Chapter 335: Hero and the Demon King... (Bonus Chapter)

Heavenly Realm!

"Have you heard? The diplomatic mission sent to negotiate with the Dragon Realm seems to have safely returned."

"Of course I've heard. It was led by Zelel."

"The strongest Seraph! How enviable."

Several angels were heatedly discussing this on the side of the road in the Holy City of the Heavenly Realm.

They completely failed to notice a striking golden figure passing leisurely right beside them.

"..."

Her name was Zelel White Tenma.

That was her name.

She was also the Seraph those angels were talking about.

Having just returned from the Dragon Realm, she had no mind for anything else right now. She went straight home.

"I'm back."

The moment she stepped through the door—

"Welcome home."

Knowing she was returning, her parents had already been waiting for her.

There was, however, one person missing—her younger sister, Gabriel.

"Where's Gabriel?"

"She's been assigned to the Human Realm to observe a certain awakened one there."

"Oh, really?"

Zelel was a little surprised.

"The Human Realm, huh…"

She appeared to be thinking.

Perhaps she should find some time to visit her sister in the Human Realm?

…

On the Holy Cross Continent of Ente Isla.

Amid the ruins of the Demon King's castle—

A silver-haired young girl in silver armor, gripping a holy sword, had cut down numerous demons along the way to get here.

She was the Hero.

A hero who existed for the sole purpose of slaying the Demon King.

She had come here with a single objective: defeat the Demon King.

Without a doubt, she had just done so.

The evidence of her victory could be seen all around: the signs of destruction everywhere and the Demon King's broken horn on the ground.

But after leaving a harsh vow that he would return, the Demon King leapt into a dimensional rift and fled.

Normally, the Hero would return home at this point.

However—

Unwilling to let him escape, she clenched her fist tightly and stared at the still-closing dimensional rift.

Her thoughts went back to her past.

Her name was Emilia Justina.

She was born in a poor village on the Western Continent of Ente Isla.

Her father was Nord Justina, a farmer.

She lived with her father in the countryside until she was twelve, when one day the priests of the Grand Holy Church took her away to train her as a future Hero who would defeat the Demon King.

On the very next day, she learned that her hometown had been destroyed by the Demon King's army and her father's whereabouts were unknown.

Having seen how cruel demons could be, Emilia, upon witnessing her ravaged home, concluded that her father was dead. Driven by revenge, she vowed to bring down the Demon King's forces.

At thirteen, she joined the Border Defense Forces.

In her first battle, she was too terrified to be of any use.

Afterward, she gradually grew strong enough to lead the Church's knights to capture various strongholds of the Demon King's army, becoming a knight-captain recognized among humans by titles like "Holy Knight."

During this time, she gained the allies who would later help her in the decisive battle at the Demon King's castle.

At sixteen, she became capable of wielding the Holy Sword, officially becoming the Hero.

One by one, she defeated the Demon King's three generals, liberating three of the continents.

Then she rallied the human armies to invade the central continent from three sides, finally getting a chance to avenge her father by confronting the one responsible for his death.

There was no way she could watch the Demon King escape and just let it go.

"Emilia, we did it!"

At that moment—

Her companions, having finished off the demons outside the castle, arrived. Seeing no trace of the Demon King, they were overjoyed.

"No, it's not over yet!"

Emilia suddenly fixed her gaze on the dimensional rift, her eyes set with determination.

"I must kill the Demon King!"

"!!!"

Amid the astonished looks of her companions, she leapt straight into the closing dimensional rift.

At the same time—

It snapped shut.

"..."

Her companions looked at one another, unsure what to do next.

…

The Human World.

Crash!

In a dark alley,

A stray cat was rummaging through the trash,

When suddenly—

Crack!

A fissure opened in the very air.

"Meow!!!"

Startled, the cat jumped, its fur standing on end, and crouched low, staring warily at the spatial rift.

Crack!

A foot emerged.

"Meow!!!"

Seeing the two-legged creature appear, the stray cat dashed off.

"Where is this?"

A black-haired man in a cloak, accompanied by a slightly taller blond man, walked out of the crack.

"I'm not sure. There's some kind of energy here that's different from magic."

The blond man observed the surroundings keenly. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. Pointing a shaking finger at the black-haired man, he shouted, "M-Maou-sama! You, you—you!!!"

"What about me?"

Sadao Maou (Satan) looked at him, puzzled.

"Huh??? You're… Alsiel?"

The person before him looked both familiar and strange.

Alsiel was a high-ranking demon—one of the Demon King's four generals, a Demon Grand Marshal, commander of the Eastern Invasion Army of Ente Isla.

But right now, Alsiel had none of his usual imposing demonic aura. There was no sign of anything demonic in him; he appeared completely human.

Alsiel was similarly confused. "Maou-sama, the horns on your head… they're gone!"

"What?"

Hearing that, the Demon King reached up to feel for his horns, but touched nothing at all.

Then he looked at his hand. Human skin, a human palm—so foreign to him.

"???"

"Why have we turned into humans?"

They were definitely demons. Shocked by this discovery, Alsiel murmured, "Perhaps it's because this place has no magic. This definitely isn't Ente Isla."

Whatever the case, they first had to figure out where they were.

Before long, using the last of the magic power in his body, the Demon King hypnotized a passerby and read their memories.

Then the two of them realized what had happened.

In order to establish a paradise for demons, the Demon King had led Adramelech, Ashiel, Lucifer, and Malacoda—his four Demon Grand Marshals—into the human lands.

But the Hero wielding a holy sword appeared and, when the Demon King was on the verge of conquering the world, she defeated him. He fled here in desperation.

Yet now he'd been turned into the very being he despised the most—a human.

How ironic.

"Maou-sama, what do we do now?"

Alsiel asked gravely.

In this place, with next to no magic, they were in a dangerous situation.

"Hmm…"

Deep in thought, the Demon King sifted through the new information in his mind about this world. After a long moment, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes as he came to a conclusion. Raising his right hand, he cracked an ominous grin.

"Alsiel, we'll conquer this world, and then we'll return to Ente Isla and reclaim it!"

"Maou-sama!"

Alsiel was profoundly moved by the Demon King's resolve.

"Hmph! You two, in your current pathetic state, think you can conquer the world? Where do you get the nerve?"

"Who's there?!!!"

~~~

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