The barrier that was clearly meant to protect the Demon Lord's Castle had just been poked through by the other party with a single finger. Can you believe that?!
This was a Great Barrier, not some soap bubble!
But in front of Velzard, the barrier really was no different from a soap bubble.
"Too weak."
She had originally thought that even if the Demon Lord was weak, he should at least have some backbone.
But what were these weirdos in front of her?
Only Yasaka looked halfway decent.
"Rumble!!"
Without delay, Velzard's gaze sharpened, and an overwhelming Dragon God pressure descended on the entire castle.
"…"
In that instant, the entire hall fell into deathly silence.
"Gulp."
Someone swallowed hard.
"S-So terrifying…"
Even Yasaka, after witnessing that terrifying might, felt the urge to kneel and surrender on the spot.
What?
She was already kneeling?
Then never mind.
"Starting today, the Demon Lord's Army will be under my command."
"I'll train you properly."
Then she added, "Also, those ugly goblins, you don't need to keep them."
She rubbed her forehead again. After parting ways with Rimuru, she hadn't gone straight to the castle, but instead took a detour for a cosmic tour.
During that time, she encountered many gods from the Heavenly Realm.
She even sparred with the strongest Creator God.
Of course, she won.
The Creator God of the Konosuba universe wasn't weak. Its strength was comparable to a top-tier Awakened Demon Lord.
Even Velzard had to use her Dragon God Transformation to decisively overpower it.
But the Creator God was immortal and indestructible, so she couldn't finish it off.
And she didn't want to truly destroy the Konosuba universe either.
She didn't want to make Rin angry.
So, the two sides compromised.
The Creator God handed the Konosuba World over to her. She could act freely here, as long as she didn't destroy other planets.
This didn't restrict her freedom.
Not being allowed to destroy didn't mean she couldn't explore. They only hoped she wouldn't devastate innocent worlds.
She was perfectly fine with that.
She had already explored most of the Konosuba universe anyway.
So, she returned to this world and came to the castle.
Her plan was simple.
She would stand on the opposite side of Rin and Rimuru. By supporting the demon race, she would play a game of world conquest.
Rin didn't care in the slightest.
As long as she didn't personally interfere or hand out cheat-level buffs, no matter how chaotic things got in this world, it was all just minor trouble.
While Rin, Rimuru, and Velzard were playing their games and enjoying their time in the Otherworld…
The human forces of the Cardinal World finally began moving in earnest.
Time passed, and the nobles of the Kingdom of Falmuth completed their plan to invade the Great Jura Forest.
"Thud!"
The door swung open, and the kingdom's Chief Archmage—also the strongest person in Falmuth—Razen entered the room.
Inside were three oddly dressed young men and women.
They were Otherworlders, summoned two years ago by burning through a massive amount of magical resources.
Kirara, Shogo, and Kyoya.
"Yo, old man!"
Shogo raised a hand in greeting.
"Ah, looks like you're all getting used to life here."
"What are you talking about!"
Kirara snapped, "How could I ever get used to this!"
"No designer bags, no fun games."
"There's nothing here. Even the food's so bad it might as well be poison!"
As a high school girl, she loved cosmetics and stylish clothes.
At the very least, the food had to be edible.
However, the kingdom was a fully medieval nation. Its eating habits were completely incompatible with the tastes of the three from Japan.
"Alright, Mizutani."
Kyoya smiled and looked at Razen. "Let's hear what the old man wants first."
"The kingdom is preparing for war."
Razen didn't beat around the bush. He directly stated the kingdom's orders.
"The Kingdom of Falmuth needs your strength."
"You want us to go to war? Are you serious?"
Even though Kirara had acquired the Unique Skill [Bewilder], it didn't change the fact that she was just an ordinary high school girl.
If it were weak monsters, she could torment them to death using [Bewilder].
But when it came to actual war, just thinking about it made her feel a chill.
"Bang!"
Unlike her, Shogo slammed his fist into the wall in excitement. "Who's the enemy, old man?"
"Yeah, at least give us some necessary information, right?"
Kyoya narrowed his eyes. He studied Razen's face, trying to extract more information from his expression.
However, Razen remained calm and gave him no openings.
"This time's target is the Great Jura Forest, to the east of the kingdom."
"There are rumors that powerful monsters have emerged there."
"Our goal is to break through the barrier covering the forest, and then send in an elite army to reopen the trade route to the east."
"Monsters?"
"Interesting."
Kyoya chuckled. "So, what are we supposed to do? Tag along with the army, or explore ahead like adventurers?"
Unlike Kirara, Shogo and Kyoya were quite confident in their strength.
Until now, they had stayed within the kingdom, subjugating low-level monsters.
The stronger ones they faced occasionally were handpicked by Razen.
But whether it was so-called A-rank monsters or anything stronger, none had posed a threat to them.
"You and I, plus 500 elite warriors, will form the advance party."
"After that, the kingdom will deploy a 50,000-strong elite army to sweep the entire Great Jura Forest."
Don't underestimate these 50,000 human elites.
Each of these fully armed soldiers had the combat power to rival a C-rank monster individually.
In terms of strength, they even surpassed the Orc Tribe that had been enhanced by the Orc Lord.
They were nearly on par with the Lizardmen.
(To be continued.)