2
“All right, is everyone ready? Time to take over this kingdom once and for all! The Chosen One is gone! There’s no one left to…”
As she fires up her band of demons, Heine hesitates mid-sentence. A face appears in her mind, the face of the only man who still poses a threat. The pillar of the Elite Four erases the image from her mind with a quick shake of her head.
“There’s no one left to stop us! Let’s raise some hell! Go teach those humans the true meaning of fear!”
In response to her cry, the army of demons, now swelling to over twice the numbers of the kingdom’s defenders, stomp their feet in unison, sending tremors through the ground.
“Hey, Heine, with this many demons, do you really need my prized golems? The Chosen One’s gone. Hell, I bet you can take care of a puny human kingdom like that on your own……even with your low-powered magic conduit.”
The one mocking Heine is the other pillar of the Elite Four leading the army, Gadalkand of the Earth.
With the Chosen One gone, the army of demons is driven by the belief that there’s nothing left to fear from the humans.
The rank and file are convinced that even in her weakened state, Heine will lead the demonic horde to victory, trampling right over the demoralized army of the kingdom.
“Don’t get cocky, Gadalkand. I told you, they’ve still got the bastard who made a fool out of me. Honestly, I’d prefer to fight the Chosen One over him. The Chosen One’s strong, sure, but that bastard’s unpredictable. So there’s no harm in being a little overprepared. He did struggle against a single golem, so the ten we’re taking along should be more than enough to deal with him.”
“…Ah, the bastard who destroyed my golem. Heine, leave that one to me. I’ll break him into tiny pieces, just like he did to my golem.”
Heine sighs at Gadalkand’s words. To think I have to rely on a hot-blooded moron like him.
……At that moment, disaster strikes.
With a thunderous blast, the golem leading the column explodes in a shower of fragments.
““Wha—?!””
Heine and Gadalkand stare, dumbfounded by the sudden event.
“Wha…wha…what the hell just happened?! Heine, is it him?! The bastard who killed my golem?! Impossible! We’re still in Demon Army territory!”
Gadalkand, ordinarily overflowing with confidence and possessing a stony calm, hurriedly scans his surroundings, a faint panic creeping into his demeanor.
Seeing Gadalkand’s panic actually helps Heine regain her composure.
“Keep moving! You’ll make yourself a target! Magic powerful enough to blast a golem apart can’t be launched from a distance! Damage and range for spells are inversely related! If you want damage, you lose distance, and if you want distance, you give up damage! You need to be up close to do that much damage! The enemy can’t be far! Find them!”
Heine’s calm, rapid directions calm the chaos rippling through the demonic ranks.
The demons begin to disperse, spreading out to seek out the enemy, however……
Both Heine and Gadalkand are thrown into confusion as a string of blasts goes off throughout the demon ranks.
“Whoa, whoa, the hell is going on here? Since when is it this easy to fling high-grade magic? Our demons are getting blown up left and right! Just how many of them are there?!”
“Cerberuses! Bring several of the Cerberuses! Sniff the bastards out!”
As Gadalkand shouts in disbelief, Heine issues further orders.
“…Lady Heine! We’re sending the Cerberuses out to sweep for the enemy, but shortly after they start sniffing around, they refuse to move!”
“Lord Gadalkand! A golem! We’ve lost another golem!”
“What the hell?! Dammit! Be on alert, you bastards! Keep your eyes peeled and proceed with caution! The enemy is hitting us from somewhere. Stay alert! Withdraw the golems! They’re nothing but walking targets right now!”
As Gadalkand barks out orders, Heine focuses to track the flow of magic, seeking the unseen enemy.
……There’s a strong magic signature nearby.
It’s powerful, but there’s something familiar about it……
“……This feeling… It’s my sorcerer stone!”
Which must mean he’s here.
All the pieces suddenly click into place for Heine. Ignoring the demons, she starts running toward her sorcerer stone.
If she can find the stone, she’ll find him as well.
“…What the…?”
Heine arrives at her destination to find no one; just her sorcerer stone sitting on the ground.
She glances around, senses primed to detect anyone who might be lurking nearby, but she finds nothing.
Inching closer to the stone, Heine surveys her surroundings once more. Again, she finds no one nearby.
“…You’re there, aren’t you, Six? What is the meaning of this?”
More explosions ring out along with the screams of demons caught up in them. She can hear those sounds off in the distance, but there are no voices coming from her vicinity.
The sorcerer stone sits right in front of her.
No matter how hard she tries, Heine can’t feel a human presence nearby.
Could this have been placed here by Six as an apology?
With the Chosen One gone, does he actually want to defect to the Demon Army?
Whatever the truth of the matter, it’ll remain a mystery until she actually meets him.
“…Oh…my…my precious sorcerer stone…!”
Heine ecstatically reaches out to recover the conduit she had spent many long years pouring magic into……
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