The Hero of Destruction

The place where Sei and the others teleported to by Lieselotte's power was an oasis beside a road cutting through a wasteland.

"Wow, is this what they call a rocky desert?"

While Mako was gazing around with interest, Sei was staring at the Labyrinth's map with a difficult expression.

Though they'd had Lieselotte teleport them, the distance to the hero was still far. They weren't within the range of Sei's Map.

"This is within the Ferocious God's sphere of influence, isn't it…"

He compared it with the detailed map. Of course, even within their sphere of influence, there wasn't a clear boundary line like a national border.

"From here it's about 100 kilometers by my estimate? Their means of transportation is probably on foot…"

Sei had inferred that from their movements up until now, but of course he didn't know that the hero had joined up with Zeke and the others in their carriage.

"I'd like to catch up within three days. But…"

Within the range of Sei's Map, numerous monster reactions were confirmed.

Among them weren't just ordinary monsters, but even demons.

There were also groups of humanoid races, but those with high levels were few. Were they refugees? They weren't living in settlements but slowly moving north.

"This is… which should I prioritize…"

According to the original plan, they were supposed to make contact with the hero in a straight line.

But leaving people who would likely be killed by monsters and demons after becoming aware of them left a bad taste in his mouth.

With a bitter expression, he told Kukuri, who was waiting on the driver's seat for Sei's instructions.

"… Change of plans. There's a group that seems to be refugees a bit to the east, so I'm thinking of helping them."

An atmosphere of "oh no" enveloped the group.

If they didn't know, they would have continued on, but once they knew, they had to move that way. But here Mako proposed a solution.

"Why not contact Ria-san and have her protect them with teleportation?"

"That's it!"

The group's voices aligned.

Ria said she was busy and didn't have time to rescue refugees herself.

But she wasn't abandoning them, and apparently teleported the dragon legion to the Dragon Wing Continent, within the Ferocious God's sphere of influence.

"The dragon legion… that hasn't happened since the Great Collapse 3000 years ago…"

Kukuri was dumbfounded, but even just a few dragons with the same level of strength as Lavi joining the battle would greatly change the situation.

Of course Sei and the others didn't know, but at this time the forces Ria deployed numbered over a thousand, including adult dragons and ancient dragons.

This was enough military power to destroy even Garhart, the strongest nation in the Nears world.

If several ancient dragons gathered, they could even destroy higher-ranking gods.

Ria had become completely serious.

As for the refugees themselves, they used Lavi's teleportation repeatedly to eliminate the threats existing around them.

It was depressing that among those enemies weren't just monsters and demons, but demon races who had lost their sanity.

Races like goblins, orcs, and ogres were recognized as humanoid races in this world.

After all, Bungol was a High Orc, and there were many goblin and kobold adventurers.

However, whether it was because they were inherently warlike as races, many had been influenced by the evil gods and become their subordinates.

The goblins and orcs that Sei's group eliminated showed no sign of reason whatsoever, but he still felt guilty.

They spent about three days clearing out the threats in the area.

Enemy forces kept advancing north from the south, so they had no choice but to give up eventually.

And during that period, the distance to the hero had widened.

Apparently they had found means of transportation other than walking.

When Sei's group spotted flying dragons, they decided to leave countermeasures against the Ferocious God's subordinates to them.

Using teleportation, they headed south through the continent.

Apparently the hero had settled down in one of the humanoid races' cities scattered throughout the Ferocious God's sphere of influence.

The Ferocious God's army didn't seem to be moving with any strategy.

Even according to information heard at the Temple of Stars, sometimes right after destroying a town they'd receive a counterattack and their forces would collapse.

When attacking strongholds they relied on brute force and didn't use proper siege equipment.

The reason cities with a certain level of defensive power hadn't fallen was apparently due to such factors.

They also weren't systematically cutting off relief supplies from the Temple of Stars or the Demon King's cities.

It was a force that was stupid, or rather, didn't know how to wage war.

Sei wondered if this could even be called an army.

Supply lines weren't established, they suffered defeat in detail, and supplies were locally procured.

At the very least, this wasn't civilized warfare. It was like the migration of barbarians.

The problem was that demon races and some demi-humans were added to it.

Using Sei's Map to fight the frequent encounter battles with overwhelming advantage, the group entered that city.

The city's name was Daal.

It was a fortress city with walls strong enough to stop even an advancing giant.

It once had good transportation and had strong aspects as a commercial city, but after the revival of the evil gods, it had become a supply base for the front lines.

If you went southeast from here, you would head to the labyrinth where the Ferocious God resided.

While it was fortunate that the hero had stopped before that point, when Sei confirmed their Gift with the Map, he involuntarily caught his breath.

"We're here…"

Sei said with a sigh while waiting for his turn to pass through at the city gate.

"It's the Hero of Destruction."

At those words, tension appeared on the expressions of the group.

The Hero of Destruction, Natsuki Mika. On Earth, because both her family name and given name had the character for summer, she was called by the nickname NatsuNatsu.

With a touch of awe.

She had a somehow transcendent beauty, was nearly top in studies, and had outstanding physical abilities among the girls, but it could be said her peculiarity lay in her personality.

She was simply excellent at manipulating people. When meetings were held in class, if she gave an opinion, it would almost certainly be adopted.

She could be called cold-hearted. An expression unsuited to a girl her age.

According to Mako's impression, she was dependable but a type she was bad with.

Even after being transferred to this world, the kind of charisma she possessed had been demonstrated. If anything, it had become more pronounced.

Even those who had Gifts stronger than hers never went against her.

That was because she was a realist.

Sound arguments from a realist's perspective. And realistic solutions from a realist's perspective.

Until that day when the Neosis royal capital was destroyed by dragons, it could be said the heroes' policies were decided by her.

Among the heroes who had outstanding Gifts, apparently only Keita had opposed her head-on.

And even that, the power relationship was in Mika's favor.

Keita hated this world—more precisely, the Neosis Kingdom that had summoned them without permission—but he had no reason to hate his classmates who were summoned together.

And while his intelligence was one thing, Keita, who lacked logical thinking and eloquence, couldn't overcome the rationality of Mika's proposals and opinions.

At least within the reach of her eyes, the other problematic students didn't take reckless actions either.

That's the kind of opponent they faced this time—a hero strong as a person, not just in Gifts.

Though they wouldn't necessarily be hostile.

"Eh? Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

Even when Mako called out to him, Sei couldn't hide his agitation.

"Well, there are about five companions who seem to be humanoid races around Destruction-san… no, some of them aren't humanoid races but…"

While choosing his words, Sei explained.

"The highest one is… a magic swordsman, I guess? Level is 297, and their sword skill level is 10."

That was an outrageous level.

The base level was outrageous, but a sword skill level of 10 meant they were above Sei or Carla. And since levels above 10 exist but aren't reflected, it might actually be 11 or 15.

"Likewise, a swordsman with sword skill level 9 and shield level 9, holy magic level 9, principle magic level 9—they're all outrageous. The one with the lowest level is the hero, but even that's over 200."

This was dangerous.

There had been battles between parties before, but they had all ultimately won through the brute force of Sei, Mako, and Lavi.

But this opponent was clearly superior. While their side had one more person, the enemy's fighting power was overwhelmingly higher.

Moreover, according to identification by the Map, some of them had the title of god-slayer and the Gift of immortality. There were even those with divine bloodlines.

"So, their names?"

To Kukuri's question, Sei answered without thinking.

"The strongest is a magic swordsman named Siegfried Ratzen. Also, a warrior named Kars Rudkia, and a valkyrie named Marisia… wait, they're not human."

"Seriously!?"

Kukuri shouted, and Bungol also showed an expression of shock.

Even Gantz's iron face twitched slightly around the eyebrows.

"Eh? Are they famous people?"

When Sei looked at his companions, all the boys knew while none of the girls seemed to.

"Well, the girls wouldn't know. They're not exactly historical great figures, and they have personality problems…"

And then Kukuri's heroic tales of Siegfried were told.

The god-slayer Siegfried. What most symbolizes him would be that epithet.

3000 years ago, he conquered a labyrinth near the Lemdria Kingdom and destroyed the god who was the labyrinth's master.

If you merely kill them, gods will revive. That's why gods, even when defeated, are usually sealed at best.

However, he stole the god's divine core and made it his own.

Even if it's a lower-ranking one, a god is a god. That power became a curse, making him and his companions Kars and Keselkos immortal.

Immortality is a curse.

A slow, malicious curse where eventually everyone comes to wish for the sleep of death.

But for him, it seemed to be a blessing.

This man, who had an eye for beautiful women and girls, accomplished numerous great deeds in these 3000 years, but if you asked whether he had any influence on the history of the humanoid races, there wasn't a single one. At most, he destroyed one god among the multitude.

He had many heroic tales. Besides god-slaying, there were various others like conquering a divine dragon's labyrinth, subjugating a great army of monsters, confronting giants, and more. But even when they made the news, they were the equivalent of sports news.

That's why he didn't appear in Carla-sensei's lessons teaching history, geography, and common sense.

Laila, an elf from the Great Forest, didn't know of him either, and as for Lavi, she probably wasn't taught out of educational consideration.

But from a male perspective, he was undoubtedly a hero.

Defeating monsters, conquering labyrinths, having romantic scandals with beautiful women and girls.

And he didn't stay in one place, living a wandering journey. He was a man who truly embodied the name of adventurer.

… Though there was also the fact that he was wanted in many countries for the crime of sexual assault.

And that group was called the Legion of Five.

It wasn't that the five together had power equal to a legion—each individual had power equal to a legion.

Military systems and army strength differed by country, but at least from about 3000 years ago, they'd been called that.

And in the current situation, their combat power seemed to be harmful to Sei's group's objectives.

Mika was accompanying Zeke's party. She might have even become a member of the party.

Level-wise she was the lowest, but roughly the same as Sei or Mako. Considering her Gift, fighting her head-on was far too dangerous.

If it came to combat between Sei's party and theirs, what kind of matchups would there be?

Zeke's party was a magic warrior party where everyone could use close combat and magic.

To put it simply, when comparing spirit user abilities, Laila was completely no match for an elf man named Keselkos. There was double the level difference, and his skills were far superior.

As for Alteisia and Marisia, Lavi and Mako could somehow oppose them. But even Lavi in dragon form wasn't an opponent she could easily defeat. Comparing Mako and Lavi's combat-related skills to theirs, theirs were far higher.

The magic swordsman Kars would be too much for Gantz alone. Even with Kukuri supporting from behind, the level difference was still too great. Even adding Bungol, it probably wouldn't even buy time.

And then there was Siegfried.

Thinking calmly, he wasn't an opponent Sei could beat. While Sei could hold out thanks to his immortality Gift, this was a legendary warrior. He might know some way to cancel immortality Gifts.

Even just holding out, there was the Hero of Destruction. While Sei was higher in level and skills, she wasn't an opponent he could face together with Siegfried.

They simply lacked the military power. They should have had Lieselotte come along.

"So what do you think?"

For the time being, Sei tried asking Mako. If the hero wished to return, they could avoid clashing with the Golden Warrior Brigade.

"Honestly, I don't know what NatsuNatsu is thinking."

That was Mako's opinion.

"But how should I say this… in this world, I think that girl's power is being demonstrated far more than on Earth."

In the Nears world, individual power was far higher than on Earth.

One warrior against a thousand worked in the literal sense. And among them, her Destruction Gift was probably powerful. Since she was at about the same level as Mako, who had repeated considerable battles, she must have repeated fierce battles since transferring as well.

She had the power to live in this world and rise in the world. If she had ambition, she'd likely succeed more easily in Nears than on Earth.

"Yeah, she was kind of, how should I say, ambitious or power-oriented."

But it wasn't all bad information. There was also information that she was a cold-hearted person.

If she was calculating, wouldn't she also consider the merits of returning to Earth?

"Well, at first we have no choice but to make contact normally."

Reaching the usual conclusion, Sei cut off the conversation.