「You can sleep m-more. There is no need for you to step forward anymore... You can rest now.」

No! Wake up! You still have work left to do! So get up right now and...!

* * *

... Even so, she must not be swayed.

["Aren't you coming? Are you just going to retreat like this? Even though you're the Hero?"]

The Inquisitor tightly closed her burning eyes and opened them again. Her eyeballs, moistened by the irritation, made her vision ever so slightly blurry.

["The Great Demon you must kill is right here."]

It was true. Still, she must not be swayed. As long as the Great Demon was openly waiting for her, the chances of that place being a trap were far too high.

["Ah, you were a coward, not a Hero. How disappointing."]

... But if she didn't go there, what on earth was she supposed to do?

If she didn't catch that demon, there would be no reason for the Berserker to have stayed behind alone in front of that monster. If she didn't protect the people, the reason the Demon Knight had headed here alone...

Ah. The Demon Knight.

The Inquisitor raised her head, which had bowed at some point.

She couldn't feel the Demon Knight's demonic energy. It was only natural. There was no way his energy could be felt amidst that massive flow of demonic energy.

But, but...

She couldn't even hear the sounds of fighting. What did that mean? Did it mean he was already injured to the point where he couldn't even fight? Or else... had he, had he...

"No!"

He couldn't be dead. There was no way that person was dead. He must have just, just gotten severely injured and taken shelter. That must be it.

There's no way that person is dead...

Really?

The back of someone who seemed like they would die without even putting up a struggle when their time came surfaced in her mind. The back of a truly cold-hearted person, who wouldn't even give her a single chance to reach out to him.

["Do not be late. Destiny will not wait for you."]

The Inquisitor's lips were crushed between her teeth.

WHACK. It was the very next moment that an ironclad hand struck her own forehead. Unable to bring herself to drop her mace, the one who had struck her own forehead while still holding it opened her eyes firmly.

["Well. No matter how much you deny it, you look like enough of a coward right now."]

In the meantime, the one who took her denial to mean something else mocked her. She didn't care.

The Inquisitor's green eyes, embracing the scattering sparks, shone like gold.

"Run your mouth all you want, demon!"

Whether the Demon Knight was dead or not, it was certain that he was at least in a situation where he couldn't move. It was also certain that there was absolutely nothing she could do for him right now.

The Inquisitor recognized those realities with great difficulty. She could not save the Demon Knight right now.

"I will never be swayed by your tongue!"

But if you asked if she had despaired at the reality she acknowledged, she hadn't.

If that was the acknowledged reality, she couldn't afford to stop even more. Her back was full of people she had to protect.

The ones who sacrificed themselves to create this moment filled the ground beneath her feet, so there was absolutely no way she could retreat.

CRASH!

Thus, the first thing she did was strike a nearby Mimic with her shield. Was it because the higher entity—the Great Demon—had given it separate instructions? The creature showed no intention of moving, making it easy to attack.

Having effortlessly taken the Mimic's life, her hand assumed a defensive posture once more.

"If you're going to come, come at me yourself!"

A Gargoyle that was flying in right after crashed into the divine power barrier she had created and plummeted.

CRACK! Smashed by her mace, its head exploded. Naturally, the headless body went limp and met its death.

"Because I won't let a single one get past me!"

["Hah. So that's how you're going to play it."]

The Great Demon giggled. However, the Inquisitor didn't even flinch.

The duty she had to prioritize was buying time for the people to evacuate, not fighting the Great Demon. It would be a different story if the Great Demon moved to kill the people, but as long as it stood still in one spot, there was no need to go out of her way to fight it.

CRASH!

Rather, the things she had to fight were the others.

The Inquisitor intercepted the many demons slipping past her, striving to reduce their numbers by even one. It was obvious that the fewer demons leaked past here, the more noticeably the casualties among the people would drop.

["I'll be sure to extract a hefty price for making me move personally!"]

BOOM!

And right on cue, the Great Demon finally made its move.

The lava giant smashed a building with its massive hand, and molten metal-like substances flooded the streets.

["With your death, that is!"]

Moreover, the one rising from amidst that was the faceless demon.

As the Berserker had informed her, the Seat of Greed or Avarice, Pandemonium.

One of the axes of evil that had to be eliminated someday reached out a finger toward her.

Boulders harboring the energy of fire began to pour down. Each and every one of them was so threatening that she doubted whether she could block them all.

"Oh, God."

However, this was the exact moment she had chosen, prioritizing it over both the Demon Knight and the Berserker. In such a situation, there was no way she could say something like 'I can't do it'!

"Your humble servant prays to You."

The Inquisitor cast away the question of 'Can I do it?' that she had harbored all the way here.

"May the ground I step on be Your ground, and may the hand I reach out be Your hand."

She would absolutely do it. She would pull it off.

"And thus, may all evil in this land be eradicated! I dare to pray!"

The divine power that spread out like a high tide with her at the center brightly illuminated the world.

"Therefore, please be with me!!"

A sun rose upon the earth.

A sun that would evaporate even the tears of a young man.

* * *

「Shut up, you bug. That person has already done enough.」

You brat—! Do you even know what the hell you're doing!

* * *

"Turn that way! There's something I need to grab from the workshop!"

Deathbringer felt a surge of anger as he looked at the man making such confident demands even in the midst of this urgency.

"Do you think your research is what's important right now?!"

"Of course it's important!"

'Crazy bastard! Arrogant prick!'

His neck stiffened at the shout of the noble boss who had grown up without lacking anything and lived only doing what he wanted. If the other person hadn't been a talented individual treated preciously on a city-wide level, he would have just thrown him off the horse.

"But what I'm trying to grab right now isn't research data, it's something else!?"

"I don't know what it is, but just leave it behind!"

"What do you know...!"

"Fuck, I might not know how valuable your research is, but I know damn well how precious the people are who walked straight into their graves just to buy time for everyone to evacuate!"

Of course. How many people had headed to the jaws of death just to buy time for the people to evacuate?

And among them, the ones who had headed to the most dangerous places, the remaining ones, were all his comrades. The Demon Knight, the Berserker, and even the softie.

They had all left for their own jaws of death.

Yet he was trying to use the time they bought to satisfy his own personal greed?

Should he knock this damn bastard, who couldn't even grasp the situation, off the horse right now? Deathbringer's mind filled with dangerous urges once more.

"... Do you think I'm doing this because I don't know that!? I'm doing this because we absolutely need to bring the item that purifies water! The river near Zverk Hill has bad water quality, so drinking it straight will give everyone an upset stomach!"

However, that urge was ultimately forced down. It would be a different story if he was grabbing things out of personal greed, but if it was an item for the people after the evacuation, it was definitely worth taking the time.

"It's better than letting the people who were saved through sacrifices die from stomachaches!"

"Then you should have said that from the start, you damn bastard! Tell me the location!"

"Turn to the side! And you're the one who didn't give me time to speak?! Stop showing off your half-witted brain!"

Deathbringer ruthlessly poured out curse-laden words at the Meister, and turned the horse's head while listening to them in return.

Fortunately, the workshop street was on the evacuation route, so they didn't have to make a huge detour.

"Here!"

In his rush, the Meister jumped off before the horse had even properly stopped, threw open the workshop door, and went inside.

The moment he entered, lights turned on automatically as if reacting to him, illuminating the interior of the workshop.

"Damn it, I should have organized this place beforehand...!"

It was incredibly messy with all sorts of things.

Deathbringer, who tied the horse in front of the door and slipped inside the workshop, crumpled his face. He doubted whether they could even find the item they wanted.

THUD.

At that moment, something the Meister had inadvertently bumped into while rushing inside finally fell to the floor. It seemed the object, which had been precariously resting on the desk, couldn't bear its own weight and eventually tipped over.

"Good grief, if you can't find it in five minutes, we're just leaving."

"I remember the location. It's just because there's so much to clear away...!"

'Ah, it must be so nice to have such a great memory.' Deathbringer moved inside after the Meister to see if there was anything he could help with. TAP. At the same time, he picked up what had fallen from the desk and placed it back on top.

VMM. The softly vibrating and sparkling object was incredibly bizarre. 'What the hell is this even used for?'

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Move this to the side. The thing inside the white box is what we need right now."

'Just how much stuff did he pile up?' Deathbringer frowned and moved as the Meister instructed. Perhaps because two sturdy adult men were working on it, dozens of boxes were moved out to the hallway in an instant, and the desired item revealed itself.

Fortunately, it wasn't as big as he thought it would be.

"Let's get out now..."

However, the Meister, who was turning around as if he had finished his business, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Why is that glowing?"

"What is."

"That! The mana battery!"

What the Meister pointed at was the 'bizarre object' Deathbringer had just picked up.

* * *

「Do not listen to those words. Sleep more. When you wake up again, then...」

* * *

"The people are flooding in endlessly."

"Bemurhen is a large city, after all."

Was it because he was a Mage that he cast magic from the safest place, and was given priority to evacuate early on?

Even if he wanted to go back, reality did not allow him to. Helping people evacuate was one thing, but the inherently frail physical abilities typical of Mages were the biggest problem.

The Archmage looked at the land where the young ones would remain with a heavy heart.

The continuously unbroken evacuation procession looked like a wave.

"Don't push! Don't push! Exit calmly!!"

The one fortunate thing was that most people were quietly following orders.

He marveled at the Lord's foresight in organizing even a civilian policing unit in case the military couldn't mobilize, and checked the magic again.

The protective barrier made from the city gate was just in case.

"The water is rising..."

"Everyone spread out! Prepare for the Mermen coming!"

Then he felt the waterway filling up even faster. It was a given that the surrounding soldiers became a bit more urgent.

With rearranging the joining soldiers, guiding the haphazardly flocking residents, directing the injured to the Temple, and preparing for riots and attacks all being their responsibility, there was nothing they could do about another task being added.

"If it were up to my heart, I would want to create at least one more barrier for them, but..."

A regretful heart and reality were two different things. His mana had already been entirely used up casting the barrier, and whatever recovered would also be used for emergencies.

He could not step forward right now. The Archmage lowered his head in helplessness once again.

"So you were alive."

At that moment, someone approached, limping while being supported. It was Surging Blue Coral.

Startled, the Archmage helped the young mage sit Surging Blue Coral on a nearby chair. "Good work. You may go." The mage, wearing a humbled expression, bowed deeply before scurrying back.

"Are you already okay to move?"

"As if."

... Right, there was no way he was okay. His head was cracked open, and he had sustained severe internal injuries from the magic's recoil.

Thanks to the Temple's stance of turning away anything that wasn't an immediately fatal wound—which was completely natural, considering the people they were currently treating intensively were in even worse shape than him—the treatment he received was barely at the level of first aid. It was a miracle he could even open his eyes and walk.

"Then you should have rested..."

"If I could, I wouldn't have come here."

"..."

"What about the kids you were bringing around?"

"They're fighting over there."

"I suppose so. It was a stupid question."

However, it wasn't that he couldn't understand those feelings. From what he heard, Surging Blue Coral's grandson was still remaining over there as well.

The two old men, who had left the ones they cherished behind in the jaws of death, twitched their fingers and swallowed the emotions welling up inside them.

SCREECH!

At that moment, a massive scream struck the evacuation procession. It was a sound coming from a short distance away.

"Calm down and keep moving! Trying to leave faster might make you leave even later, so stay calm!"

The soldiers urgently soothed the agitated citizens, and some ran off toward the rear.

"We're going too."

"Will you be alright?"

"... I plan to close my eyes only after seeing my grandson return."

"That sounds like you're going to die, so saying you'll close your eyes is forbidden."

"That's the fault of the person misunderstanding, not mine."

They joined the ranks as well. The soldiers expressed concern, but unfortunately, there was no one who could overrule the opinions of the two Great Sages.

SHRIEK!

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Save me!"

"Get away! Come here!"

"All troops, raise your spears!"

And at the place they arrived at while limping like that, there was a blood-soaked Harpy and a crowd of citizens helplessly being attacked by it.

"The demons are..."

They gritted their teeth.

"More are coming."

Despite the sacrifices of the young ones, the claws of the demons had finally reached the people.

"... It's over now."

The cry of a single citizen pierced their ears exceptionally clearly.