The open sea of healthy, golden wheat stalks that was bathed in the Sun's gentle rays - stretched for miles.

This was where the express highway connecting Fort City: Durandal to the Imperial Capital, cut through – and, it was littered with armaments.

Everything from tanks, to trucks, guns, munitions and empty bullet casings, were scattered haphazardly.

That in itself, was already a strange sight - but even stranger, was the sheer absence of anyone to operate them. There wasn’t a single elf, human or beastman, present.

Such was the scene that greeted the Heroes of Pandora, who were riding in an Armored Personnel Carrier.

“E-eh? Where’s everybody?” The golden-haired ‘Priestess’, with eyes like sapphire – wearing the bishop’s habit of the Ioman Church and gripping a golden staff tightly – asked the big, bald man who was driving the large vehicle.

The man – who had the Fighting Profession of ‘Monk’ – didn’t have an answer for her, so all he did was drive faster down the road – quickly leaving the abandoned-seeming weapons behind. For what reason, only he knew at the moment.

Seeing that the monk was staying silent with a grave face – the ‘Priestess’, who knew much better than to disturb him further - instead decided to review her checklist of items to carry into battle. She had to be doubly sure that she has all the necessary catalysts for her magic, lest their effectivity decline greatly.

Seated opposite to her, was the ‘Summoner’. She was a girl who fit the description, ‘goth loli’ to a tee. She wore rings on all of her fingers. Each one was different to the other – containing 10 different beings in total. What sort of creature was in each of them – could be implied from the various expensive materials used to form the rings.

Seated next to the Summoner, was the ‘Sword Saint’ – just one rank below the ‘Sword Maiden’. Her face was the gravest of the three girls. She was sharpening the Mithril Scimitar she received from her older sister – when she became a Silver-Rank Adventurer. Her gaze as she stared at her own reflection was so severe, that if looks could kill – she would’ve already killed herself 10 times over.

The tense atmosphere between the four continued on until, the last of the passengers – the core of the party dubbed [Heroes of Pandora] – the ‘Hero’, dropped a potion on the floor. The glass container didn’t break and neither did the liquid spill – but it was enough to snap the tension.

“Why did you drop it!?” The ‘Sword Saint’ yelled at the ‘Hero’. Her long black hair swung back and forth displaying her anger. For the others, it was obvious why she was so high-strung. So, they merely let her be. Sooner or later she’ll cool, down. They thought.

Of course, they could only think so, because this wasn’t the first time this has happened. This kind of situation had been happening repeatedly, ever since they left the capital, yesterday. They’d already lost track of how many times she blew her top for any small reason.

But, although they were trying to be considerate – there was always going to be a limit.

And, that limit was now.

“Oh. Shut up, already!” The ‘Summoner’ declared with an irritated, pompous tone. She flung her silver hair backwards and gazed at the ‘Sword Saint’, with contempt. “I was trying to be kind, but enough is enough!”

“Svanhilde-san!”

“And you! Quit with the little-miss-nice act, already, Nadia. Don’t tell me, you enjoy getting yelled at for no rhyme or reason, every twenty minutes.”

“But!”

“But what!? Arrrgh! We’ve been stuck in this stuffy, cramped car for eighteen hours! Eighteen! And for what!? To get killed in action - then turned into an -”

“Svanhilde!” No longer able to handle it either, the Hero yelled the loli’s name. “That’s enough! We get-“

“If you hate it so much, then leave! No one’s stopping you!” But the Hero couldn’t even finish his sentence, before the ‘Sword Saint’ cut him off.

Put frankly, the Summoner's concerns were by no means unfounded. They had already recieved confirmation that all the people on - or - above Bronze-rank - were now scattered all over the region, as 'walking dead'. Much worse, was how they seemed to retain parts of their intelligence and almost all of their battle experiences from when they were still alive.

And, to top it all off, the Gold-Ranked Adventurer, One of the six who defeated the Evil Dragon, the 'One Woman Army' - 'Sword Maiden', Seria V. Litzerbach was included in that.

Basically, they needed every fighter they could get.

“MERIA-SAN!” that was why, the 'Priestess' current words were much sharper than when she tried to rebuke Summoner.

She feared that the Summoner might just actually leave, given her personality that was almost harder to rein in, than the Sword Saint.

“Ohoh? Is that so? Little miss Sword Saint, thinks that she can just tell me to bug off? Well sure, why not?” After saying as much, the Summoner stood up from her seat and began reciting an incantation. It was the chant for teleportation magic. Though she wasn’t anything like a master, she was at least able to warp between pre-set locations.

Seeing that, Priestess could no longer keep herself neutral and glared at the Sword Saint, yelling; "Say sorry, Meria-san! Say sorry to Svanhilde-san, NOW!" You couldn't blame the Priestess for saying what she did. If she had to choose between getting eaten alive - or - accomplishing the mission that was given to them - it was obvious she'd pick the latter. Whatever the physical or emotional cost it took from them.

“Good riddance!” but, despite knowing the reason of Priestess' anger, the Sword Saint remained belligerent.

“Meria-kun! Svanhilde-kun! Nadia-kun! This is not the time to be acting like children!” While everyone was blowing their tops, it seemed that only the Monk remained cool-headed “Don't you see what is happening? This is exactly what the Demon Lord would want us to be doing."

"Do you even hear yourself, Mitch!? You can blame the Demon Lord for many things, but this falling out, ain't one of them!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" The Hero yelled at the top of his lungs, he also imbued mana into his words while also releasing his latent aura.

The sight of him - with streaks of flames as well as gold light covering his entire body - was more than enough to silence everyone with awe.

"Mitch-jii-san, please stop the car."

"...Very well, Alex-kun."

The voice the Hero used was subdued - but it was prominent. And, although, he paused for a bit - Monk quickly brought the car to a halt.

Once the screeching stopped, the Hero opened the backdoor and exited. "Alex-san! Not you too!" This time, the Priestess really was brought to tears.

How would she face the Goddess, now? She thought. She wanted to beg him on her knees - but thankfully, it didn't have to come to that. Because, the Hero looked back at the others and said; "We're walking from here on out. Come on."

"Eh?" Priestess couldn't help but let out a dumb-sounding voice. It was the same for the Sword Saint. Only Monk and Summoner - reacted calmly and strapped their bags on, before exiting the vehicle as well.

"Why are we getting off, now!? We're still miles away from the city wall!"

"Haaah... Alex, you tell that ignorant Sword Saint. I'm done dealing with her for today."

"...understood, Svanhilde. Meria..." The Hero spoke calmly so as not to enrage the Sword Saint any further. "We'll have to go on foot because, there's no possible way that we can traverse the rest of the way, in a vehicle."

Hearing his words, Sword Saint paused for a bit, letting her angry expression morph into one of seriousness, and nodded - before picking up her bag and exiting the car. Following right behind her, was the small Priestess clutching a duffel bag wider than her waist.

"So? Are there mines or burrowing monsters under the ground? Unfortunately, I can't use Mana Perception, so I'll have to rely on you for instructions, Svanhilde."

"Very well, Meria. I shall do my best to guide your movements."

That they could act so calmly and professionally despite having just had an argument was a testament to their long experience as talented adventurers - and as one of the Greastest Hero Parties in the world.

Although there were lapses from time-to-time, they knew much better than to let their emotions hinder their work.

"But... rather than that - we have more pressing matters."

"L-like what, Svanhilde-san?" Priestess asked.

"They're coming." The Hero cut in. His voice grave and his gaze directed towards the direction of the city.

Priestess followed that gaze and what she saw - made her scream in fear.

It was a wave. A literal wave of erratically moving 'things' that took the forms of humans, demi-humans and monsters. They were racing towards them - towards her.

Slowly, the 'things' came close enough to be seen properly and to be heard.

The chattering of their teeth, the gut-wrenching 'melody' that they sang, the bloodshot, sunken eyes that seemed hell-bent on tearing them limb from limb... Priestess, Sword Saint, Summoner, Monk and even the Hero - everyone - they couldn't help but feel like wanting to just run away.

They couldn't deny that they questioned the Gods in their hearts; 'Why did I take this quest?' Even Sword Saint, who was the most eager to drive a blade into the Demon lord's chest - would've ran with her tail between her legs, had the other four people with her, not been there.

But, the one most shaken was not the Priestess, nor the Sword Saint. But rather it was, the Hero.

As the Hero, he was born with a great gift from the Gods. Though it's different from Hero to Hero, all of them are gifts that would be seen as great. One might have boundless Mana, while another might posses reality-shattering punches.

In Alex's case, his gift is a bit more subdued - his, is the ability to steal the 'life force' of one who he had designated as an irreconcilable enemy.

Yes, its a very vague ability. Even he barely knew how it worked. But there was no mistake, that the closer he is to the target, the more 'life force' he can take away and turn into his own.

Obviously, he had a limit to what he could contain. It was not a limit that normal minds could fathom, but it was there. Up, up in the clouds was a limit that he could never break.

And, he has never reached that limit. Not even once. This time, it was the same. This Demon Lord's mana wasn't even worth comparing to his own limits.

So, why was he feeling fear?

"The mana flow... stopped..." He muttered in shock. His companions were not deaf to that, and their disbelief only elevated further.

They knew just as much about the Hero's ability as he did. And, they also understood that the ability only worked on beings that were above a certain threshold - like the Demon Lord who was generally much stronger than any normal Hero.

So, the fact that it was cut off, meant that something must've happened. Something that none of them thought would happen.

"Was it killed?" Sword Saint asked.

"By who, moron!? There shouldn't be anyone 'alive' for miles, but us!" Summoner rebuked harshly, but couldn't keep the fact that her blood was draining.

"But, this is a good thing, right? Now, that the D-demon Lord is gone, all we have to do is c-call in the m-military in. Right, Mitch-san?" Priestess asked - no - begged for confirmation. She didn't want to acknowledge the worst-case-scenario that was at the back of her mind.

"No... those things are still moving. So, there's no way, its dead yet." The Hero answer was the last answer that Priestess wanted to hear. "The 'thing' that I was tracking... the one at the base of the Fallen Dragon Ridge... was not the Demon Lord."

Unfortunately, he was only half-accurate with his observation.

But, not knowing that, was one of the reasons that they found the will to come here in the first place. Had they known that fact, what was in their hearts right now wouldn't have been hope - but despair.

"They're coming from behind too!" The Monk who had been silent all this while, yelled while tightening his grip on his Dragonbone Spear. "There's at least a thousand coming from each side!"

The horde from behind were pouring out of the golden sea like vengeful sailors. Garbbed in various military uniforms, they raced twards the Heroes much like the ones from the city.

And yet, despite wielding false hope, the Hero proclaimed. "Demon Lord or Devil, a thousand or ten-thousand... whatever it is, we'll kill it all without fail!"

""""Ou!""""

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The Heroes are already here, you say?

I stared blankly at the 'woman' in beautiful, but also seductive church habit, who was kneeling reverently towards me.

I let that fact circle around my head for a little bit.

That the Heroes were currently engaged in a life or death battle with the guys I left outside.

What do I do?

Well, the answer... is nothing.

I don't have to do anything.

There's no way that they can arrive at this temple in one piece.

Not with all the strong one's that I stationed along the way. But, just in case.

I left the kneeling woman where she was and exited to the fourth floor balcony. There, I used a telescope. I had to insert a quarter before I could use it, but no matter, I just tore open the coin storage and retrieved the coin from inside.

I'm thrifty that way.

Plus, this temple was once a tourist spot, so there's tens of these things all around.

Then, using the high-powered telescope, I looked towards the direction of...

... the Fallen Dragon Ridge.

Like I said, there was no point in worrying about the Heroes, they'll die - become one of my servants - and I'll use them to replenish the numbers they scratched off.

The bigger priority, was the one on the other side.

I lost my connection with a Seria-san. It's not really that big a loss, but it's a loss nonetheless. One, that I can't just let slide. Especially because, it happened in the direction where I barely stationed any defenses.

Was it a mistake placing them all in the front? I myself don't think so, because if I did - then the Heroes would easily be able to tear me a new one.

Well, mistake or not, it really throws a monkey wrench into my designs. The fact that I rely too much on my prior planning is probably the reason why I was so easily killed by my sister.

Even I don't think that Death managed to cure that problem.

But, this time... I have the advantage, I think?

I'm a whole lot stronger now, than I ever was before I died - a Hero or two should no longer be a problem for me now, right?

Well, I'd really love to hope that it is so.

Since, I really don't have a choice, anymore.

With a sigh - or was it a growl? Either way, I walked back into the room where the 'woman in church habit' was. I then approached her from behind - and pulled out the Mithril Scimitar that was embedded into her back.

She was once the owner of this sword, but I hope she'll let it slide, if I gave her an enchanted Duralumin Katana.

Even though, wether or not she would like it, was not something I could fathom - I still gave her the Katana.

Then, I let the slightly-smaller sized Scimitar that was meant to be used by women, set in my hand for a little bit. I also did a few practice swings with it.

Well, it's no Heleina, but it'll have to do.

I'll leave the Heroes to you, I 'told' the kneeling woman, who only gave me a silent nod in return.

Aw... and she was so talkative before, too.