The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Black hair and red eyes.
A boy who looked about ten years old, with a small stature barely reaching chest height.
But.
"...You."
His red eyes gleamed with madness.
Just one step forward, and the overwhelming presence surrounding him seized the air.
Even without revealing his identity, everyone present instinctively realized that the boy before them was far from ordinary.
"Hehe! My name’s Seto!"
The boy smiled innocently and extended his hand toward me.
Hearing the name he revealed made my expression harden.
‘Seto, the Archbishop of Madness.’
One of the six demons who stand at the pinnacle of tens of thousands of demons.
And that monster was now standing right in front of me.
"...Everyone, get back!"
Professor Elisha stepped forward, crossing her arms.
Shhhiiiing!
Hundreds of silver threads shot from her fingertips.
Unlike during the earlier test, a purple aura now enveloped every single one of the silver threads.
The threads intertwined in mid-air as if they were alive, aiming straight for Seto.
And then.
"Hehe."
The boy smiled brightly and took a step forward.
RUMBLE!
The ground quaked violently.
A mass of blood-colored thorns erupted from the floor, ruthlessly cutting down all of the hundreds of silver threads.
“So, you’re the ‘Spider of the Cursed Eyes,’ huh?”
Seto squinted at Professor Elisha.
"Hmm."
Snap.
At a light snap of his fingers.
RUMBLE!
"Ugh!"
The thick, blood-red mist that seeped from the surrounding goo quickly enveloped Professor Elisha’s body.
She twisted desperately, but the mist that had wrapped around her body wouldn’t loosen its grip.
"I’m not interested in you."
Seto, who had subdued Professor Elisha in the blink of an eye, walked past her and approached me.
He leaned in close, his eyes sparkling like stars.
"I’m here to meet Dale."
"......"
'Here to meet me,' huh.
Why?
I’d never done anything to get involved with the Archbishop of Madness up until now.
As I tried to piece together how I ended up entangled with this demon, I shook my head.
'This isn’t the time to be questioning the reasons.'
Whatever the reason, the Archbishop of Madness had sought me out.
And now he was standing before me.
"Ugh... Dale! Run, now!"
Professor Elisha’s desperate shout rang in my ears.
I bit my lip as I glanced at Professor Elisha, still trapped in the red mist.
'Run?'
The opponent was the Archbishop of Madness.
In terms of raw strength, he ranked second among the six archbishops.
Even other archbishops avoided him, labeling him a monster among monsters.
There was no way I could easily escape from such a creature.
'And...'
I glanced at my party members.
"Ugh...!"
"Ngh..."
"I... I can’t breathe..."
Yuren, Iris, and Camilla were all struggling to even breathe under the overwhelming pressure radiating from Seto.
Among them, Yuren seemed to be in the best condition, but even he couldn’t move properly.
'Albert... he’s already passed out.'
I clenched my teeth as I looked down at Albert, who had collapsed on the ground, foam at his mouth.
Even if I could escape, I couldn’t leave my comrades behind.
I looked back at the Archbishop of Madness and clenched my fist.
'Can I win?'
I mentally replayed the scenario of fighting the Archbishop of Madness.
Though I had never fought him in my past life, I’d heard countless rumors about him.
'The Thunder God, Lionel Ryu, was killed by the Archbishop of Madness.'
No matter how much I’d grown recently, I couldn’t possibly defeat the Thunder God, currently ranked third among heroes.
Let alone someone who killed him—the Archbishop of Madness.
'Even if I ignite my power, I might be able to hold out for a while, but winning is impossible.'
If I could somehow enter the “avatar state” like I had when fighting Astaroth, I could crush the Archbishop of Madness with ease, but...
'I can’t just trigger that at will.'
I didn’t even know how I had entered that state last time.
There was no way I could bet my comrades' lives on such uncertainty.
'I have to find a way to resolve this without fighting.'
I wouldn’t even entertain such a thought if it were any other demon.
But this was the unpredictable Archbishop of Madness.
Maybe.
There might just be a way to get through this without fighting.
"So, what business do you have with me?"
I stood in front of my party members, blocking Seto’s path, and asked.
“Hehe, the reason I came to find you...”
Seto stuck his tongue out and licked his lips.
“I was just curious.”
“...Curious?”
“Yeah! I heard about you from Mephisto, and I got sooo curious! I wanted to see what kind of human you are!”
“......”
So he had infiltrated the hero academy’s exam site just out of curiosity?
I frowned at Seto, who was grinning cheerfully.
“But...”
Seto tilted his head and glanced at my party members behind me, letting out a sigh.
“Compared to what I expected, this is kinda disappointing.”
Seto’s face twisted into a slightly disheartened expression.
“So, you're just like the others, huh?”
“......”
“All those heroes, talking about protecting or saving their comrades—they're all so boring, without exception.”
Seto shook his head from side to side.
“Well, because of that, I'm actually looking forward to seeing your 'true self' even more.”
“True self?”
“Yep.”
Seto's red eyes gleamed as he grinned widely.
“The face you show when you're on the edge of death.”
He took a deep, excited breath, his voice trembling with anticipation.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Humans, no matter how much they try to dress themselves up, always become honest when faced with death.”
False justice.
Half-hearted convictions.
Pitiful morality.
All of it vanishes in that moment.
“I want to see that face of yours, Dale.”
Seto stared at me, his eyes glistening with madness.
“With that in mind, I’d like to propose a fun little game!”
“A game?”
“Yup!”
Seto pulled something out from inside his coat.
A small metal object, bent into an L-shape.
“...A gun?”
“Oh, right, you're from the Republic, aren’t you? Hehe. Then you must know what a gun is.”
It was a weapon that had once been used in the Republic but was abandoned because it was difficult to imbue with magic.
“This is called a revolver! See this little round hole here? You load bullets inside, and when you shoot—bang! The bullet fires.”
Seto's voice was lively, like a child proudly showing off a toy.
“Now, watch.”
He loaded a single bullet into the revolver, then spun the cylinder with a flick of his hand.
“Once you put a bullet in and spin it....”
Seto aimed the revolver at the wall and pulled the trigger.
Click.
A soft metallic sound echoed, followed by silence.
“Oh, the first shot’s a dud! Now, for the next one... drumroll please!!!”
He pulled the trigger again.
Bang!
With a sharp crack, a tiny bullet shot towards the wall.
And then—
Boom!!!
An enormous explosion reverberated, and a wave of crimson energy engulfed the surroundings.
“Yes! Bullseye!”
Seto clenched his fist and jumped up and down in place.
“...This thing.”
“Hehe. Cool, right? Normally, it's really tricky and annoying to imbue a bullet with mana, but because it’s me, I can do it like this!”
“......”
Of course, it went without saying that it was inefficient.
A demon of Seto's rank, a grand archbishop of madness, wouldn’t need to bother imbuing bullets with mana to unleash far more destructive power.
“So, what's the game you're suggesting?”
“The rules are simple.”
Seto loaded another bullet into the cylinder and spun it again.
Then, he pressed the barrel against his temple, grinning wickedly.
“Six rounds. Everyone here, including me, will take turns pulling the trigger against their head.”
Seto turned his gaze slowly around the room.
Professor Elisha, bound and shrouded in the crimson aura.
Iris, Yuren, and Camilla, frozen under the overwhelming pressure, barely able to breathe.
Albert, passed out with his eyes rolled back.
And me.
“Oh, looks like there’s one too many of us. Hmm... I guess we’ll leave out the unconscious guy and play with just the six of us!”
Seto smiled sweetly, shaking the revolver that was still pointed at his temple.
“If it clicks, you live... if the bullet fires, your head goes 'pop'!”
He waved his hand beside his head, mimicking an explosion.
“And then we keep playing, until there’s only one person left.”
Seto shook with laughter, his shoulders bouncing.
“Well? Doesn't it sound like fun just thinking about it?”
“Don't talk nonsense!”
Professor Elisha shouted fiercely.
“You really think we'd play such a ridiculous ga—ugh!”
“Shh.”
Seto grinned at me.
“Well? If the bullet fires on my turn, I’ll let the rest of you live.”
“......”
I narrowed my eyes.
“How do we decide the order?”
“Huh?”
“The order for shooting, how do we decide that?”
“Hahaha! Are you really going to play?”
Seto burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
“The order is up to whoever wants to go first. But....”
He pointed the revolver at his temple and made a “pow” sound with his mouth.
“The one who shoots gets to choose the next person. Of course, you can’t pick someone who’s already shot.”
“Is that so?”
I grabbed the revolver from Seto’s hand.
“Then I'll start.”
“Hmm. Are you shooting first because the odds are in your favor?”
Seto frowned, disappointed.
“This is getting boring, but whatever. I always keep my word.”
I raised the revolver to my temple and pulled the trigger.
Click.
A quiet metallic sound, followed by silence.
“The first round’s a dud.”
Seto grinned at me.
“Alright. Who’s next?”
Click.
“...Huh?”
Click.
“What are you doing?”
Click.
“Hurry up and pick the next person!”
Click.
After pulling the trigger five times in a row, I handed the revolver back to Seto.
“You’re next.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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