You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Despite the excruciating pain from his injuries, even the slightest movement couldn't stop him from struggling to his feet and letting out a hearty laugh.

"Hahahaha... Clever fellow, you actually saw through my plan!"

Yes, I was just deliberately playing the victim—cough!

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but the blond boy wiped it away nonchalantly and continued to look at the crowd with disdain, his chin held high.

"I only killed some familiars; I haven't even shown my true abilities yet!"

"Do we really have to decide the winner here?"

"Ok?"

"The current situation is probably not favorable to you, after all, Ceresia has already returned."

"Three against one...?"

The Sorrowful King pondered for a moment.

"How about we call a truce for now?"

Meteora called out to the blond boy, "Well, Your Majesty the Sorrowful King?"

"Ok?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you're now in a completely isolated and helpless situation."

The Sorrowful King smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, "I don't think so. Although we have that red-haired little girl, I don't feel that we are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers."

"If I wanted, I could summon more high-ranking familiars at any time, even 'elder-level' demons from hell!"

That's true. After all, he's a big shot who serves as the BOSS in a fantasy world. The Sorrowful King has the ability to summon demons from hell. However, the body he possesses may not be able to withstand the immense burden that comes with it.

Furthermore... could the demon god of hell really defeat this man before him?

The Sorrowful King was uncertain about his fate.

There was no doubt that he was suppressed in the battle just now. It wasn't that he intentionally hid his strength, but that he was severely defeated in a direct confrontation, which once plunged the Sorrowful King into despair.

To be honest, Iori's "output" isn't actually that high. In the eyes of the Sorrow King, it's about the same as his own, just different in type, but the numerical difference isn't that big.

But why did the battle turn out so one-sided?

The answer is that there are different levels of control over power—simply put, it's about "skill".

When Iori takes action, she makes no unnecessary movements and wastes no effort. Every move she makes is just enough to achieve the tactical objective without adding even the slightest burden.

While being able to control himself, he also has almost absolute dominance over the surrounding space!

The terrain, the distance, the enemy's movements... it was as if everything had been calculated. Rather than slaying familiars, it looked more like a theatrical rehearsal. The familiars seemed to have been trained beforehand, and Iori "received" them too smoothly before severing them in two with a single stroke!

Such terrifying combat skills, or rather, such a level of mastery, are far beyond the reach of the Sorrow King. If their strength were at the same level, then in a hundred encounters, Iori would probably win ninety-nine times.

—Even so, the Sorrowful King cannot be shameless!

"To be honest, I don't know what the result will be if I 'go all out'."

The boy smiled mysteriously and raised his left hand, revealing a thick book that he had somehow produced.

"For example, this forbidden book that contains 103,000 magical spells."

"It's here! The ultimate cheat tool!"

Kubo Hideki immediately became excited: "It's that book! It can even summon the prototype demons corresponding to the Seven Deadly Sins! Everyone, please be careful!"

"Well!"

Meteora and Ceresia straightened up and became alert, preparing to welcome the army of familiars arriving from another dimension.

"Of course, there are still some concerns here."

The Sorrowful King did not immediately open the magic book, but instead pretended to be relaxed and said leisurely, "Not to mention that it will involve unimportant people, more importantly, it would be too boring if this war for the title of 'righteousness' ended so quickly."

You don't want to just leave like this, do you?

Ceresia and Meteora exchanged a glance and nodded.

However, Iori suddenly spoke up: "Are you finished?"

"Ok?"

"Is this all there is to it? Are you going to stop?"

"..."

Golden iridescent light flickered in the red pupils of the Sorrow King; this was a phenomenon that only occurred when he became serious and his magic power surged to a certain level.

Damn it—how am I supposed to continue like this?!

Is there really no escaping it after all, and all we can do is fight to the death?

"Hehehehe..."

However, at that very moment, a soft laugh broke the tense atmosphere.

"As for the final battle, it's too early now, Your Highness, the Sorrowful King."

Azure geometric shape unfolded in the void, and a silver-haired princess in military uniform emerged leisurely from the void, calmly looking down at the people on the ground.

After giving Iori a deep look, she shifted her gaze to the young, sorrowful king.

"Your Highness, we've already come this far, haven't we had enough fun yet?"

"What, are you trying to dissuade me?"

The boy was slightly taken aback, and a heartfelt joy rose in his heart, but his face remained calm and composed.

Then he laughed and said, "Without a suitable reason, even as my ally, you have no right to decide my actions."

"No, that's not it. It's not meant to obstruct Your Highness, it's just some suggestions."

The princess in military uniform smiled slightly: "If Your Highness goes all out, the entire city will probably become a battlefield, and the final battle will be about to begin."

But the actors haven't all arrived yet, and starting prematurely will only result in a regrettable drama.

Only when the time is right can the "created beings," including you—the main actors—perform a perfect finale.

—What a great step!

This woman is truly extraordinary.

"Does this 'leading role' include you, Your Highness?"

The Sorrowful King's smile faded, and he calmly said to her, "Don't try to fool me. Tell me your real reason. The King dislikes deception and prevarication."

Upon hearing this, the princess in military uniform narrowed her eyes slightly and fell silent.

Iori looked up at the silver-haired girl, a slow smile playing on her lips: "I can answer that question for you—Miss Altair."

"So, this name... was indeed found after all."

Although her real name was revealed, the princess in military uniform, Altair, did not seem particularly surprised.

Meteora and the others were the same. Before meeting Matsubara Takashi, Iori, who had come into contact with computers while researching, "accidentally" had a sudden idea and asked Kubo to try searching for information about the Princess in Military Uniform, which cleverly led her to discover those fan works.

Therefore, everyone now knows the real name "Altair" and no one feels anything is unusual; they just think they were lucky and gained the upper hand in the intelligence war.

After all, in this world connected by electronic networks, it would be almost impossible for Altair, a fan-made character who exists based on web pages, pictures, and videos, to hide his existence.

"You say you can answer for me? Ridiculous."

Altair scoffed, "Are you trying to say you know me very well?"

"Don't laugh yet, you can never be sure about these things."

Iori narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Altair with a half-smile.

The two of them talked back and forth, gradually attracting everyone's attention, and all kinds of information entered their brains in a very direct way.

"Although I don't know you, that doesn't stop me from solving the mystery."

Before this, I had contact with you more than once. Whether it was when the magical assassin Mamika traveled over, or when it was with Meteora and Ceresia, you were always shrouded in mystery, just like now, using a pretentious, cold smile to cover up your true thoughts.

I used to be quite puzzled by your motives and purposes. How could you single-handedly shake the foundations of the laws of the real world and bring characters from the fantasy world into reality? What benefits would you gain from doing this?

This question has always puzzled me, but now I think I understand it.

Junji remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she felt somewhat helpless.

She and Iori were both aware of these things, so there was no need to explain them again. But since they were acting, it was better to be professional.

"Have you found the answer?"

"If it's just about counterattacking the real world, you can simply select the villains from the world of your work and gather them together to form a rebel army."

But you didn't do that. Although you did find villains, you actually had more neutral and positive characters.

After you failed to win over Meteora and Ceresia, even though you had the power to destroy them, you still let them go and even allowed the characters to split into two camps.

Isn't that strange, Miss Junji?

"What's so strange about that? If you want to create a magnificent symphony, then a fierce accompaniment is necessary. The conflict between heroes will naturally produce the most breathtaking piece—"

"This is a lie!"

Iori interrupted Altair without any politeness, her voice turning cold.

"You're lying, Altair!"

You deliberately divided these people into two camps, making them fight each other to increase the conflict of worldviews and shake the foundation of this world.

You cannot shake the laws of the world by yourself, because you are not powerful enough—you are just a fan fiction character!

As far as fan fiction goes, you might be considered popular, but compared to Ceresia, who has already transmigrated, the Sorrowful King—

Compared to any other character, your "acknowledgment" is far from sufficient!

The concept of "acknowledgment power," created by Iori, caused Meteora's eyes to flicker, as if she had suddenly understood many things.

"what is that?"

Altair frowned. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

“On the day you first came to the real world, when you tried to win me over, you accidentally leaked important information, Miss Altair.”

Iori spoke of things that "only Altair and he" knew, and no one doubted him at all.

Of course, all of these things were carefully deduced by Iori based on Princess Military Uniform's own account after he subdued Altair.

Of course, this kind of thing can't be said so bluntly; it has to be a "fact that one has deduced" in order to convince Meteora and the others.

Iori is simply the intelligent and insightful person who inspires them.

"Although you didn't explain what the 'power of recognition' is, analyzing your previous actions in context... there's only one answer."

That's fame!

Due to certain limitations, you cannot summon characters with low profiles, and you yourself aren't exactly famous... you just have incredible abilities, but you're all bark and no bite.

Iori pointed at the silver-haired girl in the sky, her eyes calm but with a hint of coldness, and her tone extremely calm.

"You possess the ability to manipulate cause and effect, and as the 'hub' connecting all the characters and the real world, the more popular characters you summon, the more bonuses you can indirectly enjoy, and the more complete the various settings related to you, 'Altair,' will become... right?"

"It's a pity, you were just a little bit off from getting it right."

Altair scoffed, "You actually consider 'recognition power' as fame? How laughable... I won't be defeated by such a shallow man!"

"Sorrowful King, get out of the way!"

Seemingly shaken, Altair had forgotten to use honorifics.

"This man is my prey; you are not worthy to confront him!"

"what are you saying?"

The Sorrowful King was taken aback, and immediately revealed his aggressive side.

"Are you telling me to run away? I've never retreated before winning!"

"Is that so... Well, sorry then, you can continue."

Altair crossed his arms and gave him a cold look: "Excuse my intrusion, Your Majesty, but please begin your performance now, so that I may have a good look at your magnificent figure?"

"..."

The Sorrowful King slightly opened his mouth, then remained silent:

Damn it! I forgot, I was supposed to go down the steps!