The bridge of the super-dreadnought Argos.

My elite fleet, led by me, Liam Sera Banfield, was returning to the Banfield family's home planet, destroying enemy raiding fleets and supply fleets along the way.

We defeated the raiding fleets to prevent them from reinforcing the struggling Imperial Army.

And we destroyed the supply fleets because I knew the Imperial Army was suffering from a lack of supplies.

Well, having your supply lines cut in enemy territory must be hell for the soldiers fighting there.

It also puts them under mental strain, so I continued with these subtle harassments.

"Once their supply lines are cut, large fleets are a pitiful sight. They can't sustain themselves and just self-destruct."

I was speaking with my secretary, Eulisia Morisil, who stood beside me as I sat in my luxurious, dedicated seat.

The topic was the Imperial Army, which was collapsing on its own as its supplies ran dry.

Eulisia seemed to have a different opinion than I did.

"In the first place, it's a miracle we've pushed the enemy fleet this far. Normally, we would have been annihilated by their sheer numbers."

"A miracle? This was inevitable."

Protected by the Guide's blessing, there's no way I could lose a war of this scale.

Besides, my constant preparations have also played a large part.

I learned a lesson from my past life.

Weakness is a sin—the strong are the ones who are right.

That's why I will never neglect my efforts to remain strong.

"You're as confident as ever, aren't you? Well, since you're actually winning, I have no complaints."

"—You should be a little more considerate of me."

I was dissatisfied with Eulisia's attitude, but unfortunately, she's a competent secretary.

I could easily find a replacement, but that would just create more trouble with handovers and other things.

Furthermore, Eulisia had her own unique connections within the Imperial Army.

Since I couldn't easily let her go, I overlooked her somewhat insolent attitude.

Eulisia seemed to notice my dissatisfaction, but she apparently had no intention of changing her ways.

"The fact that I didn't betray you when we were in such a disadvantageous situation is proof enough of my consideration, isn't it?"

When it became clear I was at a disadvantage, there were, of course, those who betrayed me and switched sides.

Some even fled the battlefield, but Eulisia is commendable for the sole fact that she didn't betray me, even while complaining.

It's just that her treatment of me is too rough.

"If it were anyone else, I would have demoted them by now."

As my secretary, Eulisia's rank is Commodore—in other words, a position addressed as 'Your Excellency'.

My secretary must be treated accordingly.

If she were treated lightly, it would cast doubt on my own magnanimity.

In other words, it's for show.

I don't think Eulisia understands my feelings, but she must have realized she won't be easily demoted.

Her attitude toward me didn't change.

"Do as you please."

"You're really not cute at all."

Though I was annoyed by Eulisia's attitude, it wasn't enough to punish her, so I stood up from my seat and started walking to leave the bridge.

As I did, Eulisia called out to my back.

"Where are you going?"

Asked this, I turned my upper body to answer.

"I'm going to go play with the enemy for a bit. Have Avid prepped for launch."

"Huh? We haven't confirmed any enemies yet, you know?"

Eulisia had a 'What are you talking about?' look on her face, but an operator immediately reported that they had detected an enemy fleet.

"Enemy fleet confirmed! Six thousand ships! They don't seem to have noticed us yet!"

The bridge immediately became frantic. Seeing me preparing to sortie, the military personnel began preparations to attack the enemy fleet.

Just as I was leaving the bridge, I heard Eulisia's voice.

"You sensed the enemy's approach faster than the equipment? Lord Liam, are you really human?"

I was satisfied with Eulisia's surprised reaction, but her subsequent comment was unacceptable.

What do you take me for?

"Of course I'm human!"

◇

On the battlefield where Liam had sortied, the six-thousand-ship enemy fleet was being destroyed one after another.

Watching from the bridge, Eulisia broke into a cold sweat, belatedly realizing just how absurd Avid's performance was.

The slight tension in her expression was not so much fear—but rather, awe.

Liam's voice could be heard over the comms on the bridge.

"'Even if they're the latest state-of-the-art ships and mobile knights, they're nothing but toys before Avid.'"

Avid—the black mobile knight—was classified as a large unit at twenty-four meters, in an era where eighteen-meter medium-sized units were the mainstream.

A mobile knight's strength isn't determined simply by its size.

Performance, environment, pilot skill—it's not uncommon for superiority to change based on various factors.

But Avid was different.

Even when hit directly by a high-output laser from an enemy ship's main cannon, the energy field deployed around Avid would block it.

As for physical projectiles, they couldn't even scratch Avid, which was a lump of rare metals.

With its two distinctive shields, Avid was truly an iron-walled mobile knight.

It possessed outstanding defensive capabilities, but that didn't mean its firepower—its means of attack—was lacking.

In fact, it was the opposite.

"'These small fry are annoying. Deploying spatial magic—scatter them!'"

Hundreds of magic circles deployed around Avid.

As the thirty-meter-diameter magic circles appeared, weapons stored via spatial magic emerged one after another.

Gatling guns, missiles, beam weapons, laser weapons—and sometimes, even mysterious weapons that seemed to have been developed by the Seventh Weapons Factory would appear.

When Avid locked onto the surrounding enemy units, all those weapons opened fire at once.

With firepower unimaginable for a single mobile knight, it was unilaterally overwhelming hundreds of enemy units.

Watching Avid—Liam's heroic figure—on the bridge monitor, Eulisia felt a sense of reverence, different from before.

"It's just too overwhelming."

As a former soldier, Eulisia had recognized that Liam and Avid's strength was on a completely different level.

Normally, shooting down even five mobile knights in a single battle would make you an ace.

His performance was truly on another order of magnitude.

It was as if a hero from a story had wandered onto the battlefield—Eulisia's heart pounded at Liam's performance, which was like something out of a myth.

Eulisia was usually conspicuous for her rough treatment of Liam, but it wasn't that she looked down on him.

If she had looked down on him from the start, Eulisia would have left his side.

The comfort of the Banfield household was one reason, but the biggest was Liam's way of life.

"Fighting on the front lines himself to protect his people—he's really like a hero out of a fairy tale."

She murmured this with a hint of exasperation, but her expression was happy.

One of the staff officers standing nearby responded to her.

"If it weren't for his foul mouth, he'd be the perfect wise ruler."

If Liam had a flaw, it would be his usual words and actions.

He brazenly declares himself a villain, and his demeanor is arrogant.

But the soldiers showed no sign of complaining about it.

Eulisia turned her gaze to the staff officer.

"Do you wish for a perfect wise ruler?"

"Of course not. It's because he has flaws that we can feel his humanity and find him approachable. A flawless being would be a problem for us. Besides—that foul mouth is part of what makes him Lord Liam."

"True."

As Eulisia gave a wry smile, Liam's booming laughter could be heard from the monitor.

"'Don't think you can beat me and Avid!'"

◇

—In a place far from the Algrand Empire.

In a different world, a lone hero and his four companions were storming the Demon Lord's castle.

Inside the decaying Demon Lord's castle, the group of five made their way through, defeating monsters, until they reached the throne room.

The hero raised his holy sword, pointing its tip at the Demon Lord.

"We've finally made it, Demon Lord!"

The picture-perfect, handsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes had come to the Demon Lord's castle, clad in armor and wielding a sword, to fulfill his duty as the hero.

His purpose was singular—to defeat the Demon Lord and restore peace to the world.

The Demon Lord sitting on the throne had no one attending him.

Seeing the Demon Lord all alone in the vast room, a female mage made a sarcastic comment.

"I thought the castle was just full of mindless monsters, but it seems you don't have any companions either. How lonely, a king sitting on his throne all by himself."

A male warrior holding an axe warned the mage.

"This is no time for wisecracks. He may be alone, but he's still the Demon Lord. He's not an opponent to be underestimated."

The other two also raised their weapons toward the Demon Lord without letting their guard down, their attire reminiscent of the medieval era.

The heroes had no gunpowder-based firearms, let alone optical weapons.

The Demon Lord rose from his throne and picked up a helmet that had been resting on the armrest.

The Demon Lord's form was that of a skeleton—an undead.

The undead was clad in armor that radiated a black, sinister aura.

He picked up a large black sword that was nearby and put on a masked helmet, hiding his skeletal form.

As the giant, three-meter-tall Demon Lord took up his weapon, the mage began to cast her spells.

"Physical Protection Deployment, Magic Resistance Endowment, Physical Ability Enhancement—"

As she cast spells on her allies, the heroes' bodies were enveloped in a faint light.

The Demon Lord watched them, seemingly waiting for their preparations to be complete.

The hero felt a sense of unease at this, but to protect his homeland and his country, he charged at the Demon Lord.

"Everyone, we end this fight here today!"

"Yeah!"

The hero, along with the warrior, slashed at the Demon Lord.

Closing the distance to the Demon Lord in an instant, the two of them swung down their weapons, which were made of orichalcum.

Holy weapons blessed by magic—their power was such that they could turn an undead to dust with a single touch.

But the Demon Lord simply took their attacks.

He didn't even try to defend, just stood there and took their blows—they attacked again and again, but he didn't even flinch.

And—they couldn't inflict a single scratch.

"It's too hard!?"

As the hero gritted his teeth at the hardness of the Demon Lord's armor, the mage and the cleric unleashed their magic.

"Then I'll just burn you to a crisp with magic! Firestorm!!"

"Holy Light!!"

A storm of fire assaulted the Demon Lord, and a holy light rained down upon him.

It was an attack that no undead should be able to withstand—but the Demon Lord let out a small sigh.

"—How boring."

The hero twitched at the Demon Lord's murmur.

"What did you say?"

"I said, it's boring. Your actions are amusing to watch as entertainment, but fighting you doesn't stir my heart in the slightest. —I wanted to fight a much stronger hero."

In the next instant, the Demon Lord had sliced the hero and the warrior to pieces.

As their bodies fell to the floor, the remaining three stood there, stunned.

The Demon Lord then approached the remaining three, sending the cleric—and the last one, the hunter—flying, smashing them against a wall and killing them.

The only one left was the sarcastic female mage.

Faced with the Demon Lord's overwhelming strength, the female mage was trembling and crying.

"H-Help me—I'm sorry. I'm sorry, so please..."

As she deeply regretted her foul mouth, the Demon Lord began to laugh as if he found something amusing.

"Ah, no, that's not it. I'm not angry with you."

"Huh?"

"If anything, I like the nerve you have to make wisecracks in my presence. You stood out the most among the five of you. To put it in human terms, you're my favorite."

"Th-Then, are you going to let me go?"

She held a faint hope that her life would be spared, but the Demon Lord denied it.

"No—I shall grant you the honor of becoming my vassal and fighting for all eternity. I permit you to join my army of the undead."

The Demon Lord placed his hand on the mage's head.

"St-Stop—Gyaaaah!?"

As the mage screamed, her body began to change.

Her skin cracked, the whites of her eyes turned black—and her irises turned red.

The gradually quieting mage lost the ability to move her body of her own will.

Falling completely under the Demon Lord's control, she knelt and bowed her head.

"Demon—Lord—I—pledge—my—eternal—loyalty."

Hearing this, the Demon Lord gave a small nod.

"Mm. Continue to strive as my vassal."

Before she knew it, the Demon Lord's vassals—people who had been inducted into his army of the undead—had appeared around him.

What was strange was their appearance.

Some wore armor and carried swords, while next to them stood future soldiers wearing powered suits.

There were even warriors from more ancient times, giving the group a lack of temporal consistency.

The Demon Lord stabbed his weapon into the floor and pondered the future.

"I have traveled through many worlds in search of the strong, but I have met only a handful who meet my standards. Is there not a strong one somewhere who can satisfy me?"

As the Demon Lord stood with his arms crossed, lost in thought, he felt a presence that pierced his skeletal body—his very bones.

"What is this? Where? Where is it?"

The Demon Lord's demeanor changed as he stretched out his left hand, creating a space that crossed worlds.

A black mist spread out, and within it, the image of the rampaging Avid was projected.

"Th-This is!?"

The Demon Lord sensed Avid, who was single-handedly dominating the mobile knights—and the presence of its pilot, Liam.

The sight of Avid destroying one mobile knight after another was precisely the image of the hero the Demon Lord had longed for.

The Demon Lord gripped the greatsword in his right hand.

"I never thought such a strong being existed in the world. I will defeat him at once—and add him to my army of the undead."

Even seeing a world where an interstellar nation existed, where mobile knights and spaceships fought, the Demon Lord did not flinch.

The reason being—

"I shall go to greet him at once."

—Immediately after, a spaceship appeared, blowing the Demon Lord's castle to bits.

And before long, enough spaceships to blot out the sky were floating all around.

This was the Demon Lord's prized immortal fleet.

This Demon Lord possessed enough power to participate in wars between interstellar nations.

"I myself shall go to greet you—Liam Sera Banfield."