[Notice:]

[Confirmed Deaths: 4,413…]

[Notice:]

[Confirmed Deaths: 5,725…]

The Great Sage's voice echoed in Chishiya Shuntaro's mind.

Still a little slow.

He glanced at the battlefield.

Just then—

[Notice:]

[Acquired Unique Skill: Careless One]

"Careless One?"

In this, certain conditions automatically grant you new skills.

In the original story, Rimuru got the Heartless One after using Megiddo to wipe out an army.

[Skill: Careless One]

Effect: Grants control over the soul of anyone who begs for mercy.

If an enemy loses the will to fight in front of this skill, it results in immediate death.

Chishiya raised an eyebrow.

Well, that's... dark.

Not very useful day-to-day, but it's perfect for this situation.

He looked at the fleeing soldiers of Falmuth.

He deactivated Wiz's ice storm and ended the downpour of crystal blades.

The damage had been done.

The Falmuth army—originally 20,000 strong—was now barely above 10,000.

Razen blinked.

"The attack... stopped?"

"Did... did we survive?"

He looked up and saw Chishiya standing in the same place.

A faint smile curled on Razen's lips.

As expected! He must've run out of magic.

That kind of massive spell couldn't possibly be sustained.

Now was their chance!

Razen raised his staff and shouted.

"He's reached his limit!"

"His mana is drained! Now's our chance to strike back!"

"Whoever brings me his head will be rewarded with 1,000 gold coins!"

Hearing the number, the soldiers' expressions changed.

Enough to retire on.

Big rewards always bring out the brave.

"1,000 gold coins?! That's insane!"

"If we kill him, we'll never have to work again!"

"This is it! He's vulnerable now!"

"I want that money!"

"Kill him!!"

Chishiya chuckled softly.

As expected. Garbage leadership breeds garbage followers.

When the king is a beast, the army turns into animals.

Not a single one among them deserved to live.

The next moment—

BOOM!

A wave of pure black magic burst out from Chishiya.

He hadn't fully released his mana in a long time. Not since meeting Benimaru and the others.

Letting out too much mana could literally kill people here.

That's why Milim always restrained herself.

But not this time.

Chishiya's eyes went cold.

Falmuth had officially pissed him off.

The Labyrinth had leveled up. He'd recruited Rimuru and Frieren. His mana reserves were far beyond what they used to be.

Now unleashed, the pressure hit like a collapsing mountain.

Soldiers stumbled and collapsed across the field.

Razen looked up in disbelief.

What...?

How does he still have this much magic power?

Was he hiding his strength this entire time?!

The soldiers didn't fare much better.

Exposed to overwhelming levels of raw mana, their organs began to shut down under the pressure.

Blood dripped from their mouths and noses.

Their eyes went red.

Regret filled their hearts.

They shouldn't have stayed.

They should've run when they had the chance.

Actually, no—they never should've signed up for this damn crusade in the first place!

You can't win against this.

Not ever.

"Surrender…"

"We surrender!!"

Desperate voices rang out.

Begging was the only hope left.

Even if they were captured, at least they might live.

"We surrender!"

"We're willing to be your prisoners!"

"Please... just let us live!"

Chishiya remained silent.

The Great Sage spoke.

[Prompt:]

[Would you like to activate Unique Skill: Careless One?]

'Yeah.'

[Notice:]

[Activating Unique Skill: Careless One…]

As the voice fell, the entire battlefield was enveloped in a violet light.

Countless orbs of purple energy emerged from the kneeling soldiers.

Their souls.

All of them flew into Chishiya's body.

As their spirits were pulled from their flesh, the soldiers slumped to the ground, heads bowed.

No breath. No heartbeat.

[Notice:]

[Careless One successfully harvested all present souls.]

[Remaining unharvested target: 1 individual.]

Chishiya turned toward the last soul still clinging to its vessel.

Razen.

The archmage knelt in place, eyes wide and bloodshot.

What he'd just witnessed had broken him.

Everyone… died.

Over 10,000 people, gone in an instant.

A monster. He's a monster...

Razen trembled violently.

The oppressive aura from Chishiya, combined with powers he couldn't comprehend, left him utterly paralyzed.

It was like facing death incarnate.

He looked around at the field of corpses.

So this is what it means to face a Demon Lord-class entity.

All the elite troops they'd brought—completely meaningless.

Now he understood why Lapris had been able to establish diplomatic ties with Dwargon and Euranazia.

It was because of him.

But it was too late to realize that now.

Chishiya walked over and raised a hand.

With the sound of piercing flesh, a shard of ice drove clean through Razen's skull.

[Notice:]

[All evolution conditions fulfilled. Required quantity of human souls secured.]

[Beginning evolution to Demon Lord species.]

As the Great Sage's voice echoed, a wave of exhaustion hit Chishiya.

Just like Rimuru's awakening.

The evolution process put him into a deep slumber.

"Have the guests escorted into the labyrinth and settled."

Chishiya gave one last order.

Then he began the cleanup.

The corpses of all 20,000 elite soldiers were collected from the plaza.

Technically, breaking them down would yield mana, but…

Honestly, the sight was a little too gory for tourism.

He was a businessman, after all.

And bad vibes kill customer satisfaction.

Chishiya leaned against the wall, trying to stay upright as the sleepiness overwhelmed him.

Just then, several figures appeared.

Shion caught him. "Chishiya-sama! Are you alright?"

Wiz looked panicked. "Chishiya-san, are you okay?!"

Megumin ran up. "Sensei! You're not dying, are you?!"

Rim clung to his sleeve, eyes full of concern.

Everyone had returned from their missions.

Chishiya smiled faintly.

"I'm fine. We'll talk later."

"Shion, take me to my room."

"I think I'll... take a nap…"

As the words left his mouth,

Chishiya closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

(To be continued.)