On screen, Mash's return brought the battle to a delicate equilibrium. Ritsuka, Mash, Olga Marie, and Lev now formed a careful front line, poised opposite Marisbury and King Solomon. Tension thickened the air, as if another furious clash could erupt at any moment.
Within his Reality Marble, Steve watched this sight with a satisfied smile. All actors were now on stage, sets prepared. It was time to inject the final—and most crucial—catalyst into this grand show.
Steve turned slowly to look at the cage beside him, where seventy-one Demon Gods were sealed. They could only act as "bystanders," unable to participate. They chatted away, sometimes surprised, sometimes delighted by the events—a lively "commentary barrage" fully absorbed in this "family drama".
"Gentlemen,"
Steve's quiet voice instantly silenced all noise,
"Isn't it a bit dull, just sitting and watching like this?"
The words, both devilish and irresistibly persuasive, continued:
"Think about it. Your fellow Flauros is fighting over some vague 'obsession', and your 'King' now follows another human's command like a puppet. So are you really content being mere bystanders?"
The collective network of Demon Pillar wills fell silent. Steve had touched the core of their chaotic nature—their resentment and restlessness. They would never truly be satisfied as mere spectators.
"Why not try for yourselves?"
Steve cast out his final, tempting bait:
"If you merge with that Flauros, regain your true form—the King of the Demon Gods, Goetia—would you not challenge your 'King' head-on and see who the true 'Ruler' should be?"
"Are you mocking us?!"
The Demon Pillar Bune barked out first.
"The king's domination is absolute! We cannot resist him!"
"That's not necessarily true."
Steve extended a finger and gently curled it.
"What if the King of Magecraft momentarily releases his dominion over you? What if you are given a fair chance to fight?"
This set the entire chaotic consciousness ablaze!
To defy their creator, to overturn the absolute regime—this taboo, destructive aesthetic enthralled all.
"You—your powers are freakish! Are you saying you can meddle with the king's authority?!"
Demon Pillar Aamon jeered, before bursting into laughter:
"But... this does sound fun!"
"Let's give it a try! Let's see just how much power that king who abandoned us really has!"
"Right! Let's show that Flauros what the real 'us' can do!"
Enjoying their enthusiastic agreement, Steve nodded in satisfaction.
"Then, the contract is sealed."
He raised his hand. His pale fingertips traced the void—not runes or circles, but a live, spinning star map—a nebula drawn in miniature.
The essence of Cosmic Magecraft unfurled in his palm.
Steve wasn't "releasing" the seal, per se. Instead, he was executing a higher-dimensional "exchange of permissions".
He successfully separated the small pocket dimension sealing the seventy-one Demon Gods from the "world coordinate system" where King Solomon resided.
"Go, and unify your wills."
With his words, the cage confining the seventy-one Demon Pillars instantly collapsed. Seventy-one black shadows transformed into manifold shapes, thunderously tearing through space like a river flowing to the sea—and poured toward the barrier of light encasing Lev Goetia's body!
Lev, who now stood by Olga Marie on the battlefield, suddenly let out a scream of both pain and ecstasy. His body was engulfed in the torrent of demonic energy, seventy-one different wills colliding and merging within his soul.
His body twisted violently, swelling, until a blinding light flashed—and a brand-new figure appeared.
His form was still reminiscent of Solomon, but gold bands symbolizing the seventy-two demons shone around him, more solid than ever. A massive pair of shining wings unfurled behind him, and a crown of light, like a beast's horns, appeared on his head.
A vast aura of power and compassion, far greater than before, radiated from him.
Goetia, King of the Demon Gods, had descended!
For a moment, everyone on the battlefield fell still.
On the throne, the previously puppet-like, disinterested King Solomon showed for the first time a truly human expression—surprise. His eyes, once blank and all-seeing, now focused intently—not on others, but on his own "self."
He had seen a "future" that logically should not exist—a forcibly reversed destiny.
"Hehe... hahahaha!"
Goetia—or rather, Lev at its heart—felt a surge of unprecedented power from within. With a madman's laughter, he slowly raised his head, scanning all present before fixing his gaze feverishly on King Solomon.
"Solomon! No, Romani Archaman! Do you see this? This is the attitude we should have!"
"This is... the posture worthy of judging your idiotic choices!"
Of course, in the end, this was still just an incomplete "reproduction".
The true King Solomon still possessed the Ten Rings, had not relinquished the blessings granted by the gods; Goetia, bound by his own essence, could neither become the true beacon nor incinerate humanity.
Mentally, there was little substantive leap from the previous false Solomon.
Yet, with the seventy-two Demon Pillars now fused, he had gained unprecedented magical capability—and conceptual enhancements.
More importantly still—
When King Solomon instinctively attempted to raise his hand and cast the Fire spell, intending to call upon the power of the Phenex, he found the connection had vanished without a trace. He tried other elements: all gone.
He understood at once.
His bond to the seventy-two Demon Pillars had been forcibly usurped by the "imposter" on the other side. All his skills in manipulating myriad elemental magics of the Age of Gods through the Demon Pillars—now completely sealed away!
In this instant, the tide of battle was utterly reversed.