What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?.

He flung off his cloak, but instead of transforming it into a longsword as he had done with the advance team of mages, he adopted a serious fighting attitude, transforming it directly into a magnificent three-pronged golden halberd. The moment his words fell, he smashed the halberd to the ground.

Boom! The entire street trembled violently with a loud bang, and the ground collapsed in a crater-like pattern, shattering the golden stone pavement.

But Ash could clearly see that it wasn't broken by brute force, but rather that he was manipulating the ground himself.

The scenes from his memory also show that he can manipulate these gold-plated objects.

It is a brief period of recovery, and then it is re-golden in the next moment, but the speed is so fast that it cannot be detected by the naked eye.

If Ash hadn't known the information beforehand, and had seen that he, as a mage, possessed strength comparable to that of a top-tier warrior, he would probably have been quite startled.

...............................

...............................

Out of respect for his opponent and magic, Ash didn't intend to launch a sneak attack; he planned to overwhelm his opponent with sheer power... In the end, given his opponent's abilities, even if he wanted to launch a sneak attack, he wouldn't have much hope.

"However, I really can't understand... Are you actually looking to die? How could you let someone with no power steal your memories, and then foolishly wait here... After your biggest trump card is exposed, even if you are still powerful, how much fighting strength will you have left?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

Mahat refused to speak, and the golden fragments that rose from the ground instantly transformed into two golden tornadoes that swirled around him.

The fluttering gold flakes, under the moonlight, were breathtakingly beautiful.

However... the golden tornado split open instantly and crashed towards him as violently as a mudslide.

In an instant, his front was covered by the golden shimmering light reflecting the moon, dazzlingly beautiful.

Each fragment carries a mass exceeding that of the original, and the sand and dust have turned into golden particles, their collective surge creating an overwhelming mass.

In this situation, defensive magic is completely ineffective, and it is equally impossible to destroy it, since its hardness is even greater than that of the Demon Sealing Stone.

"...This should be more than enough as a killing move."

Ash's ability to counter curses that weren't directly applied to him was meaningless; normally, the only way to avoid such attacks was to dodge.

But he had no intention of dodging at all, and simply raised his hand and waved it.

--boom!!!!

Dense and pure black lightning surged toward the golden tornado like a tidal wave amidst a roar.

If you look closely, you'll see that the space at this moment seems unable to withstand such power, and it begins to twist and deform, even showing tiny cracks, like fragile paper breaking little by little under heavy pressure.

And then, the gravitational lightning that crushed space collided head-on with the golden tornado carrying astonishing mass.

The entire city fortress trembled, and an unbearable, indescribable crash resounded.

A contest between extreme pressure and extreme quality and hardness.

The sound had transcended the realm of common sense; it was no longer comparable to a simple explosion or shockwave. It was as if the entire world was wailing in unbearable pain.

As the lingering echoes of the mournful cries dissipated, they transformed into howling fragments, like a violent blast, ravaging the entire block and even reverberating between the two layers of golden walls of the city fortress, lingering for a long time.

If everyone present hadn't been transformed into gold, the sheer power of the aftershocks alone would have been enough to completely deafen everyone, and the entire neighborhood would have perished as a result.

"It's truly astonishing that someone dares to confront Mahat's gold head-on... This is something I've never seen before in my life." Solitaire, who had retreated to a distance, watched the two's formal confrontation with a look of amazement on her face.

Unexpectedly, the fragments that formed the golden tornado failed to penetrate the barrier of lightning. They were either blocked by the lightning or fell into the torn spatial rifts, disappearing without a trace, their final fate unknown.

"I never expected that someone could withstand such a move. So..." Mahat himself couldn't help but show a surprised expression, and at that moment he suddenly squatted down and gently touched the ground with his hand.

Bang! ! !

The entire city seemed to be shaken by an invisible hand, and the buildings on both sides of the street, including the lord's mansion next to it, shattered and disintegrated almost in the blink of an eye.

The sky was covered with golden dust like a thick curtain, completely obscuring the heavens. Only golden light pierced through it, covering the firmament. Its power was so great that it was no exaggeration to describe it as "hiding the sky and blocking out the sun".

In the instant that golden light contracted inward and fell, an indescribable sense of oppression surged forth like a tide, almost swallowing one's reason.

"That's quite a generous gesture!" Ash grinned and drew the lightning-infused blade without hesitation.

Just before the golden expanse shrank to its limit, he shot out like an arrow released from a bow.

The surging lightning tore through the golden restraints, and the longsword cleaved through the golden curtain, propelling him out of this golden sea with an almost impossible force.

Immediately afterwards, a sharp, mournful groan of steel echoed through the streets.

The longsword struck the trident, sending sparks flying.

Sparks flew everywhere, accompanied by the sharp sound of metal clashing, filling the air.

Mahat mobilized all his magic to resist, his golden feet rubbing against the ground, creating sparks like bursts of flame, and he was instantly pushed back more than a hundred meters until his back crashed into the end of the street, into a house where his golden transformation had been temporarily dispelled.

Although he deliberately avoided overly sturdy buildings and allowed himself to withstand all the impacts, the constant roar of the collisions still echoed over the city.

From the sky, he passed through at least ten houses, disappearing without a trace in the swirling dust, completely out of Ash's sight.

"...I didn't expect that he wouldn't even need defensive magic. He could resist the gravitational pressure applied directly to him simply by forming a defense with his magic power. It seems that people with enough magic power all know this trick." Ash muttered to himself as he watched the figure disappear into the distance.

However, before he could make a decision, Mahat swept across the roof with terrifying speed, raised his trident high, and smashed it down on Ash like a meteorite.

With his hands gripping the trident, Mahat's speed in a sudden charge was comparable to that of Aize in his youth.

The vertical slash, accompanied by the sound of wind being cut, would undoubtedly slice a mortal body in two like a straw if it were hit... just like the advance team not long ago.

As he descended from the sky, countless golden fragments, seemingly appearing from nowhere, surged forth behind him, resembling a magnificent and awe-inspiring golden waterfall.

A new explosion followed.

On the ground, Ash wielded the black blade with astonishing speed, colliding fiercely with the trident.

The all-encompassing dome-shaped shockwave that erupted swept up the golden fragments on the ground, causing the massive amount of gold dust falling from the sky to also stagnate in the air.

As his legs sank slightly, Ash sidestepped the golden blade that surged from the "waterfall." Even with his cheeks and chest torn open, he remained unmoved. Instead, he turned slightly at that moment, using the blade to force Mahat away.

“That’s quite a skill, but… I knew all about your attack patterns and your magic beforehand. You have no hope of winning.”

Ash ignored the golden tornado that surged up behind Mahat again and walked calmly toward him: "I'll give you one last chance to surrender... I'll give you the best treatment."

"No interest."

"Really? Then..."

—BOOM!!!

Without much warning, as Ash stomped his foot on the ground, a loud bang and shockwave suddenly erupted.

But Solitaire, who was far away, could clearly see that as Ash's toes touched the ground, a thick bolt of lightning struck Mahat at a terrifying speed.

However, a wall made of gold also appeared in front of Mahat, solidly blocking the attack.

However, this enormous impact caused the entire Golden Township to tremble violently.

Although the wall did not break, the entire Golden City was displaced by the gravitational lightning that tore through space.

Perhaps the shattering of space repelled the gold, but the indestructibility of this foreign gold only caused the entire, enormous golden city connected together to tremble.

This tremor caused the entire earth outside to shake.

...............................

...............................

The tremor that echoed throughout the world, carrying a deafening roar like the earth's lament, reverberated between heaven and earth.

The tremors of this colossal entity, Golden Village, were so powerful that they shook the distant mountains, and even the wooden houses on the edge of Golden Village were not spared.

This violent jolt woke up Philon and Duncan, who were completely unaware of what was happening and had already fallen asleep.

After all, even if the Golden Land Great Barrier itself can block the transmission of sound, it cannot block the vibrations that have exceeded the barrier's range.

They had just woken up, and while suspecting it was an earthquake, they unconsciously glanced towards the window and were surprised to find...

The once pristine Golden Land Great Barrier was shattered during the conflict between the two sides... perhaps due to the impact of the land displacement, which couldn't withstand the excessive mass shock.

The two combatants simultaneously looked up and clearly witnessed the barrier shattering.

"If you want to escape, I won't stop you, but if you want to continue fighting, then... it's time to end all of this." As he spoke, Ash gradually ascended into the clouds.

“It doesn’t matter. Rather…” Mahat smiled slightly and casually flicked the trident in his hand: “To be able to fight to the death with such an outstanding junior… such pleasure is something I haven’t felt in a long time; but now—let’s end all of this.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire city fortress trembled.

A massive amount of golden bricks floated in mid-air, and Ash could clearly feel that Mahat's magic power was rapidly dissipating.

Clearly, controlling countless amounts of gold in the entire city at once was a complete all-out attack for him.

At the same time, Ash, who was suspended in mid-air, was gradually enveloped in black lightning, making him look like a twisted and eerie black hole.

Looking into the distance, the dark night sky appeared completely shattered, obscuring the moonlight hanging in the sky.

A shattered "black moon" covered the sky, completely swallowing the moonlight, and even the moonlight itself was distorted at this moment.

At this moment, although Ash was merely hovering silently in the air, the astonishing pressure emanating from him seemed to...

"It is simply—despair manifested in the world itself...!"

"A demon king who will shroud the world in death and destruction...?"

"The Demon King isn't dead? No... this isn't... this is even stronger than the previous Demon King, isn't it?"

.......

The three people in the distance gazed at the shattered sky and unconsciously murmured to themselves, their voices trembling slightly.

If the owner of that aura weren't still familiar, they would have even suspected that humanity was about to face true despair... if the other party were truly a demon king.

Chapter 5 The New Strongest Demon - The Finale: Aura - Could the New Demon King be You?

Despite being acquaintances, the three still couldn't suppress their fear.

Because it wasn't a physical impact, but simply a sense of crisis that threatened life immensely.

The sky was filled with the aura of death, which awakened a primal fear, making everyone's chest tighten, and causing monsters and beasts in the distance to flee for their lives.

Compared to the astonishment and fear of the crowd... Solitaire, who had already left the city fortress area, was still filled with indescribable excitement despite her trembling hands.

She even found herself unable to control herself, her gaze fixed intently on the "black moon" that oppressed the earth:

"—This is my true... Demon Lord! It's... amazing~!"

Because of that figure that suppressed the gold scattered all over the ground, an unprecedented pressure was brought about, making the air unusually heavy, as if even its shape had changed.