From the moment he entered the battlefield, Takeru had maintained a barrier enveloping himself and Milim...
His purpose was to prevent Clayman from detecting their presence through his crystal ball. If Clayman, fearing them, went into hiding, locating him would become considerably more difficult.
"Ah! I am the Orc Demon Lord, he who shall devour all! My name is Geld! Demon Lord Geld!" Having evolved into a Demon Lord, Geld roared.
"Alright, all of you, withdraw. Otherwise, should you be caught in the aftermath, do not say I did not warn you." As Takeru landed, he spoke calmly to Rimuru and the others.
"Hey, that one has also evolved into a Demon Lord! He looks formidable. Are you truly going to face him alone?" Hearing Takeru's words, Rimuru quickly interjected.
"Rimuru, you must understand one thing. Demon Lords have hierarchies. The disparity in strength between them can be as vast as heaven and earth." Hearing Rimuru's words, Takeru said with a faint smile.
Without even drawing Twilight Moon from his waist, Takeru walked directly toward the Orc Demon Lord.
Seeing Takeru approach so nonchalantly, Geld showed no mercy. He immediately raised his massive blade and brought it down upon Takeru. Watching the seemingly unstoppable strike, Takeru calmly extended his right hand.
Boom!
The instant the blade met Takeru's palm, a tremendous detonation erupted. Simultaneously, immense atmospheric pressure caused the ground beneath Takeru and the Orc Lord to sink slightly.
Had Takeru not employed his levitation ability, he would have been driven deep into the earth by the colossal force.
Yet despite the Orc Demon Lord's immense strength, the gap between them remained vast. Takeru noted that this single strike, converted to mana, yielded nearly ten thousand mana reserves. He showed a slight smile.
Watching Takeru effortlessly block his attack with one hand, the Orc Demon Lord unhesitatingly swung his blade again. The result mirrored the first: aside from further sinking the ground beneath them, only increased dust clouds arose.
"Surely you possess more power than this?" As he spoke, Takeru delivered a simple punch to Geld's abdomen.
The immense force, unleashed directly from Takeru's fist, sent Geld flying while simultaneously blasting a massive hole through his stomach.
"Ah!" The spectators behind, witnessing Takeru casually punch a gaping wound in the Orc Demon Lord's abdomen, were utterly shocked.
Though they had not engaged him directly, none considered the Orc Demon Lord weak.
"So this is pain?" Clutching the gaping wound in his stomach, the Orc Demon Lord experienced immense agony. Yet the flesh around the wound rapidly regenerated, soon restoring itself completely.
"My King! Permit me to be with you!" At this moment, an Orc approached Geld, kneeling respectfully on one knee.
Sensing his own mana depletion, Geld grasped the Orc and began to devour him.
Having consumed his subordinate, Geld's power and mana increased further, his exhaustion completely restored.
"Not enough! More! Let me eat more!" Having devoured his subordinate, Geld remained unsatisfied.
Roaring, he launched a pink energy sphere directly at Takeru. The sphere then dispersed into countless smaller projectiles… Gelmud's signature technique, Death-March Dance.
Facing the dense swarm of energy bullets, Takeru unceremoniously deployed a black vortex before him, effortlessly devouring every single one.
"Thirty-four thousand mana reserves. Thank you for the meal." Having devoured all the energy spheres, Takeru remarked to Geld, observing his newly gained mana reserves.
"Devour all! Chaos Eater!" Seeing his attack utterly ineffective, the Orc Demon Lord again unleashed his tribe's unique skill, Chaos Eater.
Watching the four writhing, menacing black-red serpents, Takeru remained impassive. As the serpent heads lunged to bite him, Takeru again activated Devourer, effortlessly devouring two of the giant serpents.
Yet as he attempted to devour the third, the two previously devoured serpent heads began to struggle, disrupting his Devourer's deployment.
The remaining two serpent heads reached Takeru. Yet the instant they were about to strike, Takeru's figure vanished. The next moment, he appeared directly behind Geld.
"He dodged it!" Rimuru and the others watching, seeing Takeru seemingly teleport behind Geld, breathed sighs of relief.
Boom! Boom!
Yet the next instant, both remaining Chaos Eater heads and Geld's own head were severed.
In truth, Takeru had not merely teleported. He had simultaneously attacked the remaining Chaos Eater's heads and, in passing Geld, used Twilight Moon to decapitate him.
However, due to Takeru's immense speed, Rimuru and the others could not perceive these actions.
"Incredible! As expected of Takeru!" Milim above, having witnessed the entire sequence, exclaimed excitedly.
"Is it over?" Watching Geld's head fall into his own hands, Rimuru and the others wondered.
Yet the next instant, countless yellow, energy-based threads extended from Geld's severed neck. These threads seized his severed head, reattached it to his neck, and the wound rapidly vanished.
"He can reattach even his own head?!" Witnessing this, Tsumugi covered her mouth, utterly stunned.
This exceeded her imagination. Facing such an opponent alone, she could conceive no possibility of survival.
"Damn you!" Sensing Takeru's troublesome nature, the Orc Demon Lord roared in fury. His energy erupted once more. Both hands condensed pink energy spheres, which he again bombarded at Takeru.
Facing this, Takeru, having already digested the interference from the devoured Chaos Eater heads, deployed Devourer again. Though Geld intelligently attacked from front and rear simultaneously, Takeru's Devourer could envelop his entire body, leaving no blind spots. Thus, Geld's energy attacks were again completely devoured.
The instant Takeru finished devouring the energy spheres, he found himself seized by Geld's massive hand. Geld's previous attacks had been merely a diversion.
Takeru's Devourer was potent, yet possessed a minor flaw: when enveloping himself with Devourer, his mobility was somewhat compromised.
"Hahaha! I shall devour you like this!" Having grasped Takeru, Geld exclaimed excitedly.
"Takeru!" Watching Takeru seized, the observing group gasped, Tsumugi especially overcome with worry.
"You do not truly believe such paltry strength sufficient to apprehend me, do you?" Looking at Geld before him, Takeru lightly shook his head.
Then, with slight exertion, he completely obliterated Geld's entire arm.
Though Takeru's defense was such that even if Geld gnawed at him freely, he could not tear so much as a single hair, Takeru had no intention of allowing himself to be subjected to that foul mouth.
"Damn you!" Seeing Takeru effortlessly break free, Geld again roared. His shattered arm rapidly regenerated.
"This should conclude matters." Watching Geld fully restored, Takeru spoke with slight tedium.
"Do not underestimate me!" Hearing Takeru's words, Geld roared and swung his massive blade at Takeru. Yet Takeru directly caught the blade with his arm and, with slight exertion, crushed it to pieces.
"Impossible!" Witnessing Takeru shatter his blade through sheer brute force, Geld was incredulous.
"Farewell, Orc Demon Lord, Geld." Watching the still-stunned Geld, Takeru drew Twilight Moon from his sash. Five flashes of light streaked past. Instantly, Geld was dismembered.
His arms, legs, and head fell severed. Crucially, special flames burned at the wounds, severing his regeneration.
Yet even so, Geld did not immediately perish. Takeru, unconcerned, focused his gaze. He again enveloped his arm in special energy, thrust it through Geld's abdomen, and grasped firmly, effortlessly extracting Geld's soul.
With his soul extracted, Geld's body completely collapsed. Takeru, gazing at Geld's soul, activated Devourer and devoured it.