Admiring.

—

"Ful'rok, zin'ashoth. Torana fel ruul dora'kil."

Noticing that the demon does not speak the common language like others who have been thrown into the Physical Realm since the Conjunction of the Spheres, he then sees the other generals of the army step forward to protect their master, unlike before when they merely watched their lord toy with each of them.

"STOP HIM!!!"

Instinct blaring a dangerous alarm, Richard moves his body as fast as his propulsion system can manage before Philipa's warning has even been uttered. Hofund drawn as far as his body can muster, he slashes downward toward the demon lord, producing a flaming sword crescent beam. Seeing the demon lord only laugh mockingly and then swipe his hand to produce meteoric brimstone to counter the attack, Richard sees the gigantic titan body of the demon shrink to match his own height. The demon lord outstretches his right hand to signal the generals to not interfere.

"Zilthuras zar'kil. Rok'thral? Alar'ash, thros zila kazreth'al."

Feeling that the sentence is an insult directed at him, Richard finally arrives within arm's length of the demon lord. He slashes upward from the previous attacking beam, but the demon lord easily dodges. Richard then notices the demon lord's amused face before feeling a punch to his stomach. Enduring the burning sulfuric pain in his abdomen, Richard instantly performs another flaming spin attack, targeting the demon lord who is still toying with him. Dodging easily once again, the demon lord delivers a scalding brimstone blow to Richard's chin.

"Mwhehehehahaha. Ishnu asalar, punyaz zar'kil?"

Touching his mouth and feeling the skeleton that makes up his head, Richard realizes that his Selfless State is already activated to the maximum. He looks down at his charred and melting body, his human flesh already dripping to the ground. Seeing for the first time someone able to rip apart his Sun Breathing aura, he is unable to ponder further as he sees a chance in the distance. Speeding with the maximum propulsion his system can muster, Richard then slashes at unexpected angles using a technique similar to the snake form.

The demon lord, caught off guard by this kind of attack but still effortlessly dodging, is unable to react to Jahar Narishma suddenly teleporting with a new kind of blade already slashing downward toward his chest. Slash—some of his flesh turns to dust. The demon lord then uses the same tactic as with the three mages, creating a shockwave that knocks Richard and Narishma backward. Tracing his fingers over the destroyed part of his chest, the demon lord summons a blacksmith hammer out of thin air.

Seeing the mocking expression replaced by calm and tranquil features, Richard knows that his friend's life will be in danger. So dashing forward with everything he has, even creating a better propulsion system in that instant that makes his speed back to beyond the speed of sound, he then arrives before the demon lord can deliver a killing blow to Narishma. Slashing his Hofund toward the demon lord's head, making the guy pull back his attack, his blade then meets with his weapon. Their weapons clash, but with just one blow from the blacksmith hammer, Hofund shatters.

Knowing he is just a normal guy without any expertise in combat without his blade, Richard constantly pushes himself to reach Narishma, who weakly tries to stand up.

Unable to dodge the incoming blow, Richard uses the momentum that destroyed his spine to finally reach his friend's location. Using the final strength he has left, he takes Narishma's hands and instantly produces a literal Sun beneath them, causing an explosion that launches them directly toward Yggdrasil. Before he loses consciousness, the last scene he sees is Triss Merigold teleporting them away and the humongous Yggdrasil flying into the air, bringing the surrounding land with it.

—

Waking up from his drowsiness with a sharp pain hitting his temple, Richard's first sight was of tree branches casting shade under a sky of purple-blue clouds stretching to the endless horizon. Feeling the soft grass beneath him, which felt like the most comfortable cotton he had ever slept on, he glanced to his right where a lady with ashen-gray hair sat, speaking to him.

Unable to understand her words, especially with his mind heavy from drowsiness and slumber, Richard then looked toward his chest where a tiny blue figure cried and shouted his name from time to time. On his left, a beautiful lady in green attire was also crying, chanting in some kind of incantation that he couldn't hear clearly.

Inhaling deeply the delightful scent of jasmine and raspberries, his eyesight then passed the lady to gaze into the distant celestial bodies, like Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune. Richard then turned his gaze back to the endless purple-blue clouds adorned with kaleidoscopic aurora borealis dancing in the sky that he had just noticed.

Admiring the beauty of this land, he was then assisted to stand up. Seeing the glowing bluegrass he had slept on, he caught a pleasing fragrance from every purple-yellow flower that decorated the ground. Passing many strange trees with purple-blue leaves that adorned the landscape, Richard arrived at a gigantic root system spreading into the distance.

Glowing resin decorated the ceiling, illuminating the makeshift wooden room where he was placed inside some kind of orange-yellow cocoon pod. Submerged in the liquid of a strange plant, Richard finally heard what the two ladies he cherished in this world were saying before he was completely immersed in the glowing water.

"Sleep well, my dear." "Wake up soon, okay?"

—

"PROTECT… PROTECT ROOTS…"

"Watch out… Meteor…"

"Quen eveigh… Ensh'eass…"

"FLYING IMP… BASTARD…"

"Greater Ward…Mass Paralysis…:

"Are we there… high enough…"

"I don't… Until the atmosphere…"

"But there is no… It's all flat…"

"TELEPORT YGGDRASIL… NOW…"

"Move… Skidbladnir…"

"No… He is… Mage…"

"Enchanter exact… Can fight…"

"I WILL RIPPED… THAT BEARD…"

"Please, please, Richard…"

"Haela blathan aëte…"

—

Gasping deeply for breath after waking up from the nightmare, Richard tried to stand up but weakly fell back into the pod, splashing water onto the wooden ground. Employing his Sun Breathing technique, which had been with him throughout his journey into this new world, he finally gathered the strength to emerge from the submerged glowing water. Waving his hands left and right to summon his blade, he recalled the scene before he lost consciousness.

Looking at his shaking fingers as he recalled the memory, Richard took a deep breath and activated his Selfless State once again, as he had done so many times since arriving in this world. Shaking his head and finding new attire on the wooden table, he quickly adorned it to cover his naked body before finally walking out of the tree root system.

—