Gtuhanai.

That name sent shivers down my spine.

Although it should be impossible for such a deity to exist in a world with pre-existing gods, Sayuri was able to call upon it with such confidence.

Gtuhanai. According to the Cthulhu mythos I had once read, it is a destructive entity that is closely related to Cthulhu and Glaaki. Furthermore, it only brought destruction wherever it was summoned into.

This isn’t good! If things don’t go well, this town could be destroyed! Did these heroes not think about this through?!

“H-hey Sayuri! Are you sure it’s okay summon such a dangerous thing in this place?”

Hmn? Even that Koin thinks it’s dangerous too. Then why?

“Don’t worry! Remember when you got here, someone had already erected a barrier around us. I don’t know who but as long as it doesn’t break through, nothing will be damaged outside.”

A barrier? Then that means……

Scanning the buildings farther away from us……

There! A man in a butler outfit. Kuroga, he probably cast Exclusion Zone just before my battle with Sayuri could get out of hand.

I bring back my attention to the opponents standing in front of me.

They took a formation of prioritizing the protection of Sayuri.

Koin, Masaru and Solana stood in front with their weapons at the ready while Sayuri stayed behind them.

But then another factor was added into their plan, the swirling black hole forming above them.

It slowly grew larger as time passed.

A cold wind blew across us.

Not only me, I could also see the look of fear on their faces. Most likely, Sayuri couldn’t control this one all that much and could only give it basic commands.

Blood red eyes began opening on the black hole. Its slit-like pupils have it the terrifying impression of a snake having found its prey.

Tentacles squirmed out of it.

Soon, countless numbers of these moving appendages covered its surface. The black hole now only visible around its eyes and its border.

“!!!”

Not wasting even a second, I send dozens of fireballs at the otherworldly entity.

There, the tentacles extend and take the full blast of my attack.

Sounds of impact and explosions echo through the air.

“!”

They did not bother checking on its condition. Sayuri sent a large number of icicles flying at me.

“Tsk! !”

As soon as her spell had disappeared, her three allies had already neared me.

Solana avoided my sword and circled behind my back.

Before I could see what she was about to do, Masaru swung his spear horizontally. The pointed tip grazing my cheek.

Deflecting it as he was about to thrust it at me, I felt a numbing sensation at the right side of my chest.

That’s right, I forgot about him!

Bashing me with his shield once again was Koin, who had used the two as a distraction.

As I was sent flying,

“!”

A powerful force of air forcefully changed the direction of my flight.

Thinking that I was about to come into contact with a wall,

“!”

Placing it on the nearest surface behind me, I fail to notice the approaching shadow above me.

“!”

Accelerating her descent, she slammed me into the ground.

“G-gaaaaah!!!”

The sensation of pain flowed throughout my body.

My body numbed and my limbs refused to move.

Blood was starting to leak out of several areas and I could even taste it in my mouth.

“.”

Instantly, my body returns back to its unhurt state.

Recover. A Myth ranked recovery spell that outperformed even Saint’s Healing, a 5th ranked recovery spell. Although its performance is extraordinary, the magic power needed to use it made it only usable in the direst of situations.

Feeling almost a fourth of my remaining magic power leaving my body, I stand back up.

Just like earlier, they had taken distance and used the same formation.

But I wasn’t worried about them. My attention was taken by Gtuhanai who had not moved after my attack had hit it.

“I-impossible……”

I was speechless.

The damage I dealt to it……was non-existent. In fact, the opposite had occurred. It had doubled in size and there was no sign of burn marks anywhere on its figure.

Its blood red eyes were now staring at me fiercely.

Raising my sword once more, it finally made its move.

With speed my eyes almost couldn’t follow, its countless tentacles stretched out, headed for me.

“! ! !”

Casting defense spell one after another, the tentacles that were aiming for the spot I was standing on were blocked or burned.

Seeing the others retracting, I dispel the spells protecting me and prepare to counter attack.

“Wha?!”

Masaru suddenly came into view. With his spear outreached, I sidestep and swing my sword down into his arm.

What? He’s not even trying to dodge. He’ll lose his arm!

The time to stop my sword mid swing had already passed and when it reached his arm……

Clang!

My sword……bounced off?!

Because my posture was broken off balance from the unexpected result, he stopped during his charge and redirected his spear towards me.

“!”

I try to defend myself, but because there was already little time to fully cast it, it is only able to slow down his swing before it hits me.

“Gyaaaa!!!”

It makes a cut just below my left shoulder. The stinging feeling of the wind coming into contact with the wound caused me to momentarily lose the sensation in my hand.

“Take this!”

Coming from above was Koin. In his hand was not his sword, but a large war axe.

Where did he get that?!

I roll away to avoid his attack.

Solana then appears with another flurry of attacks but this time, they were even faster than her attacks from earlier.

“! !”

While mending the wound on my left arm, I form another sword on my left hand in order to counter her two swords.

“Not happening! !!!”

Now it was Koin who attacked me from my blind spot. On reflex, I raise the newly formed fire sword to defend.

“!!!”

As his war axe came into contact with the sword, it disappears without a trace.

Having my attention taken away by a split second, Solana moves to take action.

I swing my sword at her who had run towards me. She backflips which I thought was a way to avoid my attack, but then I feel an impact under my chin.

Using the momentum of her acrobatic movement, more force is used on her attack. But her kick felt far more powerful than any other attack she has done.

In an instant, my body couldn’t feel the ground beneath me anymore. However, that wasn’t the end of it. She was once again in front of me. As I was still recovering from the sudden hit on my head, I couldn’t foresee what she was about to do.

“Gaaah!!!”

Sending me back down to the ground was an even more powerful axe kick, which I was only able to block at the last minute with my arms.

So this is the difference in experience, huh.

“!!!”

Below me, I could see Koin, whose war axe disappeared into scattering orbs of light, only to be replaced by a large war hammer. As if preparing to hit a homerun, he took a stance similar to the ones batters take in baseball.

Not good! If I take that, I’ll be taken back against my will!

I then looked at Gtuhanai who was simply observing the situation, but its tentacles were already shaking with anticipation.

And if I’m able to avoid Koin’s hammer, I’ll be pierced by its tentacles!

The ground grew closer and closer, slowly filling my entire vision.

“No choice then.”

>

And with that, the one sided slaughter began.

===

Helgas’ hero was almost within my war hammer’s range. Just a bit more, and with one swing, we can end this.

I don’t know why he would harm his fellow heroes, but as a hero myself, I cannot simply ignore this.

We need to return him back to the proper path, but first he must be beaten!

“There!”

With accurate timing, I swing my weapon like I was swinging a baseball bat. For further effect, I applied the element of air to accelerate the swing even more.

It impacts with his body and a large portion of the ground is blown away.

“Maybe I put too much power?”

Becoming worried over the state of his body, I was about to head over to check.

“Koin, wait!”

From behind me, Sayuri sends me a warning.

At first, I didn’t know why there was any need for her to, but then I noticed it.

“What?”

I tried pulling back my hammer but it did not budge. It was like it was stuck to something I couldn’t see that was lurking in the cloud of dust.

“Koin, get away from there! !!!”

At the same time as I jumped away, Sayuri launched a magic spell and Masaru rushed forward with his spear.

In the next moment,

“Wha?!”

My hammer dissipated into light as it fell onto the ground. The spell Sayuri cast blew the dust cloud away and hit the building in front of me. Masaru, who had unleashed a flurry of thrusts and swipes, hit nothing but thin air.

The one person who was supposed to be there had disappeared.

Then,

“Gruaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

A bone-chilling scream resounded throughout the air.

Pain. This single scream resonated with a single emotion, pain.

But none of us were hit. We didn’t even hear any sounds of conflict or battle.

I looked for Sayuri’s companion, Solana, and saw her looking around for the source of the scream like us.

“Ah……..ah…….”

Immediately, I turned around to Sayuri who was standing behind us.

There, I saw a hard to believe sight.

Gtuhanai.

Sayuri explained to me before how this entity was the only one she had been able to successfully form a contract out of all the otherworldly entities she had encountered.

Although its time in this world is extremely small and the magic power needed to summon it is tremendously large, its addition as an ally in a battle cannot be trifled with.

So then, why is it that this same entity was bleeding out a pool of blood in the form of a black liquid?

The answer could be found in the form of the young man holding a sword stained with its blood.

“Gruaaaaaaaaa……….”

Gtuhanai’s painful cries grew quieter and quieter until it ceased to exist.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the most powerful being in this battle shifted to the lone hero who wielded a pitch black sword.

“Get away from Sayuri!!!”

“Solana, no, wait!!!”

Ignoring my words, she ran off to stop him from getting closer to Sayuri.

“If I remember correctly, you also hurt Shiromi, right?”

Saying only those words, words filled with contempt, Solana crashed into the building behind me.

“Eh?”

Looking at her figure, which was deeply planted into the wall, the swords that was wielding were broken into pieces. The whites of her eyes were showing, she had already lost consciousness.

“Masaru, we’ll attack him together!”

“Got it……”

Thanks to our experiences on the frontlines, we moved almost as one.

He ran off to the right while I ran to the left.

Our target, Kinji, payed no attention to us and simply returned his sword to its sheath.

Masaru had already entered a range in which his spear could reach him.

I quickened my pace in order to follow up on his attack.

“You guys won’t die so easily, am I right?”

“What are you sayi------bgaaaaaaaah!!!”

The air inside my lungs……felt like they were being forced out of me.

“Oh, I knew I was holding back, but for you to be able to remain standing. Honestly, I’m impressed.”

Staggeringly, I backed off slowly. Grasping my stomach with both my hands, forcing myself to not let out anything that should remain inside.

When I looked up, I saw that Masaru had suffered the same fate as Solana as he had also fainted from colliding against a wall.

“Looks like you can’t fight anymore, so I’ll leave you be.”

He then turned to look back at Sayuri, who had fallen down and was crawling away in fear.

“Hey you, I didn’t say you were off the hook.”

That just made her crawl away faster. But she stopped after bumping into Kinji, who had instantly appeared behind her.

“H-hiiiiiiiii!!!!!”

“!!!”

Forcing myself to move, a spear appears in my hand and with all my strength, I throw it towards him.

“Hmn?”

“W-what?”

That throw was executed with all of the strength left in my body. As a hero, I possessed far more power than the ordinary inhabitants in this world. Even Masaru had difficulties in avoiding or defending against a weapon thrown by me.

And yet he---he---

“Hmmm……so as soon as the weapon leaves your hands, it starts to disappear.”

He was calmly examining the spear he had caught in his hand.

Already in the process of turning into light, he lets it fall onto the ground.

“

Before finishing the activation of my unique, Weapon Materialization,

“Let’s have you sleep for a while.”

When? When did he move in front of me?!

His fist had connected with my stomach, my consciousness was already swaying.

I could feel the strength in my body leaving me.

Weakly, I outstretch my arm to grasp his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you won’t die here. I’ll make sure of that.”

Once more, he turns his back to me. An action showing he had nothing to fear from me.

And honestly, he was right.

===

Thump.

Hearing the body of Koin collapsing on the ground, I could now focus solely on the girl cowering in fear, Sayuri.

Now, how am I supposed to end this?

I had only thought of warning them about hurting Shiromi and disturbing our journey, but now that it’s come this far, my mind is drawing a blank.

While hiding my mind’s current state of cluelessness, I slowly walk closer to her, not forgetting to release my killing intent and directing it at her.

“Ah…………..ah………..”

Yep, she’s definitely scared of me. Most likely, even her comrades are now scared of me as well. I guess now’s the time to tell her not to harm Shiromi again.

“Listen---”

“I-I’M SORRY!!!!!!”

Eh?

“I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry for everything! I’m sorry I hurt your girlfriend!!! I’m sorry I tried to forcefully take you back to Dravint!!! I’m---”

“Wait, girlfriend? Listen---”

“I’m really sorry!!! I regret it, okay?! I really do!!! I’ll do anything!!! Anything!!! So just let us go already!!!”

Ah! Tears were already dripping down her face.

“Li-listen first, okay?”

“O-okay……”

“I only have three conditions, if you don’t follow these……”

Stomping on the ground below me, I create a small crater with significant depth.

“Hiiiiii!!!!!”

She nods vigorously.

Okay, good. Now,

“First, never bring harm to any of my companions ever again.”

In a heartbeat, she agrees to my first condition.

“Second, do not take any action that will hinder my journey in any way.”

“Wa-wait!”

“Hmn? And what is wrong with that?”

Saying it as coldly as possible,

“Hiiii!!! Y-you can’t just ignore your responsibilities as a hero!!! That’s just---hiiiiii!!!!!!”

After taking one step closer, she stops talking.

“You see here……I’m not ignoring them, whether you believe me or not, if Helgas is ever turned into the frontlines of this war, then I will gladly take up my role as a hero in a heartbeat.”

“Then---”

“But! That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy my free time the way I like it. You’ve already witnessed it, right? Even the three of you stand no chance against me.”

“Kuh!”

“And my third condition……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“And that’s it. So leave now before I change my mind.”

“Umm……what about the last condition?”

“Hmn?”

Sending her a glare,

“Y-yes! I understand!”

Nodding at her response, I proceed to leave.

“W-wait! What about Solana, Koin and Masaru?!”

“Oh, just give them these when they wake up. I don’t care what you do with the rest.”

Saying this, I hand her 10 of the energy elixir I had given to Shiromi before.

“H-ha. Thanks!”

“Just remember, if you ever try anything against us again……”

She once again nods her head rapidly.

And with that, I turn my back to her and head to where Shiromi is waiting for me.

===

“Solana. Solana, please wake up!”

“Mrmrmrmr……”

“Ah….good, she’s still alive.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, I turn to face Koin and Masaru who were riding in front of me.

“That’s great! Isn’t that great news Garun?”

Instead of talking to Masaru, who was fast asleep, he talked to Garun who was currently flying us back to the frontlines.

“But still, I’m surprised that the two of you were able to figure out we were in a pinch back then.”

“Eh? Ah, that’s right! There was a reason we came here looking for you!”

“There is?”

“Well, do you remember those ‘Demon Commanders’ we were informed of before?”

“Yep, I remember.”

Demon Commanders. They were considered existences that could rival even us heroes because of the abnormally high quantity of their magic power.

“The thing is, 5 have suddenly appeared in the outskirts of Wildern.”

“Eh?! So soon?!”

“Exactly. We don’t know how they got there without us noticing, but an order had been given to gather us three immediately.”

“I……..see.”

“But you know, maybe if we took that Kinji guy along with us, we could settle this war even quicker, don’t you think?”

When he said that, Kinji’s words resonated through my mind and I remembered the fear I felt back then.

“A-ah, well, you know……”

“Sayuri? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing. It’s just, well, don’t you t-think that if we s-settle this by ourselves…...we would be fulfilling our hero roles even more?”

Ah, no good! My voice is quivering!

“Hmmm………maybe what you’re saying is correct! Okay, got it! Let’s take care of it by ourselves!!!”

“Haaaaa…….”

I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Luckily, Koin is too simple-minded when it comes to being a hero.

Well, he did say he was one of those ‘I fight for justice’ type of people back in our old world.

Behind us, the sun was already settling in the horizon.

But somehow I knew, that the anxiousness we were feeling would not disappear for a long time.