High School DxD: Return of the Crimson Dragon Emperor

Chapter 448: Chapter 438: Written as ”Absolute Unit,” Read as ”Magical Girl”!

[Miu’s POV]

There’s an old saying: ”The hero always arrives late.”

When things are at their worst, when the chips are down—that is when the protagonist makes their grand entrance. It’s a staple of anime and manga. Even in my own manga collection, plenty of stories follow that exact blueprint.

In this battle for the fate of the world, in this moment of absolute crisis... you’d think the person showing up would be my big brother, right? Koneko-chan said she felt a powerful presence, so everyone was sure of it.

So why... Why—?!

”WHY IS IT MILTAN-SAN RIGHT NOWOOOOOOOOH?!”

My soul-shouting retort echoed across the entire battlefield.

Biceps as thick as ancient tree trunks. A magnificent, barrel-shaped chest that looked ready to burst out of a magical girl outfit several sizes too small. Legs thicker than my waist protruding from a frilly skirt. And on top of that head—cat ears.

A person who looked more like a battle-hardened gladiator than a magical girl stood poised in the middle of the carnage, looking entirely out of place. A terrifying aura seethed from every inch of their body.

Rias-san’s eyes were wide, her voice trembling with pure bewilderment.

”Eh...? What? Wait... isn’t that one of Issei’s regular customers? Um... was that massive attack just now... not Issei, but that person...?”

Behind us, from the Allied side, a colossal blast of energy had just been unleashed. It had punched a gaping hole through the wall of giant monsters and sailed off into the far horizon. The monsters and evil dragons swallowed by the light had vanished in an instant.

There was no doubt that the attack had saved us from a total wipeout.

However—

”Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary Miltan is scary...”

”Alice-san?!”

Oh no, Alice-san was behind me, shaking like a leaf! She’s been completely traumatized!

Memories of our first request together came flooding back. Even back then, Miltan-san had been alone, annihilating a group of stray magicians... Are they even human?!

Then, Maurice-san spoke up, narrowing his eyes.

”That outfit... I see. So he was a human from this world after all.”

Wait, what? Why does Maurice-san know Miltan-san? Why does he sound so familiar with them?

As all our eyes turned toward him, Maurice-san stroked his beard.

”Hm? Oh, right. I suppose you lot wouldn’t know. After the Losword incident was over, you guys headed back, right? It was right after that. This fellow showed up in Ast-Arde.”

『EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH?!』

The revelation was so shocking we all screamed in unison.

Miltan-san went to Ast-Arde?! Right after we came back here?!

The mystery is deepening! They were an enigma to begin with, but this is getting ridiculous!

Lisha-san placed a hand on her cheek and gave a pleasant smile.

”Apparently, it was the same pattern as Issei-san. It seems she was summoned to Ast-Arde unintentionally. She knew how to get back, but since she was there anyway, she decided to stay in Audelia for a few days.”

”That’s right,” Maurice added. ”The kid helped out with the reconstruction of Audelia. It finished way faster than we expected. Then, saying they were interested in magic, they even went to tour the Magic Academy.”

”Indeed. She sat through my lectures with such earnest devotion. Furthermore, she spoke passionately to the students about the concept of ’Magical Girls.’ Thanks to that, the look has become a bit of a fad among a certain subset of the student body.”

My jaw hit the floor as one truth after another was revealed.

Miltan-san took Lisha-san’s classes?! They lectured students on magical girls?! And they started a trend?!

I don’t even know what’s what anymore!

”Regardless, the kid was earnest and pure-hearted. And they’ve got the brawn to back it up. We had a light sparring match, and I’ll admit, they actually pushed me back. I tried to recruit them into the Knights, but unfortunately, I was turned down.”

”That match was truly spectacular,” Lisha-san added. ”I don’t think I’ve seen Maurice pushed that hard since he fought Sirius. All I can say is...”

Maurice-san and Lisha-san spoke in perfect harmony.

” ”They were just a really great, incredibly powerful person.” ”

Forget it. My brain can’t keep up. They sparred with Maurice-san and pushed him back...? I mean, I know they’re a good person, but...

While we were processing this, Miltan-san came flying toward us at incredible speed. Wait—how are they flying?!

Miltan-san slammed on the brakes right in front of us and waved.

”It’s the Devil-san’s little sister-nyo. Long time no see-nyo.”

”A-Ah, yes. Long time no see... Um, excuse me, but how are you flying? You aren’t using flight magic, are you?”

”I was practicing the technique Devil-san taught me in my own way, and then I could fly-nyo.”

”The technique my brother taught... that’s the Linkage Circulation (Renkan Keigiko), right? Can you fly with that?”

I turned to ask Alice-san, who was still hiding behind me. She tilted her head and shook it slowly.

”N-No. I don’t think there were any techniques for flight. Issei is at the level where he’s mastered the secret arts, and even he’s never flown with it.”

Which means... they’ve developed an original technique that even my brother doesn’t know.

Should I be impressed? Or should I be concerned? I don’t even know what words to use.

Rias-san asked Miltan-san the most fundamental question.

”Why are you here?”

Miltan-san looked her straight in the eye and answered.

”A few days ago, Miltan saw a rainbow-colored glow-nyo. Then, I heard Devil-san’s voice-nyo.”

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