'I really don't know how to thank you.... Thank you for saving my daughter.
'Don't worry about it. I did what I had to do.

　I asked Fiana, the cherry blossom mother who kept her head down from earlier, not to worry about me.
　She didn't seem to be feeling well, so I cast a recovery spell of "recovery" and "refreshment" on her, and she looked much better.
　The most effective thing, though, was undoubtedly the smile of the girl sitting next to me.

I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter's life. My daughter and I are very grateful.

　Similarly, a dark elf woman sat in a chair in the guest room, who bowed her head as well. It was Ms. Swella, Spica's mother.
　She has brown skin, silver hair, and long ears, and she looks just like Spica-san, but more than anything else, she looks too young.... She looks like a sister to Spica-san sitting next to her.
　Elves and Dark Elves are both long-lived species. They haven't stopped in their growth process like Lean. I wonder how old they are........ I'm curious about it, but I'm not stupid enough to ask it outright.
　Your husband, Spica-san's father is away, so right now it's me, Amber, Sakura's mother and daughter, and Spica-san's mother and daughter who are having a cup of tea.

''I didn't think there was someone who could cure Demonic Hardness Disease...''
When we study the pathogen in our country, I think we'll be able to make a special medicine for it, and when we do, I'll give it to you.
Thank you for repeating.

　Ms. Swella bows her head.
　Flora said that she could make a recovery potion from Spica-san's flaking skin. We have a small number of demons in our country, too. It wouldn't be surprising if it happened someday.
　Well, let's get to the point.

And you know what?
Me?

　Fiana's eyes widened in surprise.

'I've heard all about the situation. With all due respect, there's no guarantee that Sakura won't be attacked again while she's here. I don't mean to threaten you, but on the other hand, I can't say that there is no possibility that you, my immediate family, will be targeted. For now, Sakura is considered to be dead, so I think it's safe to say that...

　I think the people in this mansion are on our side, but we don't know where the leaks will come from. Well, even if it leaks out, it won't be so easy to get to them if they're in Brunhild. It seems that our country's name is pretty much roaring with the slaying of Fraise and the dragon slayers and so on.
　With an uneasy look on her face, Fiana-san speaks to Sakura.

''Do you want to do that?''
Yes. Brunhild is a very nice country. It doesn't matter if you're a demon or a beastman, we get along great. Your mother will love it. I can assure you.
Yes.

　Fianna smiles at her daughter, who says it clearly. She turns to me and opens her mouth.

Is there anything I can do to help you in that country?
What are you good at?
'Well..... A little bit of sewing and embroidery. And when I used to be in Felsen, I used to teach the kids how to study....

　Huh, Fiana, you're from Felsen? If you've been teaching them to study, that might be just fine.

'Actually, I'm thinking of setting up an institution to teach the children in our country to study. If you'd be willing to teach there, I'd appreciate it.
I'm sure it would be fine if it wasn't a technical discipline, but...
'Well, reading, writing, math, history and morality, that sort of thing. Of course I'm going to increase the number of people I teach other things, too.
I think I can manage that, sir.

　We need the school, after all. I would be grateful if Fianna would be a teacher there.

''But Your Majesty. We parents and daughters have been relying on this child's father, His Majesty the Demon King, to survive until now. If we are going to leave that protection, we would like to make a proper explanation and leave this country.
Ah.........that's true after all.......
'And I'm sure that man would be glad to know that Farnay was still alive. I heard that it was rough and tumble when he heard of her death.

　Hmm. I guess he was worried about his daughter in his own way, after all. If it were me, I'd go and punch Euron in the face.

''Is it possible to meet His Majesty the Demon King?

　I ask Swella, who is sitting next to Spica.

'I'll ask my husband when he gets back. I'm sure he'll be fine, though.'

　Swella says that her husband, Spica's father, is an escort for His Majesty the Demon King. They've been together since they were children, and since they seem to have an easy-going relationship with each other, they're probably going to let me meet them.
　Well, even though I am small, I am still the king of a country, so I don't think it's safe to say that I'm not going to get rid of the door.

Then, what should we do? I'm going to go back to Brunhild and see if I can...

　And when I was about to say that, doggone it! And the ground shook loudly. The impact, as if something large had fallen, caused the glass in the room to chatter and shake.

''What the hell! An earthquake?

　Suddenly, as we were looking at the scene, the door was opened vigorously and the Frenell family maid jumped in.

'Oh, ma'am!

　I jumped out into the garden and rose on the 'fly'. Under the cloudy sky, the royal castle of the Demon Kingdom of Xenoas, the Manmaiden 《Pandemonium》, towering in a strange curve, was on fire.
　The tower on the right side collapses. What on earth is happening!

"Amber, protect them. I'm going to the castle to check on them.
"Gyoi. Take care of yourself.

　I gave a telepathic message to Amber and flew towards the castle at once.
　The castle that can be seen from the sky above, smoke was rising from everywhere and corpses were lying everywhere. Apparently they were all knights and guards of Xenoas.
　I descended to the ground and tried to look for any breathing ones, but none of them were alive. Is this what it means to be a dead man?
　He ran inside the Manmaiden 《Pandemonium》 in the direction of the demon tribe's corpses lying around. This was a one-sided slaughter. Each and every one of them had a single thrust to the heart.

''Gyaaahhhh!

　A soul-crushing scream. I headed towards the direction where I heard it. In an open place like a courtyard, surrounded by many demon knights, that guy was there.
　A "humanoid" whose body, except from the forehead to the navel, was covered with sharp-edged crystals.
　Red eyes and upside-down crystallized hair.

''The dominant species...!

　This place at this time is a joke........
　Unlike the dominant species I saw before, his chest isn't bulging and his body looks somewhat muscular. A male type?
　How could it be here........!
　That guy in front of me was laughing. While laughing, he unleashed his right arm, which was pointed and extended like a spear, at the knights in front of him, killing them. I have to stop it........!

SHIELD!

　Gasp! and the crystal spear was blocked by an invisible shield. A face with an erased smile was turned towards us.

''#im*@n+oh@oyo m@Closingek@?
''Well I don't know what you're talking about. Speak the world language.

　The man of the dominant species kicked the earth and approached us in an instant. Fast! But......

"Teleportation.

　I turn behind the dominant species with my newly-remembered teleportation.

From ... "Power Rise"!

　As it was, he fired a kick with increased power to his back. Like a bullet, the dominant species was blown up and crashed into the courtyard wall, and the wall rattled and collapsed.
　Immediately, the debris blew away and a dominant species, stained with dirt, rose up from within. It didn't work, huh?

'*y@r€un#@, o×m=@〒e'
I don't know what I'm talking about.

　The dominant species suddenly thrust the spear of its right arm into the head of the corpse that was lying nearby. As soon as he pulled it out, something sprouted from the corpse's head. It grew in the blink of an eye and produced a beautiful crystalline flower. However, that flower soon shattered too, and something almond-shaped hung in the center where the flower had been. Is that ... a fruit ... a fruit?
　The dominant species ripped it off and threw it into his mouth, chewed it with a bite and swallowed it.

'+no#dom³o÷tuyukiku=rik%@ene△eto€ik closureen*eek@'

　He gurgles and crushes his left hand around his throat. What is it?

'#t€o, @, @... uh, how about this?
It speaks...
Oh, there you go. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

　With a grin, the dominant species turns its red eyes in my direction.

"You're good at what you do, man. You're worth killing. It's fun!
You're a dominant species. How did you get here?
'Oh? Of course I made a crack in the warding system. I was going to kill all these people before the shakeout happened. Well, I don't mind now that it's interesting.

　What do you mean by "rocking back"? As if to ignore my doubts, the man of the dominant species transforms the spear on his right arm into a thin shaped sword. Seeing this, I also pulled Brunhild from my waist and switched to blade mode.

''Are you also looking for the nucleus of the 'King'?'''
Oh, yeah. I'm going to kill every single person who stands in my way and Gila will get the core of the King. I'm not going to let anyone get in my way. So.... you're going to die.

　I ducked the sword of Gira and her friends as they jumped in with a paperweight. You're faster than Morobane's sister. I'm going to have to do a half-turn, and this time I'm going to slash at it, but the entire blade is grabbed by Gira's left hand. I'm not going to be able to get through the blade of the shiny metal that easily slices through even the scales of the dragon.

''Gunmode!''

　I immediately transformed the blade's shape, escaped its confines, and fired all six of the bullets made of crystal clear material at Gila's chest from point-blank range. As it is, he "reloads" and this time he shoots all the bullets into his head.
　Gira, who was blown up by a muffled cry, was laughing as he fell.

''Hahahaha! Nice! It's gonna be the hottest thing I've seen in a long time! In return, take it!

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with this one. I was able to duck up to four of them, but I failed to duck the last one and it penetrated deep into my left shoulder.
　d*mn it, I should have dodged it with my "teleportation".
　I immediately regenerated the fingers of my left hand and Gira slashed at me.

''Teleport.''

　I avoided it with an instantaneous move and moved onto the roof of the castle. In the small window of time that Gira, who has lost sight of me, is roaming the area, I seal up the wound on my shoulder with my recovery magic.
　As soon as he finds me, I take out a huge hammer made of crystal wood from storage.
　I swung it over my head and jumped off the roof.

"Gravity!

　Weighted by the weight of the hammer, he slammed a blow of tremendous weight into Gila.

'Crush!'
Gu.........................

　Gila, who had crossed her hands to prevent it, pushed the hammer away to the side. An impact so great that the ground caved in and the earth was struck, and dirt and sand flew up into the air. What a guy.
　He releases the hammer's 'gravity' and jumps back to the side. Both of Gila's arms were cracked and were about to break, but they would regenerate in no time at all. d*mn, it's still Frazeez.

"You're doing a great job. I never thought you'd break my arm. We need to get serious about this.

　Gasp! And with a sound like glass breaking, the space on either side of the Gila cracks and a cricket-shaped lower class species appears. This guy, can he call the other flames!
　The two bodies were grabbed by their left and right hands, and with a bang, a lower-grade species was taken into each of their arms. I don't know if it's called fusion, but Gila's arms were like the cicada-type aliens in a certain special effects show. Of course, they were bigger than that thing, though they weren't as scissor-like.
　Light converged on the nucleus of a lower-grade species inside the huge almond-shaped thing. No way, this is.........!

Blow it up!
"Reflection!

　Quickly, I deploy a large reflective barrier at a 45° angle directly in front of me.
　Without a pause, a torrent of light released from Gira's arms strikes me, but it is played by the barrier, changes direction and flows into the sky.



　Strengthen the magic to prevent the barrier from being destroyed. It was only less than ten seconds, but it felt ridiculously long.

''You........what are you?''
'Fuyuyoru Mochizuki. You are the natural enemies of the Frays. Remember that.

　With a rattle, the lower class species shattered from both of Gira's arms. The smile from earlier was gone on its face.
　Suddenly, its figure shakes a little.

The "shaking back" has come. This is the end of the interesting part. It was Touya, wasn't it? The next time we meet, I will definitely kill you!

　I don't know why, but I'm guessing he's going to be sent back outside the wards. Gira's figure became unclear like a broken TV image.
　d*mn, it's no fun if he can get away like this, it's like a win/win situation.

'Slip.'
Oh?

　Sutte! And Gila is mocking vigorously. Kukuk, you fool. You can't resist a slip when you're walking the earth!

"Huh.

　I looked down at Gira, who had fallen down, as if she was a fool, and snickered at her as much as I could.

'Teh, teh!

　The gila that was about to jump on me disappears with a huff.
　All that was left was a shattered lower class species.

''Phew........''

　Let out a big breath. I'm trapped........ This may be the first time I've consumed so much magic power. That was a horrible guy. If it weren't for the teleportation, we would have been in trouble.
　I look around, and this time I see knights who are trying to figure out what's going on with me as someone suspicious.

''Ah........Duke Duke of Brunhild, Fuyao Mochizuki. Can I ask His Majesty the Demon King Xenoas to show you in?

　If you can't do it, I don't care if you can't. I'm already tired of everything, and I'm feeling like I could do it tomorrow. I just want to collapse.