“What... What power! Could it be... Are you the real Demon Lord!?”

“To defeat Lord Jilbe with a single blow! There’s no way a human could do that! I’ll kill you myself! ‘Black Flame!’”

“Stop, Lugaro!”

As the blue-skinned man named Lugaro raised his hand, black flames shot out from it. At the same time, everything around me began to slow down again. Judging from my status earlier, this might be the ability of my Accelerated Thinking skill.

Slowly but surely, the black flames were creeping toward me. So this is magic, huh? My status said I had Barrier Magic, so I should be able to use magic too. Should I try chanting like Lugaro?

“Barrier!”

Whoa, a translucent wall appeared in front of me.

Then, the black flames shot by Lugaro collided with the barrier.

“W-what! You took my Black Flame without a scratch!?”

Apparently, my barrier was stronger than Lugaro’s Black Flame, as the flames didn’t reach me at all.

...Not that I was scared or anything. I had the barrier up, but I had also dodged to a spot where the flames wouldn’t hit me. Totally not scared. Yep.

Oh, right. I also had the Four Elemental Magic skill, didn’t I? The four elements are fire, wind, water, and earth, right? So I should be able to use fire magic too.

“Black Flame.”

“W-what!? Impossible!?”

Oh, nice, I summoned a black flame too. And it’s bigger than the one Lugaro shot earlier.

“Gah!”

The black flames engulfed the unprepared Lugaro and slammed him into the wall behind him.

“Hurry! We have to put out Lord Lugaro’s flames!”

“It’s no use, they won’t go out! Someone, call for a mage who can extinguish fire!”

It seems like the black flames won’t go out, and now there’s chaos behind me. I could probably extinguish them myself, but I’m not going to go out of my way to help someone who just tried to kill me.

“What... What power!? This is truly the Demon Lord’s power... But why was a human summoned...?”

The skeleton guy, Debra, muttered something, but I wanted to ask the same thing. If you’re going to summon a Demon Lord, why not summon one from a fantasy world with a demon realm or something?

Still, in most of those isekai (another world) stories, when a hero is summoned, they usually start at level 1 but get some cheat abilities, right? Does that mean in a Demon Lord summoning, you start at max level?

“Hey, you there, skeleton. Send me back to my world, right now!”

I had just beaten two of their so-called Four Heavenly Kings, so I decided to act tough.

“It’s... impossible. To perform the return ritual, we would need a large amount of magical power and a special mineral called Magisteel Crystal. While the magic power can be managed, we used almost all of our Magisteel Crystals in this summoning ritual. It would take nearly 10 years to gather the amount required to perform the ritual again.”

The skeleton immediately switched to a polite tone. Maybe he had finally accepted that I was the Demon Lord. Not that I cared.

Hmm... So, in order to return to my world, I need a huge amount of that Magisteel Crystal. At least I don’t need to sacrifice my life to go back—that’s a relief.

I guess I’ll leave this place for now and look for that Magisteel Crystal on my own.

“My Lord, would you be willing to help us? The Demon Lord’s army is in ruins. Could you lend us your power?”

One of the Four Heavenly Kings, a woman named Libera, stepped forward.

“You summoned me from another world without my consent, tried to kill me, and use me as an experiment. Now you expect me to help you? I’d rather side with the humans than cooperate with you.”

To be fair, Libera did try to protect me. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to help the ones who tried to kill me.

“Then... Then, how about this? We will help you return to your world. If the Demon Lord’s army puts its full strength into gathering Magisteel Crystals, we can significantly shorten the time. In return, could you assist us until then?”

“Are you joking? You summoned me, so it’s your responsibility to send me back. Why should I help the people who tried to kill me?”

Don’t underestimate me, old man. Why is it that in all these isekai hero summoning stories, the protagonist has to risk their life to defeat the enemy and return home?

Besides, the enemies here are other humans like me, so I have no reason to help you.

“My Lord, please! I’ll do anything! Please, save us from the humans who oppress us!”

...Anything?

*Gulp*

A beautiful woman saying she’ll do anything!? She’s not human, given that she’s part of the Demon Lord’s army. Judging by her horns, tail, and sharp fangs, she’s probably of the dragon race.

She knelt before me and looked straight into my eyes. Her large chest was accentuated by her revealing clothes. ...This is dangerous. An attack like that would definitely work on an old man like me. I might end up agreeing to her request without even meaning to.

“Thanks for trying to protect me, but I’m a human. I won’t fight against my own kind. So, as long as I have those Magisteel Crystals, I can perform this return ritual, right?”

...Staying here any longer isn’t a good idea. If those two Heavenly Kings I just knocked out wake up, things will get complicated. I should be able to use wind magic, right? Maybe I can fly with it.

“...Oh, I can!”

I concentrated on the thought, and my body floated into the air. With this, I can escape this place by flying.

“You’d better start gathering those Magisteel Crystals. If you help me return, I might lend you a hand... just a little.”

Of course, that was a lie. There’s no way I’d hurt other humans, even if it’s to get back to my world. But I needed to say that to get their cooperation in gathering the materials for my return.

I walked out of the room boldly. After defeating two powerful enemies, no one dared to stop me.

Libera and Debra pleaded with me to stay, but I ignored them and continued forward. I spotted a window just in time. It seemed like I was on the second or third floor.

If I can just get outside through the window, the only ones who could follow me would be those who can fly. Not that I expect anyone to chase me after seeing how strong I am.

Using wind magic, I flew out of the window, leaving the building behind. When I looked back, I saw a huge castle—just like something out of an anime or manga.

Now that I’m free, I’ll think about what to do next.