King of Flames
"Yes, my lord—"
Yuria’s mouth was instantly clamped shut.
Still covering it with my hand, I look at Vela.
"……?"
Vela tilts her head, glancing between me and Yuria.
I stare hard at Vela. Her expression is utterly bewildered.
Bad. Vela is Yuria’s daughter. Even if Yuria’s transformed with magic, if she keeps staring like that, she’ll figure it out.
I give Yuria a quick nod. She quietly returns it.
I let go.
"Neen, you’re ahh—"
She speaks in a slithery, syrupy voice, writhing her body like a different person entirely.
Completely unlike her usual self. Not just different—off the wall, even.
"????"
Vela’s confusion only deepens. She’s starting to look genuinely flustered.
"Home’s in chaos, y’know. Need your power. Come quick, now."
"Ah."
We walked away from the scene as if fleeing together with Yuria.
She wouldn’t notice, I figured. But if she did… the damage would be tenfold, not just double.
So I bolted without hesitation.
Thankfully, Vela didn’t follow. Didn’t seem to suspect a thing.
☆
We locked the magical door at Magatan’s house together and arrived at Rebeck’s palace.
There, I released the magic, and Yuria returned to her original form.
“Can I report now?”
Yuria was back to her usual tone. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
That… full-on, overly flirty, exaggerated gal version of her? Honestly, it had been kinda nauseating.
But the relief didn’t last long.
“Enemy attack. The city’s been overrun.”
“Hmph. Who?”
“Survivor reports… some kind of demon god.”
“Him…?”
Demon god.
A second-generation demon god, if you will.
The first demon god nearly destroyed this world—overthrown by a hero.
The second? A man named Seiya, who transferred here with me.
At first, he used DORECA to regenerate the world, just like the first. But circumstances forced me to kill him, and from his remains, he revived, claiming the power of a demon god.
"So that’s him. Where’s Risha?"
"Under maintenance. She’s not a single, unified construct like the DORECA-made ‘one thing.’ No—she’s a composite, built from many parts. That’s why maintenance takes time."
"An unexpected weakness. True, most things only need one repair. But complex hybrids? They take longer. That’s what they’re targeting, then."
Yuria nods quietly.
It’s not just the maintenance taking time. The truth is, operating a single unit like that was always bound to fail somewhere along the line.
Not this time, though. I’d go for the feint—draw the battleship away, then strike at the real target.
Second ship, Mira—construction hasn’t even started yet.
“So, current status…”
“Maintenance’s done. I sent Risha speeding ahead.”
“But?”
“Some town seized by the Demon God’s power—sealed off with a barrier. I fired the main cannon. Didn’t budge.”
“Hmph… that’s bad.”
“Yeah.”
Yuria nods quietly. Stares at me.
Like she’s saying, *That’s why I called you back.*
Yeah. This one’s impossible without me.
“So… what even is this barrier?”
“Don’t know. Still investigating.”
“Huh.”
I think.
A barrier even Risha’s main cannon couldn’t shake.
“Pure power gap? Yuria—gather all the slaves.”
“Master, you’re going to do it yourself?”
"Twelve True Eternal Slaves should output more than a battleship's main cannon, at least several levels higher."
"Got it. I'll recall Svetlana too, the one fixing the tracks."
"The tracks are damaged too? Clever planning."
Saint Night... you're going to do it.
"Hurry. A barrier means it won't be destroyed instantly, but something worse might happen. I don't know if we can pull it off, but if they're planning to turn everyone into simps or something, that’d be a real pain."
"Uh-huh."
Nodding with a tense face, Yuria starts to run.
"Wait."
"Uh-huh."
Stops, turns around.
Looks at me with a questioning stare.
"Come to think of it, I never asked. Which town got occupied?"
"Ah...!"
Yuria's face twitches—caught off guard.
A faint blush creeps up her cheeks.
Clumsy Yuria... kinda cute.
She cleared her throat and answered.
"Akito."
"Huh?"
Me?
"Akito's town."
Ah—so that's what it means... Akito's town!?
☆
On the outskirts of town, the men were cornered.
Surprised by a sudden swarm of monsters, they'd fought back with weapons, but slowly driven back until they were trapped in a dead end.
"Mayor! What do we do?!"
One of the men called out, voice tight with panic.
Everyone around turned to look.
The focus was on the town's mayor, Madway.
He was leading the townspeople in resistance, but now he was the one being pressed back.
"Sorry... dragged everyone into this."
Having confirmed the bombardment from the battleship Risha, he'd decided help had arrived and planned to coordinate an ambush from within—surrounding the monsters with Risha's fire.
It was a decision born of trust in the battleship's power.
But the cannonfire from Risha was blocked—never reached the town.
That’s why Madway’s counterattack left him standing out, isolated.
“It’s not the mayor’s fault.”
“We all thought the same—saw it, and went on the offensive.”
“Yeah. Who could’ve guessed the battleship’s cannonfire wouldn’t reach the town?”
Townsmen crowded around Madway, offering comfort.
He agreed—deep down—but that didn’t make the guilt vanish.
He had to do something. Break this stalemate.
Boom.
The wall crumbled. A monster emerged.
The brute, Throie.
It seized Madway by the torso.
“You—leave the mayor alone—gah!”
“Stop… ghh!”
Townsmen rushed to save Madway, charging Throie—only to be thrown back, one after another.
“C-can’t… hold on…”
Madway’s consciousness faded.
His body, seized by the giant’s massive hand, slipped further into darkness.
The world went white.
That’s it… over now…
Thud.
A jolt shot through every inch of him.
Not the kind of dizziness from fading consciousness—this was different.
He realized he’d been thrown to the ground when dirt filled his mouth.
He lifted his face, wondering what in the hell had happened.
There, standing before him, was his savior.
Clutching a sword with a crimson gem and a blade that burned like fire, cleaving the giant’s massive arm in two.
“Akito-san!”
It was him. He’d come running.