"It's over."
Guy let out a quiet breath as he watched the battlefield.
"Milim held back, but after taking that attack head-on… even if Ren Kuroda didn't die, he shouldn't be able to continue fighting."
No one understood the power of the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword better than Guy himself.
To put it bluntly—when he had fought Milim for seven days and seven nights, he had initially managed to force a stalemate using the power of his Ultimate Skill, Lord of Pride.
But the moment Milim had taken out that sword near the end of their battle…
Even the so-called Dark Emperor had found himself in constant mortal danger with every passing moment.
If Ramiris hadn't arrived in time back then, Guy was certain the result of that battle would have been one of two things:
Either the world would have been destroyed first—
or Guy himself would have been the one to die.
Most people who knew about that legendary battle believed that Dark Emperor Guy possessed strength equal to that of Milim the Destroyer.
But only Guy himself knew the truth.
If that fight had continued…
The winner would have been Milim—who possessed limitless magicules and the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword.
A true Demon Lord was no joke.
Why else did people think Guy had given Milim the divine-grade weapon Demonic Sword: Tenma as a gift?
Because they were good friends?
Of course not.
It was because Guy was terrified that if Milim didn't have a weapon she liked using, she would start swinging around the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword instead.
And when that weapon was in Milim's hands…
A world-ending catastrophe could happen at any moment.
The raging sea of starlight roared like a cosmic storm.
Even the multilayered defensive barriers jointly maintained by Guy and the other four Demon Lords began shattering one after another under the relentless impact of the star energy.
Only when the storm finally subsided did silence return.
Guy slowly looked over his territory—now riddled with devastation.
His face turned pale.
He regretted this so much his guts practically twisted inside him.
From the direction where Milim and Ren had clashed, a bottomless canyon had been carved straight through the landscape.
At the far end of the canyon lay a massive V-shaped crater.
The tip of the "V" was exactly where Ren had been standing before.
The enormous trenches spreading outward on both sides had been formed by the energy splitting and dispersing during the attack.
Dust and sand that had been thrown into the air gradually began to settle.
Everyone watching stretched their necks, trying to see what had happened to Ren.
Slowly—
as the swirling dust cleared—
Ren's figure finally appeared.
His condition could only be described as miserable.
In fact, it was the worst state he had been in since the battle with the Nightblade Deity.
When Milim's final starlight slash had descended, The Evil of This World had rushed back to defend him at the last possible moment.
But it still hadn't been enough to completely block the attack.
The massive black sphere that had formed around Ren earlier had now been split cleanly in half.
Viscous drops of the dark substance that made up The Evil of This World continued to drip slowly from the severed mass.
And within that shattered protection—
Ren stood there with a terrifying wound carved across his chest.
The slash was so deep that bone could be seen beneath the torn flesh.
Blood poured endlessly from the injury, pooling beneath his feet until it formed a small lake of crimson.
His Regeneration ability activated automatically.
Combined with the restorative power of The Evil of This World, the wound was already beginning to heal at astonishing speed.
But even so—
that last attack had unquestionably inflicted severe damage.
When Milim saw Ren in such a terrible state, the fierce battle spirit that had filled her moments earlier vanished instantly.
Her expression shifted to one of deep guilt.
She had clearly gotten carried away.
Even though she had been trying to hold back, Ren's continuously rising strength had made her forget to restrain herself.
Now, because of her reckless enthusiasm, she had injured her friend so badly.
Milim's face filled with regret.
More than anything, she feared that Ren might stop being friends with her because of what she had done.
"I'm not fighting anymore! I'm really not!"
Milim waved her hands frantically.
"I'm so sorry! Ren is just too strong, so I completely forgot about holding back and stopping before things went too far!"
Seeing Ren injured had instantly snapped her back to reality.
She even looked ready to surrender on the spot, hoping Ren would forgive her.
To the childlike Milim, the battle she had just shared with Ren had been nothing more than playful sparring between friends.
But during that play…
she had accidentally hit too hard and hurt him.
"No way."
Ren spat out a mouthful of blood but still glared stubbornly at her.
"Earlier I said I didn't want to fight, and none of you listened. Now you've beaten me half to death and suddenly you want to surrender?"
"That's way too shameless."
"Even if I can't beat you, at least let me win back some dignity before we end this. Otherwise how am I supposed to keep my pride as a Demon Lord?"
"And besides…"
Ren wiped the blood from his mouth.
"I still haven't used my final move."
"Simulated Genesis Star Map — Hyakki Yagyō. Activate!"
When Milim heard Ren's words, her eyes lit up instantly.
Her excitement returned just as quickly as it had vanished.
"As expected of my best friend!"
she said happily, immediately returning to a battle stance.
She was clearly looking forward to seeing this "final move" Ren had mentioned.
The other spectators, however, initially assumed Ren was just being stubborn.
They thought he was simply too proud to admit defeat.
But the moment they saw what appeared behind him—
they all froze.
Behind Ren, an enormous star map suddenly illuminated the sky.
It spread outward across the heavens, covering nearly half the firmament with its brilliant celestial patterns.
None of the Demon Lords had any idea what Ren meant by "Simulated Genesis Star Map."
But just from the visual spectacle alone—
it was obvious that this was no ordinary ability.
Among Demon Lords, there was an unspoken rule of logic:
The more outrageous the entrance effect, the more powerful the ability or weapon must be.
And this one?
This looked ridiculously over-the-top.
Rimuru immediately attempted to analyze the phenomenon using Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.
But only moments later—
he received the exact same answer as before.
[Analysis Impossible.]
Rimuru's face twitched.
He suddenly felt like ever since he had become an Awakened Demon Lord, the evolved form of Great Sage had somehow become increasingly useless.
Back when it was still Great Sage, there had been almost nothing it couldn't analyze.
But ever since it evolved into Raphael, Rimuru had lost count of how many times it had failed.
You're literally called the Lord of Wisdom.
If you can't analyze anything, doesn't that name feel a little undeserved?
Earlier, even Ramiris—the airheaded fairy—and Veldora—the chunibyo dragon—had recognized the Star Emperor Dragon Horn Sword immediately.
Which meant…
the "wisdom" of Raphael was apparently worse than those two?
Sensing the malicious thoughts of its host, Raphael decisively chose to remain silent.
After all, who could it even complain to?
It had only just evolved—and immediately ran into two phenomena that completely exceeded its own classification limits.
What exactly was the Lord of Wisdom supposed to do in that situation?
Unable to get any answers from Raphael, Rimuru could only turn his questioning gaze toward Ramiris and Veldora instead.
Their intelligence might be… somewhat questionable.
But they had lived for countless years.
Surely their experience had to count for something.
...
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