“You don’t know anything, Emilia.”

At Cadel’s words, Emilia frowned. Her eyes, slick with a deep killing intent, reflected only Cadel. His firm expression, his unwavering gaze, and the sudden, overflowing, peculiar flow of mana—all of it.

“I don’t know anything?”

“That’s right.”

“You’ve got an interesting way of getting under someone’s skin.”

“The only ending you can reach is defeat. Whether I die, or you die. Nothing changes. You’ll never win, and the Demon Realm will never be freed.”

The words of a human on the brink of defeat were always the same. Perhaps their fragile mind couldn’t endure facing reality. It was pathetic beyond belief.

“Say whatever you want. Not much time left in that little life of yours—might as well cling to a sliver of hope to make it hurt less, right?”

She smiled sweetly and swung her remaining arm wide. Following the arc of her hand, a heavy shockwave rang out, strong enough to depress the ground. The next moment, the ceiling and walls of the corridor they stood in burst apart.

Boom-boom-boom-boom—shrapnel from the exploding walls tore through space and time. Endless darkness loomed beyond the now-exposed three sides. If the floor beneath Cadel were to shatter, he would float helplessly through the dark void, wingless.

Having completely torn down the walls, Emilia reached her hand forward. A wide magic circle spread out before her. From within it, long tendrils of demonic energy began to pour out. Twisted together like grotesque silk snakes, the demonic energy surged toward Cadel without hesitation.

Rather than dodging or defending, Cadel mimicked her, stretching his hand forward. No magic circle appeared.

“……!”

From his hand poured flames that mirrored the form of the demonic energy. Cadel’s magic resembled Emilia’s in length, shape, and even in method.

‘What is this power?’

But in both quantity and quality, it was on a whole different level. The flames surged forward in elegant curves, thick as pythons. The rounded tips of the fire broke through the oncoming demonic energy without resistance. These weren’t mere flames. Carried on the back of the wind, the fire grew larger and faster as it advanced.

With the flames barreling toward her in an instant, Emilia clenched her fist. It was to deflect Cadel’s magic. But—

“Ugh……!”

Flames that would’ve been easily extinguished under normal circumstances did not yield to her touch and continued their advance. The magic, now transformed into a massive fireball, swallowed her whole. Hastily summoning demonic energy, Emilia shielded herself.

‘This is nothing like the power I sensed before. Was he hiding his strength? ……No. That can’t be. If he had had this kind of power from the start, he would’ve slaughtered the soldiers outside in an instant. He must’ve overextended his power to make a show of force.’

Even Mamil Kipa, the one he called his teacher, didn’t possess this level of destructive force. Shaking off her doubts, Emilia prepared her next attack within the suffocating blaze. She would hold her breath inside the fire and strike Cadel with a surprise blow.

‘Cadel Lytos is a multi-element magician who doesn’t need incantations. Even sealing his mouth won’t stop his magic. Binding him is meaningless. I need to attack at the fastest tempo possible. I’ve got to drain his mana. Human magicians are prone to rampant.’

Unlike herself, still brimming with power, Cadel Lytos had been fighting since the Human Realm. His mana should have reached its limit already. As a multi-element magician, he might be able to maximize efficiency with minimal mana, but if she pushed hard enough, he wouldn’t last long.

Or so she thought.

“I’d only ever conceptualized it before—I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to actually try it. ……It’s kind of exciting.”

Beyond the flames that had vanished without warning, Emilia’s eyes widened at the sight of the monstrous creature suddenly filling her view.

“That is……”

“Say hello. This is [Giant Lydon].”

Was it a mistake to destroy the walls just to instill fear? Unimpeded, the towering ice sculpture rose with overwhelming presence. The colossal mass of ice, so massive one would have to crane their neck just to see its face, took on the form of a holy angel. Two pairs of wings stretched from its back, and in its tightly clenched hands was a long ice spear.

Ice? There had been no information suggesting that Cadel Lytos used ice magic. Could that fairy have interfered? It was a reasonable suspicion, but Emilia’s deduction was wrong.

“Lightning……!”

“Isn’t it cute? Lydon would’ve loved this if he saw it.”

As [Giant Lydon] pulled the spear back, bluish currents of electricity spiraled up along its shaft. The electricity, flashing vividly in the dark space, swelled menacingly.

Beneath the looming spear that seemed ready to strike at any moment, Emilia struggled to conceal her unease.

‘He just used fire and wind mana. And now he’s using ice and lightning mana too? Well, he’s a multi-element magician, so it’s not strange that he can access multiple types of mana. But this kind of power……’

From [Giant Lydon] emanated such an overwhelming flow of mana that even Emilia momentarily felt intimidated. Could he have been conserving his strength for this moment? Or perhaps…… he had awakened anew.

As if to break her confusion, [Giant Lydon] twisted its torso to the limit and hurled the spear. It was a ludicrously large weapon, thrown in a twisted space where even free movement was difficult. She assumed it would take time to land.

“You’ve got a good arm, Lydon.”

But the spear, released from [Giant Lydon]’s hand, pierced the air at lightning speed.

Boom—. With a thunderous crash, as if a massive spire had fallen, a vast circular shockwave erupted. Debris floating in the winds was blasted away in an instant, clearing the surroundings completely.

Then, the current coiled around the spear surged into the tip embedded in the floor of the corridor. Immediately, an electric net spread out, covering the entire ground.

Cadel calmly adjusted his mana as he stared at the ice spear dominating his field of vision. Unlike the fond tone he used when praising [Giant Lydon], his gaze toward the opponent was cold and merciless.

“I’m not going to consider your position. I won’t pity you. You, your kind, your world—I’m done caring. I’ve lost too much…… to feel sorry for people who know nothing.”

At Cadel’s light gesture, [Giant Lydon] pulled the spear embedded in the corridor free. Crack—, the floor split as the spear was slowly withdrawn. Having successfully retrieved its weapon, [Giant Lydon] scattered into fine powder and disappeared.

It was too burdensome to maintain for long. The show of power had been enough. Now, the key was to manipulate his mana while handling as many attributes as possible.

Cadel gazed down the corridor where the spear had vanished. On the shattered path, still buzzing faintly with electricity, Emilia was struggling to rise. Bracing herself with her remaining arm, she lifted her scorched torso from the ground. Her drooping hair veiled her face. Her body twitched with the irregular jolts of current running through her, yet she still pulled herself upright with tenacious strength.

“……You, losing so much? That’s laughable. Your arrogance knows no bounds.”

With a light sweep of her tangled hair, her scorched face came into view. Thick demonic energy billowed around her, making her expression hard to read.

“This is why humans shouldn’t exist in this world. Every last one of your kind should be torn apart.”

“Exactly. That’s why you’ll always remain trapped in the underworld. Forever.”

Gnash. Emilia clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. The gleam in her eyes dimmed, her heaving shoulders steadied. She leapt over the sunken floor and began walking toward Cadel. Slowly, steadily. Her gaze locked on him, never wavering as she closed the distance.

“The one who knows nothing…… is you, Cadel Lytos. I won’t die here. But even if I do…… victory won’t be yours.”

A sword of demonic energy had formed before anyone realized it. Noticing that Cadel had no intention of moving, she suddenly broke into a run. The sword raised high, aimed solely at Cadel. The gap closed quickly, and the blade lengthened in an instant. Her ferocious strike, like that of a beast, bore down on him.

“You’re right. Victory won’t be mine.”

The demonic energy blade that should have cleaved Cadel—sliced only the air. Without moving a single step, he had completely evaded the sword’s path. Emilia’s expression froze in disbelief at the impossible situation. And in the next moment—

“But the people I love will win. That’s enough for me.”

Emilia’s vision went completely black.