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Water is pouring.

Not just pouring, but gushing out wildly.

Crash!

No matter how much it’s called the flame of the Holy Sword, it can’t stop a natural phenomenon.

As soon as the water came rushing in, the Butterfly of Flames was swept away in an instant.

“Controlling mana isn’t easy, is it?”

Leviathan mocked me, spreading his arms wide.

Because he stabbed a spear into himself, water poured down on Leviathan like a waterfall, washing away the butterflies beside him as if rinsing a saucer that was covered in sauce.

“What do you think?”

“Geez…”

I couldn’t even speak.

The water surged inward instantly, and I fell straight into it.

As an Undead, I could hold my breath fine.

But if my body swelled up in the water, and if my veins filled with water, that would be dangerous.

“Damn it.”

In this situation, my only limited means of mobility was the suit.

There were already tattered parts where some attacks had made it into rags, but the function of keeping the water out from inside the suit was still intact.

Moreover, if I wrapped a shield around my body like skin using mana, I could withstand it for a moment.

The problem was that Leviathan wasn’t just sitting still.

“I thought you would come to face me directly.”

Leviathan approached me leisurely, grinning widely.

“I figured you wouldn’t send in the Hero of the Holy Sword against me now that you’ve weakened, right? Just like you, trying to eat me and grow even a bit stronger.”

“…You’re not wrong.”

Both Leviathan and I relied on instinct and gut feelings for our judgments, but there was an unspoken deal between us.

The victor devours the loser.

In that process, using Lucius’s Holy Sword might damage Leviathan’s core, so I had to defeat Leviathan myself.

The enemy was in the same boat.

“It’s your blunder not using the Hero of the Holy Sword. Bel Pegor.”

“Sorry, but I’m using the Hero of the Holy Sword quite well right now.”

I pointed outside.

“Hmm, how many legs does Kkunkkumi have left now?”

“…Hmph. Half of them already flew away, huh?”

Outside, things were going relatively well.

The heroines of the Hero Party, including Rosmas, systematically removed one leg each through their cooperation, the navy of Belselphia blew up one leg with bombs, and Lucius smashed two legs using the power of the Holy Sword.

The head of the sea dragon at the end of a leg flew far away.

No matter how resilient the creature was, a chunk of flesh separated from the main body is just a lifeless lump of slime.

“Now, half is left?”

“Half remains. It’s fine. In the meantime, I can eat you and kill the hero!”

“!!”

Leviathan rushed at me in an instant.

Without a chance to widen the distance, Leviathan grabbed my neck, and the mana pouring from his hand tried to simultaneously crush my suit and my mana.

“Before I eat you, I have to ask one thing.”

“What…?”

“Why were you so quiet right before the fall of the Demon World?”

“…….”

Leviathan looked at me with eyes filled with hatred and rage, as if he really wanted to kill me—not to devour me.

“If you had tried to move, you could have changed it…!!”

“Hah. Nonsense.”

I grabbed Leviathan’s wrist.

With movements feeble in this body, Leviathan’s wrist wasn’t much different from mine.

“When the world falls, the disappearance of living beings is just a natural order. I understand trying to avoid ruin, but that doesn’t mean you invade other worlds that are doing just fine.”

“Then are you saying everyone should just die peacefully?!”

“To survive, crossing into the Intermediate Realm to create a Demon World—it sounds nice. But do the Demon Races want to coexist with the beings of the Intermediate Realm? Not at all.”

I pressed down on the neck area of my suit with my other hand.

“You maintain existence through devouring. So, that’s natural for you. The strong eat the weak to survive, after all.”

“Then why!!”

“You’re wrong.”

I gazed directly at Leviathan even in the torrent.

“The path the Demon Race should take isn’t to invade the Intermediate Realm.”

“You…!!”

“And you’re also wrong to think you can eat me.”

Click.

I took off my helmet.

The helmet flew off somewhere in the rushing water, and I ripped the accessory tied to my sideswept ponytail.

[Did you think you had the advantage just because we’re in water?]

“!!”

The flow of the current changed.

Leviathan’s eyes widened as he gazed at the gem I was clutching.

[Sorry. I encountered another Holy Sword on my way here.]

The Holy Water Sword.

[Activation, Trident.]

Just like the Flamberge, it’s one-use only, but it’s enough power for this moment.

[The water of the Intermediate Realm isn’t under your control. It’s a place with an owner.]

“W-what…!!”

Just as the Butterfly of Flames previously pressured me, now the entirety of the seawater surrounding was beginning to exert pressure on Leviathan.

[In place of Celcius, I will punish you. I will teach you well that you cannot trespass and act as the owner on someone else’s land.]

“You, you…!!”

[Ah. Are you talking about 500 years ago?]

I raised my hand with a smile as bright as I could manage toward Leviathan.

[That was my doing, so it’s fine.]

I held up a stop sign toward Leviathan.

[It’s okay for me, but not for you. Do you know why?]

“Damn you—”

[Because I’m stronger.]

With the power of Celcius.

“How long do you think you can hold out? While I’m holding you with this, outside, all the legs will fall off.”

“Wh-what…!!”

“If you hold out, it will be my victory. Hey.”

I pointed at Leviathan’s heart.

“With the Holy Wind Sword, a stab to the heart must hurt a lot, right?”

*

“With this, the final blow!!”

Swish.

Lucius swung the Holy Sword hard.

With the Golden Storm still enveloping him, he swiftly cut off the last leg right from the root.

Krooaaak!!

It sounded almost like a death cry, and Lucius steadied his breath and corrected his stance.

Gwoooo.

The Kraken, imbued with dark blue mana, floated with only its torso remaining after losing all its legs.

That torso was so enormous it felt like an entire castle was floating, but even against that overwhelming presence, Lucius wasn’t frightened.

“Is everyone okay?!”

“We’re fine, Lucius!”

“You’re doing well, Hero!!”

The members of the party and soldiers from Belselphia were all safe.

Although many had suffered injuries, after the Saintess untied her power, the seawater cowered, retreating to the edges, merely watching the situation unfold.

Having followed the strong to this place, if that strong one were to be defeated, there would be no reason to follow him anymore.

As the seawater distanced itself, everyone who had come to combat the Demon King Leviathan aimed their weapons at the Leviathan Battle Fortress one by one.

“Now, all that’s left is…”

“Just that.”

The gigantic beast where Demon King Leviathan resided.

Some had already felt the enormous mana exploding from within, so they were aware of how Sage Bel was faring against the Demon King.

Kwaaaang!!

Behold.

While everything else was quiet, only the inside of the Kraken’s body roared as if thunder was cracking.

“Now… it’s time for my Master…!”

In that instant, the blue light flowing within the Kraken’s body suddenly blared brightly before fading away.

When the thunderous sound from inside quieted, Lucius quickly thrust out the Holy Sword in response to the sudden resonance of Ascalon.

“Wind, come forth!”

As he pushed away the seawater and spread the barrier, an enormous mana began to pour out from the Kraken’s torso.

From within, the water spouted out like a whale spitting, and within the spray, something purple emerged.

“!!”

Lucius charged into the spray together with the sea dragon.

Faster than anyone, aiming the Holy Sword beneath the sea dragon and using up all his mana to maintain the barrier, Lucius quickly reached that purple thing.

“Master!”

“…….”

No helmet.

The diving suit was shattered in multiple places, revealing the inside.

He seemed to be wearing nothing but underwear, and his skin was fully exposed in various places: shoulders, bottom chest, sides, the inner thighs—all the broken suit parts showed his bare skin.

“Master, are you okay?!”

“……cough.”

Lucius hurriedly held Sage Bel in his arms.

Someone might call it a princess carry, but I had no time to think about that.

“Ugh…”

Bel coughed out water repeatedly.

His entire body looked as drenched as a waterlogged rat, and his hair hung down like wet strands.

The only place where skin touched skin, due to the broken suit, was on Bel’s thigh, and the temperature felt so cold there, it was devoid of any warmth.

“Master…?!!

“…I’m fine. Hah, I thought I was going to die.”

Fortunately, Bel squinted his eyes and spat out water.

“…The timing is just right. I was reaching my limit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve already beheaded their legs, and now only the Demon King is left, right? Leave the aftermath to you.”

Bel stretched a hand upwards.

“I’ve really done everything I could.”

Then something ghostly approached from afar and wrapped around Bel.

“…….”

The mysterious woman draped in a blue dress, which resembled a Water Spirit, embraced Bel even more tightly than Lucius had.

Perhaps it was the Water Spirit, sent by Celcius.

Lucius bit his lower lip for a moment at the sight of Bel being cradled by the spirit, but it wasn’t the time to focus on that.

Kwoooaaak——!!

The Kraken’s body split open, and something burst forth, tearing through the Kraken’s body from within.

“A sea dragon losing its sanity and rampaging, Leviathan. Now, from here on out, you’ll be facing the ‘Demon King.’”

Bel extended his fist towards Lucius.

“…Come back victorious.”

“…Yes!”

The spirit took Bel away, breaking off from the frontline. Lucius closed his eyes, staring at his empty hand, and as the sea dragon, or perhaps the Magic Dragon, shed its skin and emerged from the inside of the Kraken, it opened its enormous mouth wide, showcasing its sharp teeth.

“I’ll win.”

Gulp.

Lucius firmly covered his mouth with his hand, took a deep breath, and then extended that hand to the side while shouting.

“Wind—!!”

Kyaaaoo———!!

In the depths of the ocean.

The Hero Lucius, wielding the Holy Wind Sword, turned into a Golden Storm rushing towards the Demon King.

 

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