Your Name is Pink Dragon Knights
Cliche and Roin join Swain's party as they cross the Northwestern Mountains and return to their original village.
"Oh my god...."
Roin, arriving at the village, has to cover her mouth with her hand.
The state of the village is absolutely wretched and miserable, a scene of devastating ruin that was painful to behold.
Most houses have burned down and collapsed, and people huddle together in large makeshift barracks.
Everyone wears hungry, exhausted faces.
"Aunt Benny! What happened!?"
Roin rushes over in one bound and hugs a middle-aged woman in ragged clothes.
"Roin, you're back...."
The woman hugs Roin back with a deeply weary face.
"What about the unmelting ice?"
Benny scans Roin's appearance, then confirms that not just her but the entire Swain party behind her is empty-handed, and her expression turns hollow.
"I see. So the legend was just a legend after all."
Before Roin can respond, she explains the village's situation.
"The Demon King's fire is only growing stronger even now. The lower village has already burned completely. The fire is spreading upward bit by bit."
Come to think of it, it's evening now, but it's strangely bright.
The blazing glow dispels the mountain's darkness, casting red light across the ridges everywhere.
"The situation has gotten even worse since we left the village," Roin says, and Benny nods.
"Knights did come to hunt the Demon King, but they only brought about a thousand soldiers."
Roin's eyes widen at those words.
"Only a thousand? That's ridiculous! They say the Demon King has descended! How could a thousand be enough?!"
"Seems like there's a full-blown war for the throne in 'Rok' right now. They probably don't have the resources to care about this remote area. They might even doubt if it's really the Demon King."
"No way...."
As Roin makes a frustrated face, clanking sounds echo from the far side of the village.
Clank-clank-clank-
The metallic scrape of armor joints clashing.
Roin turns her head to see several men in sturdy armor riding horses toward them.
One group wears red armor, the other black.
The two knight orders representing the western continent nation 'Rok': Red Bulls and Black Yack.
These two knight orders have truly come to investigate the Northwestern Mountains.
To confirm if the Demon King has really appeared.
"What do you think now that you've looked around?"
Black Yack Knight Order commander Padding Colonel turns back and asks.
"Honestly, from mid-level demons and up, they turn the surroundings into a sea of fire upon descent, so investigating fire traces alone makes it hard to tell if it's the Demon King or not."
Red Bulls Knight Order commander Hotsix Colonel says while surveying the area.
He lightly furrows his brow at the soot-covered refugees in the barracks.
"But judging from their claims and the scale of the fire, a demon at least mid-level or higher has definitely appeared."
Padding Colonel nods at those words.
"We'll have to meet the demon first. If it's mid-level, the two of us can handle it easily."
"Pardon? But comforting the refugees should come first...."
"You idiot! What good does comforting those lowly peasants do? The priority now is demon extermination. That way, we can ease the worries of those in the distant capital, right?"
Padding Colonel approaches the reluctant Hotsix Colonel and whispers in his ear.
"And it'll be much better for our careers."
"......"
Hotsix Colonel bows his head after a moment's thought.
Right then.
"Fire in the distance!"
A soldier comes running breathlessly, pointing far into the night sky.
"......!"
Hotsix Colonel whips his head around.
Sure enough, the distant night sky is dyeing crimson.
"It's here."
Padding Colonel draws his sword from its sheath.
"Let's go, men! For my promotion...! No! To uproot this vile demon spawn troubling the capital!"
Woooah!
The soldiers charge enthusiastically toward the opposite mountains, following their two commanders.
"......"
Roin watches the scene from inside a refugee tent.
"What are you thinking?"
She turns at the voice from behind.
It's Cliche, looking at her with a stern expression that somehow only seems cute, his eyes sparkling innocently.
To Cliche's question, Roin sighs and answers.
"Look at that fire pillar."
She points to the blaze lighting up the night sky.
"That's not the Demon King's fire."
"Then what is it?"
"At best, mid-level demon. Completely different from the one that burned our village."
"How can you tell?"
Cliche asks, and Roin answers with a serious face.
"You can tell by the mana density. When the Demon King appeared and scorched this mountain range... it was, well, way more intense. Not something this weak."
Cliche turns back to look in the direction Roin points.
After pondering for a bit, he tilts his head and asks.
"How do you know that stuff?"
To Cliche, fire is just fire.
But Roin can distinguish it.
Eh?
Roin hems and haws at Cliche's question, then abruptly changes the subject.
"Th-that's not the issue right now."
"Then what's the problem?"
"If a fight breaks out there, the commotion might draw the real Demon King."
Then.
"Aigoo, Demon King, is, that no-good bastard's, Demon King, at best, a, firefly~~"
Hotse appears strolling in with her kukri in hand.
"Let's go check it out. Can't let the Demon King burn more land."
Cliche grabs Roin's hand.
"Eek! His hand...."
Before Roin can blush, Cliche and Hotse dash off toward the fire pillar on the opposite mountain, dragging her along.
"Wait! Take me too!"
Swain hurries after them.
* * *
"Impressive."
Padding Colonel swallows hard while looking around.
Not a single tree remains unburned.
The soil is baked hard like pottery, gleaming.
Everything is covered in black and white ash.
Crack-
Every step cracks the baked earth.
Charred wood crumbles.
The moment the Red Bulls and Black Yack knight orders enter the deep valley.
"Gra-hahahaha!"
A booming laugh echoes from the valley, accompanied by a scorching wind.
"......!"
Hotsix Colonel quickly wraps his red cloak around himself to block the fiery gust.
"Who are you!"
Padding Colonel bellows, and something appears before them.
A muscular man with two red horns.
But he's clearly not human.
His whole body is red... and above all, he's stark naked.
Blazing fire wraps his body like clothing.
"Nice to meet you, trash! I'm the mid-level demon from the demon world, Allnighter!"
Padding Colonel narrows his eyes at the mid-level demon Allnighter.
"Did you do this to the forest?"
Allnighter shakes his head.
"I don't have that kind of power."
Hearing that, Hotsix Colonel draws his sword.
"No need for chit-chat with a demon. Kill first, ask later."
Allnighter seems a bit flustered, then speaks again.
"But shouldn't you at least ask who did it?"
Padding Colonel, thinking it makes sense, asks once more.
"Fine, who turned the forest into this?"
Allnighter grins and answers.
"Dunno."
A vein pops on Padding Colonel's forehead.
Hotsix Colonel brushes past him and says.
"Talking drags it out and plays into their sly tongues! Hya!"
Red aura gathers on Hotsix Colonel's sword.
A faint gaseous form.
Beginner Sword Master.
"Good point. I'm in too!"
Padding Colonel infuses mana into his sword as well.
Black gaseous aura erupts.
"Ooh! The commanders themselves!"
The soldiers marvel at the sight.
Two Sword Masters teaming up is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
"Kuh! Two on one? Cowards!"
Allnighter dodges the incoming slashes and yells.
"Fight fair, one-on-one! That's how demons do it!"
Jeers erupt from the soldiers.
"First time in the human world, huh? We don't play that way!"
"Ganging up is fine, fine."
"We love you, human world style!"
Expeditions are tough, right?
Allnighter seems deflated by the nonstop heckling from the crowd.
Meanwhile, Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel's auras grow fiercer.
Right then.
Dong- dong- dong-
Somewhere, a grandfather clock chimes midnight.
Deep in the mountains, where'd the clock come from? Who knows, it just rings.
In that instant.
The mid-level demon Allnighter, being helplessly sliced by the two Sword Masters, begins burning even brighter red.
"......Huh?"
"The demon's state...!?"
As Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel startle and hesitate.
Mid-level demon Allnighter starts spewing flames of immense heat.
"I-it's evolving!?"
The soldiers cry out in shock.
Demons evolve when certain conditions are met, they say.
Even they don't know the conditions?
Padding Colonel hurriedly checks the time.
'Friday night at midnight. Then...?'
Flaming Friday night!
The hot clash of flesh on flesh!
Flash-!
The flames clear, revealing a much larger Allnighter.
"Kuhahaha! I've evolved into an upper-level demon! My name is no longer Allnighter, it's Wan... "
As the demon tries to say his new name, the two watching Sword Masters pale.
"Stop! There are minors among the soldiers!"
"The serialization will get canceled!"
Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel surge with aura and charge, but.
"Yargh!"
Before the upper-level demon's power, even they struggle.
Allnighter blows breath hot enough to melt iron, scattering the two Sword Masters' auras.
"Damn! It's gotten way trickier!"
"And that name bugs me. We gotta take it out before it introduces itself...."
Regardless of the two Sword Masters' distress, the upper-level demon looks desperate to shout his name.
"Flaming Friday night! Past midnight! You all just gonna leave!? Let's party! My name is...!"
"Shut up! You're killing the vibe! There are families among the soldiers!"
Soldiers shoot ice-quenched arrows, but they're useless against the upper-level demon.
Against power that burns even Sword Master auras, normal physical attacks mean nothing.
But the relentless covering fire must have annoyed it enough.
"Gehahaha! Can't have this! Time to sweep you all!"
The upper-level demon inhales deeply.
"Hiiiik!"
The soldiers recoil in terror.
Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel stand guard, but blocking the upper-level demon's AOE completely is impossible.
"Listen up! My name is...!"
The upper-level demon, having inhaled fully, exhales toward the soldiers and shouts.
"WannaOne!"
A super hot name fitting Friday night.
He's the star of tonight, no doubt.
But the soldiers sigh in relief upon hearing it.
'Phew, not what I thought.'
But relief is fleeting.
The flame storm erupting from the upper-level demon's lungs surges toward them.
"Damn it!"
"We have to block it!"
Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel raise their auras to defend, but it's not enough.
'Should've brought more troops!'
That's what runs through the two commanders' minds.
Who could've predicted a mid-level demon evolving to upper-level?
But then?
Something astonishing happens.
In front of the two Sword Masters, who have drawn their swords bracing for death.
A small boy strolls forward casually.
"Kid!"
"Danger...!"
The two Sword Masters' eyes bulge as they lunge forward.
Then something even more unreal occurs.
The pink-haired boy who appeared out of nowhere.
He suddenly raises his left hand toward the swirling flame storm.
And then.
Snap-
A miracle happens.
The flame storm that seemed ready to scorch heaven and earth vanishes in an instant before their eyes.
At the same time.
"Huh?"
Upper-level demon WannaOne's body starts shrinking.
"Wh-what?!"
He rapidly loses mana from his body.
The temperature plummets sharply; fire mana decomposes in seconds.
Finally, in his tiny form, he's sucked back through a rift in space-time.
Too weak in mana to sustain his body in the human world.
"......"
Padding Colonel and Hotsix Colonel gape, eyes nearly popping out, staring at the pink-haired boy.
Dispelling an upper-level demon with a single hand wave.
And the strongest, most violent fire-type demon at that...
"Who... who the hell are you?"
Hotsix Colonel asks in disbelief.
The pink-haired boy answers with utmost solemnity.
"My name is Cliche. I am a dragon."