Reunion After One Week
Just as we approached the gate to Hasumin’s house, the door suddenly creaked open—almost as if someone had been expecting us.
And from inside the house, Hasumin stepped out.
“Hello, Shuhei-kun.”
On the surface, she looked exactly the same—smiling as always, cheerful, composed.
But behind that smile, there was no mistaking it now—she was saturated with a dense, unmistakable malevolence.
“Yo, Hasumin. Been a week, huh? Not bad for someone who’s supposedly been out sick this whole time.”
“I guess so.”
“Come on, I heard from Nitta-san that you’ve never missed a day of school since junior high. Hard to believe someone like you would just skip out, right?”
“You seriously came all the way to my house just to tell me that? Wait, did I ever even tell you where I live?”
“I was worried about you, so I asked Nitta-san.”
“Huh… Mei’s more of a chatterbox than I thought.”
“Don’t play dumb. Just like you know who I am, I know what’s going on with you. The fact that you sensed us coming and came out on your own—that says it all.”
“Hehe… you’re right. Just like I figured you out, you figured me out too. Shuhei Oda—the Hero who saved another world. Who would’ve guessed?”
“And who would’ve guessed that Hasumin was actually the alternate-world counterpart of Demon King Kanan?”
“Seems that’s how it is. There’s a whole different world out there, and the Demon King from that world… apparently, that’s also me. Feels kind of surreal, huh?”
Hasumin chuckled softly.
(Um, Hero-sama. I don’t think this is entirely Demon King Kanan… Hasumin-san’s consciousness might still be intact.)
Riena leaned in close behind me, whispering as she continued to watch the exchange unfold.
(Yeah… I can feel it too. Hasumin’s still in there—her mind hasn’t been completely taken.)
(I thought so.)
(But even so, the corruption’s strong. She’s definitely been influenced—probably preyed upon at some vulnerable point, pulled into darkness through some emotional weakness.)
(Just a guess, but… maybe Demon King Kanan lost a lot of power crossing between worlds.)
(That would explain why he couldn’t completely possess Hasumin’s body.)
(Exactly. But as his power returns, Hasumin’s body will likely fall under his full control.)
While Riena and I whispered back and forth like that—
Hasumin’s expression twisted, her face suddenly consumed with seething rage.
At the same time, a torrent of foul, demonic energy erupted from her—an overwhelming blast of pure malice.
“That woman—! It’s because of you! Just die already! Rain of Magic Arrows [Meteor Bullet]!!”
The flood of evil power surging from Hasumin exploded into countless bullets of darkness, a deadly meteor shower aimed straight at Riena.
(This is Demon King Kanan’s long-range technique—Rain of Magic Arrows [Meteor Bullet]!)
“Riena, get back! Goddess Athena, lend me the strength to purge this evil—[Goddess Breath]!”
A faint, silvery-white aura enveloped my entire body, the sacred power of the Hero coursing through me like wildfire.
I’d unleashed my ultimate Hero skill—[Goddess Breath], the embodiment of divine power itself.
“Ghh…!”
I threw myself in front of Riena, unleashing the full extent of my Hero’s power as I took the entire barrage of Meteor Bullet head-on.
The blinding light of the holy aura I wore collided with Hasumin’s dark bullets, neutralizing and shattering them on contact.
“Hero-sama!?”
“Owww… damn, that hurt. You okay, Riena?”
Of course, even if I blocked it all, taking that many hits still hurt like hell.
Heroes are built for offense, after all—we’re not exactly known for our defense.
“Y-Yes. Thank you, Hero-sama. But because of me, you took the full brunt of that attack…”
“Don’t worry about it. But this place is dangerous. Fall back a bit—wait, what the—”
Even as I spoke, I realized something terrifying—the world around us had shifted. The scenery was gone, replaced by a grotesque, all-consuming darkness.