It was a common misconception that demonkind couldn't lie because they were a race bound by contracts.
But that was wrong.
Demonkind did keep their contracts.
The problem was that the contract itself might have been flawed from the start.
And the current situation was exactly that.
Seeing Zeke's hardened expression, Anastasia smiled.
"Hmm? What's with that look? I've never said anything wrong."
"I'm not in the mood for word games. If you're truly a Demon Realm Princess, then honor your promise."
At those words, Anastasia burst out laughing again, clutching her stomach.
"Hahaha! Zeke Draker, maybe I've been too kind to you. That's why a lowly human like you dares to speak to me this way." In an instant, Anastasia's eyes blazed red.
Rumble...
The aura she exuded cracked the fighting pit where Zeke stood, and the entire invasion fortress began to shake.
demonkind in the spectator stands panicked and let out roars.
"Lady Anastasia is offended!"
"We have to run!"
Her capricious nature meant her mood could shift dozens of times a day, so preserving one's life required constantly watching her mood.
But Zeke stood tall in his spot, utterly unshaken by Anastasia's presence.
Seeing this, Anastasia let out another mad laugh and said,
"Lowly human knight. I have no idea what gives you the confidence to act so boldly."
She spoke sharply and raised her hand, causing the entire fighting pit to rise until the stage where Anastasia stood aligned with Zeke's height.
Anastasia shook her head as she looked at Zeke with sharp eyes.
"From the moment you entered this domain, resisting me was impossible. In the domain of this invasion fortress, I am absolute." Crunch...
Knights on horseback, a rook with a massive shield, a bishop with a long spear—dozens of chess golems surrounded Zeke.
It was a powerful golem knight order created by combining the power of the invasion fortress with Anastasia's dollification ability.
Anastasia smiled at Zeke.
"If you kneel and offer your soul to me now, I'll keep you as a cute pet alongside Nigel for a long time."
Hearing that, Zeke drew his holy sword Ascalon without another word.
Whoooong!
Anastasia frowned at Ascalon, which glowed with radiant light power.
"You know it's futile, yet you struggle... If you insist on punishment, then so be it." She snapped her fingers, and the chess golems charged at Zeke.
Boom boom boom...
Knights, bishops, and rooks attacked from all sides, swinging their weapons at Zeke.
Even as the attacks closed in, Zeke stood motionless with his sword drawn, looking as if he'd be crushed by the chess golems at any moment.
But then, the charging chess golems suddenly froze in place, as if their bodies had stiffened.
Anastasia, who controlled the chess golems with her dollification ability, panicked as her commands suddenly failed.
"What... what's happening?"
She quickly tried to activate her ability again, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move the golems.
Then Zeke raised his hand.
Snap!
At his gesture, the golems began to move in perfect unison.
Anastasia's jaw dropped as she watched.
"N-No... How on earth?"
Zeke extended his hand, commanding the golems to attack Anastasia.
chess golems turned and charged toward the stage where their creator, Anastasia, stood.
Boom boom boom...
Anastasia's eyes wavered for a moment at the sight, but she quickly gestured at the golems.
Crackle crackle...
The chess golems turned to dust and scattered at her gesture.
Anastasia glared at Zeke through the dissipating remnants of the golems.
"You insolent human..."
Just now, Zeke had used the Authority of Control, absorbed from Docheol—one of the Four Fiends—to seize Anastasia's golems.
Zeke pointed Ascalon at Anastasia and said,
"Hand over my master. Otherwise, you'll regret it deeply."
Anastasia looked down at Zeke and replied,
"Will I, now?"
She snapped her fingers again.
The barrier separating the spectator stands from the fighting pit vanished.
The demonkind who had been watching from the stands until moments ago leaped down into the pit with roars.
Groooar!
Roooar!
Hundreds of demonkind gathered toward Zeke, howling.
Anastasia said to Zeke,
"I'll make an exception and not kill you. I'll stuff you alive and keep you as a cute toy by my side."
As the demonkind charged at him, Zeke slowly raised Ascalon.
Roooar!
Just as the demonkind lunged to tear Zeke apart, Crackle!
Zeke fully raised the holy sword Ascalon above his head and unleashed a brilliant light into the sky.
The demonkind thought a bolt of light would strike them and froze, retreating, but nothing happened.
Anastasia shouted at the demonkind,
"He's just stalling! Rush in and tear off his limbs right now!" Growl...
At Anastasia's command, the demonkind surged toward Zeke again.
Then Zeke opened his mouth toward them. "Come on, then! Let's see what you've got!" Whoooosh!
This time, Zeke truly swung Ascalon at the demonkind.
Boom boom boom!
radiant light energy rippling from the holy sword spread out, and the demonkind it
touched burst into flames.
"Arrrgh!"
They howled in unimaginable agony.
Right after the first strike, Zeke raised Ascalon and unleashed the Will of Light.
Whoooong!
A massive curtain of light unfurled, and the demonkind caught within it writhed in torment, their bodies shuddering.
"Gahhh!"
For beings infused with demonic energy, mere exposure to the domain of the Will of Light was fatal.
Those who drew power more directly from a constellation's authority—rather than demonic energy—could somewhat resist the destructive force of the Will of Light.
They endured the pain, extended their sharp claws, and charged at Zeke.
Slash!
A powerful demonic aura-coated claw slashed down from above, as if to shred Zeke's body.
But before it could touch him, Zeke's shadow rippled, and black blades erupted, piercing the demonkind.
Shwick shwick shwick...
The charging demonkind disintegrated in an instant, collapsing to the ground.
Anastasia ground her teeth at the sight.
"Damn it! Catch that lowly human bastard! Kill him now!"
Then, black crow demonkind spread their wings from the sky above and swooped into the fighting pit.
Cawwww!
With the ominous cries of the crow flock, spears infused with demonic energy rained down like arrows from above.
Swoooosh!
Zeke crouched and raised his shadow armor to block the spears pouring from the sky.
Then he raised holy sword Ascalon again and shot radiant light skyward.
Crackle crackle!
Lightning bolts of light spread in all directions, sending the crow demonkind plummeting to the ground half-burned.
Thud!
Boom!
Even surrounded by countless foes, Zeke showed no sign of yielding. Anastasia ground her teeth watching him.
"That damned fool..."
In her eyes, even hundreds of mid- and low-rank demonkind wouldn't be enough to stop Zeke.
With no choice, Anastasia decided to call in her subordinates stationed at the front lines.
But then, unexpected news came from her subordinates.
[A vampire legion has suddenly appeared here! Grraaah! The leader is a royal vampire!]
[Beastmen! Beastmen have come from the west and are attacking from behind!]
Receiving the situation via telepathy from her subordinates, Anastasia wore an incredulous expression.
"Vampires and beastmen suddenly attacking from the rear? That's..." Then a thought flashed through her mind.
Anastasia glared at Zeke, who was still fending off the horde of demonkind, and shouted,
"You...! You're buying time!"
Zeke smirked at Anastasia's reaction.
'She figured it out.'
He had never expected Anastasia to honor the bet's outcome properly.
From his experiences dealing with demonkind, those who used mental abilities were cunning beyond measure and could twist their words at any moment.
Knowing this well, Zeke had come alone to confront Anastasia not just for the duel, but with another purpose.
To buy time for Red Eye and the Western Allied Forces to arrive.
Realizing Zeke had outmaneuvered her, Anastasia couldn't contain her rage.
Her expression changed in an instant.
The madness and fury from before vanished, replaced by a calm demeanor.
As her expression shifted, so did her eyes.
The whites vanished entirely, her irises turning pitch black.
She looked down at Zeke and said,
"Zeke Draker. I admit I underestimated you." Rustle...
Her attire began to change as well.
The elaborate, flowing dress transformed into form-fitting leather garb, her entire aura utterly different from before.
Anastasia raised a finger, pointing at Zeke.
Then she slowly opened her mouth.
[Kneel.]
Words formed not of sound but of pure will flowed from Anastasia's lips.
Even without understanding the meaning, Zeke's body moved on its own.
Thud!
Zeke dropped to one knee.
He tried to stand, but it was futile.
'So this is a demon archlord's authority. It seems like a mental-type power...' To counter an authority, one needed their own.
Zeke tried to break free using his own authorities.
But he couldn't shake it off easily.
Seeing his resistance, Anastasia pointed at him again and spoke.
[Stop breathing.]
With those words, Zeke could no longer breathe.
'Damn...'
Forbidden from inhaling, Zeke's breath grew labored.
He needed to escape this somehow, but no clear solution came to mind.
He had to find a way before he suffocated completely.
Thoughts raced through his head.
'An authority that forces obedience to words. If it's a form of word magic... Wait, if it's word magic, then the command itself is key.'
In that moment, Zeke's shadow rippled and enveloped him.
Rustle...
Anastasia shook her head as the shadow armor wrapped around Zeke.
"You think that will free you from the binding I've placed? That curse will cling to you until you die."
Anastasia calmly waited for Zeke's breath to give out.
She had wanted to stuff him alive and torment him, but given the situation, killing him seemed better.
'No helping it. I'll settle for Nigel as my doll...'
As her thoughts continued, Anastasia startled and turned around.
Nigel, who had been sitting moments ago, was gone.
'W-Where?'
Anastasia panicked and looked around for Nigel.
Whoooong!
Sensing an ominous aura, she looked up.
Nigel, in her dress, had formed a hand seal with her bare hands, pointing at Anastasia.
Anastasia raised her finger in surprise.
But it was too late. The energy of the full power technique erupted from Nigel's hand.
Full Power Technique
Solo Spell
Will of Break ("Pa")
Boom boom boom boom!
The full power technique Nigel unleashed completely devastated the stage where Anastasia stood.
Rumble...
From the rubble of the collapsed stage, Anastasia rose, grinding her teeth.
She stared in disbelief at Nigel, who stood before her, fully awakened.
"How did you break the 'sleep' binding?"
Nigel clicked her tongue and said,
"My foolish disciple woke me up."
"What? What do you...?" Rustle...
From behind, Zeke emerged from the shadow armor enveloping him.
Incredibly, he had fashioned the shadow armor into a breathing apparatus, like a tube in his mouth, forcibly pumping air into his body.
Since the command only forbade him from breathing on his own, he realized external air would suffice.
Immediately after, Zeke had concealed his situation with shadows and used the Third Eye's authority to enter Nigel's mind.
Seizing the moment when her power weakened from using her own authority on him, Zeke had awakened Nigel.
Now, Nigel and Zeke stood side by side, pressuring Anastasia.
Faced with the two, Anastasia ground her teeth and shouted,
"No matter what, once you're in this domain, you can't escape! Rats in a trap...!" Crack crack...
Before Anastasia could finish, cracks formed in the invasion fortress's barrier, revealing the sky.
Rumble rumble...
At the same time, a mysterious divine beast emitting prismatic radiant light appeared.