Meow....

　As they left the inn where Arios and the others were staying, Kanade let out a grumbling snort.

'What's wrong?'
I knew I'd hate that guy.
Well, in that case, I'll give you a hand. Let's make sure he can't recover.
Hey, hey. Don't make that joke.
"I'm serious, though?

　He said with a straight face, his voice tightly matched.
　They were a horrible pair.

'I told you before, didn't I?　Arios is ... well, he's a jerk, but he's still a brave man. If he's gone, there will be no one left to defeat the Demon King.
Lane, Sola has a question.

　Nibbling, he tugged at my clothes.

'Yeah?'
Why is the Demon King only defeated by brave men?
That bothers me, too.
Speaking of which ... why is that?
'I have a feeling there was a reason...no. I can't remember.

　Everyone was tilting their heads together.
　It was like everyone knew....
　Well, they're the most powerful species.
　They might not be familiar with the human situation.
　Especially Sora and Luna, the spirit race who had refused to interact with humans, there would be many things they wouldn't understand.

''Well.......where did I start talking?''

　Sitting on a handy bench, I felt like a teacher as I continued my story.

'This is a story that's vague in truth but it seems that the first heroes made a pact with the gods.
Meow?　With God?
''According to the lore.......long ago, humans were ruled by a demon king. They were treated like slaves, unable to defy the powerful demon king and the demon race. In order to break such a situation, the First Brave stood up against it. In order to gain the power to fight the demon kings, the First Hero seems to have made a contract with the gods and taken in their blood. In this way, the heroes gained the power of the gods, obtained dramatic power, defeated the Demon King, and freed the humans.......
'You must be an honorable man to be able to fight for someone else.
You're a far cry from the brave men of today.
'The first brave men had children and their blood was passed on to them. At the same time, power was passed on. It has been passed down through the generations ... to the present. Arios has inherited the blood of the first hero. The Chosen One.
Isn't he weak for it?　We beat you up, didn't we?
What's the story?　I'd be very interested in it.
It's going to take a long time to get to that point, so I'll tell you another time.

　In a strange way, Luna bit into the conversation.
　Although Sola didn't say anything, her eyes were shining as if to say 'I'm interested'.

'That's not to say that that's Arios's all he's got,'
Meow?　You mean you were cutting corners, right?
Yeah, no. I'm sorry to say that. At that point, Arios wasn't complete as a brave man.

　The bloodline of the brave acquires a special power.
　It's a power called 'breaking through the limits'.

　No matter how much effort one puts forth, one cannot obtain the power to defeat the Demon King.
　They will never grow to that level, and along the way, they will reach the limit of their growth.
　Even those who were talented in battle would not be able to grow to the point of defeating the Demon King.
　At best, they would only be able to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings.
　A person's limits are set.

　However, the brave ones are different.
　Their bodies, which have taken in the blood of the gods and have been passed down from generation to generation, have no word for growth limits.
　It grows and accumulates strength to every extent.
　Eventually, it will grow to the point where it can defeat the Demon King.

In short, the brave man is an existence that can grow to the point where he can defeat the demon king. An ordinary person would have a limit at some point and would not grow any further. But a brave person doesn't have that limit and can grow infinitely. That's to the point where they can defeat the Demon King one day....... That's why it's said that only the brave can defeat the Demon King.
Nyanka... that's how it works.
So when you fought us, the heroes weren't even in their waking state?
''The current Arios are still only as powerful as a normal person. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to win.
Nyan. I'm convinced.

　Sola raises her hand.

'What's going on?　Even where you don't know?
'As I was listening to what you just said, it occurred to me that Rain doesn't have a growth limit either, does she?
What?
'We've made a deal with Kanade and Tania, and we've also made a deal with Sora and Luna. So they should be getting new powers. Wouldn't that mean that Rain, who can take in more and more new powers, has practically no growth limits?
Oh, come to think of it,
　Maybe a little low, but...
"At least you are lightly exceeding the limits of human development. Yes, I can assure you.

　Is that so...?
　I don't really feel like I'm pushing the envelope myself.

Hey, hey, I was just wondering.

　Kanade says with a twinkle on his face, as if he had a good idea sparked.

''If Rain signed up with more and more of the strongest species and became more and more powerful, maybe he'd be able to defeat the Demon King in time, right?
What?
'If that happens, we won't have to rely on a brave man like that. Don't think it would be a good idea if Rain defeated the Demon King.
Such a ridiculous story...
Yeah, not a bad idea.
Luna?

　They should laugh it off as impossible, but somehow, Luna agrees with them.
　It's not just Luna.
　Tania and Sora aren't too bad, are they?　and refused to dismiss Kanade's idea.

'You don't want to, Rain?　Don't you want to fight a demon lord?
It's...

　Fight the Demon King.
　I will fight to bring peace to this world.

　When I was in Arios' party before, I worked hard to achieve that goal.
　We fought day in and day out, trying to win peace by our own hands.

　But when we were banished from the party...
　I lost sight of what I needed to do and my purpose was gone.

　Now I'm just going through my days, just drifting along.
　Kanade and Tania.
　Sora and Luna.
　I've met some of my most important friends, but...
　Beyond that, I'm still unable to find my 'purpose'.

　What do I want to do?
　What can I do?
　I'm.....

'Hey, hey, Rain. Why don't we take down the Demon King?　There's no need to leave it to those brave men.
Calm down, you impatient cat. You impatient cat.
An impatient cat!

　Tania did a gong to Kanade's head.

'I know it's not bad, but it's not something that's easy enough to implement out of the blue. 'You've got Rain in trouble.'
Lane, are you in trouble?
Well it's a bit of a surprise.
'Ugh I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about Rain....

　He stroked Kanade's slumped head as if to tell her not to worry about it.
　A dusty look came over his face.

'To be honest...'

　A brief but collected thought...
　I put the feeling inside me into words.

If I can really do what Kanade says, if I can really do what Kanade says, if I can defeat the Demon King, then I want to give it a try.

　What comes to my mind is the scene of my once destroyed hometown.
　Everyone in the village collapsed, the house burned down, everything disappeared...
　As long as there is a demon king, the same thing will be repeated in many places.
　If it can be stopped, I would like to stop it.

''It's just ... what can I say? It's so sudden that I'm not prepared for it.''
"I advise you to be a man and make your own decisions. I advise you to be a man.
'I hope you're a strong-minded person who can make a quick decision but I'm not that strong. I've only been able to get by with the support of everyone else.
Mm, I don't think so.
''If you are truly determined to defeat the Demon King, you need to be prepared for a lot of things. You'll have to take on the lives of many people. Whether I can do that I honestly don't know.
That's ... um ... um ... I suppose so. So that's what we're going to talk about.
'Will you let me think about it for a minute?　What do I want to do and how should I do it? I'm going to have to face myself once and think long and hard about it.
Think long and hard. Sola and the others will wait forever. And whatever you decide to do, we will respect Rain's thoughts.
I'll always be with Rain.
Well, okay, if you insist, I'll be right there with you.
Thanks, guys.

　What should we do now?
　Maybe it's time to choose a path to walk down.