AN: Hello everyone! The Author here, for little earlier update.
I made the update earlier today as I will busy later on and will not have time to update.
Also I have an announcement!
Since Wednesday will Christmas Eve I might not be able to upload a chapter that time and with next day Christmas itself soo... I will busy in real life.
I will most likely only be able to upload a chapter on Friday, Sorry about that!
Anyways that's all for me!
Advance Merry Christmas and enjoy this coming week!
Ciao~
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Demon's Labyrinth, Seiryuu City, DesuMachi Planet…
As both Mei and Hachiman were about to make a move, screams suddenly erupted nearby. When they turned, their eyes widened in alarm. A pack of undead beasts and an army of skeleton monsters burst from the entrance passage, rushing straight toward the civilians and priestesses. Auna and the others were forced back, barely managing to form a shaky defensive line. Even Viscount Velton's daughter, Tina, had stepped forward even though hands were trembling, but actively casting her magic to protect everyone.
"Everyone, tighten formation! Don't let these monsters break through!" the Garleon Priest commanded. "Auna-sama and those who can use the 'Turn Undead' spell, please prepare it! With proper timing, we can wipe them out!"
"Understood!" Auna replied, turning swiftly to her fellow priestesses. "You heard him! If we want to survive, we must time our spells together—hit the undead monsters all at once!"
"Yes!!" the priestesses answered with renewed resolve, gripping their staves tighter as they prepared to cast the spell.
"Damn it! We were so focused on the Eyeball demon that we forgot to check the map!!" Hachiman cursed, clicking his tongue at his own oversight.
"We can regret that later! Right now, we need to act!" Mei snapped back, preparing herself.
Sora took a deep exhale before raising her voice. "Wan-chan, deploy your funnels and put up a defensive shield! Champ, go wild! Clear the monsters fast!"
"Arf!" Wan-chan responded immediately, launching its funnels. Several floating lights spread out, forming a sturdy barrier that shielded the civilians.
"Grooo!!!!" Champ roared, leaping straight into the horde and smashing through the first wave with raw force.
Seeing her companions obeyed her orders, Sora turned to the three beastkin girls. "Liza-san, Tama-chan, Pochi-chan, go support Champ! Take down anything that slips past him!"
"As you ordered!" Liza replied before sprinting ahead.
"Aye, aye!" Tama replied, dashing after her.
"R-rhojer nyodeshu!" Pochi tried to shout—biting her tongue in her nerves, but her determined eyes didn't waver.
Sora then turned to the stunned Mei and Hachiman. "Please leave this side to us, Mei-nee, Hachi-nii! Both of you focus on helping Zena-nee and the uncles deal with that annoying bad guy!" she said with a confident smile.
"Sora, you…"
"Sora-chan…"
Moved and maybe a little emotional at seeing Sora suddenly acting so dependable, Mei and Hachiman could only stare at her with a mix of pride and worry.
"Geez! Why are the two of you still standing there all dazed?! We have to move quickly or else everyone else will get hurt, you know?!" she scolded, pointing a finger at them while her Kuru-Kuru Hammer rested on her shoulder.
Seeing Sora lecture them, Mei and Hachiman exchanged a look, nodding before facing her again.
"...Alright. Thank you, Sora-chan. Please be careful," Mei said softly.
Hachiman let out a breath. "We're leaving the protection of those who can't fight… I'm—no, we're counting on you, Sora." A small smile tugged at his lips.
"Umu! Leave it to me!" Sora replied with a bright grin before turning back around and sprinting forward to join the battle alongside Liza and the others.
"...before we even realized it, our little sister had grown so much," Mei murmured softly.
"Yeah…" Hachiman agreed with a melancholy sigh. "I'm happy she's growing… but it also feels like she might not need us anymore."
Mei let out a light chuckle. "Hee, really now? Is this the same mouth that was worried earlier that our little sky might get taken advantage of because she's too simple-minded?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
Hachiman's cheek twitched before he shot her a dry, deadpan look. "You… haa, let's just go and help Zena and the rest."
With that, he stepped forward toward the other side of the room to join the fight against the Eyeball Demon. Mei watched him for a heartbeat, a small smile tugging her lips, before laughing softly and following after him.
—-----
In the few minutes since the battle began, several soldiers had already taken serious injuries. The demon kept calling more monsters into the room, adding fuel to the chaos. It floated higher, making itself comfortable into the role of an amused spectator.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Moi wants to see rivers of blood! I, anticipate!!" it howled gleefully.
"Here they come! Spears at the ready!" the squad leader shouted. The soldiers snapped into formation, lowering their spears.
Zena and the viscount, who had pre-cast their magic, positioned themselves at the back of the soldiers formation, followed closely by a knight in light armor. A huge wave of skeleton soldiers poured in right behind him.
Two heavily armored knights slammed into position, forming a shield wall to halt the skeletons' advance.
"Spearmen! Don't stab—swing at them!" the squad leader barked.
Countless spears arced down in wide sweeps, shattering bones and steadily draining the skeletons' HP.
"Two of the big ones are coming! Captain Kigouri, we're counting on you!"
"Aye! Bouza, can you take one of 'em?"
"Leave it to me, Captain! I'm on fire!"
The broadsword-wielding captain, the highest level among them, and a heavy soldier with a massive battle-axe, the second-highest, stepped forward to meet the two incoming elites: a skeleton knight and a skeleton warrior.
The two monsters crashed through the front lines, but the captain and Bouza intercepted them, drawing the battle a short distance away. Steel clashed violently as the captain's broadsword hammering against the skeleton knight's shield, while Bouza's battle-axe met the skeleton warrior's club in a furious exchange.
"…■■■■■—Bind Air!"
Zena's voice rang out as she cast her spell, threads of compressed wind wrapping around the skeleton warrior's legs to slow it down. Bouza, who had been inching backward under the pressure, exhaled gratefully.
"Thanks, Zena!" he shouted without looking back.
A sharp crack was heard across the room, followed by a spray of blood.
From behind the smaller monsters stepped a different one. Roughly the same height as the skeleton monsters, yet far more terrifying, its bones were pitch black. Its scythe resembled the kind depicted in murals of Death—not a weapon forged for battle, yet capable of slicing through shields and armor as if they were made of thin wood.
The knights and soldiers who made up the front lines were more than ten levels lower than the Death Scythe holding skeleton monster. If this continued, the vanguard would surely collapse. But before any fatal attack could land, a golden Geo barrier burst into existence, Hachiman's shield, separating the soldiers from the monster's attack.
The supposedly sure‑kill scythe bounced off the wall with a loud clang. Even the skeleton monsters paused, tilting their heads as if trying to process what had just happened.
Then, a bright flash of purple lightning tore through the room.
The soldiers' eyes widened instantly seeing the familiar colored lightning. Mei stood there, her entire body wrapped in Electro elemental energy. With a single swift slash, her blade hummed with elemental energy and the skeleton monsters in front of her vaporized, not even realizing it had been struck.
"Woah!"
"As expected from Mei-sama!!"
Mei didn't stop moving. She flashed forward again, a streak of purple slicing through the battlefield mercilessly cutting down every monster in her path. When half the monster army was gone, she reappeared beside the stunned Zena and Viscount Velton, calmly sliding her katana back into its sheath.
"Fuu… are you alright, Zena-san? Viscount-san?" Mei asked gently.
"EH?! Ah!! Yes—I'm FINE!" Zena squeaked, flustered beyond belief.
"Ohh… yes, I'm alright as well," Viscount Velton said, patting his chest as he caught his breath.
A sharp finger snap was heard through the room—then, in the next second, countless Geo spears shot out in all directions toward the Eyeball Demon and the monsters surrounding it. One spear struck the demon dead-center in its massive eye, forcing it to stagger backward while whining in pain.
"Guh?! What was that? I, surprised!"
Hachiman stepped forward casually, as if he were taking a stroll through the park, both hands still tucked in his pockets. His Geo Astral Emblem glowed with a bright, crystalline light, and multiple Geo spears materialized in the air around him, floating in formation.
The demon howled, and a transparent black screen snapped into existence before it. Hachiman jerked his head slightly, and the Geo spears fired again—only to lose all momentum the moment they touched the barrier, falling harmlessly to the ground and crushing several weaker monsters below.
"...Was that a magic defense against projectiles?" Hachiman murmured.
"Who are you? Thinking you could harm Moi with a mere rock? I, so perplexed!" the demon taunted. Its next howl formed a black javelin in midair.
'Hmm…so howling is this demon's version of chanting?' Hachiman thought as the javelin launched toward him at high speed.
"Hachiman-san?!" Zena shouted in worry.
But Hachiman simply stepped aside, letting the javelin whistle past him and bury itself deep into the floor behind.
"...Show off."
Hachiman wasn't sure, but he could swear he heard Mei say that with an exasperated tone. While he had the demon distracted, the viscount's Flame Spear and Zena's Wind Hammer struck the demon squarely in the temple, shaving off a large chunk of its HP.
At the same time, the captain's broadsword and the heavy soldier's battle-axe crashed into the demon from the opposite side. The axe barely made a dent, but the broadsword—clearly a magic weapon—took out another chunk of HP.
"Aargh, is Moi going to be defeated by humans? HUMANS? I, embarrassed!" the demon shrieked as a magic circle flared to life around it.
"He's going to cast something! Everyone, defensive positions!" the captain shouted.
Soldiers scrambled behind the Geo shield wall Hachiman had raised.
'If this were a game, this would be the part where you rush in, dump all your cooldowns, and burst the boss before the cast finishes… but in real life, damage control comes first,' Hachiman thought, shielding his face as a violent gust blasted outward.
'Still… this might be our best chance to finish him off.'
Deciding to finish the demon as fast as possible, Hachiman pulled out a random Holy Sword from his system inventory, from the pile of treasure they had taken from the Dragon God Palace while it was under reconstruction. But before he could advance, something crashed down from the ceiling and slammed directly onto him.
"Hachiman!!" Mei shouted in panic, immediately sprinting toward him.
[Skill Acquired: Dark Magic: Demon]
[Skill Acquired: Dark Resistance]
"What?!" Hachiman's eyes flew wide. "Damn…! Was that one of those black spheres that stopped the soldiers' attacks earlier?!"
The impact had knocked the holy sword from his hands. Gritting his teeth, he shoved the sphere off his body with his bare hands.
Above them, a massive magic square expanded toward the ceiling, the Eyeball Demon floating smugly at its center.
"Ah, master! I, yearning."
From the center of the glowing circle, a jet‑black giant slowly rose.
"Oh crap…!" Hachiman muttered, dread settling in his gut.
—----
The being that came out from the magic circle could only be described as a true demon. Twisted ram horns curled from its head, its dark‑red eyes glowed like burning coal, and its skin was pitch black. Four arms with menacing metal claws, black bat wings spread wide with red veins pulsing across them, and a forked tail swaying lazily behind. The twenty‑foot‑tall demon is standing before them like an executioner awaiting its next victims.
It was a level 62 greater demon, with Wind, Lightning, and Dark magic skills on top of brutal hand‑to‑hand combat skills. It also carried five racial abilities: [Flight], [Petrifying Breath], [Poison], [Regeneration], and [Spawn Creation].
"This demon… isn't it the one I fought back at the Dragon's Valley?" Mei muttered as she helped Hachiman to his feet.
The viscount and captain dropped to their knees, stunned into despair. A higher‑class demon, far beyond anything they should be facing. The only ones still standing were the battle‑crazed warrior and Zena, who swallowed hard but remained ready.
"How can this be?! It summoned an intermediate demon?!"
"Wrong, Human. The Great I, Displeased."
"My master is the demon lord's right‑hand man! A god among demons! I, correcting!"
"I don't believe it… a greater demon?!"
"You did good work creating the labyrinth and resurrecting me. The Great I, gratified." The giant demon grabbed the eyeball demon with a disturbingly casual motion.
"Ah, Moi can be a part of master again! I, delighted!"
Without hesitation, the greater demon bit into his subordinate and devoured him whole.
When the gruesome ritual ended, another head burst from the demon's head, this one nothing but a massive eyeball staring in every direction.
'They fused? …Well, at least he didn't evolve or level up,' Hachiman thought dryly.
"Humans, stand up and fight. The Great I, letting you." A new howl overlapped the demon's voice clearly from the newly added eye.
A violent storm exploded outward. Winds strong enough to rival a hurricane blasted across the room, sending the soldiers to walls. Even those far in the back, where Sora and the others were defending the non‑combatants, weren't spared.
Unprepared ones were thrown like ragdolls. Auna and Zena flew upward, caught in the violent winds. Mei and Hachiman locked eyes for a split second, an entire plan exchanged in that brief moment. Mei wrapped herself in Electro and flashed toward Auna, while Hachiman used pure physical speed to catch Zena from midair before either of them could hit the wall.
[Skill Acquired: Wind Magic: Demon]
[Skill Acquired: Wind Resistance]
"M-Mei-sama!" Auna shouted, her voice overflowing with relief.
Mei gave her a soft smile before gently setting her back on her feet. "Don't worry I got you."
"H-Hachiman-san?!" Zena yelped the moment she realized who had caught her.
"...You okay?" he asked as they touched the ground. Zena only nodded, still dazed.
A quick glance at his system log showed two newly gained skills, so he dumped a few points into Wind Resistance without hesitation.
Fortunately, he'd landed right beside the holy sword he had dropped earlier. He set Zena down carefully before picking it up. The sword burst into a bright blue glow the moment his hand wrapped around the hilt.
'So my "Unsung Hero" title from my home world counts as an actual Hero title here too… No wonder Hei Long and Akon Kagura address me as Hero.' Hachiman let out a small sigh.
"No way… Hachiman-san… you're…?" Zena murmured, her eyes wide.
He didn't answer her. His eyes was fixed on the demon in front of them. The demon glared back—its scorn twisting into pure hatred the moment it noticed the sword in his hand.
"So there's a Hero among us, is there? Did you receive a Divine Revelation? The Great I, enraged."
Even as it spoke, dark magic swirled around its body, its jet‑black aura thickening at every second. Hachiman used his appraisal to confirm whatever the demon cast. And his skill clearly saw a support spell: [Physical Damage Resistance], reducing ninety percent of all physical attacks.
"Your carelessness will be your downfall! The Great I, full power!"
The greater hell demon howled again; his claws, horns, and tail flaring with an ominous black glow. A new pop‑up notification flashed before Hachiman's eyes: [Physical attack power 300 percent UP.]
'Whoa, woah, waoh! Seriously?! How many buffs does this demon will need?!' Hachiman felt his cheeks twitch as several more notifications stacked one after another. 'If I keep standing here watching, this is only going to get worse. Time to move.'
But just as he was about to dash forward, a streak of purple lightning shot past him and slammed into the greater demon. The blast pushed the monster back, but it managed to block at the last second.
"Another pesky pes—…!" The demon started to complain—until it saw who had attacked. Its eyes widened. "YOU AGAIN!!! The Great I, Outraged!"
"Hello to you as well," Mei said lightly as she landed beside Hachiman and Zena. "Glad to see you still remember me."
"Of course! Last time you tricked us, Maiden of Thunder! The Great I, Shamed!"
"You know this guy, Mei?" Hachiman asked, glancing sideways at her.
"Unfortunately," she sighed with a shrug. "It's the same demon Sora and I ran into last time."
"I see." Hachiman narrowed his eyes, processing that information.
"Such bad luck… A Hero and you, Maiden of Thunder are both here. The Great I, Troubled," the demon snarled, grinding its teeth in frustration.
"Mei-sama! Hachiman-sama! What should we do?!" Auna came running to their side. Sora and the others were right behind her, even the Garleon priest in tow.
"Hm? What are you all doing here?" Hachiman raised a brow.
Sora shrugged. "That demon-san is really good at… uh… friendly fire. When it used that storm attack earlier, all the monsters attacking everyone got blown away too."
"As Sora-sama said. The monsters summoned by the Eyeball Demon were swept away by the winds, and the remaining enemies were dealt with by me, Pochi, Tama, Wan-san, and Champ-san," Liza added.
"We work hard, nano desu," Pochi said proudly.
"Did our best!" Tama chimed in with a salute.
"I see. Great job, you three," Hachiman praised genuinely, giving each of them a nod.
At that moment, as if feeling offended by being ignored, the Greater Demon suddenly fired a bolt of lightning toward them. Everyone around Mei and Hachiman froze as the spell shot forward, but Hachiman slammed his foot down and raised a Geo shield instantly, the golden barrier spreading out and protecting all of them.
"Such strong defence. The Great I despise," the Demon growled.
"It seems our enemy can't wait anymore," Hachiman said as he stepped forward, eyes locked on the towering demon. "We'll talk later. For now, we deal with this thing first."
Mei nodded firmly and stepped up, following him. "Hachiman and I will take the demon-san headon. Everyone, please stay inside the barrier and don't leave it no matter what."
"Eh?!" Zena gasped.
"W‑wait, Mei‑sama, Hachiman‑sama!" Auna called out, rushing toward them. "That's a Greater Demon! The right hand of the Demon Lord itself! It's far too dangerous for only the two of you!"
Seeing her panic, Mei gave her a gentle, reassuring smile. "It's alright, Auna‑san. With Hachiman fighting together with me, nothing will be able to stop us."
"B‑but…!" Auna tried again, but Sora reached out and held her arm, stopping her.
"It's going to be alright, Auna‑san. Like Mei‑nee said, if Hachi‑nii will fight seriously, that demon‑san won't be able to do anything," Sora said, her voice full of confidence towards both of them.
"Sora‑san…" Auna murmured, still trembling.
"And besides," Sora continued, "the last time we met that demon? Mei‑nee already defeated it."
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted at once, eyes nearly popping out.
"S‑Sora‑san… is that really true?" Zena asked, stunned.
Sora nodded without hesitation. "Yes. Though… last time, Mei‑nee went full power. So it caused way too much damage to the surroundings." She looked toward Mei and Hachiman, who now stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder facing the towering demon. "This time they can't go all out since we're here, fearing we will get caught up from the aftermath, so the fight might take longer. But in the end, this enemy won't be an issue."
As soon as she said that, the dance between the Greater Demon and the duo, Hachi‑Mei, began.
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