Fighting a clone was certainly simpler than facing the Demon King herself. And yet, Mamil couldn’t bring himself to feel the slightest bit relieved.

‘Should’ve retired and spent my old age in hiding, don’t you think, Jenga? I thought I heard your voice earlier. Are you calling from the heavens now?’

Aged body, drained stamina, mana squeezed dry to the point of nausea. On top of that, there wasn’t even an ally ahead to draw the enemy’s attention. This wasn’t the kind of foe that could be taken down with a quick incantation spell. And whenever he tried to create distance to cast magic, the clone would charge in as if waiting for that exact moment. Mamil thought it was a miracle he was still standing.

“If one of us doesn’t die, neither of us can leave. And it won’t be me. So why don’t you just close your eyes quietly?”

“If I could, I would’ve laid down and shut my eyes a long time ago.”

This was elder abuse. Even if he were to die one second later to the clone before him, Mamil didn’t think he’d feel particularly wronged. In fact, he might even feel grateful. The only reason he was still forcing mana out of his body in this miserable state was a single thought.

‘Your precious grandson is taking his sweet time, Jenga. I ought to at least see his face before I die. If the first thing he sees upon returning is his teacher’s corpse, I’d be ashamed even in the afterlife.’

He had to do what he could to support Cadel when he returned. He no longer had the power to bring down the Demon King. Maybe in his youth, but not now. Though he was prone to negative thinking on the best of days, this judgment was purely rational.

‘I’ve exhausted too much on the way here. No one’s danced better to the Demon King’s tune than I have.’

Starting from the battle at the [Gate of Retribution], all the way to the Demon King’s castle, Mamil had fought like an army unto himself. The Blue Blood Knight Order had always been short on magicians. They’d relied too heavily on Mamil’s presence and neglected to scout for new talent. That complacency from the king—Mamil had borne it all on his back. And now, he didn’t even have the strength for a final, satisfying blow to the Demon King’s head.

He wiped a trickle of blood from his nose with the back of his limp hand and instinctively groped inside his robes.

‘If I took this now, maybe I’d have a chance of winning.’

It was around three minutes into his battle with the Demon King that he realized this one wasn’t the real deal. Too strong to be fake, yet the aura was too faint to be real. And yet even this copy had pushed him to his limits. It felt like such a waste to invest anything more in this body.

‘I’ll survive this place somehow and give this to you myself. You slow-witted disciple of mine.’

For Cadel alone, Mamil continued to move his torn lips, reciting his incantation.

* * *

The battle outside the castle was still raging. Though he hadn’t expected it to be over by the time he took care of the Demon King’s siblings, he had thought they would at least be showing signs of victory by now. It seemed Emilia’s plan to steadily whittle down the human forces had worked all too well.

“There are too many wounded to treat them all with healing magic.”

“How many from the Twilight Knight Order can you see?”

“One, two, three…… just over ten. That can’t be right. There’s no way they’ve all died. I don’t see Modeleine either.”

“If it’s Sir Modeleine, he probably went up the ice stairs. He’s the only knight who can use healing magic nearly as well as you.”

Cadel let out a quiet sigh as he calmly soothed the bewildered Garuel.

‘Far from being neck and neck, we’re clearly losing ground. The knights are reaching their physical limits. As the number of paladins dwindles, healing magic is suffering as well. Meanwhile, High Demons have regenerative powers that don’t fade as long as they’re still breathing. The longer this drags on, the more despair for the human forces.’

He felt sorry for those still fighting hard, but Cadel didn’t even entertain the assumption that the human army would hold out till the end. He had to reach the Demon King before they were wiped out. Turning his back on the troops, Cadel moved to climb the ice stairs in haste. But then—

“Ca…… Cadel……”

A faint voice called to him from nearby. Startled, Cadel looked around, and Garuel pulled him closer.

“Look over there, Knight Commander. It’s Sir Dreyfe.”

“Dreyfe……?”

Following Garuel’s gesture, he spotted Dreyfe collapsed over someone’s corpse. Covered in blood and in a miserable state, Cadel rushed over without hesitation.

“Dreyfe! Are you badly hurt?”

“Lo…… look……”

“Are the wounds serious? Where? Damn it, we don’t have time…… I’ll ask Garuel to use healing magic first—”

“Forget…… that……! Take…… this……!”

Clearly frustrated by Cadel’s response, Dreyfe pushed himself up from the ground. Alarmed, Cadel tried to lay him back down.

“I killed…… him. I did it……”

Shrugging off Cadel’s hand, Dreyfe pointed to the corpse beneath him. Cadel finally shifted his gaze—and his eyes widened in shock.

“This one is……”

“I…… killed this one…… so you don’t…… have to worry about long-range interference…… Thought…… I’d never be able to do it…… but I…… did……”

Dreyfe, who had been struggling to speak, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed over the corpse. Seeing his completely unfocused eyes, Cadel bit his lip tightly.

‘It’s Atlas Monstel. One of the enemies we had to prioritize killing. Normally, it should’ve been me or my subordinates who took him down……’

Even though he knew Atlas needed to be eliminated, he’d been too preoccupied to give it the proper attention. And while Cadel had left him unchecked, Atlas had been slaughtering their allies. Yet it was Dreyfe who finally brought him down.

Atlas wasn’t a High Demon that Dreyfe could easily defeat. It wasn’t that Cadel was underestimating his capabilities. The system had always expected Cadel and his knights to defeat predetermined enemies, and it never welcomed outside interference. Those who tried were toyed with and ultimately pushed aside so that Cadel would be the one to eliminate them.

Cadel had learned that truth through bitter experience. So he could feel, more vividly than anyone else, just how grueling Dreyfe’s battle must have been. How much despair he had endured to break through the fate imposed on him.

“……You did well. You really, really did well.”

“I…… didn’t kill him…… just to hear that kind of talk.”

Even in response to Cadel’s sincere praise, Dreyfe snapped weakly. He forced his half-closed, dimming eyes open and said,

“I’ll…… bite through as many of them as I can until the end…… So don’t worry about this side. Kill the Demon King. I’m…… giving you a special mission……”

How he intended to keep fighting in that ragged state, no one knew. It might have sounded like nonsense spoken in delirium—but because it came from Dreyfe, it transformed into a precious resolve. Cadel bit his lip again and called out to Garuel behind him.

“Keep him alive.”

There wasn’t enough time for perfect healing magic, but they had to at least keep him breathing. Garuel silently nodded and released his demonic energy. As his healing spell began to stabilize Dreyfe’s breathing—

Kwa-boom Boom Boom!

With an explosive sound echoing from high above, a tiny, dot-like figure began plummeting from the sky.

“What…… is that?”

“It’s a person!”

At Garuel’s shout, Cadel’s eyes widened. Anyone falling from such a height must surely be one of those who had gone to confront the Demon King.

A chill ran down his spine in an instant. Cadel quickly gathered mana, aiming at the rapidly approaching figure, and summoned wind. While he couldn’t fully nullify the shock, he had to make sure they wouldn’t explode from the fall. But—

“He’s not just falling! Something is pushing him!”

“Pushing him?”

“I’m lacking power! Garuel!”

Even with Cadel’s wind, the falling speed couldn’t be slowed. At Cadel’s urgent cry for help, Garuel stopped healing and drew up demonic energy. There was no time to care about the eyes of others around them.

With the demonic energy flowing, half-formed wings sprouted from Garuel’s back. Estimating the height, he flapped the wings to gently ascend. While he couldn’t fly high, with the wind mana slowing the descent, he managed to catch the falling human.

Garuel caught him and tried to land safely, but as Cadel had said, the falling figure had been pushed by something. Pressured by some strange force, the body collapsed, and the demonic energy wings couldn’t withstand it. Garuel hugged the human tightly and absorbed the impact of the fall, crashing into the ground.

“Garuel! Are you okay?”

Startled by the loud fall of the two figures, Cadel rushed over. Clearing away the swirling dust, he saw Garuel, who was holding someone in his arms, coughing.

“I’m fine. This level of damage can be regenerated. But……”

Garuel reassured Cadel as he gently laid the human he had been holding on the ground. Only then did Cadel see the person’s face and furrow his brow.

“Sir Sorin……? Sir Sorin! Wake up! Sir Sorin……!”

“Wait a moment, Knight Commander.”

As Cadel was about to shake Sorin awake, he followed Garuel’s gaze and looked down at him.

“This……?”

“It’s demonic energy. It hasn’t disappeared yet and is still digging into Sorin’s body.”

There was a small mass of demonic energy lodged near Sorin’s solar plexus. At first glance, it seemed to have stopped moving, but it was still spinning furiously, gnawing at Sorin. This was the source of the force that had pushed him to the ground.

Cadel’s complexion darkened as he stared at it.