—The central plaza of the Monster City of Ket Nya.
Everyone in the plaza stared dumbstruck at the utterly impossible images being projected.
This was Lord Kai, after all. I had resolved never to be surprised again, but honestly, this went too far. It simply defied reason.
What was taking place across those battlefields was no longer war. It was pure slaughter, carried out by overwhelmingly powerful entities trampling their foes underfoot. The so-called Evil Army, which had driven us to the absolute depths of despair, was being ruthlessly dismantled and ruined by Lord Kai's formidable subordinates.
"What even is that...?"
Clutching her chest with her right hand, Ramiel forced out the bewildered question.
"It is a perfectly natural outcome."
As Asta let out a massive yawn without the slightest hint of emotion, Ramiel raised her voice in protest.
"A natural outcome?! We're talking about the Evil Army!"
"It certainly doesn't look that way to me... Is the Evil Army truly such a fearsome threat?"
Perhaps shaken by the gruesome spectacle, my elder sister questioned Ramiel, her face drained completely of color.
Dumbfounded by what was, in a sense, an obvious question, Ramiel stared back with her mouth agape.
"Of course they are! They're—"
"You are not permitted to speak any further on that topic. Do you understand?"
Having slipped behind her unnoticed, Asta gripped both of Ramiel's shoulders and spoke with a smile. Although his tone was gentle and by no means forceful, Ramiel clamped her mouth shut and nodded repeatedly in response.
"Your perception is by no means mistaken. However, to those monsters, even the Evil Army is nothing more than a rabble of insignificant small fry."
Every deliberately chosen word out of Asta's mouth carried a strange, compelling weight. Or rather, anyone witnessing this battle with their own eyes would naturally see it as the only logical outcome.
"Lady Asta, was Mr. Lucas always that strong?"
Tetor wiped the sweat clinging to his forehead, managing to squeeze out the question. To be honest, Tetor possessed extraordinary strength in my eyes. The fact that even he was unsettled meant Lucas Gisedore's fighting style just now had been truly abnormal.
"That man, Zack, and Oboro are no longer purely human. The fact that Lucas has become a kin of Drekavac is, in a sense, proof of that."
"I finally understand what Master meant when he said they weren't enough of a threat to be called a war," Tetor muttered with heartfelt realization.
Just then—
"Hey, Zack and the others are making a move too!"
At Somni's shout, I looked up to see a man radiating raw, wild intensity stepping out before a small squad clad in blue military uniforms.