Prologue-1-The Strongest Hero and The Supreme Sage

At the very bottom of the great underground cavern. The shining holy sword was thrust into the chest of the Demon King, a huge humanoid over ten meters in height.

“Ridiculous …… I, the Demon King who rules the world ……. but these puny little humans ……..”

“Hey, hey, don’t go talking about ‘ruling the world’ before even conquering it.”

A strong blonde-haired, blue-eyed figure was trying to the Holy Sword held in his hands further.

“I won’t be remembering your name, but you can take the name of the one who defeated you as a souvenir from the underworld. I am Seig Andreas. And–“

Seig best friend Mathis Lutius the ‘Supreme Sage’ who brought you ‘death’!”

　The sword shone brightly.

　The torrent of holy power became a huge blade and pierced through the Demon King’s core.

“I ……, you dare to destroy the ‘Magical Furnace of the underworld’?”

“It is too much for mankind. And it’s the same for you demons as well. It’s best for the world to erase it once and for all.”

A shout arrives from behind Seig, smiling wryly.

　”Hurry back!　You’ll get caught in the explosion!”

“Oops. I’ve just defeated the Demon King, but if I die too, it will be meaningless.”

　Seig kicked the Holy Sword that was still stuck in him and jumped backward.

At the landing spot, there was a young man crouching down, protected by a magic barrier.

He had black hair and eyes. He was shorter than Seig but slender and good looking.

“The magic circle is drawn. All that remains is for you to pour your magic power into it. Can you still go?”

“I got some to spare. But you are really amazing. I never thought this plan would work so well.”

“Waste your words later. There’s much I have to complain about you, but right now we have to get out of here.”

“Hehe. I’ll hear your sermon later—!”

Pouring in all the magic power he could muster into the magic circle drawn on the ground,

　The two were enveloped in light and vanished from the scene.

　Seig and Mathis appeared in the forest, absorbing the sunset.

　They have been transferred by ancient secret magic that was supposed to have been lost – “transfer magic”.

　The earth rumbled with a “ZZZUN……” sound. And a huge explosion shook the air from far away.

“Look, Mathis, a mountain blew away.”

Through a gap in the foliage, a mountain beyond had its top scraped off, sending up a plume of smoke.

“It’s the result of a magical furnace gone haywire. It’s as powerful as the lore said it would be.”

“Do you think the sword blew up with it?”

“I doubt it.　Even if it wasn’t destroyed, it would be a bone to find. More than that, Seig?”

　Mathis stared at his friend.

“I appreciate you protecting me with the magical barrier right from the start. However, the ‘divine barrier’ is overkill. It made you consume extra magic power, and if you were not careful, you might not have been able to destroy the Magic Furnace that fused with the Demon King’s core, you know?”

“Do you think I’d screw up like that?”

“…… I don’t think so. But!　If we had lost you, the strongest Hero–Atatata!”

Seig flicked Mathis’ forehead with his finger in the middle of the conversation.

“Listen to me, Mathis. A hero is a disposable pawn. When they are no longer useful, you can get another one. The first priority is to keep alive those like you who can create Heroes.”

　In the worst-case scenario, he was going to remotely activate the transfer technique and save Mathis alone.

“If you are there, you can make a comeback. You can train many more heroes than me, can’t you?”

“Don’t be absurd. I have no talent with swords or magic. I’m just an insignificant guy who is a little cunning and smart. If I had not had the ‘good fortune’ of meeting you, I would have been buried without a peerage.”

“I like that kind of smugness, you know?”

“Don’t make fun of …….”

　In fact, Seig found Mathis to be even more outstanding than he was.

His swordsmanship is not good at all. He was a dropout, with only a basic command of magic.

　However, his brain has revived a number of lost ancient secret arts, and when he commands an army, he wins battle after battle, and he has accurately identified the qualities of others and discovered many talents at the young age of nineteen.

The best example of this is Seig Andreas, the ‘Strongest Hero’.

Seig was ridiculed as a “rampaging dragon” because of his excess of power and his mishandling of magic power. If he had not been of noble birth, he would have been condemned long ago.

　He has no doubt in his mind that he became a Hero thanks to the guidance of his best friend Mathis.

“It is not the pawns that should be protected, but the wise men who have the power to rule the world.”

　He is no longer needed after defeating the Demon King. But the brain of the “Supreme Sage” is indispensable in a world where peace has come.

　As Mathis was about to argue, a laid-back voice threw down.

“You two are safe, aren’t you?”

　It was a beautiful woman with long golden hair that waved loosely. Her large breasts were clearly visible through her loose white clerical gown, and she smiled benevolently at them.

“Sensei!”

“……”

The two’s mentor Isabella Sheryl, who at just twenty-four years of age is the chief of the team for Demon King subjugation.

“Even so, you’ve managed to escape from the depths of the cavern to this place. You must have used some kind of special magic–“

Mathis interrupted Isabella’s words.

“It was thanks to Seig. What about the diversion squad?”

“Thanks to you, we were able to retreat before the explosion. Thanks to the Communication Magic ……, you’ve developed, it’s wonderful.”

“It’s still only good for signaling. We still have a long way to go before we can have a two-way conversation.”

“Still, it is something to be proud of. I have been blessed with wonderful students.”

Without breaking her smile, Isabella said, well 

“The troops are still in disarray. I have to organize them. Viscount Guster’s troops under General Gadhaf are waiting for you ahead, so please go there first to recover from your fatigue.”

　After saying this, she left the place.

“Then, let’s get going.”

“I guess so…-eh!?”

　Seig picked up Mathis into a princess carry.

“Hey, Seig!　You’re the more tired one—“

“I still have a lot of magic and energy left in me.”

Shrugging off his best friend’s words, the Strongest Hero rushed out.

　They were safely reunited with their allied troops.

　The Holy City, rejoicing at the news of the defeat of the Demon King, now received a piece of news that was hard to believe.

　The Hero Seig Andreas lost his life in an attack by the Demons.

　A few days later, a young man was accused of leading the remnants of the demons.

　He had black hair and black eyes. In the accused’s seat at the Grand Court of the Holy City was the Supreme Sage Mathis Lutius.