Instant Death

“You can’t just defeat the Demon Lord by yourself!”

Tomochika thought that was a problem.

From the conversation she heard earlier, he seemed to have something to do with it, and there would be no way for the heroes’ side to stand for such a conclusion.

“I had no choice. We were about to get involved.”

Yogiri’s words were simple, and he didn’t seem to be feeling guilty.

However, that wasn’t a new story. Yogiri had never hesitated to use his power before.

“I mean, shouldn’t you be more concerned about the heroes than the Demon Lord?”

“What do you mean?”

It was a final battle that they were passing through. It was a great way to make sure they were getting the most out of their vacation.

“Hanakawa said that if he defeated the Demon Lord, he would be brought back to his homeworld. Then the Heroes may return to their original world from now on. I wonder if there could be a hint for returning.”

“But just because they are a hero doesn’t mean they came from another world, right? You can find a lot more than just a few of them.”

“Hmm. It’s a little bit complicated, but there are different kinds of Heroes.”

“What? Mokomoko?”

Tomochika was surprised when Enju, who was playing the role of a coachman, suddenly entered the carriage.

She was surprised to see that the main body of Mokomoko had disappeared before she noticed.

“Ah. I’m on my way to scout out the heroes. I’ll let you know how it goes through Enju. “

“So what kind of heroes are there?”

When Yogiri asked, Mokomoko began to explain through Enju’s mouth.

First of all, there was a “Hero” class. This was a class related to the “Swordsman” class, and boasted great fighting power, but had nothing to directly do with defeating the Demon Lord.

And those who were summoned from other worlds to defeat the Demon Lord were also called heroes. It seems that their class was not “Hero”, but each of them got a class according to their personality.

“It’s confusing! Can’t you make it a bit easier to understand?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Anyway, it never hurts to confirm, right?”

“Hmm. If these heroes came from our world, there may be a way for them to come back with us. I got the coordinates of the original world from Sion, but that doesn’t mean they’re correct. It’s not a waste of time to try a different approach.”

He was sure because of this thought that Mokomoko went to be a hero on her own.

“So is the hero still around?”

“Oh, I think he came back after he defeated the Demon King?”

Chichika remembered Hanakawa’s frustrated comment.

“There’s something going on. It looks like they haven’t returned yet, but… Anyway, let me explain the current situation.”

Mokomoko began to talk about the situation of the Heroes.

＊＊＊＊＊

Just after entering the territory of the Kingdom of Blair, a short distance away from the road was a cliff where the Demon King and the heroes were facing each other.

The demon king was alone, but the heroes had an army with them.

But in reality, it was a battle between the Demon Lord and the four heroes.

The army was helpless as the rock pillars continuously fell from the sky.

It must have been a sifting process by the Demon Lord. If you couldn’t handle something like this, you didn’t deserve to stand in front of him. This was a glimpse of the Demon Lord’s intentions.

『I just enjoy hunting. We hunt what’s in our range and what’s affordable. Isn’t that what you’re doing, too?』

With her back against the cliff was a young girl with horns on her head.

It was Tesla, the Demon King.

She was the chieftain of the demon clans whose territory of activity included the Kingdom of Blair.

The Demon King forcefully spoke to your heart.

Anyone with a weak heart would bow down before the Demon Lord with just that.

It was also a screening process. If this was a hunt, she was trying to see if it was something she could enjoy.

After passing through the screening by the Demon Lord, the four people standing there were the hero Hellion, the hero Yoshimasa, the court magician Rimlet and the high priestess Mimiru.

“Don’t be silly! Humans are not like animals!”

The brave hero Yoshimasa listened to Hellion’s speech full of a sense of justice in a disgusted mood.

For Yoshimasa, who had been forcibly summoned from another world, it didn’t matter what the demon king and the demon tribe were up to.

Don’t make a mess of things, just fight. And settle the matter alone like a Hero.

Just as Yoshimasa was thinking this, Rimlet whispered softly in his ear.

“Oh, dear. Why are you looking at me like I’m someone else?”

“If you want to defeat the Demon Lord, just leave it to the real heroes.”

Hellion was a man who had trained with the Sword Sage and was a manifestation of the hero class.

It was not a limited or useless ability like Yoshimasa’s, it was an unparalleled ability in all areas.

Yoshimasa thought that Hellion could have defeated the Demon Lord by himself.

“You’re not very quick on the uptake, are you? I’m asking you to fight with me.”

Pekiri. Feeling like he heard such a sound, Yoshimasa distorted his face.

He felt a sharp pain in his right little finger.

It was the pain of a broken bone that he had experienced many times.

It didn’t actually break, but the feeling and pain of it breaking were real.

It was the shackles that were implanted when he was summoned to keep Yoshimasa under Rimlet’s control,

So that Rimlet could torment Yoshimasa without hurting him.

“…no matter how much it hurts, it’s better than dying…”

Yoshimasa said, turning pale from the pain.

There were many ways to manipulate otherworlders, but the path Rimlet took was a rather forceful one.

Torture by pain to force them to obey.

Of all the methods used, this was considered to be the worst.

The reason was that you couldn’t show your full potential.

“Is that so? Sometimes it’s better to die. Well, let’s just see how it goes for now. Maybe Hellion will easily defeat the demon king.”

Servant. That was the name of the class Yoshimasa had acquired.

His ability was to convert his life span into magical power, and of course, he didn’t want to use such a power carelessly.

“Let’s go!“

Hellion drew his holy sword and made a horizontal cut on the spot.

The slash from the holy sword sliced through space and flew towards the Demon King.

The demon lord did not move an inch.

She neither dodged nor blocked the blow.

She stood there and took the slash with her body.

“Hmm. Boring. I thought this was going to be different from the assassination attempts I’d seen so far.”

The demon king was unharmed.

The slash had not even caused an itch.

In the next moment, the Demon Lord was standing in front of Hellion.

The Demon Lord’s hand was placed on Hellion’s shoulder. Hellion was unable to react and was crushed.

The Demon Lord simply brought her hand down.

“haa“

Yoshimasa and the others were stunned.

They hadn’t expected Hellion to be defeated so easily.

They knew that the Demon Lord was strong, but they still thought that they could hold out a little longer.

“Well. Are you sure you want to come at me one at a time?

Yoshimasa and the others retreated.

It was not hard to imagine that the demon king would have no problem annihilating a party of heroes.

But the demon king did not attack Yoshimasa and the others.

“Hellion-sama… what should we do?”

Mimiru, the High Priestess, expressed her confusion.

If Hellion had fallen, their strength would be greatly reduced. Mimiru couldn’t do much for attacks, and Yoshimasa’s strength was next to nothing.

In this situation, the court magician Rimlet was the last line of defense.

“It looks like I was right to bring you along. I think I can win with fifty years of your life.”

“Don’t be absurd! What’s the point of winning with that?”

He had been using his powers in a fine way for some time now, and had used about ten years total.

If he used another fifty years, it was highly likely that he would use up his remaining lifespan and die.

“The Demon Lord and the hero go head-to-head, and peace comes to the world. Isn’t that how it usually works?“

It was only for a while, but with that feeling in his stomach, Yoshimasa winced.

He felt pain as if he had been stabbed with a sharp blade, and he could no longer stand.

“Wait, wait, wait! I can’t do this!”

Yoshimasa pleaded, imagining the pain that would follow.

But there was no way Rimlet was going to stop.

Yoshimasa exclaimed as he felt the blade scratch his stomach.

“Yeah? Aren’t you one of them?”

Even the Demon King was wondering about Yoshimasa’s sudden madness.

“What’s next? Do you want me to start slicing off your fingers one by one?”

“Stop… that, stop… that, Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Yoshimasa held his right eye. He couldn’t bear the feeling akin to that of his eyeball being pulled out, and flailed around.

“Two, no, twenty years! Twenty years, at least give me a break with that much”!

“…Well, okay. But I might burst in 50 years.”

If the number of years used exceeds the life span, the ability would not activate.

He was sure Rimlet didn’t care about Yoshimasa’s life, but he thought it would be meaningless if he died like a dog.

“I don’t know about you, but I think we have a deal.”

The demon king looked at Yoshimasa and the others in a relaxed manner.

“Come on. Please do it quickly. If you don’t, I’ll skewer you from top to bottom.”

“Goddamn it! Just do it!“

Yoshimasa grabbed his right wrist with his left hand and put all his strength into it.

He felt something slipping out of his body.

It was twenty years’ worth of life.

It appeared as a ball of light on his palm.

Rimlet snatched the light ball, which was full of power, from his side.

This was the reason why she was okay with dominating Yoshimasa through torture.

Controlling him through torture would not allow him to perform to his best, and it was doubtful that it would help him in battle.

However, in Yoshimasa’s case, all she had to do was to make him spit out his life span.

The mass of magic power could be operated by others.

“It takes two people. I don’t care.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Rimlet waved her staff.

A circle was formed around the Demon Lord, and the interior was instantly engulfed in a raging fire.

A pillar of flames that seemed to reach the heavens erupted from the earth.

You did it?“

She had won. No matter how many demon kings there were, there was no way they could withstand it. Yoshimasa looked at Rimlet to get her agreement.

“Oh no…”

Her face was pale.

Yoshimasa had no idea what kind of magic she used.

However, Rimlet knew the effects of the magic she wielded, and she could tell that the situation was not good.

The flames faded, and a figure appeared.

There was no change in the figure.

The girl had not been injured in any way.

“Hmm. That’s quite a feat. You managed to get me to focus on defense, even if only for a moment.“

However, what happened after that was not so good. He was unable to move. What will you do if I don’t give chase?

But Rimlet was using all the power she had, and Yoshimasa couldn’t use his power all at once.

“I’ll return the favour. I don’t like to be left out.”

The Demon Lord floated in the air and pointed her palm towards the heroes.

He could see the power gathering in her palm.

Flames formed on her palm, and they gradually grew in size.

“What the hell… and how much bigger can it get…?”

Yoshimasa said spontaneously.

“It’s not just a lump of flame, she compressed a huge amount of magic power, and yet it’s still that big…”

Rimlet said. Even a novice like Yoshimasa could see that it was extraordinary.

“Oh, no… We can’t win like this…”

Mimiru, the High Priestess, murmured.

They had already given up, and were staring at the huge fireball without doing anything.

It was a mass of power.

Once unleashed, it would burn the entire area to the ground.

“Damn it! I never heard about this! I thought you said that if I used my power, we could defeat the Demon Lord!“

And the flame ball was shot into the sky.

“What?“

Was it a sign of composure or just a threat?

Yoshimasa stared at the demon king, unsure of what was going on.

The demon king had lost her stance.

Her palm was pointed to the sky and her body fell straight down.

She hit the ground, and there was a dull thud. She bounced a little, and then the Demon Lord stopped moving.

“What? The Demon Lord suddenly… we won!”

“You did it, heroes!”

Mimiru praised him, but Yoshimasa didn’t quite understand.

After regaining her composure, Rimlet unleashed a small flame.

The demon king’s body burned up easily and the flame disappeared with it.

He didn’t know what had happened, but the Demon King seemed to be dead.

＊＊＊＊＊

The demon king was dead.

Yet Yoshimasa was still there, and Rimlet wondered why.

The contract with Yoshimasa was only supposed to be until the demon king died.

If the demon king died, he would return immediately. This was how it was set up, but there was no change coming to Yoshimasa.

If that was the case, it’s doubtful that the one they just defeated was really the Demon King.

“Huh, You can make that face too?”

Rimlet reflexively invoked the curse.

He smashed his right arm at his elbow. That was the image she was sending him.

But Yoshimasa kept his grin on his face.

“Oh, come on. You’re forgetting something, aren’t you? The curse is active until the demon king is defeated, right?”

The curse that ruled Yoshimasa was the one that accompanied the summoning contract.

It wouldn’t work if his contract had been terminated. That was obvious, but then why wasn’t it terminated?

“I’ve asked him to join our side, so I severed his ties with his original world the moment his contract ended.”

“What?”

Before he knew it, a man was standing next to Yoshimasa.

He had horns on his head. It was a sign of the demon tribe.

“I promised to accept on the condition that Tesla would be taken care of.”

“Yes, yes. It’s thanks to her that we were able to lure the Demon Lord here.”

“So? So what are you going to do?”

“Of course, I’m going to do whatever I want. I’ll obviously do whatever I want. I’ve had a rough time so far.

And even Mimiru was standing next to Yoshimasa.

“You…”

“I’m sorry. I was the one who guided the demon tribe. I wanted to continue to be with you, the hero…”

Yoshimasa put his hand on Mimiru’s shoulder.

That’s how it is. Well. If I’m going to do whatever I want, the first thing I’m going to do is get revenge on you. You’ll have to pay with thirty years of your life.”

“What can you do, as a servant?”

“Yes. In fact, I’ve been able to break free from my old world and use my true powers.”

A shiver ran down Rimlet’s spine.

Something had been done to her.

And she knew immediately what it was.

A ball of light had been created in Yoshimasa’s palm. It was a lump that was created by converting life span into magical power.

Rimlet knew immediately that this was the end of her life.

“It’s called service. You don’t have to give up your own life completely. You can convert your life into something else, you know.”

“Give it back!”

“Seventy years? I did it because I didn’t mind dying, but you live a long time.”

In the blink of an eye, the positions were swapped, and Rimlet found herself on the brink of despair.

＊＊＊＊＊

“And that is what’s going on.”

“It’s so complicated! I don’t know what’s going on!”

In the carriage, Enju, controlled by Mokomoko, told the story of the heroes. T/N: probably accidentally changed the name but Enju is the remote-controlled doll’s name.

“Hmm. We’re only halfway through, but there seems to be a lot of complications.”

Tomochika wondered if it was possible to just say that. It seemed to be a very complicated situation.

“Are you a hero who was summoned? From Japan?”

“He looks like it.”

“Did you say you were cut off? That’s what I call a connection to the original world.”

There was a part of them left in the original world, something that was connected to them like a lifeline.

That’s what the invader robot they met told them. 𝒇𝔯e𝚎𝘄𝑒𝑏𝙣𝑜𝚟𝗲𝑙.c𝘰𝚖

It was likely that the heroes were in a similar state.

“I suppose. If that’s the case, the Japanese won’t be able to give us any hints for our return.”

“Well, let’s leave the heroes alone. It would be too much trouble to be discovered, so let’s get on our horses and go on.”

“No, no, no! You can’t really leave them alone.”

“I mean, they`ll get us into trouble, though?”

“Yes, but…“

It was certainly not something he wanted to get involved in.

“Hmm. But we’ve been caught!

“Why?”

Tomochika was puzzled by the unexpected remark.

“It’s like this…“

“Mokomoko-san, you’re a high-ranked spirit, and you’re always talking like that…”

“Normally, this wouldn’t happen, but I’ve been too busy piloting Enju! And don’t you think they are aware of your existence by now, too?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

As Yogiri left the carriage, Tomochika followed.

She couldn’t just abandon him.