It looked like this place was about to collapse.
Under the violent demolition, the cave finally crumbled with a thunderous roar, kicking up massive clouds of dust.
Fortunately, Doraemon and the others had already left the Demon King's castle, though they were still being pursued and cornered by a horde of demon clans riding red dragons.
I was stepping through the air, hovering without using the Take-copter or any magic.
Actually, I was using telekinesis—whether pulling myself up or pushing against the air, it allowed me to float in mid-air.
It was just like flying, though I'd usually relied on instant teleportation before and hardly ever used this.
After all, for flying, the Take-copter worked fine, and for quick travel, teleportation was faster. This telekinetic hovering seemed kind of useless.
But right now, it looked pretty cool.
…
"Whoa, Nobita's looking totally badass!"
On the run, Suneo and Gian watched as Nobita gripped the Denkomaru in one hand, striding through the air with an imposing vibe—they were so envious.
Shizuka thought Nobita looked handsome too, but she was more worried than anything.
Doraemon didn't say a word, occasionally turning back to smack down pursuing demon clans and red dragons with his beat stick.
Watching Nobita's figure battling fiercely in the air, he felt utterly powerless. As a childcare robot, he was letting Nobita take all the risks.
This was his failure.
Not far away, Miyoko and the others finally arrived on a flying magic carpet to provide support.
"Brother! Are you all okay?"
Dorami's voice carried over from afar!
"It's Dorami!"
"Dorami's here too!"
Shizuka and the others showed expressions of joy.
The flying magic carpet pulled up beside them, quickly picking up Shizuka and the group.
Then it accelerated upward, leaving the pursuing demon clans far behind.
"Aren't we going back to pick up Nobita now?" Shizuka asked anxiously.
Suneo and Gian were puzzled too.
"We have a new mission now—this was already planned out beforehand."
Miyoko stepped forward to explain the situation to everyone.
But upon hearing the specific plan, Shizuka and the others couldn't help but be shocked.
"Destroy this planet?"
"You're not joking, right?"
They all thought the plan was utterly insane.
"At this point, what other way is there to defeat Demon King Demaon?" Miyoko shook her head.
"Mom! How's it going? Have we reached the designated spot?"
At that moment, Miyoko's mom was controlling the flying magic carpet.
"Almost there! No demon clans chasing us from behind, right?" Miyoko's mom, dressed in a white mage's robe, handled it even more skillfully than Miyoko.
"No!" Miyoko glanced back at the demon clans, now lost in the distance, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Mom, how do you think Nobita's doing right now?" Miyoko asked with some worry.
"Don't worry. Judging by his strength in knocking Demaon into the sky, he won't be in danger." Miyoko's mom noticed her daughter's concern for Nobita and offered comforting words.
But deep down, how could she not be worried herself?
"I hope he comes back safe!" Miyoko was no longer troubled by the issues between her mom and Nobita; right now, her greatest hope was for his safe return.
While Miyoko was worrying, the flying magic carpet reached its destination and slowly came to a stop.
"This should be the best spot to access the planet's core."
"Just dig inward from here and plant the Earth Destroying Bomb, and it'll all be over!"
Doraemon looked at the location and said slowly.
Everyone wanted to get off, but Doraemon stopped them.
"I'll handle it! If there's danger, you can still come rescue me!"
"At the same time, staying here is to guard against any tricks from the demon clans!"
Seeing Doraemon's determination, the others didn't try to stop him.
"Digging Machine!"
Doraemon pulled out a vehicle from his pocket with a giant drill at the front and a cockpit at the back.
Doraemon climbed into the cockpit and started the machine.
The digging machine pointed its drill downward, boring through large swaths of soil, gradually disappearing from sight.
All that remained on the surface was a pitch-black hole.
Dorami, staying put, pulled out a detector she'd set up earlier, and together with the others, they watched Nobita's battle with Demon King Demaon.
…
I held the Denkomaru, my expression grave as I stared at Demaon, who had just been hit by my Planetary Devastation.
I knew that attack wouldn't do much real damage to him.
Sure enough, as the dust cleared, huge chunks of rock crashed to the ground.
With rumbling echoes.
But Demaon himself was just a bit more disheveled.
Looking at his dust-covered, torn robe, Demaon hadn't felt this humiliated in ages.
I didn't give him a chance to catch his breath—one instant teleport, and I vanished from the spot, slipping into space.
Seeing me disappear, Demaon seemed unfazed, his arms still hanging loose, with no defensive stance.
Just as Demaon glanced to one side, I suddenly emerged from space on the other side, charging fiercely.
With the Denkomaru in hand, I slashed forward with all my might. Demaon couldn't dodge in time, and the blade sliced across his abdomen, tearing flesh and spraying blood.
I remained cautious, standing at a distance.
Demaon's wound from my Denkomaru slash began to glow with green light, slowly healing.
"It's useless! Useless!"
"I'm immortal!"
Demaon roared, his wound healing instantly. Then, with incredible speed, he charged straight at me.
No need for defense or weapons.
The wounds I inflicted on him with forceful chops were rendered ineffective by his terrifying regeneration.
I kept circling around Demaon, leveraging my instant teleportation advantage.
Demaon, relying on his regeneration, tanked my slashes head-on, then kept swinging his claws.
He wanted to trade blows with me, but how could I let that happen? He could regenerate, but I couldn't—if I got hurt, it was real.
As I kept chipping away at Demaon like scraping scales, he suddenly seemed to seize a perfect opportunity.
After tanking one of my slashes, he took advantage of the moment when I was retracting my swing, old force spent and new force not yet generated.
His claw shot out, aiming straight for my head.
I looked at the claw attacking my head, no doubt that if it hit, my skull would burst like a watermelon.
My mind's intense senses screamed warnings, my survival instinct kicking in, and I desperately pulled back the Denkomaru.
In a flash, I put all my strength into it, chopping toward Demaon's claw.
Claw and blade clashed, generating a powerful shockwave that rippled outward from the center, blowing back the hair on my forehead.