If Shion showed even the slightest sign of resistance, I would have stopped immediately, but she allowed it.
Alright! I'll cross that line!
But really, it's okay!
I did save the world, after all!
Well, you don't need to save the world to cross that line with someone you like!
It's okay, right?
I can cross that line!
Feeling my whole body heat up, steam nearly coming off my face as I moved closer to Shion, then...
For some reason, I started feeling a chill at the back of my head.
The heat I felt cooled off abruptly.
It was as if I could see something familiar.
As if I could hear something familiar.
A sensation I was all too familiar with washed over me.
I reluctantly looked back.
Or more accurately, I looked up towards the ceiling of the room where Shion and I were.
Holly and Maris were there.
"What theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"
Holly and Maris are here!?
Hanging near the ceiling, clad in their usual revealing armor, were two peerless beauties in silver and black, looking down at me with disdain.
As if they were looking at trash.
"Please, continue... Take your time..."
"Go ahead, why don't you continue?"
Both Holly and Maris, looking down at me with contempt, said such things.
Shion, suddenly wide-eyed,
"Eh!? Ho-Holly!"
Quickly got up from the bed and stood up in a fluster.
Then, she glanced at the Holy Sword she'd kept close by.
Since Holly disappeared, the Holy Sword had stopped responding, but now it reacted as usual to Shion's will and came to her hand.
And there it was, shining brilliantly.
"Ah, how nice for you, Shion. To only sleep through the critical moments but be fully competent when it comes to the lewd stuff."
"Waaaah! Holly!"
As usual, Holly's sharp words made Shion cry as she hugged her tightly, burying her face in her chest.
"Whoa! What do you think you're doing, you little brat!?"
"I've missed you so much! I'm so happy, Holly!"
"...Well, if you don't talk back, it just makes me seem like the bad guy here..."
Holly, while seemingly bewildered by Shion's sincere joy at their reunion, smiled and gently stroked the back of Shion's head.
"...So, why are you guys still here?"
I turned to Maris, who was standing with her arms crossed.
"We don't really know ourselves. Maybe we didn't disappear because our mother died, or maybe it was just that we used too much power and temporarily vanished..."
"...Or, your mother... Chris is still alive?"
"That seems more likely to me."
"Seriously... Well, I can't imagine how spirits like you guys would disappear anyway."
"If Mother is still alive, she'll definitely come after you."
Maris said something like that, but I shrugged it off.
"Hah. I'll just beat her back. With Maris around, I won't lose to anyone."
"Ah, that's not possible."
"Eh?"
"That power you had, to use all the Dark Swords of past demon lords, you can't use it anymore."
"Eh!? Why!?"
I had finally become the invincible, ultimate demon lord!
"It seems the Dark Swords of the past demon lords have returned to their original owners. The only one I managed to retrieve is this."
Saying so, Maris pulled out a Dark Sword, similar to the Holy Sword Shion had used but in a different color, and handed it to me.
As soon as I took it, the Dark Sword seemed to be absorbed into my palm, merging with my body.
Something quiet, peaceful, and powerful filled my entire being.
"Do you feel a desire to destroy? An urge to kill humans?"
"...No... I can control it..."
"Ah, that's good. Maybe that Dark Sword has the power to keep you sane even if you become a demon lord."
"Demon lord?"
I hastily touched my head.
"Ah! There are horns!"
"Well, of course. You've turned back into a demon lord."
Maris gazed at me intently and then,
"It seems this time, our relationship as a demon lord will last the longest, won't it?"
She said, smiling gently.
In an instant, Holly threw Shion, who was hugging her, onto the bed and charged at Maris.
"What are you doing?!"
"What... It's not like I'm doing anything weird..."
"Don't act like you're Crow's partner just because you showed up out of nowhere! Crow's partner has always been me, Holly, you get that?"
"You should just get along with that hero girl over there. I'll protect Crow."
"What!? I don't need that brat!"
"Crow is the demon lord, so it's my duty to be by his side forever. You should keep your distance."
"Don't mess with me, you hussy!"
"Who are you calling a hussy, you! Who do you think you're talking to!"
"I'm talking to you! Anyone who can become the demon lord is fine by you, right?"
"That's you! Unlike you, this is the first time I've fallen in love with the demon lord. It's my first love!"
"So what! Having your first love at your age is just sad!"
"How dare you speak to your sister like that!"
"Sisters or not, we've been rivals since the moment we were born!"
Holly and Maris were fighting, pinching each other's cheeks with both hands.
So noisy...
Holly alone was already loud, but with Maris added to the mix, it's become even noisier.
"Hehe..."
I noticed Shion laughing and linking arms with me.
Her expresshion showed genuine joy at Holly's return.
"Well, it's fine."
Just as I was starting to relax,
"Lord Crow!"
Suddenly, Platanus entered the room without knocking, accompanied by Amaranth.
It's an unusual combination, and I noticed Cineraria and Jasmine were also behind Amaranth.
"It's terrible! The Timeflow Sword suddenly disappeared right before my eyes!"
"Eh!?"
The Timeflow Sword suddenly vanishing almost certainly means Geranium is still alive.
How many times is that guy going to come back to life?
"Crow, it's definite. The Timeflow Sword has returned to its master."
"That man is persistent, isn't he?"
Amaranth and Cineraria entered my room with wary expresshions.
No, it's not a very large room, so please don't all crowd in.
As I was thinking this, Jasmine approached me and handed me a letter.
"While we were having tea in Amaranth's room earlier, this was found on her table."
I hastily read the letter.
"Amaranth,
I am alive. Though I am dead as a human, I'm enjoying a second life in another form.
I don't know how you plan to live your life from here, but I won't refuse your help if you wish to offer it.
However, you'll probably continue to serve Crow.
I have made contact with the entity that brought the divine swords into this world.
And I've learned that beyond this continent, there are many relics from a civilization that once flourished and then perished.
I plan to search for and study these relics of past civilizations to see if it's possible to develop and mass-produce divine swords.
Could you pass this message to Crow?
Let's compete again, each of us with all our might, for the sake of fulfilling our respective goals.
I look forward to the day we can meet again.
From Geranium."
"That bastard is up to no good!"
I crumpled the letter and shouted angrily.
"Lord Crow, leaving him be would be far too dangerous."
"I know! Ah, this is so annoying!"
I held my head, thinking about what lies ahead.
Leaving Geranium to his own devices is unpredictable.
His competence is honestly more troublesome than Chris's.
If left alone, he really might end up mass-producing divine swords.
In other words, I need to figure out how to find and deal with him.
"Crow! This is terrible!"
Just as I was pondering, Instructor Cattleya entered the room with Iris and Saffron.
"What now!"
"Look, there's a dungeon above the royal capital!"
"Eh!?"
I involuntarily turned my gaze to the room's window.
And there, floating in the sky above the royal capital, was a castle, much like the demon lord's castle where I had been.
"…! Maris! What is that!"
"It's the demon lord's castle."
"Eh? Because I've returned as the demon lord?"
"No. The Swords of Darkness returned to the previous demon lords, signaling the start of their revival."
"What!?"
Despair filled me at Maris's nonchalantly uttered words.
"What do you mean by the resurrection of past demon lords?!"
"The Dark Sword you used has revived its original owners. This is all because you excessively used the Dark Sword."
"What!? I'm the cause?"