The central square of the Monster City of Ket Nya. Everyone stared transfixed at the scene projected in the sky above. And with good reason—what they were watching was utterly impossible.
"Impossible..."
Ramiel barely managed to squeeze the words past her bone-dry throat.
That skin-crawling aura. Those were members of the Evil Army, and among the highest-ranking officers at that. Furthermore, the number of officers serving directly under Lieutenant General Forneus was limited. In all likelihood, those two were Fuguo and Urokoonu.
Under Forneus's command during the Great War, Urokoonu and Fuguo had slaughtered countless divine soldiers of the Heavenly Army. The terror they inspired had reached even rank-and-file angels like Ramiel.
At the very least, they were not beings any creature in this world could hope to oppose. Yet here they were, butchered by people claiming to be mere humans.
Had it been a narrow victory, it might still have made sense. But it wasn't. Both had been defeated without a single moment of danger. In fact, Tetor's bout with Fuguo hadn't even amounted to a fight.
Tetor claimed to be an angel acting on Lord Ares's orders, just like Ramiel. But that was impossible. The one he had just crushed beneath his heel was a Lieutenant Colonel of the Evil Army. Only the Heavenly Army could defeat the Evil Army—that was an absolute truth. At the very least, in terms of sheer resilience, Fuguo was an overwhelming powerhouse who surpassed even Lord Ares. Given that Tetor had butchered him so one-sidedly, the boy was clearly a god who had already attained divinity. There was no way he was a simple angel. If so, then just who was he?
"Oh? He did quite well for someone so green."
Alone in his reaction, the Chief of the War Gods, Kai Heinemann, gave a satisfied nod. Judging by his cheerful, totally unbothered demeanor, defeat had never even crossed his mind.
Well, anyone who had seen Tetor fight just now would know no other outcome was possible.
"No, no, no! No matter how you look at it, that's just insane!"
A wild-looking man went pale and voiced the very thought nagging at Ramiel.
"I concur. That can no longer be called human," agreed Asta, the gentlemanly looking woman beside him.
"That's right! My brother, Gil, is human! And that same Gil is overwhelming Demon King Aldebaran?! How could something so absurd even happen?! Kai, what did you do to Gil?!"
Once again, Saint Rose bore down on Kai Heinemann, her expression frighteningly intense as she blurted out that nonsensical demand.
"Lady Rose, Zack wasn't referring to Prince Gilbert," the White-Haired Old Gentleman pointed out with a stern grimace, stating the obvious.
Indeed. At this point, nobody cared about that Demon King. In truth, Ramiel couldn't even track Aldebaran's movements with her eyes anymore. It was an undeniable fact that he was already stronger than she was. Normally, that alone would have been well worth panicking over, but Tetor's performance was far more beyond the realm of reason.
"Not Gil?! But that's Aldebaran! One of the Four Great Demon Kings!"
Rose raised her voice, pointing at Gilbert, who was even now slicing Aldebaran to ribbons at the razor's edge between life and death, deliberately refusing to deliver the finishing blow.
"Sorry, Princess, but things have already blown way past the level of worrying about some Demon King," the wild-looking man said, trying to reason with her.
"Well, he is the weakest Demon King in history, after all. With the strength of a mere gnat like that, he would have been wiped out by hunters or someone similar before long anyway."
Kai Heinemann's supplemental explanation seemed to plunge Rose into the absolute depths of confusion. She clutched her head in both hands, sank to a crouch, and began muttering to herself.
"Master's remarks only breed confusion. It is best to refrain."
At Asta's apt observation, the others nodded in heavy agreement.
"You sent Grasshopper Man and Akujiki, so you were at least factoring in the possibility of Tetor and the others losing, right, Master?"
"Mm. Their training was half-baked, after all. To be honest, I thought they'd break even at best."
Asta furrowed her brows. "Therefore, what Master calls 'half-baked' is, by common sense, Tetor and the others surpassing their mortal limits."
She cast a meaningful glance toward the lion-faced god beside her.
"Especially in Tetor's case, he awakened to that mysterious ability following his training with His Excellency. On top of that, having been registered in the Compendium this time, Tetor alone has likely reached what would be considered mid-tier strength by our standards."
The lion-faced god declared this as if weighing every word.
"Mid-tier among Master's subordinates... Isn't that seriously insane?"
At the wild-looking man's heartfelt mutter, the lion-faced god reported with a hint of pride:
"Of course, even if we call it mid-tier, it borders on the lowest tier and is trivial strength from my perspective. Still, compared to where he started, it is an impossible amount of growth."
Asta grimaced in disgust, offering a deeply heartfelt opinion: "Naturally. Forcibly dragging a powerless little monkey up to the level of those vicious residents goes beyond absurdity—it is purely the work of a pervert."
"By my reckoning, I thought Grasshopper Man and those guys would make for an even match, but what do you think?" Kai Heinemann asked Asta, resting his chin on his right hand.
"Taking their innate physical capabilities and special abilities into account, the enemy should hold the advantage in sheer power. However, through Master's power, Grasshopper Man possesses Super Physical Ability Enhancement in Hand-to-Hand Combat, alongside Eight Great Elements Nullification and Multiple Status Ailments Nullification. The water, acid, and poison that form the core of the enemy's attacks are constantly nullified. In other words—"
"You're saying they'd have to beat an enhanced Grasshopper Man in a pure brawl? Well, that's just flat-out impossible. Grasshopper Man's martial arts mastery is already unhinged as it is."
The wild-looking man cut Asta off, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Hmm. In that case, was assigning Akujiki as well a bit of overkill?"
"It is like unleashing a dragon upon a spat between a caterpillar and a mantis."
At Asta's rather baffling analogy, Kai Heinemann merely shrugged. He drew the long sword strapped to his back, looked around at the war gods who were still watching, and spoke in a light, cheerful tone.
"Gil seems about done as well. Now that the sideshows are over, let's make our move."
At those words, Asta straightened her posture and bowed, while the war gods who had been watching with keen interest dropped to their knees before Kai Heinemann once more.
Kai Heinemann's grin stretched from ear to ear as he barked a grand command:
"The battle begins! No need for restraint! Trample them into dust!"
Sir!
The war gods responded instantly to the order, vanishing from the square one after another.
(This is my cue to leave.)
Staying any longer would do nothing but harm. She had to return to Lord Ares in the Heavenly Realm at once and report everything.
Just as Ramiel moved to step back—
"Orders from the Master. Pitiable as it is, you are to remain in this Mortal Realm."
Having slipped behind her unnoticed, Asta clamped a hand onto Ramiel's shoulder, delivering an order that sounded like a waking nightmare.