262 Each of Their Respective Battles

“Sham, you’re a total mess already!”

“Shut up, Peach. More importantly… those guys… are they actually human? I’ve never seen anyone with mana that high before.”

After the mental link from Lord Roz went dead, two women appeared before Sham and me. One was a pink-haired girl wielding a massive staff, and the other carried a sword remarkably similar to our own.

And then there was… that other one. A mysterious human with a face so beautiful I couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman.

Wait, more importantly—

Why the hell are the magic beasts siding with them?!

“I don’t freaking know!” Sham barked.

The magic beasts that were supposed to be on our side were switching allegiances the moment that man and woman touched them.

No way… is that Subjugation? I’ve never seen anything like that, even back in the Demon World.

To make matters worse, the woman with the staff was unleashing some truly outrageous magic. Back home, we never lost to anyone except members of the Demon Race. So why?! How could mere humans be doing this to us?

“You can’t win against us,” one of them said with annoying composure. “Just give up.”

“Surrender,” the second added.

“It would be best to yield,” the third finished.

They all stood there with those smug, self-assured faces. They don't know anything. These humans only get to live happy, peaceful lives because they were lucky enough to be born on this side of the world. They have no idea how much we Demon World Inhabitants have to suffer.

And yet, there they were, looking down on us so high and mighty!

“Sham, let’s get serious.”

“Huh? You sure? We were told to keep the collateral damage to a minimum.”

“We’re going to lose if we don’t.”

“…Fine! Good grief, don’t blame me for whatever happens next!”

Lord Roz, I’m sorry. But we can’t afford to lose here.

◇　◆　◇　◆

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Lilith! Is it just me, or is the mana on the east side going absolutely nuclear?!”

“—It is certainly tremendous,” Lilith agreed.

That was the direction of Carta and Olynn’s position. They were clearly getting into one hell of a scrap over there.

<Duke, Lilith, sorry, but it looks like they’re trying to lure most of the magic beasts your way. Could you handle them?>

“Yeah, leave it to us!” I shouted back.

“Lilith, did you hear that?”

“Yes! We'll be fine!”

An absurd number of magical beasts from the Demon World began pouring in, one after another. There was no way in hell I was letting them past this road, though. Honestly, I was just glad Lilith was here to back me up.

Then, at that moment—

“Are you kidding me? What is this?!”

Some absolute unit of a monster decided to plow right through the wall with everything it had. It was like a total monster world war out here. To make it worse, this thing was cloaked in some seriously weird, alien mana.

“Lilith, this one seems to be in a different league. Let’s show 'em our partner coordination for the first time in a while.”

“Right! Let’s show these Demon World Inhabitants just how much we’ve evolved!”

Alright then. Time to get to work.