[UGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]

I hold my head.
Ouch, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow
Uwah. What the hell is this!? Where’d this pain come from!? Even my left arm aches!?

Why is there an 『Overlord Call』 here? Even though I came to help, why am I receiving a mental attack from my allies? Me?

[Ni, Nii-sama?! Are you alright?!]
[……Leave me be for now…… More importantly, go support Garunga-san, Lizette. None of them can deal with the flying insects. But with Lizette’s magic, they should be vanquishable.]
[Ye, yes.]

At my instruction, Lizette breaks into a run.

Garunga-san and the villagers are giving their all fighting the enemy soldiers.

That’s fine and dandy…… but why are they going with the Overlord Call while they’re at it? Enough already! Don’t shout it!

[……Is that it? When I was bluffing against the Black Knight, Garunga-san and the others were nearby, too?]

So they heard my lines about the 『Aberrant Overlord』 and 『The mortal enemy of the Goddess who sits in heaven』?

Perhaps, Garunga-san and the others used my alias in order to encourage the villagers. In that case, Garunga-san did nothing wrong.
As for the villagers…… they’re crying out in order to raise their morale, so I suppose it can’t be helped.
In that case, for this mental trauma I was forced to bear…… with whom does the fault──

……………………….

……………

[I’ll never forgive you! 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』!]
[EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?]

What are you surprised about, you robed man!? All of you are to blame for everything! Had you people not attacked the village, this 『Overlord Call』 would have never happened to me!

[I’ll beat you up and make you spill everything about your cult. Then I’ll turn you over to 『Governor Kittle』!]
While still in my 『Dragonkin Awakening』 state, I start running.

The cult’s soldiers are fighting against the oni tribesmen and the villagers, while the insects are facing Lizette.

I have two enemies.
The man in the yellow robe and the man concealing his body with a dark mantle. 

[A, aaaaa. Wh, what should we do!? 『Doushi Glia Piller』-sama!?]
The robed man is frightened. He’s holding a sword, but he looks ready to escape. Apparently, that guy’s just a solicitor, not a combatant.

The mantled man says── 
「『Unusual power…… a worthy……. enemy.』」

Long gray hair hides his face while his limbs are thin and gnarled. His dark red cloak makes his body appear even bigger. Also, I sense a strange mana overflowing from his body.

[You feel similar to 『Black Knight Mesetrat』. Are you a servant of the 『Black Flame Emperor』 as well?]

The Black Knight Mesetrat used that power to occupy the 『Abandoned Castle』 and control lower-class mamono. If they are from the same group, then it isn’t strange for him to be doing the same to humans. 

[Insolent fool! For you to say that Doushi Glia Piller-sama is a servant of the 『Black Flame Emperor』, of all things!!]
The man in the yellow robe shouts.
[Doushi-sama and Daidoushi-sama have transcended humanity through the means of 『Black Magic』. The 『Black Flame Emperor’s』 legacy is only being put to effective use! With that as our guide, we shall overthrow the present Alicia and bring forth a new dynas── guh!]

The man in the robe is kicked from the side and blown away.

[Shouma-nii-sama! I’ve defeated the insects over there! Please allow me to fight with you!!]
Lizette’s silver hair flutters as she speaks.

The robed man seems to have been so absorbed in his speech, he didn’t notice that Lizette was approaching him.

[That was quick, Lizette.]
[With the sword that Nii-sama conferred onto Lizette, something like those insects are way, way, way too easy!]

Held within Lizette’s hand is the 『Super-hard Longsword』 that I enchanted. I look back and discover the dismantled and charred remains of the locusts behind her. Well then, so such things aren’t a match for Lizette?

On the other side, the oni tribesmen and the villagers formed an alliance are fighting against the cult’s soldiers.

The konbou of the oni tribesmen have all been 『enchanted』, and are being used to smash apart the soldiers’ weapons. With how things are going, leaving it to them should be alright.

[At long last, friendship has developed between the oni tribesmen and the neighboring village.]

Lizette and I form a line with our swords ready.

[Let’s defeat them so then at the very least the frontier can have peace.]
[Yes, but please be careful. This fellow…… is a high-ranking mamono.]
[So, just as I thought.]
[Whether he is a human who used too much 『Black Magic』 and was transformed, or a servant of the 『Black Flame Emperor』 that was summoned, I do not know. However, compared to ordinary mamono, Lizette suspects he is magnitudes stronger. Nii-sama will win easily, but be careful not to get hurt!]
[Your sworn brother isn’t that much of a cheat, okay!?]

Lizette and I break into a run.

[『──O, Swordbug. Come forth.]

Jakin.

As I get closer, 2 black sickles spring out from the 『Doushi’s』 mantle.

[『Oni-kin Awakening!』！　『Ogre Force』・Zwei!!]
I strike the black sickle with my 『enchanted』 longsword.

GAA. GIGIGIGIGIGIGIGII! GAGAA!!

With an unpleasant sound, the black sickle aiming for my neck breaks into two equal parts.

While using 『Holy Sword』 is easy…… that consumes too much mana. Should I use it outside the barrier, my 『King』’s mana would be exhausted in no time and all 『Enchantments』 will disappear. If I’m to use it, the condition is that it must definitely hit.

[Are you harmed, Lizette?]
[I’m alright──! 『Clair Flare』!!]

Fon.

The purifying flame born from Lizette’s hands burns the black sickle.

『GISHAAAAAAAAAAA!』

The body of the insect that reveals itself from the cloak── squirms as it screeches out. It’s an insect enclosed in a black carapace with a large sickle on its head…… a stag beetle.

[It is 100 years too early for a mamono to point its blade at Shouma-nii-sama!]
Lizette kicks off the ground and thrusts her long sword into the insect’s head.

『────GUA』

Zakun.

The giant stag beetle’s head is cleanly cut off and falls to the ground.

[So, that Doushi guy is── up there?]

I look up overhead. A giant locust is holding the enemy Doushi’s body. So, that guy can maneuver around in the air as well…. what a pain.

[The dynasty of 『Alicia』 established by the Dragon Emperor, it shall cease before long.]
『Doushi Glia Piller』 of the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』 speaks.

[As we have received the blessing of the black flame, the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』 shall usher in a new dynasty. We, the successor of the ancient emperor, a rightful dynasty──]
[Thanks for your cool speech. However, I’ve already graduated from that.]

I say.

[Answer me one thing. Is creating a new dynasty by means of black magic truly your intention?]
[Explaining the significance of our noble mission to ajin and an aberrant──]

The 『Doushi』 cries out as he flips open his black mantle.

[Or perhaps, your intention is to subdue people through the use of black magic for that Black Flame Emperor guy?]
[Pointless, pointless. There’s no worth in talking to ajin. None……]

The conversation is going nowhere. Well, not like I had any expectations, though. The man is a mamono, after all. 

[Perhaps…. He’s striving to increase the number of his comrades for the sake of the Black Flame Emperor.]
Lizette answers in his stead.

[The cult was gathering people, perhaps, it was a search for those with an aptitude for black magic. They would teach 『black magic』 to those suitable and make them powerful. Then, as their bodies and souls became tainted with black magic──]
[You mean to say they’d turn into mamono?]
[This 『Doushi』 was probably one of their advance force.]

I can tell by looking at the 『Doushi』 overhead. That guy’s body is gradually starting to merge with the locust. No matter how you look at it, he looks like a mamono── or rather, he looks like a creature out of a B-movie. 

[KIKAKAKAKAKAKA! We, the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』, have gained power in order to bring down this rotted dynasty. I’m not being used by black magic, I choose to use black magic── erah, erah erah erah erah erah erah.]
[Nii-sama need not trouble himself with a monster such as this! Lizette shall take it down!]

Lizette begins to run, kicks off a nearby tree, and jumps. With a beautiful sankaku-tobi[1], she swings her sword at the presently flying Doushi.

[『In the name of the Black Flame── Pierce.』
Suddenly, 『Doushi Glia Piller』 shouts out.

Appearing from that mantle──

[── Kya!]
[『Winged-kin Awakening』!!」]

Reflexively, I spread my wings and soar. I grab Lizette’s hand, and pull her slender body towards me.

Garin, such a noise occurs.

It is the sound of Lizette’s sword and a giant bee’s stinger scraping against each other.

[Are you alright, Lizette!?]
[Ye, yes. My apologies, Shouma-nii-sama!]

Entomancers are seriously annoying. So, this time it’s a bee?

---

[1] Sankaku-tobi, literally triangle leap, a karate technique

<Chapter 33.2
Chapter 34.2>