“Your Grace, you can’t be here! Please return indoors!”
“Thank you, Tria.” Lumachina shook her head. “But I’ll be fine.”
If an attack as powerful as that explosion were to come this way, being inside the Inner Sanctum wouldn’t save her.
“Is that... a Magimatic Sol?!” Rem said, leaning off the balcony.
She thought she could see some kind of mechanical unit flying between the pieces of small rubble in the distance. It was hard to tell, given the distance.
Diablo was probably fighting it. Or perhaps Noah, who was a high-level sorcerer as well.
“Is that Diablo over there...?” Shera said, leaning over the balcony’s railing too.
“You can see him?!” Rem said, squinting her eyes.
“There’s like...someone in black armor floating there? And they’re fighting this white giant.”
“...I can’t see anything,” Rem murmured bitterly.
In terms of racial attributes, Pantherians had better eyesight than the Elves. But Shera did have a higher level as an archer. Sylvie, who was standing nearby, wore a smirk. She was also gazing at the enemy castle, and nodded as if impressed.
“I’m surprised you two can see that far. All I can see is rubble and stuff falling out.”
“Grasswalkers are a race that excels at hearing, not eyesight,” Rem pointed out.
“Yeaaah, but with this rainy weather, all I can hear is debris falling and explosions,” she said, her bunny ears twitching.
“See!” Shera pointed ahead. “That black armor person is flying around!”
“...Doesn’t Diablo have a cloak, though? And I think there was some Elf with dark clothes in the Palace Knights.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think anyone in the Palace Knights looked like that...” Shera frowned. “It’s more spiky... But it’s different from Diablo too.”
“...I can’t see it from this distance,” Rem said. “But I can tell that there’s an absurd battle going on there.”
The Magimatic Sol that Rem and her group fought, 《Violanos of the Purple》, had impressive armor and weapons, but they somehow managed to squeeze out a win. Despite its strength, it didn’t have the kind of fighting power to make explosions that would be so visible from afar, nor any offense that could shake the ground like this.
That Magimatic Sol was different from the rest.
“But it’s hard to tell,” Shera said, shrugging.
“...We could get closer, but...” Rem trailed off.
She had summon beasts capable of flying. They would deplete her MP, but she had potions ready for that, so she could manage. But given her personal position, she had to hesitate. What if getting closer would just get her captured...?
Rem was the Girl of the Vessel that Emperor Gelmed was so keen on capturing, after all.
“Let’s check it out!” Shera raised her voice.
“...Getting closer would be dangerous,” Rem said tersely.
“Wouldn’t we just impede Lord Diablo if we do that?” Lumachina agreed.
Contrary to what he often said, Diablo seemed to care even about the lives of his enemies. Rem was capable of mercilessly attacking a hostile opponent, but Diablo always seemed to hold back. And if Shera was on the battlefield, Diablo would focus on protecting her, and the enemy could take advantage of that.
Shera had to have understood at least that much.
“I didn’t mean I’d go watch it myself,” Shera said, taking out a summon crystal from her pocket and invoking it. “Please, 《Turkey Shot》!”
The bird-shaped summon beast had a reconnaissance ability that allowed it to share its line of sight with the caster.
“Oh, right, you did have that option...” Rem said, clapping in realization.
“Wow, Rem, that’s rude! I’m a summoner, you know?!”
“...Just get going. It’s pretty far, isn’t it? You don’t have that much MP.”
“Boo!” Shera pouted as she sent Turkey Shot flying.
—Now we’ll have some grasp on what’s happening in the battle.
Rem’s fingers tightened around a summon crystal. The many pieces of equipment Diablo gave her greatly powered up her summons, and she now had more flying summon beasts. She knew she couldn’t afford to get any closer, but...
Rem looked around. They had a healer in Lumachina, an enchanter in Sylvie, and a thief in Horn. Rose was still damaged, and the other people here weren’t at a level where they should be on the battlefield. In other words, Rem was the only combat-capable person here. If the situation were to turn dire, it would be up to her to fight.
She resolved to do as such.
†
Below Castle Viovix...
The airborne battle continued. Emperor Gelmed, hidden within the Magimatic Garment Cross Reverie, raised both its palms. Diablo, clad in his Shining Wing Armor, held the Staff of Annihilation at his hip and glared at him silently.
“What’s wrong, fool who dares call himself a Demon Lord? Where is that true horror you promised me? There is nothing left in this world anyone could teach m—”
“Haa!” Diablo raised his voice suddenly, swinging his right fist.
At that moment, he closed the distance with the Emperor at once. Thrusting the staff like a spear, he sank it into Cross Reverie’s chestpiece.
“Ngh?!” The Emperor let out a gasp.
He’d learned how to use the Glow from Solami, which doubled his physical attributes. He used a charge-type martial art, and with the Shining Wing Armor buffing his stats further, it almost looked like he had just teleported. Even his own eyes couldn’t keep up with these movements.
—Get used to it! It’s like being shot with a magi-gun from close range! I should be fast enough to avoid it!
Cross Reverie swept its arm in an attempt to swat him away.
“Ha!” Diablo ducked to avoid the blow.
But even though he’d completely dodged the attack, it still impacted him. The shock wave made his field of vision swirl as he was blown back with a metallic screech. If he weren’t protected by his armor, the shock wave would have surely plucked his head right off.
“Ugh...!”
The attack had a 《Sure Hit》 effect. Diablo kicked against the air and flew back to his earlier spot. This new way of flying felt different from how he normally used flight magic. At first, he was a little panicked that he wouldn’t be able to properly use it, but now he had a better handle on it. It was capable of acceleration, braking, and was overall perhaps a little too responsive.
He rushed and landed a kick on Cross Reverie, but it felt like he’d just kicked a rock. The Magimatic Garment’s 《Divine Barrier》 was active again. He could hear Emperor Gelmed’s voice from under the crushed chestplate.
“You have my praises. You are the first to damage my holy garment. But it is all meaningless.”
Like a film rapidly rewinding, the chestplate returned to its former, unblemished form. It took no time at all to repair itself, like Diablo’s attack had never happened.
Diablo scoffed back at him.
“God’s miracles, like healing, protection, and purification. It’s not surprising you can do this, given the power you’ve stolen.”
“Then you finally see how powerless you are.”
“You think yourself a god simply because of the power you’ve stolen? You can restore yourself all you want; I’ll simply destroy you every time you do... For I am the Dark Lord of Annihilation!”
Diablo thrust his staff forward. The Divine Barrier stood in his way, but he nonetheless parted his lips and shouted.
“《Pulverize》!”
It pierced. This ability of the Demon Lord Krebskulm destroyed the Divine Barrier, which shattered like glass. The staff in his hand bashed into Cross Reverie’s headpiece, crushing and bending it out of shape.
“What?!” the Emperor exclaimed.
—I can fight him! With the Demon Lord’s power, I can penetrate Emperor Gelmed’s barrier!
“Get him now!” Klem ordered him.
“《Cold Ring》!” Diablo unleashed a spell at point-blank range.
A powerful water element spell. It would have taken Diablo a few seconds to chant, but the Shining Wing Armor allowed him to cast it instantly. Cross Reverie’s smashed armor froze over with white frost.
“Impudent fool!” The enemy again swept its arm through the air, like it was trying to swat away a troublesome fly.
Diablo evaded Emperor Gelmed’s attack and pounded another kick into Cross Reverie.
“《Grand Crash》!”
A powerful earth element spell that unleashed a shock wave strong enough to destroy the very earth beneath them directly hit Cross Reverie’s head, shattering the frozen armor.
“How many times must I tell you that it’s pointless?! My divine body can recover from this kind of damage at once—”
“You’re slow, old man!” Diablo exclaimed as he continued attacking. He thrust out his left hand, grabbing onto the now unarmored, soggy, slimy head. He then pierced his staff into it and cast one of the highest-level spells in Krebskulm’s arsenal at point-blank range.
“《World Halation》!”
The spell had enough force to it to twist the world around it, converting all matter in its area of effect into heat... And its effects kicked in faster than Gelmed could recover.
“Bwhaaa?!” the old Emperor croaked.
“Perish, along with your divine power!”
—Should I really destroy him, though?
He said those words in the heat of the moment, but he had some doubts about whether killing something so divine was the right thing to do. Still, this world’s god was dead, and leaving his powers in the hands of a man hellbent on destroying the races would only be bad for the world.
The Magimatic Garment began to contort, crumbling into a shape that wasn’t even recognizable. The robotic form melted like candy, but as it did, the Emperor’s voice echoed out clearly.
“《Apocalypse Combine》!”
“What?!” Diablo breathed out.
The air began to tremble.
“...W...We’ve lost... It’s over,” Diablo heard Klem’s shaking voice in his head.
“Huh?! What are you saying?!” Diablo chided her.
“Curse the Emperor! He drew on God’s power to such a level... This Demon Lord underestimated him.”
†
Large projectiles of light appeared from nowhere and began flying all around him.
“Ugh?!” Diablo winced as one of them grazed his shoulder.
Covering fire?! But where is it coming from?!
Diablo tried to avoid them, but his body felt oddly heavy, like something was pulling him into the line of fire.
—These things have Sure Hit too?!
He tried to deflect them with his staff, but the powerful impact of the blasts sent him flying.
“Ghaaa?!”
He was weak to this kind of damage and didn’t have any footing, so he couldn’t even brace himself. Another shot came his way from the Magimatic Castle Viovix, while more were also coming from Castle Grandiose on the ground.
—He had soldiers set up to ambush me there?! And their firepower is on the same level as Emperor Gelmed’s?! That’s absurd!
But upon gazing deeper at the projectiles of light, he realized these were Magimatic Sols. Arjanos of the Silver, Burix of the Red, Violanos of the Purple, Raumunus of the Ash, Viridinus of the Emerald, Erurenus of the Yellow. There were a couple more he didn’t recognize, colored navy blue and pale violet. Some of the units were half-destroyed, but they blitzed through the air, shining brightly. They gathered around Cross Reverie while Diablo was kept pinned down. Arjanos and Burix didn’t have hatches on their cockpits and were visibly unmanned.