From the heart to his pinky, Konrad's left arm burned like hell.
Imaginary flames spread from the inside through him as his mana poured out. It was easy to tell the Demon Lord must have felt the same, but he wasn't about to slow down.
This was their only shot to stop the fallen angel.
Lucifer's eyes widened.
"So that's how you want to fight?" A smirk tugged at his lips. "Optimistic. Or dare I say naive."
He had every reason to be arrogant, but wasting time?
All the better for them.
Well, even with Konrad's genius—that is to say, desperate—plan, he could've still wiped them all out. But he didn't, choosing to close the distance at a lazy walking pace instead.
"I crushed Michael not that long ago. Do you think you'd last long enough to—"
"Not so fast, angel boy," Kaede shouted, clothes ripping open. "Didn't you want to kill me?!"
In one second—faster than Konrad had expected—the part-timer was gone. In her place, a tiny red dragon roared behind the cash register, the green apron still around her neck.
Well, she was only small, compared to her usual size.
She still had to lean forward to avoid the ceiling, but—she lunged forward.
The angel froze, turning at the last possible moment.
The impact rattled the entire store, the shelf closest to Lucifer collapsing.
Konrad was choking on the dust it kicked up, but wouldn't slow the transfer for anything.
Kaede was dangerous without her flames, too, but he knew well what she had sacrificed.
Without mana, she'd be Tokyo's dragon forever—and a wounded one at that.
He couldn't believe it. When the dust settled, the girl was on the ground and the angel on her back. She thrashed and groaned, but Lucifer pinned her down with ease, out of her reach.
Claws and teeth snapped over nothing.
"As I was saying," he grunted, dusting himself off, "you can't fight back against me now."
He stomped his feet, and a sickening crunch echoed through the room.
The dragon let out a long, painful roar, her left arm stuck at an unnatural angle.
Konrad knew the angel was strong, but this—
"Kaede!" Gritting his teeth to push through the pain, he even increased the transfer's speed.
He still had two hundred mana to go—and by the looks of it, the Demon Lord was at the end of his rope, too. Lucifer turned his full attention back to them without hurry.
"So you feed him mana, and he banishes me?" he asked. "You think he'd take your side?"
Konrad froze, his essence slowing for a moment.
No, he was only trying to distract him. Sow the seeds of doubt.
Although—
He could've stopped him at any time he wanted. All he had to do was knock his hand away or kill him. And could Konrad even trust that kid? They were to become enemies again, but—
Screw that.
"Only he knows if he wants to stand up for himself," he said. If the angel wanted to waste time until the transfer finished, so be it. "I'll give him control over his future, unlike you did."
His voice was shaky, both from doubt and pain.
Lucifer smirked.
"Boy, that was such a vague wish back then," the angel laughed. "Is that why you're still mad? I told you, it'd be all up to you, that part. And I gave him everything, too."
He took a slow but deliberate step, Konrad's heart beating faster.
A hundred mana. That's all he needed. But the pain, the pressure—
"Slow down," Midori-kun whined as well, his knees buckling. "I can't cast it like this."
Konrad didn't turn to look at his face. He was too afraid of what he could have seen.
But as his vision started to blur, he had to oblige anyway.
And Lucifer strolled closer.
"I'm not... done," Kaede gritted out, her red dragon body trembling as she pushed herself up.
The angel stopped to roll his eyes, turning to point a finger at her.
"You had your part, be quiet," he demanded, a bolt of lightning hitting the dragoness.
She screamed, her near-indestructible scales charred from the energies.
"You can't even imagine how much I'm holding back right now," Lucifer grunted. "Lilith thought she could mess with me, and now I have the opportunity to take it out on you."
Another lightning bolt rattled the building. Kaede couldn't even make a sound anymore.
"The oh-so-great demoness, taking me for a fool," the angel scoffed. "Ah, she passed out already. Oh, well. Let's come back to this once you two—"
The transfer was complete, and Konrad's legs gave out, but—
The fireball knocked Lucifer back and away from the unconscious dragon. In case he had any doubts left, magic did in fact work on Earth. But he was almost out of juice.
"D-don't touch her," he breathed. An empty warning was the most he could do at this point.
The angel shot him an angry look, putting out his clothes.
"Okay, that's it," he said. "What is wrong with you, boy? You're aware that this woman ruined your previous life, right? And many others, too, including mine."
Konrad couldn't argue with that. For one, he had no breath to do it, and two—he was right.
"All I want is to bring you two back to Kasserlane and get rid of this nuisance," Lucifer claimed. "You're running on fumes, and wanted to go anyway. So? Here's your chance."
"She was the only one wanting to return," Konrad gritted out.
If she didn't, then Lily would—
"As a sidenote," the angel smirked again. "If I don't take you now, you'll be stuck here, too."
Tired as he was, he tried to run the math.
He had about a hundred and fifty mana left. Was it four or six hundred in the sword?
If he was lucky and got everything right at the first attempt, he could still—
"You talk about a demon who played you," Midori-kun said, his voice strained. "But have you ever thought about how we felt about you toying with us?"
Konrad finally risked a look at him, finding a trembling wreck of a child.
He might've overdone that transfer, putting too much pressure on his vessel, but—
"Toying with you? Maou Midori, my son," Lucifer murmured with a poisonous smile. "What did I promise when I gave you a second chance? To be the strongest mage, right? Did I lie?"
The kid didn't respond, but his lips were moving.
His fingers, too. He was counting—no, organising runes in his head.
"I gave you, and this other one, everything and more," the angel claimed. "Is it so bad that I also share in your success? You thought I risked everything for free?"
Konrad wasn't even sure what he talked about, but his eyes—his expression changed.
Not so confident now, taking another urgent step forward.
"Free?!" Midori-kun shouted as a purple magic circle took shape around him. "I went through all hell for that promise, only to make YOU strong. You used me. Used us. But that ends now."
And Konrad couldn't see for the next five minutes, his magic burned so bright.