"Miieeee!"

Before him stood an unimaginably enormous turtle-like monster.

If Kissinger's sense of perspective wasn’t deceiving him, its height was several times that of a castle wall.

Its width surpassed the length of the town visible from his position, leaving almost nothing but the turtle in his field of view.

Stunned, he noticed a pool of azure blood spreading before the turtle.

It was undeniable proof that ogres, golems, giants, and cyclopes—massive monsters—all lay crushed under the turtle's colossal weight.

The turtle raised its foot and brought it down.

That simple motion annihilated dozens of monsters, while the shockwaves from the stomp caused even more destruction.

A monstrous roar erupted from the turtle, and countless magic circles formed around it.

The sheer number of circles was almost laughably excessive.

With a single action—referred to as a Single Action spell—the turtle unleashed a barrage of magical attacks at an unbelievable scale.

This wasn’t magic performed with skill but a brute-force display of overwhelming magical reserves.

From the magic circles encircling the turtle, arrows of light shot forth.

The sharp sound of wind slicing followed by a rain of arrows fell upon the horde of monsters before Kissinger.

Some monsters managed to hastily erect defensive spells, while others simply braced themselves.

But the deluge of light mocked all defenses, piercing through every spell, tearing through flesh, and effortlessly obliterating barriers, leaving craters in the ground wherever they landed.

Before his eyes, dozens, then hundreds of monsters were snuffed out.

Heads pierced, chests impaled, and spines shattered—arrows of light tore through them mercilessly.

The roaring thunder of destruction battered Kissinger's eardrums.

The cries of the dying monsters jolted his consciousness back to focus.

"What... what is that monstrosity!?"

The massive turtle, towering above anything he had ever seen or heard of.

Its entire body, dyed in a deep azure hue, looked as if it had been steeped and fermented in the blood of countless monsters.

Its gleaming eyes reflected an unmistakable madness.

Normally, monsters wouldn't waste their energy on inefficient magic like that.

Instead, they would unleash large-scale spells after several preparatory steps, achieving greater results with less energy.

Yet this turtle wielded overwhelming combat power despite its inefficiency.

This fact alone filled Kissinger with unease and fear.

If this turtle were to refine its magical abilities, its threat would undoubtedly multiply.

"Hmm? What's that?"

He noticed something small flitting around the massive turtle.

Rather than attacking it, the creature seemed to orbit the turtle as if circling it.

Kissinger and his group had mainly summoned monsters from the Dark Forest, which meant very few could fly.

The few weaker flying monsters had already been shot down.

So, what was it? He squinted, realizing the creature wasn’t small at all—it only appeared so due to the turtle's immense scale.

In fact, it was a griffon—a high-ranking winged beast rarely seen even in the demon kingdom ruled by the Demon King.

Why was a griffon circling this monster? And on closer inspection, something—or someone—was riding on its back.

Unbelievably, a human boy, young and still carrying an air of innocence, was mounted atop the griffon.

The boy, astride the griffon, was flying around the turtle while calling out commands.

The turtle showed no signs of hostility toward him. It continued attacking the other monsters relentlessly while seemingly taking care to avoid harming the boy.

A jolt ran through Kissinger's mind.

That boy... Could he be controlling that turtle?

The griffon flying under his command was proof enough of his taming ability.

And given the turtle’s actions, there was little doubt that it, too, was under the boy’s control.

The horde of monsters, empowered by Kissinger’s magic to overrun the human city, should have easily crushed it.

"Miieee!"

Yet now, they were clearly being overpowered—no, that description fell short.

The entire tide of battle was being turned, completely blocked and trampled by a single monster.

Their numbers dwindled visibly.

At this rate, complete annihilation was inevitable.

A monster of such unprecedented power.

And a boy commanding it while riding a griffon.

A single word, once dismissed as nonsense, flashed through Kissinger’s mind.

“The Hero... Could he be the Hero!?”

A being said to rival even the Demon King, possessing powers beyond human comprehension.

A legend Kissinger had once ridiculed as superstition now loomed as undeniable truth before his eyes.

Kissinger was certain.

That boy was the Hero—the one the Demon King feared most and had tirelessly sought to uncover.