Gluttony Demon King with the Swampman ~A Man with No Magic Power Who Dreamed of Magic, Wielding Knowledge from His Past Life Through Steady Research and Hard Work to Become the Most Vicious Final Boss~

Chapter 61.1: Madman and the One Who Understands

──Looks like an amazing hero was born in this world, huh.

The “Demon King of Ashes” yelled that out and then looked ahead at what he thought he’d burned to nothing.

Something’s still there.

Walls of earth, walls of thorns—both looked like magic barriers he’d thrown up in a hurry. But they were half-destroyed now, and the flames that slipped through the gaps were mercilessly roasting everyone.

Several mages had collapsed, their skin charred pitch-black like charcoal—

And right in the middle, protected like she was the most precious thing, one girl was still alive, staring blankly at the oni-like demon king.

“Uh, eh, ehh…?”

She couldn’t process it. Couldn’t take it in. Just moments ago her friends were celebrating victory together, and now in an instant they’d turned to ash.

But thanks to her friends’ sacrifice and the hero’s magic protecting her, Cira was the only one who hadn’t been completely incinerated—she was still standing there.

“Hmm, yeah, she’s definitely an outstanding mage!”

While Cira was still sitting there in a daze, the Demon King of Ashes growled approvingly.

Even for a hero, that flame strike should’ve been impossible to take head-on without dying. The fact that this girl blocked it with barely a scratch meant her talent as a mage was way higher than she looked.

Plus, if she’s the one who already took down “Thorns,” then she had to be a seriously tough opponent—he felt his chest thump with excitement at the thought. Right then, though, the demon king noticed something else weird approaching besides Cira.

“What the…?”

He looked up at the night sky. Whatever it was had come leaping down from above just like he had.

The thing floating through the air was some kind of liquid black water, and right in the center was the silhouette of a human. A really tiny kid’s silhouette.

“A kid? But this presence… human? Monster? No, something’s off! A mixed—thing—huh?!”

The “Demon King of Ashes” had crazy good instincts.

Mixed-thing—there probably wasn’t a better single word to describe the reincarnator called “Haro.”

Wrapped in that freakish black slime, the boy came plummeting straight down toward the “Demon King of Ashes”—

“──Foolish God Praise Cthulhu”

“My rage, your flame ring, spin!”

Haro swung his surprise tentacle attack, and an instant flame spell smashed right into it.

Black ink and black flames canceled each other out.

Water snuffs out fire, fire evaporates water—they exploded into a huge cloud of steam that blasted both of them apart, and Haro landed right next to the hero Cira.

“H-Haro-sama…!”

Big fat tears instantly spilled from the corners of Cira’s eyes. Slowly starting to grasp what was happening after being totally out of it, her face twisted into pure despair as she looked up at Haro.

“Haro-sama! E-everyone! Everyone’s d-died…!”

“It’s okay, they’re not dead yet. Just the surface got charred—their insides are fine.”

Of course, if left like this they’d stop breathing in no time—but Haro swallowed that brutal truth and picked calmer words instead.

“Cira, you got the basics of healing magic down, right?”

“I-I’m basically an amateur, but… the really simple stuff, yeah…!”

“Then stop their bodily fluids from leaking out, keep their blood and hearts moving. Just keep them alive—if they die, there’s no bringing them back.”

“G-got it!”

The hero answered like that, standing next to the mysterious boy. Yeah, he’s super calm—the Demon King of Ashes watched the kid carefully.

Even while worrying about the hero, the boy’s focus stayed locked on him without a single opening. But what really caught his attention was the name “Haro.” The kid had definitely been called that.

“That’s a name I just heard, isn’t it, ‘Storm’?”

Could this boy really be him…? The oni muttered to himself, then raised his voice loud and clear.

“Hey hey, Lord Haro! I’m shocked ‘Thorns’ went down so fast, but looks like you were pulling strings behind the scenes! Makes sense—I heard about your skills from ‘Sword’ too! I was interested in the hero as well, but first let’s have a nice long chat with you—nngh!?”

The oni’s words got cut off.

Because Haro swung a black-ink leg without any warning or hesitation, even mid-greeting.

A compressed mass of power swept through the space. The demon king dodged back with a leap and landed on the ashen ground.

Then right after—both of them charged again at the same time and clashed once more.

“No greeting at all, you rude little shit!”

“Don’t need one. You’re the ‘Demon King of Ashes’ anyway, right? Every single one of you guys has such on-the-nose visuals.”

The one wrapped in black flames had arms as brutal as an actual demon.

The punch he swung in pure rage gouged the ashen earth with just the shockwave, but the ink casually deflected even that savage hit.

The oni grit his teeth.

So that’s a water defense using slime. Physical strikes don’t get through at all, and even if he tries to evaporate the water, the slime’s regeneration outpaces it. Something that can overpower his flames isn’t your average monster.

Flames and ink clashed over and over, and eventually Haro went on the offensive too.

“Multi-deployment, Chain Crown Chainsaw”

“Nnngh!?”

Countless spinning disk blades rushed the oni.

They flew in wild patterns and easily sliced through his gray skin. Feeling “pain”—something he’d long forgotten—the oni clenched his back teeth and grinned.

Anyway, for a demon king’s body to get cut up this easily, it had to be either a hero or another demon king doing it.

“Looks like ‘Storm’s’ judgment was spot-on! So that black slime’s true identity is—”

──The Demon King of Another Star, no doubt about it.