The black moon—so dark it sent chills down spines—began to glow, becoming increasingly luminous like a black sun.
Eventually, it resembled a radiant black egg, and soon cracks started appearing on its surface, as though something within was about to hatch.
As the cracks spread across the black moon, specks of black light burst forth from them.
"RROOOAAARR—!!"
Countless roars like distant thunder echoed from the direction of the black moon, roars that sounded unmistakably like those of dragons.
Someone used spatial projection magic to shorten the distance, displaying the black moon—still thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away—before everyone's eyes.
The sight of the dense swarm of dark specks made them all gasp in horror.
"What—What is that—?!"
"They're all dragons! Black dragons, all cloaked in darkness!"
"And fallen angels too? No... these things aren't alive!"
What filled their vision were massive black dragons, their surfaces gleaming with a metallic sheen. But unlike any dragons known to them, these were clearly mechanical constructs. Each looked almost identical to the next. The same was true of the black "angels", metallic dolls with sharp, scale-like wings.
And every one of them was shrouded in an ominous black glow, the embodiment of curses, hatred, killing intent, destruction—an amalgam of all negative emotions.
"What's going on, Ramnas?"
A voice laced with unease came from a dragon named Elma, who turned to the elder-looking but imposing dragon beside her—Ramnas, leader of the Harmony Faction.
(T/N: Is this this guy's real name?)
Ramnas glanced at her, then turned his solemn gaze back to the unfolding nightmare.
"That... is the legacy of Ignatius Woods—Icarus!!!"
Huh? What kind of answer is that? It said nothing at all! Elma was thoroughly exasperated.
But judging from the unease Ramnas was radiating, this was clearly something very bad, bad enough to cause even the gods to tremble.
As the black moon continued to crack open, it began to twist and change shape. Elma finally began to grasp what she was seeing, cold sweat forming on her brow.
"You've got to be kidding me... that thing is—!"
The black moon was in fact an enormous mechanical dragon, so massive it had curled itself up into an egg-like form.
With two pairs of wings, it dwarfed the surrounding man-made dragons—each already dozens of meters long, making them look like insects in comparison.
Through the spatial projection, they could see the super-dragon leaking a thick, black miasma so dense it was like oily sludge.
The miasma churned and expanded like lava bubbles, within which twisted black shadows began to form—distorted shapes of dragons, angels... gods?
It was like a necromancer summoning the dead from a mass grave—but hundreds, no, tens of thousands of times more terrifying. These weren't undead. They were evil spirits utterly corrupted by darkness, radiating an aura of apocalyptic malevolence.
Was this the true form of the black moon—Icarus? Just witnessing it sent shivers down spines.
"GUUUURROOOOAAAAAHHHH——!!!"
The dragon of destruction, Icarus, let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth. The shockwave blew away all the clouds in the night sky, and even disrupted the spatial projection, causing the image to vanish.
"This is bad—it's clearly gone berserk!"
"Damn that Ignatius! Even dead, he leaves behind this kind of nightmare!"
"You two—return to the Divine Realm immediately and gather every god who can fight!"
"Inform Kimun Kamui—have him rally every dragonkind he can summon!"
"As for the humans..."
The divine forces, the chaotic forces, the harmony faction, the neutral and observing factions—who had been fighting each other endlessly—now, for the first time, found themselves united with a common purpose.
-----------
Demon Realm, Earth — One of the Conference Rooms
Inside a grand meeting room, several of the most infamous figures of the Earth's Demon Realm had gathered. Most of the realm's top powers could be found here.
"Oh? So the ancient Demon King's slaughter weapon has awakened?"
"What do you all think? Should we offer assistance?"
"Assist? With them acting so high and mighty? Besides, the Savior Academy already received intel and started assembling an interworld team."
"Should we inform Little Evil Goddess? She's been staying in the Human Realm lately and probably isn't aware of the situation."
"Hah? Are you a rookie? Tell her? Are you stupid? The only reason our lives have been peaceful and our work's been going smoothly is because she's not here! You want her back? With her chaotic personality now? Who knows what disaster she'll stir up!"
In short, unless they were directly asked for help, the Earth Demon Realm would just watch and wait.
And just like the Demon Realm was holding conferences, so was the Celestial Realm.
-----------
Celestial Realm
A gentle figure with clear, soft, water-blue hair lazily flew toward a majestic and imposing temple in the sky.
"Haaa~ seriously, I was just about to fall asleep and now I'm called in for an emergency meeting. Ugh, so annoying~"
This grumbling girl was a goddess, yawning as she floated along.
"Senpai! Aqua-senpai, hurry up! The meeting's already been going on for a while!"
The voice came from ahead—a beautiful silver-haired figure who didn't look remotely human, urging the lazy goddess to speed up.
"What's the rush, Eris? You just need to manage your world. You don't even have to participate~"
"True, but I heard things are getting worse. They might be sending a healing-type goddess for backup. And Aqua-senpai, as one of the top healers—"
"Ahem, of course! As a healing goddess, I am very excellent—"
"—which is why you're the most likely to get dispatched!"
"Hah?! Are you kidding me?! Why me?! I—"
"If you help out, regardless of the outcome, you'll get a raise, a promotion in goddess rank, and a thousand years of paid vacation, but I don't recommend—"
Before Eris could even finish, Aqua zoomed into the temple like a streak of light.
"Senpai! Let me finish!!"
Eris chased after her, but just as she was about to enter the hall, the temple doors burst open and Aqua came crashing out, face twisted in horror.
"Eris! You traitor! What is that world?! Did you see that dragon-shaped Icarus-class destruction weapon?! It's terrifying! That thing wiped out half the ancient gods in its world! Compared to it, your world's Demon King is like a cute baby—ahhhh you set me up! Let me go—I don't want to go—I refuse—!"
Eris could only watch as several hands reached out from behind the door and dragged Aqua screaming back into the meeting room.
On the ground was a voluntary application form... signed by Aqua and stained with tears.
Apparently, in her greed for the reward, she had rushed to sign the form before even understanding the mission—afraid someone else would beat her to it.
-----------
Chiba Prefecture — Sobu High School
Back on Earth, Yazuki walked down the hallway of his school feeling more irritated than usual. The students passing by cast strange glances, whispering things like "two-timing scumbag" and "human garbage."
Tch. A bunch of self-righteous morons who think they're morally superior.
"Hey, you. Saying it that loud—are you afraid I won't hear? Tch. Scumbag? Garbage? Seeing how indignant you are is hilarious. Aren't you just jealous that you're not being chased by cute girls?"
"And you girls too. All this ethical posturing... what a joke. It's all just jealousy, right? Acting all sympathetic and outraged—but deep down, you're happy to see someone prettier, more popular, get knocked off her pedestal. Typical female jealousy. Deep inside, you're probably cheering that she turned out to be a bitch. You use that tiny bit of spite to comfort your ugly hearts."
His unfiltered words tore straight through everyone's carefully constructed social masks.
Faces twisted with discomfort and suppressed rage but with his rough, delinquent-like appearance, most just scowled and walked away.
Haruto glanced out the window. The sky, which had been clear earlier, was now covered with clouds. It looked like it might rain.
With a sigh, he turned and headed back to his classroom.
But as soon as he opened the door—
The world changed.
Instead of entering a noisy classroom, he stepped into a cosmic void.
Stunned, he blinked—and his hazy memories sharpened.
This place... isn't this that idiot water goddess's dimension?
And just as he recognized it, a face suddenly leaned in so close it almost kissed him.
SMACK!
"Gyaahhh—!"
Aqua, the water goddess, flew through the air in a perfect arc and crashed into the pristine white floor, landing in an unfortunate pose—her butt pointed right at him.
Again with the same question—does she ever wear underwear?
"Uuuhhh..."
The goddess whimpered and stood up, her beautiful face now adorned with a black eye and tears streaming down her cheeks.
"W-why did you hit me?! I'm a goddess! How dare you hit a goddess?! I—"
She froze mid-sentence, sensing Haruto's deepening irritation.
"Ahem. Um, nice to meet you? Or... have we met before?"
Playing dumb clearly, but Haruto could tell she didn't remember him. Then why summon him again? Another clerical screw-up?
"I'm Aqua, the water goddess. Mr. Kiryu Yazuki—"
So she did get his name right. But the overly sweet tone? Trying to butter him up.
"Would you like to become a hero?"
"A hero?"
Haruto raised an eyebrow. This useless goddess again?
"That's right! Just like in anime or light novels!"
"So I died?"
"No no no, not like that! You're still alive. And unlike typical heroes who can't return until they defeat the Demon King, you can travel freely between worlds! Even if you die while fighting, I—your goddess—will instantly resurrect you! And if you get tired of being a hero, you can go back to your normal life! Oh, and—"
She was basically acting like a headhunter now, singing praises of the "position" and benefits, even pulling out a contract and a pen.
But Haruto, having been burned by this goddess before, wasn't buying it. And besides... he was a Demon King. Why would he become a hero?
"No. Send me back. Now."
"Huh?"
"I said no."
"Wha—but being a hero! You get to—"
"I don't care. Go find someone else."
Aqua looked like she'd been struck by lightning. Devastated.
"Aqua-senpai, how is it going? Lord High God is growing impatient. Are you sure this is the S-Class hero candidate?"
A voice came from beyond the dimensional wall.
"O-of course! Just give me a bit more time, I'll bring him right in!"
Cold sweat beaded on Aqua's face. Not only had Haruto refused, but it looked like he wasn't an S-Class candidate at all.
"I'm an S-Class candidate?"
"Uh, yes! So—"
"Tell the truth—"
His gaze was sharp and intimidating. Aqua couldn't meet his eyes.
"F-fine! Actually... you're a G-Class hero..."
She rubbed her cheek awkwardly, clearly deflated. But Haruto suspected it was even worse—she just didn't want to say it aloud and risk scaring him off.
"G-Class? The lowest?"
"Uhh-heh... but don't worry! With effort, you can totally rise to S-Class! Especially with my help! Easy!"
She gave him a thumbs-up and tried to act cute.
"Oh? Then—"
"Mhm?"
"Send. Me. Back."
"Alright, then please sign—wait, what?"
"Send me back. Or I'll get violent."
"Wha—no, please! Sign the contract! I'm begging you! If I don't get someone to sign, I'll die! I refuse to be sent to that crazy world—!"
From flattery to pitiful begging, Aqua clung to his leg and bawled her eyes out, rubbing her tears and snot all over him.
The reason she was desperate?
Because if she could present an S-Class hero candidate, it would nullify the voluntary application she signed earlier. But she hadn't had time to look properly, so she exploited a loophole and randomly pulled someone in.
Haruto wasn't what she needed.
But she didn't care. As long as she could cheat her way out of this mission.
Yet now... he wasn't cooperating.
She was sobbing, clinging to him like a koala, and he remained utterly unmoved.
Heartless. Truly heartless!