The battlefield didn't feel like a battlefield anymore.
It felt like the center of a storm.
—
Loki slid back across the fractured ground, heels digging in as another shockwave tore past him.
Across from him—
Milim stood still.
But not really.
The air around her trembled.
Her aura, once something she barely bothered to hide was now spilling out more openly.
Not fully unleashed.
But enough.
Enough to make the world feel smaller.
Loki straightened.
Cracked his neck once.
'Alright…'
A slow grin spread across his face.
'Let's turn it up a bit.'
—
Milim tilted her head.
Watching him.
Waiting.
Excited.
Even through the terrible "mind control" act.
"…I am… under control…"
Loki didn't even respond this time.
Instead—
He snapped his fingers.
—
The world… glitched.
Just slightly.
Like a frame skipped.
Then—
Loki was gone.
Milim blinked—
He was above her.
Upside down.
Standing in the air like it was solid ground.
"…Oh."
He waved.
Then dropped—
Except he didn't fall.
He squashed.
Like gravity suddenly remembered him all at once.
He compressed into a blur—
Then—
BOOM.
He slammed down with ridiculous force.
Milim crossed her arms—
Blocked—
The impact cratered the battlefield again.
But Loki didn't stop.
He stretched.
Literally.
His arm elongated unnaturally—
Snapped forward—
Milim leaned back—
The punch kept going.
And going.
And going.
"…What?"
It clipped her.
Just barely.
Still enough to send her skidding.
Milim landed.
Eyes wide.
Then—
Her grin exploded across her face.
"That's so cool—!"
She caught herself.
Coughed.
Straightened.
"I am… under control…"
Loki pointed at her.
"…You just said that out loud."
She froze.
"…No I didn't."
"…"
"…"
Loki rubbed his face.
'This idiot…'
—
Then Milim moved.
No warning.
Just—
Gone.
She reappeared in front of him—
A punch that distorted the air itself—
Loki twisted—
Barely—
The punch grazed him—
A massive line carved across the arena.
Loki blinked once.
Then laughed.
"HAHA, okay, yeah—"
He vanished again.
This time—
Five Lokis appeared at once.
Each one grinning.
Each one moving.
Milim's eyes lit up.
"Clones!?"
They rushed her together.
Perfect synchronization.
Milim didn't hesitate.
She exploded forward.
A kick—
One Loki burst like a balloon.
A punch—
Another flattened into a sheet of paper.
A spin—
Two more shattered like glass.
She stopped.
Breathing lightly.
Only one Loki remained.
Standing right behind her.
"Found me."
"Dismantle."
A slash fired point-blank.
Milim turned—
Caught it.
With her bare hand.
The force ripped the ground apart around her—
But the slash stopped dead.
She grinned.
Then crushed it.
Like it was nothing.
—
Loki's smile didn't fade.
If anything—
It widened.
'Yeah…'
'Now we're talking.'
—
They collided again.
This time—
Harder.
Faster.
Milim's movements sharpened.
Less playful.
More instinctive.
More dangerous.
Loki's body bent in impossible ways to avoid strikes.
At one point—
Milim punched straight through him—
Only for his body to ripple like liquid and snap back together.
At another—
Loki got hit—
Flattened into the ground—
Then peeled himself off it like a sticker.
Milim stared.
"…That's not fair."
Loki shrugged.
She laughed.
Then came at him again.
—
Each clash shook the arena.
Each impact echoed like thunder.
At some point—
Nobody was watching anything else anymore.
Not Clayman.
Not Ultima.
Not even Guy.
All eyes—
Were on them.
—
Carrion exhaled slowly.
"…This…"
He shook his head.
"…This isn't a fight."
Frey nodded.
"…It's a disaster."
Dagruel watched in silence.
Eyes narrowed.
Measuring.
Weighing.
And even he—
Didn't speak.
—
Back on the battlefield—
Milim jumped back.
Floating now.
Aura flaring brighter.
She rolled her shoulders.
Grinning.
"Okay, okay. This is fun!"
Then immediately—
"I am… under control…"
Loki pointed at her again.
"…You suck at this."
She puffed her cheeks.
—
Then—
She rushed him again.
Faster than before.
Stronger than before.
Loki met her.
Head-on.
Their fists collided—
And the shockwave this time—
Blew away everything.
Dust.
Debris.
Even the lingering remains of earlier destruction.
Gone.
—
Far to the side—
Testarossa stood.
Perfectly composed.
Perfectly calm.
Completely unaffected.
In her arms—
A small golden fox trembled.
Its earlier monstrous form gone.
Now reduced.
Quiet.
Safe.
Testarossa gently stroked its fur.
Soft.
Careful.
"It's alright," she said, voice smooth.
"You're safe now."
The fox let out a small, weak sound.
Pressing closer.
Testarossa's gaze lifted.
Toward the battlefield.
Toward Loki.
Her smile deepened.
Warm.
Devoted.
Filled with something far more intense than simple admiration.
"Look closely," she murmured to the fox.
"That is my lord."
Another clash echoed.
Louder than the last.
The air itself seemed to ripple.
Her eyes softened further.
"He is the pinnacle."
Another explosion of force.
"He is perfection."
Her fingers brushed gently through the fox's fur.
"He is… everything."
The fox blinked.
Not fully understanding.
But feeling it.
That overwhelming certainty in her voice.
—
Back in the battlefield—
Loki ducked under a strike—
Came up with a grin—
"Cleave."
His hand touched Milim's side—
A sharper slash this time—
Deeper.
Milim staggered half a step.
Then—
Laughed.
Bright.
Unrestrained.
"Again!"
She launched herself at him.
No holding back in that moment.
No pretending.
Just—
Pure joy.
—
Loki laughed too.
Matching her.
Blow for blow.
The battlefield no longer mattered.
The others no longer mattered.
Only this.
Only the fight.
—
And above it all—
One truth became clear to everyone watching.
This wasn't a clash of Demon Lords.
This was something else entirely.
Something beyond that.
Two monsters—
Enjoying themselves.
---
The battlefield trembled from the sheer pressure of the other fight unfolding nearby.
Loki and Milim.
Their clash split the air like thunder. Shockwaves rolling across the arena, distorting space, shaking even the magic-built battlefield that Guy himself had created.
And yet—
Ultima didn't even glance over.
Her crimson eyes stayed locked forward.
On Clayman.
"…So," she said lightly, tilting her head. "Can I kill him now, Loki-sama?"
Her voice was almost playful.
Almost.
Across the battlefield, Loki didn't even look her way.
"Knock yourself out."
Simple and casual.
Ultima smiled.
Excited.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, placing a hand against her cheek as she looked at Clayman. "You've been granted a special privilege."
Clayman's face twisted.
"You, don't mock me!!"
His aura exploded.
Magicules surged violently around his body, threads snapping into existence in chaotic patterns, his presence distorting with desperation and rage.
"I am a Demon Lord!! I will not be looked down upon by a mere subordinate!!"
Ultima blinked.
Then she giggled.
"A Demon Lord?" she repeated. "Oh… you really believe that, don't you?"
That broke him.
Completely.
"DIE!!"
Clayman thrust both hands forward—
"Demon Blaster!!"
A massive surge of energy condensed instantly, then erupted outward. A beam of dense, destructive magic tearing across the battlefield straight toward Ultima.
The air screamed.
The ground beneath it cracked.
Even the watching Demon Lords felt the intensity.
Frey's eyes widened slightly.
Carrion narrowed his gaze.
"That's… not weak," he muttered.
The beam hit.
Directly.
A blinding explosion swallowed Ultima whole.
Silence followed.
For a moment—
Clayman panted heavily, chest rising and falling, eyes wide with unstable hope.
"…Hah… hah…!"
"I… I told you…!"
Smoke drifted.
Then—
A small voice cut through it.
"…Are you done?"
The smoke parted.
Ultima stood there.
Unharmed.
Not even a scratch.
Not even her clothes were disturbed.
She looked… bored.
Clayman's expression collapsed.
"No… no, that's, impossible…"
Ultima exhaled softly, almost disappointed.
"You really gave it your all, didn't you?" she said. "That was cute."
Her smile sharpened.
"But now it's my turn."
Something changed.
Subtle.
But absolute.
The air grew… heavy.
Thick.
Poisonous.
Even the Demon Lords watching felt it.
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"…That presence…"
Dino actually sat up slightly.
"…Oh."
Ultima took a step forward.
And the world seemed to recoil.
"Let me show you," she said softly, "what real despair feels like."
Her eyes glowed.
"Poison King — Samael."
The moment she invoked it—
The battlefield changed.
The air itself became toxic.
Invisible death spread in every direction, saturating everything.
Clayman felt it immediately.
His body froze.
"…What… is this…?"
His skin began to sting.
Then burn.
Then rot.
"No… no, stop—!"
He tried to move.
His threads snapped out wildly—
But they dissolved.
Corroded mid-air.
Like they had never existed.
Ultima walked forward slowly.
Each step deliberate.
Each step lethal.
"You know what your problem is?" she asked, voice light, almost conversational.
"You think control equals power."
She stopped in front of him.
Close enough that he could see his own reflection in her eyes.
"But power," she whispered, "is much simpler than that."
Her hand lifted.
One finger extended.
Tap.
She touched his chest.
For a brief moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
Everything did.
"—Agh…?"
Clayman's body convulsed.
His veins darkened.
His magicules destabilized.
His core—
Cracked.
"No… no… NO—!!"
His scream tore through the battlefield.
His body began to collapse inward, breaking apart at a fundamental level, eaten away by something he couldn't resist, couldn't control, couldn't even comprehend.
Ultima watched.
Smiling.
"Goodbye," she said softly.
And with that—
Clayman died.
Just like that.
No grand finale.
Just… collapse.
Silence fell.
Frey stared.
"…That's… it?"
Carrion clenched his fist unconsciously.
"…He didn't even stand a chance."
Even Guy watched with a faint, knowing smile.
"…Samael, huh…"
Ultima dusted her hands lightly.
"Done~"
She turned casually—
Then paused.
Because—
Something was wrong.
Behind her—
A sound.
Crack.
Then another.
Crack.
The air shifted.
A dark, unstable aura began to rise from where Clayman's body had fallen.
Ultima blinked.
"…Hm?"
The remains of Clayman's body trembled.
Magicules surged violently.
Unnaturally.
His body began to reconstruct.
Twisting.
Warping.
Forcing itself back together.
"…What?" Ultima muttered.
Across the battlefield, several Demon Lords reacted instantly.
Leon's expression sharpened.
"…That energy…"
Frey stepped back slightly.
"…He's not dead?"
Guy's smile widened.
"…Well now."
The aura spiked.
Exploded outward in a violent surge.
Clayman's body rose—
But not the same.
Not even close.
His presence had changed.
Distorted.
Artificial.
Unstable.
His eyes snapped open—
Glowing with something unnatural.
"—I… AM… A DEMON LORD!!"
His voice echoed, warped and broken.
Ultima stared at him.
Then—
She smiled again.
Wider than before.
"…Oh?"
Her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Now this is getting interesting."
---
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