(Demon King’s Perspective)
Four years ago, ten days after the destruction of the Magic Tower.
Before the girl’s eyes, the barren Thousand Needles Stone Forest was what remained after the permafrost suddenly thawed.
A desolate wind blew past, sweeping away the yellow sand, and with it, a bounty poster that had fallen to the ground. The number flashing past on the poster clearly read 100,000,000.
And the subject of that bounty poster was standing on a cliff, taking a bite of a pineapple bun, her black trench coat fluttering in the wind.
She stood on the cliff and looked down. The black flames attached to her eyes allowed her to see farther. Below the cliff, a “fittingly” armored female knight was in a one-on-one duel with a five-meter-tall dragonoid. She recognized that dragonoid: General Anubis, with a bounty of thirteen million Holy Light Coins.
She’s finally found her target.
She had chased him to the ends of the earth to get here.
The girl stood at the edge of the cliff and, hands in her pockets, jumped off.
Right, this place seemed to be about six hundred meters high.
The fall seemed to last a long time, followed by a deafening crash! The impact of the girl’s landing shattered the ground.
Both the dragonoid and the female knight stopped their fight, staring dumbfounded at the girl who had fallen from the sky.
Her landing spot was closer to the dragonoid. The girl said nothing; her twin-tails, like coiling black lightning, struck the dragonoid. That five-meter-tall behemoth was sent flying just from a light whip of her small pigtails.
The girl didn’t spare the dragonoid a glance. Even when the shockwave of the distant explosion reached her, she paid it no mind. Her pitch-black eyes were fixed on her target from beginning to end.
And the female knight standing opposite the girl had witnessed the entire process: how the dragonoid tumbled and rolled countless times on the ground until it slammed into a cliff and exploded, never to get up again.
“‘Battle Skill Unrivaled’ Ailanticiya?” The girl first pulled her left foot, then her right, out of the ground they were stuck in, confirming her target one last time.
And the female knight, staring at the black-haired, twin-tailed loli girl before her, instantly remembered who she was— “Could you be that criminal ranked number one on the bounty list? Hehe! I didn’t even go looking for you, and you actually came to me!?”
The moment she spoke, a deep purple magic power erupted from the female knight’s body. She brandished her glaive and charged at the girl— “Today, I’m going to earn one hundred million first!”
The opponent’s aura buffeted the girl’s bangs.
The girl watched faintly, smiling.
“Go die.”
She leaped backward and transmuted the cannon from the bow of a “Pirate Ship.” The female knight charged right into the cannon’s muzzle.
“Wha—”
The sound of the cannon blast echoed through the entire Thousand Needles Stone Forest, sending a thousand crows flying into the sky.
“As expected of a Platinum-ranked adventurer, she gets to die with a bit more dignity.”
The girl stared at the two shallow trenches in the ground, left by the female knight as she was pushed back by the cannonball’s impact.
The female knight died standing, her back to the sun. Half of her body had been blasted away, but her two feet were planted on the ground, one hand holding her glaive high, like a statue.
Finally, another Platinum-ranked adventurer from the Adventurer’s Guild was taken care of. The girl turned, took out her half-eaten pineapple bun, and finished it.
This job of hunting adventurers wasn’t easy. It often took less than a minute to kill one, but the process of finding them took days.
If only all the Platinum-ranked adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild could sit down for a meeting together… then she could just push open the door and reap the harvest. Wouldn’t that be nice?
With this thought in mind, the girl finished her pineapple bun and left.
…
Right, she, who had fallen into the abyss of magic, now had a new title—King of Magic, the Demon King.
… … …
Thirteen days after the destruction of the Magic Tower.
To hunt her next target, the Demon King came to the forest known as “Forest’s Gaze.”
She stood on a paper airplane, high in the air, and could vaguely see the sea cliff and lighthouse in the distance.
This time, her target wasn’t fighting any monsters, but was leisurely crouching by a stream, filling a waterskin.
He was completely unaware that danger was approaching.
The Demon King, hands in her trench coat pockets, jumped off the paper airplane.
The young man had been filling his waterskin, but he suddenly heard a tremendous crash behind him! He jumped in fright and turned his head in terror—only to see the black-haired, twin-tailed loli girl who had fallen from the sky.
“‘Thunder Control’ Messiah?”
The opponent pointed at her in terror, yelling— “Waaah—!!! The Demon King!!!!”
The moment he spoke, his entire body’s magic power exploded, and his form dissolved into a state of lightning, leaping away to escape.
“…Tsk. He actually ran.”
In the process of hunting adventurers, apart from the vast majority who overestimated themselves and thought they could win, she would occasionally meet a few “I can’t beat you, but I can run” types.
Even if they run, not a single one can be spared.
She activated her Inherent Magic. A magnificent merry-go-round platform rose from the ground.
“Get him.”
She said coldly, hands in her pockets. The music stopped abruptly. The merry-go-round horses “came alive,” leaping off the platform to give chase.
Soon, the horses had surrounded the young man, cornering him at the edge of the sea cliff.
He stood at the very edge of the cliff, with no path of retreat.
“W-Wait—!”
He raised a hand, trying to stop the horses from approaching.
“Since I’m a dead man anyway, tell me why you’re hunting us Platinum-ranked adventurers. At least let me die understanding why.”
A cold smile touched the Demon King’s lips. “No comment.”
The merry-go-round horses swarmed him.
The young man let out a wretched scream. As he was being torn apart by the horses, he lost his footing and fell from the cliff.
At this height, with all the reefs below, the fall was certain death.
But the Demon King did not turn and walk away.
Even if he falls off a cliff, I can’t be careless, she thought. According to the tropes, anyone who falls off a cliff never dies.
And so, she rode her paper airplane down the cliff to patrol the area.
Sure enough, she found him. The young man was hanging from the cliff face, grasping a vine.
The young man had thought he was saved. When he saw the Demon King on her paper airplane, silently watching him, his face twisted in despair.
“How can you be so utterly insane!!!” he shrieked hysterically.
“Are those your last words?”
The Demon King’s pigtail flicked lightly, mercilessly severing his only lifeline.
“Ahhhhhh—!”
With a thud, the young man slammed heavily onto the reef. His body bounced once on the rocks, shattered into pieces, and then fell into the sea, where he was swallowed by the waves.
A bounty poster he had been carrying was blown up by the wind, fluttering.
The number flashing past on the poster clearly read 500,000,000.
It seemed the news of the death of the Platinum-ranked adventurer “Battle Skill Unrivaled” Ailanticiya had already reached the Adventurer’s Guild. Factoring in her previous crimes, her bounty had quintupled.
By the time all the Platinum-ranked adventurers were killed, how high would her bounty go?
In order to realize her plan, the Demon King is still very busy today.