Even among the magical beasts of the monster legion, there were some that excelled in aerial combat.
However, that only held true when they had solid footing.
Magical beasts with limited sustained flight capability were at a disadvantage in aerial combat over the open sea. After all, their landing spots were easy to predict, and once they were targeted, it was game over.
And yet, the 7,700 rampaging magical beasts and 4,500 beastmen, reduced to mindless berserkers, all turned their faces upward toward the sky in unison.
They could no longer recognize their former comrades as allies, attacking each other indiscriminately—yet still— They had been thrown onto the upper decks of 200 airships, but those upper decks could hardly be called spacious.
They weren't exactly cramped, but there was precious little room to move freely.
That was precisely why, driven by instinct, they had begun to display their power.
—And now, they all gazed up at the sky at the same time.
The reason was simple and unmistakable.
They had sensed a "threat" approaching—one that stimulated their most primal instincts, awakening a deep-seated terror rooted in their very cores.
She had witnessed these fools rampaging on an airship she intended to present as a gift to Demon Lord Rimuru.
And she was fed up with the magical beasts hurtling toward her as if she were their target.
(Oh my? How unpleasant. I need to clean them up quickly, or this place will get filthy.
Besides… for creatures that are supposed to be beasts, mistaking the strong for the weak is truly foolish.
Though I suppose—if they've gone mad, there may be no helping it.
Very well, then. Allow me to bestow upon you a blessing of mercy!)
Having made up her mind, she unleashed the "Blessing of Death" without a shred of hesitation toward the cluster of airships.
A perfect sphere formed encompassing every airship within range, scattering death throughout its interior.
The "Death Ray," which affected even the ocean below the surface, annihilated virtually every living organism.
"All at once, just like that? It seems we won't even get a turn,"
"You're still not ready yet. Sensing carefully… there seem to be survivors, you know?"
She said this, mocking Venom's lack of experience.
Testarossa's Magic Sense had indeed detected the presence of survivors.
Magical beasts possessed both magical and beastly traits, with their Physical Body being a significant limiting factor. In other words, they could not withstand the "Blessing of Death."
Even when magical beast powers were incorporated using humans as a base, it ultimately still depended on the Physical Body, which would disintegrate under the "Death Ray."
Therefore, the only beings capable of surviving this spell were those fully attuned to magic or spiritual life-forms.
Or perhaps, beings like Sages who had achieved complete control over their bodies.
Regardless, only those who had surpassed a certain threshold could endure it.
"Survivors, I see. Well, it looks like we'll have some fun after all."
Venom narrowed his eyes and let a thin smile cross his face, then ordered his subordinates into combat formation.
The Beast King
While he had been organizing his forces, his subordinates had suddenly begun to collapse, coughing blood.
Only about 100 had survived.
These were none other than his closest aides who had fought alongside him for over a decade—his most trusted officers, handpicked from the start.
Even those among them who had successfully evolved into Beast Knights this time were lacking in power because they hadn't absorbed enough magical beasts.
Having only recently acquired the Unique Skill "Body Manipulation," they failed to master it and perished.
If even Beast Knights could die from this, it went without saying what had happened to the rest.
Rage, frustration, and terror.
These emotions warred within Gradim's heart.
A single spell had wiped out a massive fighting force.
A spell of incomparable power that activated as though magical defenses meant nothing at all.
To be fair, there had been a lapse—the higher-ranked mages had already been transferred to the airships above, leaving the defensive barriers of the 200 ships floating on the sea surface understaffed.
In other words, it was Gradim's own fault.
He should have anticipated that the enemy would deploy large-scale offensive magic if they were high-ranking demons.
Either way, being hit by a spell of this magnitude had certainly been beyond expectations, and yet the number of survivors should have increased.
"You won't get away with this, you demons!!"
The Beast King Gradim roared, imbuing his body—clothed in Mythical-grade armor—with the power of magical beasts.
Unlike the beastmen race, this power granted no unified enhancement but rather a brute-force amplification specialized entirely for combat, transforming Gradim's body.
Responding to his roar, his 100 Beast Knight subordinates each unleashed their own power as well.
They then opened the upper hatch of the flagship and danced out onto the upper deck.
Here, the demons and the Beast King stood opposed.
Looking down from above was the "Slaughter King" Testarossa, while standing on the upper deck, meeting her gaze head-on, was the "Beast King" Gradim.
Behind Testarossa stood 100 Demon Knights, and facing them were Gradim's 100 Beast Knights.
Forces that appeared evenly matched waited for the moment to settle the score.
"Rejoice, Venom! It's your turn. I'll be taking that one who looks… delicious.
Your subordinates seem to get one each as well—like a nice portion of food.
As for you—kill anyone who tries to flee this airspace.
And as for the rest… let me see. You should keep watch to make sure no one is killed, in accordance with Lord Rimuru's orders."
"Those are my former comrades we're talking about? There's no way any of them would be stupid enough to—"
(He's right, he's right!)
The Demon Knights wanted to agree with Venom's words, but they were too terrified of Testarossa to say anything above a whisper.
Testarossa silenced these dimwits with a single withering glare, then narrowed her eyes.
"Shut up, you fools! If even one of you is killed by them, I'll kill you all myself. Understood? Now—scatter!"
Leaving Venom behind with a look that said "Wait, what about me?", Testarossa's Demon Knights all moved into action at once.
And so did Testarossa and Gradim.
Shifting their battleground to the upper deck of a single ship, they naturally came face to face.
"Commander of the Imperial Army's Monster Legion, the 'Beast King' Gradim!"
"I am the loyal servant of Demon Lord Rimuru, the 'Slaughter King' Testarossa."
Testarossa returned an elegant greeting in response to Gradim's warrior's salute.
And with that, the battle began, resolved in a single instant.
"Die, you filthy demon!! Ultimate Skill, 'Avatar' activate! Devour this—the fury of the Beast King!! Beast King—"
"You're noisy. And your speech is far too long."
Testarossa's Black Greatsword cleaved through Gradim's torso, cutting through his shimmering Mythical-grade armor without offering the slightest resistance.
A sword of death, condensed from the black flames that served as the key to activating the "Blessing of Death."
Infused with the death-conferencing effect of the Ultimate Skill "King of the Dead" that Testarossa had gained upon her awakening, it delivered an absolute instant-kill effect.
—The Ultimate Skill "King of the Dead" governed "life and death," similar in nature to Luminous's ability. However, it was specialized far more heavily toward "death." In terms of hierarchical rank, it fell below Luminous's Ultimate Skill "King of Lust," but when considering combat utility alone, it possessed performance that was by no means inferior— Even if Gradim had somehow survived a fatal wound, Testarossa had not been taking this seriously at all.
She had merely swung her sword to silence him, and as a result, it had happened to deal lethal damage…
Either way, for the Beast King Gradim, this time his opponent had simply been too much.
Had this been before Testarossa's evolution into an Awakened Demon Lord, the fight might have gone slightly better—but the awakened Testarossa was among the upper echelon of the strongest even within the Jura Tempest Federation.
Against this ever-vigilant, crimson-haired demon, he had no recourse.
"Gu… ha… imp… impossible… you're… too strong. But my subordinates… will… you…"
Those were Gradim's final words, strained with his last shred of willpower, but his hope had already been shattered.
Not a single one of his forces had been able to defeat the Demon Knights. They had all been utterly defeated.
It had been a reasonably entertaining fight, but the result had only served to give the demons more combat experience.
"No… no way. Your… Your Majesty, I'm sorry…"
That was the pathetic end of the Beast King Gradim, who had been among the Empire's highest-ranking commanders.
Thus, the Monster Legion was annihilated, wiped from the face of the world.
With a single glance, Testarossa confirmed with Magic Sense that no life signs remained, then took flight from the ship.
Thinking it probably wasn't necessary, she headed to provide backup to the others nonetheless.
Following Testarossa, the Demon Knights trailed behind.
"Ahhh… I knew it. I really didn't get my turn…"
Venom muttered to himself, but there was no one around to listen.
………
……
…
After Testarossa and her forces had departed, a man walked out from inside the flagship.
He scanned the sky, confirmed that no demons were present, and then— "My, my. Even I can't beat those monsters just yet.
But this works out perfectly. Gradim—the one I was planning to kill—seems to have been dealt with. Guess I'll help myself."
With that, he fell upon Gradim's bisected corpse and began to devour it ravenously.
The man ate and ate, continuing without pause.
It was visible—power flowing into his body, his strength surging dramatically.
"Hmm. Not bad. But still not nearly enough.
I suppose I'll lie low for now…"
Murmuring this, he picked up Gradim's torn Mythical-grade armor and channeled his power into it.
The armor flickered as though acknowledging its new master, restoring itself to pristine condition as though freshly forged.
The man donned the armor with a matter-of-fact expression.
It covered his entire body completely, and with his face hidden behind the helmet's visor, his identity became impossible to discern.
With a nod, the man departed, heading toward the teleportation magic circle inside the flagship.
—————
Either way, there was some pesky garbage that needed to be taken out.
They wanted to quickly dispose of the trash so they wouldn't miss Demon Lord Rimuru's exploits—venting the frustration of being unable to witness their beloved master's performance firsthand.
Looking at the situation, each airship was equipped with magical defenses.
Multiple layers of barriers had been established, making it unlikely that even a core-piercing spell would get through.
If they used a concentrated spell like the one Diablo had demonstrated earlier, breaking through part of the barriers might be possible, but…
What a hassle—that was the shared sentiment between Ultima and Carrera.
Well, the bulk of the enemy's fighting strength appeared to be concentrated in the flagship carrying the Emperor.
In that case, they just needed to strike there first.
There were seven Demon Lords in total, forming seven pillars.
Venom, Count-class, serving as Diablo's adjutant.
Agira, Viscount-class, and
Each possessed immense power, beings worthy of being called kings of the Netherworld.
And yet, their differing noble ranks reflected differing levels of strength.
Since the supreme directive of this military operation was to not lose a single comrade, not a shred of carelessness was permissible.
Therefore— "Zonda. You go and eliminate everything besides the flagship.
If possible, link up with Moss and provide support!
I can't sense any particularly strong presences, but don't let your guard down, okay?"
"Understood, Ultima. I, Zonda, shall promptly carry out the order."
Ultima issued the annihilation order to Zonda.
600 high-ranking demons had been deployed in the surrounding area, erecting barriers to prevent any escapees.
As such, fleeing this battle airspace would be difficult.
She also wanted to quickly crush the enemy and then go watch their master's exploits, just as Diablo had done.
Though she was slightly worried about Zonda, she prioritized her own interests.
That was Ultima.
Having set the mopping-up operation in motion, the two of them infiltrated the upper deck of the flagship where the Emperor was located.
And there, the two sides faced each other.
The "Tyrant King" Ultima and the "Calamity King" Carrera.
Alongside Veyron on one side, and Agira and Esprit on the other.
On the Imperial side stood Emperor Rudra.
And at the forefront, the Imperial Emperor's Guard Knights—ten of the Strongest Knights, designated No.01 through No.10, led by Lieutenant Kondou.
A decisive battle was about to begin.
Emperor Rudra was protected by a domain of absolute defense.
This defense was absolute, indestructible regardless of how many opponents attacked.
However, there was a condition.
It required the loyalty of those nearby to serve as energy for the Emperor, meaning the Emperor needed to have faithful subordinates in the vicinity.
And there was one more constraint.
Though this defense was a perfect, always-active ability, the restriction was that the Emperor could not take any offensive action whatsoever while it was active.
This ability was none other than the "Royal Palace Walls" of the Ultimate Skill "King of Justice."
It was a confirmed fact that Gi had not targeted the Emperor directly in part because of this ability.
Though, admittedly, that had also been one of the reasons the system had become a mere formality over the past thousand-plus years…
The Emperor would not move.
The moment he took offensive action, it meant his absolute defense would vanish.
"You insects… daring to obstruct the realization of my ideal!
Guard Knights—eliminate these offensive, lowly insects!"
The Emperor issued his decree.
"At once, Your Majesty!"
The Emperor's loyal knights promptly began carrying out the order.
In response— "Hey, Carrera. When he says 'insects,' could he possibly mean… us?"
"Ahaha. Don't be ridiculous. If that were the case, then…"
Carrera laughed off Ultima's question.
But her eyes were not laughing.
They brimmed with a dangerous light, threatening to erupt at any moment.
"It's the Emperor's command. Let's dispose of these nuisances quickly."
Those words pulled the trigger.
"You're all dead!!"
"Calling us insects?! How dare you, you pathetic humans!! I'll kill you—shatter your very souls!!"
Ultima flew into a rage.
Carrera, calm but resolute in her decision to grant the enemy no mercy.
If granting a painless death was mercy, then killing them while letting them suffer was her version of leniency.
Either way, the end result was death, but for them, the difference mattered.
Even the demons following them were struck with fear and trembling at the overwhelming aura.
"A-Agira… aren't we in trouble too at this point?"
"Accept your fate.
More importantly, having insulted our master as well, we must deliver the punishment befitting such disrespect!"
"Whoa! You're totally losing it!"
Esprit sighed as she noticed that Agira—who normally tried to be the voice of reason—was seething with fury.
Once it reached this point, there was no stopping them.
The correct course of action was to accept it and fight at full power.
Veyron watched the exchange between the two Viscount-class demons and thought to himself, They've got it easy, as he inwardly lamented.
You absolutely must not anger one's superiors among the Demon Lords.
(Those foolish humans. The price for your foolishness will be your deaths!)
Veyron knew all too well how terrifying their superiors were.
And, just as Veyron had predicted, the two Demon Lords were about to unleash their fearsome demonic abilities.