---

“Void Enchant.”

The Demon King’s Demon Sword began to turn gray and take on the properties of the void.

If it gets to that point, that sword becomes a space eraser. A sinister aggregation of magical power that wipes out everything in its path.

“Aura Manifestation.”

Wrapping the Holy Sword in an aura doesn’t hold much significance against demons, and it’s not a skill I particularly enjoy due to its high cost, but there was no other way to respond to that.

“Material Filling.”

Additionally, using a non-attribute Material Enchant to fill the materials between the sword and the aura, Hanamana.

Since there’s no avoiding the material being shaved away by contact with the void, I have to fill it with materials that will be worn down instead of the sword.

“No matter how strong the technique, it’s ultimately a compromised technique. I can respond adequately.”

I threw out a provocative comment, but the Demon King still gave no response and swung his sword.

As if the sword itself was his answer.

Even in a state of being wrapped in aura, when the sword clashed, the material was quickly worn away, and if I prioritized evasion, I’d lose control of space completely.

Moreover, if I dared to attack first, he’d respond with a cross-counter to stab my heart without any defense.

If the void touches a vital spot, even healing wouldn’t help, and I’d be instantly killed. It’s advantageous even in a war of attrition, and it’s advantageous if everything hinges on one blow.

Despite being a compromised strength, the Demon King pushes with overwhelming power and speed, as if to say strength is strength.

“No Resistance, Dual Wielding, Falling Thunder.”

A downward slash with both hands. It was as if he effortlessly discarded defense and targeted my torso, but

‘If you come at me so mindlessly in such a one-pattern way, I’m going to exploit not just the attributes but the actions too!’

I leapt back to evade and used the center of gravity to deliver the force of my jump.

“……”

In the moment just before my full-strength attack hit. Even then, the Demon King merely lifted his head and glanced in my direction, expressionless.

‘What gives?’

A fleeting sense of foreboding brushed past me.

The Demon King stretched his thrusting sword to its limit and swung it recklessly upward.

That’s not a sword strike. It’s an attack close to a mere swish, as if it only needed to touch my body.

Is he going to summon another attack without defense again? At this rate, I’ll lose my leg.

“Kuuh!!”

The two swords pierce deeply through the armor on both of the Demon King’s shoulders, twisting his expression, but the attack doesn’t stop.

Since it’s come to this, I have to shout and bury the swords even deeper. Just as I resolved to do so, a figure entered my view,

‘Hanamana?’

Hanamana, weapon raised high, rushed in.

“Strike!”

Her favorite weapon, a staff, swung like a maul and struck the Demon Sword.

Even though she had a Material Enchant on the weapon, it would likely only be enough to block one strike for Hanamana.

The time to draw attention was very brief.

In that moment, I pulled with all my might on the hand gripping the sword and threw my body behind the Demon King, releasing the sword to land on his back.

“Ugh!”

But in that brief moment, Hanamana’s weapon was severed, and the Demon King wasted no time in delivering a second strike at Hanamana.

I want to summon my sword and attack, but there’s no time. If I’m to protect Hanamana right now…

“Hanamana! Get away!”

I pulled with all my strength on the blade stuck in the Demon King’s shoulder.

There’s no way I can stop the Demon King with sheer strength, but

‘No Resistance!’

I erase the friction at the Demon King’s feet.

Since the sword is embedded, I can pass on my divine power.

As the Demon King’s foot slides forward, the pull of the sword causes his body to tip back in an instant,

“……!”

Rotating as he falls back, the Demon King pulls the sword from his shoulder.

And with that rotational force, he turns back, extending the blade to target my ankle.

“Tch.”

As I jumped back while holding on to the Holy Sword’s blade, the Demon King immediately transitioned to a crouched start position, gaining momentum to charge once more.

The Demon King’s relentless attacks. I find myself unable to seize a proper attacking opportunity, and I’m being pushed back.

During that time, Hanamana could create some distance, so at least that’s fortunate.

“Create Divine Sword, Material Filling.”

The sword embedded in the Demon King’s right shoulder vanished the moment it left my hand, so a new sword created by Hanamana is provided.

“Dual Wielding, Short Slash.”

Evading while attacking is no longer feasible. Taking hits while trying to perform wide-range attacks becomes dangerous like before.

There’s no way I can repeat the same trick twice against an opponent like this, so I’ll ultimately use the advantage of Dual Wielding, utilizing the Holy Sword for attack and the newly created sword for defense.

The sword used for defense will get worn down gradually, but Hanamana will keep filling in the materials.

One might think that if you’re going to use the sword for defense, a shield would be better, but the challenge of sword-to-sword clashes may increase difficulty, but it minimizes the area in contact with the Demon Sword.

Even if Hanamana has a lot of magic power, creating things consumes an absurd amount of power, so I have to minimize consumption.

The same goes for the void, but the opponent is backed against a Gate.

An infinite magical power flowing out from the Demon Realm.

The Demon King suffered hits from swords embedded in both shoulders, but it seems they didn’t cause any fatal wounds.

The left shoulder where the Holy Sword struck has no armor left and glows faintly, as if still holding divine power.

To decide the outcome, I need to strike into the Gate, blocked by space, or that specific area.

With the left shoulder, depending on the angle of thrust, the sword could reach the heart.

“Do you think using two swords gives you an advantage?”

Suddenly, the Demon King speaks again.

“I don’t know if it’s advantageous, but it’s definitely a little better.”

I answered honestly, but I can’t shake the ominous feeling.

What is it? What does he want to say, suddenly speaking up?

“Sure. It’s a little better…”

He momentarily withdraws to the throne, pausing the relentless sword strikes.

As the Demon King takes his place back on the throne, the Gate begins to emit an ominous light and starts to ripple.

“Melissa, Shadow Reaper, Doom Blader, Blood Moon, Soul Taker, Mistilteinn, De-Excalibur summon.”

And as the Demon King names them, swords from the Demon Realm materialize one after another.

Swords… summoning seven at once?

“These are all the Ego Swords in the Demon Realm. It’s still an incomplete Demon King’s castle, but I can start summoning things like this.”

Those must be swords with their own consciousness.

That means, though they’re floating in the air now…

“Void Enchant.”

All the swords collectively assume the void attribute and point their blades toward me.

Swordsmanship with swords of shadows? Is that even possible…!

Immediately, the Demon King charges in alongside the seven swords.

When you add the Demon Sword Zero he wields, that’s attacks coming from a total of eight directions.

“What the heck is this!”

With this, there’s no offense or defense.

No, to begin with, Dual Wielding isn’t suited for defense.

I immediately toss the sword in my left hand provided by Hanamana right at the Demon King’s face.

– Ting!

It bounces off lightly, and the Demon King presses on with more attacks.

I can only barely manage defense by holding the Holy Sword with both hands.

Since the Ego Swords aren’t held by anyone, when I defend against them, I have to strike as strongly as I can to send them far away, delaying the next attack.

The material of the Holy Sword rapidly wears down, and I continue a circus of dodging or blocking the eight swords.

“Material Filling.”

I’m managing to evade barely, but simply holding out is overwhelming.

My aura and stamina are both being drained simultaneously by the void, and I’m left wondering what to do. What exactly am I supposed to do…!

“Reverse Summon.”

“?!”

Suddenly, space calls me in.

I could resist, but if I trust the flow, I can at least escape from here.

Besides, isn’t there only one person who can use space right now?

Ultimately, I had no choice but to let myself be swept along with the flow of space.

And the place I arrived at was,

“You’ve worked hard, Zion.”

Next to Naoma.

And the person who summoned me was certainly the space magician, Keineu.

He reached out into the space once more,

“Reverse Summon.”

“Whoa?!”

He summoned Hanamana right in front of him.

“Are you hurt?”

“Keineu…”

She wasn’t injured, but perhaps a bit exhausted, she let out a big sigh.

I leaned Hanamana against Keineu and bowed my head.

“Has the outside been tidied up already?”

I asked Naoma about the situation, and she nodded, maintaining a serious expression.

“We defeated all the squad leaders and cleaned up. We’ve pushed the front lines right up to the Demon King’s castle, and the monsters are being taken out as they’re summoned, so now we just need to capture the Demon King.”

I can hardly believe they’ve stabilized the real front lines against a complete Gate.

Perhaps humanity has become even stronger than after the last war?

Ironically, humanity that has lived in a peaceful era might be weaker than those who have faced wars.

Those who fear losing something. And those burdened by painful memories.

It’s the same for me.

It’s true that those who have something to protect are strong.

But it’s not strength drawn from cherishing something; it’s strength born from the fear of losing it.

After all, true strength arises from fear.

“Then from now on, it’s an all-out war. We’re going to bring down the Demon King’s castle. All of humanity’s firepower will be directed against just one Demon King. Since the Gate is complete, we can’t drag this out into a war of attrition. We have to seize the chance and strike. Zion. Can you do it?”

Naoma asks, as if it were obvious.

So my answer is naturally,

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

The answer she expected. It was simply a given for me.

Just like everyone here, I too have something I absolutely don’t want to lose.

 

---