Facing the murderous Setsuna, Lapis, and the Shadow Demon Corps, Demon Lord Carrion did not attack immediately.
The pressure bearing down on him was immense, and he sincerely hoped they were only passing through. But seeing them stop directly in front of him, Carrion knew this would not end peacefully.
He quietly issued orders for his subordinates to gather every warrior in the kingdom. At the same time, he stepped to the very front and looked up at Setsuna and the others in the sky.
"I am the Lion King of this nation, Demon Lord Carrion. Why have you invaded my territory? Leave at once! I have no desire to fight you!!"
Carrion might appear rough and impulsive, but he was actually quite meticulous. Even as his voice rang out with authority, the wording itself already represented a small concession.
His expression, however, remained resolute, without the slightest hint of fear.
The Beast Kingdom of Eurazania was one of the great powers, blessed with fertile lands and a population made up largely of warriors.
Carrion himself was a warrior among warriors.
He had great confidence in his own strength, and his current restraint came primarily from his position as king.
He did not want to provoke an unknown but obviously powerful group for no reason.
Remembering Takumi's orders, Setsuna answered without the slightest courtesy.
"Hmph! We came here to take control of this place. If you surrender unconditionally and place the entire kingdom under my master's rule, I can spare you."
Hearing this, Carrion silently activated flight magic and rose into the air until he was facing Setsuna and the others directly.
There was no question about it.
He could never accept such terms!!
"Lord Carrion, we'll help you!"
Seeing this, Carrion's subordinates rushed forward one after another.
Setsuna and Lapis merely gave the order, and more than a hundred Shadow Demon girls immediately charged to meet them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
After several dull impacts, the Shadow Demon girls crushed Carrion's subordinates with overwhelming force—and in the most literal sense, reducing them to minced flesh.
Their souls were collected and sent into Takumi's [Pseudo-Hell].
The sight sent Carrion into a rage. Every hair on his body stood on end as he immediately summoned his favored weapon, the [White Tiger-Azure Dragon Halberd].
The moment Carrion gripped the halberd, his aura surged dramatically!
Veins bulged across his forehead as he converted all of his magical power into pure fighting spirit.
"You've gone too far!!!"
With a roar, he swung the great halberd and unleashed several slashes through the air.
Each one transformed into a blade of compressed energy that tore toward the two women in the sky.
"I'll handle him."
Lapis spoke first, then immediately stirred her psychic power.
"Psychic Barrier!"
In an instant, a tangible barrier of psychic force spread outward with her at its center.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
Carrion's energy slashes struck the barrier without leaving so much as a crack.
At the same time, Lapis kicked off with both feet, an ear-splitting sonic boom erupting behind her.
BOOM!!!
In the next instant, she became a streak of light and shot straight toward Carrion, who had already assumed a fighting stance.
"She beat me to it."
Setsuna, who often sparred with Lapis, clicked her tongue in obvious annoyance.
Carrion's strength was nothing special. Since Lapis had already claimed him, Setsuna might as well carry out Takumi's orders instead.
Without paying any further attention to their battle, Setsuna turned and flew directly toward the Beast Kingdom.
Carrion's eyes widened with rage. Drawing a deep breath, he understood that he could no longer hold anything back.
If he did, the enemy would simply continue slaughtering his people!
Without hesitation, he released his power, skipping past the intermediate stages of transforming into a majin or Demon Lord.
Just as his title, [Lion King], implied, Carrion was a lion-type Beastman—the strongest breed among the many Beastman races.
His race possessed the unique intrinsic ability [Beast Transformation], which had become even stronger after he became a Demon Lord, evolving into the Unique Skill [Beast King Transformation]!
"Raaaagh!!!"
Amid the roar of a mighty lion, Carrion, King of the Beast Demons, revealed his true form.
His head became that of a majestic lion, while his body possessed the toughness of an elephant. His arms had the strength of a bear while retaining the dexterity of a monkey.
His legs carried the supple power of a feline, and the wings of a great eagle spread from his back.
The strengths of countless beasts were perfectly blended together, creating a silver-white monster.
Every piece of equipment on his body was Legendary-grade.
Rare Unique-grade equipment had evolved over many years, eventually becoming top-tier gear.
A gleaming Vermilion Bird Crown rested upon his lion's head.
A Black Tortoise Treasure Belt wrapped around his waist.
And in his hands was the [White Tiger-Azure Dragon Halberd].
The equipment absorbed the magical power Carrion released, drawing out its full potential and revealing its strongest state.
This was the true form of Demon Lord Carrion!!
Seeing Carrion actually "transform," Lapis paused.
"He really entered the boss's second phase. Guess I can't hold back either."
Ever since being exposed to modern video games, Lapis had picked up plenty of gaming jargon.
Even though she could defeat him in her normal state, doing so would still require getting close to him.
And Lapis really did not want to touch him.
Without another word, she activated the divine artifact Takumi had given her.
"Balance Breaker—Scale Mail of the Red Dragon Emperor!"
The Boosted Gear instantly manifested, and crimson armor covered her entire body.
The feminine armor completely enclosed her figure while also emphasizing her shapely curves.
At least visually, the armor had plenty of curves in all the right places.
As a pair of dragon wings unfolded behind her, her aura surged sharply.
Seeing Lapis enter her own second phase, Carrion immediately swung the [White Tiger-Azure Dragon Halberd] and smashed it down toward her head without mercy.
The heavy halberd tore through the air, producing repeated sonic booms.
"Boost!"
As Lapis's physical strength doubled, the psychic power within her body surged outward like a tidal wave.
Under Takumi's guidance, she had used her "massive amount of experience" to unlock the skill trees of both the Nen Master and Grappler classes.
Having perfectly integrated the two, her close-combat ability was in no way inferior to Setsuna's!
"Phantom Nen Body—Violent Grab!"
Abundant psychic power formed a phantom clone, which suddenly reached out and seized the halberd blade.
At the same time, the psychic clone did not remain confined to human form. Several enormous psychic arms split off from it and clamped tightly around Carrion.
The instant he was restrained, Lapis twisted her body and bent at the waist, gathering her rapidly swelling psychic power into one arm.
"Spiral Elbow Strike!!!"
A spiraling field of psychic force gathered around her elbow.
Then Lapis drove it violently into Carrion's head.
The rotating psychic force combined with the tremendous impact of the elbow strike nearly killed Carrion on the spot.
His body was blasted several hundred meters away, half of his skull exposed to the air.
If he had not managed to protect himself with fighting spirit at the last instant, he truly would have died right there.
Seeing that her attack had somehow failed to kill him, Lapis felt rather embarrassed.
She had not used her full strength, of course. She was accustomed to committing only thirty percent to an attack while keeping seventy percent in reserve.
Even so, this was still humiliating!
Carrion, his vision swimming, understood that he had reached the moment where he would have to fight to the death.
He forcibly squeezed out every last bit of strength he had and poured all of his fighting spirit into the [White Tiger-Azure Dragon Halberd].
"ROOOOAAAR!!!"
"Disappear from this world! Beast Demon Particle Cannon!!!"
The head of the [White Tiger-Azure Dragon Halberd] vanished, reverting into magic particles.
Carrion's violent fighting spirit propelled those magic particles to their absolute limit, pushing them into their most domineering and destructive state.
Under normal circumstances, the attack would retain its full power even beyond a range of one hundred meters.
Only afterward would its energy gradually begin to disperse, though it could still extend as far as two kilometers.
It was a long-range finishing move designed for use against multiple opponents.
This time, however, Carrion concentrated all of that power into a single point and fired it at one target.
Carrion was certain that no matter who took this attack head-on, they would not survive...
...
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