Sixth Match...
Lion Mask vs.
This was the match everyone had their eyes on.
Beside him, Milim was getting fired up, shouting words of encouragement at Lion Mask.
He could catch bits like "Win, or else you know what happens, right?"—but he had no idea what she was on about.
Some things were better left not knowing.
And then, the signal to start the match sounded.
Standing at the center, he surveyed his opponent.
The demon before him radiated Intimidation on an entirely different level from the others.
It wasn't that Demon Aura was leaking out or anything like that—his very atmosphere was abnormal.
But that defeat had opened his eyes to the fact that there were stronger beings above him.
Now, instead of the arrogant gaze of a warrior who considered himself supreme, he observed his opponent with the cool eyes of a seasoned fighter.
This guy was insanely dangerous.
*(Wait—hold on, hold on. What the—?! How is there a demon on par with a Demon Lord?!)*
The old him would've charged in without a second thought, thinking "doesn't matter, I'll smash 'em!"—and even if he lost, he'd have laughed it off.
But now, even though he'd entrusted his duties as King to Milim, he'd taken on the responsibility of being her shield.
He couldn't just lose and call it a day.
That resolve had driven him to reforge his body, and he now felt stronger than he had during his time as a Demon Lord.
More than anything, every single day he endured Milim's stress-fueled "roughhousing sessions"—her way of venting frustration—which meant he'd been dragged through hell on a daily basis.
It would've been stranger if he hadn't gotten stronger.
If he let his guard down, it wouldn't be a joke—he'd end up dead. The quickest path to survival was to toughen his body, plain and simple.
That was how he'd become more cautious and more powerful.
Yet even with all of that, Carrion's honed observation skills couldn't see the bottom of his opponent's abilities.
"Hey, Lion Mask! You know what's at stake, right?! You've got a mission in your next match—that doll over there needs to be turned into scrap metal! Don't you dare trip up here! As my underling, get your head in the game!"
He could've sworn those weren't exactly words of encouragement.
A single bead of sweat trailed down Carrion's forehead.
What would happen if he lost? He didn't even need to think about it. He could already feel a "retraining" program—aka hellish boot camp—waiting for him.
He'd only cleared Easy and Normal mode so far, and the summit beyond them—Hard mode—showed no sign of ending.
Rumor had it there was even a Hell mode, an ultimate program unreachable by any normal person.
Lose, and he'd absolutely be thrown into it.
No matter how insane his opponent was, he had to give it everything he had.
"Heh heh heh. You don't look well. But I'm afraid I can't hold back. I've gotten a bit serious myself this time—I'm participating in the hierarchy rankings, after all."
Tch. His opponent was looking confident, Carrion thought.
"I've got my own reasons for not being able to lose either. Sorry, but I'm going all out from the very start!"
He shot back.
Immediately after—
"Begin!"
A roar of fighting spirit so intense it shook the earth and sky.
The one who'd unleashed it was Carrion.
Baring the true nature of his beast-demon form, covered in silver-white bristling fur.
His opponent wasn't someone he could afford to conserve energy against—he'd aim for a quick, full-power showdown.
Kicking off the arena floor, he unleashed the battle aura channeled into his White Tiger Azure Dragon Halberd.
A massive crack ran through one of the stones paving the floor. The depth of that crack spoke volumes about the force of his step.
*I've got him!*
With that certainty, Carrion swung the halberd at Diablo's neck.
In less than a blink from the initial movement, he'd closed ten meters and delivered a killing blow.
The White Tiger Azure Dragon Halberd was a legendary-class weapon, its blade capable of cutting through any barrier.
Half-measure defensive barriers wouldn't withstand its power—they'd be useless.
That was the basis of Carrion's confidence. Dodging at this range and timing was clearly impossible now.
The key to victory was landing his killing blow before the opponent could gauge his true strength.
That was what Carrion believed.
"Beast Demon Converging Slash!!"
The spearhead shimmered and split into two, attacking from the opposite direction of the slash to seal off any escape. Diablo was caught in a pincer.
The fangs of the White Tiger. The jaws of the Azure Dragon.
These two manifested attacks were the true power of the White Tiger Azure Dragon Halberd.
Shatter the barrier and tear the opponent apart. Yes—the halberd's strike would sever their head.
A flawless movement. And perfect timing.
Carrion's lips curled into a confident grin, a testament to that certainty.
But in that very instant, Diablo's figure vanished without a trace.
*(Teleportation?!)*
His surprise nearly froze him for a moment, but Carrion recovered quickly, scanning his surroundings with magic perception.
High-ranking demons could wield teleportation-type magic. The fact that Diablo had done it without any incantation and in an instant was unexpected, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle.
Of all spatial abilities, teleportation consumed the most Magicules.
Creating a Gate and anchoring the space before moving was the safest and most efficient method, using the least Magicules.
But if, like Diablo just had, you teleported without even opening a Gate, the burden of moving yourself alone was more than ten times the normal load.
Those who could teleport without incantation were a mere handful of upper-class demon kin.
It wasn't a skill just anyone could use.
And what he'd just done was instantaneous teleportation—even above spatial displacement.
Spatial displacement might look instant to the average person, but to a master's eye, there was an infinitesimal time lag.
Instantaneous teleportation, true to its name, eliminated even that lag.
It was the pinnacle of teleportation abilities.
It wasn't something that could be spammed repeatedly.
The counter-strategy was simple: fortify his own defense and wait for the opponent to exhaust himself.
His own stamina would drain slower than his opponent's Magicules. There was no need to rush.
In fact, if Diablo had tried to escape via spatial displacement, he wouldn't have been able to avoid the Beast Demon Converging Slash.
*(Tch. Lucky bastard. If I hadn't opened with my killing blow from the start, he'd have just wasted my Magicules for nothing...)*
Even as he thought this, Carrion didn't let up his offensive.
He attacked again and again, trying to drain his opponent's reserves. Then, at just the right moment, he'd strike again when there was no escape.
Patience. Wait for the opening.
Diablo simply continued displacing himself, appearing and vanishing as if toying with Carrion.
*(But seriously, how much Magicules does this guy have? How many times has he teleported now?)*
The instantaneous teleportation had only happened once, but the number of spatial displacements was absurd.
Consecutive displacement without incantation should've been impossible even for a High-ranking Demon General.
He'd known the demon before him was abnormal, but Diablo was apparently a monster beyond even Carrion's imagination.
Still, Carrion felt no panic.
If we're talking monsters—he was dragged around by his own ridiculously unpredictable Master every single day.
Staying true to the basics, he searched for his opponent's presence, caught his reactions, and struck.
He simply repeated this cycle, biding his time for his chance.
Carrion's thinking was sound—it was the perfect strategy.
If only his opponent hadn't been Diablo.
"Heh heh heh. Analysis complete. I've gathered data on your physical capabilities. I'll now proceed with verification. It's a bit dangerous, so do be careful."
Diablo, who'd done nothing but displace himself until now, suddenly made that announcement.
Cold sweat trickled down Carrion's spine. His instincts were screaming danger.
A multitude of fireballs materialized around Diablo, who now hovered in the air.
Each one radiated terrifying heat—they likely held enough destructive power that Carrion couldn't afford to ignore them.
Carrion did have resistance to fire and ice, but there were limits.
He released his battle aura in all directions, erecting a barrier to shield against a direct hit from the fireballs.
The pressure was immense—it tried to crush both him and his barrier—but he succeeded in blocking every single one.
The scorching heat raged around him, but the barrier's reduction, combined with his natural resistance, offset the damage.
"My turn next—eat this! Beast Demon Particle Roar!!"
Maintaining his barrier and steadying himself, he converted his magic power into pure destructive force.
And then, timing it for the moment the opponent's attacks ended, Carrion fired off his most powerful killing move—a magic particle beam.
This time, he'd finish it!
As if answering Carrion's resolve, the golden glow of residual magicules scorched the surrounding air.
No more holding back. This was his full-power strike.
"Heh, heh heh heh. Splendid. I can see the brilliance of your soul! But you were too late to fire that attack. What a shame."
Diablo's voice echoed right beside his ear.
The world had frozen, as if time itself had stopped.
The light stretched upward and halted just short of its target—that is, just in front of Diablo.
*No way!* He thought, frantically trying to move away.
Then a sensation as though his body and mind were separating washed over him…
When he turned, he saw his own Physical Body, frozen in the posture of having just unleashed his ultimate Beast Demon Particle Roar.
"Wh—what's happening?!" Carrion blurted, unable to keep the panic from his voice.
Diablo spoke with clear amusement.
"Heh heh heh. My ability—'Temptation's Time.' In this world where time has stopped, only you and I—our consciousness alone—exist here. Normally, this world is used to create my servants. But your will is far too strong; there's no way I could tempt you. That's something you can be proud of. However, regrettably, your spirit is far too weak for that willpower. It's proof that you haven't trained your Mental Body. But rejoice—it means you still have room to grow stronger. As a courtesy, since you're Milim's retainer and the ally of my Master, Lord Rimuru—I'll tell you this for free. Use this defeat as fuel, and refine yourself further!"
Carrion couldn't fully grasp what had been explained to him, but dimly, he understood his defeat.
Directing his consciousness to this world and looking at Diablo once more, he was made acutely aware of the overwhelming gap in their existence values.
This world was something Diablo had manifested—and even without understanding it, his instincts knew it.
Faced with that overwhelming volume of information, there was little he could do.
In this world, he couldn't even mold his magic power.
"Damn it! I'll win next time!"
With his last ounce of willpower, he shouted a defiant retort.
Diablo's responding voice was:
"World Collapse."
Along with those words, the world began to crumble, and Carrion's consciousness was swept up in the collapse.
If Diablo hadn't rescued that last fragment of his soul, Carrion would surely have faced certain death even in the real world.
And too, the devastatingly powerful Beast Demon Particle Roar was engulfed by the world's collapse and vanished.
Its power in the real world would have dissipated as well.
This was Diablo's ability.
One who governed the life, death, and powers of others based on the strength or weakness of their spirit.
The power of his Unique Skill, "Tempter," exercised absolute authority within the manifested illusionary world.
And through "Reality/Illusion Reversal," he could swap reality with illusion.
The manifested illusion became reality in the physical world.
The only way to break this ability was simply to strengthen one's Mental Body.
The world regained its motion. Diablo, having nullified Carrion's Beast Demon Particle Roar within the illusionary world, was completely unscathed.
Carrion, on the other hand, had his spiritual damage converted into real damage and was covered in wounds.
"…I lost."
"Heh heh heh. A wise decision. If you'd continued, I'd have had no choice but to kill you."
With Carrion's defeat, the sixth match came to an end.
"Heh heh heh. Don't forget to train your spirit going forward."
"Unsolicited advice as always… Not that I need you to tell me…"
Carrion shot a quick glance toward the VIP seats in the spectator gallery.
There he saw his Master, glaring at him through gritted teeth.
*(Ah… yeah, she's definitely furious…)*
He felt like crying, but with the lion mask on, nobody noticed.
Beyond physical and spiritual training, what awaited him was likely training that would push him back and forth across the boundary between life and death.
The thought left him in dark spirits, and he began to wish he could redo the match.
---
Lion Mask's defeat meant Carrion lost.
Nah, I think he did pretty well, actually.
That final attack—that was really something.
If the Wisdom King hadn't explained it to me, I wouldn't have been able to understand what happened either.
Souka had put it down to "a little trick" of Diablo's and satisfied the audience with that, but honestly, she had real talent as a con artist.
Still, it was a good fight.
To the audience, it had looked like Lion Mask was overwhelmingly dominating.
Those who could understand had picked up on the fact that Diablo had used an absurdly unreasonable ability, but I doubt anyone actually grasped the details.
No one except us.
"What a joke. That demon actually beat Carrion. Their abilities weren't that different, but his Unique Skill was off the charts," Milim grumbled, clearly frustrated.
Just moments ago, she'd been getting teased relentlessly by
"That means
That single remark had sent Milim into a rage, and as punishment, poor Ramiris ended up rolled up like a silkworm in a cocoon, tumbling around on the ground.
Since it was woven from solidified and manifested magic power, Ramiris couldn't undo it herself.
Well, she'd brought it on herself.
Beretta was definitely superior, but Ramiris had pushed too far. She'd picked the wrong person to tease.
So, to avoid collateral damage, Veldora and I opted to stay out of it.
But the one to feel most sorry for was the one who'd just given it his all—Lion Mask.
Well, I hope he trains hard and makes this count going forward.