There was no need to conserve strength. His ultimate goal was right before his eyes. He would pour out everything with no regrets.

Countless meteors rained down like hail, the heavy fireballs pummeling the corridor they stood in with ferocity. From the sky, an unbroken barrage of meteors fell. On the ground, a wide electric net was spread. In the air, fairies of light shimmered and danced.

In the space overflowing with magic, Emilia desperately fired off bursts of demonic energy. Her power deflected the meteors, dodged the electric nets, and split the fairies of light. But all of it only served to defend herself from the attacks closing in on her. Her sight was blocked by Cadel’s dark magic.

“Keep struggling, Cadel Lytos. You won’t find happiness. This place will be your grave in the end.”

Blinded vision and powerful magic relentlessly battered her body. Cadel Lytos’s limits showed no sign of revealing themselves. Even so, Emilia hurled venomous curses at him.

Cadel offered no reply, only sending fairies of light toward Emilia’s magic circle. The tiny fairies, no larger than a pinky, reached the magic circle, and the light powder they scattered began to erode it. The minuscule explosions created by the light powder repeated at an astonishing speed, and Emilia’s magic circle collapsed before it could be completed.

Demonic energy, sprouted for regeneration, clung to her entire body. There was a powerful force trying to push down the dark mana gnawing at her eyes, but Cadel overwhelmed her demonic energy by endlessly replenishing his mana. Right now, he had the strength to do it.

‘There’s no way Emilia just dropped our allies off and left them. She must’ve left clones that split her power among them. Probably to reduce variables through individual takedowns.’

He didn’t know how the personnel had been divided. But as long as his subordinates were together, they wouldn’t be defeated so easily. That meant his job was to keep the Demon King under pressure until the others brought down the clones.

‘Even if I defeat the Demon King right now, there’ll only be a second phase. The power she distributed to her clones—when all of that is exhausted, that’s the moment to strike and drive her back.’

His heart, which should’ve been pounding with excitement and rage, remained cold. That utter composure sharpened Cadel’s judgment. It was the first time since arriving in the Demon Realm that he felt this level of clarity.

He had climbed this far over countless sacrifices. When he stood alone with Emilia, clutching Mamil’s keepsake, Cadel could feel the full weight of it all. That’s why he couldn’t afford to fail. Not due to emotion, not due to error. Failure was not an option.

“How long do you think that power will last? With every passing second, it becomes clearer. That ridiculous strength of yours—it’s not really yours, is it? It’s like you’re being protected by a guardian deity or something. But you’re just borrowing it for a little while, aren’t you?”

The disc-like demonic energy rotating around her deflected the falling meteors. But with her vision blocked, perfect defense was impossible. Shards of the shattered meteors bounced off the electric net, grazing her skin with a stinging shock. Though her body trembled from the relentless pain, Emilia never lost her smile.

Watching her, Cadel asked in an even, emotionless voice.

“Is that a guess—or a desperate hope?”

“Why would someone with that kind of power hide it until now? You’re saying you were just holding back while hundreds of humans were being slaughtered? Ha! Then how are you any different from a murderer?”

“You seem really desperate for my power to be a lie. Is it that painful? But I haven’t even started my real attack yet.”

“Stop pretending to be so tough. Sounds like your time’s almost up.”

It seemed Emilia had interpreted the incomprehensible mana burst as a momentary awakening. He’d thought so before, but it was now confirmed—her judgment and reasoning were exceptional. Her insight was practically precognitive. She had all the makings of a Demon King. The true final boss of this world.

‘About eight minutes left. If my allies fail to defeat the clones before time runs out……’

He would have to scrape together the last of his depleted mana to drive a stake through Emilia’s heart. The fact that he had to defeat the Demon King while standing in the absence of Kunra—whose loss no longer even stirred anger—was a daunting prospect, even for Cadel, who focused on nothing but victory.

‘The one saving grace is that the system displays the remaining time precisely.’

The countdown ticked away by the second. He had no intention of sitting idly by, waiting vaguely for news of his subordinates’ victory until that time ran out.

‘To prepare a spell powerful enough to take down Emilia in her current weakened state…… I’ll need at least a full minute.’

When the potion’s time limit dropped to one minute—if by then the others hadn’t dealt with the clones—Cadel would prepare his final blow. And if even then the clones were absorbed back into the main body and the second phase began, his chances of survival would be zero.

‘I can only believe it won’t come to that. They may be exhausted, but they’re my subordinates. There’s no way those strong warriors can’t defeat a clone.’

The faces of each and every one of them flashed through his mind. Men who had overcome countless hardships, who were, above all, loyal and precious. He had no choice but to believe in them.

* * *

“After all this time together, what have you actually figured out? Weren’t you just standing there next to Leader, blankly staring at his face the whole time?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I don’t even have to look to picture it.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be hitting the Demon King right now, not our allies? Emotional wounds don’t regenerate, you know.”

The three men, realizing that Garuel’s intel was of no use whatsoever, quickly concluded that they needed to defeat the clone as soon as possible. With no idea how long Cadel could hold out, they had to take down the clone as fast as possible to reduce the main body’s destructive power.

The lynchpin of their tactic was Lumen. Having received a brief explanation about Kelligan’s sword, they decided to entrust the decisive blow to Lumen. The next priority was creating the proper conditions for Lumen to strike. That task fell to Van and Garuel. Since Van alone couldn’t draw the clone’s full attention, Garuel had to assist him.

Naturally, Modeleine, rather than providing rear support, took over Garuel’s original role as the healer. He deployed a wide-area healing spell to protect the team from the clone’s attacks and focused on individual healing to minimize the impact of the concentrated attacks Van would endure, ensuring a smooth continuation of battle.

“Think you can handle it, Modeleine?”

Modeleine’s face grew darker as he listened to Garuel’s briefing. The deepening dark circles under his eyes looked like bottomless pits. The outcome of the entire plan hinged on the healer’s capabilities. It was a heavy burden. Garuel gave the visibly unconfident Modeleine a couple of firm pats on the shoulder.

“Even if you can’t, you have to. You’re the commander of the Twilight Knight Order. And unfortunately, there’s no superior officer here to clean up your mess.”

“Commander……”

“Hm?”

Modeleine’s sunken gaze turned to Garuel. Up close, his right eye looked indistinguishable from that of a demon. A vivid heterochromatic eye. From the moment the man—who had never once made a mistake in his life—showed up with an awkward smile and a pitch-black eyepatch, claiming a demon had taken his eye by accident, that demon’s eye must have been hidden beneath it all along.

He had considered it a sin, and as he prepared to leave the Twilight Knight Order, he had naturally begun to hand over the role of commander to him. One could interpret it as a simple act of farewell—a form of preparation for the Knight Order that would be left behind.

But Modeleine, suppressing the deep sense of betrayal he felt toward Garuel, often wondered. Perhaps Garuel had tried to entrust him with the role of commander because he truly believed in him. Because he believed that Modeleine would be able to lead the Knight Order he had built with sweat and blood. If that were the case, then Modeleine had to prove himself by turning the Twilight Knight Order into the greatest Knight Order, even without Garuel Monzasi.

To do that, he had to become a holy knight who could surpass Garuel Monzasi. Only by achieving what seemed impossible could Modeleine finally let go of the resentment and betrayal he harbored toward Garuel.

“You’re the finest knight I know, Commander.”

“……What’s with the sudden compliment?”

“That’s why I never thought I could build a better Knight Order than the one you led. It felt like the Twilight Knight Order entrusted to me was slowly falling apart.”

While Van and Lumen were discussing their coordination, Garuel had intended only to give Modeleine a confidence boost. The operation’s success depended on Modeleine doing his part, and Garuel believed he had what it took. But he hadn’t expected Modeleine to suddenly start pouring out such vulnerable words.

In front of the flustered Garuel, Modeleine clenched his fists tightly.

“But now I finally understand. That no matter what happens, you’ll never return to the Twilight Knight Order.”

The reason Garuel wouldn’t return wasn’t a matter of changing his mind. It was because he carried demon blood. He had abandoned his service to the divine, had even chosen death over clinging to his beloved subordinates. Cadel had found him when he was pushed to the edge, and had accepted him just as he was. Even if he had stayed in his homeland to fight for his people, Garuel would have received nothing but blame and scorn. But Cadel had completely saved him. And so, Garuel’s resolve would never waver. He would never again serve as the commander of the Twilight Knight Order.

“I guess I’d been harboring hope without realizing it. That maybe someday you’d return and lead the Knight Order again. That I just had to hold out until then. ……But it’s time I faced reality. Only then can I move forward.”

His former commander, with demon blood. He would never again march behind that man’s back. And still, Garuel Monzasi would forever be his idol.

“It’ll be hard, but I’ll do it. Sir Garuel. I’ll become a holy knight like you—no, a knight far greater than you ever were.”