— — — — — —
"Things just took a turn for the worse."
Hilda closed the door and returned to her seat. Her face was more serious than before as she looked around at everyone present.
"His Majesty said earlier that Prince En has also arrived. That is extremely bad news."
"Who is En?"
"Prince En is the Demon Lord's other son. He's also the young master's older brother."
Aoi relaxed instantly when she heard it was just Beel's brother. She'd thought it was some dangerous stranger. "If he's baby Beel's brother, it's basically family. And we just did fine welcoming the Demon Lord, didn't we?"
"You're all underestimating the situation. The demon world is terrifying and cruel."
"Prince En might be here to fight the master for his position. And even if he personally doesn't want to, the demons who follow him absolutely might."
"The Behemoth's 34 Pillar Division supports him. They could easily become a threat to the master. The war is about to begin. Our peaceful days are ending."
Hilda let out a long sigh. Life in the human world had been so relaxing that she'd let herself get soft. If the Demon Lord hadn't mentioned this in advance, she might have been caught completely off guard by a sudden attack.
"I see. If that's how it is, then let's start a war. But we won't be the ones getting attacked. We'll be the ones attacking them."
Kazuma stood up. Not a trace of drunkenness lingered in his eyes.
"You… what nonsense are you talking about? The Behemoth's 34 Pillar Division is made up of the strongest fighters."
"They're not like me. I'm just a maid demon. They're war demons. Every one of them has terrifying power."
"Their weakest elites are the Pillar Generals and Barons. For reference, I could probably take on a few Generals at most."
"And they have 24 Captains. Not to mention the even stronger Pillar Barons."
"I'd be killed instantly by a Pillar Baron. And there are ten of those."
"And their commander, Behemoth, is absurdly strong. Far beyond the others. Even in the human world he can use tremendous power."
"This isn't like our earlier troubles. If we underestimate them this time, we'll die!"
Hilda stared at Kazuma, who looked not only unconcerned but ready to take the initiative. Her first thought was that the man had lost his damn mind.
"What else do you suggest? Hide in fear? Beg them for mercy? Run away like cowards?"
Kazuma placed baby Beel on his back and headed for the door.
"We can talk to the Prince En. Ask him to order the Pillar Division to stand down."
Hilda rushed ahead to block the doorway. As a maid demon, she couldn't let the master be harmed. And as someone who'd lived with Kazuma for so long, she didn't want him dying either.
"Hilda, that's not an option." Kazuma rested a hand on her head. He smiled lightly. "My policy is simple. Whoever tries to kill me dies."
Hilda stared at the arrogant man in front of her, at the killing intent rolling off him like a storm. He wasn't bluffing. He fully intended to wipe out the entire Behemoth's 34 Pillar Division.
"You can stay here and wait for news, or you can come with me. Either choice is fine."
Kazuma stepped past her as if she wasn't even there. Outside under the moonlight, his shadow stretched long across the ground.
A heartbeat later, the courtyard filled with kneeling shadow soldiers, dark shapes rising like a tide.
"You all know the scent of demonic magic by now. Go find them. Drag out every demon hiding in this city."
With Kazuma's strength increasing, the number of shadow soldiers he could summon had grown massively. His command spread like a shockwave. Darkness rolled outward, covering the entire city.
Beel clung to Kazuma's shoulder, tiny hands gripping his clothes. He looked back at Hilda as if telling her, "Leave this to us."
"What an arrogant, self-confident man," Hilda muttered.
She'd thought Kazuma was just strong. Now she realized she'd only seen a fraction of what he could do. The man in front of her was far more fearsome than she imagined.
She'd only been looking at the tip of the iceberg.
"Let me help. I'll take you up to look from above!"
Tohru ran after him without hesitation. She made up her mind the moment she formed their contract. No matter what happened, she would protect Kazuma.
"Tohru, Kazuma, I'm coming too!" Kanna followed them out the door.
Once outside, both dragons transformed into their true forms. Tohru lowered herself and invited Kazuma onto her back.
"Alright, I won't hold back then."
He hopped onto her.
Tohru flapped her wings and the ground exploded beneath her. In an instant she broke the sound barrier, cloaking herself in a concealment spell as she soared.
"You all…"
Hilda stared at the dragon cutting across the night sky, with Kazuma standing tall on her back. Something stirred inside her.
She suddenly felt he was right. If one wants to be a king, one can't live in fear. A Demon Lord doesn't negotiate. If someone provokes you, you destroy them.
She remembered Beel turning back to look at her, and realized he'd grown. Stronger, braver, more mature.
"He's still a reckless, irresponsible man… but the master has really grown under him. In that case, I, Hilda, will protect them even if it costs my life."
"This is the oath of a maid demon."
In the next moment Ak-Baba appeared in front of her. Hilda jumped onto his back and let the giant bird carry her into the sky after the others.
"…So… what am I supposed to do now?"
Aoi stood frozen in the doorway, staring in the direction Kazuma and the others had flown.
Kanna and Tohru had both transformed into dragons. Hilda had summoned some huge bird. Kazuma had called shadows out of the ground like a whole army of ninjas.
Everything had gone full fantasy mode in seconds. They were literally eating hotpot a moment ago. Why were they suddenly fighting a war?
"Aoi, this isn't something you should get involved in. Go home, tidy up your room. I'm sure it won't take too long before this is settled."
Ittosai finished his meal, gripped the long-unused blade at his side, and stepped outside.
"Grandpa… what are you planning to do?"
Aoi looked at him, feeling the shift in his presence. He wasn't her gentle grandpa right now. He felt like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp enough to cut the air.
"Just taking a walk. Maybe saying hi to an old friend. I'm getting old… eat one meal and it feels like I overate already."
"Make me some rice porridge tomorrow morning. A couple of small side dishes are fine."
With that, he left. He'd felt the magic of Behemoth, former commander of the 34 Pillar Division. Time to go greet an old friend and remind him the elders of the human world weren't dead yet, and that Earth wasn't some playground for demons to run wild in.
"Grandpa…"
Aoi felt like an outsider. Her grandpa and everyone around her were heading off to do something incredibly dangerous, and she couldn't help at all. The helplessness was suffocating.
"I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm stronger now."
She hesitated, then her eyes sharpened. She peeked in on Kota to make sure he was asleep. Then she went to her room, grabbed her wooden practice sword, and headed out.
She wasn't some gentle, obedient girl. She was the Queen of Ishiyama High.
---
While Kazuma and the others were moving, in the ruins of Ishiyama High…
"Eh? Where you guys going? Is the shift over?"
Tojo Hidetora was rebuilding the school, since of course he'd fix his own school himself (he is getting paid). Tojo had also secretly carved his name into a corner of the building.
He was working just fine until all his coworkers—the shadow soldiers—suddenly wandered off. Confused, he followed them, assuming maybe there was some after-work hangout happening.
He hadn't gotten far when he ran into a demon: Graphel, a Pillar General.
"What are these things? Why are they attacking me all of a sudden?"
Graphel crushed the shadow soldiers and glared irritably around him. He had been walking peacefully when these strange creatures ambushed him. Individually weak, yes, but that insane shadow-shifting ability, the suicidal aggression, and their endless numbers were a pain to deal with.
"Hey, who are you? What're you doing near our school?" Tojo arrived and stared at him, baffled.
"A human? So you summoned these things." Graphel didn't bother thinking further and lunged. "Die."
Didn't matter who he was. Just a human. Kill first, who cares if it's a mistake.
He gathered magic in his fist and punched Tojo in the chest. But the next second his expression cracked.
"What… how is this guy so hard?"
It felt like hitting solid steel. His wrist almost snapped.
"I don't know who you are," Tojo said, "or what you think you're doing."
"But you want to fight, right? Fine with me."
Tojo was an idiot. A pure, uncomplicated idiot. He still didn't understand the situation at all. But that purity was exactly why his body's instincts were monstrous. He always got flattened by Kazuma in one hit, but every time he learned something, and every time he got stronger.
Blocking punches using Iron Body had basically become instinct.
"You block one hit and think you're impressive? Die, human!" Graphel grew more furious. A noble Pillar General being stopped by a human was an unforgivable insult.
He gathered all his magic and threw his strongest attack.
"How dare you look down on me!"
Graphel saw Tojo standing there without moving or dodging, and rage spiked again. That posture was pure contempt.
His fist hit. The ground fractured. Shockwaves shook the earth.
And Tojo... still didn't move.
"That's all you've got? Compared to Kazuma-san, this is nothing. Feels like being bitten by an ant."
"Now, my turn to hit you."
Tojo looked down at Graphel like a beast sizing up prey.
For a moment, it was as if a tiger roared behind him. His punch sent Graphel into the ground so hard he got buried on impact.
"Boring. Guess I'll go find Kazuma-san and fight him instead."
He looked at the defeated demon with no satisfaction, only boredom.
Up in the sky, Tohru hovered above Tojo and the cratered Graphel. Kazuma stood on her back, watching.
"Didn't expect that idiot to be here. Dumb luck? Natural battle instinct? Good thing I got him to join Fairy Tail. I need to let the old man retire so I can become guildmaster legally, then I'll open the other worlds for members to travel and take on more missions."
"Hmm.... the other demons started gathering."
"Tohru, land. While the night's still dark, let's clean up these demons early."
Tohru descended. And Kazuma planned to wait right here for the rest of the 34 Pillar Division to converge, then wipe them all out.
At the same time, the scattered members of the Pillar Division felt Graphel's magic vanish and started heading toward the area.
And the old human masters also began moving.
Humans, demons, Kazuma's group… all converging.
A battle was about to begin.
.
.
.