The change in presence caused by Sofia and I approaching… it was as if he had been waiting. Was his plan to draw us in as much as possible and then defeat Sofia—

“Not a chance!”

I moved in front to shield Sofia. At the same time, the Demon King raised his left hand, which wasn’t holding the Greatsword, and unleashed magic power.

I took it head-on… it wasn’t an attack spell. Only the sensation of magic power passing through remained—

In an instant, the magic power Sofia had converged, burst.

“What…!?”

A cry of astonishment. But without knowing who had uttered it, I immediately shouted.

“Retreat once!”

With my shout, my comrades retreated. The Demon King tried to pursue them, but I activated “Durandal” and unleashed a slash.

Our swords clashed between me and the Demon King. I couldn’t push him back, but I managed to buy enough time for my comrades to retreat.

I also fell back, putting distance between myself and the Demon King. First, I needed to understand the situation. What had been done—

“……So that’s it.”

Garuku said. I looked, and the anomaly was clear at a glance.

“This is…”

Lefin had appeared… no, not just her. All the spirits who had contracted with Sofia had manifested.

“That technique, you can’t converge it without Spirit’s Power, can you?”

The Demon King spoke.

“Or rather, it’s better to say it exerts its power precisely because of Spirit’s Power. Sage’s Power and Spirit’s Power… the two combine to form one technique. If either is lacking, it becomes difficult to exert its power.”

The Demon King spoke calmly. Many of my companions seemed confused, not understanding the situation.

But I understood. I see—

“…Was that white Knight used to analyze Sofia’s power?”

I asked the Demon King. I didn’t expect an answer, but—

“That’s right.”

“But to use such an indirect method…”

“It was simply necessary for me to win.”

The Demon King said, continuing to speak to me with a hint of irony.

“It’s not a difficult matter. Since even the Spirit God gathered, I could predict that a great power capable of burying me would be obtained. Therefore, it would be difficult to win unless I avoided that one strike… That was the conclusion I reached. In fact, the Princess had a Trump Card. My prediction was correct.”

—In the game, the Demon King did not possess any ability to deal with Spirits. However, the real Demon King implemented a counter-strategy. This was probably because threats, starting with the Divine Spirits, had grown too large.

“However, even though your morale has dropped, it’s not over.”

The Demon King continued to speak.

“Many of those present here… the Sage’s Bloodline, who reclaimed power from my subordinates, still possess the strength to destroy me… The Princess’s power may have diminished from receiving Magic, but she still has the power to destroy me. However,”

Immediately after those words, the Demon Lord’s Power suddenly surged. It was as if it was strengthening itself—

“…He even had a Power Amplification Method?”

Garuku spoke. Earlier, I said the Demon Lord’s Power hadn’t changed. But was that also hidden until the last moment to lure us in?

“One should prepare multiple layers of countermeasures.”

Where did this Magic Power come from—the power felt here was the Mysterious Magical Power that existed in the Angel Ruins, which I investigated along with the Divine Spirits. It should have been difficult to draw Magic Power from underground due to the Divine Spirits’ Barrier… No, in this case, does it mean he had been accumulating Magic Power for a long time?

As expected, the amplification is less than when he used Continent-Shattering Magic, but still—

“There is no longer any method to bury me with a single strike. I admit that everyone here is powerful. However, none of them can finish me off with one or two attacks. And even if someone could block all my attacks, their methods would have limits. I have countless methods.”

“…So, in exchange for a little damage, you’ll crush the Sage’s Power wielders one by one, is that it?”

The Demon King laughed at my words. It seemed I was right. In the game, the Demon King moved according to its programming, but now it can act on its own judgment. If so, it can decide who to prioritize attacking.

“What is this—”

Phili cried out, looking confused. It was then that Sofia finally spoke.

“…The contract with the Spirits, it was—”

“Contract?”

“The contract was forcibly canceled.”

Phili gasped—that’s right, the strategy the Demon King launched wasn’t directly aimed at me or Sofia. He used Contract Release Magic to nullify the role of the Spirits, which were necessary to construct the “Spirit World,” our Trump Card.

This was an unexpected attack for me too. Such Magic never appeared in the game. It was a technique created precisely because threats like me and the Spirit God emerged.

I had certainly considered the possibility of Sofia being targeted and was on guard. But the Demon King targeted the Spirits—

“So, what will you do?”

Immediately after the Demon King spoke, he raised his Greatsword. This was—

“Resveil!”

I called out, creating Spirits to confront the Demon King.

In an instant, the Demon King’s Sword swung down vertically—the technique was called Dark Nova. The moment the sword touched the ground, a black Shockwave surged like a tsunami.

Just as I imagined, the black Shockwave rushed towards us. My companions tried to react, but… before that, Resveil plunged his sword into the ground.

Immediately after, a pale blue Barrier formed a dome, protecting us. This was a defensive ability taught to me by Garuku… I had learned it because it was necessary to ensure the safety of my companions during the War with the Demon Lord, and it paid off.

“Hmm, so you did prepare a counter-strategy after all.”

The moment black and blue clashed, the Demon King’s voice was heard. Immediately after, a high-pitched sound like iron clashing erupted, and the black raged outside the Barrier.

They weren’t modeled after living creatures, but it was like a Great Serpent was pressing in on us.

“Keep the Barrier up.”

After giving instructions to Resveil, I turned my face to Sofia, who was behind me.

What should we do?

“The technique relies on coordination with the Spirits.”

She spoke with a stern expression.

“There’s no doubt that a contract is necessary to activate it in its complete form…”

“Is it difficult in an uncontracted state?”

Sylvie asked. The answer came from Lefin.

“It’s completely different whether you’re contracted or not. To begin with, you can’t coordinate with the Magic Power within Humans from the outside…”

“Since you were contracted, you should be able to grasp her Magic Power, right?”

“I can, but it’s still difficult. The contract serves to eliminate those kinds of obstacles…”

Sylvie finally fell silent. At the very least, it means it’s difficult to wield power in the same way as when they were contracted.

“However, the meaning of the contract hasn’t been completely lost.”

Here, Lefin spoke.

“There is still a considerable amount of our magic power remaining within Princess Sofia. Therefore, it is theoretically possible to use techniques and magic just as we did when we were contracted.”

“…Theoretically?”

When I repeated the question, Lefin said with a troubled expression.

“Yes, the flow of Magic Power is different from when we were contracted, so training is required.”

Of course, there’s no time for that… So, if there’s another way—just as I was about to ponder,

“No, there’s still a way.”

That statement came from Garuku.