Oh, is that...?

　The one I was pulling on was a female knight with blonde hair and golden armor.
　It was the captain of the Pegasus Knights, Janet-san.
　The moment I noticed it, surly, the blood rushes out.

(Lucy?!)

　Calm down.
I'm going to max out my "Clear Water" skill.
　Lucy is from the Woodlands.
　She knows the Great Forest and the Lost Forest inside and out.
　She also knows about the dangers of the Dark Forest and how to hide.
　Besides, there were many of Lucy's brothers in that place.
　If we work together, we should be able to escape.

(The rest is up to Mr. Sa-san the Prince Leonard.)
　Sa-san has a strong skill set and a track record of surviving dungeons that he developed in the Great Maze.
　As for Prince Leonard, he's in good hands with Sa-san.
　Everyone should be fine........

　Okay, we've got the situation under control.
　It's a bit of a relief.

''Makoto, the brave man of Roses. You can't blame me for this. I'll come back.
"Let's go to the tomb of the Witch King.
"...what are you talking about?
　Janet gives me a suspicious look.

'Brave Mako?　There are only two of us here, you know?
Wind Tree's heroic Maximilian-san said 'scatter' but not 'retreat'.
　If I'm not mistaken.
　So he must still be in the Devil's Forest.

But...　It will still take several hours for reinforcements from the other villages to arrive. What are we going to do if we proceed on our own!
Maybe Lucy is headed to the Tomb of the Demon King.
　He'll worry about his mom, and he'll move on. I'm sure.
　When he gets hot, he's a go-getter.

"Also, Prince Leonard is a very responsible man. He wouldn't try to run off on his own.
''........I think I can understand that. But wouldn't your companion, Aya Sasaki, suggest a retreat...?
No, I don't think so either.

　If it's Sa-san, she'll step in and say 'I would do this' and match it.
　She's been a friend of mine for several years, so she can generally predict what I'm going to think.
　

'But that's just my selfishness. You can go home, Janet-san.
'Don't be ridiculous!　There's no way I'd run away alone without you. Princess Sophia has asked me to protect the brave men of the Water Kingdom.
　I'm pissed.
　As a matter of fact, it would be helpful if you would come.
　Janet-san, who has wide search skills and a super-grade spearmancy knight.
　It's a reassuring force.

''Then, let's go. I'm going to use my 'covert' skill, so please hold onto me.
"...I thought he was more of a cautious man. It's the same with my brother, who knows it's dangerous and rushes into it.
　In a small voice, he murmurs his complaints.
　Jera, your sister says.

(Mako's the same way, right?)
(Mako-kun, fight!)
　What's up with more goddesses (people) tsking in your head?
　It's so noisy.

　Me and Janet-san slowly advanced through the thick fog.

''........But, 'The Magic Eye of Petrification' Seteker. I didn't know the Devil's Eye had been revived.
　Bitterly, Janet bites her teeth.
'Will the petrified person be okay?'
　I think Lucy's brother was included.........
　We can bring it back................right?　
　Items and magic.

'The petrification curse should be broken by Lady Flona, the Goddess' priestess.
The Goddess Priestess...
　So does Furiae.
　Moreover, 'curse' is her field of expertise.
　Was it an incorrect decision to have her stay in Canaan's village?
　No, when the battle is over, the person who will unpetrify you must be safe.
　So it's not wrong to ask them to stay in the village, it should be.

　-- We silently advance deeper into the demon forest.

(Hmm, it's quiet.)

By the way, are the men from Janet's unit safe?
　Half of the female knights of the Pegasus Knights remained in the village and the other half followed.
　All of them got separated, though.

''No problem. The Northern Heaven Knights are always ready to risk their lives to defeat the Demon King.''
Ha ha ha, so desperate.
　That's not what I'm talking about, though.

　Miss Janet is serious.
　Maybe a bit like Princess Sophia.
　How's Sofia doing?

One thing I'm curious about is the fact that the demons were waiting for us. They seemed to have figured out what we were doing. Could there be an insider in the tree country?　What do you think?　The Brave Men of Roses.
　That certainly bothered me.
　But there are some things that just don't add up.

"I feel like it was missed so easily.
　Even the Wind Tree Brave was here.
　They could have thoroughly hunted him down so as not to let this one escape.

''I don't know what the demon race is thinking.......please stop. Brave Mako.
There was a response to the 'search' skill.
　It was Janet who found it first.

"Brave Makoto, there's a horde of demons ahead.
''There's still a reaction to my skills....no, there were. There's a lot of them... probably demons under the King of Beasts...
　Then, there might be a guy called Jimbara, the direct attendant of the King of Beasts' 'Ten Claws', too.
　That guy's 'Covert' skill didn't work for him.

　Furthermore, thousands of demons.
　Probably demons from the Demon Continent that had lived for more than a thousand years.

(Well........it's tough to go any further.)
　Our strength is two.
　A super-grade knight and an apprentice wizard.

''........Brave Makoto, I don't agree to go into that one, do you?
Don't make me sound like a suicidal maniac. I'm not going to fight.
　Now, what shall we do?


　--The 'listening ear' skill.


　When in doubt, gather information.
　Although the beast's voice is noisy, I'll find out if any of them are speaking a language I can understand.
　It seems that the more advanced demons tend to prefer intelligent conversation.

''Thank you, Setekar-sama, for your help earlier. Thank you for getting rid of the brave men.
I'm sorry to say that we didn't find our true love.
　I overheard a conversation that sounded like it.
　There it is.

''The Bifrons-sama resurrection ceremony is safely over, isn't it? I'm sure you'll find that even in the daytime, dark magic is possible. The progress of magic is remarkable after a thousand years.
　The owner of the familiar voice is the Immortal King's confidant, Seteker.
　I knew you were there.
　But I'm more interested in what they're saying.

(Janet, I hear the Demon King resurrection ceremony is over.)
Oh, no!　(How could the King of the Immortals resurrect when the sun is up?

　The elven village chief had said the same thing.
　He said that the resurrection of the Demon King would take place at night, when the power of the demon race would be stronger.

''The resurrection ceremony will take some time to take effect. Until then, I'll ask you to defend this place, Master Jimbara, Master Setekar.
"You are a fool to challenge my troops, aren't you? This 'Red Lotus Witch'
　I can hear the others.
　One is Jimbala, under the King of the Beast's command, who was there the other day.
　The other voice is ... maybe Archbishop Izak of the Order of the Serpent.

''But a user of 'fate magic' who can see the future? It's the same power as that great man, isn't it, Izak-dono?
No, no, Master Setecar. I can't even compare myself to our great leader.
　Hahahahaha, he laughs.

(Haha, I see.)
　These guys have a lot to say.

"Janet, if we don't, the Demon King will come back. Maybe we won't have to wait for the night.
'My God...'
Also, we were ambushed by Archbishop Isaac's fate magic, 'Future Vision'.
　It's the same power as Mr. Freyae's.

"So there was no one on the inside...
There might be. The Order loves subterfuge.
...What do I do now...?
Hmm.

　That's it.
　Around the Demon King's tomb, there are several senior demon clans and a group of demons.　
　As expected, I have a feeling that Lucy and Sa-san aren't here either.
　As for me, if Lucy and Sa-san aren't here, there's no reason for me to stay longer.

"Maybe we should turn around and meet up with the people in the tree country.
　Worst case scenario, I feel like I should call up Sakurai-kun from the Land of the Sun in the resurrected Demon King.
　Or will Jera-san or someone else be happy to come along?
　As I thought about this, something passed over my head.

''?''
　Me and Janet-san braced ourselves, but the breakneck speed of it stabbed around the crowd of demons.
　And then an explosion, an explosion of flames rose up.
　It's not just one shot.
　If you look closely, huge fireballs are being thrown in one after another.

(Lucy's meteor shower?)　(No, no, it's not fire magic...)

They're coming!　The Red Lotus Witch!
You're a rude wizard in our undead sanctuary.
The humans are heroes, and they're gonna give us some payback.

　Rosalie, you hadn't attacked them yet.
　Surprisingly, you may have been listening to their conversation together.

　The giant fireball was spinning around with explosions as it exploded on the ground.
　The magic user was nowhere to be seen at a glance.
　Are they attacking from a considerable distance?

　While they were doing so, one after another, the flames rose up to burn the Demon Forest.
　Surprised by the fire, the demonic beasts began to make a commotion.
　But as expected of the Demon King's Army demons.
　They don't seem to be flailing or running away like wild demons.

　The smoke from the demon tree's burning has reached us.
　The fire is turning quickly.

I'm not going to be able to get rid of it.　If we don't, we'll be surrounded by fire.
Well, I guess I'll have to step back.
　If it's Rosalie who's using this magic, it's no joke to get involved.

''From afar, petulant. Let's go out and twist it.
　I heard those voices.

　A black wind blew.
　At the same time, a vortex of tremendous magical power arose.
　Its master was probably the direct attendant of the King of Beasts, Jimbala.
　It's a magical power that surpasses the Demon King's bellybutton Shuri.
　Rosalee-san, will you be okay?

''Lord Jimbala, I would like to take the liberty of assisting you with my presumption.......oh, what is that?
　At the same time as Seteker's voice, an intense light illuminated the area.
　A tremendous heat dominated the area.

(Sunlight........isn't it?)
　The light clears the fog.

"Yoo, heroic Makoto!
　Janet-san shouts impatiently.
'This isn't good.......we have to get away from this.
　What appeared after the fog cleared was a red sky.
　A searing red light covered the sky above the Demon Forest.

　The true identity of the red light was - it was a flame giant.
　Hundreds of fire giants were surrounding us.
　Perhaps that one (...) body (...) body (...) is (...), I expect it to be king-class magic.

　The water giant that swallowed five thousand demons in the land of the sun.
　I've been in tune with Undine and I finally created a piece of kingly magic.
　And hundreds of them at the same time.

(No, no, no, no...)

　Even if it's a beginner level magic fireball.
　Each and every one of them is a king grade magic that requires a huge amount of magic power.
　It's the magic power to invoke hundreds of them.
　Can a human being really handle it?

(Maybe it's because I borrowed the magic power of the spirits.......so maybe that's why it took so long. Even so, enough magic power to surround a demon forest with king-class magic...)
　You can see Lucy's mother's level of wizardry in an order of magnitude.
　I mean, I'm not going to just sit around and stare!

We need to get out of here, Janet.
'We're not gonna make it!　Spear of Thunder!
　Janet-san fired a magic spear technique towards the ground.
　There was a large hole in the ground that could accommodate two people.

''Come in!''
　Janet took me by the hand and I ducked into the hole.
　The hole is cramped, and I manage to hug Janet-san in an embracing position, and our entire bodies are inside the hole.


　--King Class, Fire Magic, 'March of the Giants'


　Such was Rosalie's voice through her 'listening ear' skill.
　At that moment, a thud thud sound resounded.

　Rah!
　Huh!
　Huh!
　Huh!

　The ground shook and the heat caused the storm to blow.
　If I was standing on the ground, I wouldn't have been able to get away with it for free.
　A blast that shook my eardrums and the flames that burned my skin passed over the hole.

(Lucy and Sa-san, you're not even close, are you?)
　This is not a joke to get involved in.
　I'd like to believe that he wouldn't misfire his daughter with magic.

"The Red Lily Witch what kind of magic is that...
　As Janet spoke, her breath hit her cheek.

'I'd better not move for a while.
'Brave Makoto, our faces are close together, but it can't be helped.
　Janet, with a blush on her face, is gazing at us.
　Mingjing water, Mingjing water, Mingjing water.
　It's mutual.

　In an attempt to distract myself, I use my 'listening ear' skill to the situation outside.
　The sound of explosions and the screams of demons.
　The rest is the constant sound of something being destroyed.
It's useless to have a "listening ear"....

　At that time, one of the flaming giants noticed me and turned their gaze towards me with a jirori.

''Geez.''
Huh!
　Me and Ms. Janet, I cringe.

".........
　We stared at each other with the giant.
　It only lasted about ten seconds.
　The intimidation and heat made it difficult to breathe.
　But when I looked closely at it, there was no hostility in that giant's eyes.

(.........Identifying the enemy?

　The fire giant left.
　Thank goodness it wasn't mistaken for a demon.
　The sound of explosions continued to be heard outside.

'Rosalie-san's magic seems to distinguish between demons and others. If that's the case, there seems to be no worry about Lucy and Sa-san getting involved. As expected of one of the continent's best wizards, the Red Lotus Witch.
　And then I looked at Janet.

''.........''
　Janet's mouth was agape.
　Hyperventilating?

Janet?
　He flattened his cheeks.

'Huh!　It's okay ... stop slapping me on the cheek. Huh........honestly, I was ready to die.
　He turned his weary eyes on me.

'That was a hell of a powerful thing. Hot, though.'
　I look up at my face with my hands, but it doesn't do any good.

'....How are you so calm?
I'm getting impatient inside.
It doesn't look like that at all...

　Then we waited for the magical sounds to subside while chatting for a while.
　More than half an hour or so passed.

'It's quiet now. I'm going to go look outside.
Be careful.
　I fearfully peered at the ground from outside the hole.

　--The demon forest was gone.

　The forest of demon trees was gone.
　There were no demons.
　It had all been burned to the ground.

(That's an absurd amount of power.......does it look like there's no danger outside.......?
　I go outside.

"Oh, it's so hot and humid!
　The remains of the Demon Forest (...) ground was like the bottom of an infernal kiln.
　The demon tree has been burned up and turned into charcoal.

　I pull Janet-san up outside.
　........Oh, it's heavy (the armor).
　I managed to pull it up.
　Janet, too, is stunned by the scene outside.

(Just too good a view. Let's get out of here.)
　Or so I thought.


...You are not of the Woodmen... are you? You're a descendant of Abel the Accursed, the Wicked, the Brave.


!
　A hateful voice called out from behind me.

　A huge, jet-black, giant centaur was there.
　Yay, the direct attendant of the King of Beasts, Jimbala.
　Even Rosalie's magic kept him alive!

Master Zagan entrusted me with my army and I don't know what to do with it.
　I see, so all the demons under Jimbala-san's control were wiped out.
　But it was Rosalie-san who did that.
　But apparently, the other party had nothing to do with it.

"Die, you lowlife.
　Huge hooves were closing in on me and Mr. Janet, trying to crush me and Mr. Janet.