Oh, my God...
The head of the Dragonfang guild...
''No matter how much of a dagger it is, I can't believe it's so limp like this...''

　Voices of despair were escaping from the mouths of the captive swordsmen.

　Rolling on the ground with a ragged body was the ship-armed swordsman.
　On the other hand, the lion beastman was nearly unharmed.

''Well, there's no need to be so discouraged, humans. You should be proud of yourselves. You should be proud of yourself for being able to continue fighting for three minutes against me. As expected, I wasn't expecting it either.

　The lion beastman's words might seem sarcastic depending on how one listened to them, yet he seemed honestly surprised.
　On the flip side, it also meant that he was looking at a far lower grade.

''If it was a lower level demon race, we would have had a good match. But today, the opponent was bad. After all, the person in front of you is me, Leold-les-Laozore, the executive of the Demon King's army and the leader of the Beastman Squad,''
You're the leader of the Demon King's army...

　A breathtaking ship-armed swordsman.
　But then, for some reason, he laughed, "Huh.

''What was that laugh?　Too.
''No, it's just the opposite. No, it's just the opposite. I just think that if the leaders of the Demon Lord's Army are this strong, there's still hope for humanity. I know a guy who's stronger than you, you know?
Haha, that's a cheap threat. But since we're here, let's hope for the best.

　The lion beastman laughed lightly and grabbed the ship-armed swordsman's head in an eagle grip.
　Then he opened his mouth, which was lined with sharp fangs.

"Rejoice. To be my flesh and blood.

　He took a bold bite to the neck of the one-armed swordsman - just before he was about to take a bold bite to the neck of the swordsman - and his animal instincts noticed the approach.

'You have good nerve to interrupt my meal, don't you?

　He blocked the attack with the claws of his right hand.
　He also swung his left arm and launched a counterattack.

''What?''

　But just as the claws sliced through the attacker's body, the only thing that came back was a scratch on the air.

It's an afterimage.
Huh!

　While quickly jumping back from the spot with the agility characteristic of the feline family, he looked back behind him and lifted his cornerstone.

''To take my back here... who are you?''

　A young man with dark hair was there.
　The reply came from behind me.

"And that's just an afterimage...
What?


　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


　I came to the central square of the city where many demons had gathered, and I found that the swordsmen had been captured.
　And an old man I had met somewhere had fought the demons and lost and was about to be eaten.

''Father!''
Yeah, speaking of which.

　Lilia's scream reminds me.
　That one-armed old man, Lilia's father, the head of the Dragon Fang guild.

'No, don't forget that!
I'm going to go help.

　I was on top of a building with a view of the square, and I leapt to the square.
　And here we are now.

It's just an afterimage.
What?

　I was taking the lion beastman's back again.

'Bah, foolishness!　Not once, but twice, you have taken this me behind........!
What's so surprising is that it's so f*cking seamless?

　Hm, I was a little wary of this guy because he was said to be a leader of the Demon King's Army or something, but it seems it's nothing serious.
　I think that the demon gods who fought in this city in the past were much stronger than that.

"Wha-who was that guy?
'Oh, it's Arel........!　It's that hero, Arel!
What does that mean, that you won the Sword God's Cup despite being an unemployed person?

'They say it's a shadow when you talk about it but I didn't think you'd actually show up...'

　Lilia's father is laughing as he falls.
　........I forget his name.

　The lion beastman nodded as if he understood something while bracing himself in alarm.

''I see. So you're the one he was talking about earlier, the one stronger than me?
Hmm?　I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than you.
''Don't think you can win just by getting behind me twice!

　He leaps at me.
　By then I was already behind him.

'This is the third time you've done this,'
'Ha!　So many times the same hands can get through to me!

　He turns around and unleashes a claw strike.
　But once again, it only tears apart my afterimage.

Over here!
Off.
That's what I'm talking about!
That's an outlier.

　The lion-beast man who continues to be toyed with by my afterimage.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

　As if his anger had reached its peak, he suddenly stopped moving and roared into the sky.

''Mu........''

　The shockwave drowned out all my afterimages.
　Furthermore, the vicious intimidation caused the swordsmen to turn white and faint.

　I, too, was affected by it for a moment and stopped moving.
　I didn't miss the opportunity, and they were closing in with their fangs bared.

''Hahahaha!　After all, you are the one who will be eaten by me!
That's why it's an afterimage.
What?

　He doesn't learn at all, this guy.
　They say that the demon race is as intelligent as humans, but is it still stupid because it's a beast?

''.........................Afterimage afterimage and that's all you can do from earlier. If you look, you're not even holding a sword.

　Well, I can cut without a sword.

Hmm, how about this then?

　In all, there are five of me surrounding the demon tribe.

''Another afterimage!　This is just such a fudge, no matter how much of a pain and itch it generates, guaaaaaah!

　The demon tribe let out a scream as the five of us slashed their entire bodies into pieces.

''This isn't an afterimage, it's an alter ego!''