Prologue

Two thousand years ago--

　The Great Spirit Forest Ahartheln.

　In the midst of the pouring rain, a water dragon with eight heads was raging.

　Spirits have a temporary form and a true body. While their true body, or true form, allows them to gain more magical power, it's not unusual for their minds to be far removed from their temporary forms.

　Spirits are strange creatures. Their existence is said to come from the minds of countless numbers of people. They are the embodiment of lore, legends, rumors, desires, fears, and hopes.

　If people's fear of fire is extreme and gives rise to the spirit of fire, their faith in water will also increase, giving rise to the spirit of water.

　The Eight-Headed Water Dragon was born from the people's lore that the Eight-Headed Water Dragon was the tears of God poured out on Ahartheln, a drop of the beginning that created water in the world. It is the true body of the Great Spirit of Water, Rinyon.

　Linyon, who is also the guardian god of the Great Spirit, is furious with the intruders who are trying to burn the forest.

　And the name of the one who is not afraid of Rinyon and is invading Ahartheln is Anos Voldigord, the tyrannical demon king.

''Hmm. "Hmmm, you've killed half my men in a single blow. And yet, it seems to be a force to be reckoned with.

　Anos took a step forward, trying to get into an advancing position. However, as if to control it, one of the demons stepped forward. He is clad in armor and carries a sword at his waist. He had white hair and pigmentless eyes, and even on this battlefield, he had a somewhat cool expression.

　He knelt in front of the Demon King and hung his head.

''My lord, I fearfully request your permission to advance.

I forgive you.

"Do not trouble yourself with this little fish. If you command it, I will cut them down in a moment.

　Hearing those words, Anos laughed.

'Then you bet?　If you fumble with that thing and take more time than a moment, stop that stiff talk. If you beat it in a moment, as you said, I'll give you any reward you want.

　Then the demon said, "Play with me.

"Play with me. You know it's no gamble.

　With a snap, the sound of a sword being sheathed resounded.

　In the next moment, the raging eight-necked water dragon dissipated as if it had been slashed countless times, and each downpour of rain popped off and disappeared.

　Delayed, a clearing appeared in the Great Spirit Forest.

''How do you like it?''

Your swordsmanship is as sharp as ever, Sin.

　He was still on his knees, his head still hanging down.

　In that state, he annihilated the great water spirit Linyon and even slashed away the downpour of rain.

　The Demon King's right hand man, Shin Reglia.

　He is the owner of a thousand magic swords and the strongest swordsman of the demon tribe.

　He carries an iron sword at his waist and he hasn't even pulled out a single demon sword to defeat Linyon.

''If I fight you, I might be in danger too.

No. Even with my 1,000 swords, I'm not even close to you.

　At Shin's words of too much loyalty, Anos let out a laugh.

''Then how about a sword-only match?''

'I may be able to graze you, I fear,'

What do you mean? You're my right hand, as I said. You're going to have to take at least one of these arms.

　Singh said quietly, keeping his head down.

'As you command,'

　Hearing that, Kukku, Anos let out a voice from the bottom of his stomach. Still, the demon king knew that this too loyal subordinate would not cut off his own arm. Even if it was a flirtation, he would choose to die himself rather than turn his sword against his lord. Shin Reglia is that kind of man.

''Hey, Sin. ''When the time of peace comes, I want to play with your sword without a care in the world.

"As you wish.

　That time is not far off, Anos thought.

'Oh, come to think of it, the bet's on me to lose. What do you want for your reward?'

"Hopefully, you will give me permission to incarnate.

After they built the wall?

"This thousand swords is dedicated to you, my dear. Even if it's for the sake of rebirth, I can't do something like that, so that I can live on in peace after your death.

　He's a man of troubled nature, Anos thinks.

'I thought you weren't very good at root magic?

　Magic that affects the root source is called root magic, and the magic of is at the highest level. Anos would be able to transfer its power and memory directly to the reincarnated body, but those who have difficulty with root source magic will not be able to reincarnate in a perfect state. There would be deficiencies in their powers and memories.

'It wouldn't be a bad idea to start a new sword from scratch again in a new era.

　Shin is a seeker who has been devoted to the path of the sword. Although he is said to be the strongest swordsman of the demon tribe, he was defeated once by the heroic canon who also handles swords. He may be remembering the limits of his current vessel.

　The fact that his reincarnation would be incomplete means that he might be able to turn around and gain even stronger power. Or maybe he wanted to bet on it.

'Fine. You can do what you want.

Thank you for your happiness. Even if I were to reincarnate and lose my memory, this root will not forget you, my dear.

Don't be so tight. You're a tightwad.

　After saying this, Anos spoke to all of Ahartheln via a thought transmission (leaks).

It's not a good idea to pretend to be dead for long, my men. Burn the forest and roast the great spirit Reno.

　In response to Anos' call, his subordinates, who had once been killed by Rinyon, started to move together. ＜They had come back to life with 　Black flames rose from everywhere in the forest and spread to Ahartheln in the blink of an eye.

''Well.''

　Anos looked ahead of him. In the forest surrounded by black flames, there was a figure coming towards us in a straight line.

''You've come, brave canon.

　The distance is about ten kilometers. A brave canon carrying a holy sword is running to this place.

''I can't believe I annihilated the root cause yesterday.

　Singh says. If you annihilate the source, any of us will die. ＜Even resuscitation (ingal) doesn't work. If there is an exception, it's the brave canon.

　He can come back again and again. The reason for this is that canon usually has seven roots, each of them a source. And if even one root source remains, he can revive the remaining six.

　If there is only one magic that the Demon King Anos, who is able to use almost all magic, is unable to match the heroes, it is root source magic.

　It's also the reason why Shin fell behind the canon. He'll come back again and again, no matter how many times he loses. And if he can annihilate our root cause just once, he wins.

　It's a very unfair match, but it would be impossible to become an enemy of the Demon King if it weren't for that much.

　Anos believes that even if the game is repeated endlessly, Anos does not feel like he will lose even once.

''Shin. I'll deal with the canon. You go find the great spirit Reno.

"As you wish.

　As soon as he replied, Shin disappeared.

'Well, brave canon. How many times do I have to kill you today?

　Anos deployed 60 magicians and fired the Gio Glaze at the approaching heroes all at once.