Demon Lord Envoy Ose had been wreaking havoc in the Demi-Human region for almost one and a half weeks. Starting his attack in Madagascar, he managed to conquer most of the area, leaving only half of the Demi-Human region under Borreas' control. The Demi-Human King, Borreas, had fought Ose a bunch of times, yet had always met defeat at his hands.
The Demon Lord Envoy, Ose, was shaped like a demi-human leopard. He had the head of a leopard, while his body resembled that of a muscular human covered in animal skin. He wielded two nodachis and wore a flamboyant cape made from a lion's mane, like that of a hero. His eyes were red, and his mouth bared his fangs. The Great Leopard always fought with a vicious and brutal attitude, uncaring of his victims' identities. The Demi-Human Region's population had been reduced by a quarter due to his attacks.
Today, he felt something disturbing as he wandered aimlessly, looking for more places or people to conquer.
"Yo. Demon Lord Envoy Ose."
A man called out to him. He was wearing a black coat, and his short hair sparked with magical energy.
"Who art thou?"
"Your death," he said before disappearing into thin air. Speed-blitzing towards Ose, the man grabbed the leopard's face before crushing it into the ground below in the savanna.
"How weak!" His tone mocked the Demon.
***
Before~
Inside a tent, Borreas resided with his retainers and family, who were currently treating his injuries. A certain someone managed to pass the guards and enter his tent.
"Thalamik? The Fiend Kaiser?"
"Hehe. I don't use that title anymore. It's just Thalamik now, King Borreas," Thalamik said, waving his hand carefreely.
"I see. Then, did Besitulars lead you here to help us Demi-Humans? What did he offer to make you want to help us?"
Thalamik looked at Besitulars, who had accompanied him along with Momoka to meet Borreas. "My initiative to come here was not because I was friends with him or any other Demi-Humans, nor was I offered anything in return. I came personally to defeat the Demon Lord Envoys who were part of the Demon King's army."
"I see. So, is this your way of saying... that you expect nothing from saving us?"
Momoka's eyes turned towards Thalamik, who wore a gentle smile. "Of course, we expect payment. A cup of tea and three minutes of your time to listen to my banter would be enough," he said.
"Tea and three minutes?" Borreas widened his eyes, confused by his statement.
"I mean, you are a king. To even meet you, one must give up many things, right? All I ask for is that." He extended his hand towards Borreas. "Will you accept my offer, King Borreas?"
To Demi-Humans, respect is the greatest favor one could hope for. To still be called a 'King' when your kingdom had been almost completely destroyed by a Demon Lord Envoy—a doomed king with no hope left, suddenly given the respect he deserved as if nothing had ever happened. In turn, that king would only feel greater respect towards the man before him.
"I wish you luck in defeating that Demon Lord Envoy." Borreas finally smiled.
"Don't worry. He is so beneath me at this point."
***
"KUACK!" Ose's head crashed into the soil as he felt a sharp pull on his neck. His head was held up, looking at the figure in front of him.
"You were playing king this whole time, weren't ya, Demon Lord Envoy Ose? So, how was it? Did you have fun trampling those beneath you?" Thalamik spoke.
Releasing his grip on Ose's neck, Thalamik landed a blow to his gut, sending him flying meters away.
"Now you're beneath me. How do you like that?"
He moved once more, speed-blitzing through the battlefield and landing another punch on Ose's skull from above.
"ARROGANT BASTARD!" Ose shouted, trying to grab Thalamik, only to grab an afterimage of him.
"Darkside: Pegasus Kick!"
Thalamik launched himself with fiery mana coating his body. The impact of his slamming kick struck Ose's body with a force so powerful that it created a crater in the grassy savanna. With that single kick, Ose's eyes whitened as he seemingly fell unconscious.
"Wow. How weak. Here I was expecting a real challenge," Thalamik said as his ears picked up the sound of the rest of Ose's army charging at him. "Hmm? Where were they this whole time? Overwhelming me with numbers could have easily helped their master. Oh. I know."
He looked at them all once more and asked, "Were you all afraid to come closer?"
His hand summoned Blastar, the Sword of Darkness.
Thalamik channeled his magical energy as it began to rise while Ose's army charged straight at him. He positioned himself, ready to sweep an arc at the horde of Demons. Thalamik smiled before saying, "Darkside: Blade."
He swept his sword in an arc as blue magical energy, sparking with black sparks, released a wave of energy.
BOOM!
"Heh." He smiled proudly before looking towards Ose on the ground. "Well, I guess you've had enough fun anyway, right?"
Thalamik stabbed Ose with Blastar as Ose's body slowly disintegrated into dust, revealing only his Demonic Core. Giving it to nearby Beastfolk Saints which was in the tent with them.
***
"Yo, Borreas. I killed Ose."
Thalamik arrived at the King's emergency quarters with Ose's Demonic Core in his hand. Borreas' eyes glittered before finally tearing up.
"Thank you, great human."
Borreas' nearby citizens, who looked at him, began to tear up as well.
"You have done a great service to us. I will prepare a special banquet for you and reward you with the most extravagant—"
"I'll skip that. I'd rather have you drink tea with me. Of course, I will be the one who schedules it!" Thalamik said, pointing his finger at Borreas.
"How was it, Big Bro Thalamik?" Besitulars asked Thalamik.
"It was easy, as expected."
"I see."
"Was it any fun, Master?" Momoka asked.
"Not really. He proved to be so beneath me that I hardly broke a sweat," Thalamik replied with ease. "But, of course, I was so angry at him. To think he would play foul with the King of Demi-Humans is very unacceptable. There was no honor in anything he did."
"Now that you've said that, I really think we ought to celebrate this victory," Borreas said as he tried to rise from his seat.
In the blink of an eye, Thalamik noticed several injuries on Borreas' body. Injuries that made him remember a certain teacher of his who used to have that kind of injury.
"No need to move so soon, King. I will stay for a few more days. We can have tea and talk during that timeframe. For now, please rest. Victory is yours. The Demi-Humans are safe because of you."
As the three went outside, Thalamik nudged Momoka and whispered, "For the next three days, please help heal everyone in this camp. They need all the help they can get."
Momoka nodded at his words. Thalamik then whispered to Besitulars, "You go help the other citizens and the army forage for food and supplies while gradually reinstating the Demi-Human Kingdom to how it was."
Besitulars nodded before quickly going back inside the tent where Borreas was staying.
"Also, Momoka, I sense something disturbing. Particularly in the regions that Ose controlled. It's like something is sending signals in every direction, announcing that there is something strong here. Maybe it's like a beacon. Perhaps this was what attracted Demon Lord Envoy Ose in the first place."
"I see. Shall I prioritize accompanying you instead?"
"No, I want you to prioritize healing everyone first. It's just that I don't want to leave you in the dark. You're the one I trust the most," Thalamik said, lightly punching her shoulder with his fist.
Momoka smiled before saying, "Stay safe, Master. Okay?"
"Of course!"
Thalamik started walking in a different direction from Momoka. While walking, he said, "AA, do you hear me?"
Slowly, a pink orb appeared in front of him.
"Wow. I can't imagine that you're able to summon me like this, Mr. Thalamik," the pink orb spoke.
***
Thalamik was a person who had mastered the art of controlling magical energy. Following his ascension into becoming the wielder of Blastar, he had furthered his control to levels that could be considered impossible to achieve. Unlike Raymed, who was only able to manifest Blastur's armor in its entirety, Thalamik was able to manifest Blastar's armor piece by piece.
By manifesting only Blastar's mana channels, he was able to create a link to the nearest AA base station, which was located near a region previously known as Greece after they took over Zuatha's jammer.
"AA, are you able to manifest here?"
"I could, but you would have to supply magical energy to me."
"How can I do that?"
"Please give me magical energy as if you were trying to perform magical enhancement on my pink orb form."
Thalamik nodded before focusing his energy.
In an instant—
POP!
"WOAH! That was so fast!" AA manifested beside Thalamik. "Your mana control is too strong!" she said with an expression of awe and nervousness.
Thalamik didn't respond to that remark and asked, "Did you sense anything here?"
AA closed her eyes before unleashing mana channels that stretched through the air around them. "Yes, I do feel some kind of beacon present here. But there is also something else. I can't explain what it is, though."
"An unknown object, huh? Perhaps that was what had been bugging me this whole time." Thalamik scratched his head, trying to think of something. "Oh! Then you definitely should come with me!"
"What, me?" AA asked in surprise. "Why me? Even if I wanted to, that doesn't mean I could!"
"Huh? Why not?"
"I have to attend to... Um... attend to Grand Saint Veuz and Carmilla, as they are my creators!"
"But you are programmed like an Artificial Intelligence, which means you are omnipresent. No, perhaps you are like Narto with Shadow Clone J*tsu. You can exist in parallel with yourself. As long as you stay within their link, your memories are shared. So there should be no problem."
AA closed her eyes and covered her face with her palm as if saying, 'How did he even know about that?'
"Stop making excuses and just come with me."
Thalamik forcefully nudged AA, his face now very close to hers.
"Or is there something else you're hiding?"
AA's face turned red as she didn't know what to do. She swiftly pushed him away.
"PERSONAL SPACE, IDIOT!"
Thalamik was confused by her reaction, not understanding it one bit.
"Wait," he said, blue fiery mana appearing in his eyes. "There's someone there!"
Manifesting Blastar's boots, he grabbed AA, who converted into her pink orb form, and flew south. Upon arriving, Thalamik stood in the air above Lake Malawi.
A woman with blue hair was there, smiling as she tinkered with the machinery. She was standing in the middle of the lake with what appeared to be a colossal device of unknown function.
"Thalamik. According to my records, that person is..."
"Yeah. That is Suiko."
The woman with blue hair continued tinkering with her machinery. Suddenly, black sparks appeared as magical energy shot into the air, creating a black pillar before turning invisible.
Thalamik descended slightly, making his presence noticeable to Suiko. Her smile suddenly grew even wider.
"Ah~ Thalamik. How nice of you to drop by~"
Slowly, her previously blue hair turned paler and paler until it became completely white. Her eyes became yellow as her attire transformed into black and white clothing with several black and red stripes.
A familiar voice spoke near her.
"Suiko, hold back your strength," a figure dressed in a familiar outfit said.
"That's!" AA said.
"Kourin too, huh? Well, well. Ain't this nice?"
A similar scene played in Thalamik's head—the scene of how he had first fought Kourin and Suiko. But this time, there was no way he could lose.
"Sure, let's do it. Let's have a rematch!" Thalamik said, summoning the Sword of Darkness.