You'd hardly believe it, but the barrier protecting the Demon King's castle was shattered by a single poke from Velzard's finger!
This was a grand barrier, not some soap bubble!
Yet, in front of Velzard, it might as well have been one.
"Too weak."
Velzard had thought that even a weak Demon King would at least have some backbone.
But what were these bizarre creatures before her?
Only Serena was somewhat tolerable.
Boom!
Without wasting words, Velzard's gaze sharpened, and an overwhelming Dragon God aura enveloped the entire Demon King's castle.
"..."
In that moment, the hall fell into a deathly silence!
Gulp.
Someone's swallow echoed.
"So, so terrifying..."
Even Serena, witnessing Velzard's might, felt an urge to kneel and submit on the spot.
What?
She was already kneeling?
Never mind then.
"From today onward, the Demon King's army will be under my command."
"I'll whip you all into shape."
Velzard added, "Also, those ugly goblins can be disposed of."
"Those are lesser demons, Lady Demon King..."
"Is that the point?"
Velzard sighed, rubbing her forehead. After parting ways with Rimuru, she hadn't gone straight to the Demon King's castle. Instead, she embarked on a cosmic tour.
During this journey, Velzard encountered many Gods of the Heavens.
She even clashed with the Creator of the Universe.
Naturally, Velzard won.
But the Creator of this universe was no pushover.
Even Velzard had to use her Dragon God transformation to give them a thorough beating.
However, the Creator was immortal, and Velzard couldn't destroy them completely.
Nor did she want to wreak havoc on this universe.
She didn't want to upset Damien.
So, both sides compromised.
The Creator handed over the Konosuba World to Velzard, allowing her to rule as she pleased, but she was not to destroy other planets.
This wasn't about restricting Velzard's freedom.
She could still explore, just not devastate innocent worlds.
Velzard readily agreed.
She'd already explored most of this universe anyway.
Thus, Velzard returned and sought out the Demon King's castle.
Her plan was simple.
She'd oppose Damien and Rimuru, fostering the demon forces to play a game of world conquest.
Damien was completely fine with this.
As long as Velzard didn't personally intervene or give the demons cheats, any chaos in this world would be mere child's play.
His sister had found something she enjoyed, and Damien supported it wholeheartedly.
While Damien, Rimuru, and Velzard were playing games and relaxing in this otherworld, the human forces on the Central World finally began to make big moves.
As time passed, the nobles of the Kingdom of Falmuth finalized their plan to attack the Jura Forest.
Bang!
The door swung open, and Razen, the kingdom's chief great mage and strongest warrior, entered.
Inside the room sat three oddly dressed teenagers.
They were Kirara Mizutani, Shogo Taguchi, and Kyouya Tachibana, otherworlders summoned two years ago by the kingdom at the cost of many mages.
"Yo, old man!"
Shogo Taguchi greeted Razen with a wave.
"Ha, looks like you've settled into life here."
"No way!"
Kirara Mizutani complained, "How could we possibly get used to this?!"
"No designer bags, no fun games."
"There's nothing here, and the food is awful!"
As a high school girl, Kirara loved cosmetics and stylish clothes.
At the very least, the food should be decent.
But the Kingdom of Falmuth was a purely medieval nation, and its culinary habits were utterly incompatible with the trio's tastes.
"Alright, Mizutani."
Kyouya Tachibana smiled at Razen. "Let's hear what the old man wants with us."
"The kingdom is about to wage war."
Razen got straight to the point, relaying the kingdom's orders. "Falmuth needs your strength."
"You're seriously asking us to fight in a war?"
Though Kirara Mizutani had the Unique Skill [Mad Orator], it didn't change the fact that she was just an ordinary high school girl.
Against weak monsters, she could use her skill to torment them to death.
But war? The thought alone made her nervous.
Smack!
Unlike Kirara's anxiety, Shogo Taguchi slammed his fist excitedly. "Who's the enemy, old man?"
"Yeah, at least give us the details."
Kyouya Tachibana's eyes narrowed slightly, studying Razen's aged face for any hints of extra information.
But Razen remained calm, giving Kyouya no chance to read him.
"Our target is the Jura Forest, east of the kingdom."
"Rumors say a powerful monster has emerged there."
Razen continued, "Our goal is to break the barrier covering the forest and, with our elite army, reopen the trade route to the east!"
"Monsters, huh?"
"Interesting!"
Kyouya grinned. "So, what do we need to do? March with the army or scout ahead like adventurers?"
Leaving Kirara aside, Shogo and Kyouya were quite confident in their abilities.
Until now, they'd been dealing with low-level monsters within the kingdom.
Occasionally, Razen brought them stronger foes to face.
But whether it was so-called A-rank monsters or even stronger ones, none were a match for the two.
"You'll join me, along with a 500-man elite squad, to form a vanguard team."
"After that, the Kingdom of Falmuth will deploy a 50,000-strong elite army to sweep through the entire Jura Forest!"
Don't underestimate these 50,000 human elites.
Each fully armed human soldier had combat prowess comparable to a C-rank monster.
In terms of strength, they surpassed even the orcs enhanced by the Orc Lord.
They were nearly on par with lizardmen.
***
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