The reaction was immediate. The barriers of light made from the Demon Lord's magic shattered, releasing Karin and Clarissa at once. Those who had witnessed what happened froze in stunned silence—then relief swept through them, followed by joy. One by one, eyes turned toward The Reluctant Deity with open reverence.
The demons who had watched Velastra die did not hesitate. They turned and fled. They had just seen a Demon Lord erased—not defeated, not driven back, but annihilated. Their morale did not break; it vanished outright. Staying meant death. So they ran—into the woods, toward the portal, anywhere but here.
Lennix paused, watching them scatter, weighing whether to pursue. He decided against it and turned instead, looking up at Darek as the man let out a quiet, exhausted sigh.
*Just what is my luck?* Lennix thought. *Running into two of The Strongest in such a short time—and both of them ended up helping me.*
The sharp clang of metal on metal cut through his thoughts. Lennix spun just in time to see the black knight thrown backward after barely blocking a heavy swing from the demon knight. Before the black knight could recover, the demon knight lunged, driving his blade toward the narrow slit of the helmet.
"Oh no you don't!" Lennix snapped.
He burst forward at lightning speed, bone knuckles forming as his hands morphed mid-charge. He went to strike—but the demon knight twisted sharply, slashing across Lennix's chest deeply. The blow stopped the vampire dead. He forced the blood he nearly spat out back down his throat as the demon knight spun on his heel and back-kicked him away.
Lennix skidded across the ground, landing hard in front of Mari and the freed Clarissa and Karin.
"Uncle Lennix, are you okay!?" Mari cried, no longer blinded by Darek's magic as she dropped to her knees beside him.
Lennix nodded. "I'm fine," he said, pushing himself up. His eyes snapped back to the two knights.
With the opening Lennix had created, the black knight managed to get back to his feet and retreat several steps, raising his shadow greatsword defensively. *What is this?* he wondered. *The other demons ran—but this one… he's acting like nothing's changed.*
Darek turned fully toward the demon knight, his gaze cold. "Do I have to deal with you personally as well?" he asked, floating closer as mana radiated from him. "Or are you going to admit defeat and leave like the rest of your kind?"
The demon knight looked up at him. Then his gaze shifted—to the black knight, to Lennix, to Clarissa and Karin, to Mari, and finally to the guards standing frozen nearby. He drew in a slow, steady breath and straightened.
"You may think that killing the Demon Lords changed the course of this invasion," he said. "And you would be right. It has—but not in the direction you are all thinking."
The trio of Darek, Lennix, and the black knight exchanged looks of confusion.
"Demon Lords? Like plural?" Lennix muttered, swallowing hard.
"Why are you acting like this is somehow a victory for you?" the black knight asked, anxiety tightening his grip on his blade.
"Enough riddles," Darek snapped. "Say what you mean clearly—before I force it out of you."
The demon knight shook his head. "Do not misunderstand. The deaths of the Demon Lords are absolutely a loss—one we will struggle to compensate for a very long time."
His gaze settled squarely on Darek. "However, with their deaths, King Domine will certainly bring him to this invasion. And with his arrival, the situation will become drastically worse for all of you."
Darek's glare hardened. "And who, exactly, do you think could make this worse for us?"
The demon knight did not answer.
Instead, he drove his longsword point-first into the ground and went to one knee, bowing his head in a knight's kneel.
Across Aetheria, every demon knight felt it. Saw it. The deaths of the Demon Lords rippled through them all. And regardless of where they were—mid-battle, locked in duels, issuing commands—they did the same. One after another, demon knights planted their weapons into the earth and knelt in silent reverence.
Then it was felt.
Not just by demon knights. Not even only by demons. Every being sensitive to magic, to mana, to demonic energies felt it all at once. A pressure. A shift. Something vast crossing a threshold that should not have been so easily crossed.
Darek's eyes widened a fraction. *What is this?*
He turned his gaze toward the distant direction of Arcadicia, a chill crawling up his spine. "What… just came in?" he muttered.
Behind him, the demon knight convulsed as a surge of demonic energy flooded through his body—raw, overwhelming power that slammed outward like a shockwave. It was felt by everyone nearby, mirroring the way mana radiated from Darek himself.
The demon knight rose to his feet, grasped his sword, and spoke only three words.
"He is here."