The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing.

Chapter 622 Rescue of Princess Peach (Kazuma)
Huihui's home.

"Kazuma has been kidnapped!?"

A scream rang out in the peaceful living room; Miken Hibiki was unusually agitated.

"I never expected that the Demon King's daughter would sneak into the forbidden area of ​​the Crimson Demon Village at night, trying to break the seal on those evil gods! Damn it! I wish I had been there too, but I was helping the village at the time and didn't realize it."

He looked quite remorseful.

It seems confusing to others, who don't know what it has to do with him, but Zun Zun understands that it's just his sense of mission at work.

"Excuse me, I have a question."

"What's wrong, Aegis?"

Everyone instinctively looked at the Orichalco full-body armor that was raising its hand in a gesture of sympathy; incidentally, there was no one inside it.

"Actually, I had a question after listening to that. The Demon King's daughter mentioned Aegis the Holy Shield... what was it again?"

"what?"

Hearing this, Miken Hibiki was also taken aback.

"I remember you said before that Aegis was a shield that matched yours, that you were a complete set of equipment?"

"That's right. Don't be fooled by how strong I am now, I'm only at my peak when I have the Holy Shield Aegis. It's just that it was accidentally lost by its previous owner for some reason, and I never expected it to end up in the hands of the Demon King's army."

Saint Armored Aegis scratched his orbium helmet, making a slightly grating noise.

It's important to know that it has the characteristics of maximum physical resistance and immunity to all magic. The Holy Shield Aegis, which is paired with it, is actually no weaker than it. Both are artifacts made of orichalcum, and in terms of ability, it is slightly better.

"It's understandable that the young man didn't succeed, don't worry about it."

"...Why are you so smug?"

Yu Jian Xiang Ye rolled his eyes at his armor. He knew very well that the other party wanted to show off because his shield was too strong, but such a powerful artifact was currently in the hands of the Demon King's army, which was quite a headache.

"There's also the Great Divine Robe, which should also be a divine artifact. To be honest, I had already isolated the space beforehand to prevent the Demon King's daughter from escaping, but she still managed to slip away..."

Zun Zun frowned slightly.

He wouldn't make such a basic mistake; it's just that the other party wasn't playing by the rules.

"Aqua, do you know what the effect of that divine artifact is?"

"Well..."

Aqua gave an awkward but polite smile.

See, that's how it is.

Such an unreliable and idiotic goddess, even if she always claims to be a real goddess, who would take her seriously? She doesn't even know the effects of the divine artifact she gave away.

So, isn't it her fault that divine artifacts are so abundant in this world, even falling into the hands of the Demon King's army?
"But wait a minute, isn't something wrong?"

Miken Hibiki seemed to have sensed something was wrong.

"Lady Aqua, I must confirm this first. If the divine artifact is not in the owner's possession, its power is reduced to less than one-tenth... right?"

"Of course! Doesn't your demon sword prove that? Divine artifacts are incredibly powerful, even if someone else gets their hands on them, they definitely won't be able to unleash their original... effects...?"

Even the dimwitted Aqua sensed that something was wrong.

—Why is the Demon King's daughter able to unleash the power of the Holy Shield Aegis and the Great God's Robe? Surely she can't possibly withstand the Venerable One's attacks and escape right under his nose with such meager abilities?
"That's strange, there was clearly no authorization..."

Aqua muttered to herself.

Authorization? Hey, this goddess said 'authorization,' right? Why is such a futuristic term appearing in this isekai (another world) fantasy setting?

Thinking about it carefully, this is normal.

The artifacts that were taken back by the goddess Eris couldn't just be left there. They would definitely have their original owners' aura erased before being given to other reincarnated beings. For example, Miken Hibiki received the Holy Armor Aegis from Eris, which already had another owner.

"But I remember Alice wore the Holy Armor Aegis back in the capital, right? What was it like?"

They decided to ask the person in question... the armor itself.

“Yes.” Saint Armor Aegis said without hesitation, “I am a fully automatic type of divine artifact, which means that I can move even without a master wearing me, like now. And as such, I am naturally able to use my full strength, so even that little girl… Princess Alice can be protected by me.”

"In other words, it's not that Alice is using you, but that you are protecting Alice?"

“That’s how it is. But unlike me, the Holy Shield Aegis has no self-awareness, just like the Sword Master’s demonic sword shouldn’t be able to unleash its full power, unless…”

"Unless it also develops self-awareness, right?"

Zun Zun added what it hadn't said.

Having reference examples is convenient; you can understand its meaning immediately.

"However, this may not be the real reason. It's also possible that the Demon King's army cracked the so-called 'authorization,' which would be a big problem. No, considering that the other side has the ability to make the artifacts develop self-awareness, that would also be very troublesome."

No one knows how many artifacts the Demon King's army has collected, but if you think about it carefully, there must be quite a lot.

After all, the Demon King's army has existed for too long, and the artifacts brought by the otherworldly beings are rampant in this world—honestly, the low survival rate of this world is largely due to Aqua's unrestrained gifting of artifacts!
"But no matter what, we have to defeat the Demon King as soon as possible, right!?"

"That's what Mikami Hibiki said excitedly."

However, everyone remained silent.

"Hey...hey! Why are you all suddenly silent? We're here to defeat the Demon King, right? Wasn't that a decision we made? Besides, we don't even know if the Demon King's army can use the divine artifacts, and our comrade...Sato Kazuma is still in the Demon King's army's hands!"

Huh?
When did he become so close to Kazuma Sato?
"Where's Kazuma..."

"Kazuma..."

"Mr. Kazuma, well, how should I put it..."

"—Don't worry too much about him." X5

The entire squad exclaimed in unison, "...Huh!?" Yujian Xiangye was completely taken aback by this answer. He took a step back in astonishment and said incredulously, "Don't you care about your comrades' lives?"

No, that's not what I meant.

"Don't let Kazuma's frighteningly weak appearance fool you; he's actually incredibly resilient, practically an unkillable cockroach."

"After all, it's Kazuma."

"People who struggle and try to escape the more desperate the situation."

His companions completely believed him.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that Zun Zun went to the Heavenly Realm and found that Sato Kazuma had not been killed, so he knew that he was temporarily safe—as for how he got there, he naturally used teleportation magic.

Mikami Hibiki seemed unable to accept such bizarre trust between companions, and angrily turned and left.

But that's their team.

Not only are their configurations and personalities bizarre, but their combat style is also exceptionally strange.

Saint Armor Aegis said he would go and persuade him not to impulsively run to the Demon King's castle alone to die, so he left as well.

"Alright, now it's just us left."

Darkness, Megumin, and Yuuyu surrounded Aqua.

"Now let's talk about Aqua."

"Huh?...Eh?"

"Playing dumb won't work; it's about your goddess!"

"—Hmph! I am Aqua, the goddess of wisdom and water, the most unpopular goddess in the heavens, the one who always tops the list of those you least want to have as your boss, and the goddess who originally controlled the reincarnation of people from other worlds into this world!"

Perhaps because he's lived in the Crimson Demon Village for too long, this guy has also learned how to introduce himself as a member of the Crimson Demon Clan.

"Ah, really?"

"...That's right."

"Although I had a vague feeling about it."

"—Eh, that's it!?"

Aqua seemed to think her companions' reactions were too normal, and instead pouted and complained, feeling somewhat aggrieved.

"Why are you all so calm! Shouldn't you be a little happier, a little more excited, and prepare delicious food and fine sparkling wine for me three meals a day! Pamper me a little more!"

"But even if you say that..."

"Given Zun Zun's precedent, I really don't feel excited, let alone the goddess worshipped by the Axis religion."

"Yes."

"How could this happen!?"

In Zun Zun's view, their lack of reverence was entirely due to being annoyed by the Axis cultists. After all, if they were told that Chris was actually the goddess Eris, they would surely be extremely excited.

"But if that's the case, why didn't Aqua purify the Demon King's daughter? Even if she has 1/13 human blood, it shouldn't have had no effect."

Darkness's words were quite harsh, which also aroused Huihui and Youyou's distrust.

Aqua quickly offered a pretext for denial.

"No, that's not true! While it's true that goddesses can't harm humans, I was actually weakened a lot when I was brought down to the mortal realm! ...Really, you have to believe me!"

pity.

The unreliable goddess is not trusted by her companions.

Huihui also asked in surprise, "Zunzun, you are already a god, right? Even if that demon king's daughter has a divine artifact, you shouldn't just stand by and watch her kidnap Kazuma."

"There's a reason for that."

Zun Zun sighed softly.

"Although it may seem like an excuse to you, I am unable to unleash my full potential."

"Um... could it be that the Star Cup only has enough control over that world, which is why it can't do anything?"

"No. Power is power, regardless of the world. If I wanted to, I could make saury stay in the water, bananas grow on trees, and cabbages stop flying. But the problem is, once I use this power, it will be seen as a provocation. To be honest, the only reason I can still live in this world is because I was born into it."

We will still use the 'company' analogy.

Konosuba and No Game No Life are essentially two separate companies. Although Zun Zun is only the chairman of the latter and has sufficient control, it doesn't mean he can't interfere with Konosuba.

Star Cups are resources... or rather, money, and they are universally applicable in any world.

The problem is that when Zun Zun uses the Star Cup in this world, it's like forcibly getting the company "Konosuba" to raise funds and gain control of the company. How could the gods of the heavens sit idly by and not do anything about it? They will definitely find a way to kick him out.

If it were just him alone, it wouldn't matter; he could simply move to another planet. But this world has his parents, sister, fiancée, Alice, as well as friends and companions. So, until he can reach a consensus with the divine realm, he doesn't want to provoke them.

"But don't worry, even without the Star Cup, I'm confident I can defeat the Demon King. This time it was just unexpected, but next time, whether it's a divine artifact or anything else, I'll destroy them all."

"...I see. Yes, with you here, I feel relieved."

Huihui nodded.

The others also wore expressions that suggested they were pinning their hopes on him.

"Then let's end the joke here." Zun Zun clapped his hands and said, "Although I'd like to suggest we discuss this further, as Mikami Hibiki said, we can't leave our captured companions unattended... Tomorrow, tomorrow we'll go and defeat the Demon King!"

"Oh!" X4

His companions raised their hands and cheered.

(End of this chapter)