Kwaaaaaa!

A storm arose.

The tremendous wind raging around Neville made the demons stagger, unable to even open their eyes properly.

"Y-Your Majesty!"

Leaving behind their surprised shouts, Clay glared fiercely at Neville.

'Elhaen.'

He could feel it. That he was coming.

No, now—.

"Clay."

Neville's mouth moved.

"Finally, we meet like this."

It was Neville's mouth, but clearly another's voice. Clay's expression contorted.

"Elhaen."

"Judging by your tone, it seems you have forgotten how to show me respect."

"How can I respect you?"

Clay raised his sword and pointed it at Neville, no, Elhaen.

"You used me and defiled this world. That is not something that deserves respect."

"You were a being of no consequence."

Elhaen spread his arms to the sides.

"But because of me, you became a part of a grand plan."

"Nonsense."

Clay had never said he wanted to participate in that plan.

"That plan you made for your own benefit, I do not wish to accept it."

"You will come to accept it."

Elhaen said softly.

"Because I have planned it so."

Seeing that confident appearance, Clay bit his lip. From the very beginning, there was no reasoning with him.

If so, even having this conversation was just a waste of time.

'End this as quickly as possible.'

Elhaen cannot remain in this world without a medium. In other words, if the medium is eliminated, he can be sent back to where he came from.

He kicked off the ground. Clay immediately rushed towards Elhaen and thrust Excalbren forward.

"Are you aiming for me, with a sword imbued with my power?"

As if reading its direction, Elhaen turned his head and dodged the attack. But Clay's attack did not stop at a single strike.

Twice, three times, four times. Regaining his center of gravity, he swung his sword at him a dozen more times. A few attacks grazed Elhaen's body.

"It seems you intend to kill the master of this body."

"I'm trying to eliminate you."

Clay replied, looking at the mocking Elhaen.

"Even if I can't eliminate you, I must at least drive you out of this world."

"Even if it means killing the crown prince who respected you?"

"That is the result of the choice he made."

Clay was not swayed by that at all.

"And this too is the choice I have made."

Clay's sword swung down from above, grazing Elhaen's hair.

"I see."

Elhaen took a few steps back and smiled.

"So you intend to use my power in such a useful way."

"Take it if you want to."

Clay replied.

"You can't do that, which is why you're being beaten like this, isn't it?"

The vessel Elhaen ultimately sought to obtain was Clay. To perfectly assimilate with it later, it was clear that he couldn't withdraw the divine power flowing through Clay.

"To defeat me, you will have to withdraw that divine power."

Light imbued his sword.

"Otherwise, I will tear you apart with this power."

The sword he swung swept away the storm Elhaen was creating and split the ground.

The demons who saw that scene widened their eyes and let out a sigh.

"A-amazing!"

"His Majesty swept away the storm!"

Among them, there was one who was watching Clay intently, and that was Selimia, who had absorbed Aium.

'Elhaen.'

Despite Clay's performance, she wore an anxious expression.

'He hasn't revealed his true power yet.'

She had glimpsed how strong Elhaen was through Aium's memories. Elhaen was not a being who would be pushed back by just this much.

'Is he sizing him up?'

It also looked as if he was testing how good of a specimen Clay was as his vessel.

'Disgusting.'

Selimia's face crumpled at once.

'Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting.'

The fact that he was looking at her precious Clay in such a way was truly hard to bear.

Nevertheless, she did not immediately intervene in Clay's battle.

Clay was in the middle of delivering a fitting retribution to the god who had driven him into a pit.

She could not interfere with that. At least until he stopped on his own.

Kwaaaaang!

Clay's sword swung wide once more.

A roar as if the air was exploding. Elhaen was pushed by the impact and rose high into the air.

"!"

Clay sent a slash of light towards such an Elhaen. A direct hit was certain.

Elhaen raised both his arms again.

As the halo grew stronger, the slashes Clay sent lost their momentum and melted away into the air.

"There will be light."

At Elhaen's words, the clouds in the sky parted and numerous streams of light rained down.

"W-woah!"

"Wh-what is it!"

"Dodgeeee!"

They immediately fell upon the Demon King's castle, piercing through numerous demons.

"Kehek!"

"Keok?!"

The demons, whose bodies were shattered by the sudden light, let out their last gasps and tumbled to the floor.

"Shields!"

At the command of the Four Demon General Geshkafor, giant trolls brought large shields and held them horizontally over their shoulders.

The demons quickly gathered under the shields and blocked the streams of light.

"Keut! We would have been in big trouble if we hadn't prepared this beforehand!"

Lin, who had imbued the shields with the maximum power to resist divine power, shouted as if screaming.

"M-move aside! My whole body doesn't fit!"

Next to her was Golche, who couldn't fit his whole body under the shield and was crying out in pain after being hit by some of the light.

"I told you to lose some weight!"

"This is not fat!"

While Golche was shouting at Lin's nagging, the other demons who couldn't get under the shield were being protected by Athanasia.

Athanasia was shooting waves towards the sky to block the torrent of light.

"This is...!"

While blocking the numerous streams of light, Athanasia was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Why is it so strong!"

An area-of-effect attack.

Naturally, the concentration of power had to be lower than an attack targeting a single target.

But Elhaen's attack was different. Each stream of light was strong enough to shatter Athanasia's waves. From her perspective, it was a laborious task that required her to overlap several waves to block a single stream of light.

"Do something! Do anything!"

Finally, with Athanasia's shouting voice in the background, Cardin headed into the castle.

He activated the defensive facilities of Barungenia. The spires of Barungenia, made with magi-tech engineering, or more precisely, the eyes on them, turned towards Elhaen.

As if sniping from a distance, beams of light shot out from the eyes and flew towards Elhaen.

KWAAAAAAAAAAANG!

A direct hit.

Elhaen's body was engulfed in fire.

"Did we get him?!"

Someone shouted, but soon, sighs erupted from among the demons.

Because Elhaen remained in the same spot.

Although the beams continued to rage, Elhaen did not retreat.

As the halo behind his head shone more intensely, the beams, on the contrary, began to be pushed away from Elhaen's body.

"N-no way!"

"The Eyes of Barungenia are being pushed back?!"

Although the eyes had boasted overwhelming power since Clay first arrived, they were no match for Elhaen's power.

"Interesting."

Elhaen said.

"You have made some amusing preparations to oppose me. However,"

He raised a finger.

"it is ultimately just something created by a lowly being."

Another light shot out from his finger. That light pushed through the beams and split into the same number as the eyes.

Kwak! Kwajik! Kwak!

And in an instant, it pierced the center of the eyes.

Silence.

The beams disappeared and the eyes turned bizarrely.

"Uh, uh uh?"

The moment the demons' gasps poured out, the eyes began to pour out blood.

And soon, the eyes, having poured out all their blood, hardened like rock and then cracked and shattered.

"Th-the eyes!"

The demons let out cries of astonishment. The supreme defensive facility of Barungenia had just been destroyed by a gesture from Elhaen.

Kwaaaaang!

But Elhaen's attack was not over. The streams of light were still falling, and the demons were powerless against them.

"Elhaen!"

Clay jumped high to where Elhaen was.

Kwaang!

Clay swung his sword down, but it did not reach Elhaen's body. A transparent force, like Athanasia's waves, was pushing Clay's sword away.

"What's wrong?"

Elhaen asked.

"Can't you reach?"

"!"

"Compared to your efforts, power is a truly futile thing."

Elhaen looked at Clay and slowly shook his head.

"If you cannot rely on someone's authority, the power you can produce on your own is so meager."

Moreover,

"Besides, are you not doing so even after receiving my power?"

It was a clear mockery.

"I will give you a simple answer."

As he said that, Elhaen spoke again.

"Submit to the destiny you have been given."

The vessel of a god. A destiny raised as such.

"If you do so, I too will bestow a commensurate mercy."

Mercy.

Clay let out a hollow laugh.

"Mercy?"

The result of submitting to destiny was to be sent to the gallows. The result of submitting to destiny was to lose the relationships he had believed in until now because of it.

"You have already passed the point where you can say such things to me."

In the past, such words might have worked. But Clay knew that Elhaen had only taken his shell and had thrown everything else away.

"I have no need for a god like you."

Clay's eyes glowed red. Even though he had returned to the body of his Hero days, his eyes were still menacing.

Kwadeuk!

His sword dug into the transparent barrier surrounding Elhaen's body.

"So it is my power."

Elhaen said, looking at Excalbren, which was imbued with divine power.

"But that sword imbued with power, what has become of it?"

Excalbren was only containing and emitting divine power, but it was not fulfilling its role as a soul sword.

"Are you not also trying to take only the shell when you need it?"

That question.

It was not something Elhaen should have brought up, but for a moment, Clay flinched slightly.

"...Do not try to deceive me."

Clay's eyes shot up.

"This entire situation was brought about by you."

Excalbren, and not only that, but everything else.

If he were asked if he had wished for everything to be twisted like this, Clay could have said a firm no.

He didn't want any of this. He really didn't want anything.

"If only I had known nothing...!"

Clay gritted his teeth.

"If you were going to bestow mercy, you should have made it so I knew nothing!"

Kwajajak!

The barrier surrounding Elhaen shattered. Clay's sword grazed past Elhaen's side.

"...As expected of the one who handled my power the best."

Elhaen, who had quickly retreated, shot a stream of light at Clay.

Clay, who had just landed on the ground, dodged the stream of light and ran towards Elhaen again.

"Clay, you are mine."

Elhaen said, looking down at such a Clay.

"Whether you want it or not."

(End of Chapter)