We walk through a city destroyed by demons.
　Our goal is to find the demon tribe, and they will be looking for us too, having burned our families to the ground.

Whoever finds his opponent first will have an overwhelming advantage.
　To our advantage, we have neutralized his military sensors.
　We've discovered the property of finding our enemies by their carbon dioxide levels.
　It doesn't react to meat, but pigs eat it. When they were burned, they went out of their way to shove ivy and branches into the flames. That's why the flames spread so far.
　The reason for the latter is simple. They thought that their prey had come because of the increase in carbon dioxide concentration caused by the spread of the fire.
　And as a countermeasure, they diluted their exhalation with air before returning it to the sky.

The demon race shares its senses with its consort. That's why that countermeasure is avenged. At any rate, the creatures can't escape the eyes of the tree monster, and they believe that they are not in the place where the tree monster is located.
　........The assassin is the one who exploits these assumptions. We are safe because there are cameras, guards, and military dogs, and that kind of 'security' is what makes us good prey.

''Master Rouges, how are you going to find the demon race?''
I've been searching the city blindly, using some sort of wind-driven exploration spell. When I still can't find them, I smoke them out in a rather rough way.

We are walking through the green monsters.
　Wary of our surroundings, searching for enemies.
　And we're dropping things in places.
　It's not a very big city, so we can go around in about two hours.
　Fortunately or unfortunately, we haven't encountered any demons.

''We're back where we started. Let's take a rough approach.''
You know, those things you've been throwing around, you know?
Yeah. It's a special kind of foul stone.

Yes, I've been scattering foul stones as I circled the city.
　All of them specialized in explosive flames that I had prepared for today.
　In total, twenty-two.
　It was enough to burn the entire city to the ground, and it was also arranged in the most effective way possible.

''Um, Lug-sama. Foul stones don't explode unless you put your magic power up to a critical mass, isn't it useless to leave them behind?''
'Sure, but I've got it ready to detonate. I'm casting a spell that Dia and I created together. It's a magic that absorbs the mana that fills the atmosphere. The strength of that absorption can be used to adjust the time it becomes critical. It's a time bomb, so to speak. Twenty-two foul stones, calculated to explode at the same time.
That means twenty-two incredibly powerful flames, all at once, how much trouble is that going to cause?
We'll burn the whole city down. That's the idea.

A move you can't use if there's any chance of survivors in the city.
　But there can't be any survivors in a city covered by green monsters.
　And I've confirmed to the country that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to defeat the demon race.

Then I don't care if I have to burn the whole city down.

'Hey, Lug, what's the point of doing this?　A demon race is meaningless if you don't have that [demon race killing], right?　Yes, that tree monster is annoying and dangerous, but I think it's a waste of foul stones.
'It's harassment. You saw that tree monster eating people, converting them into magic and hoarding them. The reason it swallowed a city is because it wanted a lot of magic power for some reason. ........Or maybe the purpose of using that magical power to increase the number of tree monsters and build up the army itself. If you destroy something you've worked so hard to build like that, the demon race won't be unfazed. They circled the city and couldn't find the enemy. We'll piss them off thoroughly and have them come out the other side.

While we were talking about it, we were outside the city.
　If we stayed in the city, we would be burned to death.
　Besides, it would be easier to spot the enemy and harder for them to find us if we had a bird's eye view from outside.
　We built a deep trench a few dozen meters away from the entrance of the city and hid in it.
　Using a special telescope, the city can be seen from inside the hole.

'By my calculations, it's going to start in about a minute.

There is a margin of error depending on the density of the mana in the atmosphere, but even if it's off by a large amount, it's about ten seconds.
　By now, the foul stone would be starting to crack.
　They're going to destroy the magic power they've hoarded and all of their followers, even if it means destroying an entire city.
　Even the warmest of them would be pissed off.
　Anger clouds one's judgment. Pissing them off is an extremely effective tool.

You made it.

The overwhelming increase in magic is felt so far.

''Both of you, don't ever show your faces. This trench has a wind ward that blocks heat and fire. If you leave this place at all, you will die.

Even if you don't get hit directly by the flames, the explosion on this scale.
　It would burn up all the oxygen in the area. Breathe that kind of air and you're out in one shot.

'All right.'
"Yes, sir.

The tart was afraid to cling to him, and Dia saw it and nodded at the tart.
　It was ten seconds later.
　The world was covered in red. Red flames passed over the trenches.
　Everything was all red.
　The twenty-two, or six thousand and six hundred magical explosions of fire painted the world itself red.

The Red Lotus Flame does not allow any existence.
　It engulfed everything, spread, and then everything disappeared like a lie.
　Air was needed for the flames to flare up.

That foul stone was also filled with the magic of the wind to supply air to it, but even that was the result of burning it up in an instant.

The next moment, with the loss of air, the wind flowed in from the surrounding area at a furious pace, and it was like a cyclone, shattering and blowing away even the few buildings that had barely retained their original form.

It's like a nightmare.
　If we hadn't been in the hole, we would have been blown up far, far away.
　Everything is over, then we take turns looking out through the telescope.
　They are both still afraid to look out of the hole.

'The city, the city is gone.
I've never heard of that. A single magician not only destroys a city, but makes it disappear.

Destruction is a lukewarm word.
　This is annihilation.
　The city has disappeared without a trace, and what was a city has become a vacant lot.
　This is what happens when you operate the twenty-two foul stones efficiently.
　There's really nothing there.

''Hey, Lug, if you wanted to, could you do the same thing in King's Landing?''
'We can do it. All you have to do is sneak into King's Landing, place a foul stone in the right place and escape. It's no big deal. So it's a secret that we can do this kind of imitation. They'll think you're dangerous.

I blame all of this catastrophe on the demon race. No matter how much they say you can do, if you erase the city, you don't know what kind of claims you'll get later.

Besides, my own safety is in danger.

'Yes, you're right. In the eyes of the people upstairs, the rogues might be more frightening than the demons and such. It's a good thing there were no guards today.
If I had someone to watch, I'd do it another way.

People who could obliterate a city in a few hours if they wanted to.
　Such a thing would be nothing but fear from the regulator.
　As long as there's a threat of a demon king or demon race, they'll still keep you alive, but once the threat is gone, it's only natural to get rid of them.
　If you think about it, you'll understand.

If that guy goes crazy for some reason, if he's bought by another country, or if he has ambitions to rule the country, that's all it takes to destroy the country.
　Of course, I don't intend to do that. But the mere fact that it is possible to do so is dangerous.
　Eliminating them for the sake of safety is an extremely reasonable idea.
　........The reason Epona goes crazy after defeating the Demon King might be because she is punished by such a rational decision.

If I'm serious about saving the world without killing Epona, then that's how you should think about killing only the power of the heroes.
　A mere mortal has found a way to kill the demons. It's not impossible.

''I wonder if the demon tribe is still alive in that one.
'I may be dead, but I'll come back to life. Now, I wonder if the demon tribe will be able to blow up everything they've built up and still keep their cool. It's no use sneaking around and hiding after being beaten to this point. Then they'll do the same thing again in another city, so we'll blow it up too. And so we wait for the end of our patience to come. I don't want to do that, though.

I look out of the hole to see what's going on outside.
　The city ... or rather, the empty space that was originally a city, is being stared at to see if there is any movement.
　This is a game of finding the enemy first, and patience is key.
　Two or three minutes later, I heard an explosion.
　There was a sound of an explosion.
　The source of the sound was in the center of what was originally a city.
　The earth tremors could be felt as far as here.

I'm so close, I'm so close to the fruit and I'm so close, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you!

I'm buzzed out.
　They are screaming, flailing and wailing in wailing.
　They are humanoid demons with black horns and a green shell like a helmet-worm. Especially its upper body is very aggressive due to its massive, sharp-edged shell.

Since they can manipulate trees, I thought the demons themselves might be such a creature, but they are surprisingly a match between insects and humans.

It's tricky.
　However, it seems that I won this game.
　I'm the only one who was able to find the enemy.
　Well, the only thing left to do now is to kill it. I'm going to kill it.

"Dire, Tart, on my signal, you go in the front, I'll flank him from the side.
You're going with the plan?
I'll make sure Lady Dear is safe!

Deer fields to kill demons, and the tart protects Deer from them.
　And I'm going to kill them from the blind spot.
　If we don't work together as a team, we won't be able to kill the demon race.
　.........This is the first time we've fielded a field of killing demons in a real battle. It's also the first time I've used magic to kill a demon in actual combat.
　Still, I'm not worried.
　There is no one in this team that can't be assassinated.
　That's how much faith I had in Dia and Tart.