We soared through the underworld sky, heading towards Agatha.

Everyone except Misa and the others were riding Arcana's snow dragon, just as they did when they arrived here. At this speed, it shouldn't take long.

"「「「「Sepp!」」」」"

The students, standing on the backs of the snow dragons, were practicing their punches under the guidance of the Demon King's Sacred Song Troupe. On another dragon's back, the female students were chanting "Ki-ku! ♪"

"「「「Sepp!」」」"

Despite sweating, the students kept their fists together.

"No, that's not right! You need to put more love into it, clench your fist with gratitude, and punch with that feeling! You're not defeating the enemy! You're conquering them!"

It was Ellen who shouted these words. She had been appointed as the instructor for the song and dance training for this occasion.

The students were punching their fists in perfect unison, but apparently, the Demon King's Sacred Song Troupe wasn't satisfied.

"......Even if you say that, what am I supposed to do exactly? You've been talking about mental training since the beginning, I have no idea what you're talking about."

It was Ramon who complained. The other students also had a half-hearted look on their faces.

"Hmm, how can we understand...?"

"Maybe it's like that? Imagine the opponent specifically?" Jessica suggested.

"Yeah, yeah! I think that's it. Imagine someone you like and punch them." Nono's words.

"Okay, let's try it again!" Ellen nodded at Nono's words and turned to the male students.

"Everyone, together? Imagine someone you like. Imagine punching them. You'll understand if you do that, right?"

Confusion spread among the male students.

"......Someone you like... are we supposed to punch someone we like...?"

"That's a bit too much, isn't it? It's even more confusing, to be honest..."

"Besides, you can't punch with all your might..."

At the students' words, Ellen leaned forward and nodded enthusiastically.

"That's it! That's it! You can't punch with all your might, that's the important part! But if you have to be intense, then how do you punch? Like this, you have to caress them, punch them with love!"

Ellen delivered a punch with love.

"Alright, give it a try!"

"「「「Sepp...!!」」」"

The male students punched hesitantly. In a word, it was a punch lacking confidence.

"One more time!"

"「「「Sepp...!!」」」"

Sasha, watching from the side as she flew through the sky, said,

"With that timid posture, will they make it to Agatha before they get there...?"

They were practicing in several groups, and Anos group was waiting their turn. They were put off because they could quickly learn the choreography.

"It's different if you have experience."

Lay said, and Sasha turned to him with a grim expression.

"What kind of experience...?"

Lay grinned silently and politely. Sasha sighed.

"Seriously, that's why people who are always canoodling..."

She stopped mid-sentence, her mouth agape, frozen. Her gaze fell on eyes that emitted a chilling coldness.

"Always, you say. I wonder what kind of experience that is. I'd like a detailed explanation, Lay Grandsley. Shall we?"

Shin, who had been hiding his presence, was behind Lay.

Lay, with a frozen smile, appealed to Sasha with his eyes. He seemed to be saying that she had caused him trouble.

"What experience... you say...?"

Zeshia asked Misa, who was flying nearby.

"A, ahaha... what kind of experience would that be...?"

"Oh, Misa-chan, you can't be coy."

Eleonore pointed a finger at Misa's nose and poked it playfully.

"W, well, I mean, it's a bit early for Zeshia-chan, you know."

Eleonore giggled.

"It's fine, we have a gifted child."

"That's not fine at all..."

Sasha interjected.

"Come on, Zeshia, think about someone you like and "Sepp!"."

"I... understand..."

Zeshia clenched her fists and looked determined. She flew over to me.

"......Sepp...!"

I lightly caught Zeshia's fist with my hand.

"Hmm, a pretty good punch. The Sword Emperor of Agatha will like it."

"......Zeshia is... good at punching..."

Gaining confidence, Zeshia started punching me lightly, "Thud, thud."

It was adorable.

"Shall we practice the choreography on our own?"

Misha tilted her head and asked.

"Hmm... practicing on our own is fine, but I'd rather be in the Ki-Ku group."

Sasha said with a depressed expression.

"What about the singing?"

"Singing... what is it...?"

Misha pointed at Sasha.

"Sasha will sing "Neighbor"."

"You're crazy! I'll never, ever sing that!"

Misha blinked rapidly.

"Sasha is good at singing too."

"Hmm, that's news to me."

I flew closer to Sasha.

"Let me hear it."

"......L, let me hear it? What...? Me, that? Me singing that?! Are you serious?!"

Sasha exclaimed in panic.

"If you don't want to, then it's fine. I just thought it would be nice to hear your singing once."

Suddenly, Sasha blushed and turned her face away. She asked in a small voice.

"......W, which one?"

"Any song you like."

"Then, that..."

Sasha leaned closer to me and brought her lips to my ear. She whispered a song in a voice so low that others couldn't hear it.

"......Don't open it... ♪"

Sasha looked at me with her head bowed, looking nervous.

"......Don't open it... ♪"

She bowed further, her cheeks turning crimson. Her voice was small, but it was a good song, filled with heart.

"......Don't open it... that is..."

Sasha completely averted her gaze from my face and squeezed out a voice as if whispering.

"......The Forbidden Gate......"

Hmm, it's completely different from what the Demon King's Sacred Song Troupe sang, but it has a certain charm to it. If she throws away her shame, she might be able to perform in front of others.

"KiKu ♪"

Misha chimed in. When I looked over, she was smiling.

"Sasha is good."

"Your KiKu is not bad either."

Misha blushed.

"I'm happy."

"I should sing too."

Lay, who rarely said such things, probably wanted to escape Shin's relentless pursuit. He flew to me.

"All the boys should be in the punch group. We don't have time to match it with the Sacred Song Troupe's vocals."

"That's a pity. How about we make it a Sword Dance like performance? It might be interesting."

"Oh? What do you mean specifically?"

"As you do the Sword Dance to the music, you can defeat a few opponents? You and Shin can do it impromptu, right?"

Hmm, not bad.

"Let's try it when the students get better at their choreography."

I'd need a few more people, but it's no use asking for that. It would look impressive if we made a big show of it.

"Brother."

Arcana, who was flying in the lead, turned around.

"I found a flock of dragons ahead. The dragon people are under attack."

If I look down and focus my Demon Eyes, I can see a large number of dragons on the ground ahead.

It seems they're surrounding one man. The one being attacked by the dragons is a young man wearing red knight armor.

"That's the formal attire of the knights of Agatha."

Hmm, it certainly resembles the armor and knight's clothes that Diedrich wore.

"But, those dragon people, aren't they pretty strong?"

Sasha said.

The young man was cutting through the dragons that attacked him one after another, slicing them with his sword, kicking their heads off, or using freezing breath to fend them off.

He must be used to cutting down dragons. It was a seemingly effortless fight.

"However, it's strange. It seems he doesn't intend to kill the dragons. He could escape if he wanted to." Sasha said.

The young man was injuring the dragons, but he was deliberately avoiding fatal blows. It would be easy for him to break through the encirclement with his strength.

"The dragon flock near Agatha has a giant dragon leader. It's likely he's trying to lure it out."

As Arcana said this, the ground exploded with a "DOOOM!" What emerged was a black aberrant dragon with two horns and sharp wings.

It was larger than any of the dragons in the flock.

"That's the giant dragon leader you were talking about."

"Yes."

The young man drew a magic circle on the sword he held and whispered quietly.

"Prethz, Divine Artifact Summoning. Gaguna, Red Blade God."

The sword was imbued with divinity and turned red. The blade extended, its thickness expanding severalfold.

He slowly raised the giant greatsword and faced the approaching giant dragon.

As he glared at the dragon with piercing eyes and prepared to kick off the ground, blood trickled from his mouth. The knight coughed, pressing his hand to his mouth, repeatedly spitting blood.

Was he already injured? His magic power is decreasing rapidly, considering he was fine just now.

"Hmm, he's not going to make it."

As if his strength was leaving him, the greatsword slipped from the young man's hand. He tried to grab the hilt again and lift it, but his body seemed to be uncooperative.

The giant dragon was approaching him.

"GWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

With a deafening roar, the dragon opened its jaws. As if it intended to devour its prey, it bared its fangs and charged at the knight of Agatha.

"ZGOOOON!" The giant dragon's face slammed into the ground, kicking up sand and dust.

However, the young man was not eaten. At the last moment, I embraced him and dodged the dragon's jaws.

"Can you move?"

"......My apologies. However, my body is not listening to me. Forget about me, please flee... This is a giant dragon. Even if all the dragons in the flock joined forces, they wouldn't stand a chance against this terrifying aberrant dragon..."

As the young knight spoke, the giant dragon roared and attacked us.

"Now then! Flee quickly! I'll somehow buy you some ti—"

The knight's eyes widened. It was probably because I was facing the giant dragon head-on.

"VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORGH!"

The dragon opened its mouth wide and spat out jet-black breath. I ducked under it and avoided it. Then, I dug my claws into the dragon's foot and grabbed it.

When I put all my strength into it, the huge giant dragon floated into the air. The young knight let out a gasp of surprise.

"......W, what strength..."

"BOOOOOM!" I slammed the dragon to the ground.

"Traveler! Please use this sword."

The young man gathered his remaining strength, lifted the greatsword, and threw it.

"GUU... GAH...!"

He coughed up blood and fell to his knees in the middle of the throw.

His hand wobbled, and the greatsword flew off in the wrong direction.

"VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORGH!"

The black breath spewed from the giant dragon's mouth swallowed the sword.

The greatsword was blown far away.

"......Damn it...!"

The young man drew his sword from the magic circle and infused it with magic again.

"Stop it. You'll die if you use magic in that state."

"......I don't have time for that... The scales of the black giant dragon cannot be harmed by anything except the sword of the Red Blade God..."

The knight's words trailed off, and he stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.

I had extended my Vebzud fingertip toward the fallen giant dragon. The scales of the dragon, which could not be harmed by anything other than the "Gaguna, Red Blade God" sword, shattered easily, and my fingertip pierced through the skin and flesh.

With a "Squish", I crushed its root. The giant dragon let out a death scream and perished.

"......W... what...?! You defeated the black giant dragon with a single blow... even without the power of the Red Blade God..."

The young knight was staring at my face with a look of astonishment.