"ROAR!!!"
The gigantic Hakuo let out a thunderous bellow. A shockwave of sound shook the palace to its foundations. Great tendrilled blades, as massive as his swollen body, thrashed and crashed down through the all-consuming flames.
Right now Hakuo was racing against time—he had to defeat Takumi before the flames burned away even his pseudo-immortal body!
Watching the Demon Lord bull through the blaze, Takumi sighed inwardly.
With his current mana, it was still hard to draw out the true might of the [Infernal Flame.]
Otherwise, how could Hakuo be withstanding it?
"But if the ultimate flame isn't enough… then I'll just throw on more fire!!"
"[Boosted Gear—Balance Breaker]!"
Vmmm—!
Magic flared from Takumi like a cataclysm, a tide of power fierce enough to pulverize the earth!
Rumble—rumble—!
The ground beneath his feet shattered. The tendril blades that had rushed him were torn apart by the surging aura.
Before the stunned eyes of the Demon Lord Hakuo, crimson armor like living fire flowed over Takumi's body. Scarlet dragon wings unfurled at his back—the swell of power peaked.
Demon Lord–class!
"W-what!?"
Hakuo's voice shook with disbelief. Takumi's aura now dwarfed his by hundreds of times!
BOOM!
With a single crack of air, the Balance-Broken Takumi became a streak of red specter, appearing point-blank before Hakuo. Compared to the titanic Demon Lord, his two-meter frame looked like a fly that could be swatted with a paw—
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
But the speed of his blows, the force behind them—far beyond Hakuo's expectations. Even bracing with everything he had, Hakuo's "iron-hundredfold" body crumpled like tofu beneath a single punch!
The violent shock carried through Hakuo's flesh, punching holes through the palace wall behind him… and the trailing force smashed a mountain to rubble more than ten kilometers away!
The raging air current scooped up what remained of Hakuo and hurled him out of the palace. Hurtling backwards at supersonic speed, only half a head still clinging to his body, the Lion King stared blankly ahead.
"How can I… be so… powerless!!"
He roared in stubborn fury as incredible mana welled from his abdomen. Wriggling flesh-tentacles stitched his ruined body back together, regrowing at terrifying speed.
"Someone's helping you regenerate. The source is… here."
The crimson figure flashed into being. Layering [Pierce Vision] atop the [Jade Eyes], Takumi saw straight through the Demon Lord's secret.
Hakuo snapped back to awareness and roared—vast tendrils lanced out like a storm, stabbing at Takumi from every angle.
"Too slow. Far too slow. This isn't even a tickle."
"[Foresight Eye]!"
A few seconds of the future bloomed before Takumi's eyes. He beat his wings once and slipped like a ghost through the barrage, finding gaps—finding the fatal opening—in the middle of that suffocating onslaught.
Whoosh—
Like a crimson lance he pierced straight through, boring a hole through Hakuo's monstrous torso—and, amid the ruptured flesh, seized a squirming black infant in his hand.
It pulsed with mana. Obviously the source of Hakuo's power.
With his belly hollowed out, Hakuo… smiled. A look of release.
"My wound… won't close… At last, am I free… of that ominous fetus?"
"Thank you, Hero… at last… I am… free…"
The light went out of his eyes. Smiling faintly, he toppled from the sky.
[Ding! Randomly looted Trait: Corrosive Power (Purple)]
Feeling the new, ruinous force coil within, Takumi lowered his gaze to the ominous fetus in his hand. Exposed to air, it rapidly crystallized into a single jewel.
[Philosopher's Stone]
[Description: A magically-crafted mana gem containing power enough to destroy a nation. Fusing it into the body grants a pseudo-immortal flesh and dominion over monsters—but also corrodes the mind.]
"…"
Takumi's brows knit. He hadn't expected the Philosopher's Stone to be this kind of cursed object. So the Demon Lord itself was merely the product of the stone's power—a pawn of its maker.
"That old king… must have fused with something similar."
He turned, looking out over the now-captured Demon Lord's Castle. The crimson armor withdrew; the crushing load on his body eased at once.
"Whew… If I kept Balance Breaker up nonstop, ten hours is probably my limit before I fold."
Thanks to chaining with Heal his tolerance had climbed into the hours—an impossible feat for any other Sacred Gear wielder.
But as he glanced down and saw Eve and Lapiz below, his brows drew tight.
"As expected, something's wrong with the Demon Lord Candidates."
Inheriting the title of Demon Lord had triggered a change in Eve's body. Threads of pitch-black mana had begun seeping forth, reshaping her heart step by step into a Philosopher's Stone. Her power was rising with it, slowly but surely.
Without the [Jade Eyes]—and the rest—he might never have noticed something so subtle.
Takumi descended and landed before Eve and Lapiz. They lit up the moment he appeared.
"Takumi!"
"Hero-sama!"
They started forward to embrace him—he held up a hand.
"Hold up. Open your arms—bare your chests. It might hurt for a second. Endure it."
"Eh?" x2
Both froze a beat—then flushed scarlet.
"Not in public, Takumi! Don't push it~"
"Y-yes, Hero-sama… perhaps we should return first… b-but if you insist, then Lapiz will—"
Faces burning, they nonetheless obediently spread their arms.
Takumi, face going dark with exasperation, didn't bother to explain. He moved—and punched straight through their chests.
Squelch!
In the next second, two beating hearts were in his hands.
"[Restore]!"
With practiced healing, he reset the damage in an instant. Eve and Lapiz stood there in a daze, then shrieked and clutched at their full, heaving chests.
"W-What was that!? Why did you suddenly rip out my heart!?"
They stared in bewilderment. Usually he only squeezed—this was a new level of stimulating.
"Look closely."
Takumi opened his palms so they could see. The hearts, which had been beating a moment before, were now turning ashy black—and quickly melting into an unnameable black ichor.
...
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