just make a hole in the barrier?!”

“W-we installed a compact barrier in a hurry….”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“I made it firm, so parts of it can’t be deactivated!!”

Should we sacrifice two people to maintain safety?

Or should we risk everything to save those two?

The speed of the approaching Diptera.

The speed of deactivating the barrier and deploying it again.

“Damn, at this point…!!”

And Liriez, with the Holy Sword stuck in the ground, biting her lower lip.

“…Huff!!”

As Liriez’s eyes sparkled blue, the barrier slightly lifted.

Like lifting an overturned cup and shifting it sideways, the barrier subtly moved in the direction of the two men and women.

“Come inside!!”

The two men and women smiled brightly and bent down.

However.

‘Something always seems to grab your ankle at times like this.’

Aaaah—!!

With a blade-like sound, the two stopped and turned towards the direction of the noise, and their bodies froze upon seeing what was flying towards them.

“What are you doing!!”

What are we doing?

They were frozen in fear in the face of death itself.

Gugugu.

The forcibly lifted barrier began to descend slowly.

If even one of them were to step down from under the barrier, everyone inside would be finished.

To be precise, only ‘ordinary people.’

And in such a situation, that thing would definitely wish to act.

“Lu—”

Bang!!

Before I could speak, Lucius jumped forward.

To be exact, it seemed Lucius moved in response to another’s action.

“Uwaah!!”

The two men and women were thrown into the barrier as if tossed.

And the one who threw each of the two people into the barrier was Lucius and—

“Miss!!!”

Droniel Odrone.

Sir Rapid’s scream echoed, and the Diptera pounced onto Lucius and Droniel instead of the two men and women.

Kishaaaa!!

The Diptera aimed its elongated stinger precisely at Droniel, who had stepped out to protect Lucius.

‘Oh.’

If it were an ordinary person, they would certainly hide behind Lucius.

Even knowing he was a hero, Droniel stepped forward to protect Lucius.

For Lucius’s sake.

To protect Lucius’s identity.

“Haah!!”

Droniel’s sword sliced through the air.

Infused with magical power, the sword sent a crescent-shaped slash that quickly cleaved the Diptera in two, and Lucius was taken aback by the speed of Droniel’s attack.

At the same moment.

“Droniel!!”

Lucius embraced Droniel—calling her by name at that very moment.

He instinctively shielded Droniel from the splattering blood of the sliced Diptera.

‘The right choice.’

“Earth Wall.”

With a forceful stomp on the ground, he created a rocky wall to protect the two.

Thud thud thud.

The remnants of the severed Diptera collided and slid down the rock wall that protected them.

Although it was a stone wall generated with magic, the Diptera’s poison corroded both the barrier and the rocky wall, dripping downwards.

“Ah….”

Droniel’s eyes widened, trembling at the possible outcomes of her own attack.

Despite still being Black Lotus, Lucius seemed unsettled by addressing her by name before he even realized her true identity.

“Well done.”

I stepped out from the barrier.

Though it was a barrier with physical force, I could freely move in and out since I was controlling Celcius.

“It was a good choice to go out to save everyone. Lucius did well too.”

“Master, but….”

“I can handle this kind of danger as much as I want. As long as I’m present. So….”

I patted Droniel’s head, who was trembling in Lucius’s arms.

“Well done. It was the best choice.”

“Ah….”

Droniel buried her face in Lucius’s chest.

She seemed to have a lot to say, mumbling softly, but her masked face concealed her words, making them hard to hear.

“Ugh…!”

Bang—!!

Meanwhile, the barrier collapsed to the ground.

For Liriez, who hadn’t even fully recovered her magical power after controlling Celcius just half a day ago, moving the entire barrier was little short of a miracle.

She wasn’t resting like me, and she must have been worn out from dealing with the townspeople.

“W-wait, Hero…?!”

“Don’t talk! If Hero loses focus, the barrier will break.”

The townspeople immediately understood my gentle way of saying ‘shut up.’

“Ah, understood. Sage.”

What should I say, I’m someone treated similarly to a hero right now.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the title of Sage.’

I have mostly played the roles of porter or guide; however, the title of Sage was likely the most fitting for me.

And sages always know the answer.

They know how to solve problems in dangerous situations.

“There are still plenty of enemy monsters left. If we leave them be, they’ll continue their self-destructive attempts, and if we just stand still, we’ll have to leave everything to Liriez, right?”

“That’s….”

“I know. Right now, Liriez is quite exhausted. Rosmas!! Assist Liriez inside.”

I felt sorry for Rosmas.

But now was not the battlefield for his involvement.

“Whether it’s a Narag Poison Bug, a beetle, or another monster, bugs are still bugs.”

The easiest way to demonstrate the power of true explosion is only one thing.

“Burn them all up.”

“But the flames….”

“I’m here.”

I lightly raised my staff upwards.

“Two knights.”

Swish.

“Are you prepared to wield the flames?”

For Beelzebub’s minions.

“Use a powerful slash to burn away everything except the magic stones of their bodies!!”

There are magic stones.

There are magic stones, one by one!

“Burn up!!”

Flames burst forth.

A sword of flames soared high into the sky before Lucius and Droniel.

The size was similar to the Holy Sword that Celcius wielded.

“Now we swing it together. Got it?”

Whoosh.

“Together.”

Something.

Lucius looked at me intently, then shifted his gaze to the sword.

“…?”

Why does it feel like he’s sulking?

Could it be.

‘Was putting up a protection with Earth Wall earlier a mistake?’

Did I interfere with his effort to protect Droniel?

That’s a bit unfortunate.

I’ll make it up to him by teaching him another form of training later.

Anyway.

Whoosh.

“…Let’s finish this.”

Beelzebub.

 

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