Two flickering lights swayed atop a darkening hill in the great forest.
One was silver fighting spirit scattering brilliant radiance. The other was ash-gray magic power rising in a muted haze.
Powerful fighting spirit fit for a Hero, and compressed magic fit for a demon.
It looked like a fight could break out at any second, but I, the demon in question, had absolutely no intention of fighting.
There was already a sword at my throat, and if I fought a Hero who could even beat a True Dragon, then my second death would be guaranteed. Why would I pick that fight?
More than anything, if something happened to her here, the future would be destroyed.
The strongest Hero, Chronoa.
She was the true identity of Chloe O'Bell, the [Regressor] who had turned back time countless times to prevent the world's destruction, and she was also the [hope] carrying the soul of Hinata Sakaguchi, the Hero who would one day become the guardian of the West.
"...How about waiting a second? I have no intention of fighting you."
To show I meant it, I raised both hands over my head. She clearly didn't believe me at all, though.
"And why should I believe that? You're a demon."
...Well, a demon suddenly showing up in the middle of the great forest like this? Of course she'd be suspicious.
This was an anomaly that had never existed in any of her previous loops.
Still, that didn't mean I was out of options.
"Demon Lord Guy Crimson."
...!
"I'm Adelio Ruber, one of his subordinates. I came here to investigate because Lord Veldora's movements have been looking unusual lately."
At times like this, the answer was simple: throw Guy's name around.
Anyone who knew even a little about him wouldn't dare doubt it.
"Guy Crimson..."
Just as expected, she didn't question my words in the slightest.
After all, no monster in this world would casually use the name of the Demon Lord known as the strongest.
"...What is going on...? This has never happened before... not once..."
"Right. This must be the first time in this regression."
"!!!...How do you know that...?"
I had said it lightly, like it was nothing special, but to her, the word [Regression] was anything but light.
"Come on. Even that vampire Demon Lord knows about it. Wouldn't it be stranger if Lord Guy didn't?"
Of course, Guy knew nothing about regression, let alone who she really was. In other words, I was just selling snake oil.
Like just now, Guy's name explained almost anything.
"...What does Guy Crimson want?"
"You catch on fast. It's simple. He wants you to accomplish the purpose of your regression."
"...Why would that Demon Lord care about my regression?"
Chronoa asked without lowering her guard in the slightest.
But I had already prepared my answer.
"Because if you fail, Veldora will run wild, and the Eastern Empire will swallow the entire West. As the [Arbiter], he doesn't want a future like that."
The Eastern Empire.
Chronoa knew better than anyone how terrifying that empire was—the one that held the human who killed that slime.
"..."
After a brief silence, Chronoa slid the sword she had aimed at my neck back into its sheath.
"...So, simply put, you're saying you'll help me?"
"More or less."
"..."
"..."
For several seconds—maybe several minutes—a meaningful silence passed between us.
Then Chronoa spoke first.
"......I have no intention of fighting that Demon Lord, so for now, I'll believe you. But if you make even one suspicious move... I'll cut you down."
Chronoa glared at me as she spoke in a firm voice.
"Mm, that's fine."
She probably thought she was giving me a terrifying warning, but to someone who had lived in hell, she looked more like a prickly cat.
'Compared to demons that look like chimeras, she's hundreds of times better.'
While I was entertaining that pointless thought, the sun continued to sink lower.
...
...
......
Night fell, dark as a blacked-out theater.
From the crushing weight of the magic power in the air, I could tell Veldora was almost here.
'At this rate, he'll reach the village in about an hour.'
"...Adelio. Are you just going to watch from here?"
Chronoa asked quietly, gazing up at the moon.
There was still a slight awkwardness between us, but after several hours of idle conversation, we had found we got along better than expected. We were close enough now to call each other conversation partners, at least.
Of course, a few hours was nowhere near enough to call it trust.
"Do you want my help? I assumed you planned to beat him without me, since that's what you've always done."
"...Well, yes. That's true."
"Besides, the other soul inside you seems like she wants to fight Veldora one-on-one too, doesn't she?"
"What...?! You can see Hinata?!"
Ever since my last evolution, after the Hero's Egg began to stir, I had started seeing special souls that only the highest-order spiritual lifeforms—like Demon Lords and True Dragons—could perceive.
"More or less. I'm a pretty high-ranking demon, you know."
Right now I could only see it vaguely, but the Hero's soul had such unusual properties that I could make out Hinata inside Chronoa.
It was probably an innate ability of the [Divine Demon].
"...You're a strange demon."
While I was thinking that, Chronoa's tone suddenly changed, turning slightly stiffer, as if her personality itself had shifted.
"You are..."
"I'm Hinata. The soul inside this girl's body."
The owner of that voice was Hinata Sakaguchi, one of the representative Heroes of the original novel.
"...I see. So you're a Hero too, like her."
I already knew, of course, but I couldn't exactly say that, so I played dumb.
Fortunately, Hinata didn't seem to notice I was lying.
"Yes. More precisely, I was a Hero. The Hero's Egg I carried was passed on to this child."
Hinata had been listening to our conversation from inside Chronoa, so she continued naturally without any sign of panic.
Well, with her personality, even if she had been surprised, it probably wouldn't have shown much.
"More importantly, what exactly are you? Judging by the power you possess, something similar to ours, it doesn't seem like being a Demon Lord's subordinate is the whole story."
Just like her personality, her ability to assess others was exceptional. Using even the body and mind of a [Half-God], she instantly realized I wasn't an ordinary demon.
There was a reason she had risen to the rank of saint.
"Who knows... But that isn't what matters right now, is it? Veldora will be here soon."
I had no intention of revealing the [Hero's Egg] inside me. At least, not yet.
"...So you don't want to say. Fine. I can find out slowly later."
With that, Chronoa—or rather, Hinata—ran toward the village a moment later at a speed that easily surpassed the speed of sound.
'..."Find out slowly later," huh.'
......
I watched the silver radiance recede into the distance and fell into thought for a moment.
'Hmm... I was planning to just watch. But now that I've already been found out, there's no real need to stay hidden.'
There were no other factions around, and it wouldn't really matter if Veldora noticed me either, so I considered heading to that village myself.
It wasn't like I had anything better to do than watch, and while Veldora and Chronoa fought, someone might get caught in the crossfire. I might as well put up a barrier or something.
After thinking it over for what felt both brief and strangely long, I came to a decision.
"...Guess I'll go."
Watching the storm that heralded the start of the battle, I rose to my feet.
'If I take it slow, I probably won't get in the way.'
In the end, I just couldn't give up the fun of watching the fight.
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