Chapter 47: The Location of the Core

The battle continued.

They kept attacking in vain—attacks that only led to the Demon King regenerating—because they still hadn't found the core.

Come to think of it, even when Kazuya had sliced him to bits in his human form, there was no sign of a core. Not even a scratch.

Was there even a core to begin with? What if that entire "reaction" had been a lie made up by the Demon King Debidangalm?

The thought started to creep into my mind.

It felt like one of those hopeless defeat events where you keep fighting even though you're not supposed to win. Like when you burn through all your items trying to beat an invincible boss—only to find out later it was a scripted loss. I remember thinking, "Hey, give me back my items!"

But still, this wasn’t working. Something about this whole approach felt wrong. Yeah, time to rethink everything.

First, when the Demon King was in his human form, Kazuya diced him into pieces—and he regenerated.

Then, the Demon King's old tale… let’s set that aside for a moment… wait.

Something clicked.

He said his original form was slime-like. And that he could grant abilities.

Slime form… and granting abilities... I’d assumed it meant giving magical powers. But what if that actually meant severing and implanting parts of his own body?

If he could separate parts of himself and transplant them—that would explain a lot.

Nevaska and Kalif likely had pieces of the Demon King embedded in them as "seals"—which is why he could kill them anytime with a mere thought.

And if he could separate his body, then the Demon King we were fighting now could be just an extension—split off from the true core, which was hidden elsewhere...

Still, hiding the core somewhere entirely separate seemed unlikely. The Demon King wouldn’t risk putting it far away. It’s his life, after all.

Which means—it had to be within eyesight. Somewhere in this room. That way, he could protect it in case of danger.

In that case, there was only one thing to do.

Attack the entire room and watch how the Demon King reacts. If we get a response, perfect. If not… we’ll figure out something else then.

---

"Kazuya! I don’t think the core is in his body! Hit the entire room!"

Kazuya jolted and gave a thumbs-up in reply. Quick on the uptake—thankfully.

I followed up by blasting Takemikazuchi with lightning, putting him into his enhanced state.

Kazuya was the best person for this. In that form, he could channel even stronger lightning magic through Takemikazuchi than I could.

Kazuya began chanting. Then, taking some distance from the Demon King, he raised Takemikazuchi to the sky and roared:

"Heavenly Thunderstorm of Fierce Release!!"

A storm of thunder and lightning erupted, engulfing the entire chamber.

If the Demon King reacted, we’d know where the core was. Come on...

──And the Demon King moved.

Immediately after the spell activated, the humanoid upper body detached from the elephantine lower body and shot forward.

He wasn't as fast as Kazuya, but still quick.

Amid the surging storm, the Demon King reached behind the throne, detached a round orb embedded in the wall’s ornamentation, and absorbed it into his humanoid body.

Just as I suspected—the core had been outside his body.

And now that he had taken it in, it meant his weakness was finally internal.

"You did well to figure out my core wasn't inside my body. To think you'd force the truth out of me this way… I commend you."

He sounded composed, but his expression was full of rage.

"Hah! Don’t act like you’ve got the upper hand, coward—fighting without a weak point all this time. But now it’s different! We’ll crush that core and finish this!"

"Kazuya, you misunderstand. Now that I've reabsorbed my core… this is my true power."

To be fair, his magical energy did feel stronger. He exuded an even heavier presence than before.

But that didn’t matter. We were still going to defeat him.

Kazuya leapt toward the Demon King again. If he could slice up the upper body now, he’d destroy the core with it.

But he was intercepted. Dozens of sharp horns lashed out, halting his advance.

And while Kazuya was fending those off, the Demon King remerged with the elephantine lower half.

"Damn! He recombined again. But at least we know where the core is now. Let’s go, Miki!"

"Yeah! Let’s do this!"

"Right!"

Recomposed, Kazuya dashed in.

As a test strike, he slashed at the legs.

But unlike before, his blade didn’t slice clean through—it barely cut in.

Clearly, the Demon King's body had hardened.

Even worse, his counterattacks had become faster too.

Maybe caught off guard by the increased toughness, Kazuya was a bit late to react—barely dodging the counter.

"Yikes! He’s gotten way tougher—and faster! This might be tricky."

Despite his grumble, Kazuya still seemed to have plenty of fight left.

"Then how about the upper half?"

Kazuya leapt up, using the elephantine legs as a springboard.

He deflected incoming horn attacks, used them as stepping stones, and launched himself straight at the upper torso.

"Demon King Debidangalm! Prepare yourself!"

Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, he brought his sword down and cleaved the humanoid upper half in two.

The upper body didn't seem nearly as hard as the lower one.

But—

"Hmph. Do you think that accomplished anything?"

The Demon King regenerated instantly, speaking as he reformed.

"I let you land that hit—just to show you the real me. Now then, let’s see how you plan to destroy the core."

He folded his arms and prepared. A swarm of horns burst from his body and rushed Kazuya.

"Tch! Yeah, he’s definitely faster than before!"

Kazuya managed to slash away the horns and repeatedly aimed at the torso—where the core had been embedded—but the flurry of horns and spells kept him on the defensive. He was getting fewer and fewer openings to strike.

Even when he did land a blow, the wounds regenerated instantly. The tide wasn’t turning in our favor.

I added my own support—launching double-layered spells at the lower half.

But those attacks weren’t working as well anymore either. The Demon King’s regeneration was faster, and his resistance to magic seemed stronger. It was hard to even tell if my attacks were doing anything at all.

"Kazuya, you seem to think the core is in my upper body. But what if you’re wrong? Have you considered the possibility that my core can move freely throughout my body?"

Honestly… I had. If he could extract it, then it stood to reason he could move it around too.

That said, if you assumed that from the start, there’d be no way to strategize. Kazuya’s approach—focusing on the upper body—was still valid.

But this scattershot tactic clearly wasn’t working anymore. Time to regroup.

"Kazuya! Let’s rethink our strategy!"

"Got it!"

We pulled back, putting some distance between us and the Demon King.

Strangely, he didn’t pursue. His attacks also stopped.

"Hmm. I’ll wait. Hopefully you come up with something good.──Ah, yes, even now, I wouldn’t mind letting you join my ranks, you know? I am generous."

The Demon King stood there with his arms crossed, watching us with that smug expression.

Debidangalm, you bastard. You were trying to kill us a moment ago—now you’re pretending you’ve got all the time in the world just because things are going your way? So annoying.

Still… he wasn’t wrong.

Right now, we couldn’t land a decisive blow. And if Kazuya’s awakened state wore off, it’d probably break his spirit. If that happened, then… we really would be out of options.

---

We were cornered—wasting time and burning through stamina.

If we didn’t settle this soon, Kazuya wouldn’t last much longer.

But honestly, I couldn’t come up with any good ideas. With that insane regeneration and massive frame, destroying the moving core with either magic or sword strikes felt like an impossible task.

As I was deep in thought, Kazuya—having dropped out of his awakened state—approached and said:

“Miki, I don’t have much energy or awakening time left. That’s why I want to finish this with my next strike.”

“You’re ending it with the next one… So you’ve got something in mind? That’s great. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah, I need you. Miki, do you remember Erin and Corin? Their magic wasn’t as strong as yours, but the two of them used a powerful cooperative spell called United Magic. I think you can pull it off now.”

United Magic, huh… Right, I remember that now.

I’d gotten so used to casting alone, the thought had completely slipped my mind.

On top of that, United Magic required both casters to synchronize their magical energy—unless your affinities matched closely, it couldn’t be activated. That’s why it worked for Erin and Corin, since they were twins.

But now, I had dual casting. And my partner was the white shadow—another version of me.

If anyone could do it, it was us.

I nodded firmly.

“I’m about to awaken again. When I do, help me use United Magic to reinforce my body and Takemikazuchi! This is probably my final move!”

“Got it! I’ll make sure it works!”

It would be my first time attempting United Magic, and it wouldn’t be easy. But I would succeed—no matter what.

---

Kazuya turned toward the Demon King and raised Takemikazuchi once again.

“Oh? Still have some fight left? I figured you’d realized by now how pointless this is.”

“Shut up! I’m never joining you! I’ll defeat you!”

“Brave words. But what now? Grit alone won’t win this.”

But Kazuya had a chance. I believed in him.

I began chanting the spell to boost his body.

Together, I and the white shadow began the incantation. Our magic started to fuse.

And then, it completed.

“United Magic: Titan Form!”

The spell activated.

It was surprisingly seamless.

I’d heard United Magic could cause some physical strain since it required synchronizing two different magical energies—but I felt none of that.

It felt as natural as casting any spell by myself.

Once again, I realized just how identical my white shadow really was.

And the result—Kazuya’s body gleamed brilliantly with radiant light.

“Whoa… This… This could work! Let’s go!!”

As the light faded, he entered Golden Awakening again, shrouded in golden aura, and dashed forward.

Next, I cast the second United Magic spell—this time, a lightning spell.

“United Magic: Thunder God’s Spear!”

Lightning crashed down onto Takemikazuchi as Kazuya ran.

Since the blade was formed with my magic, it easily absorbed the lightning I summoned, supercharging both Takemikazuchi and Kazuya.

He leapt, and in a blink, slashed down from above—right in front of the Demon King, Debidangalm.

The Demon King didn’t react in time—his arms were still crossed.

His upper body split cleanly in half.

Before regeneration could even begin, Kazuya raised Takemikazuchi again and slammed it straight down into the gash—driving it from the chest all the way to the waist.

“Ultimate Secret Art—Laughing Blade of the Wanderer: Thunder Anvil – Final Form!!”

He struck right at the joint between upper and lower halves, activating his ultimate technique.

Originally, Thunder Anvil was a move where Takemikazuchi would be cloaked in lightning and brought down like a hammer. But Thunder Anvil – Final Form was different.

Lightning spread from the blade embedded in the body—electrocuting Debidangalm from the inside.

It roasted him from within. Even the core would be reduced to ash—that was the true form of this technique.

“GUOOOOOOOOAAAHHHHH!!”

For the first time, the Demon King screamed. It was working—maybe even damaging the core.

“RAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Kazuya roared, channeling even more lightning into the attack.

He cranked his awakening output to the max—he was going all in.

And then… silence.

The Demon King’s scream stopped. A moment later, so did Kazuya’s.

Kazuya began to collapse. I panicked, pouring magic and will into the teleport bracelet, and instantly brought him to my side—just in time to catch him.

Debidangalm’s upper body had been completely charred, black as pitch. Nearly half of his lower half had been burned as well. The damage from within must have been devastating.

Had we destroyed the core too? It really looked that way. Maybe we actually defeated him.

I sat Kazuya down and propped him up.

“Kazuya! Hey! Are you okay!?”

He stirred in response.

“Mmm… yeah… I’m awake. I’m alive.”

Kazuya kept his eyes locked on Debidangalm—no chance for carelessness.

He tried to get up but lost his balance. I quickly caught him and helped him steady himself.

“Kazuya…”

When I looked up at him, I saw it in his expression—it wasn’t over yet.