Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

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Corrected typos on 2017/1/1.

This chapter is not from Satou’s perspective again.

“The Demon King has come.”

Hero Meiko looked down from above.

“Kill L, desu.”

The fox Demon King with arms turned into blades spread his mantis-like hands in a threatening pose.

――KILL KILL KILL!

With the Demon King’s roar, the fox’s chest split open, and a crimson Light Projectile was shot toward Hero Meiko.

“If you want to hit me, then deliver a hundred times that power!”

Hero Meiko easily dodged, but the Light Projectile sharply reversed direction and began homing in on her aerial maneuvers.

The Light Projectile that failed to turn hit the ground, creating a huge white crater with a deafening roar.

“Hmph, not much power at all. But――”

The hero’s sword sliced through the Demon King’s blade arm.

“――If it doesn’t hit, it means nothing.”

Hero Meiko’s mouth curled up as if satisfied to quote a famous line from a classic anime.

――KILR KILL KIRL!

Hero Meiko inflicted damage one-sidedly on the Demon King who attacked with his blade arm.

“A Demon King is just a blowhard. Totally weak.”

――KIRL KILR KIRR!

Purple light enveloped the Demon King’s body.

“Unique skill at this late stage? This isn’t a game, so use it from the start!”

Ignoring the hero’s exasperated voice, the Demon King charged.

Like in a game, a blur effect followed—a trail of afterimage clones.

“Ugh, creepy.”

With a limited vocabulary, Hero Meiko shrank back, aiming a counterattack as she raised her Holy Sword high.

The stance seemed to say, “This is how the Holy Sword Excalibur is wielded.”

Surely, the purple-haired little girl doing watch duty at the Isolated Island Palace would agree.

――Dazzling Holy Light enveloped the hero again.

This light was far stronger than any previous time she used her unique skill.

Looking closely, blue jewel-like glowing patterns began rising on her skin.

“No matter how many times you do it, it’s the same!”

She lightly avoided the attack as before and swung down her Holy Sword for a counterstrike.

Yet――.

“Ugh!”

Hero Meiko, uncharacteristically screaming, rolled on the ground.

“Ouch, how can you do that to a girl?”

As she staggered to her feet, deep red blood flowed from a large wound on her back.

“This time, from my side――”

Slashed from behind again, Hero Meiko rolled on the ground, raising white salt smoke.

The pain was literally like rubbing salt into the wound, and she writhed in agony.

The Holy Light surrounding her flickered like a failing electric lamp.

“Non-recognized attacks cannot be avoided, desu!”

The blade-armed Demon King laughed triumphantly.

“Spoiler alert! I’m not falling for the same trick.”

Hero Meiko drank an acceleration magic potion and stood up.

Using instant movement, she quickly closed in on the Demon King and delivered a slash.

But, for some reason, she pulled back her sword midway and rolled sideways on the ground.

“Did you predict it, desu? Or are you just too sharp, desu?”

Hero Meiko apparently foresaw the spatial magic reflection the Demon King tried to use.

It was the same space magic technique favored by the red-skinned demon race who once fought Hero Nameless.

“If you don’t attack fearlessly, you’ll lose, desu.”

Hero Meiko avoided the Demon King’s blade arm but was kicked by a purple-light-tinged fox leg from a blind spot.

Spitting out a salty mixture, she staggered back to her feet.

“I have to keep my distance――if close combat isn’t possible, I’ll take them down with a saturation attack from afar.”

Retreating with instant movement, the hero pulled countless magic cannons from her “infinite armory.”

Confident of victory, Hero Meiko smirked—but her vision blurred as the Demon King appeared right before her.

“N-No――”

Caught off guard by the sudden shift, Hero Meiko couldn’t react in time as the Demon King spoke.

“Pull closer, desu.”