On the vast grassland, only Eiji and Airi were walking.
There were neither monsters nor humans around, not even animals—just complete silence spanning several kilometers in every direction.
This seemed to be due to the presence of the Demon King's Castle in the area. The fortress, radiating the powerful auras of numerous demonic beings, was akin to a dragon's den or a tiger's lair in the eyes of monsters and beasts. Weaker creatures instinctively fled, not daring to approach even a single step closer.
"Your Majesty, where are you planning to go?"
Airi walked alongside Eiji and, noticing him looking around as if searching for something, took the initiative to ask.
"I wanted to find a nearby village..."
Eiji's gaze settled on a small hill in the distance.
"But before that, it seems we need to deal with some people blocking our way."
"Blocking our way?"
Airi looked utterly puzzled.
Following Eiji's line of sight, her eyes also landed on that small hill.
"Two or three people could hide there, but would any adventurer really be foolish enough to set up an ambush in a place like this?"
This was dangerously close to the Demon King's Castle.
With just one order, elite forces from the castle could arrive for backup at any moment. Ambushing here would only lead to being buried under the might of the Demon King's army—there was no way around it.
"Maybe they're just that confident in their skills?"
Eiji began walking toward the hill.
Airi wasn't convinced but followed him nonetheless.
"We've been spotted!"
"What do we do now?"
"No choice—we fight head-on!"
With a resolute and spirited shout, a young figure clad in black full-body armor leaped out from behind the hill.
After he emerged, two flustered girls also jumped out behind him.
"There really are enemies here?"
Airi was shocked.
Damn, what kind of reckless courage did these people have to dare ambush near the Demon King's Castle?
"You're one of the eight executives of the Demon King's Castle, yet you can't even sense enemies at this distance?"
Eiji shot her a look as if she were utterly useless.
At such close range, battle-hardened adventurers from the world of DanMachi would have noticed something amiss long ago.
"Enemy detection is a thief-class skill! I'm a mage!"
Airi retorted indignantly.
She seemed utterly convinced that mages being unable to detect enemies was perfectly reasonable.
Riveria would have downvoted that.
"Just admit you're bad."
"Hey!"
Ignoring Airi's protests, Eiji focused his gaze on the three figures ahead.
The two girls at the back wore revealing outfits, but their lackluster figures quickly made Eiji dismiss them.
The one in front, clad in full-body armor, was a boy around fifteen or sixteen years old with short brown hair and rare black pupils for this world. He wielded a massive black two-handed sword.
"A reincarnated person?"
Eiji speculated internally.
"Kyouya Mitsurugi? I never expected you'd be the one ambushing us!"
Meanwhile, Airi quickly recognized the boy's identity, her expression turning serious.
"I see... If it's you, ranked among the top three adventurers in the Belzerg Kingdom, then you do have the capability to ambush us here!"
So he's a reincarnator after all.
Eiji had heard before that all these black-haired, black-eyed reincarnators came from Japan. Without exception, they would emerge from Axel, the beginner's town of the Belzerg Kingdom—previously unknown individuals who would rapidly rise to fame with their cheat-like powers, becoming top-tier adventurers of the kingdom, possessing executive-level strength, and turning into major threats to the Demon King Army!
The executives of the Demon King Army only knew they were reincarnators from Japan—nothing beyond that.
According to Eiji's speculation, this was undoubtedly the classic isekai reincarnation trope. For example, dying in the modern world, receiving some kind of cheat from a god, reincarnating into this world, then building a harem... He could list ten variations of this trope without repeating.
This Kyouya Mitsurugi seemed to be one of those cheat-users.
And his cheat, unsurprisingly, was probably that black greatsword.
Eiji could sense extraordinary power from that sword. As a Demon Sword copyist in the same vein as Emiya Shirou, his hands were practically itching with anticipation!
"On the other hand, you must be one of the eight executives of the Demon King Army—the Demon King's daughter, right? With a bounty of over 200 million eris. I never expected such a big shot to show up!"
Kyouya Mitsurugi wore a grave expression.
"Huh? Executive-level?!"
"Seriously? That's way too dangerous! Shouldn't we run first?"
His words immediately sent the two girls accompanying him into a panic, but he, now tense facing a Demon King Army executive, instinctively ignored their reactions.
"And who's this next to you?"
His gaze shifted to Eiji.
"Well, since you've found out, there's no helping it!"
Before Eiji could speak, Airi stepped forward first.
With exaggerated movements, she raised her arms and knelt on one knee beside Eiji, her face full of reverence.
"This is none other than the one who overwhelmed my father and the other executives with absolute power, ascending to the throne of Demon King through sheer might—His Majesty, Kurogane Ikki!"
"Hey."
Eiji was speechless.
Kurogane Ikki's reputation was being tarnished!
This was all Airi's fault, no doubt about it!
The human nations had a bounty system.
Especially for Demon King Army executives—almost every famous one had a bounty of over 100 or 200 million eris. Adventurers, lured by these massive sums, would rush to cause trouble for the executives!
And as the Demon King who commanded the army, the bounty was astronomical, of course.
Naturally, Airi's goal wasn't about that. Her aim was to expose Eiji's appearance, making him a wanted man across the human nations!
That way, adventurers would come after him every day. If he grew tired of the constant harassment, he'd surely give up his obsession with the Demon King's throne, making it easy for them to reclaim the position!
Airi had come up with this plan on the spot and lifted her head confidently.
Then she froze.
At some point, Eiji had put on a mask—a cold, hard-lined black mask.
A dark aura continuously emanated from it, enveloping his armor. The intimidating presence was overwhelming; weaker monsters would have already fled in terror by now.
Under her introduction, they learned that the three people opposite them were none other than the New Demon King's subordinates. Facing the extraordinary sense of intimidation, their faces turned deathly pale, and the two girls plopped down onto the ground.
The Intimidation Mask?
Airi immediately recognized that powerless magical artifact with only an imposing appearance.
It was one of the magical tools Eiji had taken from the Demon King's Castle's Treasure Vault that morning.
At the time, she couldn't understand why Eiji had specifically chosen that powerless magical artifact... Damn it, had he already anticipated this situation back then?