Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 48 My weakening doesn't mean you've become stronger.

The explosive magic created a huge crater in front of the town's main gate, blasting all the undead knights away, leaving none alive.

Everyone was speechless with shock at the sudden burst of magic and its terrifying power.

"Yay, that was awesome!" Megumin slumped down, feeling incredibly satisfied. "It seems everyone was speechless after witnessing the power of my Explosion Magic... Hehehe, including reciting lines, it was just... so exhilarating...!"

The girl with a severe case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) was extremely pleased with herself.

Perhaps she thought she had done a good job, and might even be hoping for praise. However—

"Huihui, you idiot!"

"……Um?"

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Sato Kazuma angrily cursed.

In fact, judging from the result alone, it should have been a good thing that the headless horseman and his men were hit squarely by the explosion magic, but he was furious as if some vision had been shattered.

Charlotte couldn't help but scratch her head.

Why has Huihui suddenly started to like ambushes? Hasn't she always faced things head-on?

"No, it wasn't me! It was Aqua—"

"Aqua!!!"

"Wait, wait a minute, Kazuma, don't be angry! Charlotte told me that the Headless Knight is weak to water, and that he becomes weaker when he gets wet, so I was thinking that maybe I could take him down with an explosion spell... I, I mean, don't just come closer to me without saying a word!"

Is it the fault of that stupid goddess?

Charlotte had just secretly told Aqua about the Headless Rider Weak Water, so she asked her to summon rain so as not to arouse the Headless Rider's suspicion.

I was planning to have Megumin use her Explosion Magic to finish the job at the right time, but she did it first.

What a brilliant idea!

"Never mind." Kazuma Sato didn't bother to reprimand Aqua for taking matters into her own hands, and said in a relaxed manner, "Anyway, we've already taken down the Headless Horseman, so this little thing doesn't matter."

"Let's make this clear first, I want half of the payment this time."

Aqua's shameless statement, combined with her previous actions, strongly suggests she's after the huge bounty for defeating the Demon King's army officers.

"Yes, yes, yes, you can have them all."

Even Kazuma Sato felt that the Headless Horseman couldn't possibly survive the bombardment of explosive magic; after all, the power of humanity's strongest magic was undeniable. In any case, was this crisis completely... resolved...?

Just as he was thinking of apologizing to Charlotte, he noticed that she was different from the others. She didn't seem to be celebrating at all, but instead looked at the deep crater created by the explosion magic.

Amidst the billowing dust, a figure slowly emerged from the deep pit before everyone.

It's the Headless Horseman!

His warhorse must have perished along with his undead knights; he stood alone in the deep pit, his hands trembling violently as he clutched his head.

"When someone else is delivering their lines, they should be allowed to finish them, you bastard...!"

The headless knight didn't look at Charlotte, but stared at Huihui lying on the ground, his shoulders beginning to tremble. Was it anger at the annihilation of his undead knights, or excitement at finally finding the culprit who had bombarded him every day?

They should all be there.

"Haha...hahaha...! Very good, very good!!"

The headless horseman seemed to laugh in anger. He raised his sword and charged towards the adventurers at the town's main gate... or more precisely, towards Megumin and Aqua, shouting:

"I'll deal with you all myself!"

As he charged, Axel's adventurers finally stepped forward. They drew their weapons to cover Megumin and Aqua, who were being targeted, and surrounded the headless knight from a distance, closing in on him step by step.

Upon seeing this, the headless knight, holding his head in one hand and his sword in the other, shrugged contentedly.

"My primary target is those two over there, but if you manage to defeat me, I'm sure you'll get a pretty hefty bounty... Come on, you novice adventurers dreaming of getting rich overnight, all of you, come at me together!"

The allure of getting rich overnight is simply too strong.

The greedy adventurers began to gossip.

Then, a male adventurer of the warrior class said, "Hey, no matter how strong he is, he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head! Let's surround him and attack him together!"

Inspired by this unknown male adventurer, the adventurers unconsciously tightened their encirclement.

"Don't worry, everyone! The Headless Horseman has been weakened. If we all charge in, we can definitely defeat him. With so many of us, even the Demon King's army officers would be finished! Brothers, let's charge together!"

He charged forward as soon as he finished shouting.

Wait!

Charlotte wanted to stop these people, but they were blinded by their overnight riches and rushed forward with bloodshot eyes.

The headless knight scoffed disdainfully.

He tossed the head, which he had been holding in one hand, high into the air, face down on the ground. This bizarre sight sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Many people are already considering quitting.

But it was too late.

The headless knight seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, dodging the attacks of the adventurers who were simultaneously slashing at him. Not only that, he also retaliated, defeating all the adventurers who were attacking him in the blink of an eye.

These people lost their lives instantly.

With a thud as his body fell, the headless knight raised one hand, his head resting peacefully in his palm, and arrogantly declared, "Don't misunderstand. Even if I've become weaker, it doesn't mean you've become stronger, you mere novice adventurers!"

...So strong.

Charlotte clearly saw that among the adventurers besieging the Headless Horseman, there were several people around level 30, but they were no different from novice adventurers and were easily dispatched.

The Demon King's army officers are terrifying!

"Alright, who's next?"

The headless knight exuded a chilling aura under the torrential rain, and the eyes of the head in his hand emitted a bright red light. Some timid female adventurers whimpered in fear, perhaps even wetting their pants in terror.

Darkness tried to step forward, but Charlotte stopped him first.

"Take the fallen adventurers back first."

"I...I...okay."

She was somewhat disappointed that she hadn't fought the headless knight, but she still obediently helped Aqua drag the lifeless adventurers back to the back of the crowd one by one.

"I'll be your opponent."

"I was thinking of fighting you last, because I often save my favorite foods for last, but... well, it's nice to try something different first."

The headless horseman held his head horizontally in front of him.

Charlotte slowly pulled out her boxing gloves, and as she put them on, she said, "My boxing gloves have an effect called 'Hitting Your Body Feels the Pain in My Heart,' which is for—"

"It's to make others understand that violence cannot resolve conflicts, right!?"

The female adventurer who had just asked him to defeat the Headless Horseman suddenly exclaimed, "Charlotte is a priest, he definitely wouldn't want to fight anyone, even if they're undead or Demon King's army officer! Ah, he's so kind!"

"And he also provides meals to those who don't have enough to eat every day!"

"I also kept encouraging them to love life!"

"As expected of the priest of the Church of Eris, who was personally invited by the Demon Sword Hero!"

The adventurers shouted in unison, and Charlotte paused for a few seconds before simply nodding.

"...Yes, that's right."

You're kidding me!

When Charlotte shamelessly admitted it, Kazuma Sato couldn't help but grumble inwardly, but he wasn't stupid enough to expose her on the spot.

After all, it seems that he is the only one present who can fight against the Demon King's army officers.

We absolutely have to win!

Afraid of being discovered, Kazuma Sato, who was actually the one who sold Hibiki Mitsurugi's demonic sword, causing the other party to be away from Axel and thus being held accountable, silently cheered Charlotte on.