The Manifesting Power.

Stella suppressed the rising tension inside her and glared at the hero wrapped in a rainbow-colored radiance. Just facing him exerted an abnormal, crushing pressure that felt as if it would grind her entire body to dust.

“Divine judgment? Hmph. Do you fancy yourself a god now?”

Even amidst this suffocating pressure, Zegart remained completely unperturbed—a testament to his astonishing fortitude.

“Precisely,” Rearvelt nodded quietly. “I have now… acquired the power of God. Neither Demon Army Commanders nor the Demon King are any longer a match for me. Perish before my might—”

The hammer he swung wide became wrapped in a rainbow-colored shimmer.

“Ultimate Form: Edenic Sovereign Heavy Strike • Eden’s Earthbreak!”

“What did you say…?! This raw power is—!”

Taking the brilliant blow head-on, even the otherwise unshakeable Zegart let out a visibly shaken cry. Utilizing his beast-like spring, he leaped a great distance backward. Giving chase, Rearvelt drove in with yet another strike.

“Guuu… uh…!”

Zegart, a warrior of the absolute strongest caliber in the Demon Realm, was completely overpowered in brute force. Such was the extent of Rearvelt’s physical strength. Such was his terrifying pressure—.

“I shall destroy absolutely all wicked entities.”

Rearvelt stepped in even further. He was merely swinging his hammer with brute force. Yet, those simple, clumsy attacks generated a horrific destructive power, blowing away everything in their path.

“Gwah…!”

Tsukuyomi let out a cry of agony. The moment Rearvelt’s rainbow-colored shockwave brushed against his silver-white body—which looked like a suit of armor—the surface rapidly began to disintegrate. His limbs shattered, a massive hole tore through his torso, and before long, his entire form burst into a shower of fragments.

“Nuuu… Elixir Core, reject…”

Leaving behind those final words, Tsukuyomi was scattered across the area as a countless mess of wreckage.

“Tsukuyomi!” Stella screamed.

For a homunculus—who was supposed to possess a bodily durability far more resilient than that of ordinary demons—to be utterly destroyed just by catching the mere aftershock of an attack… It was a power altogether too enigmatic. Or perhaps, it truly was the power of God—.

“Tch. We’re retreating, Zegart!”

“Nuu. To flee is a humiliation, but for now, we have no choice… it seems.”

Though growling with deep resentment, Zegart followed Stella as she fled the scene.

I was standing face-to-face with Ludmila and Fiore. While they were opponents I couldn’t afford to take lightly, my victory remained absolute—.

Right then, a tremendous radiance suddenly erupted into the surroundings.

“This presence is—”

Turning around, I saw a colossal pillar of light soaring upward as if piercing the very heavens. That was coming from the direction of the Demon King Castle. Furthermore, the Aura it exuded was completely out of the ordinary. It was overwhelming, even when compared to the likes of Ludmila and Fiore—. It was a fierce presence that felt as if God Himself had descended.

“—We’re heading back, Bell.”

“Mm? Are we just going to leave these two?”

Riding on my back, the Abyssal Emperor Dragon, Bell, looked at Ludmila and Fiore as she asked. The two heroes held their bow and rapier ready, watching us with unwavering vigilance.

The tide of battle was in my favor. However, they possessed unknown forces like the dark miraculous armaments and the Chaos Jackets. They wouldn’t be easily defeated. In fact, if I launched a careless attack, I risked taking a painful counter-offensive. Even if an opponent’s raw strength was inferior to mine, it was necessary to remain cautious against an “unknown power.” There was a very real danger of the battle turning into a prolonged war of attrition.

“…That side takes priority.”

I was worried about Stella and the others left behind at the Demon King Castle, as well as the residents of the royal capital. Leaving Ludmila and her partner unchecked was dangerous, but—

“First, we return to the capital.” I made my decision.

In front of the main gate of the Demon King Castle—.

With a loud bogooh, a mass of earth erupted upward as something emerged from deep underground. It was a knight wrapped in a rainbow-colored aura. It was the hero Rearvelt, who had acquired a mysterious power.

“What an absolutely staggering Aura…!”

Stella stared intently once more at the knight clad in full body armor. Tsukuyomi had been destroyed, and the wounded Zegart had managed to get separated from her on their way back to the surface. It was highly unlikely that he had actually run away, so he was probably resting somewhere to recover his strength. Though she felt a surge of resentment toward him for acting on his own without making contact, now was not the time for anger.

Left behind, Stella had made her way back to the surface and stepped outside along with the other Demon Army Commanders—Feria and Olivier. And then—as if pursuing them—Rearvelt had materialized like this.

“He is… no longer human.”

Scanning him with her third eye, his presence felt completely bizarre. Compared to the Rearvelt from just a short while ago, he was like an entirely different person. He had undergone a complete transmutation. His human body had morphed into a sacred vessel resembling that of an angel or a god—. He was like an emissary of God.

Stella trembled with dread before Rearvelt.

“Now, be blown away.”

The hero in full body armor swung his hammer-type miraculous armament, Uriel. A rainbow-colored shockwave tore through the battlefield.

“Gwah…!”

“H-Hieee!”

In an instant, hundreds of demon soldiers were erased into nothingness along with their cries of agony and screams.

“If only Juda were here—” Stella bit her lip.

However, he was currently out intercepting the other heroes. Once again, the true intent behind Freed’s efforts to gather powerful demons and forge the strongest army hit home. No matter how many powerhouses the Demon Realm possessed, if the enemy launched a decentralized assault like this, it would be impossible to hold the line perfectly. There was no telling how much military strength—or what manner of trump cards—the Hero Army and the Heavenly Host still kept hidden away.

The Demon Realm was suffering from an absolute shortage of pawns.

“—No, lamenting our lack of military strength won’t change anything. We must do what we can right now.”

Regal had been defeated, Tsukuyomi was destroyed, Zegart had departed, and Juda was away on a different front. Furthermore, Demon King Freed was currently engaged in combat with another foe. On this field, she was the only one capable of reorganizing the entire army.

“Olivier, can I ask a favor of you?”

“Yes, elder sister!” The fox girl rushed to her side.

“Take charge of treating the wounded soldiers. Mobilize every single one of your subordinates as well.”

“Understood!”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

“Yes? Mmh…?!”

Stella pulled Olivier into a tight hug.

“Hafuuu…”

The strength drained completely from Olivier’s body, and a melting sigh tickled Stella’s ear. Utterly entranced, Olivier flushed a deep red from her fox ears all the way to her tail.

“How is it? Do you feel a bit of power welling up now?”

“For elder sister to hug me of her own accord… Olivier is deeply moved!” A tremendous pool of magical energy surged forth from her entire body. “With the power of yuri-love, my magical energy is in top form, elder sister!”

(…Well, right now, we need the strength of as many demons as possible, after all.)

Stella let out a quiet smile internally. She felt a bit guilty for taking advantage of Olivier’s peculiar tastes, but—well, seeing how incredibly ecstatic she was, she decided to let it slide.