The change in atmosphere finally made Guanghui return his consciousness to the ground.

"Everyone, surrender. I want to save you."

Guanghui's advice was sincere, but his premise was tragically wrong.

Therefore, Ryutaro snorted.

"You got it backwards, my good friend."

"Rebellion?"

"We're here to rescue you."

“What are you talking about…?”

"You still don't understand? But that's no wonder. You're such a coward right now. You're so confused that you can't even see things you should be able to see clearly."

Ryutaro's words revealed an indescribable sense of oppression, forcing Guanghui to swallow back his rebuttal.

His good friend took another step closer, a ferocious smile appearing on his face, like a wolf baring its fangs.

"So... Kouki, bite your bullet! Your good friends are going to beat you up and wake you up!"

With that, Ryuutarou erupted from his entire body in a burst of deep green magical energy, a noticeably different scale than just a moment ago. His power had reached a new level. This oppressive feeling was perhaps even more powerful than the radiance before the enhancement.

But what is truly terrifying is undoubtedly the heavy awareness revealed in Ryutaro's eyes.

It wasn't just the heightened magic power, but the way he stared at his best friend that shocked Guanghui's heart, causing him to subconsciously take a step back.

At the same time, the reasons that had brought him to this state began to fall away from his heart, even if his soul was still bound.

Even though he possessed the highest abilities of anyone present, he couldn't help but look towards Shizuku, the girl he'd known since childhood, for help. He believed that even if Shizuku had been brainwashed, she would definitely return his caring gaze.

Guanghui's heart yearned for something so impossible. As always, he ignored the reality before him, clinging tightly to his ideal. Even at this moment, he still harbored this "dependence" mentality.

Therefore, Shizuku's next words were like a ruthless knife cutting him.

"We didn't come here with half-hearted resolutions. There won't be any half-hearted results. You'd better be prepared!"

Shizuku's tone was harsh, like a reprimand. The awe-inspiring sword energy suddenly surged, causing Guanghui's expression to change drastically.

What hit him even harder was that Shizuku wasn't just talking to him, she was also talking to Eri. That meant even though it was a rebuke, Shizuku's words no longer belonged solely to Kouki.

Depression. Guanghui felt as if mud was constantly surging in his heart, and he was sinking.

Now, his heart was filled with twisted wishes, wanting Shizuku to have only him in her heart, wanting her expression to be overshadowed by guilt.

"Don't worry, Kouki. I told you I'd help you."

The sweet whispers easily penetrated the hearts filled with sorrow and victim consciousness.

“Eri…”

"I am the only one who will never betray you. I am the only one who will always stand on your side."

Eri's words, coupled with the gaze that was so close that it almost touched the tip of her nose, gradually shifted Kouki's feelings from originally being towards Shizuku to Eri.

"Well, thank you, Eri."

Kouki replied to Eri with a cloudy look and a twisted smile. Eri smiled back, a smile like cracks in glass. Then, she snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, the surrounding rubble exploded with a loud bang. From the rising dust and scattered debris, countless figures leaped out, surrounding Shizuku and the others in an instant.

Not only that. The conversation up to this point seemed to be an attempt to buy time. At just the right moment, gray-winged figures flew in from almost every direction, except for the area where Hajime had eliminated them, and joined the encirclement one after another.

Just like before, the surrounding soldiers included familiar Kingdom soldiers and knights, their bodies combined with the characteristics of monsters.

A group of pathetic berserkers formed by the fusion of humans and monsters, whose souls are controlled by Keiri - the Corpse Beast Soldiers.

In addition, there are more features that are different from before.

"Gray wings... could it be that everyone...?"

Shizuku muttered with a serious expression.

"Right!" Eri clapped her hands.

The corpse beast soldiers have all undergone semi-apostolic transformation and are named—

"'Gray Corpse'! Of course, they wouldn't be able to withstand a direct missile attack, but if they're simply crushed under rubble, they won't stop."

There were approximately two hundred of them. While their strength was certainly not comparable to that of a true "Apostle of God," as an army, they were undoubtedly a high-end force.

If these combat capabilities were the source of Eri's confidence, it's no wonder she underestimated the enemy when faced with threats of this magnitude from Shizuku and the others.

Besides, only three days had passed since the battle at Demon King's Castle. No wonder she was so confident.

So, first of all, we need to change her mind.

"Did you think I would fight you head-on? You must have come all the way here. That's enough. Prepare to be outnumbered—"

"Full control of the soul, fixed coordinates completed—"Holy Suppression: Ten Thousand Demon Prison"!"

Ling sang with great vigor, but the movements of waving the two iron fans were graceful and slow.

Orange magic power continuously emerged along the path of the iron fan, covering all the Gray Corpse followers like a geyser.

——Ling's original barrier technique, the Holy Devil Prison.

The new double iron fan combines soul sensing magic and space coordinate control magic. It can lock onto multiple objects at the same time and trap them in the cage formed by the barrier.

Being able to simultaneously control and trap all 200 enemies was such an amazing ability that even Eri's eyes widened, and Kouki was speechless with astonishment.

The two of them were so vulnerable. With Shizuku and Ryuutarou's current strength, they certainly wouldn't miss it.

"Magic Fist Armor—[Giant Strike]!"

"Instantaneous sublimation—"Flash"!"

The rubble beneath their feet erupted as if it had been bombed.

The distance between the enemy and us suddenly closed. When Guanghui regained consciousness, a huge fist emitting a deep green light was already approaching. In desperation, Guanghui raised his holy sword to block it, but—

“Hmm…!?”

He couldn't help but let out a painful groan through his clenched teeth.

As a karateka, Ryuutarou's "True Punch" possessed lethal destructive power, and Kouki knew this better than anyone. However, the force transmitted from the holy sword to his hand and body completely exceeded Kouki's expectations.

──Magic Fist Iron Armor Giant Strike.

Ryutaro's new divine weapon, the "Magic Fist Armor," can form a giant fist with magical power.

This was an application of the defensive skill "Vajra," which envelops the body in magical energy. And, as if by nature, it combined "Magic Shock Wave" with the combat-based skill "Penetrating Destruction," a skill derived from the vocation "Boxer," allowing the impact to penetrate deep into the target.

Its power is enough to easily crush iron blocks.

Striking directly with such overwhelming force, even the hero's body was shaken, and he struggled to hold the holy sword in place. Furthermore, his footing was precarious, and Kouki was unable to fully withstand the impact, sending his entire body flying like a ping-pong ball.

And Huili was unable to support Guanghui.

The instinctive sense of crisis prompted her to dodge subconsciously relying on her body's inherent reaction ability.

No sound was heard.

I didn't see any slashing either.

However, the result came out mercilessly.

“──!?”

Her sword was cut in half and fell to the ground with a clang.

The cut surface was extremely smooth, which was chilling.

If Eri hadn't instinctively pulled away and blocked with her greatsword, her lower body would have been severed. She had been able to avoid the blow only because she and Shizuku had been on the same adventuring team and knew her swordsmanship like the back of her hand. A moment later, that blow would have surely finished her off.

——Shizuku's sublimation magic instantly sublimated.

The purpose of this move is not only to reduce the consumption of magic power, but the biggest purpose is to prevent the opponent from noticing the activation of sublimation magic.

The newly born black sword was endowed with the sublimation magic auxiliary engine function, which could hide the huge amount of magic power generated when activating the Age of Gods magic to the limit and complete the activation within an instant.

Since it can be activated in a short moment, it can also be used continuously against multiple targets in a single strike.

It activates the feet the moment you take a step, the arms the moment you draw your sword, and the space-severing function "Flash" is activated the moment you strike.

The result was a slash so terrifyingly silent that it could cut through even a weapon made by God.

"Is your killing intent too strong?"

Eri reflexively fired a large amount of "Decomposition Ash Feathers" and finally stopped Shizuku's pursuit.

Shizuku didn't pursue, but instead backflipped and leaped into the air, dodging the attack with such a deft move. Then, with a flick of her sword, she deflected several incoming gray feathers and landed beside Ling. And then—

"No, I knew you would resist. I only intended to cut off your hands."

Shizuku said this seriously.

Eri summoned a new greatsword from the air, her eyes twitching stiffly.

"...How terrifying! Are you planning to torture me thoroughly before killing me?"

Eri seems to think that Shizuku and the others are pursuing her all the way to the Divine Realm out of revenge.

Shizuku and Suzu were about to open their mouths to deny it, but Eri sneered and spoke first.

"But, aren't you being too contemptuous?"

After saying that, powerful magic energy erupted from all around.

It was the Ash Corpse Disciples. All of the Ash Corpse Disciples trapped by Ling's "Holy Absolute: Ten Thousand Demon Prison" released their magic power simultaneously.

The magic they released was the same gray as Huili's, mixed with the black and red magic unique to monsters, a color so strange and sickening. The Gray Corpsemen continued to release magic, filling the space within the light barrier.

They unreservedly unleashed the power they gained after becoming semi-apostles.

“Hmm…it still works after all…”

Lingmian muttered with difficulty. She had anticipated this possibility, but she also hoped it wouldn't happen. Then, the Gray Corpse disciples broke through the barrier from the inside.

It was Decomposition Magic. Judging from the situation just now, the Gray Corpse disciples were not able to use it freely, but on the other hand, as long as they had a few seconds of charging time, all Gray Corpse disciples could use this most vicious magic.

At the same time──

“Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!?”

Ryutaro let out a heroic scream and was knocked flying.

“—‘Light Wheel’.”

With a wave of the iron fan, a net made of halo gently caught Ryutaro.

"That was a close call. Ling, you saved my life."

Ryuutarou stepped down from the net, thanking Ling as he landed on the ground. Cold sweat formed on his forehead, and a deep horizontal nick appeared across the chest of his light armor.

This light armor is also a new type of artifact. Its own endurance is naturally needless to say. It also has the function of activating "Vajra". It will be activated at the same time as Ryutaro himself activates "Vajra", which is equivalent to having three lines of protection.

However, it seemed that such a solid defense had been breached by a single blow. This fact made the eyes of Suzu and Shizuku turn solemn.

"Ryuutarou, now you understand, right? You are no match for me."

Suddenly, a strong wind blew up.

Light descended from the sky, stepping on a stair-like barrier.

"Shizuku and Suzu, stop it now. Don't do such meaningless things. Surrender now."

The overflowing torrent of magic power and eyes filled with silver light are the symbols of his activation of "Limit Breakthrough: Domination".

The three of them could feel that even if their abilities were improved through various artifacts, Guanghui's current ability value was probably still more than 10,000 higher than theirs.

The gap in ability is as much as twice.

"Besides, Kouki and I both have endless mana~"

Eri chuckled maliciously and added enthusiastically, as if to add insult to injury.

They seemed to be like the "Apostles of God", with their magic power constantly replenished and inexhaustible.

"I really don't want to kill you!"

Kouki's sorrowful cry made Ryuutarou look very confused.

"Hey, didn't you say you were going to undo our brainwashing? And that sword strike just now was clearly aimed at my neck. My dear friend, you're truly frustrating me."

“…Since I can’t convince you, I’ll have to kill you. But—”

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