“Come, Holy Sword Strelka!”
“But, um… I saw you, Shuhei-kun… with that girl, going into the love hotel, and it made me feel awful. I got so upset, I thought maybe… maybe if I killed you, I’d feel better… and then I became the Demon King… I’m so, so sorry for all the trouble I caused!”
Hasumin looked up at me with tearful eyes, her apology trembling on her lips.
“Come on, seriously? That was all Demon King Kanan’s influence. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”
“But still—”
“If anything, it just proves how much you loved me. So much that it literally broke you, right?”
“Ah—…mm.”
“I’m sorry too, Hasumin. For pushing you that far. I should’ve told you how I felt way earlier.”
“Shuhei-kun…”
Hasumin whispered my name, gazing up at me with a mix of hope and fear in her eyes.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Is… is it really okay if it’s me?”
“Idiot. It’s not just ‘okay’ if it’s you. I want you, Hasumin. It has to be you. I’m crazy about you—can’t you tell by now?”
“Y-Yeah… I love you too, Shuhei-kun…”
“Great. Then we’re officially a couple. Happy ending achieved.”
With those words, I leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to Hasumin’s lips as she looked up at me from within my arms.
“Ehehe… we kissed.”
“You didn’t hate it, did you?”
“Nope… not at all. I love you, Shuhei-kun… so, so much…”
“Same here, Hasumin.”
Blushing in my arms, Hasumin’s voice was small and sweet. I answered her with a smile.
“—Which means there’s only one thing left to do now!”
I locked eyes with the black mist—the soul of Demon King Kanan. Still holding Hasumin with my left arm, I stretched my right arm out wide, level with the ground.
Then, calling forth the name I’d long waited to summon—
Our link was already in place.
“Come! Holy Sword Strelka!”
At my call, divine energy surged into my outstretched right hand, light swelling like a rising tide.
The blinding force coalesced, shaping into a radiant sword born into my grasp.
“No way!? Are you saying you forcibly summoned the Holy Sword Strelka from the Grand Temple of Athena, where it’s been enshrined since the Hero’s return!? That’s… unbelievable!”
Just as Riena explained, I had summoned the Holy Sword Strelka into this world.
“Sorry, Riena. But right now, pulling something like this off is no big deal for me. Well… for a limited time, anyway.”
“Even so, it’s astonishing! To disregard interdimensional power balance entirely and force a divine weapon like Strelka across worlds—that’s beyond incredible!”
“You accursed Hero! Wielder of that wretched goddess’s light! Gah—this radiance… it burns like fire…! Damn this blinding holy light—disappear, now! Rain of Magic Arrows [Meteor Bullet]!!”
The soul of Demon King Kanan screamed with venom and launched a swarm of dark magic projectiles.
But—!
“Useless!”
With a single, effortless swing of Strelka, I erased every last one of them.
The infinite surge of holy light pouring from the blade purified each dark spell the moment it drew near.
“Impossible… all in one strike!? Damn you, Hero! You bastard, you bastard, you bastard, you bastaaaAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!”
Even the next wave of attacks, fired in a frenzy of fury, were erased just as easily.
“No, the fool here is you. I’ve received the myth-tier blessing of the goddess Athena. I now stand on the brink of godhood. Do you really think a mere Demon King could take me down?”
Our powers weren’t even in the same dimension anymore.
Gently setting Hasumin down, I brought both hands to bear on Strelka, pouring my full strength into its blade.
“This ends now, Demon King Kanan! Time to settle this—Holy Light Unleashed! [Sacred Impact]—HAAAAH!!”
A lightning-fast dash exploded from beneath me, ending in a mighty overhead slash.
With all the divine power granted by Athena pushed to its very limit, I drove the final blow straight into the soul of Demon King Kanan!