What, They're Almost All Dead

"Huh. They're pretty much all dead."

"You think they failed?"

"The duke's still alive, though. So the one standing over there must be the Demon King."

"He looks awfully ordinary for a Demon King."

"The duke and the other demons aren't exactly strange-looking either. Becoming the Demon King probably doesn't make a demon's appearance change all of a sudden."

Yujun and Do Jiyun went on talking as if the horrific scene spread out before them didn't bother them in the least.

Duke Jonas stared at them, eyes wide with shock.

"How did you get here?"

"How? We were on the same side. You're the one who stabbed us in the back."

Yujun said it with a sneer.

Jonas looked less angry than thoroughly bewildered.

"Why didn't you think to get out of the Demon King's Castle? You must have realized how dangerous your situation was."

"The man who drove us into that crisis is asking me that? You've got no shame."

"…You seem thoroughly angry."

"Of course I'm angry. Wouldn't you be?"

In truth, he wasn't angry at all. Jonas was simply galling enough that Yujun felt like needling him.

"Things don't look very good for you. Will you be all right?"

"…Help, you mean. I… I do need it. Shameful as that is."

"And what makes you trust us? We could lose our tempers and attack you right now."

"You would not. Our goals are the same, are they not?"

"We can take the Demon King ourselves."

"Your confidence is remarkable, but I cannot praise it. Look at the corpses strewn everywhere. Against a monster that savage, what could the four of you possibly do?"

"That's for us to handle… is what I was going to say. We don't have to get along, but how about we join forces for a little while?"

Duke Jonas was not someone to take lightly. An ordinary duke's power was said not to differ greatly from a Demon King's, so having Jonas with them would be a considerable asset.

No telling how strong the Demon King really is. Better to be certain.

The faces of Duke Jonas and the noble demons brightened visibly. Yujun offered a faint smile. There was something oddly amusing about the way they rose and fell with every word he spoke.

That was when Demon King Tolkai spoke, eyes flaring wide.

"You. Over there. Are you not a pureblood witch?"

Singled out by the Demon King, Manuela flinched.

"M-me? You're talking about me?!"

She was wound so tight that even her voice shook.

"Yes, you. The witch I placed a bounty on."

"…No! I'm not a witch!"

"I remember the scent that clings to you. Denying it will do you no good."

"Urk."

Manuela turned wide, round eyes on Yujun.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"What do I do?"

"If he knows, he knows. It's not like you committed a crime. No—actually, you did."

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Don't chicken out. Kill the Demon King and the bounty comes off. Right, Jonas?"

"Yes. Should I ascend to the Demon King's throne, I will see that the bounty on that witch is lifted at once."

Jonas said as much, but he did not believe they could actually kill the Demon King. An undead was an undead, however strong. Freedom from death came with limits of its own, which was precisely why none of the absolute powers were undead. Worse still, the Demon King possessed an immunity to magic. Not even the spells of that formidable Lich Lord would work on him.

Even so, I cannot simply give up.

A sliver of hope. If it was a pureblood witch and not the Lich Lord, she might yet be of some use.

"It seems that witch of yours will have to help us a great deal."

"And me?"

"I am sorry, but I have no need of your aid in this fight."

"Why not?"

"Because magic does not work on him."

"Oh, is that why? Because I'm a Lich Lord?"

"Indeed."

"I can do plenty of things besides magic, you know."

"…What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you saying?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Yujun drew a sword from his inventory.

"Paranet."

"Yes!"

"Get ready."

"Understood!"

For now, he wanted to take the measure of the Demon King's strength. He had felt the tremors a few times while climbing to this highest floor, but that alone wasn't enough to judge by.

Tolkai was smiling at Yujun, as if intrigued.

"A lich with a sword…. How peculiar."

"First time seeing one?"

"Yes."

"Then this ought to be a rare experience."

Yujun closed in on the Demon King first.

Without so much as shifting his stance, Tolkai unleashed Dark Demonic Energy. It was a thick, clinging killing intent, so dense that the word death rose unbidden. Yujun slipped past it with ease. Fast as it was, it wasn't beyond what he could dodge.

"Hoh…."

Tolkai's eyes widened. Nimble movement, for a lich. He seemed startled by it.

Yujun thrust a sword charged with mana. His body seemed to stretch forward—and in the next instant he was in front of the Demon King. It was the skill Rapid Advance, an attack carried out at tremendous speed.

Tolkai did not panic. He evaded the blade, and when Yujun followed with strike after strike, he slipped past those as well with uncanny precision. He was by no means dodging at his leisure, though. He was being driven back, without so much as the room to counter.

The smile Tolkai had worn the whole time stiffened, just a little.

"Quite strong."

His pride was wounded—not merely stung, but humiliated. He had escaped death and grown stronger than before, and yet he was being pushed back by a mere undead. And that undead was a lich, supposedly hopeless at close combat.

To think I am losing ground to a common undead.

He even began to wonder whether his own ability carried some side effect. That was how far the thought went.

Even when he released Dark Demonic Energy, the Lich Lord cut it off before it could form. The Lich Lord never gave him a moment to draw up his mana. And so Demon King Tolkai lost his head without landing a single proper attack.

A hologram window appeared before his eyes.

Irritating….

Losing a life to Duke Jonas's spear had not left him in a pleasant mood either. It had not felt this foul, though.

Did I just throw away a life on a mere lich?

He was angry. But because he had died once more, every one of his stats had risen by fifteen percent.

Tolkai's body was restored.

Fwoosh—!

Yujun's sword came whipping in to catch that exact moment, but Tolkai reacted swiftly. Having slipped the blade, a smile touched his mouth.

Now I can see it.

Sword strikes whose origin he hadn't been able to read at all. Strengthened another step by Death Enhancement, Tolkai began to see Yujun's attacks coming. In earnest, he started to seize the advantage in close combat.

Clang! Clack!

Two swords, each hunting the other's throat and heart, crashed together without pause. Tolkai's brow furrowed.

What? Why can't I find an opening?

He was sure he was ahead in speed, and yet no real chance for a killing blow presented itself. Worse, every time it met Yujun's weapon, Tolkai's sword was ground down a little further. It was simply a difference in the weapons themselves. That he had held out this long at all was only because his sword was Mythic grade.

Another two minutes or so passed.

Boom! Crack!

Tolkai's sword shattered, and the fragments sprayed outward.

"Wh-what…"

Shhk!

Tolkai's head came off.

Two remained.

Tolkai had no time even to be dumbfounded. The instant his body regenerated, Yujun's sword came thrusting in, and Tolkai ducked in a hurry.

With all his stats increased by another fifteen percent, Yujun's attacks finally lay clear before him. The profound swordsmanship made them tricky, but not to a troublesome degree. At last Tolkai began to press the attack, and Yujun was driven back helplessly before the Demon King's Dark Demonic Energy.

That was when Duke Jonas and the noble demons tried to join the fight.

"Stay right where you are! Don't butt in! You'll only get in the way!"

Yujun shouted.

The noble demons scowled, but they could not go against his words. In truth, the fight between the Demon King and Yujun was far too high-level for them to step into.

Tolkai, on the other hand, found his smile again. With room to breathe, something he had forgotten came back to him.

Why aren't the other two dukes coming?

Duchess Philena. She, too, had agreed to cooperate with him. If she—someone who had never shown the slightest interest in the affairs of the Demon Realm—lent him her strength, he would have no need to worry about Duke Jonas.

Why, even now….

She could not have betrayed him. They had struck a solid bargain. There was no word, either, from the other duke who served under him. The two of them were supposed to strike the rear of Jonas's legion together with Duchess Philena. Because they never appeared, he had even lost a life to Duke Jonas.

Tolkai ground his teeth.

"Lich Lord! I will not grant you an easy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠death."

"Out of nowhere? Why?"

Even as he was being pushed back, Yujun answered with a perfectly unbothered face.

"You ask because you do not know?"

"I helped you, didn't I? I made you stronger. Shouldn't you be thanking me?"

Yujun said it as if to mock him. Tolkai's face twisted like a vengeful ghost's.

"Even grinding you down and drinking you wouldn't be enough…."

"Oh, and I've been curious. How many lives do you have left?"

"…."

Tolkai's eyes went wide. When he kept his mouth shut, Yujun spoke again.

"I killed you twice, so three left? Oh! No. Earlier I noticed Jonas already knew you come back to life. So that would leave two."

"…What?"

"Am I right?"

"It does not matter if you know. You are going to die by my hand."

Tolkai released a massive surge of Dark Demonic Energy.

KRA-KOOM!

Yujun threw up a shield, but the overwhelming force smashed it to pieces. His body—nothing but bone—was shattered and flung far away.

Tolkai kicked off the ground to finish him. The Lich Lord who had been slammed into the wall… was gone. In his place stood a human Tolkai had never seen, face utterly blank.

"…Who are you?"

"The person who was fighting you until just now?"

"A human. Are you toying with me? Where did the Lich Lord go?"

"He's dead."

"…."

"I'm the lich."

Yujun said it playfully. In his hand was the sword the Lich Lord had been holding.

"Surely not for real?"

"What, you think I'm fake?"

Becoming a Lich Lord had dropped Yujun's physical stats by twenty percent. The difference was larger than one might think, because his base stats were absurdly high to begin with.

"It'll be a little different now."

With that, Yujun raised his sword and charged the Demon King, faster than a flash of light.

Flash! Shhk!

Still in the very posture of unleashing Dark Demonic Energy, Tolkai's neck was cut. His fourth death. Now only a single life remained.

"In-insane…."

"What even is that human?"

"He kills a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Demon King who got stronger three times over, in a single blow…?"

"Is he really human? Has there ever been a human that strong?"

"This is a genuine shock."

"Does anyone here know who that human is?"

Duke Jonas and the noble demons who had been watching could not close their gaping mouths. That the Lich ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lord had suddenly become human was astonishing enough. And the moment he took human form, he had finished the Demon King in one stroke—a Demon King who had died three times and grown several times stronger for it.

Revived, Tolkai found that urgency, more than rage, had taken root in his heart.

I cannot die like this!