“Even I don’t believe that we can win against the Great Demon Lord. However, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed. And it is those who are unable to forgive that are turning their blades against the Demon Lord. If he is angered, it could mean the ruin of the empire… And so I have no choice but to stop them…”

Magnus said as if he were spitting out blood.

That being said, did they really fear me that much…?

Did they think that I was some blood-thirsty Demon Lord?

“Magnus. The Great Demon King will understand you if you were to talk!”

Old William glanced at me before saying this.

I was so happy that I could nearly cry.

The other teachers were also trying to persuade Magnus.

But I felt like half of them were doing it to cheer me up, and not exactly for Magnus’s sake.

However, there arguments did little to change Magnus’s expression.

“I already know that! But what can I do… This is the only way…the only way we can…”

Hmm? He seemed a little strange…

<<Magnus’s mental energy is declining. On the other hand, his demon energy is increasing greatly. This reaction is above that of a Greater Demon. It is a Demon Lord.>>

A Demon Lord!?

He bypassed the Arch Demon and is going to call out the big boys? However, it is hard enough for a human to control an Arch Demon…

“Magnus, stop this! That is not something you can control! No human can!”

The person whose voice rang in order to stop Magnus was, surprisingly, Irina.

She was shouting desperately, but her voice did not seem to reach him.

<<The demon reaction is getting stronger. Mental contamination of the host is in progress. It seems that this…>>

According to Ciel, it seemed that Magnus had been hiding the core of an Arch Demon.

She said that he had probably had it securely sealed away and intended to draw power out of it when the need arose.

And for some reason, it had started to become active, and was working on Magnus’s conscience little by little.

Perhaps it was the events of the previous night… Maybe the demon had used the guilt he felt over abandoning his friends.

And now.

A black energy was surrounding Magnus’s body, changing it into the inhuman flesh of a powerful demon.

It was Magnus but it was not Magnus… It was something no longer human.

A being that was equal to the old Demon Lord.

Right in front of their eyes.

“Finally. I have finally gained a body that gives me freedom!”

That was what the Demon Lord said, with Magnus’s voice.

I ignored the voice and started to shout.

“Everyone, retreat! Come back!!”

Upon hearing my voice, all of the students moved at once.

The Demon Lord looked at all of this with deep interest.

But here the poison tiger stepped forward and looked threateningly at the Demon Lord.

“Hey, you guys come over here as well!”

I said to the members of the ‘Humanity Emancipation Alliance.’ But only two of them reacted.

“Let’s go.”

“But, Miss Irina…”

“Quickly! That thing will not differentiate between friend or foe!”

After this short exchange, Irina and Rozari crossed the defense line.

It was inside of the defense barrier that the magic team had created.

It was also a barrier between life and death.

“Hahaha, Magnus. You did well to make this decision. Good! Now, let us take the world together!”

“Phew, finally. If you hadn’t taken so long to go all out, we wouldn’t have been so underestimated by these students.”

Berna and Clad said as they walked towards Magnus.

No–the Demon Lord that looked like Magnus.

“Berna, Clad! Come back here!”

Irina shouted. But it was too late.

“Hehehe. No. I need more, more! Blood! Flesh! Despair and fear! Now, since this is my birthday celebration, I will allow you to partake by offering me your grief! Today! This day, now! Celebrate with me!!”

The Demon Lord shouted as he spread his arms.

This was very bad.

A Demon Lord could not be compared to an Arch Demon.

It had more power than the weakened Demon Lord that ruled this island–the Rock Elephant.

And on top of that, it’s energy was only increasing.

It had its own will and was clearly an old demon.

A demon with intellect.

He could not be compared with any simple monster. This one was much more dangerous.

And—

The Demon Lord began to move.

Ggkka!

Mkaa!

There was a blunt crushing sound.

In just a blink of an eye, several students began to scream in horror.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Yes, they were afraid.

The Demon Lord had moved forward and crushed Berna’s and Clad’s heads in his hands.

And with such ease.

Neither of them would have had a chance to understand what was happening.

Perhaps it was the one relief in this situation. They had not tasted the fear…

In any case…

“Hehehe. That felt good. I will take on your ‘names’ along with your souls.”

Because Demon Lords eat souls.

Berna and Clad were not only brutally torn apart, but their very souls were lost.

That meant that they would fuse with the demon and suffer an eternal pain that’s worse than death.

It was their own doing, and yet, it was a disappointing end.

As for the Demon Lord…

“That is stupid… Giving yourself a ‘name’?! Impossible…”

Irina was right to be alarmed.

From birth, demons were not able to do such a thing.

But this demon seemed very strange to me.

It seemed like the anger that motivated him was much stronger than usual.

What if Irina and the others had done something very foolish during their experiment?

Something to enrage an intelligent demon…

“Hey, Irina. Let me ask you this, did you do any experiments with the demons? You wouldn’t happen to have done anything to an Arch Demon, would you?”

“I…”