Chapter 33: Flame Wolf King

After a while, they naturally parted from each other. As they stepped back, Kazuya spoke.

“I like you, Miki.”

“Yeah… I like you too.”

Letting her guard down, Miki responded with her true feelings before she even realized it. It had long been obvious—an open secret at this point—but she had never actually said it aloud.

She instinctively brought her hand to her mouth, but it was too late. Kazuya looked surprised, too.

Oh, come on! What’s said is said! It’s not like it’s a lie! He already knew anyway!

“Huh? Miki?”

“Ah! Um! …Ahem, I like you too, Kazuya. I’m sure you’ve sensed it already. But! I want you to give me a proper confession. I want to respond properly. So, like you said before—let’s wait until after we defeat the Demon King.”

She hastily came up with an excuse on the spot.

Maybe that’s just barely acceptable… or maybe it’s already too late since she confessed anyway. Still, at least their goal of defeating the Demon King wouldn’t get derailed by this.

And having said she liked Kazuya, Miki now found herself hoping for that proper confession even more.

It felt a bit too sad to just drift into a relationship like this.

She was starting to feel like she wanted to hurry up and take down the Demon King and his generals already.

“I’m really happy. I never thought you’d say you liked me, even after what I did.”

“You dummy. I mean, yeah, it wasn’t just some little thing… but you seriously reflected on it. And my feelings haven’t changed.”

“Right! Alright then! Let’s hurry up and defeat the Demon King and build a happy future!”

“That’s totally a death flag… But I’m looking forward to it.”

“I can only do it with your help, Miki. I’m counting on you.”

“Yeah! Leave it to me!”

Aaaah! I said it—I actually said it!

It was getting harder and harder to hold it in. The relief of making up must have opened the floodgates, and before she knew it, her feelings just spilled out in response to Kazuya’s.

But now that it’s out there, I’ll own it. I’ll be ready—not just for defeating the Demon King, but for what comes after too!

We left the town of Spilling.

We stopped by the guild briefly to report in, then departed in the morning.

Rather than heading straight for the Demon King’s castle, we took a detour route just to be safe.

In territory controlled by the Demon King, monsters tended to operate in packs—or rather, as organized units. Sometimes they’d call for reinforcements, so we needed to eliminate them quickly when possible.

If they were just low-level monsters, reinforcements wouldn’t be much of an issue, but wasting time was still something we wanted to avoid.

We wanted to reach the Demon King as soon as possible.

That said, wiping out every group of monsters we encountered inevitably gave away our location.

Gradually, we started to get attacked by stronger monsters—ones clearly beyond B-rank, coming in swarms with murderous intent.

At night, we made sure to use concealment magic and set up protective barriers to hide our presence and get proper rest. Rest was important, no matter what.

About two days passed like that.

We occasionally spotted what looked like a monster stronghold in the distance, but our target was the Demon King in his castle—so we avoided those outposts, detouring carefully to stay undetected.

After a while of traveling, we encountered a pack of wolves. While fighting them, one howled for reinforcements.

And then, finally, one of the Demon King’s elite appeared. One person? One beast? It was a wolf-like figure wreathed in flames, its body nearly five times the size of the other wolves. This had to be Fenrir, the Flame Wolf King.

Behind the Flame Wolf King were about ten smaller flame-wreathed wolves—Flame Wolves—though "small" was relative compared to their massive leader.

There was no thought of "fluffy puppy" here—these wolves weren’t covered in soft fur but in roaring flames. If anything, they were more like "scorching-hot puppies."

As one of the Demon King’s elite, Fenrir was undoubtedly S-rank. Baring its fangs, it radiated pure killing intent, true to its nature as a beastly monster.

I immediately cast a heat-resistant barrier, followed by a defensive wall spell.

"The title granted to me by the Demon King is Flame Wolf King. You will die here."

With those words, the Flame Wolf King lunged at us, his pack of Flame Wolves following. Not surprising for a high-ranking monster—it could speak.

"Leave the small fry to me!"

I unleashed a grand spell, envisioning pillars of ice trapping the Flame Wolves.

As I chanted, freezing air coiled around their feet, and towering ice pillars erupted, sealing them inside. Just like that, every Flame Wolf was encased in ice—none resisted or escaped. They were probably high A or B-rank at best.

Now, only the Flame Wolf King remained. Let’s finish this quick, Kazuya!

Seeing his pack frozen, the Flame Wolf King bared its fangs further, snarling with even greater fury.

It let out a deafening roar, sending a shockwave toward us.

Kazuya, in his golden awakened state, cleaved the shockwave in half.

While he did, the Flame Wolf King sidestepped, targeting me instead. I quickly chanted another spell, conjuring multiple massive ice pillars to form a shield lined with icy spikes.

The Flame Wolf King intensified its flames, charging headfirst into the barrier with its full momentum and blazing heat. I poured more mana into the ice, reinforcing its strength—so the shield held, barely. But my plan to impale it failed; the ice merely melted. We only withstood a single charge.

But that one moment of resistance was all Kazuya needed.

As the Flame Wolf King staggered to recover, Kazuya struck.

Wrapping his sword, Takemikazuchi, in crackling lightning, he unleashed his strongest technique—"Lightning God Flash Slash!"—a move powerful enough even without my thunder magic enhancement.

"LIGHTNING GOD FLASH SLASH!!!"

Countless tiny bolts erupted from Takemikazuchi, closing the distance at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, the blade came down.

——The Flame Wolf King didn’t even react. No time to scream—its head was severed before it could make a sound.

Kazuya didn’t let his guard down, slowly resetting his stance while remaining vigilant.

I stayed on edge too, ready to react. No way it’s over this fast... right?

But after a tense pause… nothing. Did we really win? That easily? I mean, I said "let’s finish this quick," but… we didn’t even see what made the Flame Wolf King an elite!

Kazuya, confirming the kill, flicked his blade clean and sheathed it with a sharp "Justice served!"

The motion was practiced—a sight I’d seen countless times these past few days. But now, it looked cool. Was it because I’d fallen for him? Because I didn’t have to hold back my feelings anymore?

"That was… weirdly anticlimactic," Kazuya remarked.

Snapping out of my daze, I agreed. Even without my bias, Kazuya had gotten stronger. After defeating the Giant King Typhon and countless other monsters on our journey, his growth was absurd. One-on-one, only the Demon King himself might stand a chance now.

But hey—

"Just means you’ve gotten that strong, right? That’s a good thing."

And it was good. Nothing bad about relying on him.

"...Yeah!"

The surviving wolves scattered, leaving only the decapitated, charred corpse of Fenrir and the frozen Flame Wolves behind. Just in case, I stored the remains in my magic bag.

Only three of the Demon King’s elites remained. Hopefully, the other heroes took care of them.

Of course, slaying an elite like Fenrir didn’t go unnoticed.

Soon, swarms of monsters and demons—excluding wolfkin—began converging on us. Reinforcements from nearby outposts, likely. The largest horde we’d faced yet was heading straight for us.

Since this was endless, we decided to thin their numbers before Kazuya, in his golden state, would carry me to escape and hide.

Against a horde, my grand magic was most effective. To reduce their numbers, I opted for a massive explosion spell.

While Kazuya handled nearby foes, I began chanting.

The spell’s image came easily—I’d used it often. Multiple explosions across a wide radius, devastating the monsters.

The chant ended. I targeted the approaching horde, triggering a chain of explosions across a 200-meter (656 feet) diameter. Fire, shockwaves, debris—chaos engulfed them.

The scale of the blasts made even Kazuya and nearby monsters pause and stare.

The horde’s formation broke instantly. Those near Kazuya lost all will to fight, fleeing in panic.

Not wasting the chance, Kazuya scooped me up and—with lightning speed—bolted.

Mid-retreat, I cast a spell to mask our presence. Once we stopped, I layered an illusionary barrier. We wouldn’t be found easily now.

That night, we rested properly.

Still… Kazuya really has grown. To defeat Fenrir, one of the Demon King’s elites, so effortlessly—he’s mastered his golden awakening. At this rate, we might reach the Demon King in one go.

But we can’t get careless. Kazuya’s always been one to get overconfident. A tough opponent next would be good—something to keep him sharp.

Not that things work out that neatly.

On a side note, Kazuya’s changed a bit. He doesn’t push or test me like before. Knowing how I feel, he’s focused solely on defeating the Demon King now.

Same here. My priority is the Demon King’s defeat—so we can be together sooner.

With those thoughts, I drifted to sleep.

By the time we were deep in slumber, the next elite had already begun to move.