The Charging Hero And The Astonished Demon King

I was walking through Kou’s passage in order to meet the mastermind behind the evil god affair.

Apparently the Star Dragon Realm lay ahead, and it was impossible to reach without the Sacred White Dragon.

—And then.

When I reached the end of the passage Kou had made, my feet stopped.

Before my eyes, it shone dark like the night sky, and a gigantic brown planet floated there.

It felt as though I were looking down from far, far high above the sky.

“S-so this is… the Star Dragon Realm?”

‘Beyond here, there is a barrier in place, so you cannot go through, yes?’

“All right then, Rāna. Hold on tight to my back, put up the barrier, and head for it.”

“Kyai!”

Rāna, the Sacred White Dragon clinging to my back, answered in a cheerful voice.

A spherical barrier spread around us.

Then I firmly took the hand of Liricia, who was beside me.

My eyes met her violet ones.

“Then let’s go… for an angel, flying through the sky must be nothing unusual, right?”

“No… not from this height. But if you are with me, Master, I will be fine.”

“All right… three, two, one, go!”

“Yes!”

The two of us kicked off from the exit of the passage together and leaped toward the giant planet.

White light was emitted from Rāna’s spread wings, drawing a trail like a ribbon.

Wrapped in her barrier, Liricia spread her white wings and flew like an angel as well.

The two of us flew onward.

Or rather, were we falling?

The brown planet came closer at a terrifying speed. I felt like we were accelerating more and more.

“Is this really okay?”

“Kyaai!”

Liricia, looking at my back, nodded with a serious face.

“Rāna-chan is extremely delighted. I am sure it will be fine.”

“Got it. I guess all I can do is trust her.”

Just like that, we descended toward the brown planet.

The moment we touched the blue atmosphere surrounding the planet, violent sparks began to scatter.

The area around the barrier began to burn red.

It looked like it had become unimaginably hot.

“If we didn’t have this barrier, we’d probably be burning up.”

“As expected of Sacred White Dragon-sama’s power.”

Liricia gripped our joined hands even tighter.

And then we broke through the barrier and emerged high in the sky.

Sparse white clouds floated in the blue sky.

Far below, the land was nothing but a spread of brown earth.

Even looking into the distance, there was only a gentle horizon stretching on, with low, rounded mountains here and there worn smooth by erosion.

I could not sense the presence of any living creature at all.

I looked at Liricia.

“Where is the evil god’s associate?”

“Um, please wait—Dark Magic Power Detection (Aura Detect).”

Liricia sent white feathers flying and searched the ground below.

Immediately, her eyes snapped wide open.

“…At that black building at the foot of that mountain, countless evil presences are gathering!”

When I looked where she pointed, a black temple stood there as if hiding in the shadow of the mountain.

It looked like it might collapse at any moment.

“So that’s the place. Are they holding some kind of gathering? —Rāna, can you do it?”

“Kyui!”

She cried energetically from my back, and our speed increased another step.

Then we headed toward the temple while gliding.

When I glanced behind us, a band of white light remained in the dry sky.

—But.

When we came close to the ground, our descending speed had become unbelievably fast.

Panicking, I called to the little girl clinging to my back.

“Rāna, stop, stop!”

“Kyui!”

She spun half a turn, putting my head on top.

But from the force of that, the hand I was holding with Liricia slipped free.

Liricia desperately spread her wings and flapped, but it was like a drop in the bucket.

“Master!”

“Liricia—! —Rāna, forget everything else, catch up to Liricia!”

“Kyai!”

She pointed downward again, and while clinging tightly to me, Rāna flew.

A headlong plunge beyond top speed.

“Liricia—!”

“Mastaa—!”

Just before she slammed into the ground, I grabbed her body and threw her upward.

Perhaps from the recoil, the falling speed of Rāna and me accelerated even more.

“What!?”

“Kyaai!?”

DGOOOOM—!

Rāna and I crashed into the ground.

The impact created a massive crater.

A shock ran through me as though my whole body had been torn apart.

“Kuh… Rāna, are you all right?”

“Kyuiii~”

At the center of the crater, Rāna’s eyes were spinning.

Liricia descended fluttering down with her white wings spread.

“Master! Rāna-chan! —Full Heal!”

Liricia crouched right beside us and touched me and Rāna with her hand. At once, the pain all through my body rapidly faded away.

But Rāna did not get back up and remained unconscious.

Holding the little child in her arms, Liricia stood up.

“Thank goodness… it seems both of you are safe.”

“Yeah, thank you, Liricia.”

“Kyukyu~…”

Rāna regained only a little consciousness in Liricia’s arms and let out a small cry.

I stood up and looked toward the temple standing in the mountain’s shadow.

“Huh?”

When I looked, the evil temple was collapsing with a clattering roar.

Liricia furrowed her beautiful brows.

“It seems the impact just now caused it to collapse… and Master, your Serâge power must have played a part as well.”

“That’ll make searching more difficult—Liricia, can you use the monocle?”

“Yes, leave it to me.”

Liricia nodded, her silver hair swaying.

I drew the black sword hanging at my waist and started walking toward the collapsed temple.

---

Meanwhile.

Before Alec came to the Star Dragon Realm.

Inside a black temple lined with thick pillars, the evil god Sklasis was speaking to a palm-sized evil god statue.

But she soon frowned in distaste with her bewitching face and returned the statue to the shelf.

“Kuh…! It suddenly stopped connecting! What in the world happened!?”

The Demon King, who had been sitting in a kotatsu writing a promotional bonus SS, lifted his face.

“Hmph, did I not tell you? Hero Alec is someone to whom common sense does not apply, so do not let your guard down.”

“But even so, what could he possibly do against me?”

“You would do well to be careful. He may even come here. And suddenly, at that.”

The Demon King bit down on his jagged teeth and made a bitter face.

Sklasis thrust out her chest and snorted mockingly. Beneath her scanty outfit, her ample chest swayed seductively.

“Hmph. Idiot. Even if he is a Hero, without the Sacred White Dragon he can’t do anythi—”

A sharp sound pierced the atmosphere.

The Demon King looked up while still sitting at the kotatsu.

“Hm? What was that sound? —W-what!?”

He looked up at the high ceiling of the temple in astonishment.

Apparently the outside was visible.

Sklasis also lost her composure, her black-purple hair thrown into disarray.

“T-that is Alec!? Why is he here… no way!? He does have the Sacred White Dragon! Why!? —No, not yet! If we hit that descending momentum with our ultimate technique—! Let’s combine our strength and bring him down, Demon King! …Demon King?”

Sklasis turned around.

But there was no one at the kotatsu anymore.

Even the manuscript paper he had been writing on had vanished.

She cried out, flinging her long hair wildly.

“Aah! The Demon King is already gone!”

Sklasis bit her red lips and tried to flee as well.

She headed for the back entrance of the temple.

—However.

Iiiiiin—! DOGO!

With a crash, the black stone making up the pillars and ceiling began to collapse.

“Something like this—ugh!”

The fleeing Sklasis was directly bathed in Serâge.

Her hair was thrown into disarray from the shock.

Then the floor by the back entrance gave way.

Unable to move properly under the effects of Serâge, she fell with the rubble into the underground below.

“Ugh… kuh…”

Buried in the debris, Sklasis was unable to move.

Normally, rubble like this could have been blown away with a single pinky finger.

But under the effects of Alec’s Serâge, she could do nothing.

Little by little… little by little… her life force was being shaved away.

—What is this!? This is supposed to be the Hero’s power!? Isn’t this unfair—!

Ironically, she had reached the same conclusion as the Demon King, but it was too late now.

With no one able to help her now, everything was too late.

All Sklasis could do was try to fulfill the rest of her life buried beneath the rubble under the temple.

‘Until Sklasis sees her life flash before her eyes and dies: 1 day remaining.’