“I was so surprised. A monster suddenly popped out of the sea…” Esther said, wiping her startled chest.
“W-Well, still, it’s the Hero Party. To think we hunted a demon like that so easily. I was so surprised that I couldn’t even move properly.” “Well, it’s nothing like this.” The knight Jeanne, who had dealt the final blow to the lizard demon, shrugged her shoulders, proudly.
“If we really put in our full effort, this is nothing. Though… this demon was probably quite strong. We only managed to take it down because the three of us combined our strength.”
“I-I suppose so? It destroyed our ship in one hit, so it must be a high-ranking demon.”
The demons were classified as follows:
Low-ranking
Mid-ranking
High-ranking
Supreme-ranking
Four Heavenly Kings
Demon King
It’s a very easy-to-understand classification system.
The demons that occasionally invade the human world are usually low-ranking or mid-ranking, while high-ranking demons can only be encountered by approaching the Demon Continent.
So, in a way, they can be considered nobles of the demon world.
For Esther, it was her first time coming into contact with a high-ranking demon.
“The combination of the great magic powered by the God of Fire, the sacred arrow, and the knight’s swordsmanship is the only way to take down a high-ranking demon… It’s really impressive. But up ahead, there are even Supreme-ranking demons and the Four Heavenly Kings… No, even the Demon King, right? I’ll have to brace myself properly.”
“Well, don’t be too tense.”
Cynthia spoke up.
“Anyway, you specialize in healing and blessings, so you won’t need to fight directly. Besides, we almost never get injured.”
“Eh? You don’t get injured? Is that even possible? No matter how strong you all are…”
“Hahaha. You really don’t know anything, do you?” Tiffany laughed.
“We’re the strongest of the strongest Hero Party. We’ve faced the Four Heavenly Kings before, but not a single one of us got hurt. That’s how strong we were.”
“So, you’re really that strong…?” Esther asked cautiously.
“Then why did rumors spread that your Hero Party was incompetent?”
There was a brief silence, but eventually, Jeanne answered on behalf of the group.
“It was all because of the Hero. It was the fault of the Hero, Victor Evans.”
“Victor Evans…?”
“Yeah. That guy really couldn’t do anything. Even though he was a Hero, he couldn’t even handle the Holy Sword properly, and he didn’t do anything in battles. He just cheered us on and ran away here and there. The epitome of incompetence. Damn guy…! If he had done his part, we’d have already killed two of the Four Heavenly Kings. Instead of receiving help from him, we had to fight while keeping an eye on him. He was more of a burden than anything else.”
“Ah, could the Hero really have been that incompetent?”
“If he wasn’t, why would he have been kicked out? Well…”
Jeanne glanced at the Hero Raoul, who was still struggling with the injuries he got from jumping off the ship.
“Still, Raoul is probably more capable than Victor. At least Raoul’s a Hero, and the national guardian, Zero, certified him as having immense potential.”
“The national guardian, Zero?”
“Yeah. You heard about it, right? The national guardian, Zero, is from a family that has inherited the ability to gauge the strength of others. If Zero said something, it must be true. Even if Raoul seems weak now, he’ll show his true power when the time comes. This time, let’s really take down the Four Heavenly Kings. No, let’s even take down the Demon King.”
“…Yes!!”
“Ughhh! It hurts like hell!!! Please heal me!! Hurry!!!”
“…First, treat that guy, Esther.”
“Got it, Jeanne-nim. Hero! Please wait! I’ll heal you! Divine Goddess Ariadne, please heal the wounds of our Hero!”
Esther ran swiftly and healed the Hero’s injuries completely.
The Hero, now feeling as if he had just woken from a deep sleep, felt refreshed—almost as if he could fly.
“Whew!! I feel alive again! Esther is truly amazing!! If things work out, I’ll make her my girlfriend!”
“Th-That’s a bit…”
“Hahaha! Just kidding! Of course, I know the Hero’s wife should be a princess!!”
At those words, everyone was stunned.
Hero Raoul, ignoring the atmosphere around him, blurted out his personal plan.
“My bride will, of course, be Princess Irene! I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful!! Heheheh! Once I defeat the Demon King, the princess will be mine! Wait for me, Irene-chan!!”
“…Chan?”
It was an incomprehensible word.
“I’ll go!!”
The excited Hero drew his Holy Sword and started running toward the forest.
The startled party members hurried to follow him.
“Wait, Hero! It’s too dangerous to go alone!”
“Let’s go after him!”
“We really can’t stop him, huh?”
“Well, at least he has spirit!”
A group of men and women raced after him, while someone high above the sky looked down on them.
A handsome young man with moth-shaped wings on his back.
However, his skin was as pale as a sheet of paper, his eyes were red, and his fingernails were sharp like blades, giving him a chilling atmosphere.
This man was none other than the Four Heavenly King, Morpino.
Morpino mumbled as he looked at the dismembered lizard demon.
“This is strange. The Hero Party teamed up to kill a lizard? A lizard is a low-ranking demon that can be mass-produced without any difficulty.”
Indeed, the demon the Hero Party bravely defeated was, from the Four Heavenly King’s perspective, as insignificant as a mosquito or a fly.
Although Morpino had ordered the attack on a whim, he never imagined they would destroy a ship in the process.
“Did they intentionally hold back to test the waters? No. That wouldn’t make any sense. So why would they team up to take down such a low-ranking demon? This is a bit difficult to understand. I heard the Hero Party changed members—could this be because of that? Either way, this is something that must be reported to the Demon King.”
With a flutter of his wings, Morpino crossed the Demon Continent.
His destination was none other than the Demon King’s castle.
Among all the demons, only the Four Heavenly Kings had the privilege of meeting the Demon King.
The most sinister and deadly place in the world: the Demon King’s castle.
A demon with moth wings flew in and landed there.
Even though he was one of the Four Heavenly Kings, he was not allowed to enter the Demon King’s castle directly.
He had to receive permission from the castle’s gatekeeper first.
The gatekeeper’s name was Rabia Elix, a small-framed girl.
Aside from her very gloomy expression, she had no notable features.
“Rabia, please open the gate. I have something urgent to report to the Demon King,” Morpino said urgently.
Rabia shook her head.
It was a sign of refusal.
“No, this is really urgent. The Hero Party has invaded. The Demon King is worried about the immense power of the Hero Party. We must meet to discuss countermeasures. We need to call the other Four Heavenly Kings as well…”
“The other Four Heavenly Kings are already there,” Rabia said, pointing in a specific direction.
Indeed, two demons could be seen waving toward Morpino from that direction.
Morpino, feeling anxious, said, “No, this is really urgent. Please report to the Demon King that the Hero Party…!”
“The Demon King already knows,” Rabia replied calmly.
“The Demon King has said that the matter of the Hero Party will be entrusted to the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“What? Until now, the Demon King has always led us directly… Why this time…?”
“She said she wouldn’t explain. But the Demon King has entrusted the matter to you, Morpino,” Rabia said, her voice unshaken. “She also said not to bother her any further.”
“…I see. In that case, I’ll go back.”
At Rabia’s firm response, Morpino turned to head back to his companions.
There, the other two of the Four Heavenly Kings—Mafalok and Lyris—were waiting for him.
“Well, well, Morpino. Looks like even the Demon King didn’t want to see you?”
“Surprising. I thought you’d be able to meet her.”
The King of Demons, Mafalok, and the Queen of Succubi, Lyris, expressed their surprise.
Morpino, looking troubled, spoke up.
“That’s true, but I’ve been given full authority. This time, I’m in charge of leading in place of the Demon King. But… where is Reshia?”
“She didn’t come. She must have sensed the Hero Party’s presence, but still, she hasn’t shown up,” Mafalok said, clearly annoyed.
Morpino frowned.
“What’s going on here? The one person who wanted to annihilate the Hero Party more than anyone else is suddenly absent? This whole situation with the Demon King and Reshia feels a bit off.”
“Looks like the three of us will have to face the Hero Party,” Lyris said, looking puzzled.
“Is today going to be our funeral? We all know how strong the Hero Party is. We barely managed to draw last time, and now with a new Hero who’s supposedly a talented warrior… If the Hero Party is even stronger than before, there’s no way we can win. What are we going to do, Morpino? Got a plan?”
…
“Well…” Morpino thought back to the Hero Party’s efforts to take down the low-ranking lizard demon and continued, “For now… should we send one high-ranking demon as a test?”