Chapter 207

As he looked down at them from the heavens, the man… He… I… I called to my friends in the distance. “Hello. Your humble Ard Meteor has returned.” There was no answer. Sylphy remained dazed and silent. Elzard smiled with relief. Ireena and Ginny watched with tears streaming down their faces. …Had I only been able to return sooner, I wouldn’t have made them cry. However, I was hesitant to take full responsibility. After all, this wasn’t the fault of my ineptitude. Lydia’s stupidity had screwed things up. That place between dimensions was like a corridor that connected worlds to each other. It led to infinite places. And thus, the unthinkable had occurred. “How… How could you send me to the wrong world? After such a solemn scene!” Lydia, that ultra jackass, had sent me to the wrong place. “Aaaggghhh…just thinking about it pisses me off,” I muttered to the sky. “That idiot… Next time I see her, I’m kicking her ass.” Suddenly… “Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.” …the thing next to me emitted some sort of noise. Ireena’s face turned white, and she screamed, “A-Ard!” She was telling me to be careful. But from my perspective… “La—” “Shut up.” …it was an insect. Its very existence. The noise it made. Just a whining bug. Nothing more. So I crushed it like one using gravity manipulation. I multiplied the load-bearing points on the creature’s body by millions, crushing its mountainlike form to the size of a pea. Then I landed before Ireena and the others and… “AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDD!!!” …Ireena jumped into my arms. And I was sure Ginny wanted to do the same, yet she didn’t. “Oh, your legs. Allow me.” After I healed her, I restored Elzard and Sylphy as well. “Whoa… Wait just a minute…,” Elzard said. Sylphy frowned. “A-Ard, I know you’re capable of miracles, but…” “Is something the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Elzard proceeded to explain that the thing I’d defeated was what they called a behemoth and that the wounds it inflicted were incurable by magic or any other means. “So…how?” Elzard asked. “I suppose the properties of the energy I used are different.” “The energy—properties?” “Yeah. I didn’t use magic. I used psychic—it’s a feat from a different world.” “A f-feat from a different world?!” That’s right. When I got tossed there, I didn’t spend the whole time just desperately trying to find my way back. I got caught up in all sorts of annoying trouble, too. Along the way, I acquired many new feats and abilities. As a result, I was incomparably more powerful than my former self…though it did come with a setback. Ginny voiced a question related to it. “S-so, um…Ard? Why do you…look like that?” “Ugh… Let me explain. I wanted to reunite with you all as Ard Meteor. Maybe it’s because I’ve become too powerful, but my disguise magic doesn’t work very well anymore. I can take another form but always turn back in just a few seconds.” My existence had likely become far too firmly defined. Twisting my appearance through disguise magic barely worked anymore. From now on, I had to look like Varvatos. “Do you…dislike me this way?” I asked. “Oh, no! In fact, I love it!” Ginny screeched, blood spurting from her nose. Sylphy cast a judgmental look at me. “When we get back to the capital…you’re gonna do a lot of explaining.” Evidently, I was in a fair amount of trouble. Before I had a chance to reply… “Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” …the behemoth I thought I’d destroyed restored itself. For some reason, there were now six of them. However, nobody looked even slightly concerned. “Ard.” “Ardy.” “Ard Meteor.” “Y’know…I think I’ll just call you Ard now.” Trust. Seeing it in their eyes and hearing it in their voices meant there was only one thing to say. “Rest at ease, everyone. That goes for everyone in the world, not just you guys.” I wanted them to remember me as a symbol of peace, not just my friends, but everyone who survived. And even those thought to be lost. “I don’t care what rules exist here—I can ignore them all now. Even death.” In the blink of an eye, all those who fell victim to the behemoths came back to life. “Huh?! A-am I…?” “I was d-dead…right? I know I was.” I smirked at the sea of confused faces before me. “All right. Time to take out the trash.” I flew up into the sky…and as Ireena and the others looked on, I announced, “I am now an existence beyond the Demon Lord. Call me the Greatest Demon Lord.” Then I issued a challenge to the behemoths that would destroy the world. “Face me. I’m waiting. I’ll crush you until there’s nothing left.” I wouldn’t let this world end. Never. I’d protect it. This was my loved ones’ home. One day, my beloved Lydia and I would share our days here. “Come on. Give me your best shot.” I hurled myself into a new battle… …with a smile.