‘I can’t win like this.’

There was no way to conceal his presence, making an ambush impossible. A direct confrontation was out of the question—his energy was lacking, and the Demon King was too powerful.

Yozen wiped away the flowing blood and focused all his attention on the Demon King. The demonic energy that made up her very being was utterly bizarre. It was dazzling yet pure, its endless waves disturbing the mind while simultaneously being so eerily silent that it felt suffocating.

It was an absurd flow of energy—an existence where all anomalies converged, making it impossible to grasp how to counter her.

‘I just need a moment—just a little time to gather my energy. If I don’t…… I’ll die a meaningless death.’

He had to escape this library to survive. Right now, he had no chance of fighting the Demon King alone and making it out alive. He had the ability to assess an opponent’s strength with precision, a skill directly linked to a foresight that determined the outcome of battle. And right now, all he could see was his own defeat.

“I told you not to even dream of running. Your energy is far too dangerous. I can’t let you walk away alive.”

Emilia took a step closer, a chilling smile on her face. Unlike the tattered Yozen, both she and her library remained perfectly intact, just as they had been at the start. She had blocked every one of his attacks and even shielded the library from their aftereffects.

She was brimming with composure. The black demonic energy undulating around her swayed in smooth, elegant curves, almost as if it were dancing with joy.

With a commanding wave of her hand, the violet magic circle etched on the back of her hand glowed. At the same time, Yozen’s body was flung backward, tracing the path of her hand’s movement.

“Guh……!”

Twisting his body midair, Yozen planted his foot against the wall and barely managed to land, gasping for breath. There was no opening. Standing before the Demon King, he was nothing more than a toy in her hands, utterly at her mercy.

“……”

Seeing Yozen frozen in place, doing nothing, Emilia tilted her head slightly.

“Have you finally given up? Even if you surrender, I won’t grant you a painless death…… Hmph, I see. As expected, you have no intention of surrendering.”

From Yozen’s body, pure dark energy began to rise. It was undeniably dangerous. How many demons had perished because of that power? The vivid scenes of slaughter played clearly in her mind.

Even after exhausting so much strength to get here, he could still muster that much energy. She had to deny him any chance to recover and finish him off before he became a problem. Fortunately, in his current battered state, he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight.

“Humans are just like insects. You think you can ignore them because you can kill them at any time, but they become so irritating that you can’t simply overlook them. I have no idea what gives you the confidence to keep coming at me.”

Disgust flickered in Emilia’s eyes. This pathetic creature had the audacity to crawl into her library and cause chaos. No matter how many she killed, more of these pests kept appearing. How was she supposed to rid herself of them once and for all?

With a shallow sigh, she extended her arm, and the magic circle on the back of her hand glowed once more.

And at that moment—

“……!”

Yozen moved.

For an instant, his form blurred, making it impossible to immediately track where he was heading. His desperate attempt to conceal himself briefly delayed Emilia’s attack. Seizing that fleeting gap, Yozen hurled himself toward a specific point with all his strength.

The narrow gap between the bookshelves.

Wrapping his body in dark energy, he forced himself into the tiny space, barely large enough for a single person. The impact struck the unprotected wall, bypassing Emilia’s defenses entirely. Unable to withstand the force, the wall shattered, and Yozen’s body was flung outside.

“How dare you damage my library…!”

Emilia clenched her teeth, realizing Yozen’s intent a beat too late. But escaping the library didn’t mean he could flee entirely. He was already drained of energy, making him an easy target to chase down.

Or so she thought.

Yozen hadn’t just broken the library wall to escape—he had aimed for something beyond it.

“Yozen……?”

It was Lumen, who had been searching for his allies after leaving the armory. Yozen had sensed his presence nearby and timed his escape perfectly to appear before him.

For a moment, Lumen looked baffled at Yozen bursting through the wall out of nowhere.

“Help me.”

Then, he felt it. The overwhelming killing intent seeped from the room Yozen had just left. His expression immediately hardened.

“You ran into the Demon King, didn’t you?”

“Exactly. We can’t fight her alone.”

“……You actually met the real Demon King.”

Lumen had gone to the armory, where everything was peaceful. He hadn’t imagined that one of the five pathways actually led to the Demon King’s lair. He was briefly stunned but quickly closed his mouth and turned his body.

The moment he reached for his sword, his vision was filled with demonic energy—a sharp, crescent-shaped wave slicing toward him. A blue flash streaked through the air, splitting the attack in two just before it reached his face. The severed demonic energy crashed into the wall behind him.

Boom!

A violent gust swept through the corridor. The newly blasted hole in the wall let in a rush of cold air, making Lumen’s black hair whip around. He barely sheathed the half-drawn sword before fixing his gaze on the approaching enemy.

“It’ll take a while to repair the castle…… No, actually, there’s no need to repair it. I won’t be using this dreary place anymore.”

A woman cloaked in pitch-black demonic energy stood before them. The oppressive aura she exuded left no doubt—she was the Demon King.

As she took slow steps forward, the distance between them shrank, like the closing gap between life and death.

‘That face…… She’s the Demon King.’

Lumen swallowed dryly, recalling the statues he had seen outside.

“Lumen.”

“……I know. You’re right—we can’t handle this alone.”

The moment Emilia’s hand glowed with magic, Lumen hoisted Yozen onto his back and sprinted down the corridor.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each step he took was followed by a massive impact. The ground crumbled right behind him, missing his feet by barely a second. If he slowed down even slightly, he’d be hit and sent plummeting below.

As he ran, he felt the damp warmth of blood soaking into his shoulder. His brows furrowed.

‘He’s bleeding too much. If Yozen was beaten this badly, running is our only option. But……’

The castle was dangerous. They had no idea when they might run into another enemy. Worse, if they took the wrong path and encountered their other allies—

‘It’d be suicide. We could all be wiped out.’

To face the final boss in the enemy’s stronghold, they at least needed to be in minimal fighting conditions. Lydon’s status was still unknown after being captured, and now, with Yozen severely injured, this was not the time to fight.

They had to escape the castle.

Lumen, having made his decision, placed a hand on his sword hilt and took a steady breath.

‘Luckily, it’s not too high. I’ll break through the wall and jump out. I might break a few bones, but that’s better than dying here.’

His plan was simple: accelerate just enough to stay three steps ahead of the Demon King’s attacks, smash through the wall, and leap out before her attack could reach him.

But before he could even begin his sword-drawing technique—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Emilia, who had been attacking from a distance the entire time, suddenly appeared directly in front of him, closing the gap in an instant.

Her speed was incomprehensible.

‘The floor behind me has already collapsed. How did she get here……?’

Even if he ignored the issue of speed, there was no foothold behind him. How had she crossed the gap?

In that fleeting moment, Lumen instinctively drew his sword, his gaze flicking to where Emilia had originally stood. She was still there.

Which meant—

“A clone.”

He had seen enough of Yozen’s abilities to be sick of clones. Lumen adjusted his stance, opting to strike instead of using his sword-drawing technique. But—

“What……?!”

“I’d rather you not compare me to an ordinary clone.”

The voice came from right in front of him.

The clone didn’t just block his attack with raw energy. Lumen’s eyes widened as he saw what had met his blade—a sword, identical in shape to his own, forged from demonic energy.

The clone grinned as she pressed against his weapon.

“You think you can handle me with just that level of skill?”

Lumen was at a disadvantage. Carrying Yozen meant he could only use one hand, but even considering that, Emilia’s swordsmanship was beyond what he had imagined.

Meanwhile, the real Emilia had not ceased her attacks. Lumen had to dodge the demonic energy destroying the floor while simultaneously fending off the clone’s relentless strikes. Every time their swords clashed, the air vibrated from the impact.

‘Damn it, at this rate……!’

He couldn’t even run properly. What was the best course of action?

At the very least, he had to get Yozen to safety. His condition was already critical, and their opponent was far too powerful for him to carry Yozen while fighting.

His arm trembled from the force of each clash. With every strike exchanged, the gap in strength became more evident.

‘Throwing Yozen into the hole below might be my best option. He’s not completely unconscious—he can escape while I buy time.’

With that thought, Lumen subtly adjusted his movements, shifting his position to create distance between himself and the clone. He leaped backward, aiming to reposition.

But the clone refused to give him space. The moment he moved, she swung her demonic energy sword down with crushing force.

Clang—!

His blade, unable to withstand the impact, shattered in two.