The sword of emptiness that I unleashed pierced deeply into the Beast Emperor's chest.

''Goooooooo.............................''

　Zegart blows wide open with a strained cry.

''Ha, ha, ha...''

　Zegert stands up with a ragged breath.
　While shedding a large amount of blood, he was still alive.

　As expected of a beast emperor.
　That's a tremendous amount of life force.

　But──there is no more reversal.

　Shattering his sub-arm and disabling the Miracle Armor made my magic-weakening tactics unusable.
　The shards of the Demon King Sword alone have no effect on me.
　It was only effective if the shards and Miracle Armor were used together.

　And now that I have regained my true power, no matter how much of a beast emperor I am, I am not an enemy.

"Why was I defeated by someone as sweet as you?

　Zegart groaned.
　He spits out a mouthful of blood.

A former human being... a proud member of the magical family. I was born into an honorable family that has produced a demon king.

　Staggering, the Beast Emperor continued to attack with his fangs and claws.

''Enough.........''

　All of those attacks were pathetically weak.
　I lightly put up my magic barrier to receive them.

''Why........!　Why........
Zegert...
"I am fit to be the Witch King and not you....

　I blasted the rushing Beast Emperor, releasing a lower level magic to blow him away.

''Gaha........''

　Zegart hit the floor, groaning and groaning, and stood up unsteadily.
　He looked back at Tsukuyomi, who was standing behind him.

'Tsukuyomi, blow that thing up!
"Dear Mr. Zegert...

　The Silver Knight's modified life form (homunculus) looks back at the Beast Emperor coldly.

''Is 'that' a warding device?　We still have the three demon chiefs, Judas, Feria, and Olivier, in captivity.
You're not a hostage.

　I huffed and scrunched up my face.

'Hm, you're not going to do that at this point in time,'

　Zegert spits.

'That's an order!　Do not listen to Demon King Zeggert!

　Exclamation.

　Now Zegert may be desperate because of the reversal of the war situation.
　He had just said that he wouldn't do a hostage operation, but there was no guarantee that this was true.

　I watched Tsukuyomi's movements.
　If he intends to blow up the warding device and kill Judas and the others he's captured, I'll stop him before he does...

　But Tsukuyomi didn't move.

''Huh.....

　He returns a languid sigh to Zegert, which is not typical of a modified life form.

'The game is already won, sir.
What...?
The only chance they had of winning was to weaken Demon Lord Freed. But they've broken that tactic. There's no turning the tables on us.
Tsukuyomi, you're a...

　Zegert's eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately jumped back.

''.........Hmph, I won't be subjected to such a humiliating death penalty!　I will take care of myself!

　As soon as he says it, he runs to the back of the audience chamber.

Let him go!

　Me, Regal, Stella and Lilim following it.

　There was a huge device in the back room.
　It's a magical device in the shape of a giant cage.

"You don't think that's what it is...
This is the sealing device Tsukuyomi made. It holds Judas, Ferria, and Olivier, whom we have captured.

　And, Zegart reaches out his hand towards the device.
　I knew he was going to threaten me, using Judas and the others as hostages...

Stop!

　Zegert looked back at me with a grin as I shouted.

'We no longer need hostages!　I'll give it back to you!

　The device deployed, and Feria, Olivier, and Judah, who seemed to have been trapped in the subspace inside, appeared.

　This guy...?

! "Fortunately, you're in for a rude awakening.
Oh, he got out.
'The Demon King came to rescue you?　Phew, I'm glad.

　The three of them look at us and smile.
　I thought we were going to take a hostage, but...

"Don't get your hopes up. We're just going to use this guy to make sure that you're dead.

　Zegert snorted.

''At the center of this sealing device is an enormous amount of magical power stored to create subspace. If we force it to go out of control and blow it up...
Zegert, you...!
After all, I am tough. And I don't want to die in the slightest.

　Zegart laughed.
　It was a tremendous smile, stained with blood.

'I will not live to see my ambitions come to fruition.

　I said and raised my arm towards the device.

'Stay away if you don't want to be collateral damage.
Stop it, Zegert!

　I reflexively ran out.

　Even if he was the high treasonous man who had led the rebellion...
　No, because he's a high treasonous traitor, I'm not going to let him blow himself up.

　I'm going to have him judged.
　As your king, I will judge you.

Farewell, my ambition!　And my life!

　But, a moment too late, Zegert's claws bit into the device.

　In the next moment, with a dazzling spark, the device explodes in a huge explosion.
　The surrounding area is covered in a white explosion of light.



　The next thing I knew, I was in a rainbow-colored blur.

"Where am I.........here.......?