First Encounter
Waking up at the start of a Journey is not all that strange.
The Captain meets his Journey member... and together they endure and overcome hardship.
That is the rite known as the Journey, undertaken to inherit the power of the Star Savior and protect the world.
But waking upon land buried in ash, beset by a loneliness that felt like I was standing within a void...
It made me suspect this place was not a beginning, but an end.
Where am I...?
...Oh ho.
Still alive? You're more stubborn than I expected.
Then again, a fledgling who cannot even manage himself dared to waste a Demon Lord's time...
If you do not intend to die pathetically, struggle properly.
A Demon... Lord?
The unease stirred by the unfamiliar word was soon swallowed by a sinister presence sweeping across the barren land.
I realized it then. Though the voice echoed faintly and the figure remained indistinct, what the being spoke was unmistakably true.
Ahaha! Your broken state is inferior even to the Junk Metal's discarded playthings.
But no amount of clowning about will change anything now.
Since I have prepared a stage at such effort, your pitiful death throes should at least serve as the melody.
The Journey...
Did I fail it...?
Whatever theme your story carries, it has nothing to do with me.
Still, if you are to be my actor...
She raised a blade brimming with killing intent, her face utterly devoid of expression.
As I watched that sight...
Sensing this was the end, I closed my eyes.
At the very least, such a wretched script will not do.
Captain.
...Captain?
...Huh?
Wake up, Captain!
W-what do we do?! He suddenly stopped responding! Is the Captain dead?!
Ahh, Saintess Muriel... You have finally chosen slaughter and begun your march toward damnation...
The Order will now burn you as an example of a fallen saintess.
Once they do, I'll scatter your remaining ashes into NOA's rivers to console the Captain's soul!
No! I just found him like this on my way! I've been trying to wake him up!
I mean, I did panic a bit and slapped him here and there, but...
I couldn't help it! The summoning circle here was glowing ominously!
As the commotion brought me back to my senses, my body felt unbearably heavy due to the lingering nightmare.
I'd been conducting a solo investigation into the magic circle the Monolith Order claimed to have secured...
It seemed like I lost consciousness during the process.
Captain? You really are unconscious, right?
Then...
Muriel cautiously approached and began dragging me off somewhere.
Seeing her so eager to help me, it hit me that despite her antics, Muriel was still a devoted saintess after—
Alright.
Since it's come to this, I'll use the Captain for summoning magic too!
Hey!!
H-huh? Captain? If you were awake, you should've said something!
Do you know how worried I was, thinking you were dead?!
...
...
I'll give you ten seconds.
Explain yourself.
Ah, well... um.
S-Saintess Muriel. What should we do?
This summoning circle the Order secured... One that calls forth a special being...
And your insane plan to offer the Captain as a sacrifice to obtain a powerful familiar...
It's all been exposed!!
I wasn't planning to go that far, you know?!
Hey, Captain? Just hear me out.
You know how the more you donate, the more "sincere" your prayers seem in the Order, right?
Surely Lord Gaph would be more moved seeing an outsider show devotion instead of just the usual believers...
So I thought if I prayed together with you, Captain... Yeah! Maybe we'd get a higher-grade familiar?
Oh...
I stood up and put some distance between us.
Then... I sprinted straight for the exit!
Stoooop—!!
H-hey! What are you doing?! Let go of me!
Elisa, help me! If the Order finds out we tried to use the summoning circle without permission, we'll be demoted!!
Y-yes! Saintess Muriel!!
You knew it was wrong and still did it?!
Muriel and Elisa desperately grabbed my arms and legs to stop me!
To keep my balance, I drove the Star Piercer into the ground and...
...Huh?
At that moment, the magic circle where the blade was stuck began to emit an overwhelming light.
Aaaagh!!
I thought the Journey would end before it even began, but...
This is... the Astro Sanctum?
Fortunately, you do not appear to be injured.
I'm relieved you are safe, Captain.
Alicia?
What happened?
A witch's petty trick, nothing more.
I was privately investigating the magic circle the Order recently secured...
When I realized a Tyrant beyond the dimension was observing Lavistar through it.
Thanks to that, I was able to evacuate everyone at the site before it was too late.
A Tyrant?
It would be more fitting to call her a Demon Lord. One with enough power to bring about the world's end.
Even for an extracosmic being, intervening in a world from a different timeline requires strict conditions.
However, when you embedded the Star Piercer into the magic circle...
It became a signpost that fixed Lavistar's timeline.
The Demon Lord used it to melt the dimensional rift to descend, leaving a [tear] upon this world.
If we do not address the cause, that festering [tear] will consume all of Lavistar.
I dropped to my knees and rested both hands neatly on them.
...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.
The chains of causality inevitably pull toward one another. The Demon Lord's descent could not be avoided.
What we can do is take the [tear] born from the power of the Star Savior and the Demon Lord...
And undo it by leveraging the very power that caused it.
Hmm...
Fufu. Simply put, we incorporate the Demon Lord's power into the rite known as the Journey.
You mean, involving the Demon Lord in the Journey?
Yes. Demon Lords are transcendent beings born from [The Law of Creating a World].
Among them, the Demon Lord known as the Ashbringer, also known as the Tyrant of the North...
She will be your new Journey member.
Ah-ha.
Can I take leave starting today?
Regrettably, the Demon Lord has already identified your existence through the Star Piercer.
Attempting to flee would only provoke her further.
So I'm on her radar?
Yes. Without a doubt.
Is that not so, Demon Lord?
Haha! As expected of witches. Your wits are serviceable enough.
Still, there is one thing I should amend.
No matter what you try, running from me is impossible.
And those titles... Ashbringer, Tyrant of Ashes? They are both quite cumbersome.
Since you chose not to run, you deserve a reward...
Very well. I shall allow you to call me the wise and exalted Demon Lord, Rosaria.
The chilling presence was a young girl—far smaller, and far more fragile-looking than I had expected.
The Demon Lord, Rosaria, descended through the Astro Sanctum with deliberate grace...
...Mm?
Upon realizing her eye level had dropped below Alicia's, she promptly rose higher into the air.
...And that was after she had already stretched herself to look taller.
Consider it an honor to speak my name, fledglings.
Bow, praise me, and engrave my existence upon your mind.
...Didn't you just come down and then float back up?
Standing makes my legs ache, and sitting requires a chair.
Unfortunately, I recalled that my cherished chair was incinerated while crossing dimensions...
So I merely brushed away the soil for my dignity.
You didn't need to float that high, though.
Enough! If I say so, then that is how it is! Do not question me!
Despite the weight carried by her title, she felt more like a willful child.
In many ways... was it really possible for someone like her to be part of the Journey?
First Observer Alicia Lemegeton.
On behalf of the Nebula Observation Agency, NOA, I formally offer you the Journey, Demon Lord.
She said it outright!
Journey...? And what is that supposed to be?
You wish for a Demon Lord's cooperation to protect the world...
Even fools who mistook me for a god never made such a ridiculous request.
Then... can we assume you'll participate in the Journey?
Very well. I happen to enjoy the particularly and refreshingly insane.
With that, Rosaria sat upon the air, crossing her legs and extending one foot toward me.
...Huh?
Ahaha! You have been captivated by my beauty, have you not?
I understand what it's like to gaze upon a beautiful flower, so I shall lower myself to your level this once.
Come. Kiss my foot and show your reverence, mortal.
Do so, and I shall bestow upon you authority for the Journey.
Ooh...! You can do that?
Of course. Though your stay at my side will be brief, you should at least have rights befitting it.
To be consumed by wild desire, just to entangle yourself in twisted and forbidden affairs with women...
...Huh?
To incite jealousy among countless women and become the center of a messy love drama.
Is that not the finest "journey" a man could ask for?
What do you even think the Journey is?!
Ahahahaha!!
Where will this Journey with the utterly unpredictable Demon Lord lead?
At the very least, there was no way to tell today.
...Let's hang in there.