How desperately he had longed to see that face. Just to face her, Cadel had to overcome countless trials that blocked his path. All the while, never letting go of his wish to drive a blade into that delicate neck.

“Sir Cadel! Comma—no, Sir Black Magician!”

“You’ve finally made it!”

Ector and Modeleine, having spotted the Scarlet Scales Knight Order, began running toward them. Even though he sensed their presence, Cadel had no room to look back. Just as Van said, the left arm Emilia had lost to Lumen’s strike remained missing. If it hadn’t regenerated by now, it was safe to say it never would.

As Cadel carefully gathered his mana, Emilia spoke in an icy voice from in front of him.

“I missed you so much. Cadel Lytos.”

There was no need to say ‘likewise.’ Their eyes alone conveyed everything. The unbearable, blazing murderous intent that surged between them.

With the Demon King he had waited so long for, now right in front of him, Cadel was surprisingly calm. As still as a tranquil lake. There was not even a sense of eager anticipation that the war was nearing its end. Only the sharp churn of tactics in his mind—how to crush Emilia most effectively, how to grant her the worst possible death. Emilia must have been thinking the same.

“Let’s fight one-on-one. The other humans are a distraction. I don’t want to be interrupted.”

“You don’t seriously think I’d grant such a ridiculous request. Sorry, but I’ll kill you by any dirty means necessary. You won’t get a fair fight.”

A worthless provocation. Cadel scoffed and timed his attack. Ector and Modeleine’s footsteps were drawing near. He would unleash his spell the moment they fully joined the group. With the best offense and defense, he had to support their charge. But the next moment—

“Did that sound like a request to you?”

Emilia muttered coldly and swung her right arm. With that simple motion, the corridor they stood in began to tremble. A magic circle emerged at their feet, flaring to life with demonic energy. No one knew when it had been activated, but it pulsed ominously.

“Everyone, get off the circle—!”

They had to get out immediately. Shouting in alarm, Cadel tried to leap away—only to realize the entire corridor was filled with the same magic circles. There was nowhere to run. As he frantically threw up a barrier, Emilia’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“I can’t wait to see your corpse.”

The magic circle that had relentlessly spewed demonic energy finally exploded. Within the merciless surge of power, Cadel desperately reached out his hand. He had to grab his subordinates. They must not be separated. They, too, reached toward Cadel with the same thought—but nothing ever landed in each other’s grasp.

“……”

Flailing within the razor-sharp demonic energy for a moment, Cadel could only fall silent as the rampaging explosion finally came to a halt. As the black haze slowly faded, he stood clenching an empty fist.

Everything had vanished. His subordinates who’d been at his side, Modeleine and Ector, who had been running toward him, even Mamil’s frozen corpse. The only one left in view was Emilia, tilting her eyes coyly.

On the opposite end of her bizarre, giggling laughter, Cadel slowly reached into his inner coat, all the while measuring the distance between them.

“I’ll give you the most horrific death imaginable. Let you taste pain like no other. Suffocate buried in your comrades’ corpse.”

As her head slowly lifted, a gaze so vicious it felt disconnected from her delicate beauty was revealed. Her murderous expression was chilling, but Cadel didn’t flinch. He simply and calmly pulled out what he had clutched inside his coat.

It was Mamil’s keepsake. A treasure left behind even as he sensed death approaching, given out of concern for Cadel. He didn’t know exactly what the potion did, but there was no doubt—it was a drug effective against the Demon King.

“You don’t know this, Emilia, but our meeting was fate. From the very beginning, Cadel Lytos was born to kill Emilia Swell. So, at least for this moment…… I think I’ll be faithful to that damn purpose.”

At the tip of Emilia’s outstretched hand, a new magic circle formed. As demonic energy gathered above it, Cadel drank the potion without hesitation.

The whereabouts or safety of his missing comrades, the future—those things could be forgotten for now. The one before him was the Demon King. The final enemy who would become the closing punctuation of this wretched tale.

* * *

Lydon, Yozen, and Ector realized they had entered a completely different corridor. Though it was still a halved hallway, not a single ally was in sight anywhere outside.

“Why the hell can’t I get out of here? There’s no Demon King here to block my flight!”

As soon as they arrived in the new corridor, Lydon immediately took to the air, trying to fly toward Cadel. But the same unknown force as before suppressed his flight. His wings, refusing to move as he wished, made him furious. Behind him, Yozen, who had been watching carefully in case Lydon might fall, spoke.

“There’s no Demon King, but something similar is here. ……If I’m not mistaken, it’s getting stronger.”

“What do you mean, something similar to the Demon King?”

“It’s a presence I’ve felt before.”

Seeing Yozen’s expression grow increasingly grim, Ector let out a low sigh. If it was a presence similar to the Demon King that Yozen had felt before……

“It’s a clone. She split us up so we’d have to face her clone.”

Just as Ector quickly reached that conclusion, demonic energy began to gather at the center of the hallway, as if it had been waiting for them. As the clear presence made itself known, their heads turned in unison. The black energy slowly began to take form as they carefully moved toward the opposite side. Staring at the familiar outline drawn by the demonic energy, Lydon muttered irritably.

“If she was going to split us up, she should’ve stuck me with Cadel. This Demon King really has no sense.”

“No one is with Cadel right now. He’s probably fighting the Demon King alone.”

“What? Why? Why is Cadel alone?”

“Before sending us here, the Demon King said she wanted to fight Cadel one-on-one.”

“I don’t care. I don’t remember hearing that. This is so annoying!”

Lydon vaguely remembered the Demon King muttering something, but his whole focus had been on Cadel. Listening to the chatter of some demon didn’t matter when counting the number of wounds on Cadel’s pale face was far more important. Yozen gave up trying to reason with Lydon’s typical shamelessness and gripped his dagger. The clone, now fully formed, was watching them silently.

“If we kill that thing, it should hurt the Demon King’s main body too. It’ll help more than just running around trying to find Cadel.”

“I agree.”

They couldn’t ignore the threat in front of them just to chase after Cadel, whose location was completely unknown. As Ector stepped forward to lead, Yozen said quietly from behind.

“Don’t let your guard down. This clone is several times stronger than the ones we’ve faced before.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Van, Lumen, Garuel, and Modeleine, who had fallen into a different corridor, were also in the midst of facing a new clone.

“Damn it, is this a joke? What the hell is going on? Are we all supposed to die together?”

“No, it’s just……”

“Why are you suddenly getting in the way, Sir Garuel? You’re disrupting the formation!”

“……I’m sorry.”

Normally, Garuel would have seamlessly coordinated the attack with flexibility and wit, just as his nature dictated. But in front of the dangerous clone, he was fumbling like a broken robot. If he had been acting stiffly alone, it wouldn’t have mattered, but his awkwardness had become a critical hindrance to the team’s battle. As a result, Van and Lumen, who had already failed several times in their attacks, were visibly irritated.

If he was going to be like this, he might as well just assist Modeleine instead. Why jump out for close combat and just cause more trouble? They needed to defeat the clone as quickly as possible to ensure Cadel’s safety. Unable to hold his frustration any longer, Van cursed the air. Beside the apologetic Garuel, Lumen, who had barely managed to suppress his sigh, spoke.

“Where did you leave your blindfold?”

“I lost it while fighting hard.”

“……Sir Garuel, it’s really unfortunate that you fell into the same place as your former subordinate, but do you really still need to hide your identity at a time like this? It doesn’t seem like the situation is relaxed enough for that.”

At Lumen’s dry tone, Garuel fell silent. Lumen had hit the nail on the head. From the moment Garuel realized that he had fallen into the same corridor as Modeleine, he had been acting unusually, trying to keep his left side hidden from him.

He would cover his left face with his hand as if it were a habit, or pretend to wipe away sweat. While they were figuring out the layout of the corridor, those pointless actions were somewhat tolerable, but when they started affecting the battle, it was no longer something to overlook.

“Is hiding your identity from your former subordinate more important than rescuing the leader who’s fighting the Demon King right now?”

“There’s no way that’s the case…… I understand. It doesn’t matter anyway. My identity has already been exposed to others, so it won’t make much of a difference if Modeleine knows too.”

He couldn’t keep hesitating in front of the Demon King’s clone. Having made up his mind, Garuel had no choice but to fight shamelessly. Closing his eyes, he released the demonic energy that had become so familiar. He couldn’t bring himself to look back and gauge Modeleine’s reaction. It was better to act as if he weren’t there and just focus on the fight. In times like this, recalling Cadel’s face was the quickest way to gather his resolve.

It was at that moment, as he gripped his sword desperately, trying to steady his mind.

“I knew it!”

Modeleine, who had remained silent until now, suddenly shouted. Instinctively, Garuel’s head turned toward Modeleine. As soon as their eyes met, Garuel hastily tried to look away, startled.

“I knew it was your demonic energy that saved me! You…… you had the blood of a demon, didn’t you? Is that why you left us?”

Garuel’s eyes wavered at the completely unexpected remark. Despite the fierce battle raging right in front of him, there was no way he could break into it. Garuel stood frozen, and once again, Modeleine’s loud voice rang in his ears.

“We’ll always resent you for running away without explaining anything! We’ll bring it up forever! So, if you don’t want to hear endless complaints later, show us something impressive! Show us the real fight of the commander you never showed us, right here, right now!”