It was no exaggeration to say that his attacks never failed to land in the Human Realm. His power, honed through innate talent and brutal effort, was nothing short of invincible. His strikes always found their mark—at worst, ‘a little disappointing’, and at best, ‘a clean hit’.

The reason he could continue fighting despite the blindness was all thanks to the dark energy. The dark energy always dominated space like a shadow, allowing him to reign as its sovereign.

But in the Demon Realm, and especially within this peculiar space-time forged by the Demon King, Yozen’s dark energy failed to unleash its full strength.

“Idiot. Moron. So weak. Are you kidding me? Do you think this is the time for jokes?”

At Lydon’s torrent of scolding, Yozen’s lips tightened. He rubbed his stinging cheek with the back of his hand and felt the wet warmth of blood. None of his attacks were landing properly. Meanwhile, the wounds on his body were only multiplying. It was the worst-case scenario.

“Move with composure. Unfortunately, we have no healer. Minimize the injuries. If it’s an attack that Sir Lydon’s barrier can’t block, you must dodge it.”

“……I know.”

With no healer among them, their only lifeline was Lydon. Since he had to maintain a powerful barrier for them, Lydon’s magic naturally became limited. The opponent’s level was too high to both defend and unleash powerful spells simultaneously.

With their skilled magician focused on defense, the task of taking down the clone fell solely to Ector and Yozen.

“Let’s try again. I’ll keep drawing her attention from the front—don’t rush, just watch for an opening.”

Ector spat the blood pooling in his mouth and charged toward the clone. The clone, facing Ector with a doll-like, expressionless face, waved her hand lightly. A bizarre, rhombus-shaped magic circle rose between them. When Ector brought his greatsword down on it, a deafening blast resounded as countless blade-like demonic energy shards began pouring out.

“Seriously, the only thing you’re good at is getting hit!”

Thanks to Lydon quickly reinforcing the barrier, death was narrowly avoided. Ector endured the barrage of demonic energy pounding against his body and swung his greatsword once more. His forceful strike, brimming with power, unleashed a heavy shockwave. He brutally shattered the cracked magic circle and unleashed sword energy toward what lay beyond.

“Don’t underestimate the commander of the Empire’s knight order!”

The sword energy slashes flew one after another, generating a dense wind. From the clone’s barrier, barely holding back the blows, a thick cloud of demonic energy dispersed. Using the spreading energy as cover, the clone began preparing another attack. Noticing the subtle shift, Ector threw himself forward without hesitation. He had to keep the clone’s attention locked on him.

Ever since gaining experience, he had avoided such brute-force combat. But what choice did he have? He was the only one here capable of facing the clone head-on.

As she dodged the chest-aimed strike with ease, the clone conjured a sword of demonic energy—an exact replica of Ector’s greatsword. Gripping the sword, which was nearly the size of her own body, with one hand, the clone aimed straight at Ector. The corridor trembled under the strain of their two clashing blades.

“If it’s a contest of strength you want, I’ll gladly take you on!”

Though he shouted with bravado, Ector’s arms visibly trembled as he matched blades with the clone. The upward force pressing against his sword was no joke. Normally, he’d try to strike down with everything he had—but in his current state, he was little more than a patient with basic first aid. If only they had a healer……

“You don’t deserve peace. That’s why, in the end, victory will belong to humanity.”

Even those provoking words failed to faze the clone. Unlike the previous one, who had been irritatingly talkative, this one was stoic. Was it only imbued with the Demon King’s power? If so, that would be proof that the Demon King had been completely entranced by Cadel.

“Hup!”

Letting out a breath like a war cry, Ector threw his full weight behind the greatsword. He had to hold out. He had to keep the clone focused on repelling his attacks. He had to make sure she didn’t have the luxury of splitting her attention.

His muscles swelled to their limits, searing with pain. A thin stream of blood trickled from between his tightly clenched teeth. His eyes, filled with nothing but stubbornness and fighting spirit, glared as if to kill the clone’s unfeeling face. And then—

‘At last!’

From behind the clone, Yozen emerged. His quiet silhouette, cloaked entirely in pitch-black dark energy, aimed for the clone’s neck. It was an assassin’s strike in every sense—so precise and elusive that even when seen, one couldn’t be sure it was truly there, and it sought to sever the clone’s life in a single blow.

“Kh……!”

Suddenly, the clone’s wings, which had been limp and motionless until then, shot up like blades. Caught off guard, Yozen swiftly retreated. The assassination failed, and at the same time, the clone completely deflected Ector’s sword. Unable to withstand the monstrous force, Ector’s body tumbled down the corridor. A surge of thick demonic energy swept through the hall.

“Haah…… Another failure?”

It was a tiresome cycle of repeated failure. The only saving grace was that this clone didn’t make any notable moves unless they attacked first. She wasn’t completely idle, but neither was she unleashing any threatening assaults.

Yozen, having widened the distance from the Demon King again, reached out to the fallen Ector. Ector tried to rise with his help, but let out a short groan and collapsed once more.

“My ribs…… hurt like hell.”

His ribs, once shattered and only barely healed by Modeleine’s healing techniques, must have been reinjured in the fierce battle. He could continue fighting in this state, but any misstep could result in a critical internal wound and possibly permanent incapacitation.

“If I reinforce the barrier any further, it’ll slow me down. This is the strongest barrier I can maintain for now.”

“I know. I’m not asking for a stronger barrier. I’m saying we need to figure out a proper strategy before I end up bedridden.”

Ector rejected Yozen’s help and tried to get up on his own. Beside him, Yozen silently clenched his fist.

‘It was a flawless stealth attack.’

He had drawn out an excessive amount of dark energy to use his highest-level stealth technique. A surprise attack that no one could have predicted. Yet, that decisive strike had failed so spectacularly.

How had it been detected? Could it have something to do with this space-time being the Demon King’s creation? If that were the case, he had effectively been stripped of his specialty and forced to engage in frontal combat, which was never his forte.

‘I can still attack without stealth. But I’m not confident I can deliver a blow strong enough to take the clone down in one hit……’

There was no one here to draw her attention while he prepared an attack. Lydon was tied up maintaining the barrier, and Ector would only continue to weaken as the battle dragged on.

They needed to end this quickly. Only then would Cadel, who was likely facing the Demon King’s true form, be safe. The desperation gnawed at Yozen, gradually breaking down his composure.

As Yozen racked his brain amid the turmoil, Lydon, who had been silently watching him, suddenly hurled something he held in his hand.

“……?”

Sensing the motion, Yozen reflexively raised a hand and caught the object. A chilling sensation spread through his palm. It was a chunk of ice. Judging by its trajectory, there was no doubt—it had been aimed directly at his head.

With a face clouded in disbelief, Yozen turned toward Lydon. But Lydon, without a hint of apology, declared confidently.

“Weakling! Can you coat my ice with your dark energy?”

“……What?”

“I said, can you smear your dark energy over my ice however you want? I won’t say it twice, so catch on quick!”

Despite the sudden yelling and temper, Yozen silently spread his dark energy over the ice. Naturally, mixing his energy with Lydon’s mana—something he had grown all too familiar with—was easy. When Yozen gave a nod, Lydon let out a dramatic sigh, clearly for show.

“Since our darling isn’t here, I’ve got more humans to babysit. Being a talented fairy is exhausting.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“How can someone be this dense? You’re stressed because you can’t freely spread your dark energy around this corridor, right? Because in the Demon King’s space-time, any dark energy you release gets immediately detected.”

“That’s right. So?”

“So? Haaa! You’re seriously frustrating! Why do you think I threw that ice at you?”

So I’d get fed up and die? Just because you were annoyed? As Yozen naturally recalled Lydon’s awful personality, he slowly opened his mouth. Clutching the cold ice tightly in his hand, he asked in a slightly raised voice.

“Can you manage it? Maintaining both the barrier and this would take a lot of mana. You’ll have to push yourself hard to block the clinging demonic energy.”

“Who’s worrying about who now? Gross! Just shut up and get ready to fight like you always do.”

Shouting irritably, Lydon turned to look at Ector, who blinked blankly, having completely lost the thread of the conversation.

“Get up. Block the clone one more time. This time, Yozen will finally be able to show what he’s capable of.”

There was no need to ask what the hell they were planning that gave Lydon such confidence. In the blink of an eye, a new snow-white magic circle formed, covering all the walls, and a brutal chill swept down the corridor.