The monster outbreak alarm.
Excuse me!
Sensei, I need the bathroom.
Me, too.
All right. Go on then.
Hey! No running in the halls!
Monsters have been showing up quite often lately.
Be careful, you two.
Episode 7
Seven
Lightning, strike down all who stand against me.
Come on out, ball of fire. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoom.
Fweeeee
Monster Extermination Complete
Good work.
Oz Calamity Forecaster Jogasaki Dorothy
Your skill is impressive.
Oz Debriefing
This time, we faced a hellhound.
Its category was Visitor.
Seems a monster from another world just waltzed right in again.
Honestly. What dimension are they all coming from?
We're still investigating that. Still...
It's clear this world is being exposed to threats from another dimension.
I'm so done. I can't keep this up.
I'm at my limit, too.
The frequency of monster attacks has been abnormally high lately.
Plus, I have some more targets for you two to keep an eye on.
What?
Are you serious?
The other day, we confirmed that Asahina is a magical girl.
It doesn't look like she's hostile to us, but she'll need monitoring.
Then there's the Returner, Takanashi.
She was hospitalized for her injuries,
but at her request, she's returning to school soon.
Seriously?
I'm glad.
We made her swear not to cause trouble, but she'll need monitoring, too.
Who knows how many dimensional gates Takanashi opened?
Or maybe someone else is still opening them?
There's that, but also...
Those two!
Your surveillance targets, Narukami Ryusei and Hanaori Meteor?
What about those two?
At Lunch One Day
Thanks for the other day.
You saved us.
I'm glad I made it in time.
Honestly. It was some experience.
H-Hanaori-san!
You're drinking Sensei's juice by mistake!
She realized?
Shudder
Blush
What kind of reaction is that?
Um...
Put Yourself in Our Shoes
What are you talking about?
They're in a rom-com! A rom-com!
Every day, it's a regular rom-com with our targets!
Seriously?
Imagine having to watch that every day.
Do you understand how we feel?
Compared to alien invasions and investigating magical girls,
dealing with rom-com shenanigans is the worst.
I enjoy it, though.
Huh?
New Look
What's going on?
Trying out a new look.
Those black ribbons look good on you.
They make you look like an evil minion.
Evil?
Well, shoot.
Hehehe
Why are you blushing about that?
An Animal-Like Woman
Gulp
Nibble
Gulp
You're like an animal. It's cute.
PFFFFT
Are you okay?
Hey, which animal were you picturing?
Say it was a squirrel.
Is it important?
Very.
What are you getting at?
Rom-Com Space
Don't make me repeat myself.
Glare
It's their rom-com space.
Hey, Minto, I have a request.
What is it?
Dumb
Could you cast a spell to give me beefy muscles?
Dumb
What?
I've been wanting to get buff.
I'm totally lost.
Look. I borrowed a jersey from Sensei so I won't burst out of my clothes.
This is a jersey exchange moment?
Huh?
Yeah, she gets like this.
I've seen this in shojo manga.
You wear the jersey of the man you love and your heart starts racing.
That's not it! I just wanna be buff!
Oh, come on now.
You should be honest with yourself.
I mean it!
Race
Oh, wait. That was about muscles, not their rom-com antics.
That story's scary enough already.
At any rate!
Mitsurugi Girls' High is a place where such extraordinary things are commonplace!
What? So it's a rom-com space?
I'm sorry.
OZ's most powerful witch apologized.
I'd like another slice of cheesecake.
One here, too.
The Maid's a Worrywart
So just to confirm, that's two cheesecakes, yes?
Hey, pretty girl. Has anything that belongs in a rom-com happened near you?
That's a pretty out-there question to ask out of the blue.
Well...
My older brother was a NEET, but a mysterious girl showed up in his room,
flirted with him, and he got his life together.
You're kidding.
No one's sold you a bridge, have they?
She was a ****, right?
Ahaha
It's totally true. It's like something out of a manga, right?
Main
Topic
I'll ask you one more time.
Are those two really what you say they are?
Yeah.
They both reincarnated from another world.
And I can see a future where they're involved in a major battle.
Her clairvoyance is telling her that?
Heroes that come back from other worlds always fail to re-acclimate to daily life,
and let their excessive power go out of control.
So far, three Returners have had that happen.
Kenzaki Yuya.
Jinguji Hokuto.
And Takanashi Ayame.
All of them are broken in some way.
But...
Those two feel different.
I know.
Let's continue to wait and see.
I want to believe in it, too.
That a hero can also appear in our world.
You make it sound like a nice story.
Quit acting so cool, sourpuss.
"Sourpuss" is going too far.
Glare
I'm sure there's something going on with them, too.
Like what?
Like the world will collapse if they break up?
Don't Clown On Rom-Coms
Don't clown on rom-coms.
Maybe the Earth will explode if they kiss?
Don't Clown On Rom-Coms
Please don't clown on rom-coms.
Rom-coms are a huge hassle, huh?
Don't clown on rom-coms.
Please don't clown on rom-coms.
These women love rom-coms way too much.
Again?
My cheesecake!
We're counting on you two.
I'll take care of the cake for you.
Screw you, Chief Sourpuss!
We're heading out!
My cheesecake!
An evil corporation that loves rom-coms?
Lightning Bolt!
Fire Ball!
Emotions Running Rampant
There are way too many monsters today.
I'm still sensing a lot of monsters.
HQ, hurry up with the next location.
Hey, those monsters dropped this ring.
Is this one of those "rare items"?
Why are you standing idly by like it's nothing?
That's a Ring of Darkness.
Also known as the Corrupter.
It worms its way into a person's mind and makes them act on their desires.
It's a cursed item.
Wow.
Be careful.
The greater someone's desires, the deeper they're drawn into darkness.
Oh, come on. I don't have desires like that.
What? Huh? H-Huh?
Uh, bubble butt?
A dark warrior?
I am the bringer of vengeance, Avenger.
I will vanquish the demon lord.
Tell me: Where is the demon lord?
The "demon lord"?
I smell monsters.
I must defeat them.
The demon lord, she says.
I'll contact Sensei.
Help!
What do we do?
This way!
What's happening?
That's the hero?
She seems a little odd.
No one mentioned that black outfit.
Mana, explain the current situation.
Well...
Stuff happened and the hero got corrupted before heading into town.
I see. "Stuff," huh?
I'm sorry. I'll pinpoint her location right away.
No need. She's right here in front of me.
The demon lord.
Where is the demon lord?
The hero appears to be looking for a "demon lord."
But what is this "demon lord"?
That's what I'd like to know.
So, in summary, Meteor's gone to the dark side and is running amok?
Yup. She's been possessed by a cursed item that makes her act on her desires.
For some reason, she's defeating the monsters in town right now,
but keeps saying something concerning.
What's she saying?
"Where is the demon lord?"
So she's after me?
Do you know anything?
Well, I...
am that demon lord.
You're a demon lord?
I've been leaving all the monsters and dimensional gates in your hands.
I'm sorry. I'll share the details with you later.
I always suspected there was something.
Well, we wouldn't have believed you if you'd told us you were a demon lord.
Besides, we shouldn't pry into a man's secrets.
That's how a good woman acts, right?
It's not.
Hey
Pout
Anyway, Meteor should sense my mana and return here soon.
Kuraishi, can I get a barrier to keep out civilians and limit collateral damage?
Sure.
How does one break the ring's curse?
It ends when the ring is destroyed or the person's desires are fulfilled.
Got it. I'll deal with this.
I have found you, demon lord.
Meteor.
You're looking great since I last saw you.
You suit the demon lord's army more than me.
What?
Praising me won't get you anywhere!
That wasn't praise.
She's so cute when she's corrupted.
My desire is to settle our score.
So...
Fight me all-out!
If that's your desire, I'll take you on.
Here I come.
Aura Slash!
Darkness Wall!
You keep moving around.
Energy Bolt!
He's flitting between magic barriers and attacking with rapid-fire spells?
The standard tactic for mages is to use brute force to defeat your opponent
before your barrier spell gives out.
I can't believe a mage can fight like this.
But none of the spells are proving decisive.
These barriers...
That's why I laid traps to create an opening.
Binding Trap.
Release all mana limiters.
Commence mana release.
The power to scorch the heavens and rend the earth.
The primordial power, surpassing all laws.
Now is the time to open the sealed gates and gather in my palm.
Flames of hell that bring ruin,
unleash the power of chaos and burn all to ash.
Hell Flare!
He restricted her movement with binding magic
then unleashed full-chant advanced magic?
You withstood that spell, huh?
I told you.
I was created to defeat you.
Time for my next turn, then.
This is the demon lord's battle now.
Come forth, my undead knights.
Dead March.
The demon lord's undead knights?
Get her.
Hanaori-san is repelling that many undead knights?
I was a weapon created to defeat the demon lord.
That was all I had.
But you let yourself be defeated by me.
You robbed me of my reason to exist.
So...
So what was my life even for?
I got him.
A-A fake?
Necromancers have spells that use corpses as catalysts.
So I prepared them all ahead of time.
Just like the bodies for those undead knights.
Remember this.
This is how a necromancer fights.
No...
Corpse Explosion!
Pout
Whoops.
The demon lord really is strong, huh?
Satisfied now?
I'll defeat you next time.
Come at me as many times as you like.
I'll remember that.
Take it to a hotel.
Wham
Sorry.
It's all right.
She didn't hear it.
Honestly. What a troublesome hero.
A Distant Recollection
Princess, you've come here again? Your old servant will be mad at you.
It's fine. Hide me for a bit.
This voice takes me back.
I love it here.
This place takes me back.
This is the only place where I don't have to wear my princess mask.
This is a dream.
A dream from before I became the demon lord.
Hey, your specialty's necromancy, right?
Yes. We don't ever use it, but we've continued our research.
What happens to people when they die?
We believe their body rots away and their soul disperses.
Necromancy is the magic of controlling those soulless bodies.
Their soul, huh?
Have you ever heard of reincarnation?
Reincarnation?
Yes.
It's where your current soul is reborn as another person.
I heard about it somewhere before.
If there were a spell like that, it would be wonderful.
A version of me that isn't a princess
could meet a version of you that isn't an imperial mage in a place that isn't here.
Ryusei?
Would you be my friend again if that happened?
Ryusei. Ryusei.
Princess?
Ryusei.
Ryusei!
Huh?
Meteor?
Are you awake now?
Why are you in my room?
You didn't show up at school today.
I thought something might've happened to you.
Yeah. I was fast asleep thanks to running out of mana.
I'm sorry.
It's all because I got possessed by that ring.
I caused problems for everyone.
Don't worry about it.
What about you? Are you hurt?
I'm fine. I heal quickly thanks to the spirits' blessings.
Meteor. I'm sorry.
I invited all of this on us.
I used you,
and made you suffer in our past lives and our lives after reincarnation.
I'm truly sorry.
No, it's fine.
I forgive you for everything except beating me.
Rage
She's holding a damn grudge.
So, hey...
This princess. What was she like?
Why are you asking about her?
Because you were muttering in your sleep. Over and over.
She was the princess of the Runeberg Kingdom,
and also a saint.
She occasionally visited my research lab.
It was the only time she took off her princess mask and became an ordinary girl.
It always felt like she was looking at someplace far off.
She had an air of mystery and otherworldliness.
Beam
So it was like the school idol frequently visiting an otaku's room.
What an awful comparison.
She was someone you were willing to throw your life away to avenge, huh?
I'm a little jealous.
I just failed to protect her.
So that was all I had left.
But I'll protect you. I promise.
Huh?
I'm your teacher, after all.
I'll protect you and all of my students.
R-Right.
Ba-Bish
You should protect me as my older brother.
And you should protect our home as the eldest son.
Harsh.
Harsh...
Oh, hey. It's the boss from the evil corporation. You're back.
Hey. You're the girl with the ex-NEET brother who got a scary girlfriend, right?
How have you been?
Phrasing.
I could say the same.
Welcome back.
By the way, has your brother had any new rom-com moments?
Well...
When my bro collapsed the other day,
his girlfriend stayed by his side and nursed him better.
That's adorable.
Although it sounded like she was also the reason he collapsed.
That woman really is scary.
Next Episode Preview
Heaven knows all, earth sees all, mankind hears all.
Let's introduce a suspicious person.
Welcome to the Pandora Channel.
Pandora, I sense even more attention on us than ever.
That's because our next person is special.
Then we can expect lots of new subscribers.
Episode 8: Training Day
Look forward to it!
Illustration: Minari Endoh