About half an hour later, Eriri and the others finally left Axel City and headed toward the location where the monsters from the commission needed to be slain.
Once outside the city, the population noticeably decreased. Other than a few passing merchant caravans, only adventurers who had accepted commissions could be seen active outside.
Although Eriri had picked this commission casually, it was still among the more difficult ones.
They needed to subjugate ten Giant Golems.
These monsters typically inhabited hilly areas far from Axel City. It took Eriri's six-person party nearly an hour just to reach their destination.
This was also the first time Megumin had traveled so far from Axel since arriving there to carry out a commission.
Along the way, they did encounter a few other adventurer parties, though no exchanges took place.
"Eriri-nee, look over there. Is that the monster we need to subjugate?"
Lilian pointed at a gigantic creature that looked like a moving mountain emerging from behind a mountain range, her little face full of excitement.
Hearing her, Eriri and the others turned to look. Immediately, they saw a Golem towering over twenty meters tall.
Because of the distance, however, it only appeared one or two meters tall to the eye.
"That's right. This monster belongs to the stronger category of mid-level monsters. Its defining trait is extremely tough defense. With ordinary means, it's very difficult to damage it."
Darkness explained in detail, as if reciting from an encyclopedia entry.
As her words fell, Megumin suddenly took a few steps forward and struck her signature chuunibyou pose.
"Hahaha! Now it's my turn to shine. Before my Explosion Magic, a mere Golem can be annihilated in a single strike!"
Her delicate face bore an arrogant smile, completely dismissing the Golem.
Eriri and the others weren't surprised by her chuunibyou behavior. Lilian, on the contrary, was brimming with excitement and cheered for her.
"Go, Megumin! Boom and finish it off!"
Though Lilian possessed Level 3 strength, she had no clear awareness of her own destructive power, having never truly unleashed it. To her, being able to take down such a massive monster in one blow was simply incredible.
"Hmph! Just wait and watch me perform!"
Megumin raised her head proudly, her face full of self-satisfaction.
"I'll make sure to record your Explosion Magic later and upload it to YouTube."
From the storage ring hanging on her neck, Lilian pulled out her phone, ready to capture Megumin's battle with the Golem.
A real-life magical battle like this was something she absolutely had to share with her fans.
"Why record it? Wouldn't it be more exciting to stream it live instead?"
"That's right!"
Lilian's eyes lit up, and she quickly opened the YouTube app on her phone.
Hearing Eriri and Lilian's conversation, Megumin tilted her head in confusion. Three big question marks practically floated above her head.
"Record? Live stream? What are you talking about?"
She then noticed the strange device in Lilian's hands and looked at it with curiosity.
"Lilian, is that some kind of magic tool? It looks really strange…"
Her words made Lilian freeze for a moment. She suddenly realized this wasn't the modern world, but a medieval fantasy one with no electronic devices.
She had subconsciously overlooked this fact because she had already seen Eris with a Switch and Darkness with a phone.
Panicked, she instinctively turned her gaze toward Eriri, unsure if she should explain.
Eriri, of course, understood Lilian's meaning. Smiling, she took out her own phone as well.
"Megumin, this thing is called a 'smartphone.' It's a tool that allows long-distance calls, records still images and moving pictures, and much more. For example…"
As she spoke, Eriri opened the camera function on her phone and snapped a picture of Megumin.
She then tapped open the freshly taken photo and displayed it before Megumin's eyes.
Seeing the image appear so clearly on the phone screen, Megumin's expression filled with surprise.
"So that's how it works. This is a smartphone? It looks amazing."
"The livestream we mentioned earlier is also a function of the smartphone. It allows people thousands of miles away to see what's happening here."
"That's incredible!"
"Do you want one? As a joining gift, I could give you one."
Eriri smiled as she spoke, her words greatly tempting Megumin.
If it were anyone else, they might have hesitated. But Megumin was not the type to refuse when she could gain something for free.
"I want it!"
She nodded without hesitation, her crimson eyes sparkling as she stared at Eriri.
Under her expectant gaze, Eriri stretched out her hand and directly created a phone identical to her own, then handed it over to Megumin.
She even thoughtfully changed the phone's text into the language of this world.
Because the phone was created by Eriri, there was no need to worry about network issues. In this world, it could only connect with others who also had phones—such as Eriri and Darkness.
For now, Eriri didn't unlock the search function on this device, so Megumin couldn't use it to look up information about other worlds.
Her plan was to wait until the one-week adventurer experience ended before revealing anything about the multiverse. Only then would she enable the phone's search function.
Receiving this special joining gift, Megumin's face lit up with excitement. She fiddled with it restlessly, unable to put it down, even tossing her staff carelessly onto the ground.
Recalling how Eriri had tapped the phone screen earlier, Megumin clumsily imitated her, poking at it randomly.
Operating the phone wasn't difficult—especially for the highly intelligent Crimson Demons. Within moments, Megumin figured out the basic usage.
But when it came to more advanced functions, such as taking photos or starting a livestream, she was at a loss.
Of course, with time, she would certainly be able to master all the functions. But at this moment, she had no patience for slowly figuring it out. Instead, she looked up at Eriri again, scratching her head in embarrassment.
"Um… how do you use this thing again?"
"Lilian will teach you properly once we're back. For now, the Golem has already come close. Weren't you going to show us your Explosion Magic?"
Eriri's reminder snapped Megumin out of her excitement.
"That's right! I still need to demonstrate my Explosion Magic!"
Reluctantly, Megumin put the phone away, then picked up her staff from the ground.
Seeing that the Golem had already entered her attack range, Megumin hurried a few steps forward, raising her staff high and striking the stance to unleash her magic.
Meanwhile, Lilian had already opened a livestream on YouTube. Across the vast expanse of a universe, the footage was instantly connected through her phone.
As soon as the livestream began, fans who received the notification flooded in.
Lilian didn't speak in the livestream. She simply pointed the camera toward the Golem and made sure to include Megumin in the frame.
At that moment, the livestream chat exploded into chaos, with everyone furiously discussing the scene.
[Where is Her Highness right now? Why is there such a monster there?]
[Could it be they're shooting a movie? But the special effects are way too realistic!]
[No way this is a movie… anyone can tell this isn't CGI!]
[If it's not special effects, then what is it? Don't tell me there are actually monsters like this on Earth. If there were, they would have been exposed to the public already.]
[Not necessarily. If humans can evolve superpowers, maybe plants and animals can evolve too.]
[Please no, that would throw the whole world into chaos…]
[That little girl… is she a mage? Could this be a magical girl fighting a monster livestream?]
As comments scrolled rapidly across the chat, Lilian didn't bother explaining.
Because at that moment, Megumin had already begun chanting her Explosion Magic.
"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark…
"Let my true crimson glow be entrusted here!"
As the incantation rang out, the tip of Megumin's staff suddenly began to shine, and the surrounding mana surged violently.
Though small in scale, the concentrated light was dazzling, as if it had condensed immense energy.
Streams of blue mana swirled like a whirlwind toward the jewel on her staff, while a massive crimson magic circle spread beneath her feet.
At the same time, the Golem's body was engulfed in layers of giant crimson circles, stretching skyward.
"The time of awakening cometh
"Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary
"Appear now as an intangible distortions!
"I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force
"A destructive force without equal!
"Return all creation to cinders
"And come frome the abyss!"
With each verse, the air shook harder. The sky itself turned crimson from the intensity of the mana.
Watching her masterpiece unfold, Megumin's lips curled into a mad grin.
"This is humanity's strongest attack! This is… the ultimate attack magic!"
"Explosion!"
With a deafening roar, the crimson magic circle erupted against the Golem.
The blast resembled a nuclear detonation, a colossal mushroom cloud rising from the earth.
When the smoke cleared, the towering twenty-meter Golem was gone—only a massive crater over a hundred meters wide remained.
Inside the livestream, those who had doubted it was real filmmaking were silenced.
No movie special effect could shake the atmosphere itself like this.
Yet most weren't too shocked by the destructive power alone.
[So this is magic? Not bad. That destructive force is close to a Level 6 destructive-type esper!]
[Forget power, even just the visual effects completely outclass Level 6s.]
[Meh, it's nothing compared to a Level 10. Remember when a Level 10 from the Sawamura Foundation destroyed a giant deserted island in one strike? That was insane!]
[You said it yourself—Level 10. Other than the Sawamura Foundation, where else is there a Level 10? Even Level 6s are rare.]
[There's no such thing as magic. She's just an esper. I just don't know what category of esper she is, to be able to create effects this gorgeous.]
[Could she be the same as the Sawamura Foundation's Level 10, a fire-type esper?]
[Or maybe… just maybe… this really is magic, and Her Highness is in another world right now…]
[Hmm, that makes sense. I couldn't understand a word of her chant—and I speak sixteen languages.]
[Impossible! Absolutely impossible!]
[…]
The chat was filled with debate over Explosion Magic. Some insisted Lilian had hired an actress to perform for show, while others believed it was something orchestrated by the Sawamura family.
After all, during her trip to Tokyo, Lilian hadn't concealed her whereabouts. She had openly posted updates on Twitter. Fans knew she was spending time with the Sawamura family's heiress—none other than Kashiwagi Eri, who had appeared in Lilian's livestream half a year earlier.
So, naturally, many associated the incident with the Sawamura family.
Of course, a few people had guessed the truth. But no one believed them, and those comments were quickly drowned out.
...
In order to show off her Explosion Magic to Eriri, Megumin had pushed herself to the absolute limit this time.
She could feel that not a single drop of mana remained in her body. Her stamina was also completely drained.
Her body, unable to support itself, toppled forward uncontrollably.
This wasn't soft grass, but hard rocky ground with sharp stones scattered about.
If she fell flat onto it, the impact would be very unpleasant.
Just as she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain, she suddenly felt someone's arms catch her halfway down…
—
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