Hearing the earlier remarks from Medea and Wiz, the crowd initially showed expressions of sudden realization, as if everything finally made sense.
After all, whether it was Wiz or Medea, both clearly possessed the qualifications to become Demon Lords themselves. Logically speaking, there was no reason they should willingly serve under someone else.
However, once Medea finished what she had to say, the atmosphere turned awkward again.
Because according to Medea, although the two of them were not actually Yuto's—no, Ren Kuroda's—subordinates, their relationship with him was still extremely close.
And Ren apparently had quite a number of subordinates under his command—most of whom were individuals whose strength could rival, or even surpass, that of Medea and Wiz.
The other Demon Lords were rendered speechless upon hearing this.
Even someone like Guy Crimson only possessed two subordinates of that level—the Primordial Blue and the Primordial Green.
Yet on Ren's side… there was apparently a whole group of them?
"Unfortunately, that won't work," Veldora said after observing the battle raging in the arena. "I might be able to join their fight, but I have no way of stopping it."
The Storm Dragon, who had been summoned by Rimuru, stared at the fierce clash between Milim and Ren with a helpless shake of his head.
In fact, judging from the eager sparkle in his eyes, he looked more excited than worried.
If Rimuru hadn't stopped him, he probably would have jumped into the battle himself—just to test some flashy moves he'd recently learned from reading manga.
Ren's ultimate sword strike and Milim's Stardust Beam finally collided in midair, annihilating each other in a violent burst of energy.
It was the first time Ren had ever failed while using "Wuqü."
In the past, even when the technique couldn't outright kill his opponent, it had always at least inflicted devastating injuries.
But now, even with Ren fighting at full power—and even after unleashing his strongest move—he hadn't managed to harm Milim in the slightest.
"Ren, you're really amazing!" Milim said excitedly, her eyes shining brighter than ever. "I'm getting more and more fired up!"
"Before this, the only person who could block that attack of mine was Guy."
"But since you managed to stop it, I guess I can finally fight without holding back!"
She grinned mischievously.
"Because honestly… even if I used my full strength, I doubt I could deal you a fatal blow."
In truth, Milim still hadn't reached her peak condition.
Her Ultimate Skill—Wrathful King—required anger as fuel.
But right now, Milim wasn't especially enraged. Most of her anger earlier had come from Clayman.
After all, that fool had tried to control her—and even dared to harm her friends.
But now Clayman was already dead.
Although Wrathful King was still active, the amount of magicules it generated was far from Milim's true limit.
Of course, that wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Because while her magicule output hadn't reached its peak, Milim had managed to retain most of her rationality.
Once her battle with Ren ended and a victor was decided, she would likely calm down naturally.
There was no longer any risk of her completely losing control like she had in the past.
As she spoke, Milim casually reached one hand into the empty air.
A swirling wormhole filled with glittering stardust particles appeared before her.
Slowly—almost ceremoniously—she pulled out half of a golden greatsword from within the portal.
And the moment that sword appeared…
Everyone watching from below—Guy Crimson, Veldora, and the others—instantly changed expressions.
Even Rimuru, who attempted to analyze the weapon using Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, received an astonishing result.
[Analysis Impossible.]
The message appeared without hesitation.
That meant the sword's existence had already surpassed the level of even the most supreme skills in this world.
"That's the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword," Ramiris explained as she hovered beside Rimuru like a tiny dragonfly.
Her voice carried an unusual seriousness.
"It belonged to Veldanava—the Star King Dragon."
"It's a genuine Creation-Class divine artifact… and the sword he intended for Milim to inherit."
"Ladies, could I trouble you both to help reinforce the barrier and stabilize the surrounding space?"
Guy Crimson suddenly turned toward Medea and Wiz, his expression unusually grim.
"Since Milim has taken out that sword, it means the current barrier and dimensional space are about to collapse again."
As powerful as Guy was, defensive magic and barrier construction weren't his specialty. Those were skills normally handled by the Primordial Black.
But due to certain personal complications between them, Guy simply couldn't bring himself to ask for that individual's help.
So instead, he turned toward Medea and Wiz—both of whom had already demonstrated impressive ability in maintaining the previous barrier.
After all, a Creation-Class artifact was no ordinary weapon.
In any world, such items stood at the absolute peak of existence.
The moment something was labeled Creation-Class, it meant the weapon possessed the power to split heaven and earth itself.
Just as Guy and the others began rapidly constructing multiple layers of reinforcement barriers…
Milim casually swung her golden star-lit greatsword.
It looked like nothing more than a simple, effortless slash.
Yet the instant the blade moved—
A brilliant golden light erupted into existence.
In the blink of an eye, that light transformed into a massive stardust particle slash, cutting forward in a perfectly straight line.
The attack cleaved through the earth.
It split open the surrounding space itself.
As the dazzling star-filled slash surged toward him, Ren felt as if he were standing against the entire vast cosmos.
For a brief instant, his mind blanked.
And in that single moment of hesitation…
The attack was already right in front of him.
Dodging was impossible.
The speed was simply too fast.
Just as the distance between stars is measured in light-years, the speed of Milim's slash left Ren with no time to react.
There was no escape.
But sitting still and waiting for death had never been Ren's style.
So with no other option, he grit his teeth and swung his blade once more.
"Wuqü!"
A dazzling seven-colored blade light erupted from Ren's sword and collided head-on with the incoming stardust slash.
But this time…
The previous balance between the two powers never appeared.
The rainbow blade barely held for a few fleeting moments—
before it was completely shattered by the overwhelming starlight.
It wasn't that Wuqü was weak.
The problem was the gap between the users.
And the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword, being a Creation-Class artifact, existed on a level far beyond ordinary weapons.
Because it had been left behind by the Star Dragon King himself—and because it resonated perfectly with Milim's own nature—the amplification it granted her far surpassed Ren's Divine Blessing and Blade Spirit Release.
If your personal strength is inferior…
If your equipment is worse…
Then what does it matter how powerful your skills are?
A true monster can still crush your ultimate technique with a single casual attack.
That was exactly the humiliating situation Ren now faced.
However, after destroying the rainbow blade light of Wuqü, the massive stardust slash did weaken slightly.
Before the brilliant starlight could completely engulf Ren—
"The Evil of This World" seemed to sense the danger threatening its host.
Dark energy surged violently.
In an instant, the cursed power gathered around Ren at astonishing speed.
It wrapped around him layer by layer—
until he was completely sealed inside a dense, massive sphere of darkness.
And almost at that exact moment—
The boundless slash, vast as a sea of stars…
completely swallowed Ren's figure.