The softly glowing magic circle soon became a transparent hole revealing what lay beneath. If a hole had been torn in the floor of the corridor, they should have seen black space-time below it. But what appeared instead was a round head of blond hair.

“Lydon……?”

With Lumen’s baffled voice, Lydon poked his head through the hole, blinking. His curious red eyes scanned the comrades surrounding him, and soon a bright smile spread across his face.

“Ahaha! Yozen was right, huh? Here, catch!”

As the hole gradually widened, Lydon climbed out and tossed something up toward them. Van caught it on reflex and frowned. A sharp chill spread through his hand.

“What the hell did you freeze? ……Demonic energy?”

What was encased in the heavy lump of ice was none other than demonic energy. Sensing that pitch-black, ominous aura so close, Van shuddered. Lydon, ignoring his dramatic reaction, fully climbed out and pressed his head to the hole, shouting below.

“This is exhausting! I’m dropping the mana in 30 seconds, so get through by then!”

Who knew what he’d done to be so tired. Lydon wiped his sweatless forehead with an exaggerated sigh and slumped to the floor. Lumen wanted to tell him to wipe the bloody nose soaking his upper lip instead, but held his tongue, already knowing what kind of reply he’d get.

“Sir Ector! Grab on and come up.”

The next head to poke through the hole belonged to Ector. Seeing his worn-out state as he climbed up, Garuel reached out his hand. After a moment of eye contact, Ector obediently took the hand and hoisted himself up.

“Mind healing me a bit? Just enough so I can walk.”

“Of course. Please, over here.”

“Hmmph, pathetic that you’re whining over that. I did all the heavy lifting.”

“Please disregard Sir Lydon’s remarks—they’re not great for mental health.”

After leaning Ector, who had practically crawled out, against the corridor wall, Garuel called over Modeleine, who looked just as unable to stand, and they began tending to his wounds.

The last to appear was Yozen. Unlike the others, who had slowly pulled themselves up, he vaulted over the hole like a cat scaling a wall. The moment Lydon saw him land, he withdrew the mana and sealed the hole.

“With this, everyone except Leader is here. Did you take care of the clone on your end, too?”

“Yeah. Just finished it a moment ago.”

“It was all thanks to my amazing mana. Seriously, I don’t know how you all manage without me. I belong to Cadel, after all.”

Though Lydon spoke as if his contribution had been decisive, Yozen didn’t look to be in great shape. He appeared exhausted, as if he’d burned through a significant amount of energy. Noting his condition, Van threw the heavy lump of ice back to Lydon. Unbothered until the moment the ice smacked into his chest, Lydon scowled in irritation.

“If you’re jealous of my broad chest, just say it! No need to be petty, Van!”

“Cut the crap…… Hah. Anyway, what is that demonic energy? Did your clone also leave behind demonic energy after being destroyed?”

The answer came not from Lydon but from Yozen, who leaned against the wall, uncharacteristically revealing his fatigue.

“At first, we thought the demonic energy was trying to return to the Demon King’s main body. So Lydon froze it with his mana to stop it, but then we started to think maybe it was trying to merge with the other clone’s energy first. Even when trapped in ice, it didn’t stop moving. Since we could at least track its direction, we decided to set up a teleportation magic circle and follow it. If it was heading to the main body, we’d end up meeting Cadel anyway.”

“……You set up a teleportation circle in the Demon King’s space-time?”

Lumen’s stunned gaze made Lydon frown as if to ask what he was staring at. The steady flow of blood from his nose likely explained the strain he was under.

“Luckily, we managed to join up after three tries. Now we just need to merge those two demonic energies. If they still try to move afterward, then that’s probably where the main body is.”

“Then we’ll have to wait until we locate the main body before we can destroy the demonic energy.”

At Van’s conclusion, Yozen nodded with a weary face. Behind his closed eyelids, a familiar face formed in the darkness. He hoped Cadel would endure safely until they arrived. And he believed he would. Cadel was the most brilliant, the strongest magician he had ever known.

* * *

「[Depollo’s Wrath] Duration Remaining: 00:06:03」

A smile crept across Cadel’s lips as he glanced at the timer. The emotion that burst through his composure pounded in his chest.

“……Of course. I knew you all would pull it off.”

There was no need to consider the worst-case scenario anymore. His praiseworthy subordinates had granted their commander a whole six minutes. It hadn’t taken much effort to notice that the clones had been defeated.

“Emilia, you don’t look so good. Getting tired? I’ve heard you’re not exactly the physical type. I was starting to think you were holding up a little too well…… Looks like your mental stamina’s finally running out.”

Despite Cadel’s mocking laughter, Emilia gave no response. Her wings fluttered quietly in the air, her eyes full of unease. Her hands repeatedly clenched and opened as if trying to gather something invisible.

For a woman who had maintained a fierce and composed expression until now to show such visible agitation, there was no way he wouldn’t notice his subordinates’ victory.

‘I should’ve seen that wonderful moment with my own eyes. What a shame.’

He imagined the smug looks they must’ve had on their faces when they finished off the clones. Even without seeing it, the image was vivid enough to lift his spirits.

“You’re not even going to talk to me now? That’s too sad. You said you missed me so much. Done looking now that you’ve seen enough?”

“……Shut up.”

Both clones had been defeated. True, she hadn’t been able to focus entirely on them—Cadel Lytos had revealed an unexpected level of power. Still, she had assumed the clones would last until his awakening was over.

She had even gone so far as to trap the damn healers all in one place. And yet, the clones were gone, and even the cores of the energies that formed them hadn’t returned.

‘If the core is destroyed, it’s over. I’ll lose that power forever.’

It was a considerable amount of power. Without it, even if she won the war, she wouldn’t be able to dominate the Human Realm for some time. A serious setback. She was the last surviving heir of the Demon King. No siblings to replace her, no trustworthy subordinates to rely on.

Emilia clenched her empty hands tightly. It was fine. She had already shaken off the dark mana that clouded her vision, and Cadel Lytos had surely spent a good amount of energy in the time his subordinates were defeating the clones. That’s what she had allowed to happen—she had let him wear himself down this far. Even if more than half of the power she swallowed from her father had dissipated, victory was still hers.

“There you go again, thinking useless thoughts. ‘I’ll win anyway, the Demon Realm will triumph in the end,’ all that nonsense.”

The irritating voice pierced her ears, and at that moment—

“We never get to be completely satisfied, any of us.”

A dull impact struck alongside a gust of wind strong enough to make her eyes close on instinct. It wasn’t that she hadn’t prepared for a surprise attack. On the contrary, from the moment she realized she couldn’t retrieve the power of the clones, she had gone on full defensive alert. Even so, Emilia was helplessly flung back by the force battering her entire body.

She sensed a subtle shift in the air’s flow. Soon she realized that she’d been expelled not into the corridor, but into the heart of a vast space-time void. Forcing her eyes open, Cadel’s face filled her vision—sharp eyes gleaming with murderous intent beneath a smile as gentle as a fading sunset.

When Emilia shoved him away roughly, Cadel, who had been pressing close, easily pulled back and put distance between them.

“It’s the final act, after all. The stage should be as grand as it gets, right?”

“……You’re pushing your luck. This is my space-time. A realm where only I’m free. The only place you were allowed to step was the corridor.”

“Then, shouldn’t you be celebrating? Your enemy just made a fatal mistake.”

Even though he had dug his own grave, Cadel stood there unbothered. Yet more infuriating than his attitude was the pair of wings unfurled behind his back. They made him look less like a human and more like something transcendent.

The vast wings were made entirely of flame—flames that weren’t red, blue, white, or black, but every color at once, each feather blazing intensely. In Emilia’s own spacetime, Cadel’s flaming wings fluttered with complete freedom.

“……Trying to mimic the late Mamil Kipa or something?”

Forcing herself to compose her expression, Emilia sneered. Cadel paused briefly, then raised the corner of his mouth in a deliberate, confident grin. His eyes glinted, reflected in the firelight.

“You know, Emilia? You’ve been so hung up on whether I’ve awakened or whatever. But guess what? I haven’t used that even once while fighting you.”

“……?”

“Haha, what? Did you really forget?”

Cadel burst into laughter at her frowning face, then spread his massive wings in a sweeping motion.

“The power of the Scarlet Dragon! Think you can handle it in that body?”