Rashiel, wary of drawing Dike’s attention, chose not to involve the Tower’s magic.
Instead, he went to the imperial palace of Artes and sought out Rinael.
“This time… will Your Highness show me faith?”
At his question, Rinael shook her head.
“No. This isn’t about faith.”
Puzzled, Rashiel looked at her. Rinael, recalling the past, gave a bitter smile.
“Three years ago, it was only the heroes who were driven into the fight against the Demon Lord.”
It was only upon meeting Rashiel—who had come seeking help—that she realized how twisted this world’s sense of “justice” was.
Protecting the world was not the sole duty of heroes.
It was the duty of everyone who lived in it.
“This time, we’ll fight together. Not as an ally of the Tower Master, but as the representative of this Empire.”
So it would no longer be a lonely fight.
Taking the half-copy of the Forbidden Tome from the Holy Nation that Rashiel had delivered, Rinael combined it with the one housed in the Empire and deciphered it.
Then, in the name of the Imperial Crown Princess, she sent copies of the tome and her interpretation to the leaders of every nation.
The mere presence of her name gave the work immense credibility.
And it wasn’t only Tracia and Rinael who joined the cause.
“All we need to do is scatter these orbs across the continent, right? Leave it to us.”
“This kind of job’s our specialty.”
Jack, Purse, and the rest of Guild Eternity took the Memorial Stones—holding Astaire and Tezette’s memories—and spread them across the land.
Since guild members were always traveling from nation to nation on jobs, their movements drew no suspicion.
Delivering the news to the nobles of the Artes Empire was left to Felix, Tezette’s aide.
And by now, Lancelot and the knights loyal to him would already be battling the Demon Lord Revival cult attacking the temple.
Reti too had been sent to Noel, ensuring the children would be the first to escape from the temple safely.
This was no longer a fight of just the five heroes.
Realizing that, Dike’s face twisted in despair.
Elsez, recalling each and every ally who had lent their strength, looked at her and spoke.
“We stand here carrying their will…”
Her golden eyes, lit like fire in the darkness, locked onto Dike as she cracked her knuckles.
“And as long as they’re with us, things will never go your way.”
The words had barely left her mouth before Elsez lunged.
Dike narrowly intercepted her strike.
KWAANG—!
A being elevated to the peak by holy power and a vessel of demonic might—two overwhelming forces of opposite origin clashed, and the very air trembled.
So this is what it means to be called the strongest in the world.
She had once slain a true Demon Lord.
The sheer weight of the power Elsez had hidden was clear through the clash of blades.
Elsez clenched her teeth, refusing to yield to the pressure.
Blow after blow thundered, neither side showing dominance.
Then, in the instant Elsez exposed an opening, Dike’s attack rushed in to exploit it—
Only to be blocked by a blue barrier that flared to life between them.
Rashiel’s magic.
Astaire called out as Elsez fell back.
“Master, your body isn’t what it was three years ago. Don’t forget—holy power can’t heal you anymore. Be careful.”
“Got it.”
Elsez was now a complete Demon Lord. Holy power couldn’t mend her.
She had loaded her bracelet with healing potions, but between immunity buildup and side effects, they couldn’t be used recklessly.
And even potions—or healing magic—could only mend wounds, not recover stamina or mental strain.
If she charged in recklessly, she’d tire fast.
Worse, a mortal blow could kill her before any potion could take effect.
“…Here it comes.”
Rashiel felt the surrounding mana stir violently. He immediately began weaving a protective barrier around everyone.
Above their heads, a pure white sphere appeared, swelling rapidly.
Dike was not only a master swordswoman—her command of holy magic was at the level of transcendence.
The moment Rashiel’s barrier solidified, the sphere rained down thick, spear-like beams of light.
And it didn’t end at one volley—the barrage struck several times in succession.
Any normal mage would be drained just casting something of this scale twice…
But Dike, after all those attacks, showed no exhaustion—only fury.
The moment her barrage ceased, Elsez’s party launched their counterattack.
Cassian drew her attention with taunts, while Astaire shielded him with layered barriers.
Elsez and Tezette, swift and precise, flanked Dike from both sides, scattering her focus.
In that opening, Rashiel unleashed a storm of lightning.
The crashing bolts tore up the earth itself, filling the air with choking dust.
Good. Her sight’s blocked.
With Dike’s vision obscured, Elsez raised her hand and cast black magic.
Dozens of small orbs bounced into the air, morphing into arrowheads before raining down on Dike.
But even through the thick cloud of dust, Dike struck down every single attack.
And that wasn’t the end.
Elsez and Rashiel unleashed magical assaults at the same time.
While Dike was absorbed in defending against the two, Tezette suddenly tore through the dust storm, lunging straight for her vital point.
All the attacks up until then had been nothing more than smokescreens, meant to keep her from noticing the true strike.
Dike realized it too late—she couldn’t fully avoid Tezette’s blow.
Yet she only laughed scornfully.
“Such a petty trick.”
There was one truth Elsez’s party had overlooked.
When the gods created Dike, they gave her strength that nothing in this world could overcome.
It wasn’t just a figure of speech. It was the very law the gods had set upon this world when they made her.
By that law, nothing belonging to this world could ever harm Dike.
No matter how powerful, Tezette—as a being of this world—could not possibly wound her.
Among the five heroes, the only one Dike truly had to be wary of was Elsez, who carried the power of another world.
So she deflected Tezette’s strike casually and turned her focus solely on Elsez.
At that moment—
Tezette’s blade slashed across her side.
The attack had pierced her.
Eyes wide in shock, Dike looked at him.
“How…?”
How could an attack from a human bound to this world possibly connect?
Elsez smiled sharply at the stunned Dike.
“Give us some credit—we didn’t come at you blindly without learning about our opponent.”
In the Forbidden Tome Rashiel had deciphered, it was written: nothing of this world could ever harm Dike.
Knowing this, Elsez had turned to Tracia, who ventured into the rift between dimensions to harvest foreign mana.
That mana was then condensed and embedded into Tezette’s blade.
Normally, Dike would have sensed such alien power.
But with Elsez here—a being overflowing with far more of that foreign mana—Dike had failed to notice Tezette’s weapon.
“You prepared well. I’ll commend you for that. But…”
The wound Tezette inflicted closed almost instantly under Dike’s healing magic.
“Did you really think such a crude trick could defeat me?”
No sooner had the words left her lips than a torrent of mana burst from her body.
“Urgh…!”
The surge of power ripped the air into violent winds, battering Elsez and the heroes backward.
In that moment of broken focus, Dike’s magic shot straight for Elsez.
She dodged nimbly.
The stray blast smashed into the wall of the building behind her.
Tezette and Cassian charged in to stop Dike, but she brushed aside their attacks and poured relentless spells toward Elsez.
While dodging, Elsez began to sense something strange.
These strikes… they aren’t aimed at me.
Realization dawned just as the building behind her crumbled, collapsing in her direction.
She was aiming for the structure all along…!
Elsez quickly avoided the falling debris, but couldn’t dodge it all.
Above her, Rashiel’s barrier spread wide, shielding her from the worst of it.
She started smashing apart the larger chunks that threatened to block her vision—
And in that opening, Dike’s next attack struck true.
Caught off guard, Elsez was slammed into the outer wall of the building.
Agony burst through her body, stealing her breath.
“Kh—!”
The impact sent the structure crashing down even harder around her.
“Ruel!”
Rashiel’s desperate cry was swallowed by the sound of collapsing stone.
Hearing his voice, Elsez closed her eyes.
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