Hasim tried to chew through the meaning of Merea’s words while on horseback.

He was the man who could think at closest level to Merea.

Which is why, Hasim was able to follow the meaning of Merea’s insane dream even though the contents were something that people would laugh off as a dream-like story.

However, on the other hand,

――Is that so…

He also noticed that the ending of that dream-like story would be slightly different from the one he had been envisioning which caused him to leak a strange smile.

It was neither a wry smile nor was it a smile of ridicule.

It was a laugh that surpassed that situation, as if he was putting the decision of whose plan would win on hold.

Even so, Hasim did not deny Merea’s dream.

In fact,

――What you’re aiming for, might just be considerably larger than what I’m aiming for.

It was to the point where he wanted to even praise him for reaching the starting point of the huge dream that he himself was never able to reach.

――I’m no longer pure enough to take such a decision.

He’d been dyed too much in the colour of the world and the current era.

Not to mention, even if he was pure, the courage to actually stand at that spot was something――

――No, I wouldn’t really say I don’t have it at all.

He, himself had embraced a dream that would end with him being called a madman. There would be no compromise.

However, when he compared that dream to Merea’s, he felt like it had an incredibly realistic element mixed in as well.

――Are you really a man who was born in this world?

Since Merea came up with oddly free ideas, he suddenly had that absurd doubt. However, Hasim immediately laughed it off.

――Either is fine.

Such things, no longer matter.

This man was now Merea Mea.

He was, without a doubt, a――demon lord that existed on this land.

Hasim suddenly felt like he saw something absurdly big on Merea’s back. He felt like he saw a large group of people behind him.

◆◆◆

While Hasim was looking at Merea’s back, another movement came from an unintended point. Rather than a movement, it was a sound.

「――A bird of paradise?」(TLN: That’s a real type of bird, FYI)

Piii.

A light bird’s cry float towards everyone in that area. It was from right overhead.

Elma had looked up towards the sky faster than anyone else and had found the owner of that voice.

A bird.

With its characteristic long four coloured tail and large angular wings which were fluttering in the wind.

After circling around the sky several times, the bird made a beeline towards Hasim’s shoulder.

「So you finally came huh」

Not only the demon lords but even Hasim’s subordinates had a look on their faces as if they had no idea what this was all about. Hasim alone, had a look on his face like he expected the arrival of that bird and immediately got to work on removing the scroll that was tied onto its leg.

In the time it took for Hasim to remove and open the scroll, Merea turned towards Elma next to him and asked. 「What is that?」

「It’s a bird of paradise. These birds have the ability to distinguish a particular peculiar scent. So by making a compound out of that particular scent, it’s possible to have it move between two particular points. It’s a type of mailing system that’s been in use for quite a long time. Although just relying on scent would end up with it getting confused so that’s not all there is to it, there are other conditions and training that goes into it but that’s the main characteristic」

Listening to Elma’s explanation, Merea nodded slightly. This time, Elma turned to him and asked him a question.

「Based on what I heard from your talk with Marisa, it seems like you used some special secret technique but, did you by any chance pass the time limit or something? Your hair turned black as well…」

Elma had a doubtful expression on her face. In contrast to that, Merea answered with an indifferent expression.

「It’s not like I’ve completely opened the 『gate』 yet so it’s fine. It’s like opening it half-way. Although, considering I’m the type of man who can only do all or nothing, this half open state needs a considerably amount of effort on my part so I can’t keep it up for that long」

「Seriously, these other demon lords have been using such complicated techniques. It’s just swinging a demon sword at my side you know?」

「Haha, that’s simple so isn’t that fine?」

Merea laughed.

Seeing Merea laugh like that, Elma felt rather relieved.

Even though they were in such a place, being able to feel the 『usual Merea』 near her, she felt something akin to happiness in her chest.

While they were having this short conversation, Hasim finally finished taking the scroll off the foot of the bird and opened it up. He quickly read through the opened scroll and,

「...15」

He whispered.

「――15 minutes」

He continued with that. Merea immediately understood what Hasim was trying to say.

「So 15 more minutes till the three kingdoms catch up to us huh」

「Yeah, Zuria’s〈Azure Spearmen〉will join us. The time this was written, the place, the rough marching speed and in addition to that, the speed of this bird that I had already found out. Putting all those numbers together, I calculated the time. ――For Crisca, this is pretty detailed. That lecture I gave her seems to have worked huh」

Hasim seemed to be having fun. However, he quickly returned to his serious expression.

「If you believe my calculations then it’ll take fifteen minutes. ――Can you do it?」

「I’ll do what needs to be done. In any case, from now, I’ll definitely hold out for ten minutes from now. I used this technique with that in mind」

Merea hadn’t used the〈Fury of the Violent God〉just based on his emotions.

He used it after he had confirmed that the battle for the demon lords and Lemuse’s soldiers had been tough.

Compared to this side which was gradually getting exhausted, Mūzeg’s army continued to increase steadily.

Add to that the arrival of Serius who pulled all of that together and the arrival of the practitioners corps that could shoot out wide area techniques.

If even one part crumbled then the entire front line would fall. That was the prediction that he had based on what he saw.

「In that case, the remaining ten minutes would be――fighting spirit huh」

「Haha, those kinds of words sound rather gallant so they’re nice huh」

Merea as the leader of the demon lords and Hasim as the leader of Lemuse knew a little something about each other. That’s why, the 『reliance』 that they felt towards each other after reaching this point could even be called their good fortune. Especially for Merea, having the aftermath being handled, he felt a certain amount of relief.

「Do it with the will to die okay?」

「Yeah, even if I’m not told」

However, Merea had no plans to only reply on that.

From Hasim’s words, although he did feel like Zuria’s forces would be a big help but he would definitely not reply on them completely.

Merea was,

――I’ll end it here.

Thinking that. The one thing that had to be certain would be to chase Mūzeg away today. Would having the reinforcements arrive lead to use winning for sure? ――There’s no guarantee to that.

――I cannot let any of them die today.

For the sake of his dream, he couldn’t allow any of the other demon lords to die. There was something that he needed them to do.

Not to mention, they were,

――Important――

Since it was slightly embarrassing to even say it in his mind, so Merea purposely cut that train of thought.

「Well then, I’m off」

「Yeah」

Merea finally took a step forward.

Near him, Hasim nodded while holding onto the demonic spear.

The two people who were casually chatting as if they had known each other for years, were no longer there.

They both, now, had a sharpness in their gaze that clearly showed that they had prepared to face the frontlines.

At the same time, they raised their heads.

Their eyes met with――Serius, who was on top of his red dragon.

◆◆◆

「I’ll be charging in first so, everyone please stay back」

Merea spoke up after he took the second step.

Although Marisa looked at Merea with a worried gaze, she still didn’t try to stop him.

Merea walked out in front of everyone and finally opened four gates in his brain.

First gate, Demon’s Gate.

Second gate, King’s Gate.

Third gate, Emperor’s Gate.

Fourth gate, God’s Gate.

What should normally be opened in order was now opened all together.

The moment all the gates were opened completely, a humongous amount of magic power, with such density that it could be seen with the naked eye, raged around Merea’s body.

The magic power that was raging around Merea’s surroundings like wind, was the same black colour as his hair but oddly, that black colour looked rather clear.

Within that torrential flow of magic power, with his black hair billowing, Merea clapped his hands with an extremely clear sound.

*Paan* A bright sound was heard in that dry air.

「〈White Lightning of the Lightning God (Celesta Barca)〉, 〈Six Wings of the Wind God (Van Ester)〉」

His voice sounded like it was singing.

「〈Three Tails of the Earth God (Kria Lilith)〉, 〈Resplendent Sword of the Water God (Seura Euras)〉」

Over and above that,

「――〈Death Flame of the Flame God (Fram Brand)〉」

Five, the inscriptions continued.

Although Merea should still have his technique processing domain sealed by Serius but, as if to say that, something like that made absolutely no difference, the techniques kept wrapping around Merea’s body.

Not to mention, the size and power were worlds apart from how they were a little while ago.

Deploying the techniques of five god tier demon lords which can even control natural phenomenon and even making those out-of-the-norm techniques even larger and much more powerful. The people watching no longer had any idea how they should categorise him anymore.

To put it plainly, he had already far surpassed anything they could have imagined and caused their brains to stop working.

Letting those people be as they were, the five techniques continued to move around.

With Merea’s body as the center, the white lightning that wrapped around his body stretched bolts of lightning to his surroundings.

The six wings of wind had become large enough that they might even be able to cover an entire wall of a large castle.

The three tails which were like huge serpents, which originated from around Merea’s tailbone, didn’t seem to even care that they were tied to one place and used their insane size to reach several places considerably far away.

The resplendent sword of the water god had grown to such a size that it didn’t even fit in Merea’s hand and instead four of them had been created and floated around Merea. They could no longer be called swords and had already gotten a range with which they could be called thrown weapons.

And also,

「H, huh, isn’t that the〈Azure Death Flame〉...」

Lilium had a dazed expression on her face as she stared at the 『bluish black flame』 wrapping around Merea’s arms.

As the〈Flame Emperor〉Lilium was quite familiar with the〈Flame God〉who was at a higher level than herself.

Hearing that whisper of Lilium’s, Salman who was standing right next to her, asked her.

「〈Azure Death Flame〉? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere…」

「Most probably in a history book. The seat of〈Flame God〉has been empty for a very long time. It’ll probably remain like that for a very long time as well」

「Why would that be? You’re able to say that so clearly」

「Because the performance and the abilities of that predecessor were just that huge」

「Ahh, in that way…」

Salman gave a wry smile.

「But, Azure is the colour of Zuria isn’t it? Is there some sort of connection there?」

「Yeah. ――The one who created Zuria in ancient times was the〈Flame God〉after all」

「...Seriously?」

「And so, that Flame God killed himself right after Zuria went from its revolution period to its peaceful period」

「...Ha?」

Salman raised a dumbfounded cry. He couldn’t keep up with the series of unbelievable facts that Lilium had lined up.

However, Lilium didn’t wait for Salman and while looking at the azure flames spouting from Merea’s shoulders and arms and continued speaking.

「According to folklore, 「a fire too strong will burn the wielder」 is why he killed himself. When they were raising a revolution, that power was required but the moment they entered into their peaceful period, that power was instead too heavy a burden...is apparently what he thought」

「Just for that do you usually kill yourself…? Just don’t use it or use it in the way that would be convenient for yourself」

「Well half of it. I get what you want to say but, that wasn’t a technique of that level. According to a knowledgeable person I know, it was known as 『Massacre Technique』. So, it probably had repercussions that we are completely unable to even comprehend」

「Massacre technique?」

「Once it’s launched, it can never be controlled. Death flame is the complete opposite to my living flames. Living flames creates life but death flame steals it」

「Does that just mean that it burns people to death?」

「That’s wrong. Though that’s also not wrong. ――With a single touch, their life would be taken. Also, as it eats that life, it would get bigger and bigger on its own. Not to mention, once the death flame has been used, it would be pulled towards any life in the surroundings and would devour it without any distinction, which is why it seems like the Flame God used to go to the battlefield alone. If he didn’t surround himself with enemies...then his allies might end up eaten as well」

「That’s bloody scary…」

「The death flame has life in its flame body so in a sense you could think that it’s similar to the living flames. In other words, they’re living flames with the sole purpose to devouring all life around them I suppose」

「Then the name massacre technique is quite apt… No, wait」

Salman spoke while looking over at Merea.

「Then, is he trying to use that technique?」

Right afterwards,

「I won’t use it in the same way as the Flame God (Fram Brand). It’s true that, originally, the automatic circulation mechanism that’s part of this technique is something that would devour life without any distinction. I was also lectured continuously by the〈Flame God (Fram Brand)〉to 『not use this technique when there are allies nearby, no matter what』」

「But, the flames on your arms――」

「However, when I open the four gates and enter violent god mode, I can completely control the automatic circulation mechanism of this technique. In other words, I can control every aspect of the〈Azure Death Flame〉. Well, wrapping them around my arms is the most I can do right now――though, just touching them is enough for you to forfeit your life so it’s more than enough」

「I suppose I should say it’s because it’s you, who can use various god tier techniques simultaneously...or more like, how the hell were you even raised? I kind of want to ask but I also feel like I shouldn’t ask…」

Merea looked over his shoulder and noticed that Salman dropped his shoulders and gave a wry smile.

「Though, seriously, will your magic power or the technique’s framework even hold out if you use so many large techniques in one go?」

「Ahh, I still have quite a bit of surplus left over. The portion of my magic power that I use, immediately gets recovered after all」

「Wh, what the hell are you even saying?」

Salman felt his expression cramp up.

「What about the framework of the technique’s processing? Didn’t you say earlier that keeping the processing power for the reversal technique separate, you would be able to use two more? Over and above that, one part was sealed off by Serius and we don’t really know when it would be unsealed either――」

Merea continued with a nonchalant expression.

「Well, such things don’t really matter. Just having one sealed off. If the limit reduced then it would be fine if we just increased it」

Salman found himself in a situation where he could only open and close his mouth repeatedly with a dumbfounded expression n his face. Finally, as if he had understood something, he raised both his hands.

「Ahhh, I get it, I get it. I want to ask you various things but you only have ten minutes right? It’s fine for now. Sorry I pulled you back. But, there’s just one thing that’ll say for now」

「Hm?」

Salman’s brown eyes, looked straight at Merea’s eyes and spoke.

「――Please save us」

There was no joke or shyness.

Just honestly, straightforward and without feeling any shame, Salman spoke up.

Hearing Salman say that, Merea, with a full faced smile and looking extremely happy, replied.

「Yeah. ――Once the battle is over, let me drink some more of that lemonade」

「That’s a cheap price, Lord」

Salman replied with a smile as well.

Merea then turned back to the front.

He no longer turned back.

「Well then Serius, this is the battle you wished for」

As if to make his body look larger, Merea spread his arms.

As if responding to that, the six wings grew even larger and the three tails stood up tall like serpents in a threatening posture.

The resplendent water swords danced on both sides of Merea as if to protect their master.

And the bluish black flame on both his arms increased their power and raised up into the sky――

「If you want the power of demon lords――」

Merea finally raised a resounding voice.

◆◆◆

「Defeat me first」

◆◆◆

While simultaneously using so many techniques, but still giving off the feeling that he wasn’t going to full power, black magic power exploded out of Merea’s body.

There was not a single existence on that battlefield which doubt that they were looking at a〈Demon God〉.