Well, the Demon King!　Demon King Cain is here!
　A scream-like exclamation echoed through the city of the labyrinth.


　--Demon King Cain


　Not to mention the apostle of Master Noah from a thousand years ago.
　Apostle of the Evil God, Black Knight, Mad Hero.......the infamous Demon King with various names.

　The Demon King's most famous evil deed is 'The Killing of a Brave Man'.
　In the story "The Legend of Abel the Brave", it's written that most of the brave men were killed by the demon king.

　And there are many brave men and women in the Great Maze today.
　The situation is bad.
　But the situation has taken a turn for the worse.

Demon King Cain!
　With a voice that contained a fury that was different from the usual, the brave(a)be-be-r(b) ran out of the Great Maze.
　That's right, Demon King Cain is the avenger of Abel the Brave's mentor, the 'Fire Brave'.
　In anger, the brave Abel has forgotten himself.
　This is not good!

Abel!　Wait!
We're coming with you!
　The brave man of the wood (Julietta) and the brave man of the earth (Wolf) followed.

'Dad!'
You and everyone else will take refuge in the depths of the labyrinth.
No!　I want you to go with me!
I'm a brave man. I'm a brave man. I won't let you run away.
Promise me you'll come back!　It's my birthday tomorrow!
Yeah, we'll celebrate your birthday together when you get back.
I'll make it back alive.
　I heard a conversation between the Iron Brave (Dekker) and his daughter.

　
　The Iron Warrior must be protected at all costs!
　I took a vow.


"Get these people out of here. The women and children come first. "All those who can fight, come with me. I'll drive the demon king away.
'Dear Jonny!　It's absurd!　The other party is that (s)he's the Demon King Cain!
We need to run away together!
It would be too much for the heroes to handle alone. Only a bunch of daredevils follow me.
　Mr. Jonny Walker was the only one who was calm in the midst of the chaos.
　Apparently, they'll be fighting together too.


''Well, Makoto-sama...?
　Momo grabs my sleeve as he lumbers along.
　I'd like to evacuate with the residents if possible, but I'm afraid to leave and lose them here.
　More importantly, I don't want to be taken away from my peaches again.　

"Follow me. But if we get into a fight, stay hidden.
Yes!
　I headed out of the Great Maze with Momo.



　◇



'Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!'

　Outside the great labyrinth, the first thing that reached my ears was a grating laugh.

'The brave man of the soil (Wolf)!
　I heard the wooden hero (Julietta) scream.
　Wolf-san's armor was shattered and he was lying on the ground, bleeding.
　No way..........

"Don't be distracted, Julietta. I'm still alive........
　Thank God.
　The Wolf of Dirt is safe and sound.
　Yeah, what about Abel the Brave?

What?
　Abel has also fallen on the ground far away from me, as if he had been hit by Demon King Cain.
　I'm not bleeding by the looks of it, so I'd like to think that he's just unconscious.

''Momo!　How is Mr. Abel doing?
Yes!
　I sent Momo to check on the condition of the brave Abel and confirmed the devastation.

　There were several other beastmen and several other elven warriors lying in a pool of blood.
　It hadn't even been a few minutes since the news of the enemy attack.
　It's not like they're arrogantly looking down at us, who are already devastated.

　-- It was a knight dressed in full-body jet black armor.

　He was wearing a full-face type helmet and his expression was unknown.
　He held a huge two-handed sword (greatsword) in his hand.
　He radiates a powerful fighting spirit (aura) that overflows from his entire body.
　This is the Demon King Cain.....

''Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!　Weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak!　A hero of the Holy Tribe!
　He was a noisy demon king.
　He was this obnoxious demon king.

"I'm going to kill the brave!　If you are not a brave man, I will let you live if you have faith in Lord Noah. Now kneel down and praise Master Noah. If you do so, I will cut off one arm and let you go. Give thanks to the merciful Lord Noah!
　I heard those words.

(C'mon....)
　Master Noah's followers can only increase by one person every ten years.
　That's the Divine Principle (rule).
　No matter how much we threaten them, we can't increase the number of followers, and this will only give Master Noah a bad reputation.
　Of course, no one will respond to Demon King Cain's call.

(Spirit, Spirit.)
　I called out to the water spirit and gathered my magic power (mana).

"Water Demon Ice Lance.
　When I unleashed my magic, dozens of magic-created ice spears rained down on the Demon King Cain.
　All of them hit the black armor and shattered.
　There is not a single scratch on the armor.

(Just as Noah-sama said........)
　I remembered the words Master Noah taught me just before I was sent away a thousand years ago.



　◇


　Just before jumping forward a thousand years.
　The Cathedral of Our Lady of Anna.
　Nearby, Ila is chanting the Miracle of Time Travel.
　Now it's just waiting for the chanting.
　Meanwhile, Noah-sama has been teaching me the knowledge of a thousand years ago.

'Makoto. Do you know who the Demon King is that we need to be most careful about when we head into a thousand years ago?
　Noah-sama, who went out of his way to dress as a female teacher, points at me.
　I like that outfit.

''It's the Great Demon King (Eveleth) after all, right?
''No, it's not. The Great Demon Lord doesn't move from the Floating Garden of Eden in the Demon Continent. As long as you don't go to meet him yourself, there's no chance of encountering him.
　Oh, really?

"So you're the 'Immortal King' (Bifrongs) who rules the Western Continent?
That's close, but the right answer is...
"Demon King Cain. It's Noah's messenger, Takatsuki Makoto. He is alone and unpredictable. If you're with a brave man, you're most likely to run into him.
'Oh, Altena!　Don't tell me before you do!
　In the middle of the conversation, Goddess of the Sun (Altena) interrupted and Noah-sama complained.

''Demon King Cain........''
　Legendary hero slayer and my former apostle.
　What kind of person is he?
　As if to answer that question, Noah-sama continued in a good manner.

"I made that boy (Cain) a full body armor (full plate) and a two-handed sword (greatsword) out of the same material as the dagger I'm giving to Makoto.
'Wait a minute, Noah. I didn't have much of a grasp on what was going on on earth a thousand years ago due to the lack of believers, but you've been giving those things to the apostles!
　At Noah-sama's words, the Sun Goddess (Altena) bit this time.

　I stared at the dagger held at my waist.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find it.
　Is it the same material as this one?

''Noah!　You... used a piece of Kronos' scythe, the scythe of the old god-king, to cut through all things?　You just gave that thing to the people of the earth?　What do you think you're doing?
Shut up, Altena!　In the end, your 'Hero of Light' is more foul (cheat) than the one you made, so it's not fair!
'My creation of the Brave Man of Light would never be invincible without the light of the sun!　It's properly in line with the Divine Realm regulations.
What?　You have no idea!　Rules and regulations.　It's just the right thing to do!　At random!
　The people in the cathedral are drawn away when they see Noah-sama and Altena-sama shouting at each other.

''Um........you two. I apologize for the place that's getting so exciting. After all, what kind of person is the Demon King Cain?
　When I asked a question, Noah-sama and Altena-sama, who were grabbing each other, turned around to look at me.

''Takatsuki Makoto........calm down and listen to me. The metal used in the armor worn by Demon King Cain and the weapons he carries is the material of the Old God King's weapons. In other words, it is........
It's the absence of reason and the absence of law, mako.
　When Altena-sama was at a loss for words, Noah-sama simply said the conclusion.

''What?''
　What did you just say?
　Physics disabled, magic disabled...?
　Doesn't that mean we'll never beat it?

'Noah, we need to be accurate. Mako-kun, it's correct that any attack below the 'holy class' is not valid.
　Eir-sama added, from the side, from the side.
　But..........

''Isn't that practically invincible?''
No. A god-grade or equivalent attack will get through.
You know, like the attack by the Brave Men of Light.
　Noah-sama continues at Eil-sama's words.
　The point is that we can't defeat him with anything other than Abel, the Brave of Light?

''But what if I have to fight Demon King Cain before I meet the Brave of Light?
Run away. Run away.
　The Sun Goddess assured him.

''Is that all there is to it...?''
　Well, oh well.
　I guess that means you can't fight such a foul bastard properly.
　Annihilation is inevitable.

''Hmm, but I'll also tell you what to do in case you have to fight that kid without the 'Hero of Light'.
What, you've got a way to deal with it?
Oh, my God.　It's....
　Master Noah told us how.



　◇



What if...
　Noah-sama must have known that this situation would arise.
　Such a thought crosses my mind.


(..........Great Spirit of Water (Undine). Come.)


　I've been calling for him a few times before, but he hasn't come out.
　Maybe I've been asking for too much lately.
　I'll take care of it a lot later.

　Even as I'm doing this, the warriors are flopping down to fight.

''Water Magic, Water Dragon!''
　I borrowed the power of the water spirit and unleashed my water magic.
　However, my magic doesn't seem to care about it, and Demon King Cain doesn't even look back at me.

''Gwaaah!''
　Oh!
　The Iron Brave (Dekker) has been cut down!
　Oh, no, no, no, no, no!

Gosh I wish I could have celebrated my daughter's seventh birthday....
　Flag collection is fast!
　You're giving up too soon, Mr. Iron Brave (Dekker)!

"XXXXXXXX!" (Great Spirit of Water (Undine))!
　I shouted at him in spirit language, and he finally appeared.



　--me-(i)y(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i)d(i).



''XXXXXXXX-XXX!　(My King!)
"...XXXXXXXX (...what are you doing?)
XXXXXXXX (You like to dress like this, don't you?)
　Glancing over, the Great Spirit of Water looked at Momo.
　Just as Abel seemed to have regained consciousness, Momo was interceding for him.
　Don't tell me that he was imitating Momo and it took him a long time to do so?

XXXXXXXX.....
　It's too carefree in this time of emergency.

"XXXXXXX?" (Oh, angry?)　(My King?)
　The Great Spirit of Water (Undine) moistened her eyes with anxiety.
　Her appearance was very similar to Noah-sama's lying(⋅) crying(⋅).
　This guy......
　Wait, calm down.
　The cooperation of the Great Spirit of Water (Undine) is essential in order to get through this crisis.

　Spirits are fickle, moody and need to be put in a good mood.
　That's the basis of 'spirit magic'.
　So what I should say here is........


''XXXXXXXX (Great Spirit of Water (Undine), looks good on you).''
'XXXXXXXX!　My King!
XXXXXXXX (So help me out).
XXXXXXXX!
　The moment the Great Spirit of Water (Undine) said that, all the magic power in the area gathered towards us.
　The ground shook, the air trembled, and lightning struck the black clouds in response to the rain.
　All the water magic (mana) in this world.
　In the great spirit of water (Undine), it gathers.


　--The Demon King Cain turned around to me.



　The iron hero (Dekker) was about to put a stop to it, when Demon King Cain stopped walking.
　The Demon King, who had not paid any attention to me until a moment ago, clearly saw me.
　Can he see the Great Spirit of Water (Undine) next to me?
　Demon King Cain spoke to me.

"Are you a brave man?
　He asked quietly.

'No,'
　I answered shortly.
　I am a nationally certified brave man, but there is no water country here.
　Therefore, I am not a brave person.
　When Demon King Cain heard my answer, he said the following words.



"Do you........believe in........Noah?
..........



　I couldn't answer.
　There was no way I could answer.
　I'm still a believer in Master Noah.
　But I'm not a believer now.　
　So I can't say anything.
　And I was surprised that I was so annoyed by that.


Then die.
　Deciding to reject silence, Demon King Cain swung his sword towards me and closed the distance in an instant.
　''Fast!

''Water Magic, Holy Grade Warding.''
'Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
　The warding magic I invoked, Demon King Cain cuts through it while laughing like a piece of paper.
　What is this guy.........................crazy?
　It's no use........I had to use it here.

(...the spirit's right hand)
　When I was about to change my right arm into a spirit - a flash of light.

''Mm.''
　Demon King Cain moaned softly.
　The light was a chink in the Demon King's armor.
　It was an attack like passing through the hole of a needle.

''Spiritual magic, Wind Arrow.''　
　With a quiet voice, nearly a thousand arrows of wind fell on Demon King Cain.
　Most of them seemed to be protected by the Demon King's armor, but the attacks seemed to pass through the slightest gap in his armor.
　There was a small amount of blood on the Demon King's armor.

(Great.........)
　I was taught by Noah-sama to attack Demon King Cain.
　In other words, the armor itself cannot be attacked, so it takes advantage of the gaps in the armor.
　That's why it was an attack that I understood.


　When I noticed that the Lord of the attack was standing quietly in front of me and Demon King Cain.
　Long red-copper colored hair fluttering in the wind.
　The man was holding a sword that might have been longer than his height.

　No, it wasn't a sword.
　A wavy blade sentence on a warped blade.
　A sword.
　A swordsman with long hair, holding a long sword.
　The figure looked like a samurai.

'Thank you, Jonny-san,'
　As I thanked him, Jonny Walker only glanced at me and said.

'The Great Spirit of Water (Undine) this is the first time I've seen one that I've followed.
　They can see it.
　I see. He's a wizard of spirit magic too.

I'll give you a hand. No, I need your help.
Yes. Let's get rid of him.
　I replied to Jonny's suggestion without hesitation.

　She nodded with a serious expression as I gave a sideways glance to the Great Spirit of Water (Undine).
　She was moody, but she seemed to have gotten serious.

　I was to join forces with Jonny Walker and challenge the Demon King Cain.