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From Aigokeros’s, Pisces’s and Sagittarius’s bodies, power welled up in an explosive manner.

As their master, Ruphas, surpassed the limits, their levels were also pulled up in the process, allowing them to reach the height of level 1000 after breaking past the level 800 wall.

The difference in level was not something that could be shrugged off and ignored. As a matter of fact, the higher the number associated with the level, the more important the difference in level became.

For example, even if an individual’s level was to be double that of another person’s, if they were level 1 and level 2, then there was not a monumental difference between them.

Needless to say, even a difference in one level could not be looked upon lightly. However, there was still a not insignificant chance that the level 1 individual could end up winning against the level 2 individual.

But if the doubling of the numerical value described a level 10 and a level 20, then the difference between the two of them would not be overturned by normal means. Furthermore, if the doubling was describing a level 100 and a level 200, then the difference between the two of them would be definitive and conclusive.

Between the Twelve Stars and the Evil God, the level difference was 200. Even when compared to Libra, there was a level difference of 90.

There was a definitive difference in ability born out of those 200 levels. And after Aigokeros and the others had instantly covered the gap, the Evil God must have sensed the abnormality.

Even without exchanging words, it no doubt must have understood that.

Just now, the scale which was barely maintaining the balance fatally tipped in its enemy’s favour.

“Now then, let’s finish this, mutated one. Out of respect for your strength, I will show you all that I’ve got to give. Look carefully… at the real appearance of the Devil King Aigokeros!”

Removing the level restriction signified that the Twelve Stars would be able to display their original power that they were otherwise unable to show.

In the past, Aigokeros was called the Devil King of Helheim and was feared by others. Lifting his level restriction meant that he would be released from the shackles which were binding him.

The goat’s eyes shone red whilst his wings flattered about.

His real physical body – the body of the old gentleman, which had been at the feet of the illusion until this point disappeared and completely merged with the illusion that had been created by him.

That was not all. All the mana in the surroundings were gathering into one point with him as the centre.

It was the same as what Mercurius had done at Draupnir.

“Return to me! Power of darkness!”

The black mana that was being absorbed by Aigokeros caused the illusory body to materialise into a tangible one.

The lower body which had looked like a fish until this point changed into legs covered in hair. At the same time, the giant body which had had a height of approximately 100m became bigger and bigger, eventually surpassing 1km, yet even then, it continued to grow bigger.

The whole of Midgard was covered in darkness and lightning flashed about everywhere whilst the whole world trembled in fear due to the materialisation of the Devil King.

The Evil God was grasped by the Devil King’s hand all while the head of the goat pierced the clouds and reached the stratosphere.

If, at this time, someone were to look at Midgard from space, they would have doubted what they were seeing.

That was because they would have seen something sprouting out of Midgard – a gigantic devil goat the size of a planet.

Image from Light Novel Volume 7

“Goodbye, mutated one. If it’s you, you may be able to survive after receiving my next attack… but you will never be able to come back to this planet. This world is the possession of my master… Having said that, you are also someone who has the makings of a king. As someone who is also a devil, this Aigokeros shall recognise and concede that fact more than anyone else.”

Aigokeros by no means disliked the Mutant God.

If anything, Aigokeros felt that… the Evil God was the one and only comrade of his in this world.

The Evil God was not something that was phony or counterfeit like the demon race. It was a true devil. How could Aigokeros hate something or someone like that?

If Ruphas Mafahl had not existed, he would not have minded dividing the world and sharing half of it with it.

He had honestly thought of and recognised his enemy as such. However, this world already had a Black-winged King. The rightful king who would rule over the world already existed.

As was the case, there was no longer any room for this Mutant God to linger around. There was no longer any room for Aigokeros to allow it to continue existing.

After all, there could only ever be one rightful king.

And… there could only ever be one devil who could serve that one rightful king. That was himself, Aigokeros.

“If you manage to stay alive, your attempt to reign supreme should be done in some other world’s land.”

Aigokeros flung his arm, throwing the Evil God into empty space.

At the same time, as a last-ditch effort, the Evil God also activated a special skill.

When it did, with the Evil God as the centre, the world around it was rapidly rewritten. Midgard, which should have been under the rules and limitations put in place by the Goddess, was repainted with alien laws.

What it changed to was a dream that he had been seeing. The reality was repainted with his dream, attempting to invert everyone’s madness and sanity.

The laws governing the maximum damage were negated. Even the laws which governed the maximum level one could reach were negated.

The Evil God created a world which was not bound by the Goddess’s laws, resulting in a place where he was not restrained, a place where he would be able to exhibit his true ability.

But – it was just a bit too late to show his hand. Aigokeros was not as easygoing as to wait for the Evil God’s erosions to complete.

Not only that, as the erosion had implicated even Aigokeros, the constraint on Aigokeros’s level was nullified, allowing him to surpass the maximum level of 1000 and reach 1350.

Aigokeros, who had gained an increase in power after surpassing the limits, opened his mouth and started gathering an astronomical amount of mana.

Seeing this, the Evil God attempted to dodge it. However, he was caught and held in place by Pisces’s fangs who had turned his body into an ouroboros form.

Just like that, the Evil God was flung around using raw physical might and was finally launched away.

“– Disappear!”

A destructive ray was fired from Aigokeros’s mouth. This destructive ray was a perfect coalescence of the brightness of a star and endless and eerie darkness.

A bright dark light, a term all too contradictory within itself, directly hit the Evil God and in a single moment, blew its body to the far end of the void in an instant.

There was no technique that the Evil God could use to avoid the attack. It was simply impossible for the Evil God to escape from the extremely powerful attack that Aigokeros had used.

To top things off, an arrow imbued with the skill [Alnasl], which ignored the distance between the user and target to absolutely hit the target was added to the mix. As a result, the two rays spiralled around each other to create a helix, strengthening and reinforcing each other, sending the Evil God far, far away.

And although this was a story from the future… from a few years later, or perhaps a few dozen years, or even a few hundred years into the future… this ray of light continued to carry the Evil God without disappearing across a few light-years’ worth of distance, or perhaps a few dozen light-years’ worth of distance, or even a few hundred light-years’ worth of distance.

Past the star, past the star system, past the galaxy and eventually, passing even the galaxy group. Just as literally as it was written, the Evil God was being sent out of the world that they were in.

As for where he might end up at the end or what might end up happening to the Evil God, Aigokeros did not know.

Perhaps at the end of it all, the Evil God might reach a place where it might be worshipped as an Outer God. Perhaps it would end up on a planet devoid of any living creatures and gain peace on that land.

Whichever the outcome, Aigokeros and the others were only sure of one thing.

And it was that it was not an entity which would die from something of this degree. Just that.

Even going into the future, the Evil God would continue to live and survive somewhere out in space just like themselves.

And that… they would never cross paths with each other ever again. With that conviction in mind, Aigokeros felt it to be all too unfortunate.

Eventually, Aigokeros dispersed the mana and returned to his usual size. At this time, Pisces came up to Aigokeros whilst cold sweating and spoke up.

“Hmm… I guess it’s to be expected of the Devil King of Helheim. The only one amongst the Twelve Stars to be regarded as dangerous by Ruphas-sama and tamed for the purpose of sealing you.”

Aigokeros was different from the other Twelve Stars.

Although it had previously been stated, due to his cruel disposition, he alone was regarded as dangerous by Ruphas. As a consequence, he was tamed by Ruphas so that he could be placed under her supervision.

It was because Ruphas had concluded that, had he been left alone, he would become a terror to the humanoids of a magnitude higher than that of the demons.

Furthermore, to have him serve under her meant that the great devil known as Aigokeros would be shackled under a level restriction such that his true abilities would be placed under a seal.

Not even that Lion King Leon could secure this much of a sense of danger out of Ruphas.

The strongest individual amongst the Twelve Stars was Leon. There would be no one who would raise an objection to that statement.

However, the most sinister and atrocious out of the Twelve Stars was, without a doubt, the Devil King Aigokeros.

In addition, the birth of the great devil was something not even the Goddess had predicted would happen. He was a monster which was naturally born outside of the Goddess’s scenario.

That was why Aigokeros called himself a true devil. That was why he worshipped and respected Ruphas who was similarly operating outside of the Goddess’s scenario, yet possessed power far greater than himself.

Had that not been the case, it was a possibility that, by this time, this great devil would have enveloped Midgard in darkness and deprivation.

“Even though you have that much power, you’re content to be under a seal and not attempt to reign supreme yourself… I can’t believe someone like that really exists.”

“There is only ever one true king. Our Black-winged Supreme Ruler, and she alone. If she so requires, I will gladly subject myself to death or be placed under a seal. That is my loyalty.”

“How humble.”

Pisces sneered, then noticed that he was feeling a sense of relief within himself.

This late in time, he was feeling fortunate that this devil was not egocentric like Leon.

The very fact that this demon had been spellbound by Ruphas…was perhaps the greatest fortune Midgard had encountered.

Ordinarily, he acted like a man with a few screws loose in his head. Nevertheless, the occasional display of his true nature as a devil made Pisces shiver.

“Either way, this time, the problem has been solved. Eros, I assume you will come with us now?”

“Well, first I need to pass my position over. After that, I’ll accompany you guys. Also, don’t call me Eros.”

“Alright, best regards from now on, Eros.”

“I said don’t call me Eros!”

“We’ll count on you, Pisces.”

“Shut up, transforming horse. Die!”

“!?”

On the way back to the palace, Pisces loosened his lips whilst making sure Libra and the rest could not see him smile.

Even after 200 years of time, they were still the same old bunch of weirdos that he remembered. However, he was strangely happy about that.

Whilst he would never tell them this, he actually really enjoyed having those back-and-forth exchanges.

Notwithstanding that, it was his honest desire that they would call him Pisces.

*

“It seems Libra and the others safely managed to meet with Pisces.”

After opening the letter, I rested my back on the ship’s pillar.

There were two messages. One of them had just arrived a few dozens of seconds ago with the request to activate Alkaid.

Apparently, there was a troublesome enemy that even they were struggling against. As a result, they requested the activation of Alkaid so that their limiters would be removed.

Honestly speaking, this request had surprised me. After all, I had not expected for a moment that there would be a monster at a calibre that even the combination of Libra, Aigokeros, Sagittarius and Pisces would still struggle against.

The second letter was there to let me know that the monster had been ejected out into space and that Pisces had been retrieved.

Although in regard to that, I knew about it even without receiving the letter.

After all, I was able to see Aigokeros’s giant form even from where I was. …… Or rather… in all likelihood, he could be seen by everyone regardless of where they were.

Anyhow, I wondered if Aigokeros had actually possessed such a skill before. He got so big that it was like a joke at this point.

Perhaps he could destroy a planet without even breaking past the level restriction?

“That was pretty impressive, eh. I previously called him a pet and made him out to be a fool, but if it’s that guy, even I might be in danger.”

“Stop being modest, Benet. If it’s a direct confrontation, you’d almost certainly win.”

I sneered in response to Benet saying that she might end up losing against him even though she did not truly think so in her heart.

Indeed, Aigokeros in that state could even make me feel a sense of threat, notwithstanding, Benet was still superior to him.

If it came down to a punching contest, that large body of Aigokeros would only work against him as Benet would be able to rapidly and continuously punch him at her will. Eventually, he would be blown to pieces by The Maiden Who Fires The Silver Arrow.

Or rather, Benet was so strong that it was not even funny.

But really, what happened was such a waste. Although I only saw it for the briefest moment of time, the weird and grotesque monster which was sent flying by Aigokeros was level 1000.

Its HP was 2.8 million, meaning it was higher than that of Leon’s. Whilst it would be weakened if I tamed it, given how strong it was, I wanted to have it under my control.

It would have served as a good durable wall.

Oh, I supposed in that case, Karkinos would lose his standing.

“By the way, where do you plan to go next?”

After being prompted by Benet, I closed my eyes and considered what to do for a moment.

At this moment in time, we were pursuing Dina who had gone missing. However, even at this point, we had yet to ascertain her whereabouts.

We had tried checking places that she might have gone to, such as Mafahl Tower, but we were unable to find even a single clue.

With how things were developing, our only option was to go to a location which was slightly dangerous.

For example… exactly. For example, like the Demon King’s place.

I opened my eyes, made my decision, then voiced that out loud.

“… Let’s go to the demon race’s castle.”

“Mmm.”

Benet reacted to my words by smiling and baring her fangs.

In all likelihood, the one who was most familiar with Dina was the Demon King.

The reason was because he was aware of Dina’s spy activities… In other words, he had acquiesced in regard to her identity as Venus.

Of course, it might very well have been possible that he had simply not noticed anything whatsoever. However, given his position as the ruler of the demon race, that would have been far too negligent on his part.

Furthermore, I felt that he was in possession of information that I was still unaware of.

It did not seem like a bad idea for us to speak to each other once, candidly.

In the worst-case scenario that things got dangerous, it would all be fine if I ran away.

“Interesting. You mean to settle things with them after 200 years of time.”

“Well, it all depends on how the other party responds. I don’t really have the intention to rile things up from my side.”

Naturally, since it was called the demon race’s castle, there was probably bound to be a lot of demons and magical beasts.

But honestly speaking, the number of enemies did not really matter.

Even if there were tens of thousands… no, even if there were hundreds of millions of enemies, it was all meaningless against me.

Indeed, under the theory of war, the amount of available resources was a factor which could directly determine the outcome of war.

Nevertheless, I was well beyond the level where such things mattered.

However many enemies were gathered, what was impossible would remain impossible.

As an extreme analogy, it was something like telling a person that there was a nuclear missile coming their way and to gather tens of thousands of unarmed ordinary humans and order them to do something about it. In the end, it would simply be impossible.

Well, against the small fries, if I casually intimidated them with Coercion, the problem would be solved.

“Alter the course. The new destination, the Dark Continent… Head to the Demon King’s castle.”

When I relayed my order, the Argonautai started moving without me having to put in any additional hassle, and changed the course of the journey.

Now then, will an oni or a snake come out? Will we draw good luck or bad luck?

As for what’s to come? Well, I suppose, we can only go with the flow.