Chapter 61: Masochist Darkness, Please Marry Me!

The deafening boom from the explosion completely vaporized every zombie in the blast radius—no staff was used this time.

Even so—

Having gained the profession of "godhood" and with the boost from eight Chosen of Pleasure, Shirakawa's magic had reached absurd levels.

"This is full-power Explosion Magic?"

Shirakawa didn't know what "mana management" even meant. With the Arch-wizard's core skill [Mana Fountain], his maximum mana could be as large as it wanted—it regenerated at the same steady rate.

That's the confidence percentage-based regeneration gave him.

Take Fujimi Academy as an example. The explosion's power had at least doubled—enough to wipe out most of the school. When the explosion faded—

What was once a flat plaza...

Now had a crater over 200 meters in diameter. Even reinforced concrete couldn't withstand the doubled power of the blast.

It was utterly destroyed.

Bottomless...

Even the concrete at the crater's edge looked slightly melted. Meanwhile, notification after notification appeared on Shirakawa's proficiency panel:

[You've killed an undead. Experience +50.]

[You've killed an undead. Experience +50.]

[Level up: Lv5 → Lv7]

[Arch-wizard Lv7 (2765/100000)]

[Basic Skill: Explosion Magic Lv7 (19050/80000)]

[Level up: Lv6 → Lv9]

[Holy Sword Wielder Lv9 (5030/90000)]

[Skill points gained: 5]

[Evolution points gained: 5]

The experience earned was the same, but the job levels rose differently. As one of the highest-tier jobs in the world of Konosuba, Holy Sword Wielder required less experience to level.

The same XP that boosted Holy Sword Wielder by three levels only advanced Arch-wizard by two.

All in all—

Shirakawa was quite satisfied. With attribute and skill points that could be freely allocated, he could maintain a balanced progression. And the cost? Just half an hour.

Not only were four of the Chosen of Pleasure here, but the Apocalypse World was easily a better XP farm than even Goblin Slayer's world.

Shirakawa dubbed it: Highly Efficient.

He was getting used to using Explosion Magic to clear Zombies—it was starting to feel therapeutic, and he began to understand Megumin's obsession with it.

He looked ahead.

Minami Rika, still dazed, had tried to drive out to save him even in that situation. She really did have a good heart.

Maybe—

That same sense of responsibility she had in the SAT, scoring a 370 in aptitude, was why she had become a team leader.

Shirakawa looked at her blank expression and said casually, "The undead around here are basically gone. Wanna drive?"

"...Sure."

The shockwave from the explosion generated a fierce gust of wind, and even Minami Rika, standing fairly close, almost lost her balance.

More importantly—

Her mind had exploded along with it.

This wasn't just a matter of being unfamiliar—she still remembered the "explosive" scene from early that morning.

But compared to this?

Only by facing the explosion directly could one understand the sheer scale of this power. No conventional missile could create this kind of destruction.

And, Minami Rika knew this square was built on reinforced concrete.

Unless it was a nuclear strike with chained effects, only a low-yield tactical warhead might cause this much damage.

More importantly, when she saw Shirakawa's calm, casual expression...

She finally understood why Shizuka would describe him as "salvation."

A walking mini-nuke?

Her mouth twitched involuntarily. Just accepting the sudden zombie outbreak and apocalypse had already taken her a long time.

Now, out of nowhere...

There was this.

She didn't even know what questions to ask anymore. Her curiosity boiled, but the topic was so far beyond her understanding.

"I..."

Shizuka, having just admired the explosive spectacle, affectionately grabbed her friend's arm and asked, "Surprised?"

"It was... shocking."

Minami Rika shook her head with a complicated expression. Now she finally understood why Shirakawa had stayed behind in the middle of the zombie horde.

Shizuka, Saeko, and the others remained calm—

Because they already knew the truth.

Those zombies couldn't hurt Shirakawa in the slightest. Thinking back to how she risked everything to rescue him...

Suddenly, she felt like crawling into a hole.

Noticing that Shirakawa didn't mind, Shizuka Marikawa didn't bother hiding anything and explained, "At first, our thoughts were similar to yours."

"Hey, if I told you Lord Shirakawa came from another world, would you believe it?"

"I do."

With a power that defies common understanding, if Shirakawa were just a psychic from this world, Minami Rika felt like her entire worldview would collapse.

She preferred to believe Shirakawa came from another world.

Seeing the mood was right, Shizuka Marikawa had no problem pulling her friend Minami Rika into the mix. Even Rei Miyamoto, who hadn't had much interaction, had become a chosen one.

Blinking her watery eyes, she tempted directly, "Do you want to have extraordinary abilities?"

"Extraordinary abilities?"

Minami Rika hadn't really thought about it before. She turned her gaze to Shirakawa, aware that the opportunity to gain such powers clearly lay with him.

But with years of social experience under her belt, she wasn't naive like her friend Shizuka Marikawa, believing there's such a thing as a free lunch. Gaining powers surely came with a price.

"What do I have to give?"

"You just need to offer complete loyalty."

"..."

Even after witnessing that terrifying explosion firsthand, Minami Rika managed to stay calm and rational. As for offering complete loyalty...

Didn't that mean...

Her body, mind, and beliefs all had to be dedicated? She only had a vague concept of supernatural powers and didn't agree right away.

"I need to think about it. I can't give you an answer just yet."

Staying in the Apocalypse world, they quickly finished lunch. Minami Rika didn't talk much with the others, and Shirakawa mostly kept his attention focused on the dimensional group chat.

There wasn't much daily chatter in the group, since everyone had lives in their own worlds. Only the goddess of wisdom with NEET traits—

Aqua.

She was the only one who treated the group chat like a social feed, posting her daily life thanks to her loud, showy personality.

Aqua: Blue Ribbon, Shirakawa is part of my party now, you'll never get to make him your follower!

Blue Ribbon: ?

Blue Ribbon: Says who!

Aqua: Because teaming up with me, a goddess, is the best option. And everyone in my team has top-tier classes.

Aqua: Taking down the Demon King is no big deal!

Bronze-Level Adventurer: So there's a Demon King in Aqua-sama's world too? We also have one in my world.

Mai Sakurajima: Maybe every isekai has a Demon King?

Blue Ribbon: We only have dungeons here~

Aqua: Defeating the Demon King is child's play for us. Hey,Shirakawa, get out here!

Aqua: We've gathered the team! We even have a Crusader Knight now!

Reading the messages in the chat, Shirakawa was a bit surprised. Based on Aqua's hints, unless he was mistaken—

That had to be the masochistic knight Darkness.

The party was taking shape quickly, and there were more candidates to recruit: Eris the thief, Yun Yun of the Crimson Magic Clan.

If memory served—

Even the royal loli Alice had a thing for being an adventurer. All of them were backup options to pull into the team.

As a descendant of heroes, she was dragon-slaying material.

Most importantly—she's a 12-year-old loli!

[Note: The Fuck?]

"Many hands make light work."

Especially Princess Alice—defeating the Demon King would fulfill her wish. Now Shirakawa had a real reason to go slay him.

With lunch finished—

Shirakawa stopped paying attention to the chat and just told Aqua and the others that he'd head to the Konosuba world for interviews after noon.

Lunch was prepared by the girls. When they returned to Rika's house, they grabbed a bunch of supplies from the supermarket for free. The meal was particularly rich.

When the girls sat down, they left the main seat for Shirakawa, which even made Rika feel like she was the guest in her own home.

Seeing none of them pick up their chopsticks, Shirakawa didn't know how to complain. With a helpless tone, he said, "Let's eat."

"..."

Right.

Especially after hearing Shirakawa say that, Rika felt even more depressed. Did no one care about the homeowner's feelings?

The food was excellent. Shirakawa mainly enjoyed the process of eating, especially with a beautiful girl next to him helping him with dishes.

He felt surrounded.

There was no need for extra explanations. The stockpile of supplies would last days. The rest was just Saeko training the others.

"It's about time to head out."

He decisively used the otherworld teleport anchor, aiming for the Adventurer Guild as planned. Thanks to earlier coordination, Aqua, Megumin and the soon-to-join Darkness—

Were already waiting in a corner. Seeing Shirakawa's familiar figure, Aqua stood up excitedly and waved: "Over here!"

"This is Darkness. She's a Crusader, perfectly fitting for our needs!"

"..."

Shirakawa didn't speak. He just looked at the tall figure ahead. Compared to Aqua and Megumin, she was...

Practically a lion-fang knight from a fantasy RPG. A mature woman with a flawless figure, obvious even in armor.

Her long golden hair was tied into a ponytail, its tips draping over her perfect profile. Her whole aura was stern and cold.

"Hello."

"You must be Captain Shirakawa. Just call me Darkness."

She could feel his eyes boldly scanning her. Darkness's heart started pounding. And this was just an interview.

Yet he was already doing this much!

What's worse, Shirakawa wasn't bad-looking at all. He even fit her ideal type perfectly. Especially the way he stared at her so openly.

She couldn't help but feel anticipation building. But she still forced a cold tone: "I heard your team's missing a knight."

"I wonder if I meet your... needs?"

Needs.

The moment she said that, Shirakawa nearly lost it. If someone else heard that, they'd think he was recruiting that kind of knight.

It was midday, and no other adventurers were around.

Keeping a straight face, he turned to Aqua and Megumin. "I'll be testing Darkness's functionality in all areas now."

"Okay!"

Without thinking too much, Aqua—eager to form the team and defeat the Demon King—pulled Megumin away from the guild.

Leaving them alone.

The atmosphere got a bit awkward.

You could even see a faint blush on Darkness's cheeks and how she nervously clenched her sleeves. She blinked her watery eyes.

Team interview.

This cheerful-looking boy in front of her—would he do something strange… weird? Should she resist?

Sensing Darkness's state keenly—

Shirakawa's eyes turned odd. A masochistic knight like her... could she really get excited just by being alone with him?

Since this was about teaming up—

He casually said, "What we need now is a front-line knight to attract enemy aggro. It'll involve taking lots of hits."

"I can do that!"

Darkness answered instantly and firmly. If it were about defeating monsters, that'd be hard. But defense? She was confident!

They hadn't even faced monsters yet, but she was already fantasizing about being used as a pawn by her captain.

Just thinking about it got her excited.

"..."

Shirakawa couldn't even find a way to complain. He went on: "We're going to take on some tough quests, so I need you to obey my..."

"I understand!"

Before he could finish, Darkness interrupted. Treated mercilessly by the adventurer captain—discarded like trash when she's no longer useful!

Her masochistic side was completely exposed. Even her ears turned red. "Absolute obedience to your orders."

"Mm."

Shirakawa could feel that Darkness's mindset had shifted into something strange.

No matter what kind of request was made, in this girl's eyes, it would probably be some kind of shameful play—Shirakawa continued calmly.

"We're a fixed team now, so you're not allowed to interact with any other adventurer parties."

"This... this is... the legendary, imprisonment play...?"

Just imagining that kind of scene made Darkness flush deeply red. She panted lightly, actively grabbing Shirakawa's arm with a pleading look in her eyes.

"And also…"

"I accept!"

Before he could even finish, Darkness couldn't wait to nod and agree. Just from this brief conversation—

She had already realized it.

A future without joining Shirakawa's party was not a future she wanted!

Absolute obedience wouldn't be a problem at all—especially when she picked up on the key detail that the party might soon be taking on very difficult quests.

Darkness studied Shirakawa seriously again—he looked youthful and handsome, and didn't even have the most basic adventurer equipment.

She even began imagining the scene of a failed quest—

Him becoming a useless bum barely getting by, unable to pay off the debt for his equipment, and...

Drinking all day, refusing to work, blaming society for everything, and smashing empty bottles in frustration—

"Hey, Darkness! If you don't have money to buy for my drink, get a job and earn some!"

That kind of loser man—

Was her perfect ideal marriage partner!

Staring at the now-silent Darkness, Shirakawa could feel the sense of offense in the passionate gleam of her blue eyes.

But—

Considering she was a masochistic, perverted knight, he quickly let it go. He originally wanted to recruit Darkness as a party member anyway, and this so-called interview—

Was just for show.

Shirakawa's expression remained calm as he casually said, "I've looked into your overall information. In all aspects, you fit my needs perfectly."

"Are... are they really needs...?"

Just imagining it made Darkness tremble uncontrollably. She couldn't even dare to think how amazing it would be for something like that to happen to her.

Unable to suppress the impulses in her heart, Darkness pleaded with anticipation in her eyes, "Please... please marry me—no, please let me join your party!"

"Shirakawa!"

[Authors Note: As you all have noticed, The past chapters are long as fuck. 1 chapter are equivalent to 2 so I rarely upload a lot daily. But imma be extra free starting tomorrow so expect an increase of daily chapter]