Just as Kōichi and Kazuma Satou were holding hands and reaching a useless consensus to hole up in this monster village until the end of time, dust rose in the distance. A girl with long black hair and an absurdly developed figure came running toward them, panting hard.
"Hah… hah… Megumin! Megumin! This is bad! Really bad!"
Yunyun waved both hands as she ran, her ample chest bouncing with the motion. A flash of pure male instinct instantly lit up Kazuma's normally hollow, dead-fish eyes.
Kōichi's eyelid twitched. What was this supposed to be now? Had Sylvia doubled back?
Yunyun finally reached them. She braced her hands on her knees, gasping for air, anxiety written all over her face.
"The seal… the seal is weakening! The Ultimate Weapon in the forbidden area on the mountain behind the village… its seal is giving off an ominous red glow! At this rate, the whole world will be in danger of destruction, s-so… could you help?"
Kōichi and Kazuma Satou looked at each other and spoke at the same time, equally confused.
"Ultimate Weapon?"
"Hey, Yunyun." Kazuma rubbed his nose and gave her a skeptical look. "In this village of yours, you could grab some random old guy hanging laundry and he'd casually fire off high-level magic. A place like this actually needs an Ultimate Weapon? What, is it supposed to destroy the galaxy?"
Kōichi swallowed and added, "It's not some forbidden-class artifact that blows up the whole planet like a roasted sweet potato the second you turn it on, right? Because if it is, I think running straight back to Axel would be the safer option."
Just as the two of them were about to make their escape, Megumin, who had been silent until now, suddenly let out a cold laugh.
She flung her cloak aside, placed her right hand over her eye patch, and pointed elegantly at the sky with her left. Her whole body radiated an unbearably intense aura of chuunibyou.
"Heh heh heh. Ignorant mortals. Since you have asked with such sincerity, I shall make an exception and reveal a corner of this taboo to you!"
Megumin stepped forward, and even the dust beneath her feet seemed to scatter in fear of her raging magical power. Or so she probably imagined.
"Listen well! In ancient times, our Crimson Demon Clan ancestors created the final taboo, a power great enough to slay gods and demons alike! Its name is Mage-Killer, the world-ending thunder that devours all magic and brings all civilization to its end! It is sealed within eternal nothingness, bound by chains woven from countless curses. Once it opens the eyes that have slept for ten thousand years, the sky will turn blood-red, the earth will shatter into fragments, and even those idiot Goddesses in Heaven will be so scared they wet themselves!"
Aqua, who had been picking her nose nearby, immediately shouted in protest when she heard the last part.
"Hey! Who are you saying would wet herself?! Something that sounds this much like a story made up to scare children wouldn't frighten this Goddess at all! Though… if it really is fun, I suppose this Goddess could generously go purify it."
"In any case!" Megumin completely ignored Aqua, her eyes shining with fanatic enthusiasm. "It is a super, super-ultimate weapon of destruction that can only be controlled by a Crimson Demon Clan member who carries our noble bloodline and possesses the highest intellect! Kōichi, Kazuma, you should be honored, for you are about to witness a moment that will rewrite history!"
Kōichi looked at Megumin, who seemed ready to burst into flames, then at Yunyun's expectant face. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"You definitely made all of that up just now, didn't you? And an Ultimate Weapon in a place like Crimson Demon Village… I can't shake the feeling it's going to be something that completely ruins the tone."
Kazuma, however, rubbed his chin, greed creeping into his eyes.
"It sounds seriously powerful. Kōichi, if we can get our hands on that thing, couldn't we basically walk all over this world? Forget the Demon King. Having Aqua serve me tea every day wouldn't even be a dream anymore!"
"What kind of rude thoughts are you having, Kazuma?! I'll curse you so you can never kiss a girl for the rest of your life!"
Aqua angrily waved her fists.
Kazuma gave a cold laugh, instinctively touched his lips, and muttered under his breath, "Hmph. I've already kissed Megumin. The taste was a little weird, but still, that was an Explosive Kiss…"
Kōichi's stomach churned again from listening to him. He hurriedly cut in.
"Enough, enough! Since Yunyun came to us for help, let's go see what this so-called Ultimate Weapon really is. If we're going to retire here, we need a peaceful place to do it, right?"
After following the winding path up the back mountain, which was covered in all kinds of chuunibyou graffiti like "The black dragon of my right hand is sealed here," the group finally arrived before an ancient ruin sealed by a massive metal gate.
Yunyun stood in front of the gate, took a deep breath, and her expression became more serious than ever.
She pushed up the nonexistent glasses on the bridge of her nose, pointed at the intricate patterns on the gate, and said, "This is actually the Crimson Demon Clan's greatest secret, the forbidden weapon sealed away by generations of village chiefs: the Magic Killer. It has only one purpose, to release special waves that forcibly neutralize all magical power over an extremely wide area. No matter how powerful the high-level magic, or how sacred the miracle, it will be extinguished instantly before it."
Kōichi's eyelid twitched violently as he listened, and he instinctively glanced at Aqua, who was waving her staff around beside him.
"Neutralizes magical power?" Kazuma Satou froze too. He rubbed his chin, and his usual perverted expression finally regained a rare trace of calm. "Hey, Kōichi, did you hear that? This thing is practically the Crimson Demon Clan's natural enemy! The Crimson Demon Clan may all be max-level monsters, but they're all Wizards, right? Once this thing activates, won't all those old guys and old ladies instantly turn into regular people who can only swing grocery baskets around?"
"I see." Kōichi nodded, sudden realization spreading across his face. "No wonder the Demon King's Army is targeting this place. If they get this Magic Killer, the Crimson Demon Village where people blow up fish at the village entrance all day will become the Demon King's Army's backyard. But…"
Kōichi looked around at the Crimson Demon Clan villagers strolling leisurely nearby. Some were even running stalls selling roasted sweet potatoes at the entrance of the ruins. He sighed helplessly.
"The Demon King's Army's idea sounds nice, but reality is harsh. Judging by how Sylvia ran away after getting scared by a single Fireball spell earlier, do they really think they can even make it into this room?"
Kazuma nodded deeply and patted Kōichi on the shoulder.
"You're right. This place's defenses are thicker than Aqua's skin. I say we stop worrying about the end of the world and hurry up and ask Yunyun whether there's a hot spring nearby that can wash away a certain smell."
Kōichi was just about to respond when his gaze casually swept over a hidden slope behind the side of the ruins.
Among the dense shrubs, something with a metallic gleam caught his eye.
"Is that… a telescope?"