A General of the Devil King's Army, leader of the Seven Archdemons, and a great demon who holds the title of Duke of Hell.
He is a friend of Wiz and the demon who taught her to become a Lich. Commanding vast demon forces in the Devil King's Army, his true form resides in Hell. Among demons, he holds such high status that Succubi worship him like a deity.
Yet even this fails to capture the extent of his power. His most formidable ability lies in his eyes, which can see through everything in the world.
Despite his might, there are ways to deal with him. Since Vanir feeds on human negative emotions, he won't kill humans. Plus, the hero party is friends with Wiz. With proper communication, there shouldn't be any problems.
After accepting Sena's quest, Adam led the problem children to Keele's Dungeon.
It was the same shabby hut, with the same dungeon entrance halfway up the mountain.
But this visit was different from their last. The entrance was guarded — though "guarded" might be an exaggeration. The sight of those things moving back and forth at the entrance filled everyone with unease.
They were small clay dolls wearing black and white masks, about knee-high, walking on two feet and patrolling like tiny sentient beings.
"What are these?" Megumin tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with curiosity at the clay dolls.
"They look strange. I've never seen or heard of anything before."
"I'd say they don't look like they have any fighting power at all." Darkness looked disappointed, having hoped for some special situation that would let her experience novel pleasures.
"These little guys are just reconnaissance guards — the disposable kind with zero combat ability."
"How should I put this... I have a visceral aversion to those dolls. Why does just looking at them fill me with inexplicable rage?"
Unlike Megumin and Darkness's dismissive attitudes, Aqua harbored genuine hostility toward these seemingly weak clay dolls.
She picked up a stone from the ground, ready to throw it. But Adam stopped her.
"Wait, Aqua, that would alert them to our presence." He took the stone from her hand and explained to the party, "These clay dolls explode when touched. Miss Sena told us this before we came — why would you want to touch one?"
"Eh, she did?" Aqua froze for a moment, then scratched her head sheepishly, "Sorry, I was spacing out and didn't hear."
"Oh, Aqua, you..." Adam sighed helplessly.
But in his exasperation, he overlooked another problem child in the party who was already getting impatient — the masochistic perverted Crusader.
When Darkness heard that the small clay dolls would explode, she rushed forward excitedly, not caring about getting hurt. Or rather, she craved being blown up, eager to experience that sensation.
By now it was impossible to call her back, so they might as well let the tough and durable 「Crusader」 test out these explosive clay dolls.
Explosions rang out one after another, accompanied by Darkness's ecstatic moans. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself in the flames.
"As you can see, these mysterious creatures self-destruct at the slightest touch, and even if left alone, they'll attach themselves to adventurers and explode. Even the Adventurers' Guild doesn't know how to handle them."
Sena crouched beside Adam, quietly sharing what she'd learned from the Adventurers' Guild.
Then she asked the party's leader.
"Hmm, this is tricky."
While Adam pondered their next move, Kazuma spoke up with an idea.
"How about using Explosion Magic?" Kazuma gave a thumbs up, clearly proud of his suggestion, "If we use it to seal the dungeon entrance, the monster will be trapped inside and won't be able to escape!"
"Absolutely not! That's far too risky!" Sena immediately shot down the proposal.
"Why?" Kazuma asked, disappointed that his seemingly perfect solution was rejected.
"We can't risk alerting them." Adam explained patiently, "We don't know what's inside. If there's a magic user who can teleport, they might notice and escape — then we'd never catch them."
This explanation made sense.
But the real issue was that Vanir wouldn't actually flee — given his mischievous nature, how could he leave so easily?
However, with the Kingdom's Royal Prosecutor present, Adam couldn't say more.
"That's right! As expected of the Hero party's leader, so clever!" Sena's enthusiastic praise made Adam feel embarrassed.
"So what's the plan? Have you decided?" Kazuma shrugged, indicating he had no other ideas and would follow the leader's direction.
"We'll have to enter and confront whoever's summoning these creatures." Adam said after a moment's consideration, "Once we deal with the source, all these explosive clay dolls will disappear."
Sena immediately endorsed this plan, and Kazuma nodded in agreement.
"Well then, without delay—"
Just as Adam was about to gather the party members, he felt Megumin tugging at his sleeve. He turned to look at her questioningly.
Megumin blushed and said sheepishly, "Um, I would just be in the way if I went into the dungeon, so why don't I wait for you all outside?"
"Ah, that's fine. Megumin can stay here then."
The decision was obvious — she only knew one spell, and a single〘Explosion Magic〙would bring down the entire dungeon. Plus, she'd be helpless afterward, requiring someone to carry her.
It made more sense to have her wait outside.
"Darkness, you holding up?"
"Of course!" Darkness replied with a hearty laugh, her face flushed with excitement.
The exploding clay dolls couldn't harm her at all — in fact, they had fulfilled her long-held desire to be struck by something.
Though Adam had expected Aqua to be eager to join, she seemed surprisingly reluctant to enter the dungeon.
Left with no choice, he tried again.
"Aqua, I need you, come here."
Those magic words — "I need you" — transformed her attitude instantly, and she bounded over with none of her previous hesitation.
And so, the 『Hero』 Party set out!
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