“Fuchs Brigade HQ to Corps HQ! The vanguard teams in the Great Dungeon are now on the fourth floor and counting. Casualties are severe—”

  “You will continue in your task, Captain Erhart,” Wilhelm calmly said, as he eyed the distant amplification tower. A bluish glow emanated from it, indicating that it was fully active.

  As planned, it improved his men’s coordination. Instead of garbled voices, he could hear his subordinates clearly now. Both in their progress and in the setbacks they were experiencing.

  He climbed on top of a wooden barricade on the widest road directly in front of the eastern cathedral of the city, where Phoebe, still unconscious, was held. Behind him, his crossbowmen and casters cowered, including the operators of the four L?we towed anti-demon shützes arrayed in their firing positions.

  Of course. He couldn’t blame them. As he placed his telescope to his eyes, nearly two kilometers away, was the rampaging Sin Archdemon. She seemed wholly enraged, sending dozens of men each second flying into their deaths using her hair.

  “Seems like there is at least twice your hair compared to before,” Wilhelm cracked a smile. “I see…so you’re very triggered now.”

  “Laughing Fox!” the Archdemon shrieked, her voice carried throughout the battlefield by its sheer loudness. “How dare you steal and violate my hair. The very essence of the sin I proudly represent, the very essence of my strength, you desecrated it!”

  Thousands of strands of hair, all magically enhanced, shot out toward Wilhelm. But then, four fireballs from the skies struck it, causing brilliant explosions that destroyed all of them.

  “Shütze Batteries 3 to 5, give her another dose,” Wilhelm coldly said. “Then hold off for precisely two minutes.”

  “My hair! My hair! Your diligence disgusts me! This show of competence, of professionalism, of coordination, just to mock me! Your existence irks me! How dare you belittle me—!?”

  Right as she reached the one-kilometer mark, eighteen fireballs struck her, dropping her on the road as the explosions practically tore through everything. But within seconds of the smoke dissipating, her hair once again shot out in all directions.

  “Ah! This is too much! This is beyond what’s acceptable! Why you…why do you place so much effort into defeating me? What’s the point? Why, why, why, why—”

  “To be honest,” Wilhelm looked condescendingly at her as Sloth was carried again upwards by her hair. “You’re the weakest of them all.”

  “You say that as if it matters. You measly little rat, all these displays of diligence, all of it means nothing in the end. That smug eye of yours, your friends, your soldiers, and all that matters to you, I’ll crush it all without even lifting a hand!”

  Her hair began to shoot out again at the various platoons surrounding her, all of them attempting to hold her back with whatever weapons and spells they had. They met their demise fast, and one of the officers whose hair was caught was even thrown straight at the barricade where Wilhelm stood.

  But even when his subordinate’s blood splattered itself on Wilhelm’s face and coat, he remained still, his eyes remaining analytical and unflinching.

  She really is the epitome of laziness. Ever since the start of this battle, she has barely moved her own body. Only her hair. The very source of her ability…

  It was why he used it for that potion to activate Phoebe’s powers. He needed to introduce the essence of a Sin Archdemon’s ability. This creature kept that in her hair, which she was using liberally against all those against her.

  Wilhelm smiled.

  “You know, this is precisely why I bought you here,” Wilhelm declared, as the demon reached six hundred meters away from him. Sloth stopped, her eyes widening. “I knew you’d choose to bite my generous offering, precisely because of who you are.”

  This is it. This is the end of the line for me. I’ll pass the torch to you, Phoebe, and Alexa.

  Make this count, and make me win.

  This will be his final, boldest gambit in this chess match, which he had been playing since he was a child. Mechanically, of course, you couldn’t just sacrifice your King and win a game.

  Well, he was now about to turn two of his pawns into two Queens, all for the cheap, cheap price of himself. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to see the game to its end himself as a result of such a gambit, but…

  Think of what two Queens can do on the chessboard after the King falls.

  Once that active skill was on, he took his glyph book from his coat. Opening it, immediately, at least two hundred pages ripped off and flew around him. It was the equivalent of eight battles against the Archdemons.

  Thousands of lives have fallen, just to harvest enough of their blood to inscribe them on these pages. Wilhelm’s smile was indicative of a man proud of his work. This was his masterpiece, years in the making, all to make the impossible, something no one ever did since the first demon appeared, happen.

  To kill a Sin Archdemon.

  “Today,” he stepped out of the barricade, as a shield spell protected him and his men, nearly twenty pages ripping itself to activate their glyphs. “Today, great Sin Archbishop of Sloth, I’ll show you the best show you’ll ever see. That’s why I brought you here.”

  Sloth angrily threw a boulder at him, only to be blocked by his powerful, demon-blood-fueled shield spell. The boulder harmlessly planted itself on the road, and Wilhelm climbed on top of it.

  Finally, he could stare at her eyes, which reflected his cold, gleeful smile, right when the most important report reached his ears.

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  “Fuchs Brigade HQ to Corps HQ! We’ve disabled the portal! But there are still too many lesser demons in this dungeon. I’m afraid most of my men will die!”

  He tuned it out. They didn’t matter. They served their part in the big picture already. Goddess bless them. Now, it was time to focus on this one.

  “...What,” Sloth’s eyes widened. Her body finally made a small twitch. “What did you just do? Did you…have you perhaps tricked me? That portal…”

  “Yes, it won’t ever open again, not after that artifact’s been destroyed.”

  “You…”

  “Yes, it’s me,” Wilhelm laughed as he saluted her mockingly. “It is I—Major Wilhelm von Eisen. Member of the Defense Forces of mankind. The commandant of the Fuchs Brigade. The same man who trapped you here, and used your own ability, to awaken Phoebe d'Lumiere. All to end you and your ilk.”

  The Archdemon’s face was now fully pale. There was no arrogance of a creature unkillable by man on it. Only dread.

  “Phoebe d'Lumiere…? The first princess…no, that despicable traitor, she’s still alive?!”

  “She’s quite the naive, innocent, and soft girl who wouldn’t harm a fly. So why the great killing intent? Is this the point where you’ll finally show your first display of diligence—Sin Archdemon of Sloth?”

  A scream pierced Wilhelm’s and everyone’s ears. The shriek, so high-pitched and powerful, resembled that of a wail of banshee. As she did that, she retreated a bit, as a black halo, similar to Phoebe’s golden halo, appeared on top of her head.

  Her hair began to grow rapidly. From what must be a hundred thousand strands, within ten seconds, perhaps, there were two hundred thousand, then three hundred, then half a million. Each of them, arrayed in at least eighty bundles that formed into these thick spikes, planted itself on the ground and the buildings around her.

  “I’ll kill you all!” She shouted, her fist curled in rage. “Then I’ll kill her. Most especially, I’ll kill you, Wilhelm von Eisen!”

  Right then, Sloth’s eyes turned to the amplification tower.

  “There. That’s where she must be. I know she must still be knocked down. This…this is the best time to kill her!”

  “And you’ll have to get past me first before that.”

  +++

  Alexa watched from the amplification tower as the battle on the eastern side of the city raged on for many minutes. Constant barrages of fireballs from the sky struck that black ball of hair, and she could see beams of light constantly slicing through it.

  Identify, identify, identify, identify!

  She strained her eyes, just to do that, until…

  “Finally! I should have tried acquiring this back then!”

  Alexa strained her eyes further, just to identify that creature and see how strong it was.

  W-what?!

  Dread filled her core.

  “Why…?” Alexa couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Why are her stats like that?”

  “It just means she’s so powerful, and your identity skill is so weak, that she manages to hide it,” Adele answered, gulping. “It’s the same with me. To be honest, even if you are the strongest human alive, I doubt you’d see it either.”

  “Why?”

  “I’d bet that the grading scale for all her stat categories will look like how that special skill of yours looked. It will all use the omega symbol—symbolizing absolute perfection. She has so much potential that the system can’t even comprehend anymore.”

  “She’s looking at us,” Alexa said. “Seems like she finally defeated Wilhelm.”

  “Goddess,” Adele teared up again, as she raised her wand. “I don’t know what I can do. Isn’t his plan to buy Phoebe time? If he’s now gone, then…”

  “Then that job shifts to us,” Alexa said, gritting her teeth, as strands of hair began flying toward her. “Damn it. If this is it, then…”

  Alexa pulled out her glyph papers. In one go, she tore them all, causing a dozen glyph symbols to appear around the tower.

  “I won’t just die while doing nothing!” Alexa shouted at the top of her lungs, activating her Rose Eyes skill fully, causing her pink eyes to glow. “Phoebe! Please, I beg of you! Save me, and everyone in this city!”

  But there was no response.

  Instead, Sloth’s hair continued to fly toward Alexa. In fact, she could now see Sloth herself, wounded, bleeding, bruised, flying as she was carried by her hair. She looked like a true ghoul of hell, and she seemed to eye Alexa with the worst killing intent Alexa had ever seen.

  “So you’re not even that traitor?!” The Archdemon growled. “No—wait, you’re that brat! How dare you use your ability to work with him, and destroy my damned portal!?”

  “Can’t you just die?!” Alexa shouted, red-faced, as the glyphs around the tower fired all of the fireballs it had left, destroying a bunch of the hair spikes headed her way.

  Adele began to send all of her remaining magic to support the shield spell Alexa’s glyphs created as well, causing the first wave of attack from Sloth to be blocked.

  But after that, the second wave finally shattered it.

  Alexa made it so far. She changed this timeline so much. She managed to befriend her mortal rival. She managed to rally her people. She managed to make herself look like a true leader for once. She avoided so many of the nasty things the original Alexa Theresa did.

  She…she had her own magic now too. She managed to get strong enough that she even unlocked the first step to the Holy Mandate. It was everything the original Alexa Theresa failed to achieve.

  She worked so, so hard, more than she ever did back on Earth.

  She did her best.

  But, it wasn’t enough.

  She watched tearfully as the spikes of hair flew toward her. It would kill her soon, but, even in tears, she plastered a proud smile.

  She stood her ground and fought. In the end, she became more than just a brat as she vowed.

  Take that, nerd brother of mine. At least, my death will be epic unlike yours!

  Before she could finish her internal monologue bragging about how awesome she became even if she lost, a flash of light sliced through the strands of Sloth’s hair.

  Alexa and Adele released a breath they were both holding. Then, they looked at the city below. There, hovering on top of the eastern cathedral as she held her precious staff, was none other than Phoebe.

  Her halo never glowed as bright as that. Her face too was now wiped of its naive innocence, replaced by fury at the Archdemon.

  Alexa beamed as she went for the banister, shouting and pointing at Phoebe.

  “Phoebe!” Alexa’s eyes glowed even more as if she were trying harder to reach her friend. “Now that you’re awake, listen to me! I, Alexa Theresa von Wolgast, command you: please kill the Sin Archdemon of Sloth!”

  Phoebe’s eyes widened, before she nodded, aiming her staff at Sloth.

  “As you wish, Lady Alexa. It shall be done.”