Rezona-san led me to the mansion of the Lord of Krios.
　I heard that this place is currently being used as a meeting room for Stampede countermeasures.

　It seems that the lord offered it to me as a larger room would be easier to use.
　It's very different from the previous lord of Horizon.

''It's nice to meet you. I am the Lord of this Krios, my name is Kais Speria.''
Nice to meet you. I'm Rayne Shroud.

　The Lord of Krios was quite old and had a staff in his hand.
　His hair was mostly gray, too.

　However, he had eyes so sharp that it was hard to believe that he was an ordinary old man.
　His tone was calm, but he had a unique awesomeness that comes with age.
　It seems that he doesn't serve as a lord for Italy.

''You're Rain-san.......could it be that you're called the Hero of Horizon?''
'What?　Do you know?
Of course I do. You're famous, you know. When you're in my position, you naturally hear about it. A lot of things... you know.

　I'm curious about the implications.
　How much do they know about me?
　I'm sure he's known for his brave blood, but... well, he's not the kind of person to talk about it here.

''If you say that someone like Rain-san has come to your aid, then we can also have hope.
Oh, I'm counting on you.

　I nodded my head firmly as Mr. Kys and Ms. Rezona told me that.

'Can you tell me the situation first?　In case you're wondering, Rifa has explained it to me, but I wanted to check again.
Yeah, I know.

　It seems that Rezona-san will be the administrative facilitator of this strategy meeting, so she steps forward and begins to explain.

　That the city has been attacked by countless demons due to the sudden occurrence of the Stampede.
　That it's not just one time, but multiple times.
　The fact that the volunteer demons headed to the place where there was a high magical reaction, judging it to be man-made, but were returned.

　........Those things were explained to me.
　It's the same as the information Refa heard beforehand.
　The only difference is that the situation is more urgent than what Rifa had told me........

　The Stampede had already entered for the fourth time.
　Although they are trying to fight a caged battle, the damage is steadily piling up.
　Fatigue was building up and food was getting low.
　They were told the bad news that they couldn't keep it up too long.

'Then we'll have to hit the source soon... where is the enemy's position?
'It looks like you were moved somewhere else a while ago, but now you're back. Here it is.

　Rezona spread a map on the large table and pointed to a corner of it.

'South of Krios ... the forest area?'

Do you think so?　With Rain's ridiculous tamer ability, I think we can manage it rather well.
'What?　What's that d*mned tamer ability?
I'll tell you later.

　Mr. Rezona showed interest in a strange way, and his daughter Rifa was softly passing the conversation on.

''Oh well. The enemy is lurking in an old castle in this wooded area.'
There's a castle in here?
I don't know much about the history of the castle, but I don't know much about it. And I don't care. I know for a fact that the bastard who murdered our people is here.
Mom, stop talking.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

　What is the reason for this...?
　All mothers of the strongest species have their own peculiarities, and Rifa's mother seems to be no exception.

But we can't help you because we have to protect the city. I'm sure you've all heard of it. I hope you understand.
I'm fine.
You'll be glad you did. You see, the enemy is not only strong but also very cunning. As recently as the last time...
"Kukuku.

　A terribly grating laugh sounded as Rezona-san's words were interrupted.
　The owner of the voice was the lord's soldier who was waiting at the edge of the room.

　His expression was unrecognizable, as he had his head down.
　He just laughed and shook his shoulders in a terribly funny manner.

He just smiles in a very funny way and shakes his shoulders, "Hahahaha, still plotting foolishness. It would be better if you were to be destroyed by my master!
What are you ... who are you?

　Realizing that it wasn't his subordinate, Kaiz-san let out a sharp voice.
　As if in response to his voice, the soldier's figure changes.

　Their bodies swell up and their armor melts.
　Their skin turns black and wings sprout from their backs.
　Its appearance is that of a demon itself.

''Fool, a Greater Demon?
'There's a grade A demon in town!

　The other soldiers hurriedly readied their weapons, but the Greater Demon's attack was faster than that.

'Burn in the flames of hell and regret the folly of defying that one!

　Jet black flames are released.
　In front of them were Sora and Luna it was Sora and Luna and Nina.

　Sora and Luna by magic.
　Nina opens up the subspace and tries to prevent the jet-black flames, respectively.

　However, there were people who moved faster than that.
　Al-san and Rezona-san.

''Dimension Territory.''

　Mr. Al instantly builds a magical structural formula to unleash his power.
　It's impossibly fast and precise.

　It seems that the magic unleashed is something that interferes with space.
　Squishy space distorts and traps jet-black flames within it.
　Finally, with a snap of his fingers, Al-san snapped his fingers and the distortion of space was restored and the jet-black flames disappeared as if nothing had happened from the beginning.

''Bloodaxe!''

　Rezona bit her thumb roughly and manipulated the blood flowing from it to refine the crimson axe.
　As it was, she approached the Ark Demon with wind-like speed and swung the crimson axe down.

''........Ah?''

　The arc-demon seemed unsure of what had happened and spilled out a guttural voice.
　Soon, its body slowly split off to the left and right...
　He will die and turn into a magical stone.

''Hmph. If you want to defeat me here, then you'll have to give me an S-ranked demon instead of an A-ranked one!
What a surprise. That's about as much as you can take us by surprise, isn't it?

　I looked at the two of you in victory and, what can I say...you guys are the exception, right?　I was tempted to make a tweak to say.



----------



We'll see how it goes.

　Let's call this meeting back to order and...
　Rezona said apologetically, "As you can see, there are people who hide in the city.

As you can see, there are people who disguise themselves as humans and sneak into town. "As you can see, there are people who have infiltrated the city and are trying to shake us up with all kinds of clever tricks. That's why I can't leave this place.
Well that's a problem.

　With Rezona-san's power, those demons wouldn't be the enemy.
　Defeating the mastermind behind causing the Stampede may possibly be possible.

　But before that, it would be meaningless if the city that should be protected is brought down.
　It was natural and understandable for Rezona-san to stay behind to protect the city.

''Hmph, there's no problem. After all, we have your mother over here.''
'Yes. With my mother, it's a hundred strong.
Hmm?　What are you talking about, girls? Concubine will stay in Krios.
"What did you say?

　Sola and Luna were surprised.
　Somewhat, Sola's tone seemed to break down.

'Is your mother not following you?　Are you skipping work?　Haha, well, it's gotten messy, hasn't it?　It's a typical reason for your mother. After all, she's the first recluse in the army, and she's a slack-jawed neat guy, a straight line, adadadadadadadadahahahaha!

　Luna screamed with tears in her eyes as Al-san gave her a grilling in the temple area.
　That hurt........

Don't be a quiet one. Of course you want to stay behind to protect Krios, don't you?
'But mother. Isn't Mr. Rezona in there?
Rezona isn't running well on her own, so the mistress needs to lend a hand. If it wasn't a problem, we wouldn't have been in this big of a problem in the first place.
'That being said, I suppose...'
"I don't want to abandon the same strongest species, and humans...well, we can't afford to lose the likes of them. I will help you.
It'll help. It'll be a lot easier to defend the city if Al is here, you know.

　And then....

　Hearing about the enemy, figuring out how to get around, discussing the defense of the city...
　I spent about two hours working out the plan.
　I'd like to take more time to think about it, a few days, but I don't have that much time.
　If possible, I'd like to take down the mastermind as soon as possible, even if it takes every minute.

'You said it was Rain?'
Yes, sir.
The fate of us demons and the people of this town it's up to you. It's all yours!
I'll take care of it.

　I will definitely live up to this trust.
　With a strong determination, I nodded my head firmly.