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The sound of insects chirping—no, it was actually Ichinari’s deranged laughter—echoed around us. I wondered, why? But then I remembered. Ichinari had always been obsessed with strength. He probably saw becoming stronger through battle as his very identity.

In terms of pure strength, back when everything was normal, no one could defeat him.

And yet now, with his status buffs gone and his skills erased, all that remained was a regular high school boy. Calling him regular was a stretch, considering his hands were soaked in blood. If anything, he had killed more people than I have, so maybe I was the one more likely to return to being a regular high school boy.

Or maybe I would be a high school girl instead?

“Should we just leave him like that?”
“I think you’re mostly to blame for that, but I don’t see a problem with letting him be.”

Zygos looked at me, troubled, as Ichinari kept laughing uncontrollably—screaming, really—until his throat was about to burst. But I thought it was fine to leave him as is. After all, we were in the very heart of the Demon Tribe’s capital. The reason the Fraus’ Army kept winning, their heroes, had essentially been wiped out.

In this current state, the total annihilation of the Demons would likely be impossible, so there might still be surviving Demons. It would be best to leave Ichinari’s fate to them—he did kill their queen, after all.

Still, the world had pulled something outrageous this time. Creating an ability that destroyed its own rules—it was like the world was tearing itself apart. I guess that showed just how cornered it was… or maybe it had just given up and snapped.

Not that I even knew if the world had that level of awareness.

But still, if the world tried to kill itself, it was no wonder its lifespan had dramatically shortened. It chose vengeance over its survival. Like a certain someone we knew.

Doing things like that would only end up with you getting caught by some weird boss and used for their ends. Though God was pretty decent to work under, he mostly left me to my own devices.

“Well then, I suppose we can leave him be. It’s not like he can do anything now that his strength is gone.”
“Then would you mind leaving? Or are you planning to keep fighting until the world collapses? I doubt we’ll reach a conclusion even if that happens.”

At this point, it was just me punching and dodging. As I was now, I could keep fighting for ten years without losing precision. But bare-handed attacks would take years to defeat him, and by then, the world would be long gone.

“My sword will probably reach you before that happens.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
“And don’t forget—I’m the Demon Lord now. Don’t expect me to fight fair.”

Zygos shifted his gaze. Then, without pause, he lunged forward. His target was either Lullus or the princess. Earlier, I had wanted to make it clear that Lullus wouldn’t go down easily, but it seemed like he’d seen right through that.

Lullus probably wouldn’t survive even one more hit from Zygos. Even if that world-defying greatsword didn’t affect her, regular attacks still did damage. I’d say Lullus was just a bit weaker than Ichinari without his skills. In other words, Zygos was just stronger.

And since she was a spirit, she couldn’t die from normal wounds, which made things even trickier. That was why I sent her to rest with the pretense of being a bodyguard, but things just got tricky.

I could block Zygos’ regular attacks, but not the world-defying greatsword. That would erase my status and skills. My plan now was to get between Lullus and the blows, deflect the attacks from the normal swords, and dodge the ones from the overpowered one. That was easier said than done, though.

But I had to try.

Lullus had helped me in more ways than I could count. If she hadn’t blocked that first strike, I’d have been cut down already. I had insurance, at least. I didn’t know what would come next. I didn’t want to be turned into a god.

“This is a bit out of plan, but I’m counting on you,” God spoke to me.
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for everything up to now. We’ll talk later.”

After that exchange with God, I rushed in to intercept Zygos’ attack. He grinned when he saw me. He didn’t say anything, but if he had, it probably would’ve been something like, “I knew you’d come.”

Lullus looked shocked. She shot me a glare that seemed to ask, “Why did you come?”

When I stepped in between, she tried to push me out of the way—but I wasn’t so weak that someone like her could push me aside. Now, if it were Zygos doing the pushing, that might’ve been different.

With those thoughts, I blocked his first strike aimed at Lullus. It turned out the regular sword was just a regular sword—it shattered easily.

Then came the second blow. I was impressed by how he could move like that from such a position, but I figured I could dodge it easily by using the Hero skills. That’s what I thought—until I realized the second blow was aimed directly at Princess Topersion.

(Damn… He’s way too damn shrewd! Do I have to take this one?)

Zygos had this smug smile like he was thinking, “Gotcha.”

What a villain.

(Fine, fine. I’ll give you the win.)

My job had finished the moment I sent the Spirit of Water. Everything after that was just bonus content.

I stepped in front of the greatsword again. As a last-ditch effort, I tried to block it with a sturdy shield—but the sword sliced through it like tofu. Or maybe like konjac?

Not that it made any difference. The momentum didn’t slow, and the wrath of the world tore through me.