The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 3 by Satoshi Wagahara

noticed Chiho staring a distance away from under the cicada-laden tree, then shrugged quizzically, quite a feat to perform while on one’s stomach.
    “You have my full permission. Slay him.” For some reason, Suzuno was engorged with rage as she glared at Maou.
    “Hey! Don’t add gas to the fire! Stop her for me! …Oh, dammit, you’re on Emi’s side, that’s right! Crap!”
    “Devil King! Prepare to die!”
    Who could have predicted that an off-color comment about a budget-priced sports bra would cause such an abrupt end to his dreams of world domination?
    That pointless pang of regret was all that passed through Maou’s mind. None of this “life passing before his eyes” stuff. That was for humans.
    He had nowhere to run, no way to dodge Emi’s lightning-fast strike. His only recourse, though he knew it was useless, was to heft the apple in his hands upward, blocking the holy sword as Emi swung it from heaven above.
    “Huh?”
    But the air-rending, earth-shattering blade of her sword never quite got around to neatly halving Maou vertically.
    Fearing the worst, Maou slowly turned his face upward.
    “……”
    He saw Emi, eyes like small dots as she looked at the apple between her sword and her nemesis.
    “…?”
    Maou was at a loss, but still unable to move.
    “Y-your Demonic Highness…rrngh…”
    Ashiya spoke up for him, only now recovering from his tumble downstairs.
    It was an odd sight he was met with. The Devil King, guarding his head with a giant apple. Crestia Bell, hands to her cheeks in surprise. Emilia, her holy sword still aimed downward. And:
    “Is that…?”
    But what particularly grabbed his attention was the human hand that just grew out of the apple.
    Or hands, to be exact. Two of them, infant-sized, popped out of the large, round apple, arms following behind them.
    “Uh.”
    “Wha…”
    “What the hell is
that
?!”
    Ashiya and Suzuno grunted inscrutably. It was Emi, in the end, who shouted loud and clear.
    Seeing hands grow out from an apple was nothing short of astonishing. Maybe this really
was
a fruit-shaped demon after all. It was entirely possible.
    The biggest problem, however, was that these hands, unmistakably those of a human baby, had stopped the full brunt of Emi’s holy sword in its tracks.
    This was not a matter of Emi hesitating or letting up at the last moment.
    She was in a state of white-hot fury, so not even she had considered whether she could really slice through both the apple and Maou in one swipe. That should have been more than enough to at least cleave the fruit in two, though.
    Emi reared back in a panic, just as Suzuno removed the hairpin from behind her head.
    “Light of Iron!”
    As she spoke, the cross-shaped hairpin in Suzuno’s hand instantly transformed into a gigantic, holy, power-driven war hammer.
    Just like Emi a moment ago, Suzuno was on high alert, tense and wary against this unknown foe.
    Staggering to his feet, Ashiya took a moment to figure out what to do.
    But even with his experience as chief commander of the Eastern Island invasion force and his reputation as the demonic horde’s most brilliant strategist, he had never prepared for the situation of the Devil King pinned beneath an enormous apple with arms as it confronted the holy sword–wielding Hero.
    Suzuno, for her part, appeared similarly hesitant, not moving an inch, hammer readied in her hands.
    “…Uh, so, like, what just happened?”
    Only Maou, unable to see the other side of his apple, lacked a full grasp of the scene. He warily looked around him, fruit still held high.
    “M-Maou?”
    It was Urushihara who finally responded, on his feet and looking on from the corridor guardrail.
    “I think you, uh, maybe wanna put the apple down for now.”
    “The apple…? Aghh! What’re
those
?!”
    Maou gradually lowered the apple, only to be greeted with the sight of two infant arms groping around in the air. That earned the fruit an unceremonious toss to the