It might have seemed ridiculous, and it shouldn't have worked, but it made perfect sense.
The Isekai Microwave was Konrad's first original spell—if you could even call it that. And while he invented it as a nuisance for his enemies, it proved that it could also defeat them on its own.
Or save allies' lives, like when it did against freezing to death during Stella's rampage.
A versatile spell, and an invisible one. But the most important part?
It was dirt cheap and lightning fast to cast.
He could scale and multiply it as necessary, without wasting a single thought.
An underrated spell that nobody expected, but it could turn the tide so many times before.
A silent killer, if you will, even if it wasn't particularly deadly. Not right away, at the very least.
But so far in his magic duels—not that Konrad counted himself an expert—all the attacks were flashy and sudden. It almost seemed like the casters wanted to telegraph their intent.
It all boiled down to wizard A throwing a spell at wizard B, and B had to form a counter in time.
Then the next attack would be so different that the first counter became detrimental. Once a strike was over, both the offense and the defense against it would be all but forgotten.
Whoever ran out of mana first—or, between beginners, whoever missed the counter—lost.
But his Isekai Microwave didn't work like that.
It was never meant to be a fast, devastating spell. And it was anything but flashy.
He cast it around Maou Midori unnoticed, using the same time he spent monologuing, and now all he had to do was wait. The focused infrared light beams stayed, radiating heat.
If he tried a firebolt instead, the Demon Lord could have blocked it and moved on.
Not this thing. Even if he noticed Konrad's casting and erected a quick barrier, it wouldn't last.
But his spell did.
Not a glorious instant victory, but the heat should have worn his enemy down over time.
And their defenses were rock solid.
He didn't erect temporary barriers to match every strike. Although it would have been cheaper and more effective, he always wanted to be safe. No missed spells or counters slipping through.
Now he had the mana to spare, and anything he missed, Stella could cover for him.
He still wasn't sure how the life force syphon worked, but the important part was that it stopped.
Maou didn't get younger—it wouldn't made sense anyway—and Konrad felt reinvigorated.
And as for the dragoness, Maple peppered him with breath and lightning attacks to keep him at bay. She was careful to stay within Stella's defensive range now, becoming more confident.
It was ironic how the former executioner became their last line of defense.
But only she could neutralise the one huge advantage the Green Mage had over them.
"This is not how it should've happened," the Demon Lord gritted his teeth, but kept attacking.
Konrad was aware. He saw the propaganda-future-footage, too.
But for the first time, he finally felt like he could actually win.
"You can still surrender," he shouted, tweaking the output of his Isekai Microwave.
Maou was sweating hard, but whether he knew what caused it or not, he couldn't do anything.
"Surrender?!" the Green Mage scoffed. "There is no surrender here. Your friends want me dead."
That wasn't something Konrad could confirm or deny. He never thought about that before.
Gabrielle was adamant that he'd stop Maou Midori, but she never specified how.
Kill him? Imprison him? Strip him of his powers?
As if he had the know-how for such a thing.
"I don't want any unnecessary bloodshed," he said, and that was at least true. "But you pissed off the heavens for some reason, and I won't let you have your way. We outnumber you now."
And that was a fact. Powerful as the Demon Lord was, he had no backup.
No matter how fast he cast, no attack slipped past the combined strengths of Konrad and Stella.
Maple handled the offensive, and if he didn't count her future form and the archangel—
Their trio must have been the most powerful force in this world right now.
'Don't forget the other mages and all the bishops,' Maple chirped, striking Maou with lightning. Her thoughts no longer echoed with pain. 'They're also pretty strong. But in Halaima? Sure.'
'If they're so powerful, why do we have to do the dirty work?' Konrad complained.
But that was as far as he got.
Rather than the usual three, the Green Mage threw at least five fireballs at them.
Still mundane, low-level attacks, but that was a lot to deal with all at once.
"Outnumber me?" he hollered, though his voice felt strained. Even as a young man, he was out of breath and sweating hard. "Not for long, child. Hadn't you noticed? Help is on the way."
Konrad took a quick look around, having seen nothing but the usual smoke.
Was that a trick? He felt so naive.
"What help?" he asked, pushing his infrared spell another notch higher in response. "I already defeated your shamans. I wasn't even trying. And your armies will never get through here."
Half of that was his attempt at taunting, the other half his budding self-confidence.
But the Green Mage only laughed at that.
"You talk about pawns, boy," he said. "I talk about the mastermind."
That did sound a bit menacing—especially as he remembered him talking about Lucifer.
What did his guardian angel have to do with anything? Why would he act against him in the first place? It made zero sense, but he couldn't let his guard down now.
"He should've been already here, but something must have happened," Maou Midori noted.
Not that he'd slow down his attacks. His lightning strikes and sharp wind kept eating away at Konrad's universal barrier. But with mana being so abundant, he could still stand his ground.
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed his workings," the Demon Lord laughed.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, but by the time he finished the sentence, it hit him.
The mana flowing through the cracks was not normal.
It wasn't the usual trickle; it was an unstoppable river flooding in from the other worlds.
'There has been a barrier around this world, ever since I was born,' Maple confirmed, too. 'And it feels like it's been gone. Stripped away by something or someone.'
Yes. Gabrielle used to say this world was off-limits.
The angels put restrictions on it, and Lucifer should've never brought him here.
It might've been their safety net keeping Maou Midori here, and it was Konrad's job to stop him from breaking it. But if it was already gone—
"Also, you seem to have forgotten something important, kid," the Demon Lord taunted.
Rather than the usual flurry of attack spells, he appeared to be casting something new.
Something more complex. Something bigger.
Purple lights appeared around him, forming complex magic circles and pentagrams. If he squinted, they almost looked like a clock in the making, its intricate internals exposed.
Right. How could he overlook that?!
He could block Maou's ordinary attack magic. Stella handled the life-essence syphons originating from his staff. But those were never the Green Mage's strong suit.
When he disappeared a year ago, he researched spatial and temporal magic.
He time-traveled.
What the hell could Konrad even do about that?!