A cackle erupted from behind her. It was the Conflagration King Eldmed, clad in top hat and cane, teleporting to the holy lake.
“Bwa ha ha! Ha ha ha, bwa ha ha ha ha ha!”
He laughed, then laughed, then laughed some more, seeming to have no end.
“Don’t just pop up out of nowhere and laugh, Mr. Eldmed. No one can understand you,” Eleonore said.
“No no, magic of the Demon King. You just heard it yourself, did you not? Imagine flying towards the sun on wings of wax! Bwa ha ha! It’s rash, thoughtless, and if I were to add one more comment, foolish! An incompetent waltz to the meter of stupidity, ignorance, and powerlessness!”
Ignoring Emilia’s dumbfounded look, the Conflagration King pointed his cane up at the Sun of Destruction.
“Two thousand years ago, hordes of powerful demons gave their lives to send the Demon King and his right-hand man to Sarjieldenav, and only then were they barely able to bring the sun down. And this sun is even fishier than the one back then.”
Eldmed’s lips curled in delight.
“A word of counsel: Give up. You won’t even be able to reach the sky, much less seal the sun. There’s only one thing you can do right now.”
He twirled his cane and pointed it at Emilia. “Run for your lives.”
“We would love nothing more than to do just that,” a voice replied. Floating up out of the holy lake was a blue-haired man with glasses—Ledriano, a student of the Hero Academy.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the standing to defy the Hero Assembly. Discarding the final fortress of mankind, the royal capital of Gairadite, isn’t an option to them,” he said.
A blond-haired boy in scarlet uniform—Heine—appeared beside Ledriano.
“We all know it’s impossible,” he added. “But their Magic Eyes can’t even sense the magic power of that thing. It’s hilarious.”
Next, a red-haired man—Raos—also rose from the lake. “If we had it our way, we would have run long ago. But if we run now, the people of Gairadite will be doomed.”
Though the three Hero Academy students expressed their complaints, they all looked resolved to see things through. The Conflagration King seemed pleased by that, as he was grinning happily.
“I see, I see. So you do understand how impossible it is. However! Bringing that sun down without the Demon King will take a miracle. Isn’t that right, Hero Kanon?”
Eldmed turned to look at where Lay had appeared with Misa, who was in her true form. They had just teleported over.
“Will Anos make it in time?” Lay asked Emilia.
“Delsgade and Everastanzetta are somewhere in the Divine Realm. We’re in the middle of searching for them, and once we find them we should be able to neutralize the power of destruction and creation. But it would be best if you could stop the Sun of Destruction yourselves.”
Eleonore passed my words on through Leaks.
“We need to know the situation on the earth.”
Eldmed stepped forward.
“Several doors of god have appeared in the dwelling of the spirits,” he explained. “The right-hand man of the Demon King is with the Mother of Spirits, leading the spirits in subjugating the enemy. Divine forces have appeared across Dilhade and are attacking the cities. The underground world is in a similar state.”
It seemed safe to assume that the aurora temple Eleonore was in wasn’t the only place in the Divine Realm producing soldiers.
The army of gods had commenced its march once the Sun of Destruction was in the sky. They targeted powerless citizens to divert the forces that could have banded together to bring down Sarjieldenav. This tactic allowed time for the solar eclipse to arrive, upon which the earth would be in even more peril.
“From what I can see, four sky fortresses would be the limit of what we can scrape together. You two would have to be on board. Yes?” Eldmed asked, pointing his cane at Lay and Misa.
“Can the Sword of Three Races cut the fate of the Sun of Destruction?” Misa asked.
“Now now, it may be the holy sword of legends, but do you really think it could just slice all our problems away?” Eldmed replied. “That sun isn’t a demon, but a power of god.”
The Conflagration King looked at Lay, who gave him his usual lighthearted smile.
“If I have to cut it, I’ll cut it,” Lay said. “The Goddess of Destruction isn’t inside, so it might even be easier than when Anos had to fight it.”
“Bwa ha ha! That’s Hero Kanon for you. I wouldn’t expect any less.”
Eldmed looked over at Emilia and her students. “All that’s left is to hope no one gets any more ideas about flying too close to the sun, yes?”
“We won’t get in your way no matter what the higher-ups say,” Raos replied. Eldmed’s cane shifted to point at his face.
“Wonderful, wonderful. Just wonderful. You’ll do what it takes, even if it means defying those in power. Bwa ha ha! That certainly isn’t easy.”
The Conflagration King started clapping his hands in thunderous applause, his cane hovering in midair.
“Wise heroes, why don’t you cooperate with us?” Eldmed asked. “Even wax wings have their uses.”
“I mean, we’d love to help if we could, but...”
“There’s no telling what the Hero Assembly would say,” Ledriano said.
“Bwa ha ha! Ignore them, ignore the lot of them. Why mind the words of fools? If you follow their orders and fail, they’ll blame it on you anyway. But if you ignore them and succeed, you’ll be hailed as heroes. And in the unlikely event they try to incriminate you, come to the Demon King Academy!”
Eldmed cackled with laughter, his words implying that he would offer them refuge, when really, he must have an interest in hero magic.
“In the worst-case scenario,” Heine said, looking at Emilia, “we wouldn’t mind such a development.”
“Don’t worry about the trivial things, and just do what it takes to survive. There’s no point in any of it if you die,” she said, walking forward.
“Where are you going?” Misa asked.
Emilia answered over her shoulder. “I’m going to speak to some fools.”