"Is it because you think I'm insignificant and unworthy?"
The girl asked, a vein popping on her forehead and her cheeks twitching.
"That's part of it, but there's no meaning in fighting you."
"Maybe not for you, but there is for me. You're the source of all calamities, the Demon King."
The Demon King sighed softly, finding it exaggerated to be called the 'source of all calamities.' Given his deeds, though, it was no wonder he was feared as such.
"Do as you wish. Your attacks can't even penetrate my defense barrier."
Immediately, the Demon King mentally constructs a spell, deploying a hemisphere-shaped defense barrier around him. A translucent shield materializes, separating the girl from him.
"I warned you. Then, let me proceed without hesitation!"
With a resounding thud, the girl fiercely kicks the floor, followed by a clang, reminiscent of steel striking steel. The battle between the sword and the barrier ended with the barrier being superior.
"––Haa! That's not all!"
The magical energy emanating from the girl surged suddenly. She seemed to be amplifying her physical abilities with magic, determined to break through.
"Haah!"
Her next strike, sharper than the previous, landed on the barrier, but it remained unshaken.
"If that won't do, then how about this!?"
Realizing her sword was ineffective, the girl switched to magic. A fireball, about an arm's length, materialized in front of her.
"Take this! Fireball!"
The fireball shot straight at the barrier. But it was just a basic fire spell, hardly enough to break the barrier, which remained untouched.
"How tough is it?"
"Who knows..."
When the barrier was first summoned, it wasn't this robust. A fireball would've reduced it to ashes back then. Recently, perhaps only the holy sword had managed to break it.
The holy sword is an anomaly. It likely cuts through the formula of the magic itself, making any magic futile against it.
"Will you give up and leave?"
Standing powerless before the barrier's unparalleled strength, the Demon King asked the girl. He genuinely wanted her to concede, but she took it as a challenge.
"Don't mess with me!"
It seems she had no intention of giving up. Seeing her undeterred spirit, the Demon King sighed deeply.
After some time had passed since the one-sided battle began, the girl was still relentlessly challenging the barrier. The Demon King considered using brute force to repel her, but suddenly her attacks stopped. Either she had exhausted her energy or her magic. When the Demon King looked up, what he saw was—
"...sniff, sob..."
A teary-eyed girl glaring at him.
...Hold on.
"Why are you crying...?"
"Shut up! I've been trying my hardest, and you've been ignoring and dismissing me. Seriously, stop messing with me!"
She sat down on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Her armor and clothes were in tatters from her own magic backlash. She looked like a child who had thrown a tantrum.
"––Are you just a child? ...No, you really are just a child."
The Demon King hadn't really noticed until now, preoccupied with the endless battles over the centuries. But she was undoubtedly much younger than him, probably not even twenty. The Demon King, while appearing as a seventeen-year-old boy, had actually lived for over five hundred years. This realization made him feel as if he was bullying someone weaker.
"Just give up and go home."
He gestured dismissively. Tears glistened in the corner of her eyes as she looked at him and asked with a choked voice.
"Why don't you counter-attack or chase me?"
"There's no meaning in doing so."
"What do you mean by 'meaning'?"
"It's none of your concern."
"I want to know."
"I don't feel the need to explain."
She stared into the Demon King's eyes, as if trying to grasp his true intentions, prompting him to frown.
"...What is it?"
"...Your eyes."
"What about them?"
"I've seen someone with the same eyes as you."
"Ah, I assume they achieved great glory then."
The Demon King mused, even though he didn't truly believe it, intending it as sarcasm.
Wiping her tears, the girl looked at him earnestly and said:
"He committed suicide."
The Demon King was caught off guard by the unexpected revelation. But the girl noticed his brief moment of vulnerability, and a determined light shone in her eyes.
"Thinking about it now, it's strange."
She nodded, as if she'd come to a realization, and stood up.
"I've changed my mind. I need to learn a lot from you."
She aimed her sword directly at the Demon King, her aura now more intense and fierce than before.
"Also,"
She smirked mischievously.
"I'm terribly competitive. So when you tell me to give up, it only fires me up even more!"
Her magical energy surged once again, seemingly enhancing her physical abilities. "First, I'll break through that barrier!"
With a force as if shattering the ground beneath her feet, the young girl charged at the barrier. The Demon Lord tensed slightly at her momentum.
Time and time again, her sword struck the barrier — ten times, twenty, thirty. Each strike was repelled, but the girl utilized even the force of the deflection to unleash a torrent of successive attacks.
Yet the barrier remained unshaken. Even though he had created it, the Demon Lord felt its strength was absurdly robust. The girl's relentless determination to keep challenging it was impressive.
"Yaaaaaah!"
With an unyielding spirit shining in her eyes, the girl continued to swing her sword with all her might. She appeared more heroic than any hero the Demon Lord had ever faced before.
Her form was so dazzling that the Demon Lord had to squint.
***
As the sun began to set on the horizon, the room was bathed in a crimson light from the rays shining through the gaps of the broken castle walls. In this ambiance, the girl, looking utterly exhausted, continued to swing her sword. Her eyes still held a flame of unyielding determination.
"Just stop. There's no way you can break through the barrier."
"Heh... We'll see about that!"
She swung her now-blunt sword, more like an iron club than a blade, with all her might.
The sword collided with the barrier. Then —
— Crack!
For a moment, the Demon Lord thought the unthinkable had happened and the barrier had shattered. But in reality, it was the sword that had broken.
The sword, now shattered beyond recognition, left the girl unarmed. "It's all over," thought the Demon Lord. But then —
"Don't think I'll give up —"
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them shifted drastically, and an explosive surge of magical energy emanated from the girl. At the same time, all that power seemed to concentrate into her right hand, sparking with blue-white sparks.
"What is this!?"
Watching the unbelievable phenomenon unfolding before him, the Demon Lord tried to stop her, but it was too late.
"I won't give uppppp!"
The girl's fist, filled with her entire soul and spirit, smashed into the barrier.
In that moment, the magical energy that had been accumulating erupted, creating a massive torrent.
— Fizzle... Crack...
There was no mistaking the sound of something fracturing coming from the barrier where the girl's fist had struck. Realizing this, the Demon Lord's eyes widened in shock.
"Take thisssss!"
Despite being engulfed by the massive flow of magical energy, the girl took another step forward. The cracking noise from the barrier grew louder until —
— Crack... Shatter!
With a sound like shattering glass, the defensive barrier was finally broken.
The Demon Lord was momentarily stunned, unable to grasp the reality of what had just happened. It was understandable; the supposedly unbreakable defensive barrier had been shattered by a would-be hero. And the final blow that broke the barrier...
"How's that? I did it..."
The Demon Lord, lost in his thoughts, was brought back to reality by the girl's voice.
Despite being battered and covered in soot, she had a smile on her face. Even though standing seemed to be a struggle, she wobbled towards him and said,
"It's my win..."
She declared triumphantly before collapsing onto the Demon Lord's throne.
The Demon Lord was frozen for a moment but quickly regained his composure and remarked,
"Just because you broke the barrier doesn't mean you've won..."
Casting a glance at the girl, who was leaning on him with a satisfied expression, the Demon Lord chuckled in disbelief.