The sheer volume of magic turned the sky into a swirling black-and-red sea, hanging upside down like an apocalyptic omen.
The many forces eyeing the Demon King grew visibly uneasy.
"How is he gathering this much power?!"
"The surrounding mana isn't being absorbed… Wait, is this all coming from within him?!"
"No… He's recklessly converting his own soul into raw magic! Damn it, is he trying to self-destruct and take us all with him?!"
A Demon King willing to throw everything away was the worst kind of enemy.
Some had already begun reconsidering their chances.
Then, he spoke. His voice was calm, yet it echoed like thunder across the world:
"In the name of Rostal Ignatius… Devour the world—Final Void Thunder!"
The moment those words left his lips, the massive lightning-formed magic circle, spanning dozens of kilometers, expanded further toward the horizon—until it vanished from sight.
Then, in an instant, the black-and-red energy pillar disappeared without a trace.
The ominous sea of magic that once covered the sky dissipated like storm clouds breaking apart, revealing a clear blue sky once more.
Golden sunlight bathed the battlefield.
At the center of it all, the Demon King swayed unsteadily, barely keeping himself upright. His face had turned a sickly shade, and he clutched his stomach in agony.
He looked as if his soul had burned out, ready to collapse at the slightest breeze.
What… happened?
Did the apocalyptic spell fail?
No… A sudden calm was often the precursor to a storm.
Everyone remained on edge, eyes locked onto the sky.
"What is that?"
"Something just… opened?"
Someone squinted at the heavens. It seemed like a small tear had briefly appeared—something had entered through it.
No… It looked more like something had fallen out of it.
"Lightning?"
At last, someone caught sight of it. A single bolt of transparent lightning.
Why transparent? Because it was practically invisible.
The only reason they could see it was because the space around it—light itself—was being distorted and consumed.
That must have been the fabled Void Thunder.
But… why was it so small?
It wasn't even the length of an adult's arm.
Thin, frail-looking… it almost seemed malnourished.
Like a tattered scrap of cloth, it drifted downward…
…before finally falling over the mountains on the other side.
No explosion. No destruction.
Nothing.
What… the hell?
Wait—someone noticed something odd about the Demon King.
His face twisted in sheer agony as he clenched his abdomen.
Then, as if in a desperate rush, he sprinted in a specific direction at full speed.
What?!
Was he… was he running away?!
"CHASE HIM!"
"That bastard scared the hell out of me for nothing!!!"
"Don't let him escape!"
"That's our ticket to godhood!!!"
As the heroes on the Demon King's path advanced, some started fighting among themselves before the Demon King even got close.
So, was the Demon King just a useless show-off? Yazuki scoffed—impossible. The reason? He had a stomachache.
Damn it! That lightning attack earlier was definitely poisonous. Halfway through unleashing his ultimate move, he lost steam, and now his stomach felt like it was being churned by countless blades.
However, thanks to this stomachache, he managed to regain clarity.
A moment ago, he had lost himself in the absurdity of suddenly appearing in this otherworld. He felt deceived, humiliated, and enraged, wanting to destroy everything.
But just as he was tearing through the surface of this world and touching the void, he realized something—Earth was right next to him. The space he was currently in seemed to be a twin dimension, dependent on Earth's existence.
Even more crucially, he had sensed a crack leading to the true Earth—one caused by the tremors of him ripping apart this world's fabric.
His stomachache also allowed him to understand his real situation.
By entering this world, his soul had instantly overflowed from his body, reversing the normal structure—his soul was now wrapped around his flesh, rather than the other way around.
Moreover, his interaction with that dragon girl had caused his soul to solidify into a dragon-like form, as if he were merely wearing a human skin suit.
In truth, his body was still that of a talentless, worthless human. But due to the overwhelming outflow of his soul's power, it was like a dam releasing a flood too violently, causing cracks to form. And with that lightning attack disrupting the dam, those cracks had spread across its surface.
If he continued using his ultimate move… yeah, his body would explode. But before that happened, there would be a particularly embarrassing moment—certain parts of his body would rupture first.
Determined not to let that happen, he sprinted madly toward the crack leading to the real Earth—the real world.
Any fool who dared to stand in his way? He swung whatever was in his hands at them, sending them flying—like a home run in baseball, shattered armor fragments scattering through the air.
Some were even shredded into pieces by his dragon claws.
"Uuuurp~"
A somewhat comical, pitiful cry echoed as he realized something: at some point, the dragon girl had latched onto his back. He had grabbed her and was using her as a human club.
"Thunder Empress, are you not going to act? The longer you wait, the more competitors will appear—especially those of your caliber~"
The one speaking in a seemingly helpful tone was Kyo, the God of Ice.
"Oh?"
Vasilisa responded indifferently. Did they think she didn't understand their intentions?
Her gaze shifted to another silent holy knight. After taking that heavy blow earlier, who knew how much damage he had suffered? These two were probably going to team up in secret.
Nine times out of ten, if she attacked the Demon King, these two would stab her in the back.
But delaying wasn't an option either.
Besides, she didn't believe the Demon King was just bluffing earlier. He had clearly looked like someone relapsing into an old illness—he had failed to fully unleash the so-called "Final Void Thunder" because of it.
And that wasn't a joke. The moment he was about to unleash it, alarm bells had gone off in her head, screaming at her to run.
Now, he appeared to be going berserk in desperation. If she got too close and he dragged her down with a final counterattack, it wouldn't be worth it.
"Boom!"
A terrifying impact shook the space as a dragonified claw struck the air itself, creating a crack as if shattering glass.
With a crisp crack, a hole was broken open.
"Ahh, yes! This is the scent!"
The Demon King showed an almost intoxicated expression. A certain hero nearby tensed—she could also sense where that portal led.
The Demon King was trying to invade the real world!
Seeing him tear open a dimensional rift to Earth, this hero unleashed an even stronger power. Sacred energy, known as Holy Law Aura, engulfed her entire body.
"I am a hero. Even if the world is different, that fact will never change. I will never allow you to invade that world!"
With a resolute declaration, the hero—dressed in a dazzling silver armored dress—charged forward like an arrow of light, her silvery hair flowing like silk in the wind. Her holy sword thrust forward, slicing through space as she shot straight at the Demon King.
At the very instant Yazuki stepped through the rift, the hero's rapier-like holy sword pierced through him. The blade erupted with radiant light.
"Such evil!"
Indeed, a Demon King was a Demon King—an incarnation of chaos and destruction that must be vanquished.
"Yaaaahhh—!"
With the hero's battle cry, the light engulfed Yazuki entirely, forming a massive purification pillar that shot toward the heavens.
As the white light faded, his body—like a glass sculpture—was covered in cracks, becoming almost transparent.
"T-This… pure soul? His body was already destroyed?"
The hero murmured in shock. Before her, the Demon King's soul disintegrated into countless specks of light, vanishing into the air.
And yet, something felt… off.