***

All of Troy's population seemed to have died. Most of them were probably killed by the dragon, but if there was anyone left that escaped the dragon's fire, these people would've been killed by Megumin's explosion.

The dragon was also caught in the explosion, but it's corpse was nowhere to be found. After the fire died down, the roman army moved into the ruins and they were given orders to slay anything that might still be alive there. King Dimitry wanted to make an example out of anyone that might mess with him.

And Troy was powerful. Probably the most powerful. Many came to trade there and many supported it or put their hopes in it. Nothing seemed to be able to destroy it and yet here it is: a smoldering ruin with thousands dead inside of it. The price for Cornelius' blood shed inside it's walls is now paid.

"Are you sad, Y/n?" Megumin asked me

We were now both resting beside each other under a tree somewhere outside of the roman camp. My mind was drifting.

"No, I'm just exhausted." I moved my hand on hers. "Come here."

I took her in my arms as if to make sure nobody would snatch her away from me.

Although I am exhausted, I missed her touch a lot.

Megumin ran her fingers through my hair.

"Your hair is still wet." she said. "Don't you fear catching a cold?"

After escaping from the burning town I was dirty. I had some ash and blood on me, not to mention portions of my clothes were burnt or torn. I had my wounds bandaged and I took a bath.

Although something tells me that if I were to somehow wound up unconscious, Megumin might've given me a bath again. Not that I would've minded that.

"Catch a cold in the summer? Don't be silly, Megumin. Besides, would you have enjoyed me covering you in blood and ash right now?"

The very fact that she bathed me once aroused me, but I had to keep my personal knowledge of that deed a secret. I had to not let myself get driven by my lust again.

 "What's on your throat?" Megumin asked

She moved her hand to my throat gently rubbing it.

"I did go through a whole lot during these last few days" I told her.

"I could've sworn your voice had gotten deeper, but now that I see you have got your throat slit... But it looks so cool!" 

Megumin rested her head on my shoulder. I gave her a kiss on the forehead. Megumin took my hand and led it underneath her robe. I was surprised by that.

"Go on." she urged me

I moved my hand on the bandages that were covering her small breasts.  She let out a cute squeak of surprise seeing my lack of hesitation.

"Is that what you want to show me, that you've grown a little?" I asked her

Blushing Megumin nodded.

Then I moved my hand downwards and I tickled her a little on the area of her lower ribs. That made her giggle a little. Her skin felt really smooth under the touch of my fingers.

But after that I got my hand out.

"I'll go further than that after I get your parents' approval." I told her. "Theophilus is with us now, he can lead us to the Portal."

That is if that Portal leads to her world at all.

"My parents..." Megumin sighed. "You'll have to look or be rich in order to get their approval."

"I have a flaming sword, don't I? That's nothing to scoff at."

"Yeah, but that makes you dangerous and powerful-not rich. You'll need to get something to signify status. Something like a full plate armor or personal bodyguards."

"We'll think about what we'll do when we get there."

(Timeskip 2 days- to the day of the Portal)

The wounds I had from the fight with Alaric healed and now I was walking among the woods in the mountains with Megumin, Theophilus and Lucilius.

We told the king Dimitry in a private discussion about Megumin and how in truth she came from another world. That surprised Dimitry, but considering how she was able to cast Explosion and considering how trustworthy we were, it was easy to convince him to relieve me of my service as a legionnaire and let us go in the Portal.

I got some new armor as well- as a reward for avenging Cornelius and slaying Alaric- the trojan general and champion. I wore a repaired version of the hoodie I wore earlier and over it my very own chainmail shirt.

Theophilus received a new spear from king Dimitry and the old anchorite priest decided to go through the Portal with me and Megumin. We didn't know why, all he told me was that he had something to do there.

Lucilius on the other hand didn't want to go through the Portal. He was sent to destroy it, after we got teleported by it. The legionnaire was carrying some dynamite in his bag and that was intended to be used in the Portal's destruction. There were many among the roman elite who had the suspicion that the dragon and probably others came from that portal. The dynamite really annoyed Megumin, who hates any kind of non-magical Explosion, but in the end she was convinced it was necessary.

Dynamite itself was really rare nowadays. It was generally considered to be a relic from the old world, but the king somehow got his hands on it some time ago.

"We're close now." Theophilus said as a clearing in the woods showed up in front of us.

And there it was: a large clearing covered with grass in the middle of the woods. Right in front of a large rock was the portal. It looked like a ring made out of stone, partially entrenched into the ground. Blue light was in the middle of it.

(Author's Note: Here's my shitty edit of a photo I found. Difference is that I imagine it with it's back against a rock)

But there was one problem. In the middle of the clearing was the dragon Feomathar. It seemed to have one broken wing and it looked like it coughed. It tried to breathe fire into the open air but only a little came out and then it faded into a little smoke.

So it got caught into Megumin's explosion back in Troy and now it is badly wounded.

We started discussing our plan of action.

"This should be easy for my dear to handle." I said "She can cast an explosion on the dragon and finish it off."

"But couldn't that damage the portal before you could enter it?"

"What other option do we have, we can't fight it, even in it's wounded state. The dragon is too tough." Theophilus said.

"Megumin's explosions aren't always large enough to swallow towns." I said- and Megumin pouted at that- "It all depends on her emotional state. If she's bored, she's going to release a lesser explosion."

"How do we bore her?" Lucilius asked

I rubbed my chin, thinking about it. My eyes moved to the dynamite, which was hanging out of Lucilius' bag. Then an idea came to my mind.

"Let's tell her about the chemistry involved in the making of the dynamite!" I said

Megumin yawned just hearing that get mentioned.

"It worked!" Theophilus cheered

"Now Megumin, you can unleash your Explosion."

Megumin was unimpressed.

"Never thought I would be so bored before exploding a dragon..." Megumin said. "But here we go."

Megumin chanted her chuuni chant and finished it:

"EXPLOSION!"

A large explosion erupted and hit the dragon, sending it flying into some trees, crushing them. The portal was not damaged.

But then the dragon roared. it was still alive. This time it had both of it's wings broken off and it was clumsily walking on it's 4 legs in our direction. It was clearly on it's last legs.

Poor dragon. It's got such a slow death.

As Megumin was laying on the ground, me, Theophilus and Lucilius charged at the dragon. The dragon tried to hit Theophilus with it's tail, but the anchorite dodged. Lucilius hit the dragon in it's tail, but the sword bounced off it's scales. My sword did no damage as well.

The dragon then clawed at me and I barely managed to dodge it. The dragon managed to graze my armor. Then Theophilus climbed over it's head and plunged his spear into the dragon's temple. The dragon died.

We stood around the dead body and looked with pride at our doing.

Well, it was pretty much dying by the time we faced it, but it's still a big deal, is it not?

"Phew, that was hard." Lucilius said

"Y/n, help!" I heard Megumin tiredly scream behind me

We turned around and I saw the one-eared pink mohawk guy-Kurt- holding Megumin up with one arm and holding a dagger at her throat with the other hand. Beside them was a skinny guy- Virgil, the roman spy who betrayed for Troy.

Virgil seemed to be standing pretty staunchly by Kurt's side.

"Don't move a muscle or the girl is going to die." Kurt threatened

I felt myself getting really angry.

And to think I spared this guy when I was about to kill him! And this is how he pays it back!? But I can't do anything, as soon as I move, he's going to cut Megumin's throat. 

"Virgil is that you!?" Lucilius asked. "You fucking pussy, you betrayed us for the heathens!"

"It is over." I said to them, barely holding back my anger. "Troy is destroyed. You have nothing to come back to. Antagonizing us won't help your situation either- in fact that will be your gravedigger."

When he heard about Troy being destroyed, Virgil's face changed. He seemed troubled now.

"Antagonize you!?" Kurt yelled. "You cut my ear, remember!? I hate you so much! I'm going to make you pay!"

"Kurt, maybe we should leave them alone and get away-" Virgil said

"Don't intervene!" Kurt snapped

"So you hate me!?" I continued "Then leave Megumin out of this and duel me. One on one. Let's get this over with."

"No..." Kurt refused and then grinned. "I want to provoke as much suffering to you as possible. And seeing you love her so much, I will cut her throat right now!"

Kurt was about to start slashing at Megumin's throat, but Virgil quickly grabbed him by the forearm. Kurt became angry and screamed and let go of Megumin-who fell on the ground. Kurt punched and started stabbing Virgil in the shoulder and throat several times.

"Y/n!" Megumin shouted

I quickly ran towards Kurt and thrusted my flaming sword into his back, burning his guts on the inside.

Kurt fell on the ground, dropped his bloody dagger and continued screaming like a madman while I pinned him on the ground with one foot and thrusted my sword into his throat finishing him.

I took a glance at Virgil, but he was also dead from the wounds he had just sustained from Kurt. Virgil also had a stab to the heart. I sheathed my sword.

Could it be that the traitor redeemed himself by doing this? Who knows.

I quickly took Megumin in my arms and looked at her throat. Not even a graze.

"Thank God you're alright!" I said

Megumin nodded and her half-closed eyes glowed. Although she just went through a near-death experience, she was still tired from casting Explosion.

"Something was really wrong with that guy..." Theophilus said. "Let's wait a little to make sure no more of them will come up and attack Lucilius after we go away."

We stood there and waited for half an hour. I sat on a boulder with Megumin in my arms. It was a surreal experience for all of us. Lucilius was about to lead some people into a Portal he would later destroy.

Theophilus and I were going into a foreign world and we were probably never to return back to this one.

And Megumin- well she seemed really relaxed and eager. She was actually about to leave the foreign world and (probably) return to her own. The cute arch-mage was smiling the whole time.

Thinking about it, I don't think I ever told her that it isn't 100% sure the Portal leads to her world. Oh God, how bad would it be if we end up in a foreign world for both of us!?

"Y/n" Megumin adressed me

"Yes?"

"In case we get transported to different locations, we should arrange for a meeting point. The Adventurers' Guild in the town of Axel would be a good spot. You won't know where that is, but you can always ask people for directions."

"Okay."

When the half hour ended, we advanced towards the Portal and Megumin's legs recovered and she was able to walk again. Theophilus hugged Lucilius, went in first and entered the Portal without hesitation.

Me and Megumin also gave one last hug to Lucilius and then I took Megumin's hand and entered the portal at the same time. As we were entering the Portal- I looked at Megumin. Megumin also looked at me and she had a genuine smile of happines on her face, which made me glad.

We went through the Portal and left this world forever. Whatever awaits us there is another story.