The Hero of Light Reiji and his party advanced toward Nargol.
Their aim was the Demon Kingâs castle.
The light of the stars shone upon the plain. They didnât see sunlight at all after they had passed Akeron Mountain, the boundary between Nargol and human territories.
Since there was no sun shining overhead, Nargol was considered the world of eternal darkness. Seeing the completely different sky reminded Chiyuki, one of the Heroâs party members, about how they were not on Earth anymore.
In place of the sun, there was the white moon of Orgis shining under the Nargol sky.
The Moon God Orgis and the Sun Goddess Mina were the parents of the gods of light.
And the Demon King Modes who ruled over this region was the God of Darkness who had no blood relationship with the Sun Goddess.
That might be the reason for Nargolâs eternal night.
ăJust a bit more, Chiyuki-senpai.ă
Rino seemed to be enjoying herself. As she danced around the party, her twin tails moved along with her.
As far as she knew, Rino had been a model back in Japan. She had aimed to become an idol who both sang and danced, hence why she was so skilled at dancing.
(Havenât the people of this world started to call her the Goddess of Dancing nowadays?ïŒ
Wherever she went, Rino always became the center of attention. That was because she always strolled everywhere while dancing.
The only problem was her affinity for miniskirts.
Because of it, many men stared at her with indecent looks on their faces.
Chiyuki tried talking to her about it but Rino just shrugged it off. She told Chiyuki she was used to it, so she didnât mind. After all, a model would have to get used to that kind of gaze if they wanted to work.
The ever serious Chiyuki would never be able to get used to such gazes.
ăYeah, itâs just a bit more, Rino-san.ă
Just a bit more and they should arrive at the Demon Kingâs Palace.
As long as they defeated the Demon King Modes, then their journey would end. Theyâd be able to return to their world.
ăYeah, this hard journey will end. Sorry girls, Iâve been dragging you along for so long.ă
Reiji had been walking on the frontmost formation when he suddenly turned around and then apologized to the girls.
The only one who was supposed to be summoned to this world as a Hero was Reiji. Chiyuki and the other girls just happened to be around him.
ăYeah, but itâs a memorable adventure.ă
Reiji laughed at Chiyukiâs remark.
ăThatâs right. This adventure was truly memorable.ă
Chiyuki was enjoying their experience in this world. It was all thanks to Reiji being summoned as the Hero of LightâŠ
To be exact, everyone who was summoned along with Reiji was enjoying their adventure in this world.
Chiyuki and the others were summoned around a year ago by the woman called Goddess Arlena. The very same goddess who requested Chiyuki and the others to defeat the Demon King.
It was such a manga-like development and Chiyuki was dissatisfied with that.
Rena had practically kidnapped them. And she couldnât forgive her for that. Their disappearance probably caused an uproar in Japan.
On top of it all, Rena told them that she couldnât send them back to their original world.
But, since the one who made the request was a beauty, Reiji readily accepted Renaâs request to subjugate the Demon King.
As a result, the other girls were involved in Renaâs request, too.
But the one who was most disgruntled about the entire situation was Chiyuki. Reiji, Nao, and Rino rejoiced knowing they had been summoned into a game-like world.
Sahoko and Shirone were bewildered at first but they also eventually accepted the situation.
Chiyuki only reluctantly accepted the situation after Rena said that it was possible to send them back to the same day they had been summoned to this world.
Thus, she didnât worry anymore about staying in this world for a while.
That was how their adventures began.
At first, she had been anxious. After all, there was a Demon King. His existence implied to her that they were in a dangerous world.
But her anxiety turned out to be for nothing.
She discovered that after coming to this world, they all became extremely powerful.
The first thing she noticed was how their physical strength raised to an alarming degree. It was as if they had turned into Superman.
The increase of their physical strength in this world was relative to their physical strength back in their world.
She knew that because Reijiâs and Naoâs physical strengths were the highest amongst them, and they became even higher after they came to this world.
Even Sahoko, the weakest amongst them, could easily send several adult males of this world flying.
Another thing bestowed upon them in this world was magic.
According to Chiyukiâs investigation, it seemed that only a handful of humans in this world could use magic.
Chiyuki, on the other hand, could use ALL KINDS OF MAGIC. Moreover, she could use up to the highest level of magic, which was impossible for the humans of this world.
According to Rena, Chiyuki and co had the same amount of magic power as those of the Divine race, the most powerful race in this world.
Chiyuki and co were unaware of magic because there was no magic back on Earth. Even if it did exist, they simply werenât aware of its existence.
There were different specializations in magic.
For example, Chiyuki. Her spirit magic wasnât as powerful as Rinoâs and her healing magic was less effective than Sahokoâs.
But both Sahoko and Rino couldnât use teleportation magic like Chiyuki.
The reason for that was a mystery even for Chiyuki.
According to Nao, who was well versed in games, Rino was a Spirit type magician while Sahoko was a Healing type magician. And Chiyuki was a magician of the Magic Power type.
She couldnât understand the reason why they had such power after being summoned.
There was one thing she was sure about: they became one of the strongest people in the world.
Especially Reiji. His combat ability was simply too terrifying. Even if the girls ganged up on him, they still wouldnât win.
According to Rena, Reijiâs combat prowess could rival that of Oudis, the King of the Gods of Light.
They reached this far without a hitch mainly because of Reijiâs combat prowess. It saved the girls from many dire situations.
In the end, they enjoyed their adventure to the fullest. Before they noticed, it had already been one year since they were summoned to this world.
And their adventure was about to end.
Recalling the memories up until that moment made Chiyuki feel they should have been a bit greedier.
She wondered if they should as for some sort of compensation before they were sent back to their world. There was no reward waiting for them upon completing the Goddessâs request since Reiji agreed to it by himself.
But they might be able to ask for some reparations for kidnapping them.
Chiyuki sighed, resigned.
She already knew Reiji would veto that suggestion.
In her opinion, Reiji should divert some of his kindness toward the male population. But the person in question wasnât very keen on doing that.
According to him, men should solve their problems by themselves.
But in Chiyukiâs eyes, the ones saved by Reiji were only cute girls.
Though it might be just her imagination.
ăLo~ok, thatâs the Demon Kingâs castle.ă
Nao returned from scouting.
She had been the ace of the Track and Field club back in their high school. Her physical abilities were on par with Reiji.
Although she was famous as a feral child at the school, after getting along with her for a while Chiyuki knew she was, in fact, an adorable girl.
In a game, Naoâs job would have been either thief or ranger, since her best ability was scouting.
ăHow was the situation there, Nao-san?ă
ăU~hn⊠No traps or soldiers are waiting for us there. I think itâs safe to enter the castle.ă
ăThatâs strange. Isnât that castle supposedly the Demon Kingâs last stronghold? ă
ăAre they staying inside since theyâre too scared to fight us? ă
Rino had an optimistic tone.
Shirone, unlike her, wasnât so sure.
ăOr maybe thereâs no one left to protect the Demon King anymore? I mean, we just defeated the ones who called themselves the Chivalric Order of Dark Knights the other day. Maybe they were the last onesâŠă
Shironeâs family ran a dojo, and she was a swordswoman.
She was already one of the strongest swordswomen in this world and if the combat didnât involve magic, she was the most powerful member after Reiji.
Chiyuki had seen Shirone fight before and she felt like Shironeâs ponytail danced along with its ownerâs every movement.
As a swordswoman, Shirone wore light armor for ease of movement. Reiji had recommended her to wear bikini armor, but that idea was rejected by Shirone.
The Order of Dark Knights that Shirone mentioned was the opponent they fought four days ago.
Since Reiji wasnât with them at that time, Chiyuki and co had been on the verge of being defeated by the Order.
The one called Runfeld, who announced himself as the leader of the Order of Dark Knights, had swordsmanship on par with Shirone and magic prowess on par with Chiyuki.
But Reiji noticed Chiyuki and coâs crisis and came running to save the day. He managed to turn the tables and Runfeld barely escaped with his life.
That was the event that killed almost all the members of the Order of Dark Knights. Only a few of them survived Reijiâs onslaught.
ăI think it would be great if there was no one there butâŠă
Sahoko was the one who hated disputes the most out of everyone in the party. She excelled in healing magic and went around healing sick or injured people during her free time.
Chiyuki even knew that people began to refer to her as a Saint nowadays.
ăI agree. Itâll be for the best if no one is there since taking care of the small fries was rather tiresome.ă
Chiyuki had the same opinion as Sahoko.
ăWell, weâll know when we arrive. Letâs get going.ă
ăăOOH!ăă
Rino and Nao yelled in unison.
Thus, Chiyuki and co went toward the Demon Kingâs palace. It took them a few minutes to arrive, but they finally reached the giant palace.
ăThe heck? Itâs huge.ă
Rino stared at the giant structure in front of them.
Even Chiyuki had to agree that she was right. It was far bigger than any human city that Chiyuki had known so far.
The giant black palace floated in the middle of a giant lake that reflected the starry skies. It made the palace look like the embodiment of the night itself.
They advanced along the bridge towards a giant gate. The bridge was massive enough to support even the weight of Giants.
No one was stationed along the bridge.
Chiyuki was puzzled by the situation.
ăThereâs no one else⊠Maybe theyâre hiding inside the palace? Itâs simply too quiet. No oneâs stationed here, not even on the lookout on top of the rampart. Whatâs the meaning of this? ă
ăNo⊠Wait a minute, Chiyuki-san! I saw a person! ă