Are you here to interfere with us again?

At those words laced with killing intent, Yuria laughed.

Yep. Thats my job.

But, even amidst the laughter, a bloodthirsty aura radiated from her, encompassing the robed man with her.

Is she, actually a hero?

Even in this tense situation, the demon king tilted his head. There was just too much of a difference between the normal Yuria and the one present right now.

Whether the two caught onto the demon kings thoughts or not, the two were locked in an intense battle of wills.

Get her!

The first to make a move was the black-robed man.

At his words, from every corner of the room, ominous-feeling objects were thrown at Yuria.

The hero easily dodged them but then, figures clothed in black leaped out towards her.

Slaaaassh

But, every time Yurias blade moved, the black-clothed figures collapsed just like that.

We will advance with the plan.

At the black-robed mans words, the men around him nodded, grabbed the demon king and ran towards the stairs, headed down.

Demon king!

As Yuria shouted, wide-eyed, the demon king laughed and said,

Do you really need to come looking for me?

Are you joking around in a situation like this!

The demon king flinched at those words, and with a voice as quiet as a mouse said,

Are you, not going to save me?

Clang!

Im busy so dont talk to me! Hold out as long as you can! Ill come and save you!

At those words, for some reason, the demon king brightened.

Thats the girl I went crazy for!

Yuria, maddened by his expression, swung her sword again and another three men fell.

How far are we going?

At the demon kings happy expression, the black-robed man scowled and said,

The demon king waiting for a hero, are you really a demon king?

Thats my job description?

At this obstinately smiling demon king, the scowl on the black-robed mans face only deepened.

Well, whatever. Its not like we can kill you anyway.

The entity known as a demon king. That was something that hundreds, no, thousands of humans couldnt hope to kill. However, only the one blessed or chosen by the gods could hope to do so.

Even they, who had honed their evil ways, no matter how great their number or how skilled and numerous their experts, could hope to kill a demon king.

How far had they gone, before arriving at a place that could be identified as the end of the basement. There, around three hundred young boys and girls were spread out on the altar, lying down, in an orderly pattern.

The blood contract ceremony. If my lord demon king would stand in the middle, everything would be sorted.

Using life energy. A pretty complicated ritual?

Of course, since were summoning a demon king. Then again you cant die, but those children will all die horribly painful deaths, do you feel nothing?

The black-robed man looked at the demon king from a demon kings perspective.

It was because he had started to doubt whether this demon king he had observed really was a demon king.

But at the demon kings next words, the man scowled.

The heros going to come and save us anyway, whats there to worry about?

Will she really come all the way here that easily?

Yep. Thats a hero, after all.

Youve read too many fairy tales. Then again, there are no such things as a hero in the demon world, after all. But heroes are also human. If they are stabbed, they are hurt. And if their heart is pierced or throat is cut, they die. They are very much human.

When the man raised his hand, the fanatics beside him lowered the demon king into the center of the magic formation.

Chains of the demon god.

With that command, chains sprang from the floor and immobilised the demon king, and the fanatics moved out of the magic formation.

Begin.

At the mans words, the childrens screams echoed throughout the castle.

Is that it?

Yurias steps quickened. She had, naturally, beaten all of her foes. But, what made her sped her steps were the screams of children in pain.

Kwang!

Yuria who burst through broken door. And the fanatics who held up their swords to stop her.

And bound by chains, at the center of the magic formation, was the demon king, looking very annoyed. On seeing the hero break down the door and charge in, he yelled,

Do you ever open the door normally?

Is that really important?!

That little should I just leave him there?

The problem was, if she didnt save him, the world could return back to the age of darkness.

Yuria stared down the 10 fanatics blocking her way.

They were only ten of them, but they were the strongest ones she had faced up till now.

The solution First strike!

Azure Flames Style, Seventh technique, Wings of Azure Flames!

With an intense strength, Yuria cleanly cut one down and pressured the rest before they could rebuild their formation.

Chenk chenk!

A fierce battle unfolded.

Yuria had cut down three fanatics instantly, but they too, quickly regathered their formation and harassed Yuria.

Multiple flashes of light blazed in an instant. Yuria, who had done away with another two, was left with a wound on her face from a suicidal counterattack.

Oi! Dont go slashing at my wifes face! She doesnt have anything other than her sword skill and her looks anyway!

STAB.

Yuria, who had been attacked from an unexpected place, cut down the kamikaze attacker and yelled,

You shut your mouth!

Waah! Thats not my lovelys normal nature!

Scales of the Chief God or whatever, when we get out of here, youre the one Im going to kill first!

With a sword powered by rage, the blameless(?) stress-relief targets that were the fanatics had their formation broken and completely routed in an instant, and at that sheer force the demon king flinched.

S, sweetie?

Shut up. Ill deal with you later

Yuria muttered with a frigid voice, and levelled her blade at the man standing by the magic formation.

Stop the formation.

Too late, Im afraid.

Yuria looked around. The children who had already reached their limits had fainted from the pain.

But theyre still alive. In that case, Id say the summoning failed?

The man nodded at those words.

Yes, it failed. But were always the radical types.

What do you mean?

When he brought out a sword of his own, Yurias spirit flared up even more strongly.

Laughing, he said,

How would I beat you in a fight? Im not even going to try, so dont scare me like that.

Do you think Id fall you!

Yurias eyes widened. He had stabbed himself in the heart with his own sword.

For the possibility that we failed to summon a demon king, we installed a giant explosive magic under this magic formation! With my sacrifice, I can annihilate the entire border region, including the Reese Kingdom! War will ravage the land once more!

Every time he laughed, the ominous feeling grew stronger.

Grit.

Grinding her teeth, Yuria looked at the ceiling. The magic power had begun to gather in one place and compress.

Can I stop this? No, I must!

Yuria started concentrating on her sword.

With that, a blue aura started forming around it.

Cut down in one strike!

Azure Flames Style, The Secret Art of the Azure Flames!

Yuria was prepared to risk it all to cut through that dark magic power.

Youll die if you do that.

The demon king, who had somehow freed himself from his chains, was smiling and holding Yurias hand.