High school student Ren Arisato falls into a world that looks like a warzone — still wearing his uniform. But he doesn't panic. He can open an admin menu. In front of trembling villagers, he casually spawns legendary divine items, mutters that he just wants a quiet life, and walks off.
Lyra, the village herbalist, becomes his guide against her better judgment. A cat-eared girl named Kiki appoints herself his official witness and sells stories about his nonsense for high prices.
When a demon ho
Do Not Bend the Knee - Dorvak of the Red Tower: His First Humiliating Defeat
The morning air felt heavier than usual.
In a hut on a hill at the edge of Carve village, Arisato Ren lay wrapped in his blanket, staring at the ceiling. It had been about a month since he'd been transported here. On his way home from school, he'd suddenly been swallowed by a glowing patch of ground, and the next thing he knew, he was in this world called Vasteria. An isekai where humans, demons, and spirits maintained a three-way balance of power. A massive chasm called the Grand Crevasse ran through the center of the continent, with the three human kingdoms to the north and the demon territories spreading across the south.
Well, not that he cared.
For the past month, Ren had done nothing but sleep and eat, occasionally watching blankly as Lyra, the village herbalist, came by uninvited to clean and cook for him. He just wanted to live quietly. That was all. And yet, this world was so damn noisy. Demons came, knights came, villagers came to worship him.
"...Fwaaah."
Would he be able to sleep peacefully today too? Just as he thought that and began to close his eyes—
DOOOOON...!!
A tremor rolled through the ground from far away.
The walls of the hut shook slightly. Dust that had accumulated on the window frame pattered down.
"...What the hell?"
Again: DOOOOON...!
This time it was closer. It was like something enormous was walking slowly. No—more than walking, the ground itself was shaking with each step it took.
Ren pulled the blanket back over his head.
"...Not my problem."
He'd sleep. No matter what sounds he heard, he'd sleep. That was his lifestyle.
But a few minutes later—
"Ren!! Are you awake!? This is bad!!"
BANG! The hut's door flew open. Standing there was a girl with long ash-brown hair braided on her left side. Her calm green eyes were wide open, and the freckles along the bridge of her nose were flushed. She was out of breath, the herb bag at her hip swaying. Lyra Fernell, the herbalist of Carve village. Nineteen years old. Over this noisy month, she'd appointed herself Ren's PR representative and was the long-suffering busybody who took care of him whether he liked it or not.
"Ugh, you're loud. I was sleeping."
"This is no time for sleeping! At the village entrance... a demon has come! And not just any demon!"
"Oh yeah?"
Ren slowly sat up. Still looking half-asleep, he reached for the clothes by his pillow. A white school-regulation dress shirt and black slacks. He'd been wearing these ever since arriving in this world.
"Don't 'oh yeah' me! That's probably the master of the Red Tower! One of the Seven Pillars—Dorvak! A real maou has come!"
"Huh."
"'Huh'...? Don't you realize your life might be in danger!?"
Yawning, Ren looked out the window.
Down at the bottom of the hill, near the village entrance, something red was indeed standing there.
It was enormous—visible even from a distance.
Taller than the roof of an ordinary house. Easily three meters. Its copper-red skin gleamed in the morning sun, heat haze shimmering off it like steam. Four spiral horns twisted out from its forehead. Its burning amber eyes stared straight up at the hut on the hill.
The maou, Dorvak.
One of the Seven Pillars—the seven maou who ruled the demon territories—and the one called the master of the Red Tower, among the strongest of them all.
He'd said "messenger."
The moment they saw him, screams erupted throughout the village.
"H-hiiiieee!! It's a demon!!"
"R-run! Hide inside your houses!"
Adults who had been working the fields threw down their hoes and baskets and fled in panic. Children cried, dogs barked, chickens shrieked. Carve village was instantly plunged into terror.
At the village tavern, the Crooked Corner Inn, the owner Garoff was shoving his regulars behind the counter.
"Get in, quickly! Bar the door! Don't look outside, no matter what!"
Even Garoff's deep voice—he was said to be a former mercenary—carried a faint note of tension. The old burn scar on his left arm marked him as a man in his fifties. Even the man who'd seen more bloodshed than anyone in this village seemed helpless before a maou of the Seven Pillars.
Lyra grabbed Ren's arm.
"Please, do something! If you don't do something, the village will...!"
"...What a pain."
Ren shook off her grip and shuffled toward the door.
Lyra hurried after him.
"You're going!? You'll fight!?"
"No, bathroom."
"The bathroom!? In this situation!?"
"I had to go."
Lyra clutched her head. But after a month of dealing with him, she knew all too well that when this man truly didn't want to fight, he really wouldn't fight.
————
The maou stood at the village entrance.
Dorvak advanced into the village with a gait that was surprisingly graceful for his massive frame. The ground shook with every step. Heat distorted the air around him, and the grass and trees along the roadside withered.
"Hmm."
He looked down over the village and laughed lowly, sharp fangs peeking out.
"How prosperous this place is. Even in such a remote borderland, the workings of humanity have taken root."
A theatrical, deep voice. His lines were absurdly long. That was his style.
Villagers peered out from the shadows of their houses, trembling. No one could make a sound.
Dorvak paid them no mind and began walking toward the hut on the hill.
"Listen well. I am Dorvak. One of the Seven Pillars, the kings of demons. Master of the Red Tower, sovereign of the Caldera!"
His booming voice echoed through the village. Windowpanes rattled.
"Ren Arisato, is it!? Otherworlder dwelling in this village! I have come to meet you in person! Consider yourself honored!"
Inside the hut, Ren had just returned from the bathroom and taken a sip of water.
"So noisy."
Lyra peeked outside through the window, lowering her voice.
"Hey, that's really Dorvak. I checked with the system, but his level... my status-viewing skill can't even display the number. That means he's far beyond my measurement limit of level 50. He's the real thing."
"Huh."
"Are you listening?"
"No."
Dorvak's voice boomed from outside again.
"Have you lost your nerve!? Will you not come out!? Is this the one who possesses legendary power!? You dare make me wait—you have some nerve!"
Ren finally opened the window a crack.
"What?"
He poked just his face out the window. Messy black hair with bedhead. Sleepy dark-brown eyes. Half-lidded. A yawn-mixed, zero-motivation reply.
Dorvak's eyes gleamed.
"So you are Ren Arisato. Hoh... you look every bit the spineless fool the rumors made you out to be."
"Yeah, I'm Ren. What do you want? I'd like to sleep in properly."
Dorvak's temple twitched.
"What do I want? It should be obvious. I am one of the Seven Pillars. As a warrior, I govern the laws of this world. And you—you wiped out a demon scouting party with a single stake. Therefore—it shall be a duel!"
"A duel?"
"Indeed. You and I shall determine who is truly stronger. This grassland shall be our stage, and we shall settle the matter. Know that in this world, there is no option to refuse an honorable battle."
Ren stared blankly up at Dorvak for a while.
"Nah, sounds like a pain. I'll pass."
"—What?"
"I said it's a pain, so I refuse. I don't want to do anything today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. I just want to sleep quietly."
Silence.
The air in the village froze with a crack.
The heat haze around Dorvak suddenly intensified. His burning amber eyes turned blood-red with rage.
"...You... you call a duel with me a pain? You want to sleep quietly? You...! How dare you mock me—a maou—to such a degree!?"
Dark, viscous magical energy poured from Dorvak's body. The air swirled into a vortex, and farming tools lying in the village square began to rattle. Roofs peeled off houses, and trees bent in unnatural directions.
"Hiiiieee!!"
"W-we're gonna die!!"
The screams of villagers rose from all over the village.
"Very well... then I shall burn this entire village of Carve to the ground with my heat! Until you come out, I will slaughter every last woman and child—even the greyhound wolf pups!"
Lyra clung to Ren's back.
"Ren! Please! Do something! He's serious! He really means to burn the village!"
Ren finally pulled back from the window.
"...Hah. Fine. Just a little."
"R-really!?"
"I'm a bit annoyed since my sleep time got cut short, though."
Ren raised his right hand.
A translucent blue panel floated up above his palm.
【Administrator Menu】
The authority that only he possessed—the power to rewrite the very foundations of the world. Item generation, status modification, entity deletion... a window for directly touching every rule of this world.
"Let's see, did I have some strong weapon?"
Ren scrolled through the item generation list with his finger.
【Sword of Dawn】.
The white-glowing longsword he'd pulled out on the first day. That would do.
"This one."
With a light pop, a white-glowing longsword appeared in Ren's right hand.
The blade shone with the pale crimson light of a dawn sky, and the hilt was adorned with gold ornamentation. Just holding it made the surrounding air faintly brighter. A legendary-class divine item.
Lyra recoiled behind him.
"W-what is that!? Just looking at it feels like it's going to steal my soul! Where in the world did you get something like—...ah, never mind, it's pointless to ask..."
Ren stepped outside.
The moment he opened the door, a blast of hot wind rushed in.
Dorvak was looking up at Ren from the foot of the hill.
"Hoh... so you've come out. And that sword. Hoh hoh, I see—legendary class. Quite interesting. But we shall see how far such a weapon can carry you against my Caldera!"
Dorvak slowly raised his right hand.
"Taste but a fraction of my magical power. It splits the earth and summons lava—the origin of my name—"
Ren yawned.
"Hey, you've been shouting since morning. You sure have a lot of energy. I'm still sleepy, you know."
"Y-you...! You dare interrupt my incantation with such drivel...!?"
"Because your incantation's too long. Magic doesn't need that much preamble, right? Even in games, the optimal strategy is to attack the boss while it's giving its long speech."
"W-what are you talking about...?"
Ren held the Sword of Dawn loosely in his right hand.
It was a stance so amateurish it barely qualified as one. The tip of the sword hung low, almost touching the ground.
"I don't really get it, but you challenged me to a duel, and when I refused, you said you'd burn the village. So the one who started making trouble is you. Right?"
"Hmph. And what of it? Power is the law of this world. When the weak defy the strong, they are destroyed. That is all."
"Then promise me—if I win, you'll never come back."
Dorvak's mouth twisted into a grin.
"Very well. If I lose, I shall leave this place. But that will not happen. For I shall be the victor."
"Huh."
Ren raised the sword.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Like a morning radio calisthenics routine—a completely lackadaisical motion.
—DOOON!!!
The next instant, the air atop the hill exploded.
The single downward swing swallowed sound, light, and heat all at once, surging toward the maou as a torrent of impact.
"Wha—"
The ground at Dorvak's feet peeled upward. The village square rippled like paper, split apart, and was blown away. The demon guards stationed around Dorvak—the shadowy army that had, at some point, lined up behind him—were swallowed by the light before they could even scream, and vanished.
Thirty-six of them.
All of them dissolved into particles and melted into the sky.
"Nuaaaaaaah!?"
Dorvak himself had crossed his arms and barely managed to withstand it.
But only for an instant.
The piercing impact covered his entire body in burns and sent his three-meter frame flying like a dead leaf.
"Gah...!?"
He slammed into the ground with a DOON! and rolled.
His copper-red skin was charred, white smoke rising from it. One of his spiral horns was bent at the base. The blood flowing
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