"This is.....Kai, you put a curse on Ares? What a noble
and splendid technique! You must be quite skilled in the art of conjuring."

"Yes, I am." No one, not even the demon tribe, can master the dark magic so skillfully.

Griselda and Sasha, both demons, exhaled in admiration.

"Griselda," I said, "you may find this hard to believe, but listen carefully."

I told Griselda the truth.

"I came from five years in the future, maintaining my memories and status.
As a member of the hero party, I fought against Griselda, who became
the Demon Lord, but was betrayed and killed at the last minute by Ares
the Hero."

Griselda and Sasha rolled their eyes in astonishment.

"No, wait a minute," she said. "You think I'm the Demon Lord?"

"Yes, I do."

"......It's hard to believe, Griselda-sama, but I believe he is telling the truth. The fact that he is a master black magician before the class ceremony is an impossible contradiction."

Sasha, who had been wary of me, softened her attitude.

"And Lady Griselda will be the Demon Lord! I know that is very plausible."

"Mmm, mmm......... But Ares the Hero? God's eyes are blind."

Griselda was stunned.

"I completely agree with you, that God's eyes are blind," Sasha said. "Otherwise, I can only think that God is just playing around with mankind."

"So do you understand? I suppose the fact that I know your names is also evidence...."

"Yes, that's right. If Kai is trying to trick us into something, he would have told a better lie. After all, Kai saved our lives!"

"Yes, Lady Griselda. I, too, have come to the conclusion that Kai is a man we can trust."

Both of them seemed convinced.

"I'm glad. Now then, let's talk about the future. Was Griselda's territory taken by Elsa's party? If so, I'm going to crush Elsa and take back the territory. I know her well."

As a member of the heroes' party, I am familiar with Elsa's abilities and personality. 

"If she is less inexperienced than she was five years later, she will not be difficult to defeat, even if she was a member of the Hero's Party."

Griselda's face lit up.

"Yes," she said. "She discovered that she could mine good mithril in my lands, so she enslaved my people and put them to work!'

"It would be reassuring if a necromancer of Kai's caliber were to cooperate with us," Sasha said 

"Mmm. Now we can proudly show our faces to my late father!"

Griselda and Sasha high-fived each other out of excitement.

"In exchange, could you let me and my childhood friend Colette live on Griselda's estate?"

"Of course, though we would have to confirm Colette's intentions, and there is also the possibility that she might not like the place if she actually lived there. After all, it is a demon territory. The climate would be completely different from that of the Holy Kingdom."

"That won't be a problem, we would only be staying there for emergency shelter. It's the first step toward finding a safe place to permanently live with Colette."

"Is this Colette ...... your girlfriend?"

For some reason, Griselda sounded sultry.

'I'm engaged to her. She's supposed to be given the [saint] class today."

"What...? If I bring a saint around, won't the Holy Kingdoms come after me? Oh, no, of course, I intend to repay Kai's kindness in a generous way..."

Griselda made a reluctant face.

I liked her honesty.

In short, she didn't want any trouble to come into the territory.

"I want you to be rest assured. If the Holy Kingdom should attack Griselda's territory in the future, I will be responsible for repelling them. For now, we are working separately, but I have an archdemon guarding Colette."

"What? An archdemon! Isn't it as strong as a company of the Holy Knights?"

"You mean to say that you helped us while maintaining the summoning of the
Archdemon?! That is an unbelievable amount of magical power."

Griselda and Sasha was stunned.

To be praised by the Demon Lord in terms of magic power feels a bit strange.

The previous demon lord Griselda would have no reason to compliment anything....but after all, her current fighting ability is probably so low that it cannot be compared to her demon lord state.

"You need to change into these."

I offered them the maid uniforms I had prepared. The slave's outfit would be a hindrance to their escape.

"How well prepared you are. I'm really impressed with Kai. Sasha, let's begin to change clothes... Oh, Kai, please look away!"

"Yes, Griselda."

The girls quickly begin to change their clothes.

I had no intention of peeking. They started right after I turned my back to them.

"Hyahaha! I got it! I've obtained the hero class!

Ares, who had been knocked out, suddenly jumped up and let out an overjoyed cheer.

On the back of his right hand, the [emblem of light], the proof of a hero, was shining brilliantly.

"Ghyahyahyah! Brother, could it be that you have the Emblem of Darkness? And a black magician of the lowest level too? I've won, I've completely won over my brother! My time has come!"

One of the initial skills of a hero is [Rise and Fall]. It is a recovery skill that instantly heals any wounds or abnormalities only once every 24 hours.

It looks like he used【Rise and Fall】and completely healed his wounds.

"...... It's already noon. I see you got your valorous class right on schedule, Ares."

"You lowlife, you're a hero! I knew Kai was telling the truth!"

Griselda, already dressed in a maid's uniform, gulped. Sasha had also finished getting dressed. Both of them were very deft.

I stepped forward to protect the girls.

"Hyahahahaha! First, let's try out the holy sword! Come on, Durandal!"

*Doooooooooom!*

With a roar like a lightning strike, a holy sword with a dazzling brilliance appeared in Ares' hand.

The hero has the [Holy Sword Summoning] skill, which allows him to summon
and use Durandal, the world's most powerful holy sword.

Ares said, "Here it comes, the sword of the hero! It's proof that I am righteous!"

The holy sword that had taken my life in the first cycle of the world - its tip was pointed at me again, and my anger was ignited.

The second step in my revenge against Ares was to smash the holy sword that I was so proud of.

'Ares, you've turned your sword on me once again...... you're going to hell.'