Musabori the Devourer. Sometimes called The Devourer of Gods. When the Empire succeeded in taking over the West, the land was carved up into smaller territories and divided between the Tyrant's generals.

The Royal Capital, for example, belongs to some newly appointed queen who changed the currency to Desidia. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to mean 'Sloth'?

And then some of these outer cities, like Axel, had the misfortune of falling under the direct rule of Musabori. Instead of actually ruling, she treats her cities like cow farms. Designating a single day of the month to visit and 'collect'.

"Well, that's totally great. The ruler of Axel is some evil space demon girl thing. Are there any other grand and powerful, possibly evil people I should be looking out for?"

Seriously, I get this power, start to actually feel a bit strong, and then this world just decides, 'oh sorry, we forgot to balance out the difficulty, let me get on that and just dump a bunch of super-powered maniacs to bully you around'! Give me a break!

Aqua stares up as she works whatever gears are inside her head, then looks back at us.

"Well, there's Musabori. She's probably the most active threat from what I know. Up north you have the Capital ruled by the Queen."

"The Queen? You don't know her name?"

"Well how am Isupposed to know? It's not like I've actually met her or anything. During the war I think everyone just called her the Dark lord of Sloth or some stupid name like that."

"Her name-...yeah."

Megumin starts to speak, but quickly silences herself.

"Her name?"

"It's nothing. I've actually been to the Capital once before. It was pretty quick though."

She sounds less than enthusiastic about the topic.

"So? Did you get to meet her? What's the queen like?"

"I wouldn't call it the most pleasant thing. But if you're asking about whether or not she's as dangerous as Musabori, it's a solid no. The Devourer is in a completely different league."

"Alright next. There are other kingdoms right? Are they being ruled over too?"

Aqua nods her head, and points over to one of the walls of the Inn room. Decorated with a tapestry of the continent.

"You might not like to hear it, but I'm pretty sure there are about three others. Each one stronger than the Devourer."

"Three? Stronger than her?"

"Toward the east, you have the Kingdom of Brydle, they used to be famous for riding Wyverns into battle."

"Woah! Wyverns are like dragons right?"

Aqua recoils when I say 'dragon'. "Didn't we go over this already? Dragons don't exist!"

"I wouldn't be so sure Aqua. There are rumors that there is a powerful creature that guards Brydle against all trespassers. Bringing down conflagrations of fire from the sky itself." Darkness says.

"You're talking about the Tyrant's pet? It's not a dragon, it's a phoenix! There's a difference!"

"A phoenix? Like, the giant bird of rebirth?"

Aqua just nods her head again like it was obvious. Well it's great that these girls can be so nonchalant about the idea of having to possibly fight something that resurrects itself…

"Further southeast you have Elroad. Or what's left of it anyway."

"My father and the Royal Family once had strong connections to the Royal family of Elroad. Their nation was a powerful ally for their heavy resources, specifically precious metals, and their strong economy. Although the kingdom was leveled some time ago and turned into a mining operation."

"Ooh! I heard the ruler of Elroad is a talking robot! Is that true!?" Megumin asks, suddenly excited again.

"What? What are you five? A talking robot? That doesn't even make sense."

"Megumin's right." Aqua says as if it's a matter of fact.

"I hate it here."

"The one in command of Elroad is the Tyrant's chief engineer. Don't know too much about it, but it's definitely a robot from what I remember."

"So to total it all up, we have the Queen of Sloth, a pure evil god-devourer, an actual phoenix, and a robot…"

"A robot who talks!" Megumin adds in like it matters.

"There was one more. I remember her being the worst of them all. But she disappeared a long time ago. So I don't think we'll actually be seeing her, she's probably dead."

"Red flags woman, red flags."


September 16

"Does the town have to do this every month?"

With all the chaos of yesterday finally behind us, some of the people of Axel have been holding some sort of vigil for those who were taken. I even managed to get a 'thank you' from someone who thought I was brave for standing up to her yesterday.

"Unfortunately." Megumin answers.

Since one of those taken worked as part of the staff here, the guild is having its own little event. Mostly just people drinking together as usual, but talking about whatever memories they had of her. Nothing that I can join in on.

No, instead what I have to do is figure out what next.

I feel like a bug that keeps getting airlifted into new places. When I first got here, it was total BS. Manual labor, too weak to do anything, for a second I actually thought I was gonna live my life barely scraping by.

And then I got this power and thought the opposite. I was gonna get stronger than anyone else and coast like a king! And now I'm kinda back to square one. Should I even bother? I mean, is it worth going after the Empire and kicking a hornet's nest? Why am I asking all these questions?

"Hey, why do I get the feeling that half the people here are just using the opportunity to drink this early?"

"Don't say that Kazuma, the citizens of Axel have gone through a lot, it's understandable that they would use their own methods to cope when the situation turns bleak."

"And- and- this little number goes out to this fat peanut I'm about to eat! Yoooooooo-"

Thunk.

"You were saying? Darkness? Hello?"

"I- ah-"

A couple of other drunkards poke and prod at their fallen friend, and when they confirm he's alive, they turn to us and smile with a thumbs up.

Darkness responds by just looking down at the table…

"Still, I get what you mean. They live here only to be used like livestock. Nearly all of that actual adventurers are gone or dead. And they had their entire religious order banned and their church turned into a traveler's hotel. Isn't this all a bit, I don't know…depressing?"

"It…it's not a travelers hotel."

"Hm? You say something?" I could barely make out what this damn crusader just said.

"Nothing!"

"Wait, let's get back to what Kazuma was saying. You're pointing out all these problems, so what are you going to do about it?" Megumin asks.

I cross my arms and start to think hard. This is where the big decisions have to be made.

"She's right Kazuma! If we all work together, then maybe, we have a chance to make things better right?"

Aqua sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than anything…

"Go on Kazuma, perhaps this is your time to give us a worthy speech. One to set the goal of our party. Our path to avenge the kingdoms and set things right once and for all!"

"...nope."

"Weh!?"

"Nope. Not gonna happen."

"But, then what did you have in mind?"

"I'm going to get as strong as I can. Then we're going to do an ass load of quests. Maybe even travel around a bit to do those really hard ones. Then we buy a nice place to all live in and we forget the world and the empire exist. Who's with me?"

"...well that's the most realistic option."

Darkness and Megumin look at Aqua like she's crazy for pretty much agreeing with me.

"Absolutely not! A crimson demon isn't going to put up with an unsatisfying ending like that!"

"She's right. As a crusader, I've been waiting for the opportunity to free the people of Axel once and for all. If we have that chance, we shouldn't let it go."

"Are you two insane? I'm pretty sure the devourer's henchmen could kill me without even breaking a sweat. I know I'm getting stronger, but you're asking me a lot here. A lot more than I'm willing to put up with."

"Well, how about we continue to go on missions and we can see how far we go? The empire is strong, but you shouldn't doubt a party like this."

"A party like this? Are you perhaps seeing something that I don't?"

"Are you calling us weak? Your ego has gotten to new heights!"

"Aqua, you know how strong they all are right? Or at least a general idea? What're our chances as is?"

"Ha…well uh."

"That's all I needed to hear. If even Aqua isn't immediately jumping up and saying 'Oh don't you know who I am?' Then we're definitely outclassed. Let's stick to our lane."

The girls both look pretty dejected, but internally, they know I'm right. If rebellion against a force that strong was possible, it probably would have happened already. Hell, why aren't they doing it themselves? Because they know it's suicide. And I think I want to actually enjoy the rest of my eternity. So a peaceful mansion life it is.

"Would you two stop looking at me like that? You're gonna make me feel all sad about it. Tomorrow we'll go on a nice little quest as we have been, and we can forget about this pipe dream."

You would almost think I'm not the only bloodthirsty one with how much they get off on fighting things…


September 17

God damn it. So apparently, not only did most of the kill quest get put on hold because of Musabori dropping by, but something really strong moved in and is keeping a lot of the surrounding monsters away. Can't we catch a break here?...wait.

"What was that you said? What moved in where?"

Luna looked up from some paperwork with a confused face. "I said we got reports of a Dullahan deep into the wilderness south of Axel."

South…it couldn't be. That's where the castle that Megumin and I have been…huh.

"Alright, so what happens if we kill this Dullahan?"


I can almost drool. Actually, I think I already might have been back there. I made a nice little bit from selling that advanced Wulfrum tech, and our constant quest hunting is keeping us afloat for sure, but this…

Aqua giggles with an evil-looking grin as we make our way to the familiar detonation site. "A hundred million Desidia. No Undead Dullahan is standing in the way of that money. Not a chance!"

A hundred million. Looking down at my leather armor which has a giant hole in it that Aqua had to patch up with painted normal leather, it's not a reward that I can pass up. Still-

"Hey, this isn't just any undead. This guy has a bounty on him for a reason."

Who would have thought that the old generals of the devil king would still be actively hunted? I'm guessing the empire considers them loose ends that need to be cut. Maybe the other generals have bounties on them too…

"Bounty shmounty. I'm an archpriest, killing undead is like my specialty."

"Just…watch where you aim your spells alright? I don't want to end up dying cause you can't aim right."

"My exorcism spells don't work like that you dummy!"

With Megumin leading us on the usual dirt path we always take, the four of us finally reach the point where the Dullahan's castle becomes most visible.

"Hm? It was my understanding that both you and Kazuma would come here to target the castle with your explosions. Though it looks to be standing as tall as ever."

"Euughh. Way to rub it in."

Darkness' little comment makes sense all things considered. A normal castle shouldn't look so pristine after having dozens of bombs blowing up around it. But the damn place looks like it was just built.

"Aqua, do you sense any undead? I don't smell anything."

"Nope. Looks like the coast is clear."

Standing about twenty feet from the entrance, I wouldn't say it's a comfortable thought for there to be absolutely no undead skulking around a place like this. That kind of stuff screams trap.

"Hey wait, Aqua what are you-"

Completely forgoing any sense of stealth, Aqua waltzes up to the large front doors and tries to open them. "Settle down would you? I already said this'll be a piece of cake for me."

"Well, we might as well follow her." Megumin decides.

Darkness agrees and they leave out spot in the tree line right for the front.

"Idiots. You're all idiots."

"Hrm…HRRRM!" Aqua, pulling as hard as she can, can't get the doors to budge an inch. But the moment I get within a few feet.

Swish

They swing right open for us, as if it was waiting for the party to group up.

"We're really just going to walk inside huh?"

"Duh, what else? Now stop worrying and come on."

Enjoying her role, Aqua takes point and marches right inside. When I do the same, the subtle differences in the color and feel of my surroundings tell me that it's about to get pitch black in here.

Slam!

With all four of us inside, the doors lock themselves.

"Eeh! I can't see a thing in here."

"Neither can I. Stay close."

Darkness and Megumin are practically about as useful as if they were actually blind.

"So. You four have come at last!"

"Who said that?" Darkness demands into the absence of light all around her.

"Muahaha! For the past two weeks…TWO WEEKS! I have been trying to relax in the safety of my castle. ONLY FOR SOME MANIAC TO COME ALONG AND ATTACK IT EVERY SINGLE DAY!"

Whoops. Well It's just as I thought.

"DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH MAGIC IT TAKES OUT OF ME TO RESTORE THIS PLACE EVERY TIME IT GETS HIT WITH AN EXPLOSION SPELL!? Seriously, adventurers these days. Back in my day, adventurers actually respected and feared the

Power of the unknown. But now? Don't get me started!"

Aqua taps me a couple of times with her elbow. "Is it just me or does this Dullahan sound like he's ranting?"

"You all parade around under your empire's protection. Banking on the fact that I couldn't possibly attack a city under the rule of the Devourer. COWARDS THE LOT OF YOU! Well, hehe. Now, I have you all in my trap. There's no running away back to Axel for you! From the safety of darkness, you four will be…uh…easy…pickings. Are you two looking at me!?"

"Yeah dude, we saw you the moment we came in."

"W-what!? Aw, come on I planned this whole thing out! Damn, you and your night vision spell!"

"Yeahhh, it's not exactly a spell. Aqua, go ahead."

"With pleasure."

Hearing Aqua crack her knuckles, the Dullahan, who was standing on a horizontal support beam high above the center of the grand hall and stairway, nearly trips backward and falls.

"Exorcism!"

"BYEAAHHHHH!"

With a powerful burst of light that finally allowed Darkness and Megumin to get a good look at what was going on, the Dullahan is knocked off the support beam, hitting the ground with a heavy, metallic thud.

Though soon, the light fades, and we hear metallic clanking as he slowly gets up.

"But that's…he should have been destroyed by that! Why didn't it work?"

"I dunno. You sure it didn't work? He screamed and everything."

"Exorcism should have turned him to dust in one attack!"

"Then just keep hitting him with it I guess."

"WAIT! My undead will tear you apart before that happens!"

Jumping back to create distance, a set of doors leading further into the castle open up to reveal dozens of undead and skeletons charging right for us.

"Tinder!"

From my fingertips, minuscule blasts of fire light up torches and candles all around the room, allowing Darkness and Megumin to see.

"Wuagh! Here they come!"

Aqua leaps behind Darkness, who takes a defensive stance. They'll have to coordinate on exorcising and defending, but Aqua won't be able to if I'm here.

"You two handle them. I'm going after the Dullahan!"

With a crouch, I leap far above the ground and land on a balcony above the central staircase, right across from the Dullahan.

He looks me up and down, then focuses on my face.

"I see now. So a vampire lives among Axel? Looks like the Royal Capital is starting to spread its influence."

"We can skip the talking. The only thing I'm here for is that hundred million bounty."

"I don't care if you are a vampire. I am Verdia, former general of the Devil King, and one of the most powerful swordsmen to exist."

"Unless you happen to be stronger than that slime-worshipping ninja samurai I killed, this is going to be a really short fight."

"You- You don't mean- No, it's impossible. Statis was killed in battle against the Tyrant. You must have defeated one of his lesser, still living followers."

"Statis? Not ringing any bells."

"You see, lo- HEY!"

Cutting off his speech, I drew and swung…chunchun- okay there has to be a way to say that name cooler. I'll go ahead and just call it Maru. Either way, He barely managed to block it with a giant sword of his own.

"Sorry, not interested in anything having to do with the Empire. I think I'm just going to kill you, maybe a couple of your general friends, then retire at a nice young age."

"Witless brat. I'll show you how a true swordsman fights!"

His own head, which he's been carrying around this whole time, is suddenly thrown to the ceiling.

"What? What is that?"

Hovering in mid-air, flames expand from it and form a giant eye that looks down on me.

"Come on vampire, show me your strength!"

A slash and a miss. Another, and it's easily parried.

What's going on? I don't care if he has an aerial view of the fight, he shouldn't be able to move like this!

He grips his sword with two hands for the first time and I brace hard. When I feel the giant hunk of metal smash into my katana, I pray for a moment that it won't break.

Luckily, it absorbs most of the force, but I'm swept off my feet and sent through a wall into another room. A library.

Jumping to my feet, I narrowly dodge a kick and we clash blades again. Our hands shake as we try to overpower each other. I feel myself making some ground at first, but-

"So, you're slightly stronger than me at fifty percent huh?"

He's still using one hand!? With his free arm, he plucks me by the hood and throws me against the wall with a spin. Several books and scrolls fall off nearby cases.

Wait, scrolls?

As he approaches, I suddenly grab an armful of scrolls and pour mana into them. Do I actually know if this will work? Hell no, but I mean that's usually how scrolls work in fantasy games right?

The room fills with randomly colored bright lights, and Verdia covers his face with his hands as something begins to happen.

"You idiot! What are you- WuuaAAGH!"

"FllgLG!"

In the span of a second, the room fills to the very top with water like we just suddenly teleported to the bottom of the lake. As the multiple scrolls continue to add water into the room, the 'entry point' Verdia made with my body acts as a drain, making the water spin in a whirlpool.

Broken pieces of wood and ruined books swirl around us as the walls crack under pressure.

Wait, this might be my chance!

While the water in the room continues to move in a circular motion, I grab onto the Dullahan's boot and pull myself toward him.

I ignore whatever words he's trying to say, and firmly grasp his leg plates with both hands.

"GREATER FREEZE!"

From his legs to the rest of his body, and eventually a large amount of the room itself, ice spreads like a cloud.

Finally, the remaining water begins to drain out, leaving a giant misshapen 'block' of ice.

Ripping my hands out with a bit of force, I look up at the giant sculpture with a bit of self-satisfaction.

Soon after, the girls, with Megumin leading as the designated torch-bearer, arrive up the stairs in a hurry.

"Did you win?"

"Check it out. I'd call that a win."

Crack

I can't help but sigh.

"Why me."

One small crack becomes a dozen, then a dozen more, until the image in the ice is too hard to make out anymore.

We all take a few steps back and get ready for round two.

Shatter!

But to my benefit, he doesn't come out like some enraged monster, but completely exhausted, hands on his knees and shaky.

"Why you…"

"You had me scared for a second there. But it looks like you're totally out of energy."

"So you say. Your ice magic is commendable, but nothing compared to the ice witch. I still have enough strength to defeat all four of you with one hand. But don't worry, feel free to use these next days to look back on your lives, because when I return, I will bring an army, unlike anything you've ever seen."

"You're just scared to fight us right now aren't you?"

"I am NOT scared! This is how it ALWAYS goes! The final battle at the city, don't you people have any respect for tradition!?"

"Uh, sure, whatever."

"Anyways, until we meet again vampire. You won't be so lucky next time."

With a flash of purple light, he disappeared without a trace.

"...We're probably not going to see him again."

So much for an early retirement.


September 22

As I expected, nothing really changed. Nearby monsters are still in hiding, and we decided to wait it out just in case the town actually is attacked by some grand army. So for the time being, we've been coming to the little valley near his castle and doing group training. Well, I say training, but at the moment it's basically just-

"Hah! You really think you can defend against my water?"

"Did you see the Dullahan? I turned that entire room into an ice cube. Let alone whatever nature's beauty bullshit you throw at me."

"For YOUR information, I can summon WAY more water than just a room full!"

"Oh yeah, then stop yelling and start showing."

I take a stance and my hands envelop in a cold aura as I ready my spell.

"Ah, perhaps this isn't a good idea?"

Ignoring Darkness' pleas, Aqua raises her staff and chants "Sacreeeed: Create water!"

"Greater Fre- Oh."

SPLASH!

When I noticed it got darker, I instinctively looked up to see that monstrosity of liquid she pulled out of god's know where.

"Uaaahh!"

"Flplflbf" Megumin, who was immobile from an earlier explosion, floats away like a raft as she attempts to speak to us. Though with her face in the water…

The water rips up trees and turns everything into a soggy swamp with pockets of little ponds here and there.

When the water completely dissipates into the surrounding area, Aqua is left doing some stupid pose, while Megumin and Darkness cough and hack up their lungs.

"Agh, this shit stings!"

"All water I summon is purified and divine, so that's not really a surprise."

"Don't you think you could have given us a little warning before you drop a damn tsunami on us!?"

"Don't get mad at me, you said to show you."

"I- well-"

Unable to find a way to talk back, I fall onto my ass and hang my head in defeat.

"Tch, stupid god powers. A spell like this is completely useless. Alright, Aqua, that spell is banned."

"Huh? But it's like-"

"Banned! It's like a less efficient version of Explosion!"

"Hehe…" I hear weakly beside me.


With Aqua sound asleep, I decided it was time to check something out. We had a giant castle that a Dullahan lived in, and we haven't explored it yet? I feel like we're putting too much importance on the bounty, and not enough in just poking around in his things.

Of course, maybe I'm a dirtbag for doing it alone, but the girls would just make things complicated. I'll make sure they get a little something after I'm done claiming dibs on everything I want.

Sniff sniff

But not far into my walk back to the castle, I pick up a familiar smell.

Megumin? Oh no, did she have the same idea? To hell with that! She'd probably sell everything she finds and put the money toward a slightly stronger staff or something…

I kick into overdrive and jump off the ledge into the valley, but when the smell gets stronger, I focus my eyes a bit and catch her shape frozen statue still.

The hell are you up to?

Hiding in the bushes, I watch as she stands a couple of feet deep in a small pond.

Oh right, Aqua turned this place into a swamp earlier…

But why is Megumin here? Don't tell me she's actually going for a skinny dive. In that case, should I turn away? What am I saying? We're in the middle of the woods here, someone has to look out for her, or she could get attacked. What would she do if an alpha wolf came at her? She already used her explosion spell today.

So with that little hint of guilt all beaten out, I continue to watch from my hiding spot. Although, even though I said it was for safety reasons, I find myself getting impatient when nothing happens.

Splash

But like a cat, she moves with an agility I haven't seen before and shoves her hands into the water. When she pulls them back out, two small lobsters are caught in her grasp. The poor things attempt to scurry around, but the kicking of their tiny legs seems only to make the predator that caught them more hungry.

Wait, catching lobsters?

With rudimentary amounts of field crafting, Megumin lights a small fire under a pot she had lying on the floor.

Well, since it's not skinny dipping, I might as well head home. She can handle herself, she's like an archmage, right? Yep, no danger here.

But when I stand up…

Rustle

"Ah! Who's there!?"

The damn sound of the leaves! I forgot I was inside a bush.

"Yo."

"K-Kazuma?"

Deciding it was fruitless to try and explain anything away, I casually walk out of the tree line and join her. She isn't too surprised, as all three girls know I spend time doing whatever bs I can to make the nights go faster, not needing much sleep and all.

"So you're gonna explain why you're out catching lobsters in the middle of the night?"

"Mh, couldn't sleep. Got hungry."

"Hungry? How? We're not totally rich but I mean, we're not exactly poor either."

Sounds pretty funny coming from someone who's still living in a stable…

"We haven't been doing any missions for a while now, and I try to send small bits of money to my parents when I get the chance. So if I can find something to eat out here, all the better."

Personally, I don't get it. But maybe that's the difference between someone who's frugal and someone who isn't.

"Wait, who taught you to catch lobsters? Your family?"

"Nope! I learned that trick all on my own. When I saw how Aqua's spell redirected the river, I knew there'd be lots of stuff to catch…hey, don't look at me like you're looking at some pitiful child!"

Sniff

"You poor thing. Eating…well I guess lobsters aren't exactly a poor man's food, but eating meals caught in a murky swamp. The world really is horrible."

"Are you going to stop mocking me now?"

"Maybe. What's up with your family anyways? Last time, you said that the crimson demons are a free village right? Isn't that a good thing? Why are you sending money to your parents?"

"The village does get a lot of trade by those who aren't immediately untrusting of us, but my family doesn't exactly do so well in that department."

"Ah I get it, maybe they just need an investment to figure out what they can do?"

Megumin shakes her head and starts pulling out the bits of meat from a cooked lobster.

"My dad isn't unskilled, but he spends most of his time developing items that are practically useless. It's a creative choice in that regard."

"Ah…I see."

"And as for an investment, there's a reason I only send so much money at once. If I send too much, I'm pretty sure he'd just drink it all away or use it to build more useless items."

"...what kind of people do you have for parents?"