He suddenly realized he didn’t know where he was.

But Shinichi Sotoyama wasn’t easily shaken by strange events. He was

seventeen years old and in his second year of high school, where he wasn’t an

active member of any clubs. He did well in the sciences and just okay in the

humanities. He was perfectly average.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true: He was average in all things, except his

courage. Unlike most people, he could always keep his composure. In fact,

when a car hit him in the fourth grade, Shinichi didn’t seem bothered at all by

his broken left arm. Onlookers screamed and shouted, but he just calmly

pulled out his cell phone with his right hand to call for the police and an

ambulance.

Justifiably exasperated, his father had asked him, “You’ve got a few

screws loose, don’t you?”

Here was his latest predicament: He’d been riding the train, only to

teleport (the only probable explanation) to some fantastical place. He now

stood in a massive hall carved from stone, with a magic circle drawn on the

floor.

But Shinichi had taken this absurd phenomenon in stride.

There’s no way something like a manga would happen in real life, right?

Now, however, he had on an uncharacteristically cold expression, and

unlike his usual cool self, he was sweating bullets.

“…!”

He was so focused on keeping himself from shaking, he forgot to blink.

He just stared straight ahead.

A colossal figure towered over him.

Shinichi quickly estimated the brute was over ten feet tall, twice his own

height, with arms and legs thicker than tree trunks. His core muscles wrappedaround his body like the armor of a tank, and as if to cockily suggest any

actual armor was unnecessary, he wore only a loincloth and cloak. All this

gave the imposing specimen the appearance of some ancient Spartan warrior

or the physical manifestation of raw, furious force.

Facing each other, they must have looked like a kindergartner squaring off

with a sumo champion or an elementary school student being attacked by a

grizzly bear.

That alone would’ve been plenty to give Shinichi pause, but the

strangeness didn’t stop there. This behemoth of a man had deep blue skin and

two massive horns sprouting from his head. He was clearly some kind of

monster—and most definitely not human.

There was absolutely no way Shinichi could defeat him.

On top of it all, the displaced high schooler was terrified to the very core

of his being by an invisible force around him.

“Hmm…”

As if to examine something, the giant bent down toward Shinichi. The air

around Shinichi trembled before pounding into him, wave after wave, as if in

a storm at sea. It might’ve been the aftershock of the creature’s magical or

supernatural powers, and Shinichi realized this monstrous, massive man

wasn’t simply a beast of incredible physical strength: He was a weapon of

mass destruction in humanoid form, a collection of massive energy,

overwhelming his surroundings in one short breath.

There’s just no way. I’m just as good as dead.

There was nothing he could do. He’d clearly never been in a fight before

and was obviously at a disadvantage in terms of strength, so combat was out

of the question. If he turned his back to escape, this monster would surely

pounce on top of him.

All Shinichi could do was sigh, knowing his life was over.

Huh, dying at seventeen. Well, I guess it wasn’t a bad life, but I kind of

wish I wasn’t dying a **.

Shinichi was too scared to beg for his life. Instead, he began wondering

what the giant thought of him—just standing there, trembling, silent, and

staring back.

Menacingly, the gargantuan figure slowly walked up to him and swung

his trunk-like arms for his finishing move…

Then he groveled so violently in front of Shinichi that the groundrumbled.

“Please save us, young man!” pleaded the giant with ardent desperation.

“Uh…what?” replied Shinichi.

“Please! I can grant you anything your heart desires! Please use your

wisdom to do something!”

“Um? Uh?”

“Those disgusting humans keep taking advantage of my daughter’s

kindness—!”

“Wait! Calm down!” shouted Shinichi.

The monster’s angry howls blasted out of his open mouth like a typhoon,

forcing Shinichi to cling to the ground to prevent himself from being blown

away.

“Oh, how often I’ve considered just slaughtering them all! Wait! It’s not

too late—”

“Daddy, please calm down.” A bell-like voice rang out behind the titan’s

epic stature just as Shinichi’s hands were about to give.

Instantly, the wind died down. The air stood so still it was hard to believe

it had blown with such intensity a moment before. It was the same with the

creature’s face: It was no longer contorted in rage and softened to let out a

smile overflowing with joy.

“Oh, my beloved Rino! You’re still just as dazzling as the blue sun!”

exclaimed the giant.

A young girl peeked out from behind him. She looked only about ten

years old, though she wore an exquisite, extravagant dress. Everything about

her was enchanting: Her hair was a lustrous jet black, her skin as white as

snow, her eyes the color of rubies. In fact, she was so bewitching, Shinichi

found himself staring at her, even though he had no predisposition toward

little girls.

“Daddy, this isn’t the time for that,” she said to the behemoth (who was

apparently her father, despite bearing no resemblance). He held her closely in

a big bear hug, cradling her small body against his cheek.

She pushed him away.

“What…? Do you hate your daddy?!” The monster reacted in shock, but

the girl didn’t seem to notice—or care. She walked up to Shinichi and

delicately gathered her skirts to make an elegant curtsy.

“I’m glad to make your acquaintance. My name is Rinoladell KrolowPetrara, but please call me Rino,” she said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shinichi Sotoyama: first name,

Shinichi, last name, Sotoyama.”

“Shinichi… That sounds a little weird. You really must be from another

world…,” remarked Rino, mulling it over. She smiled sweetly at him,

charming him for a moment, but her father radiated such a murderous rage

that he hurriedly put together a stern expression.

“So this really isn’t Earth?” he asked.

“I don’t know where this Earth is, but this world is called Obum,” she

clarified.

“And you used some sort of magic to summon me here?”

“Yup, that’s right! Daddy hoped you’d be able to help us,” explained the

girl, nodding as she answered his questions. She turned back to her father.

“Daddy, it’s rude if you don’t introduce yourself.”

“…You bastard, ignoring me while you ingratiate yourself with my

daughter! I swear, I’m going to incinerate you, burn you to ashes…,” growled

the giant.

“Daddy! I really don’t like it when people can’t even introduce

themselves!”

“Yes! Welcome, wise one from another world! I am the great and terrible

Blue Demon King, Ludabite Krolow Semah!” he boomed, delivering his

name with regal pride and pomposity. The grand reveal fell a little flat,

though, seeing as he only did it to avoid upsetting his daughter.

“…Thank you, Demon King. I am Shinichi Sotoyama,” said Shinichi,

doing his best to give a stiff reply. He was no longer afraid of imminent

death. He was more disturbed by the strange situation in front of him.

The Demon King nodded in satisfaction at Shinichi’s deeply bowed head.

“Would you look at that! The boy knows his manners. He’s pretty sharp,

too. You’re completely different from the previous pathetic, filth-spewing

insect.”

“Previous?” asked Shinichi without thinking.

“Yes,” answered Rino with a pained look on her face. “You’re actually

the second person we summoned from another world. The first wasn’t, well,

quite as calm as you are…”

“He wet himself the moment he saw me, started sobbing, shouted

meaningless drivel, writhed and wriggled all on his own, and then died,”interjected the Demon King.

The poor thing probably had a heart attack. One look at the Demon King

could certainly have that effect. All things considered, it wasn’t surprising

that’s how it ended.

“That person— No, you know what? Never mind,” Shinichi said. He was

going to ask what happened to the corpse. When he realized they might say

they feasted off his body so it wouldn’t go to waste, he got flustered and shut

his mouth.

Rino seemed to read Shinichi’s thoughts and started to explain. “Shinichi,

please don’t misunderstand. The first boy—”

“Pardon the interruption, Your Highness, Lady Rino.” As the massive

door creaked open, a voice intruded. A single maid with dark brown skin and

silver hair walked in. Her ears were long and pointed, resembling those of a

dark elf, but she was undoubtedly drop-dead gorgeous.

“…Celestia, what is it?” The Demon King was impatient, but sensed he

needed to deal with an urgent matter.

Under the King’s visibly vexed stare, the maid calmly reported, “They are

here again.”

“Again, those disgusting maggots, graah!” he shouted, letting out an

earsplitting bark. A scorching blast of air whipped around, heated by the

King’s fury. “I’m done with them! I’ve called upon the wise one for this, but

it was all in vain, as I will use my own hands to kill them—”

“Daddy! Please calm down! Please don’t do anything awful!” Rino cried

in an attempt to soothe her enraged father. She tried wrapping her arms

around one of his legs, but it was too thick. As she held on to him, though,

the bloodthirsty rage flickered from his eyes, and he tenderly stroked his

daughter’s hair.

“You’re right. I’m the most fortunate man in the demon world to have the

most wonderful child in the world, my beloved Rino.”

“And I’m so glad to be the daughter of such a kind daddy,” she responded

sweetly.

The Demon King chuckled. “Oh, don’t flatter me like that! Daddy just

might get so excited he blows away the red sun!”

“……”

Shinichi was bored by their excessive display of affection, but the maid

seemed used to their interactions and called out to the King“Your Highness, I regret to disturb such a beautiful moment, but you must

be on your way to the southern lands.”

“Oh, of course. I’ll make those maggots pay for ruining this tender

exchange between father and child!” he said as he placed an unimaginably

massive hand on Shinichi’s shoulder. “Perfect timing. If you would be so

kind as to accompany me, I shall show you the reason why I summoned

you.”

“What? What’s that sup—,” Shinichi tried to say, but a disorienting,

floating sensation overwhelmed him from speaking any further. Before he

could blink, they moved from the great hall to a grass field squeezed between

some mountains.

“Did we teleport? Amazing…,” said Shinichi. Having come into this

world using teleportation, he felt a little silly commenting on it now, but he

couldn’t help himself. He was awestruck by these magical phenomena.

He would soon realize he didn’t have much time to soak it all in.

“Scorching flames ignite! Fireball!”

Just as Shinichi heard a woman’s voice call out in the distance, his ears

started ringing from the sound of an explosion.

“Wha…?”

His field of vision suddenly filled with a flash of crimson light, followed

by the sensation of hot winds, carrying the nauseating smell of burned flesh

and making him want to vomit.

A feeling of dread filled him, but he reflexively looked toward the source.

“Is that…a minotaur?”

He saw the bull-headed humanoid standing a few hundred feet from them.

The minotaur seemed to have sustained damage from the explosion. His

entire body was burned raw and red, and white smoke rose from his body as

he collapsed onto the ground.

“I—I can still fight, moo…!” The bull-headed beast attempted to stand. It

was a mystery how he still lived despite his injuries.

But before he could get on his feet, a blade swung down and callously

severed his head from his body.

“Dammit, that one was stubborn,” cursed a man clad entirely in full plate

mail as blood dripped from his sword. He had the appearance of a human

knight. Behind him, Shinichi could see there was a male warrior wielding an

ax, a male ranger carrying a bow, a priestess swinging a mace, and asorceress holding a twisted wand.

“These are…,” Shinichi began.

“These are the maggots who have laid waste to my people,” the Demon

King spitefully finished before disappearing from Shinichi’s side and

reappearing in front of the knight and his party.

“You come again and again and refuse to give up, you maggots. I assume

you’re prepared for what’s to come.”

“Ah, let’s go everyone!” the knight called. For a brief moment, he seemed

to show fear under the Demon King’s death glare but immediately regained

his composure.

The five attacked at once.

“Slicing Gale Blade! Hyah!”

“Destruction Ax!”

“Three-Shot Burst!”

“Divine Goddess, grant me an iron hammer of justice against evil!

Force!”

“Scorching flames ignite! Fireball!”

For a moment, the Demon King’s body disappeared beneath the rapid

movement of slashing swords, swinging axes, three arrows, an invisible

force, and a sphere of flames deployed by the battle party.

“Yeah! We got him!” A satisfied grin appeared on the knight’s face, as he

was certain there was no way the Demon King could’ve sustained all those

powerful attacks and still be standing.

But from his position, Shinichi could see otherwise. The knight spoke too

soon. To the almighty King, their attacks were as ineffective as a mosquito

bite.

“Is that all?” he boomed as the flames began clearing. The smoke blew

away to reveal his face, with an expression far surpassing anger, and his

completely uninjured body. “And to think you actually had me… Begone,

pathetic pests!” He raised his right hand, closed into a fist as if to crush an

apple.

In that moment, the ranger’s body twisted and burst into pieces.

“Gaah…!”

His blood, sinew, and brain tissue sprayed out in a disgustingly dazzling

display of fireworks. Shinichi grimaced at the sight, but the Demon King’s

enemies didn’t seem shaken by their companion’s death at all.“Press your attacks! Don’t let him use his magic!”

“Hyah!” roared the warrior next as he swung his ax at the colossal figure

and finally landed a hit. But to the Demon King, the attack was as gentle as a

baby’s hand reaching up to slap him in the face. After all, his body was pure

muscle, further reinforced with an inordinate amount of magical power.

“That doesn’t even itch,” he said smugly as the ax deflected off his

muscular chest. He balled both of his hands together, slamming them onto the

fighter’s head.

The warrior’s substantial six-and-a-half-foot frame flattened to the

thickness of a plank.

“Ha-ha-ha, is this a cartoon…?” Shinichi was so beyond horrified at this

excessive display of violence that he could only laugh. Far away, the knight’s

party refused to run, continuing to launch attacks at the Demon King.

“Don’t falter! Charge!”

“Hyah! Force!”

“Fireball!”

“…Maggots.” Apathetic, the Demon King didn’t attempt to dodge their

moves.

The party was full of one-trick ponies using the same attacks. He

entertained them a bit by withstanding all of them, then swung his right hand

up to activate his first spell of the battle.

“Flames that flicker in the heart of the world, remove this filth! Blue

Raging Flare!”

Hotter than red flames, more luminous than white, blue hellfire erupted

from the ground. It was so bright it almost blinded Shinichi and

indiscriminately scorched the entire battlefield.

“Are you trying to kill me?” shouted Shinichi. Though he stood far away,

the air was hot enough to burn his skin, and he readied himself for death

again.

A wall of light suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the scorching

gale.

“A barrier…?” he whispered in wonder.

“They really are a foolish lot,” the dark-skinned, silver-haired maid

remarked sharply, standing beside Shinichi, who was stiff from fear.

“Uh, Celestia, right?” he asked.

“You may call me Celes, Lord Shinichi,” she replied.“Oh, okay. Thank you for saving me, Celes,” said Shinichi, hesitantly

expressing his gratitude and extending his hand. Celes glared at it

suspiciously.

“What do you think you’re doing? Do you intend to grope my *** and use

that memory to pleasure yourself later? Disgusting,” she spat.

“It’s disgusting you’d assume that!” Shinichi protested before realizing

the misunderstanding.

Is it not customary to shake hands here? Well, I guess we’re in a different

world. I mean, she’s not even human.

Shinichi retracted his hand, conscious yet again that he was in a

completely foreign world. With that, the slaughter—it’d be wrong to call it a

“battle”—was over, and the Demon King returned to the two, looking just a

little triumphant.

“Celestia, I leave the rest to you. I’ll be returning to the castle.”

“Understood, Your Highness.” Celes bowed deeply before advancing into

the field, circumventing the land that had melted into glass under the extreme

heat.

Shinichi was finally composed enough to look around. He noticed a

number of corpses scattered across the field: The knight’s party had killed

more than just the bull-headed beast from before.

“So this is what a battle is like…”

Kill or be killed.

There was no justice nor morals. The strongest was the one left standing.

The only rule was survival of the fittest. As he realized this, Shinichi felt

neither fear nor revulsion. Perhaps it was because the reality of the situation

had yet to hit him. He still couldn’t process being summoned to another

world or seeing the King’s absurdly overabundant display of power.

And yet, five strangers were now dead. That was the only certainty he

knew.

The Demon King let out a bored huff when he saw Shinichi’s concerned

expression.

“Humph, calling this a ‘battle’ is an affront to the name of the Blue

Demon King. Playtime’s over,” he grumbled.

“That was play for you…?”

If this behemoth fully unleashed his power, the ground would certainly

break into two, and the sky would surely tear. It might even look like thosepaintings of Judgment Day when all hell broke loose.

This was why Shinichi’s question came up again.

“Why’d you summon me of all people?” he asked. He just couldn’t figure

out why this tremendously terrifying beast would need the help of a puny,

little high schooler so badly he’d get down on his knees and beg.

But the Demon King simply waved Shinichi’s query off.

“I’m tired today. We shall speak more tomorrow.”

What he had in power, he certainly lacked in responsibility.

“Wow, and to think you’re the King…”

“Silence! Today, I get to bathe with my daughter and read her a book

before bedtime!”

“Wait, isn’t that a crime?! Rino’s too old for that! (I think?) Geez, cut the

cord already!”

“Be quiet, be quiet! She always said she was ‘gonna marry Daddy’! Yes,

it’s fine!”

“How many years ago was that?!” In the face of such unhealthy parental

attachment, Shinichi forgot formality and lashed out at the Demon King with

an impolite retort.

The Demon King didn’t respond. Instead, he placed his hands on

Shinichi’s shoulders and activated his teleportation magic. In that split

second, as they teleported off the blood-soaked battlefield, Shinichi suddenly

felt like something was off.

Wait. Were two of the men’s bodies missing?

The bodies of the first two killed—the ranger and the warrior—had

disappeared from the battlefield. Shinichi wondered if they’d been obliterated

by the blue flames, but he didn’t dwell on it too much and quickly forgot all

about it.

“Good morning, Lord Shinichi.”

Most boys only dreamed of being woken up by a busty, tan, silver-haired

beauty in a maid outfit, so Shinichi made sure to soak in this precious

moment, even though he was feeling low.