Ren Kuroda's technique—"Swift as Thunder"—had been completely blocked.
Wild lightning erupted outward, racing across the surrounding sky in violent arcs. The storm of electricity swallowed everything nearby… yet the one who had taken the attack head-on, Milim, remained utterly unharmed.
Worse still, with a simple exertion of strength in her arm, the charging Ren—who had gathered all that momentum for his strike—was suddenly swept away in a single blow.
The raging lightning shot out again like a beam, but this time it wasn't thrusting forward. Instead, it streaked backward, carried along with Ren's body as he was sent flying.
The bolt crashed into the forest below, unleashing another wave of devastation.
Thunder ignited the trees.The earth was scorched black.
And Ren's body smashed into the ground once more, carving a deep crater into the soil.
"…I had a feeling my chances of winning weren't great," Ren muttered from within the smoking crater, brushing dirt from his face. "But I didn't expect to get suppressed this badly."
If even Swift as Thunder couldn't injure her—and he was being pushed back instead—then the truth was obvious.
He couldn't afford to hold back any longer.
As the words left his mouth, an overwhelming surge of demonic energy erupted from Ren's body.
The sheer density of power became almost tangible, forming a massive pillar of violet aura that shot skyward like a beacon.
The entire forest floor began to tremble.
Even the mindless monsters that roamed the great wilderness instinctively sensed danger. All across the forest, creatures began fleeing in panic, abandoning their territory without hesitation.
The trees closest to Ren didn't even survive the rising storm of power—many were ripped from the ground entirely, torn loose by the violent currents of magic swirling around him.
Within the cyclone of energy, Ren's appearance began to change.
Ever since he had become an Awakened Demon Lord, even his Half-Oni Transformation had evolved yet again.
His hair lengthened into a waist-long cascade of black and crimson.
An imposing oni-faced full-body armor materialized around him, exuding brutal authority.
Three heads.Six arms.Eyes blazing with crimson flames.
Behind him loomed the spectral gate of Rashōmon, and around his ankles hung two golden chains, clinking softly as they swayed in the storm of energy.
Milim stared for a moment.
Then her eyes lit up with excitement.
"At first I was wondering if I should hold back," she said cheerfully. "Interesting opponents like you are pretty rare, after all."
Her grin widened.
"But now… it looks like even if I hit a little harder, you'll still be fine."
Her voice trembled with genuine delight.
"Ahh, this is great! I can't even remember the last time I had a fight that made me this excited!"
She wasn't exaggerating.
The earlier technique—Dragon Star Scatterburst—had actually been used while she was holding back.
After all, she had finally found something fun to do, and she didn't want the fight to end too quickly.
But when Ren had shattered that attack with Swift as Thunder, Milim had already been surprised.
Even if she had been holding back, that was still a technique capable of instantly killing an ordinary Demon Lord.
Yet Ren had destroyed it as if it were nothing.
And just when Milim had begun to acknowledge him as an interesting opponent…
the monster before her had become even stronger.
Which meant that even while fighting her, Ren had still been holding something back earlier.
More importantly, from Ren's current form, Milim could clearly tell something else.
He possessed the Demon Lord Seed—and he had already awakened into a True Demon Lord.
Feeling the immense demonic energy filling the air, Milim's excitement only grew.
At the same moment, the amount of magic power radiating from her body began rising rapidly, visible even to the naked eye.
Across the sky, Ren and Milim stared at each other from a distance.
Neither attacked.
Instead, the two began silently competing, each raising their demonic energy higher and higher.
Even without moving, the pressure from their clashing auras was enough to make the earth below crack apart.
And as their power continued to rise without end, the area affected by their presence grew wider and wider.
They were still far from the settlement where Rimuru's people lived.
Yet even there, the monsters inside the town suddenly felt the air grow oppressively heavy.
The demonic energy saturating the atmosphere pressed down on them so hard that many couldn't even move.
If the contest were purely about raw magical energy, Ren knew he had no chance of defeating Milim.
After all, she possessed the unique skill "Wrathful King."
That ability could infinitely amplify her demonic energy according to her anger.
Of course, the greater the amplification from Wrathful King, the more Milim's sanity would deteriorate.
In that sense, it was somewhat similar to the price Ren paid when he used "Evil of This World."
Long ago, Milim had once lost control after pushing the power of Wrathful King too far.
It had taken tremendous sacrifice from another Demon Lord—the Labyrinth Fairy—to finally restore her sanity.
Because of that incident, Milim rarely used the skill recklessly anymore unless absolutely necessary.
But even without activating Wrathful King, Milim was still the sole child of the Star-Creating Dragon King.
Her base demonic energy alone could easily overwhelm most awakened Demon Lords.
Watching Milim increase her power with such effortless composure, Ren couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"Tch…"
He then pulled out the Endless Sake Gourd, activating several enhancement abilities.
"Drunkard's Devotion.""Blade Spirit Release."
With those buffs stacked on top of his transformation, Ren's demonic energy surged even higher.
At this point—aside from his final trump card, the extremely risky Evil of This World—this was already Ren's absolute peak.
Yet when Milim saw him activate two more skills to boost his power…
she simply blinked in mild surprise.
Then she planted her hands on her hips and, completely unconcerned, increased her own demonic energy even faster.
This little girl isn't just a Demon Lord…
Ren stared at her, unable to keep the thought from slipping through his mind.
She might actually be the top ceiling of this entire world. Damn…
Still, raw magical energy didn't necessarily determine victory.
He still possessed Simulated Star Creation Chart.
Which meant he might still have a chance.
Besides, if he kept competing in magical energy any longer, he'd just embarrass himself.
Ren tightened his grip on his blade.
He was about to make his move.
Across from him, Milim seemed to notice as well.
She lifted her demonic sword, taking a ready stance, her face shining with excitement.
The atmosphere became razor-sharp.
The clash between them was about to ignite—
"STOP! Wait! Wait a second!!"
Suddenly, a blue slime bounced directly between them.
The slime instantly transformed into a blue-haired boy, throwing up both hands in panic as he shouted.
"Hold on! You two aren't seriously planning to fight with that kind of power here, are you?!"
He looked back and forth between them, visibly alarmed.
"The entire Great Jura Forest—and all the monsters living in it—would suffer catastrophic casualties if you fought like that!"
Even if someone had come seeking revenge, he argued, the main targets were them.
"Do you really need to drag all those innocent creatures into it too?!"