I don''t know what was going through his head, but the moment he laid an eye on me, he swung his enormous club straight towards my head.


    His eye widened in surprise as he saw my katana, still sheathed, intercepted the club''s trajectory. And the thunderous crash of the impact jolted him into full awareness.


    "Calm down. I know you are acting on impulse, but my patience is hanging by a thread—a cotton thread if I have to emphasize it," I warned, my voice sharp and threatening.


    "Can''t you see that this man is rushing through this, sensing that something is amiss? Just stay put until he is done," I added, softening my voice slightly, yet still laced with aggression.


    I understood that a simple warning wasn''t enough for this lunatic, who continued to press the club against me.


    With a sigh—maintaining the same posture—I gave him a swift slap to his wrist with the katana, a small yet effective maneuver that forced him to loosen his grip on the club.


    I then tapped the foot of the club with my katana, sending it flying far, before sliding the sheath along his hand and delivering a powerful strike to his neck, pinning him against the wall.


    As the final thread snapped, I darted around and began to target his neck with swift strikes. With each blow, his blue blood smeared the walls and me alike, but still not enough to drain the life out of him.


    I sure would have gone haywire like everyone else and gone on a rampage, but I forcefully reattached the last thread as I saw that the end of this strange drama was approaching.


    Also, I kicked this maniac to the other side of the wall, who was a nuisance to my spot.


    ———————


    What is happening? This is exactly the opposite of what I had planned. Somehow... only a few elements seem to be within my grasp, while others are pushing in on us with malice. But I could care less. I will just let this end on its own...


    End on its own? Again?


    I look down at my hands, which are demonstrably incapable of making any decent pottery. Even now... Even then... But–


    "I''m just standing here because you are, but I would like it if we moved, Mr Knight."


    "Huh?"


    Before I could grasp the meaning of the words that Kiddo uttered, a deafening neigh and an off-beat, booming hoofbeat passed by us.


    "That was foreboding, but it turned out to be a waste to read too much into the details... Right, Mr Knight?"


    I see... That''s right...


    With no prompt, a subtle smile crept on my face. I attempted to get a hold of his head to give him a friendly bob, but he went on to skillfully dodging my hand, avoiding even the slightest touch of his hair.


    "That''s right. Anyway, there is no proof, but–"


    "There is no proof, but this should be the end of the Demon Generals. That means there is no one to stop us from going to the Demon Lord now," the mythical man in weird cosplay said, stealing the words out of my mouth.


    "Oh, hello again... No, just a hello, I suppose. Thanks to you, I was able to make some sensible choices earlier and save a few people—quite a lot, actually. Can you believe, there was a horrific scene of a few being tortured by a bird? Right, Ro-Ro?" he went on, acting blind to our confused faces as he steered the conversation to the other figure, who was completely covered in tattered fabric from head to toe.


    Even after mentioning something that made Kiddo''s stomach churn with disgust, the shrouded being remained motionless. As untroubled as a frozen lake blanketed in frost.


    "Let''s get back to the main point," he uttered as he turned to face the sinkhole.


    He began to pick up his pace as he ran towards a man caring for his roses, shedding his disguise in the process.


    "Aahaha! Let''s ambush him and claim victory! This is for my people!" he exclaims, revealing his majestic royal attire as he leaps over the pit and thrusts his sword straight at the unsuspecting gardener.


    "What is he doing?! Don''t tell me this is a big reveal, like the waiter scene!"


    "Y-You sure are fast to catch up on things..."


    "I Knew it! But, what the hell is going on?! Why is there an NPC taking the stage?!"


    "We-Well, he''s not an NPC..."


    "Then who is he?!"


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "He''s young, so... Th-The Prince...?"


    "Be real, who is he?!"


    "Secondary character - X!"


    "He is a mystery to you too?!"


    The blade of Secondary character - X gradually pierces the heart of the Demon Lord. In that precise moment, Kiddo finally grasps the moral of what the story has been trying to convey...


    "Heeey!!! Don''t pretend like this is all planned! Or rather, don''t pretend that this shitty story is a pearl among swine!"


    ...that is, some stories have happy endings, and if you prefer to avoid feeling stupid, it''s best not to request anything interesting from a stranger wandering in dark places.


    "Oh, please. I understand. You don''t have to rub it in my face again and again."


    A pulsating white light ran across the ground, emanating from the Demon Lord. A distinct sign to mark the end... No, wait...? The white marks... They halted abruptly, as if time itself had stood still.


    ———————


    "Did double pay get you riled up, you dogmatist? ………Hm?"


    I stood up impatiently when something even more unsettling drew my attention.


    ———————


    Slowly, each and every pulse withdrew back to its origin, creating a dome of white that shifted to shades of gray and black, before exploding with a deafening thunderclap.


    In an instinctive move to protect Kiddo from the impending shockwave, I stepped forward, but the wave never hit us, as we were already being shielded by a figure, a silhouette from the past.


    The winds died, the tremors stopped, the silhouette vanished, revealing the figure......


    "Who are you now?!" "Who are you now?!"


    "It''s Aleph..."


    "Be real, who are you?!" "Be real, who are you?!"


    "Main character, damn it!" he quickly turned to us and yelled in our faces.


    "This is bad, Mr Knight. Ignore me, I''m a child, but how can you forget that?"


    "Don''t try to get away with that logical excuse, brat! I''m a child at heart too!"


    "Stop with the whispers there! Look around..." Aleph urged, pointing to the aftermath.


    "All the people have lost their consciousness. I regret that I didn''t train hard enough, but at least I was only able to save you two," he said, placing his hands on our shoulders.


    Despite the fact that we have overlooked his heroics to the point of forgetting him, the man who once seemed so silly now appeared incredibly dependable.


    As he makes a request, he turns his huge back towards us, which looks as if it bears the weight of the world''s catastrophes.


    All gazes were drawn to a single point—a shimmering pool of silver-white liquid where the explosion had erupted. The ground began to shake rhythmically, as if echoing the pulse of a heart beating beneath us.


    Disregarding the non-dramatic entrance of the Main character, the demons all around stood still. Even in the absence of any force to oppose their madness, they simply stood still. No, rather, they were slowly retreating—as slowly as a snail—without disturbing the very fabric of space around them.


    It was not until the third pulse that the demons began their hurried retreat. And by the fourth pulse, the liquid began to rise, gradually elevating a figure from its depths.


    As the figure ascended to about seven feet, all the excess silver liquid trickled down to its base, revealing a tall man, not overly large and slightly lean, slicking back his hair with both hands.


    "Das wird ein ziemliches Abenteuer..."


    (This is going to be quite an adventure...)


    I looked at Kiddo in an attempt to grasp how a child could conjure up a foreign language that even I barely understood, but as he pressed his hands against his ears with a look of distress, it soon became evident that he heard it as nothing more than the garbled noise of radio static.


    The environment began to change with bizarre precision. To the point where nothing comical existed anymore, almost as if the world of the imagination was forced to shut down.


    With a faint smile, the new figure took a step out of the puddle. No, to be accurate, I should say he hovered over and out of it.


    The handsome man was draped in gray and black silk, perfectly accentuating his pale skin, which looked almost like a corpse on a calm lake.


    His sharp eyes, lined with black mascara, glanced lavishly at a puddle of silvery liquid oozing from the crevices of his left hand. Immediately, the liquid bubbled and formed a shiny cuboidal shape, before revealing a strange, quaint book.


    Almost as if he had a premonition, Main character lunged at the sinister figure, his fists clenched tightly together. His intense force was effortlessly blocked by the man, who intercepted it with his book, which was accompanied by flashes of light and gusts of wind.


    The flicker of hope that this ridiculous story would come to an end was rekindled with each flash. I reached out to Kiddo, eager for him to witness the end, my eyes still locked on the spectacle.


    However, after several attempts to tug him closer and calling out his name, I turned to see what was keeping him away from me.


    The boy had plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, his eyes fixed on something towering above him.


    I was too late to notice the ominous hand nearing his chin, and as I quickly shifted my gaze to the source, I was met with the sight of a red demon''s foot crushing the head of this new figure.


    But, it was neither me nor the red demon that stopped the tall, menacing thing. It was the massive burst of energy discharged by the main attraction that scattered us all over the place.