Goldma's secretary, Merhis, was stunned.
His mind could not yet keep up with the utter devastation unfolding before his eyes.
That was just how incomprehensible
As ordered by Principal Goldma, he had been monitoring Diablo from the surveillance room, but—
When he measured Diablo's Existence Value, the reading had been unmistakably 7,000.
*(Not as high as I expected. At this level, we should be able to handle him without issue.)*
Thinking that, he had reported as much to Goldma.
And the result was the catastrophe now playing out on the screen.
Merhis, who had been analyzing the situation, grasped what had happened even more clearly than Goldma.
And by the standards of Merhis's common sense, what had occurred was utterly impossible.
Their prized Magitech Execution Deity units — each one a super-class combat asset with a measured Existence Value of 15,000.
There had been thirteen of them.
An overwhelming force, far more than what should have been necessary against Diablo.
Merhis himself had been convinced of victory the moment Diablo fell into the trap.
And yet, all thirteen Magitech Execution Deities had been utterly destroyed by Diablo — a being with an Existence Value of a mere 7,000.
But Merhis was now in a full-blown panic over an even more shocking discovery.
Having watched the surveillance feed and analyzed the combat data, he had reached a conclusion: Diablo's Existence Value never fluctuated. It remained constant throughout.
A constant reading — this was not something that could be dismissed as merely abnormal. It was a fundamentally impossible phenomenon.
For example, even a single punch from a Magitech Execution Deity would carry energy far below 15,000.
Based on accumulated combat data, the output typically amounted to only about 0.2 percent of the total.
This was to be expected — the Existence Value represented the sum total of every ability.
Movement capability, reaction speed, attack power, defense, intelligence, mental fortitude, luck (an indeterminate factor) — the Existence Value was the aggregate of energy distributed across all these various elements.
The energy actually used in any given attack was naturally far lower. This was common knowledge, predating any formal research.
And yet.
Diablo's reading remained fixed at 7,000.
*(Impossible… How can such a thing be possible?! That's absurd! There's no way I can accept such a ridiculous notion!!)*
The terror of a researcher watching his foundational understanding crumble.
But the data laid out before him mercilessly proved the observation correct.
Against an opponent who could freely manipulate their existence energy to the maximum at all times, even a tenfold Existence Value advantage would mean nothing in combat.
Faced with this undeniable fact, it was only natural that Merhis would fall into a panic.
His composed researcher's mind had spiraled into utter chaos, but his instincts as a combatant remained cool and urgently urged him to flee.
Merhis accepted that judgment and immediately decided to retreat.
At this point, Merhis had already abandoned Goldma.
No — he had calculated that Goldma, as a sacrificial pawn, would keep Diablo's attention occupied long enough for him to escape.
Merhis sprang into action at once. Without waiting to witness Principal Goldma's fate, he began his escape from the academy.
That was why he failed to notice.
The demon with golden eyes and crimson irises, who — despite Merhis thinking he was the one doing the watching — had been watching him from the other side of the screen all along, wearing an evil grin.
The moment Merhis made an enemy of Diablo, his fate was sealed.
◇◇◇
Merhis fled with extreme caution, layering precaution upon precaution out of fear of pursuit.
Goldma had never been a respected superior to Merhis — merely a piece to be used.
He felt no regret in having abandoned him.
What mattered far more now was protecting himself and reaching safety.
He needed to share this intelligence with his comrades, and now that Magnus and his group had been located, he had to contact them as well, or things would go badly.
With all these concerns weighing on him, anxiety only mounted.
Yet Merhis managed to contain his urgency and act with care, because he was also a first-rate fighter.
He arrived at the Radical faction's secret hideout well into the night, after half a day that had aged him beyond recognition.
Those who came to meet him sensed something was wrong and rushed over, faces pale.
"Lord Merhis, what happened?"
"What on earth occurred?"
Merhis raised a hand to silence his questioning comrades and spoke.
"Principal Goldma has been captured by Diablo. If we're unlucky, he may already be dead. Following protocol, I prioritized information sharing over rescuing Comrade Goldma, and escaped."
He paused to catch his breath after saying this.
"What?!"
"Then Lord Goldma is already—"
"What exactly happened? What was the situation?"
The comrades erupted in clamor.
Just as Merhis was about to respond—
"Silence!"
A commanding voice cut through the room as someone stepped forward to take control.
Clad in white robes, they were the strongest fighting force the Humanity Liberation Alliance had to offer—
The Glorious Guardian Knights.
While some belonged to the Pacifist or Moderate factions, the Glorious Guardian Knights aligned with the Radical faction were the largest bloc. After all, the Demon Fusion Method — the technique for employing demons — had been developed through the research of Goldma and Merhis.
And Merhis himself was one such Guardian Knight, a host to a demon.
In a sense, Merhis was the very person who had forged the Glorious Guardian Knights and bestowed upon them demonic power.
"Lord Merhis, if you were with him, how did things end up like this?"
A knight addressed Merhis.
With the Glorious Guardian Knights present, the other comrades seemed to settle down somewhat and resolved to listen.
Merhis nodded and began to recount the day's events.
"Very well. I'll explain. But first, station two of you at the entrance. We need to be prepared for the worst."
Two knights obeyed and took positions near the entrance doors.
Reassured, Merhis began his account.
"Actually—"
Earlier that morning, he had received communication from Magnus and his group, who had gone missing.
According to a directive from Demon Lord Rimuru, Magnus and his group were supposed to be undergoing special training. Yet they had reported via magical communication that they had committed the atrocity of attacking students and teachers from another school.
In other words, Magnus and his group had not been aware that they were under Demon Lord Rimuru's surveillance during their special training.
Now that action had already been taken, there was no turning back.
Merhis had been trying to contact them to abandon not just their student identities, but the entire plan, and to flee immediately.
Right at that moment, Diablo's visit.
Either way, if students harboring comrades were discovered, the academy's management would be called into question.
Both the principal and his secretary Merhis would at minimum face dismissal.
If that was the case, they had reasoned it would be better to eliminate Diablo while he was off guard, before their hostile activities were exposed.
"That Diablo—"
"How incredibly reckless…"
Shocked voices leaked out.
Diablo's notoriety had spread so widely that he was regarded as a symbol of terror even greater than Demon Lord Rimuru himself.
"Yes, I can't deny it now. But when we measured his Existence Value, the reading was only 7,000. We thought that with the Magitech Execution Deity units hidden underground, we could deal with him easily…"
"Thirteen Magitech Execution Deities should never lose to someone with an Existence Value of 7,000—"
"Did the trap fail?"
"No, the trap worked perfectly. We cornered him in that 'Anti-Magic Space,' putting ourselves in a clear advantage. And yet we couldn't win."
"That's absurd—"
"We were utterly dominated. Diablo wasn't even scratched."
"————?!"
The group was rendered speechless.
The report was so far outside the realm of normalcy that understanding it felt almost impossible.
To break the heavy silence, Merhis tried to resume.
"Diablo's strength was indeed beyond expectations. The Pacifist faction is out of the question, but I can now understand why the Moderate faction opposed open confrontation. As for me, my face has been seen, but for those of you who haven't made contact yet, it's not too late. You could join the Moderate faction—"
"I'm afraid we can't allow that. You'll all be detained here."
Merhis's words were cut off by a cold voice.
"W-Who goes there?"
The one answering Merhis's demand was a man standing before the entrance doors.
Tanned skin and blue hair — it was
"Heh. You don't need to know who we are, but out of basic courtesy, I'll introduce myself. My name is Souei. I am one of Lord Rimuru's loyal servants."
As if responding to Merhis, Souei announced himself.
"Wh-What about the sentries—?"
Merhis looked around in a panic and found the sentries gagged and unconscious on the floor.
Without anyone in the room having noticed a thing. Silently.
*Damn it!* Merhis cursed internally.
Despite having been so meticulous about watching for pursuit, the fact that they had been tracked all the way to the hideout was a disgrace.
But the fact that the pursuer was not Diablo was, for Merhis, the lesser of two evils.
"Don't panic! The Glorious Guardian Knights — perform Demon Fusion! If we don't eliminate him now, we have no future!"
Spurred by his voice, the Guardian Knights sprang into action.
They summoned the demons dwelling within them, claiming that power as their own.
Surrounded by his allies, Merhis continued to reason with himself.
It wasn't too late yet.
The enemy was just one person.
And there were five Guardian Knights here.
If it were Diablo, one of the Demon Lord's Twelve Patrons, that would be one thing, but Souei was just some obscure demon they had never even heard of.
They could win! A single unknown demon was no match for them.
That was what Merhis thought.
No — that was what he tried to make himself believe.
He could never have imagined that the demon Souei standing before him was a being who stood alongside the Twelve Patrons.
Despite his instincts screaming the highest possible alarm, Merhis made the worst possible choice.
Namely — hostile action.
◇◇◇
The five Guardian Knights stood before Souei.
But they never made their move against him.
No — they couldn't.
"Wh-What's wrong? My body won't move!"
"What the hell is going on, damn it!"
"What's happening—?!"
The knights cried out in alarm as they noticed the change.
There was no answer, and Merhis couldn't keep up with the situation either, left only to stand in bewilderment.
The only one who understood everything in this room was Souei.
And Souei had done nothing.
There was no need to.
Because—
"Lord Souei, how shall we deal with these ones?"
A woman stood before Souei, having arrived without anyone noticing.
It was Soka, a beautiful Dragonewt.
"Don't let a single one escape."
"Understood!"
This hideout had already been completely surrounded by the intelligence division under Souei's command.
"Damn it!"
The Guardian Knights screamed.
But their cries faded into nothing.
For Soka and her people, knights who had barely surpassed A-Rank were utterly insignificant.
And then—
"Well then, we'll be taking our leave now—"
The Superior Demons that had been bound to the knights through Demon Fusion attempted to flee.
"Wait! You're going to ignore the contract?!"
The knights cried out in shock, but the demons scoffed.
"Fools! If we can't act freely, then our contracts with you are void!"
With that, they promptly fled.
Unlike spirits, demons were inherently selfish creatures. When a situation turned unfavorable, they would abandon their contracted masters without hesitation.
But this time, even the demons could not escape their fate.
"Did you think we'd let you get away? Lord Souei's orders were to let no one escape."
Soka's cold voice rang out.
"Wh-Impossible!"
By the time the Superior Demons realized what was happening, it was already too late.
The sealing magic circle had isolated the entire building.
"We don't need those demons. Kill them and let them reflect on their actions for a few hundred years."
"Ha!"
At Souei's command, the demons were eliminated.
Before they could utter a word, Soka and her subordinates reduced them to dust.
It was over in an instant.
The members of the Humanity Liberation Alliance lost all voice.
Some collapsed limply to the ground; others began to sob.
Having witnessed the Superior Demons annihilated without a moment's hesitation, they understood what awaited them.
And so did Merhis.
*(…It's over. Demon Lord Rimuru, and his subordinates — this is the extent of their power… Lord Magnus, I'm truly sorry—)*
A level of power far beyond his comprehension.
Like Goldma, he had finally realized too late that he had laid hands on an existence that should never have been touched.
And recognizing this came far too late — there was no path to salvation.
That fact was more than enough to break Merhis.
And so, the Radical faction was for the most part brought under Souei's control.
◆◆◆
"Kufufufu. Is it done, Souei?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you driving them out of their nest, they rejoined the group without any trouble."
"That's wonderful. We also captured one of the ringleaders on our end. I should mention, we're treating him properly — very much alive, so no need to worry."
"Hmph, sure."
Souei brushed off Diablo's words lightly.
In truth, he thought killing two or three of them would have been fine.
There was an unspoken rule that enemies showed no mercy, so he knew there would be no risk of displeasing Rimuru.
He hadn't told Diablo this simply because it would be troublesome.
If Diablo went on a rampage, there would be no stopping him, so it was safer not to start problems in the first place.
Above all, the role of restraining Diablo would inevitably fall to him, and he had no interest in that headache.
"He's still being eaten by the Magic Tree Insects, screaming with delight, you know."
Saying this, Diablo tossed down the log-like object he had been carrying.
It was Goldma — utterly transformed.
His entire body had been devoured by insects, and his breathing was faint.
But Goldma's misfortune went beyond mere appearance. The areas that had been eaten were gradually transforming into tree bark.
"Pl-Please help me. It hurts — my whole body hurts—"
In his wretched state, Goldma begged for mercy.
But Diablo did not answer his plea.
"—I say. He's alive, but it won't do if he goes mad."
At Souei's question, Diablo nodded as if to say *exactly*.
"Kufufufu. Rest assured. These Magic Tree Insects do not eat the brain. While consuming flesh, they secrete two types of fluids. The first induces a transformation of the host into tree matter. The second produces euphoric substances. This way, he feels both the pain and pleasure, yet his mind will never break. Besides, this fellow happened to have just the right thing."
Diablo pointed to a staff that was partially merging with Goldma's body.
It was the Heart-Protecting Staff — a Special-Grade Mage's Staff that Goldma had used fondly for many years.
Thanks to his prized equipment, Goldma's mind was protected. He would not be allowed even the mercy of going mad.
"I see. Well, he did blaspheme against Lord Rimuru, so he's getting what he deserves."
At Souei's words, Diablo nodded with satisfaction.
And then, in a rare display of warmth, Diablo patted Souei's shoulder amiably.
"As expected of Souei. You understand my tastes, and that makes me quite happy."
"—Well. It's not that I'm validating your tastes or anything…"
In stark contrast to the pleased Diablo, Souei wore a bitter expression.
But Diablo paid no mind. As though he had found a kindred spirit, he laughed merrily.
The two then left the rest to Soka and the others and set off toward their final destination.
Marudorando Island.
—To the place where their beloved Rimuru awaited.