Megumin opened her eyes and immediately saw Eriri, who had somehow appeared right at her side.
At that moment, Eriri had one arm wrapped firmly around her waist, preventing her body from crashing face-first into the hard ground.
Leaning against Eriri's embrace and feeling the alluring warmth radiating from her, Megumin's little heart began to beat uncontrollably fast, and her cheeks flushed a faint red.
Forcing down the flutter in her chest, Megumin put on a proud smile.
"Well? Wasn't my ultimate Explosion Magic spectacular?!"
"Mm, it was indeed very spectacular!"
Eriri praised her sincerely, raising her free left hand to give her a thumbs-up.
Hearing her affirmation, Megumin couldn't help but grin foolishly.
But the next second, Lilian's voice froze her smile.
"Amazing! Megumin, do you know any other flashy spells besides Explosion Magic?"
At that moment, Lilian was aiming the livestream camera right at Eriri and Megumin, so the audience also spotted Eriri's presence.
With viewers calling their friends to join, the livestream's audience numbers skyrocketed at a terrifying pace.
They also noticed Eriri holding Megumin so intimately, which instantly stirred jealousy among the viewers.
[Who's that little girl? How come she gets to be held so close by Eriri-sama? I'm so jealous—I wish that were me!]
[Dream on. Kashiwagi Eri-sensei is the Sawamura family's heiress. If you saw her in person, you wouldn't even dare to say a word!]
Since Lilian hadn't concealed Eriri's identity, the fact that "Kashiwagi Eri is the Sawamura family's heiress" was already no secret online.
Now, everyone on Earth knew that the Sawamura family was the strongest power in the world, standing above all nations.
And as the Sawamura family's heiress, Eriri could be called the most prestigious person alive.
This had once again caused Eriri's Twitter followers to skyrocket. Her fan count had long since surpassed one hundred million, still climbing at incredible speed.
Currently, her account ranked first worldwide, leaving second place far behind.
Fans generally referred to Eriri in three different ways: "Kashiwagi Eri-sensei," "Eriri-sama," and "Heiress."
Those who called her Kashiwagi Eri-sensei were mostly her long-time manga fans, while those who called her "Eriri-sama" or "Heiress" were fans attracted by her beauty and status.
[Am I the only one who noticed Kashiwagi Eri-sensei is wearing a mage's outfit too? Is this some kind of cosplay event? And what language are they even speaking?]
[Wait, are you new here?]
[Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Kashiwagi Eri-sensei. I heard she appeared in Princess Lilian's livestream, so I rushed over to watch.]
[That explains it. Just now that little girl cast some magic. Looked pretty strong too, with insane visual effects.]
[I tried Google Translate but couldn't recognize the chant's language at all. Could they really be in another world?]
[It's very possible!]
[...]
As the livestream chat began veering toward discussions of another world, Megumin answered Lilian's question.
"Um… I only know Explosion Magic."
She averted her eyes guiltily, not daring to meet Eriri or Lilian's gaze.
The reason she had been abandoned by adventurer parties time and again was, at its root, because she only knew Explosion Magic—and refused to learn anything else.
So she worried that once Eriri knew this, she would also be cast out of the party like before.
But even so, she had no intention of changing her resolve. She would never learn any magic other than Explosion.
"It's fine. Since you like Explosion Magic, then stick with it. If you can wipe out an enemy in one strike, why would you need any other spells?"
Eriri chuckled as she gently pinched Megumin's nervous little cheeks.
"Megumin, I support you, and I'll help you use Explosion Magic even better!"
Hearing Eriri's words, Megumin felt as if she had just heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
Looking up at Eriri's breathtakingly beautiful face, adorned with a gentle smile, Megumin's heart began to pound wildly again, her cheeks flushed red.
"Does that mean I can stay in the party?"
"Of course. Honestly, when I first invited you to eat with us, I already knew you could only use Explosion Magic."
Megumin didn't overthink it. After all, in Axel she was already somewhat famous, and the fact that she only used Explosion Magic was hardly a secret.
Just then, she suddenly realized that all her mana had been instantly restored, and her stamina fully recovered as well.
She was already able to cast Explosion Magic again.
"What's going on?"
Startled by her own condition, Megumin's face filled with shock.
Eriri only smiled, gently pinching Megumin's soft cheeks again.
"Don't be surprised. Didn't I say I'd help you use Explosion Magic better? This is the help I'm giving you."
Eriri's words made Megumin so excited that her breathing grew heavier.
"If it's this easy to restore my mana, does that mean I can fire Explosion Magic endlessly?!"
"This isn't just simple mana restoration. Check your adventurer card and look at your mana parameter."
Hearing this, Megumin's crimson eyes lit up. She stood upright on her own, then hurriedly pulled her adventurer card from her chest pocket.
When she checked the mana section, she found her parameter had increased significantly.
"T-this… this is amazing! So every time you restore my mana, my mana parameter increases?!"
The thought alone made her stare straight at Eriri, her crimson eyes glowing with blazing light.
"You guessed right. Do you like this kind of help?"
"I love it!"
Megumin nodded eagerly. How could she not? With this kind of support, she could already imagine a future where she continuously unleashed Explosion Magic.
"Alright then. Since I've seen your Explosion Magic, now I'll let you see mine."
Eriri shifted her gaze to the distance. Behind a mountain range, another Golem emerged. Deeper within, over a hundred more massive Golems dwelled.
Raising her right hand, Eriri aimed toward the Golems.
In an instant, heaven and earth shifted. The visual spectacle far outshone even Megumin's earlier casting.
"Explosion!"
With a calm shout, immense flames fell like divine judgment from the sky.
A deafening roar followed. The ground shook across a radius of a thousand kilometers, the blast wave tearing everything apart.
A colossal mushroom cloud rose from the ground.
If not for Eriri shielding them, Megumin and the others might have been blown away without a trace.
When the explosion ended and the mushroom cloud dispersed, the vast hilly region spanning thousands of kilometers had vanished, leaving behind a massive, bottomless crater.
The edge of the crater extended to within just a few meters before Eriri and her companions.
"This is my Explosion Magic. What do you think?"
Withdrawing her hand, Eriri looked with a smile at the utterly dumbfounded Megumin.
"That… that was really Explosion Magic?"
Megumin turned to her, her face frozen in disbelief.
Though she had confidence in Explosion Magic's power, she had never believed it capable of obliterating thousands of kilometers of mountains.
That was something beyond humanity—something akin to a divine miracle.
"Of course. What I cast was Explosion Magic, just… a little more powerful."
What Eriri had used was indeed Explosion Magic—just slightly optimized.
And under her perfect control, she had deliberately limited its destructive power to only this extent.
Otherwise, if she unleashed her full-strength Explosion Magic, not only would this entire universe of Konosuba be obliterated, but countless other close universes would be dragged into destruction as well.
Hearing Eriri's words, Megumin couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. At the same time, her obsession with Explosion Magic grew even more intense.
If only her own Explosion Magic could reach that level… then by dropping a single blast on the Demon King's castle, she could annihilate the Demon King instantly.
And then—she could even become the Demon King herself!
The very thought made Megumin tremble with excitement.
"Eriri, please! You must teach me to use Explosion Magic with that kind of power!"
"Don't worry. I'll make you into a true wielder of Explosion Magic~"
Receiving Eriri's promise, Megumin broke into the happiest smile she had ever worn.
Meanwhile, Lilian's livestream erupted in chaos thanks to Eriri's display of Explosion Magic.
[I knew it! Since Kashiwagi Eri-sensei is the Sawamura family's heiress, how could her power possibly be weak?]
[That strike was terrifying, and the visuals were insanely gorgeous!]
[I guarantee the Heiress wasn't even using her full strength.]
[Obviously. The Sawamura family has plenty of Level 10s under their command. There's no way their heiress isn't at least Level 10. Honestly, if someone said she was beyond the classification system—like Level 11 or Level 12—I'd believe it!]
[Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration…?]
[Not really. After all, the Power Level Classification system was created by the Sawamura family in the first place. It wouldn't be strange if higher levels exist.]
[That aside, Eriri-sama is unbelievably beautiful!]
[Agreed! Seeing her in a mage's outfit is hitting all the right spots for me. I hereby declare: I'm Eriri-sama's loyal dog!]
[By the way, I'm a girl!]
[So what? We're all girls here.]
[…]
...
With that one Explosion Magic, Eriri had wiped out every Golem across thousands of kilometers. Their commission was now fully completed.
By all rights, they should have returned to Axel.
But Eriri hadn't brought Ilina and Lilian out here just to finish a commission. She also wanted them to experience the feeling of combat.
In the Saekano world, they had almost no chances to participate in battles.
Since she had destroyed all the targets of the commission in one blow, the only option left was to find other monsters for Ilina and Lilian to subjugate themselves.
Thus, Eriri led the group around the abyss that had once been rolling hills, heading further afield.
Lilian kept the livestream running, letting tens of millions of viewers enjoy the sights of another world.
She occasionally answered questions in English, but she never once mentioned anything about "another world."
Originally, Megumin had found it odd that Lilian kept talking to her phone. But after Eriri explained, she quickly understood and even developed a deeper interest in livestreaming.
Before long, after leaving the hills, the group arrived at an endless grassy plain. A sea of green stretched as far as the eye could see.
At that moment, a lone rider on horseback approached at high speed.
Though still far away, Eriri instantly recognized the figure.
It was none other than Beldia, the Headless Knight—one of the Demon King's Generals.
At this point in the timeline, Yunyun had just left Axel, and Aqua had already been brought into this world by Kazuma.
According to the original plot, if Eriri hadn't interfered, Megumin would have joined Kazuma and Aqua's party in a few days.
This was Eriri's perfectly timed interception.
The divine radiance Aqua released when she descended into this world had caught the Demon King's attention, prompting him to send Beldia to investigate.
That was why Beldia now appeared near Axel.
As for why he hadn't continued straight toward the city but instead headed toward Eriri's group—it was obvious.
He had been drawn by the Explosion Magic Eriri had just unleashed.
—
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