Relocating the Sage’s Tower

The wasteland surrounding us was technically the "vicinity of the Sage’s Tower," though now only the top floor remained.

The three of us continued to surround Sage Melty. Since she was huddled on the ground with teary eyes while we looked down at her, we probably looked exactly like a band of bullies.

If someone were to witness only the part where we used the tower like a daruma-otoshi stack, blowing the lower sections away to forcibly eject her from her room, we would have looked like quintessential villains.

"Fritz, bullying a cute girl like this is a disgrace to dragon slayers everywhere," I said.

"What the hell did I even do...?"

"You blew up the tower, didn't you?"

"That was entirely on your orders, Yuri!"

"...I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hey!"

"It was a joke."

Fritz looked panicked, while Melty’s face remained pale with terror. She tried to speak several times, only to reflexively snap her mouth shut. Finally, she seemed to find her resolve.

"Wh-Why are you all here?"

"What do you mean 'why'? You’re the one who called us."

Exasperated, I pulled out the letter Alan had received. Melty froze for a second upon seeing it, but the memory seemed to click into place almost instantly.

"This is—"

"Yeah. Yours."

"The letter I sent to the outside world for help."

"That overbearing summons... wait, what?" I hadn't expected the context to be so radically different.

"Hold on. You mean you were trapped in your own tower?"

"I-It’s not my fault! I just thought the top floor of a tower where no one ever visits would be the perfect place for quiet research. I just didn't realize that once the Monsters were released, I wouldn't be able to get back out."

"And the part about 'listening to any request'?"

"Of course! It means I’ll grant any wish for the person who rescued me."

Well, if the result was the same, I wasn't going to complain. As that thought crossed my mind, Melty’s face turned crimson, and she reflexively covered herself with her hands.

"A-Anything except my body!"

"I didn't say a word. Ow! Fee, stop pinching me."

"Is it true, Yuri-sama? Do you really prefer 'adult' women?"

"L-Let’s move on. Melty, will you come to my territory? I want to borrow your expertise to help strengthen my Magic Tools."

Fee looked grumpy, clearly realizing I was dodging her question, but I ignored her and focused on Melty.

"So, what do you say?"

"Y-You're making Magic Tools? Was that device from earlier one of yours too? Haa... haa... Y-Yes, of course! I’d be honored to... haa... haa... I would love to join you."

The moment she heard the words Magic Tool, her personality flipped. She wore an expression of pure ecstasy that was honestly a little disturbing. I instinctively drew back, but she didn't care, lunging forward to grab my hands.

"Ah!?" Fee cried out.

Melty ignored her, pulling her face uncomfortably close to mine. "If you let me help develop Magic Tools, you can even have my body—"

"I don't need your body. If you're coming, let’s leave immediately. Can you pack your things?"

"My things...?"

Melty looked at the debris of the tower scattered across the wasteland. "I actually want to research why that one section flew away as a single mass, too."

"That, huh? Alright. Fritz, carry it."

"You got it! ...Wait, how the hell am I supposed to carry that?"

"You're the one who blew it away. You're telling me you can't lift it?"

"Ugh... F-Fine! Watch me!"

Egg-ed on by Fee, Fritz strained against the wreckage of the tower.

"Hunnnngh...!"

His face turned beet-red as he applied every ounce of his strength, but the massive chunk of masonry didn't budge.

"I guess it's up to me."

If Fritz couldn't lift it, I had to resort to magic. If it's just this much weight, it should only take about as much energy as I usually pump into a Magic Stone.

I cast Wind Magic, levitating the wreckage. I did the same for the remaining top floor.

"Eh? I-Is that Wind Magic?"

"You can do this much too, can't you? Don't exaggerate."

In the Original Game, Melty was a powerhouse who eventually rained down Meteor Swarm. Lifting a bit of rubble should have been child's play for her.

"Yuri-sama? Honestly, this looks a bit... unsightly," Fee remarked.

I took a moment to look at our group. We had one Mercenary clutching a hammer, one Beastman child, an Elf who was barely dressed, and me. Am I really the only normal person here?

To make matters worse, we had the ruins of the Sage's Tower hovering around us like macabre satellites. If we ran into anyone, they’d probably mistake us for the Demon Lord and his entourage. The floating tower was the biggest giveaway.

"I'll just send this wreckage to the territory ahead of us."

I aimed for a patch of forest near the village where my Presence Detection didn't pick up a single soul. My Presence Detection was sharp enough to spot almost anyone, even townspeople trying to hide their presence. If someone was out there who could evade my radar, they were definitely an enemy.

However, the odds of an enemy being in that exact spot at this exact time were astronomical. In my mind, this was a perfectly safe and secure transport method.

Melty, however, let out a scream of pure shock. "Eeeehhh!?"

She watched with dinner-plate eyes as her tower hurtled into the distance. Once it vanished from the horizon, she struggled to find words before finally squeezing out a single sentence.

"My clothes..."

"Ah."

I had accidentally launched the top floor—along with all her personal belongings—right along with the rubble. This meant Melty was stuck in her current, tattered state until we could find her a wardrobe.

"S-Sorry..."

"I-If I consider this a trial I must endure to achieve my dreams..." Melty trembled, her face red, as she tried to psych herself up.

Fritz, seeing her plight, pulled off his outer shirt and handed it to her. "It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing, right?"

"It's... tattered."

"Guh!"

Admittedly, Fritz's clothes weren't much better than the threadbare shirt Melty was already wearing. Still, she clutched it to her chest as if it were a treasure.

"But... thank you very much."

"Don't worry about it," Fritz said, turning away quickly to hide his embarrassment.

"Yuri-sama, you turn around too!"

"Right, right."

Fee scolded me, and I turned my back as Melty changed. When she was finished, the oversized shirt worked well enough as a short dress. It would suffice for the trip back to town.

"Alright, time to head home. My Magic Stones are calling for me!"

"Yuri-sama, you used a massive spell just now. You're done for the day."

"I-I’ve still got plenty of mana! Besides, if I take a bath, my Magic Power will recover..."

"Wait... tell me more about that," Melty interrupted, her eyes sparkling. "If such a bath exists, couldn't you use magic infinitely as long as you stayed inside it?"

"Exactly! It’s infinite! But for some reason, Fee always stops me."

"That’s horrible! Like something a Demon would do. Forcing you to stop your research..."

"Th-That makes me sound like the villain! If I don't stop him, Yuri-sama will keep using magic until he withers away!"

Chatting noisily, we began our trek home. The debate about whether one should be allowed to cast spells indefinitely while bathing remained unresolved—though the idea was eventually shelved.

---

Dibro, the Demon Lord's Body Double, was a man consumed by a thirst for glory.

Despite possessing strength that rivaled the Four Heavenly Kings, he had been relegated to the role of a double—a shadow that would never see the light of the main stage. His desire for recognition was a hollow ache that was never satisfied.

Normally, such a vital role would be given to a trusted confidant, but the true Demon Lord, Lucille, was loathed by the powerful elites of the Demon Race. She lacked the finesse for political intrigue, preferring to brandish her overwhelming, violent power. Because the Demon Race valued strength above all, she held the throne, but those who had spent centuries honing their craft found her reign distasteful.

Dibro was no exception. However, Lucille’s true appearance was known only to the residents of the Demon Kingdom’s Royal Capital and a few foreign elites. To the rest of the world, Dibro was the Demon Lord.

He began to wonder: If the real Demon Lord were to vanish, wouldn't I simply become the true King?

This spark of ambition was fanned into a flame by an unexpected source—the father of the Lord governing the town where Lucille was currently staying.

“Why don’t we cooperate to take down the Demon Lord?”

Dibro had wanted to scoff and claim he didn't need the help of fragile humans, but he couldn't deny that Lucille was the strongest being alive in terms of raw power. He figured even a weak human could provide a momentary distraction.

"Th-This is..."

The human had sent him a Magic Tool called the Jewel of Darkness. It was a "cheat" item that granted the user Physical Nullification and Magic Nullification.

The drawback was its astronomical consumption of Magic Power. Even a man of Dibro's caliber would be drained dry in ten minutes. But for those ten minutes, he would be invincible. No matter how powerful Lucille's attacks were, they were meaningless if they couldn't touch him.

The only known counter was the hidden Purification Power of a Hero’s Holy Sword. It was the only way to bypass the jewel's protection.

"Kukuku... with this, I am truly the strongest!"

Dibro’s low, chilling laughter echoed through the hollow halls of the Demon Lord's Castle.

He moved with decisive speed. He coerced the Four Heavenly Kings into a pact of neutrality—ensuring they would merely watch his duel with Lucille—and launched a strike against Sebas, the butler. He hadn't managed to kill the old man, but he had successfully driven him off.

All that remained was to execute the Demon Lord.

Reports indicated she was hiding in a tiny, backwater village.

Did she sense my new power and flee?

Though his strength was borrowed, Dibro brandished it as if it were his own. No one dared to resist him; they could only follow in silent terror.

Erasing his presence, he approached the remote village. Unlike humans, the Demon Race possessed a high innate Aptitude for stealth. He could bypass almost anyone's Presence Detection if he tried.

Usually, the ego-driven members of the Demon Race preferred to flaunt their power, but Dibro was cautious. Even with his "cheat" item, a primal fear of Lucille lingered in his heart.

"Kukuku... there is no way I can lose. I'll wait until she's alone, and then—"

In that instant, the clear sky suddenly plunged into shadow. A gargantuan mass had blotted out the sun, descending from the heavens with terminal velocity.

"What's happen—guha!"

Before he could finish his thought, Dibro was flattened.

And it wasn't just once. A second mass, then a third, slammed into the earth in a relentless, thundering rain of stone.

"The... Jewel of Darkness..."

In a cruel twist of fate, the jewel that was supposed to make him invincible had been knocked from his hand by the very first impact. Without its protection, he was left with only his natural durability.

"W-Why... why here...?"

Without ever laying eyes on the Demon Lord, Dibro was crushed into oblivion by the mysterious objects falling from the sky—the ruins of the Sage’s Tower.