He was angry. Even now, he could feel a power so vast it seemed almost suspicious, filling every corner of his body. Since Kunra had chosen silence, that energy had been gradually increasing, and now, it had grown far beyond the scale of his own mana. And yet, Kunra still wouldn’t permit him to use that power.

‘Still, the fact remains—I possess Kunra’s power.’

Cadel looked at Emilia with an utterly brazen gleam in his eyes. Perhaps she’d forgotten about the Scarlet Dragon amid the relentless spellfire. Or maybe she’d assumed his awakening was tied to it. Whatever the case, the cracks spreading across Emilia’s expression were a satisfying sight.

“So I’m not going to say stuff like, ‘Hand over the Stone of Peace if you don’t want to die,’ or, ‘Back down now and I’ll let you go.’ I have to erase your existence from this world—no matter what it takes.”

He gave a powerful flap of his wings, and feathers of flame rushed forth like a volley of arrows. The multicolored feathers left behind an artistic afterimage in the dark spacetime. And just behind Emilia, who cloaked herself in demonic energy to defend, small clusters of light began to appear, hanging like a galaxy.

A beat too late, she sensed the new mana and moved to dispel her spell, but—

“If you surrender, I’ll kill you quickly. Considering how many humans you’ve slaughtered, that’s an incredibly generous offer, isn’t it?”

The moment she reacted to the magic, spells streaked in from all directions at the speed of light, drawing radiant parabolas as they closed in.

Kiing, kiing, kiing—

Piercing sonic waves surrounded her, harsh enough to split ears. Every magic circle she hurriedly summoned was pierced by flame and light before completion. The protective barriers she had so tightly woven were repeatedly shattered and forced to regenerate.

“Thanks for inviting me here. This space-time is so perfect for going wild—I like it so much, I might even dream about it.”

As Cadel laughed heartily, a bolt of lightning slammed down from the dark sky. Forking like tree roots, the lightning aimed straight for Emilia. And in this bottomless space-time, Cadel’s thunderbolts extended infinitely.

What started as scattered strikes soon formed a circular pillar of lightning, caging Emilia in. Through the gaps between the bolts, Cadel stared at the pitch-black demonic energy and the frantically spellcasting Emilia.

Now there were only 5 minutes left. Reaching his peak had allowed him to achieve this much with minimal mana, but—

‘Once [Depollo’s Wrath] ends, so do I.’

The moment the buff vanished, the mana left within him would be practically useless. In fact, it was unclear if he would even have any mana left at all.

‘If I can finish off the Demon King in five minutes, that would be ideal. But if I fail……’

He would need the help of his subordinates. That’s why Cadel had broken through the corridor to reveal himself in Emilia’s space-time—in his largest, most flamboyant form. He hoped his subordinates, wherever they were, would spot him and come. The time limit didn’t change: this had to end in five minutes, no matter what.

“Emilia! I’ve been curious since we first met. Why are you here alone? Where’s that noisy girlfriend of yours?”

The whirlwind Cadel conjured filled the prison of lightning, his mana pushing Emilia to the brink. She barely held on to defend herself, trying to counterattack in the gaps she could find. That was all Emilia could do now—endure. She herself couldn’t believe she had been pushed this far, but she didn’t lose her composure.

Eventually, Cadel Lytos would run out of mana. The power of the Scarlet Dragon? It was incomplete at best—a mere fragment. It could do no more than protect a mana-depleted Cadel Lytos. So she had to hold on. For the liberation of the Demon Realm, for its shining future, she had to endure.

“Oh, wait……. Did she blow up from that bomb I delivered? I did send it, hoping you’d die together. Guess she really did die. What a treat.”

A chilling glint flashed through Emilia’s eyes. Though she tried to keep her composure, her face twisted as sharp fangs bared themselves. Disgust, rage, confusion, restraint…… In the end, she couldn’t hold it in. Emilia had to admit it.

What had dragged her down to this state wasn’t her foolish subordinates, damned variables, persistent humans, or even Cadel Lytos.

It was Sellev. The one who had died so helplessly before her eyes. The one who had begged for mercy in her final, miserable moments.

It was all because of her. Even if she reclaimed the Demon Realm’s freedom and became the one and only ruler of this world, Sellev would not return. That truth was what was dragging her down to the very bottom.

“……Cadel Lytos.”

But there was no Sellev here to blame. She couldn’t say, ‘It’s your fault,’ or ‘It’s because you died so easily that my chest feels so tight.’ The resentment that had built up and overflowed would only collapse her from the inside. So before that happened, she had to find someone else to pour her fury onto in Sellev’s place. And that part was all too simple.

“Looks like I’ve been too lenient with you. I hesitated too much. I just have to kill you, and everything will be solved.”

Cadel’s brows furrowed as the pressure he’d been applying on her began to unravel. The lightning that had imprisoned her, the storm that clawed at her, the flames and light that pierced her—every last bit of mana was rapidly being pushed away. The once-straight bolts of lightning were now bowing, strained to the point of snapping. He tried to reassert control, but the destructive force of the demonic energy contained within was now on an entirely different level.

‘Shit, I was only trying to provoke her…… Guess she really cared about Sellev. Maybe I shouldn’t have touched that nerve?’

He had hoped to confirm whether Sellev was truly dead and test whether Emilia would be rattled by the death of her subordinate. It had been a calculated provocation. Apparently, it had worked a little too well.

“Fine! Let’s settle this! You’ll be the one who falls in the end, though!”

With Emilia’s piercing laughter, the suppressed lightning finally burst in a thunderous explosion. A blinding flash and a searing shockwave swept through the air. Folding his wings of flame to brace against the wind pressure, Cadel clenched his teeth and looked forward.

There, rising through the smoke, was Emilia, having erased every trace of his magic. A thick demonic energy traced the contours of her form. The aura that pulsed with her slow, deliberate wingbeats exuded an ominous malice.

“How much time is left? One minute? Two? Ha…… Even if I had an hour, it wouldn’t matter.”

The twisted smile that had lingered at her lips vanished in an instant. Only fury remained in her vicious, glaring eyes, from which a glow spread.

“Bring it on!”

Without a shred of defensive posture, she drew out a terrifying burst of propulsion and shot toward Cadel. Instead of dodging or blocking, Cadel summoned a dense net of electricity ahead of him. Emilia didn’t try to avoid it.

‘This lunatic……!’

Her outstretched hand ripped straight through the electric net. The sharp current ran up her body, making her limbs stiffen. Even as her body convulsed, Emilia charged like a madwoman. Her momentum was overwhelming. The only thing Cadel could see in her eyes was pure madness.

But to falter before that ferocity—Cadel had endured too much, climbed too far, for that. He stood atop the sacrifices and determination of many. With their blood and tears at his feet, he couldn’t take even a single step back.

“……Fine. I’ll fight you till one of us dies.”

* * *

“It’s not moving.”

He’d long lost count of how many corridors they had crossed. With a grimace, he looked down at the demonic energy lying still on the floor. By now, it should’ve made the slightest movement to the left or right, prompting Lydon to whine and cast another magic circle.

“It’s still pulsing with power. There’s no reason it should stop.”

Yozen, with one hand on the ice block enveloping the demonic energy, tilted his head. Everyone’s attention was now focused on the suddenly inert demonic energy. Lydon, meanwhile, sank to the floor with relief at the chance to rest, even if just briefly.

Navigating the Demon King’s space-time distortion while resisting its energy had been grueling. If not for the goal of finding Cadel, they would have given up long ago. As Lydon wiped a nosebleed off the back of his trembling hand, Garuel approached him.

“Let me administer some healing magic.”

They had to care for Lydon whenever they got even the briefest pause. Lydon, seemingly too exhausted to even crack a joke, quietly tilted his head back. Garuel placed a hand on his forehead and immediately opened his demonic energy flow.

“……Your mana vessel is quite damaged. Should we take a proper break?”

“No. There’s no time to rest.”

“Sir Lydon, you do realize that if you lose control here, we’re all finished, right?”

“Heh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to fall with only Garuel.”

“Oh, how depressing, even just imagining it.”

With their trivial banter, Garuel finished the healing spell and dusted off his hands. He had worried about Lydon’s mana vessel, but in truth, his own condition wasn’t much better. It was inevitable after casting so many healing spells without pause.

‘I should at least save some demonic energy to treat Knight Commander. But will I manage?’

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Garuel gauged his remaining energy and slowly moved toward the rest of the group. They were still focused on the unmoving demonic energy.

“Let’s take a short break. I’d rather not go down clutching Lydon’s sweaty body.”

He suggested the pause in a weary tone, and everyone nodded reluctantly. Except Yozen. He, who had been observing the demonic energy up close, moved his lips as though a realization had struck.

“Falling……”

“……Sorry?”

“It’s below……! It’s underneath us!”

Clutching the ice block tightly, Yozen dashed toward the edge of the corridor. The others turned in shock at the unusually frantic Yozen. The moment he extended the ice block beyond the corridor’s edge—

“Y-Yozen, wait—!”

An enormous gravitational pull dragged Yozen straight down.