The Hero’s Mentor is a Demon (King) Witch

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Kieeek!!

The sandworm revealed itself, munching on the fountain whole.

Those nearby leaped out of the way to avoid the splattering water and marble debris, and the sandworm spun its mouth, spitting the water from the fountain.

Puhwaak!!

As the white marble shards spread like mist, a flock of black crows spread their wings behind it.

Each one, unlike regular crows, flapped wings as huge as those of hawks or eagles, dashing toward the humans.

Swaaaak!!

“Ahhh!”

A guard near the fountain screamed and fell.

He was clad in solid iron armor, but easily, the crows’ talons pierced through it and turned him into a fountain of blood.

“Kyaaak!!”

The women, panicking from the crow assault, rushed towards the lighter side.

Some threw off their clothes, using them to try and scare off the crows while fleeing into the moonlit area.

Kiiik!!

Crows kept popping out of the sandworm.

It was such an unexpected situation that no one dared to attack the sandworm recklessly.

At this rate, the crows trapped inside the sandworm might all spill out.

In the surroundings—

Piyuyung—

A silver flash flew in an arc toward the sky.

Instantly, the crows turned their gaze toward the flash, and they began to frantically flap their wings to scatter.

“Rain of Arrows!!”

However, the arrow rain was faster than that.

The silver flash, precisely stopped in the center of the fountain, turned into sharp darts raining down toward the crows and the sandworm.

Pababababatz.

The crows were pinned to the ground by the silver arrow rain, and arrows stuck into the sandworm’s mouth as well.

“Hah!!”

Scrape, scrape.

Weaving through the crowd, a silver elf brandished dual daggers and attacked the crows.

The elf, Rosmas, wrapped in a robe around her waist and exposing her body in black tights, moved swiftly, leaving the crows helpless against her speed.

However, when dozens attack, one will inevitably make a determined strike.

Kiiik!!

“W-danger!!”

A crow, lying under the corpse of its companion, surged toward Rosmas.

Dashing with its feet kicking against the ground, it aimed its beak at Rosmas as if it wanted to pierce her like a spear.

Perk!!

The crow slammed into something and flew toward the fountain.

Its beak embedded into the skin of the sandworm outside, flapping around, while the sandworm twisted its body, screeching.

“Are you okay?!”

“…I’m fine, Arthur.”

Rosmas clenched her fist tightly.

“I’ll take care of the small fry. You…”

Kwawagwang!!

A display of fireworks blossomed in the sky.

Unlike Rosmas’s silver arrows, the red flames chased the crows from behind, intercepting them like birds.

Swish—

The red arrows chased, showcasing acrobatics while flying on her long staff was the red witch.

“I’ll take care of what the witch cares about. So, Arthur, please take care of the witch.”

“……Rosmas, that’s…”

“Go, Arthur.”

Rosmas twirled her dagger, showing a firm resolve.

“I’ll show that I can fight well on my own, without anyone’s protection…!!”

“…Don’t overdo it, Rosmas!”

Lucius ran toward the direction the witch was flying.

Rosmas stared at Lucius’s back and then shifted her gaze forward.

Kiiik….

The sandworm was slowly extricating itself from outside the fountain.

“I’ll catch that, so you all take care of the crows!”

“The Moon Goddess’s grace shines upon us, may everyone be blessed by the light!”

“I’ll draw the sandworm’s attention, elven lady, please pierce it with your arrows!!”

“Please!!”

Kiarrrk!!

Inside the Normans’ city.

Slowly, the sandworms that had penetrated into the city began to move.

*

Annihilation, annihilation, annihilation.

Malphas gritted his teeth, listening to the dying cries of crows throughout the city.

“Damn it…!!”

There was a hindrance.

One woman moved as if she understood the Demon King’s army’s tactics.

“The witch…!!”

Malphas searched his memories.

Though it was five hundred years ago, there was one particularly strong witch among the red-haired witches.

Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.

She stirred her blood-red hair wildly, turning the surroundings into a hellfire of flames.

Before her powerful might, even the officers of the Demon King’s army fell helplessly, and the Demon Lord Bel Phegor himself stepped in to subdue the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.

Fire.

Red hair.

Like the image of Hero Bearnes, so common, yet the red girl flying on her wooden staff and intercepting the crows reminded him of that Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.

“…Arrogant.”

She acted as though she were at least half as strong as the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, which was downright arrogant.

As if insulting and degrading Malphas, the witch turned his army into burning trash, something he could not forgive.

His failure signified Asydia’s failure.

He could not care less about Asydia, but the tactics he used were the Demon Lord’s tactics.

It was fine for Malphas to be scorned.

But it was unacceptable for the tactics he employed to become an object of ridicule.

“Uooh!!”

Malphas sprayed mana in all directions.

His eyes turned bright red, veins prominent as mana began to overflow from his body.

“Glory to the Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor!!”

Puhwaak!!

Red blood burst from Malphas’s mouth.

He began preparing something, even at the cost of harming his own body, recklessly scattering mana around.

“Come to me, my legion!!”

Goooh!!

A black whirlwind began to swirl toward Malphas.

Within that misty black whirlwind, it seemed as if the spirits of the crows were contained, moving on the wind, and the tips of their beaks penetrated into Malphas’s flesh.

“I will kill them all…!! Everyone, everyone…!!”

Flash.

The black whirlwind coalesced into immense mana around Malphas, and his eyes began to shimmer with many pupils, like an insect’s compound eyes.

“I am, we are…!!”

Kiyaaaaak!!

Behind Malphas, a massive crow wyvern that had appeared like a phantom gradually began to take shape.

“Where are you!!”

“The beast is transforming! Everyone, pour everything you have into it!!”

Adventurers unleashed their attacks to stop Malphas.

Some mages even used Levitation Magic to attack Malphas up close, but….

Kwadeuk.

The Behemoth’s head stretched out like a hand and devoured a mage whole.

Crash, crash, crash!!

The things falling under the shadows, there was no need to mention.

“Ugh, aah!! You bastard!!”

[We, we…!!]

The Behemoth, Malphas roared to the sky.

[We cannot lose…! Defeat is unacceptable!!!]

Kyaoooon!!

Behemoth, Malphas. Estimated power level.

S-rank.

“Wh-where’s the hero!!”

If they weren’t the hero, no one could dare to overcome this opponent.

*

“Wow, this is spectacular.”

The restless spirits of the dead crows began to gather into one.

Presumably, the leader of the crows sacrificed its life to unite the souls of thousands of crows into a massive demon.

“…A leader is a leader, but that’s just malicious.”

If it were my Demon Lord’s army, such actions would never happen.

Soul merging.

‘How important souls are. To merge them into one when you can recycle merely by switching physical bodies.’

As one whose essence is the spirit, I could neither understand nor accept the crow’s actions.

To merge not only its own existence but also the souls of other crows into one is an act of ‘annihilation’ for all the souls being merged.

Entering the cycle of reincarnation was not even an option, but rather, it literally vanishes—this is the worst of actions.

Could it be because it’s Asydia?

My Demon Lord’s army would never engage in such conduct.

They would die honorably.

If there were dead corpses left behind, I would resurrect them as Undead and send them to another body or to the afterlife according to their wishes.

-Demon Lord, is it true? That invoking your name can let you become what you desire.

-Yes. The goddess of the afterlife and I are good acquaintances, so if I say I sent you, you’ll at least be reborn as an intelligent being. Hehe. What do you want to become again?

-An elf.

-You want to be born as an enemy?

-If the day comes when I am reborn, you will have subjugated all elves to your Demon Lord’s army, so how could I become an enemy?

-…Hehehe, good. You may not remember me, but I will remember you. Let’s meet again later.

-Thank you…. Loyalty! Glory to Demon Lord Bel Phegor!!!

‘The ones I introduced have all been doing well after going to the afterlife.’

The goddess of the afterlife wants the souls of strong beings.

The beings that fought within my legion become spiritually empowered.

‘Those who have strengthened mentally are easily reincarnated as intelligent beings.’

To reincarnate as an intelligent being, one must create a nucleus, similar to a brain, from the soul, and of course, viscous liquids or clay-like spirits are much easier than dispersed spirits.

But having thousands of souls merged into one like that?

-What are you messing around with, tearing them apart? Just annihilate them all.

The goddess of the afterlife will surely erase all of that.

The entire soul will vanish.

“…I must deal with this quickly.”

Even though it’s Asydia, they are all fighting for the Demon Lord.

As the Demon Lord, I must take moral responsibility for their loyalty.

By killing them.

“Lucius.”

I called for him.

With a warm breeze from behind, he landed beside me, kneeling on one knee atop the castle wall.

“…You didn’t pull out the Holy Sword?”

“Fortunately, this is an enemy I could handle with just my sword.”

“That means you’re pulling out the power of the Holy Sword.”

Having jumped up as if flying to the castle wall, Lucius was now bringing the power of that, what was it, ‘Crimson Charge’ to its utmost limit.

“What about Rosmas?”

“She’s dealing with the sandworm inside the city.”

“Thank you. I’ll have to help her out later.”

“Eh?”

“Just in case that happens. Anyway, look forward.”

Goooh.

The massive Behemoth began to take shape physically.

A frenzy of madness spawned from malice and hatred toward the living, and twisted loyalty.

Its power was incomparably greater than the crows that Hero Bearnes had faced before.

“This should be sufficient to match.”

That’s good.

Coincidentally, there was a power I wanted to test.

“Lucius. Step forward for a moment.”

I lifted Lucius to his feet and placed my hand firmly on his back.

“Master?!”

“I have a sure way to finish this with one shot, without revealing the Holy Sword.”

I pulled out the gem I had received from Bearnes.

“Y-you’re going to use that?”

“This is the best for using as my mana. Now… here we go.”

I gripped the gem containing the power extracted from the Sword of Flames tightly.

“From now on, you and I will use this technique together.”

“T-together?”

“Yes.”

A technique that any hero party can use and should use.

“Combination Technique.”

Lucius’s wind.

My flame.

Combining the two to create the Crimson Gale.