Berge spread his wings and soared through the sky. The dragon wings that should have been black were veiled in a faint red glow. He surveyed the land below with haughty eyes.

Far below lay an enormous city, tiny from this height. Within it, he could see a trading company's headquarters. His lips curled upward at the sight of the foolish humans, unaware that their peaceful lives were about to be shattered.

Berge swept his hand through the air. Space split open, and an enormous storage dimension opened its greedy maw. Hundreds of ice statues—no, monsters turned to ice—poured out.

SNAP

With a light snap of his fingers, the essence of flame clung to each monster at its master's will. It began eating away at the cold ice that bound them.

ROOOAAR

By the time they reached the ground, they were no longer statues. They were living creatures once more, monsters filled with the urge to destroy.

"Now, let's see what you've got, future Crown Prince."

Would you win this time, or would I?

"And behind you..."

Would Jason Cockmundo be there? Or not?

With no need to worry about what he was leaving unguarded, Berge revealed his true nature for the first time since returning to the past.

* * *

"Yaaawn."

Jerry, an executive of the Black Toad Trading Company, stretched to shake off the drowsiness creeping over him after lunch. Savoring the bitterness of his warm coffee, he turned his attention back to the documents.

"Tsk. Still insisting to the bitter end. It won't do them any good."

The documents detailed the affairs of the Golden Moon Trading Company and the series of developments unfolding around it.

The royal family of Iasin had withdrawn its investment, as had the nobles who had poured money into the company alongside them. With the nobles gone, wealthy commoners were abandoning it one by one as well. The company was reeling from the enormous outflow of investment funds. Its only hope was that Hilderan had yet to withdraw its money, but the prevailing opinion was that it soon would, and the company itself would go bankrupt.

"Hillen Cargill isn't an idiot. There's no way he'll keep supporting scum with no business ethics."

That Hillen Cargill had invested in the Golden Moon Trading Company was already common knowledge among anyone in the know. They had milked it for all it was worth. But now it had become poison.

How long would a hero who stood for "justice" remain tied to a scummy company that had kidnapped another company's craftsmen? In Jerry's estimation, not long. A hero soaring on newfound wings had no reason to dip his feet in filth.

The investment from Hilderan that Hillen had secured would probably be withdrawn soon. The company would also have to repay Hillen's own investment. That would be the end of the Golden Moon Trading Company.

It happened then.

RUMBLE

A faint tremor made his coffee cup shiver.

"What?"

His puzzlement lasted only a moment.

RUMBLE

This one was stronger. The coffee cup fell to the floor, shattering with a crash as its contents soaked the carpet.

"Sir! Something terrible has happened!"

"What the hell is going on?"

"M-monsters are attacking! Monsters all over the city...!"

"We're in the heart of the Empire! The monsters around here were wiped out ages ago! What utter non—"

CRAAASH

The ceiling collapsed. Jerry and the merchant screamed and fell beneath the falling rubble. A shadow loomed over them.

GRRRR

"... G-good gods."

A head was visible above the half-destroyed roof. It had bright yellow pupils. A drake. Why was a monster that should have been ruling over some distant mountain at the company's headquarters?

CRUNCH

Before he could react, the enormous maw swallowed Jerry. Blood burst out, and what remained of him—only his lower half—toppled pitifully to the ground.

"Aaah...!"

Weeping, the merchant scrambled out. But the drake breathed fire, reducing him to ashes as he vanished with a scream.

ROOOAAR

The drake roared, smashing the building with its tail. Similar scenes were unfolding throughout the headquarters.

* * *

"Does any of this make sense?"

Alphonse, commander of the Red Lion Knights, gave a hollow laugh. His signature red armor had long since turned black beneath its coating of monster blood.

"We've finished clearing them out."

"Our losses?"

"171 dead and 715 wounded."

"Unbelievable. And the order?"

"Two Red Lions dead and fourteen wounded."

"Tell the wounded to brace themselves once we're back at the estate. What else?"

"Most of the buildings around the company, including the company itself, have been destroyed. The current civilian death toll is around one thousand, but with more than three thousand missing..."

"This is maddening."

The Black Toad Trading Company was directly subordinate to House Osrian. It was run by Count Britan, a vassal of the house, and its headquarters also stood within the house's domain. That company had been attacked. No, it was not just the company. The monsters had swept through the surrounding area as well, plunging the city of Britan into panic.

The city guard had been annihilated, and all the magical defense formations had been destroyed. Citizens had been massacred, leaving the city without anyone to defend it. Duke Osrian had swiftly assembled and dispatched a subjugation force with the Red Lion Knights, but they could not completely prevent the devastation already underway. With not a single monster in the surrounding area, the city's guard and magical defenses had been woefully inadequate, making the damage all the worse.

"Where the hell did those monsters come from?"

Alphonse ground his teeth. There had been hundreds of them, each one far beyond the likes of an orc. They had attacked the city as though they had fallen from the sky. A search of the surrounding area revealed no trace of where they might have come from.

"... They say they fell from the sky."

"What?"

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"It makes no sense, but apparently that's what happened."

"... Are you playing games with me?"

"Every survivor is saying the same thing. Hundreds of monsters poured down from the sky like rain."

The knight looked aggrieved. He found it absurd himself, but with everyone telling the same story, he could hardly refuse to believe it.

"... Damn it. How is that supposed to make any sense?"

Alphonse scratched his head furiously.

The loss of life and property was astronomical. Above all, the count who ran the company and ruled the territory was dead. Yet they could not even establish clearly where the monsters had come from, and would have to submit a preposterous report claiming they had fallen from the sky.

"No. In a way, isn't the answer obvious?"

Alphonse demanded his subordinate's agreement.

"Yes, sir. That's the only explanation."

Thinking about it, the answer was obvious. Monsters had fallen from the sky, every one of them a high-level monster capable of making short work of an orc or troll. Such a thing could never happen under ordinary circumstances.

Under ordinary circumstances.

But what if someone had engineered it? What if someone had maliciously attacked House Osrian?

The answer was simple.

"A Demon King. A Demon King dared to bare his claws at House Osrian!"

"But which one...?"

"Does that matter? What matters is that a Demon King has made a move. We need only report to His Grace and await his judgment."

Alphonse declared resolutely,

"... I will have vengeance."

* * *

The catastrophic damage to the County of Britan and the destruction of the Black Toad Trading Company's headquarters—it did not take long for the news to reach Duke Osrian and the First Prince.

BANG!

Unable to withstand the impact, the table split apart. Rufus Jespine could not contain his boiling rage.

"Are you certain? That the monsters fell from the sky? That this was a Demon King's doing?"

"Yes. Every survivor is saying the same thing. That would be impossible unless they had all been subjected to mind magic."

And no traces of mental manipulation had been found.

"What is His Grace doing?"

"He has dispatched soldiers to restore the affected area. He has also declared that he will behead whoever was responsible, whichever Demon King it may be. And he has entered the imperial capital to seek an audience with His Majesty."

"As he should! Of course he should!"

GRIND

Blood trickled from his mangled lips.

"Cooperate with His Grace to the fullest and find the culprit. Send an official request for cooperation to the Heroes' Guild as well."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You may leave."

The count departed. Rufus operated the bookcase behind him. With a rumble, an opening appeared. He stepped inside and descended the stairs to a secret chamber containing a communication orb. He infused it with mana and waited for an answer.

『Your Highness.』

"Have you heard the news? No, you had better have heard."

『I have.』

"Insolent Demon Kings. Know your place. I indulged you, and now you dare try to tear my hair out!"

『I believe it would be best to calm yourself first.』

"Shut up!"

Rufus snarled.

"Consider yourself fortunate that I am not razing your tower this instant."

『Of course, Your Highness.』

"Let me ask you this. Was it your doing?"

『How could it possibly be?』

"Who, then?"

『Berge Deias.』

『The one humans call Hellfire.』

"You're spouting pathetic lies to wriggle out of this. An expedition led by Balaf Dislord and the others has gone to hunt him down. You expect me to believe that a bastard who should be struggling just to defend his own tower has smeared shit on the Empire's honor?"

Rather than that...

"It seems far more plausible that you've been up to your dirty tricks."

『You must calm yourself and trust me.』

"Trust you?"

"Why should I trust the bastard who sowed discord between Korzen and Horton and drove them to war only a hundred and fifty-odd years ago? I hear your skill at fabricating evidence, manipulating people, and inciting them was exquisite."

『That was orchestrated by the Empire.』

"No, it was you. Isn't that how you earned the epithet 'Lies'?"

『It was also the Empire that spread that name. That branded me a liar.』

It was Jespine that joined hands with me, then stabbed me in the back.

『If anything, 'Empire of Lies' would suit Jespine better.』

"So you stabbed me in the back? Struck first because you thought I would betray you?"

『There was such a precedent, but I am certainly not the culprit.』

『The past is merely the past. I worked to repair my damaged relationship with the Empire, and that brought us to where we are now.』

『I would never ruin it again with my own hands.』

"Your words are always so slick."

『And above all...』

『I lack the ability.』

『Not only I, but the Demon King humans call Bitter Cold and the one they call Adamant are incapable of such a thing.』

『Only the Demon King called Hellfire could do it.』

"What do you mean?"

『A storage dimension is highly advanced magic. A supreme form of magic that twists space. Unless the caster specializes in spatial magic, its size and performance are severely limited, even for a demon.』

No Demon King, however powerful, could possess a storage dimension capable of holding hundreds upon hundreds of monsters at once. It was a matter of specialization, not strength.

"Ridiculous. Are you saying the Demon King of Hellfire is actually a Demon King of Space? Countless people have witnessed him wielding black flames."

『That is certainly true, but there is one race alone that possesses storage dimensions not as magic, but as an instinctive power.』

『Born with tremendous powers and strength.』

『So greedy that they gather every treasure they can find.』

『An arrogant race that fears nothing and believes itself supreme without question.』

"... Surely not."

『In Arain, they are called dragons.』

"You're saying the Demon King of Hellfire is a dragon?"

『Dragons do not exist only in Arain.』

『Of course, one cannot say that Arain's dragons and Berge, a dragon of the Demon Realm, are exactly the same.』

Nevertheless.

『The Demon King of Hellfire, Berge Deias...』

『Is a demonic dragon, of the strongest race in the Demon Realm.』

He alone...

『Can put hundreds of monsters into a storage dimension.』

He alone...

『Is arrogant enough to wage war against the Empire.』

Therefore...

『He must be killed.』

"...!"

Rufus involuntarily took a step back. He broke into a cold sweat. The eyes of the figure visible through the communication orb, pushing up his monocle, were so cold and alien. A killing intent that should have been impossible to feel was filling the secret chamber.

『Do you understand?』