The faint glow from Kazuma's lantern barely illuminated their surroundings, casting flickering shadows on the narrow dungeon walls. The oppressive silence was broken only by the sound of their own breathing.
"Did we… actually just take down a Demon King's general?"
Kazuma stared at the pile of ash and the eerie black-and-white mask on the ground, disbelief etched across his face.
"Kazuma, I don't think we did anything. This was entirely Nero's doing," Darkness pointed out bluntly.
"…I know!"
Kazuma's cheeks flushed red at her unreserved honesty.
"Well, now that Nero has defeated the Demon King's general, the issue with the masked dolls should be resolved, right? All we have to do is erase the magic circle that idiot Aqua left behind in that room, and our job here is done."
"Ugh... I can't believe we ran into a Demon King's general, and I didn't contribute anything. I thought today, after miraculously hitting a monster earlier, I'd finally have my moment to shine…" Darkness mumbled dejectedly.
Once inside the room, Kazuma wasted no time wiping away Aqua's magic circle.
With Nero promising to keep the truth hidden, erasing this sole piece of evidence meant that none of the adventurers injured by the dungeon monsters would come looking for him.
Sorry about this… but I'd rather avoid getting beaten up.
He consoled himself with the thought that he could treat the adventurers to a meal later to make amends.
Despite its ability to terrify even high-ranking demons, Aqua's magic circle had been drawn with ordinary chalk. It only took a damp cloth to wipe it away completely.
While Kazuma knelt on the floor, diligently scrubbing the circle, Nero bent down to pick up the black-and-white mask from the pile of ashes.
The mask was split evenly in color, black on the left and white on the right. Below each eye was a star—one black and one white—and the Roman numeral "I" was etched onto the forehead.
"This is so ugly..."
Nero couldn't help voicing her honest opinion.
"Why did Megumin think this mask looked cool? Umu! I don't understand her taste at all."
"Nero, we're done here. What's that you're holding?"
Kazuma and Darkness emerged from the room to find Nero inspecting the mask.
"A trophy? Perhaps. Do you want it? Your teammate Megumin seemed to have an interest in it."
"No thanks… My instincts are screaming that thing is bad news. Plus, it belonged to a Demon King's general—it could be cursed or something."
Given the caliber of the boss they'd faced, there was a chance the mask could be some kind of artifact… or a cursed item.
"…If it's cursed, as a follower of Eris, I can't ignore it," Darkness declared.
"Stay put! If something happens to you, I'll be the one left cleaning up the mess!"
"Ahhh~~! Kazuma's harsh, commanding tone, full of disdain! Should I obey or not? If I disobey, will he punish me with something truly outrageous?"
Kazuma ignored the panting Crusader beside him, though his indifference seemed only to fuel her excitement.
"You people have no taste! None of you appreciate the masterpiece before you—my most cherished, most perfect mask! It's my signature! My soul! And yet, you dismiss it so easily?"
Vanir's voice suddenly rang out from the mask in Nero's hand.
It was unsettling, given that the mask, which only covered the upper half of a face, lacked a mouth yet somehow spoke.
"A Demon King's general?! So he's not dead after all?!"
Kazuma and Darkness froze, their faces a mix of shock, tension, and wariness.
"Hahahaha! Did you fools truly believe you had defeated me? What a pity—you haven't harmed me at all! This mask is my true form! Ohhh, I can feel it now—the delicious taste of your negative emotions. Thank you for the feast!"
With that, the mask leapt from Nero's hand and latched onto her face.
"And now, powerful warrior who defeated Beldia! I shall borrow your body for a while!"
Vanir, having glimpsed Kazuma's thoughts earlier, knew that his nemesis—the goddess Aqua—was just outside the dungeon.
Though his principles forbade him from harming humans, gods were his natural enemies. Upon learning that Aqua was waiting outside, Vanir immediately resolved to eliminate her.
However, Nero's strength had far exceeded his expectations. As the warrior who defeated Beldia, she had utterly overwhelmed him earlier.
But his body had merely been a temporary construct made of clay. As long as his mask—his true form—remained intact, Vanir could survive.
Still, attempting to fight his way past Nero to reach Aqua was a daunting prospect.
Thus, Vanir devised a brilliant plan: he would possess Nero's body and use her strength to defeat Aqua.
"Let's see how this immensely powerful body fares… Huh?"
The moment the mask adhered to Nero's face, Vanir froze.
Through his "eyes," he glimpsed extraordinary sights beyond his comprehension.
A storm-ravaged tower piercing the heavens.
A desolate realm of death, filled with cages imprisoning blue, ethereal flames.
A golden scale suspended in an infinite starry void.
A crimson demon god, engulfed in flames, annihilating worlds and deities alike.
A heart and feather, wrapped in gray flames of death.
And beyond these, even further away…
Two ancient, opposing forces clashed.
One was a vast ocean, the source of all life.
The other was a seven-headed crimson dragon coiled around a decaying theater.
And farther still, behind these two entities, something even more profound seemed to exist…
But Vanir never got the chance to see it.
His intrusion had been detected.
One of the seven dragon heads turned toward him, its gaze piercing through the void.
Then it lunged, jaws snapping shut.
Crack.
The sound of shattering echoed through the dungeon.
The mask on Nero's face fractured and crumbled, disintegrating into dust before it could even hit the ground.
Everything happened so quickly and unexpectedly that Kazuma and Darkness remained stunned, unable to process what had just occurred.
"Umu! The problem is solved. Let's head back," Nero announced, breaking the silence as she turned to leave without waiting for the others to recover.
"S-solved? Seriously? What if he's just faking it? He seemed pretty devious…" Kazuma muttered, his skepticism evident.
It wasn't unreasonable—he had no idea why the mask had shattered. Had Nero done something?
Vanir had said the mask was his true form, so its destruction should mean his death. But what if he'd been lying?
Nero, however, knew the truth.
Vanir wasn't dead. High-ranking demons had multiple lives, and a Demon Duke like Vanir likely had more than he could count. The earlier encounter had merely cost him one of those lives—a negligible loss.
Still...
"He's definitely not having a good time right now," Nero mused.
Vanir had provoked that one and been noticed.
Even Nero couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.
---
T/N: FRIG QUICK ANALYZE WHOS WHO?
A storm-ravaged tower piercing the heavens. (ARTORIA FRFR)
A desolate realm of death, filled with cages imprisoning blue, ethereal flames. (OLD MAN HASSAN?)
A golden scale suspended in an infinite starry void. (I DONT KNOWWW)
A crimson demon god, engulfed in flames, annihilating worlds and deities alike. (GOETIA..?)
A heart and feather, wrapped in gray flames of death. (I DONT KNOWWW)
And beyond these, even further away…
Two ancient, opposing forces clashed.
One was a vast ocean, the source of all life. (TIAMAT?)
The other was a seven-headed crimson dragon coiled around a decaying theater. (I DONT KNOWWW)