Cobalt was held by the neck by Raum as she spoke, "Your fear tastes ordinary. That kind of fear anyone would have. Look down there—your friends couldn't possibly have survived that kind of attack."
Raum directed Cobalt to look down, where the bodies of Thierus, Oryba, and Istar were.
Then he shook once more.
Raum smiled gleefully as she could feel his fear growing.
"KAI!" A voice was suddenly heard, its figure shadowing over Raum and Cobalt. A wolfkin with gray-colored fur appeared, charging his red aura.
"B-Besitulars," Cobalt said, looking at him.
"AWOOOOOOO~~~~!!!!" Besitulars directed both of his fists from above toward Raum.
"GAH!" Raum was crashed into by Besitulars as they both fell to the ground.
As they were falling, Besitulars grabbed both of her wings and—
CRACK!!!
He tore them off as he restrained both of her arms, aiming to crash-land onto the roads of Jaka City. Raum's eyes began to glow once more as she summoned crows toward Besitulars.
"You think a herd of crows is gonna scare me?" Besitulars moved his mouth closer to Raum's head and said, "I am an apex predator."
He opened his mouth and—
"KHAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!" Raum screamed in pain.
BOOM!!
As they crash-landed on the ground, the left side of Raum's face mask was disfigured.
"You animal…" Raum said.
"I am, though." Besitulars laughed as he spat something out of his mouth. "You taste awful, by the way. Like a dead carcass or something."
"You couldn't handle that more carefully, Lars?" Isval dropped from the sky carrying Cobalt. "Oi, can you walk, Cobalt?" he continued.
"I can…" Cobalt began to walk, only to suddenly kneel. "Sorry, I feel so weak."
"Awowo. Guess that slipped my mind. I'm too angry that Big Bro got beaten by this weakling."
"Perhaps she is not that strong. It's just her cheat skill. I bet it's her cheat skill. Anyway, what's this about beating? Clearly Thalamik wasn't planning to win, so it doesn't count."
Isval got ready and unsheathed his blade. "I am the only one who gets to defeat Thalamik." Sparks of mana began appearing in his eyes.
Raum stretched her hands and said, "Come and get me." Her red eyes glowed once more as crows began appearing around her.
Isval and Besitulars charged toward Raum as the herd of crows attacked. Isval raised his sword and said, "Finality: Impact." He aimed his sword at the herd of crows as light quickly gathered and dispersed, forming a beam of light energy spanning toward them.
"KAAK!!!!!!!!!!" The crows screamed in terror, one by one being vaporized by the beam of light.
Raum widened her eyes in surprise, but quickly summoned replacement crows using her mana.
"HAHAHAHA! Weakling. You're weak to light?" Isval said as he began charging his sword again. "Lars, give me an opening!"
"Copy that!" Besitulars ran on all fours with bloodlust in his eyes. "KAI!" Red aura began coating his body once more. As he charged, the horde of crows appeared. Isval backed him up with another light beam, destroying any obstacles in front of Besitulars.
Besitulars leaped at the last second, lifting his right fist and crashing it toward Raum's face.
When suddenly—
Besitulars missed.
He crash-landed on the ground as he suddenly felt powerless.
"What the…?"
Raum stared down at the wolf demi-human and said, "Interesting. Your fear tastes exquisite."
The left part of her face, which was disfigured, slowly healed as she smiled and turned her attention toward Isval, who was also smiling.
"I guess you feed on fear to heal, huh?"
"Duh," Raum said as she readied her clawed hand.
"Now you come at me," Isval provoked.
TAP.
Raum moved, launching her fists at Isval—then suddenly—
FWOOSHHH!
Raum stopped abruptly as she gritted her teeth.
"My body is coated with Light Energy. You sure you want to touch it?" Isval said before swinging his blade.
Raum evaded, summoning her crows to attack Isval.
"I call upon the gales of nature. Zephyr Auger!"
Three drill-like structures punctured through Raum's torso.
Her red eyes widened as she looked behind her.
There stood the people she thought were killed.
They were all standing before her in prime condition, clear of any signs of injury.
Istar, Oryba, and Thierus had somehow survived the explosions.
"Inconceivable! There shouldn't be any way for you to—"
Then she looked behind them, at a figure with glowing blue eyes.
Fiery mana burned in his right eye.
Unmistakably, it was the 'schemer' who had outsmarted her the most.
Raum gritted her teeth before shouting, "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!!! KAISERRR!!!"
Thalamik smiled, his body still full of scars but slowly healing.
"Master, don't move too much. You still can't fight yet," Momoka whispered.
Thalamik nodded before saying, "This is my 'Unlimited Fighters.' If one goes down, we will get back up again and again. We'll try again and again until we kill you—eventually."
"YOU MONKEYS!"
"Monkeys and typewriters, then!" He smiled, stretching his arms and raising his middle finger, mocking the Demon Lord Envoy. "Ready to go to hell?"
At that notion, Istar, Thierus, and Oryba charged.
Raum ordered her crows to attack before switching targets back to Isval.
Then a voice was heard.
"Sky Piercing: Dragon Slayer." A sword swung toward Raum.
Thalamik smiled crazily as he thought to himself.
For a politician, Raum is one hotheaded person when fighting someone weaker than herself.
***
ZWUNG ZWUNG ZWUNG
Trish zipped across the battlefield, evading the attacks of the Leviathans as she made her way toward the King.
ZWUNGG!!
With one final zap, she arrived at a building as tall as Storm IV, the Leviathan King.
"Greetings, Leviathan King Storm. Farewell," Trish said as her body began sparking with electricity and her tied hair rose into the air. "RAIMEI!" With a powerful slash, the Leviathan King was shocked by Trish's attack.
"GRAAA!!!!" Storm moaned in pain before using his enormous clawed hand to sweep the building Trish was on.
"Wow! This is bad," Trish said as the building started to collapse.
Golden chains stretched toward Trish. "Carmilla!?" she said in astonishment.
"It is mine," Illias' voice was heard through a telepathic link.
"Uwa! Didn't mean to offend—thank you," Trish said before grabbing a golden chain.
"Trish, follow my lead," Illias said as she summoned more golden chains that served as grappling hooks, letting Trish swing from building to building.
"WOOHOO!! LET'S GO!!!"
As Trish swung from chain to chain, she saw the man from before with the tricorn hat. He was running atop the crumbling buildings, jumping from one to another.
Still with a cigar in his mouth, he finally leaped toward the Leviathan King.
Seeing this, Storm began casting his flagship spell. "Pass on in my stead the judgment of the sea! POSEIDON'S TRID—"
At the last second, the man disappeared into thin air.
Then a ringing happened in Trish's mind.
"Ouch! What was that… wait, what was I looking at?" Trish held her forehead.
"GRAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the Leviathan King shouted as he began to rampage.
"TRISH!!!" Illias screamed.
"I got it." Trish zipped again from building to building, but her mana was running low. She could only afford one more flagship spell, Raimei. "Illias, it's not good! I can only do one more."
"That's all we need! Strike the nape of the Leviathan King. We must prioritize knocking him out cold."
"I can't zap that far." Trish said.
"I can make that opening." Illias replied.
Illias joined her hands as her eyes glowed green. "Chains of Heaven, heed my call." Hundreds of glyphs appeared around the Leviathan King's body. From the magic circles, chains erupted and wrapped around Storm.
ZWUNG! ZWUNG! ZWUNG!
"GRAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" However, the Leviathan King was stronger, breaking most of the chains with a single swing.
ZWUNG! ZWUNG! ZWUNG!
Illias gritted her teeth, summoning more chains. "TRISHH!!"
ZWUNG! ZWUNG! ZWUNG!
"GRAAAA!"
"RAIMEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trish flew at lightning speed, thrusting her sword into the Leviathan's nape and electrocuting his entire body.
"GRAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The Leviathan King grabbed Trish, restraining her.
"INSOLENT ELF. THIS BATTLE DOESN'T EVEN CONCERN YOU!"
"Fuck you too, Fish!" Trish said.
.
.
"GRAAA!!!!!!!!!!" The Leviathan King screamed as he puked blood from his mouth.
Unintentionally, he released his grip on Trish as she fell.
"TRISH!" Illias cast golden chains to propel Trish toward her.
As Trish flew toward her, Illias cast protection behind her and caught her.
They both crashed onto the ground. Trish had no mana left, meaning her body had begun entering necrosis if she didn't receive proper treatment.
"All that damage, but we still can't defeat it," Illias said as she looked at the Leviathan King, who was still standing but moving frantically.
However, the movements were too random, as if he were in pain.
"Is he…?"
"GRAAAA!!!! STOP! PLEASE STOP!! AAAA!" The Leviathan King put both hands on the ground, kneeling as he puked massive amounts of blood. His eyes leaked blood as well.
"AAAAA STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRAAAA!!!" With one final scream, the Leviathan King collapsed, dying in the middle of the battlefield.
The remaining Leviathans screamed in terror at their king's death.
The merfolk atop the Leviathans were gone. Upon realizing Raum was a Demon, they had retreated and made peace. Now the remaining Leviathans fled aimlessly toward the ocean.
"No vitals. How can this be?"
BOOM!!!
The Leviathan King's body suddenly exploded, scattering its innards across the city.
.
TAP.
TAP.
TAP.
A man slowly walked toward Illias and Trish.
TAP.
TAP.
The man with the tricorn hat approached, his body bathed in blood.
TAP.
His face was flat.
TAP.
A genuinely perfect poker face.
TAP.
He stopped before Illias and asked, "Are you girls okay?"
"We're okay! Thanks for your help. Did you perhaps—"
"I did." The man smoked a cigarette. "If it's hard on the outside, just kill it from the inside."
"When did you manage to get inside him?" Illias asked, unable to recall. Or did she? Her mind felt clouded.
"No need to overthink it, Illias." He turned away, raising his crossbow and focusing on the fleeing Leviathans. "These animals that only know predation deserve death."
"Wait—who are you?"
"That's not important. But since you all 'forget' anyway…" The figure turned back. "Since you're both nice to my daughter, my name is—"
Illias' eyes widened, then—
CLACK!
"What was I doing? Who was I?" Illias asked herself as her mind clouded further. "Did someone smoke here?" She looked at the cigarette residue near her.