It was obvious since he wasn’t even wearing his helmet. If I’m not wrong, we met him once before back in Nargol, he was the one called Runfeld.

  Runfeld was glaring at us while standing on top of his thunder dragon.

  「I wonder what he’s going to do?」


  「Dunno. But well, he seems to be really eager right now. You two, step back.」


  「The other party is bringing so many people along. Isn’t it much better if we join the fight?」


  「It’s okay, It seems he’s asking for one-on-one duel.」


  It is just as Reiji had said. The monsters were stepping back, leaving Runfeld alone in front of them.

  「It seems that’s really the case. Let’s step back too, Nao-san. But don’t let your guard down, we’re going to move as soon as those monsters try to attack Ariadya.」


  「Yeah, please take care of the protection of the city.」


  Reiji spoke with a composed look on his face.

  Yeah, I wasn’t worried about him either. Reiji had become even more powerful than before after all.

  I recalled the scene when Reiji and Shirone were training together.

  The genius who never cared about training had started training to become stronger. Maybe no one could beat the current Reiji.

  That’s why there was no need to worry about Reiji.

  Rather than that, I’m more worried about whether the monsters are going to attack Ariadya or not.

  Though I’ve been wondering since before whether I’m going to blast them with magic before, I decided to back down for now.

  Nao and I left Reiji and went towards the first outer ramparts outside of the Republic of Ariadya.

  When I looked down, General Clasus was already standing by along with his subordinates. Maybe they hurriedly went to that place to intercept the monsters’ attack.

  I also saw Kyouka, Kaya and Regena with them. It seems they hurriedly came to this place as soon as they heard about this riot.

  Nao and I descended near them.

  「Uhm, are they going to attack our country, Chiyuki-dono?」


  General Clasus asked with an anxious face.

  「I think it’ll be alright. Reiji won’t lose against that guy. Moreover, we’re also standing by here just in case. Right, Kyouka-san, Kaya-san?」


  I looked at the two of them as I asked so.

  「Yeah, if worse comes to worst, we’ll also make our move. Right, Kaya?」


  「Yes, Milady.」


  Kaya replied appropriately upon hearing Kyouka said so while puffing her chest.

  Kaya aside, Kyouka had also become reliable since her magic efficiency had improved.

  「Clasus-dono!! Can you explain this situation to us?!!」


  Someone ran in a hurry towards us. It was Decius. With Shizufae and co following him from behind. And following them was a woman in a dancer’s outfit.

  If my memories serve me right, she was the one called Sienna, right? Why did she appear in this place out of all places?

  「Ah, Decius-dono. The monsters are about to attack. But no need to worry, the hero of light-dono is holding them at bay. Right, Chiyuki-dono?」


  Clasus was looking at us.

  「Yes. The opponent is not HIM after all.」


  「HIM?」


  The one who spoke with a puzzled look on her face was Shizufae.

  That moment, I noticed that I just made a slip.

  「The Dark Knight who defeated Reiji-sama before. Reiji-sama won’t lose as long as the opponent isn’t that particular Dark Knight.」


  Kaya replied instead of me.

  「There’s someone like that amongst them?」


  Shizufae asked in worry.

  「Yes, you should’ve already met him before.」


  「Eh?」


  The face of every single member of Shizufae’s party paled at once.

  「CHIYUKI-SAN!! IT’S STARTING!!」


  Nao suddenly called out to me.

  After Runfeld descended from his thunder dragon, both of them closed on each other and started to fight.

  When both the thunder sword and the light sword clashed in the air, it created a powerful shockwave that reached our location.

  「ARE YOU REALLY SURE THIS IS THE RIGHT DECISION?!!!」


  Clasus spoke while trying his best to withstand the shockwave. The other person was in the same situation as them.

  The ones who could calmly withstood the shockwave on top of the ramparts aside from me were Nao, Kaya, Kyouka, and Regena.

  「Chiyuki-dono!! The citizens are in panic!! Shall we do something about this situation?!!」


  Decius spoke to me while looking at the bottom of the rampart. As expected of a man of his caliber, even in this kind of situation, he prioritized the citizens.

  I followed his line of sight. It seems the shockwaves from their clashes also reached the ground. Thus, the citizens had started to raise a ruckus.

  「Guess I’ve no choice. I’ll do something about it.」


  I let the citizens of the Republic of Ariadya below be able to see Reiji and co fight with image magic.

  The battle between Reiji and Runfeld was so intense. But, Reiji was clearly in an advantageous situation.

  There was his usual composed face, he was clearly toying with his opponent.

  The citizens might be able to calm down as long as they saw this.

  「Please calm yourself, citizens of the Republic of Ariadya!!」


  And then, I made my voice resound around with magic. In this way, the entire Ariadya should be able to hear my voice.

  「BEHOLD!! EVEN THOUGH THE DEMON RACE HAS COME TO THIS LAND, WORRY NOT!!! THEY’RE DEFINITELY GOING TO BE DRIVEN AWAY BY THE HERO OF LIGHT!!」


  The restless citizens calmed down at once when they heard my voice.

  Clasus’ subordinates, who’d positioned themselves above the rampart, raised a cheer.

  「THAT’S RIGHT, REIJI-SAMA WON’T LOSE!! HE’S THE ONE WHO WILL HERALD THE GOLDEN DAWN AFTER ALL!!」


  Shizufae shouted too.

  He Who Heralds The Golden Dawn

  That was the savior in human legends.

  Long time ago, humans lived in this world devoid of monsters along with the Elios’ gods. That was the shining, golden era of humanity which happened a really long time ago.

  And then, Demon King Modes appeared and released the monsters to conquer this world.

  As a result, humanity, who was weaker than monsters, were forced to build ramparts and live inside those ramparts.

  That was the current era, the dark era.

  「He who heralds the golden dawn」 was the one who will cut open the dark night, and bring back the golden era of humanity in this world again.

  Most people believe that defeating the Demon King would effectively erase the monsters from this world too.

  Shizufae seems to believe that Reiji was the one who will herald the golden dawn.

  To be honest, knowing his personality, I doubt that he was the one.

  But, the humans of this world seem to wish it was him.

  Though I feel that Reiji’s image in Shizufae’s mind could be regarded as exaggerated, I had no choice but to use her to defuse the restless citizens of Ariadya.

  「ARIADYA’S CITIZENS!! THE HERO OF LIGHT WON’T LOSE!! HE’S CHOSEN BY GODDESS RENA-SAMA AS THE ONE WHO WILL HERALD THE GOLDEN DAWN AFTER ALL!!! THAT’S WHY REST ASSURED, HE’LL PROTECT ALL OF US!!」


  The citizens of the Republic of Ariadya raised a cheer upon hearing my encouragement which resounded around Ariadya.

  The citizens repeatedly shouted 「Hero of Light」 and 「He who heralds the golden dawn」.

  Well, that should be enough to ease their restlessness. There should be no problem as long as Reiji doesn’t lose.

  Though the fight looks intense, I could look at that fight without worry.

  「You have to win. You’re the hope of humanity after all.」


  ***

  ◆Daemon Lord, Ulbard

  「W-WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW, ULBARD-SAMA?!!!」


  My aide asked me.

  「I’M ALSO THINKING ABOUT WHAT TO DO NOW!!」


  I shouted back at my aide.

  Runfeld and the hero of light were currently fighting right before them.

  Runfeld was clearly in a disadvantageous situation. So he might need our assistance. But, I couldn’t think of any kind of assistance that could help him in this situation.

  Runfeld was the strongest Daemon. The other four heavenly kings, including me, were no match for him even if we combined our power.

  His power rivaling that of the divine race.

  And that Runfeld was being toyed around by that hero of light.

  Runfeld’s subordinates were also watching the fight with a tense look on their faces.

  It seems Runfeld brought quite a lot of his subordinates from Nargol.

  Runfeld’s subordinates who were standing by in the labyrinth came to this city as fast as they could as soon as they felt an unusual phenomenon in the airspace above this city. But, even with their superior numbers, I don’t think they could beat the Hero of Light.

  Maybe I should just withdraw while Runfeld was still fighting.

  Was what I’m going to do if it was another person who fought right there but, it was a completely different matter if the other person was Runfeld.

  Even though we were often butting our heads against each other like dogs and cats, and despite the difference between our principles, I had to say that Nargol needed Runfeld.

  For the sake of Demon King-sama, I couldn’t just abandon Runfeld here.

  「DAMMIT!! SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?!!」