A broad horizontal slash cracked against the side of my head.
The blade struck through as if splitting me apart, and the shockwave shattered my entire skull.
I resurrected in another undead body and immediately cast a spell from that spot.
It was a lightning strike laced with miasma.
She deflected it with her sword while closing in, driving a single thrust into my torso.
From there, she sliced upward, obliterating my upper body.
My vision scrambled wildly before returning to normal.
"..."
Switching to yet another body, I stood motionless, doing nothing.
Standing at a distance, she quietly turned to face me.
Her expression was utterly calm, showing no sign of the fierce battle.
The rain's intensity only increased, forming muddy patches in spots on the ground.
Yet, her movements showed not the slightest wavering.
She was refining her technique with the passage of time.
(What a pain.)
I had already been defeated dozens of times.
Overwhelmed by the sword she wielded, I had resurrected from an undead body each time.
Since becoming the Demon Lord, I had rarely used this ability.
Because, fundamentally, I never lost in combat.
Some powerful enemies possessed abilities that could obstruct resurrection.
Therefore, precisely when she was struggling the most, she was unable to revive.
This was the first time she had ever been destroyed so repeatedly, then.
It was, of course, not a pleasant sensation.
It was a feeling she wished to avoid as much as possible.
She lowered her sword and stated in a cold, clear tone:
"Your movements have become simplistic. Focus."
"..."
I stare at her.
Before I knew it, I was voicing the doubt in my heart.
"Hero... do you still intend to win?"
"What do you mean?"
"I am certainly at a disadvantage. However, I will never be annihilated. With this much of a substitute, I can also acquire more from elsewhere."
As things stood, she hadn't landed a single attack.
I, on the other hand, had been knocked down countless times.
Yet, the damage was virtually nil.
I was only slightly fatigued, and even that was within a tolerable range.
"In contrast, you are but a single human. Even the slightest wound could prove fatal. To achieve victory, you must cut down an immeasurable number of Demon Lords."
Though she possessed power beyond the ordinary, she was undeniably human.
She wielded supreme swordsmanship, and that was all.
To completely annihilate me, she would have to exterminate every last undead deployed across the entire world.
There were also Grom, Dolda, and the Director among them.
If there weren't enough, I could attack humans and turn them into new undead to bolster the numbers.
As a human, she would gradually grow weary.
And throughout all of that, she would need to keep winning against the most powerful demon lord.
Therefore, victory was absolutely impossible.
My advantage was nothing short of a foul.
It looked like a fair fight, but it truly wasn't.
Coward that I was, I had arranged a formation that guaranteed my victory.
It was not something any individual could oppose—this would be the same regardless of who stood there, even if it were her.
"I understand that this is a harrowing battle. That is precisely why I am standing here against you."
She declared it with finality, as though kicking my claim aside.
It was never bravado.
Her eyes, settled in justice, still held their brilliance.
She pointed the tip of her sword toward me.
"I am a hero. If a demon lord that commits evil reigns, then whether it be thousands or tens of thousands, I will keep cutting them down. If I did not have that resolve, I would never have shouldered such a mission."