Muen honestly felt like he was about to lose it.

Born with a built-in pack-mule constitution—fine, because he had a shameless, inhuman excuse for a teacher.

An Evil God magnet—sure, because he was the story’s unlikeable yellow-haired villain.

But he never imagined that after surviving this long—clawing his way up from some first- or second-rank nobody to a so-called “ultimate beast” barely squeezing into the strong—his biggest, most inescapable connection would be with this thing.

“Love God... why is it you again?!”

Muen stuffed the metal container holding the Demon God blood into his storage space, then reached back and gripped An’s hand.

Her palm was cold—actually trembling slightly—because to her, the Love God wasn’t just a shadow. It was the source of her deepest hatred.

What happened back in that little village still clung to her like a wound that wouldn’t close. Eluca’s face would still flash before her eyes sometimes, out of nowhere, the moment she shut them.

“It’s okay,” Muen said softly.

“I’m here.”

“Mm.” An gave a small nod. “I’m not scared. I’m angry.”

【Muen Campbell...】

The instant the metal container vanished from Muen’s hand, the Love God’s hatred surged into razor-sharp clarity. The rotten body of the Enchantress Grand Duke split in more places, and more eyeballs and needle-like mouthparts grew out of those tears.

【Give me the Demon God blood... give it to me!】

“Looks like your human language lessons are going pretty well.” Muen sneered. “Now you can say a whole sentence without even stopping to breathe.”

【Give me...】

“Sorry. I’m not kind enough to donate to something as disgusting as you.”

Muen quietly drew Elizabeth. An forged steel into a scythe. The two of them set themselves, fully braced.

Their condition wasn’t great, and there was no telling how much strength the Love God could draw out of the Enchantress Grand Duke’s corpse... but Muen could chicken out in front of anyone—except this corrupted Love God.

【Die...!】

The Love God roared again.

A terrifying pressure slammed forward. Above the Enchantress Grand Duke’s dead, soulless body, a broken crown—already visibly rotting, covered in fleshy tumors and veins—began to rise, slowly lifting into the air.

The patterns of sun, moon, and stars etched into it had been completely eaten away. A dim, eerie glow filled it with ruin. But the power that belonged to a crowned one was not faked in the slightest—just meeting its gaze made a person’s eyes sting with pain.

Muen’s eyelid twitched, and his heart sank straight to the bottom.

The worst possible outcome had happened.

The Love God could actually draw out part of the Enchantress Grand Duke’s strength.

This was bad. Even if he tied himself to An and multiplied them by ten, they still wouldn’t be a match for a crowned one. The gulf between them wasn’t something he could cross at his current level.

“What do we do?” Muen tested the waters, glancing at Mela. “Should we run first?”

“Who was it that just said you wouldn’t chicken out?” Mela rolled her eyes, deadpan.

But she didn’t look flustered at all. She only lowered her lids, glanced once at the Enchantress Grand Duke, and said lazily,

“With it this lively, what are you scared of?”

“Lively?” Muen froze.

What was she talking about?

Was there someone else—

“Yo.”

Right as Muen was confused, a warm, frivolous voice rang out.

“Looks pretty lively. Is this a party?”

Long hair flowing, sharp brows and bright eyes, a few stray whiskers along his jaw lending him a mature air—yet the way he leaned against the wall, loose and carefree, reeked of roguish charm.

A man who had no idea when he’d appeared strode in with a longsword in his arms, like he’d been watching this farce for a while. If not for the fact that what floated in the air along with his unbound hair was an eye-catching, shamelessly flamboyant women’s long dress, his current presence would have been more than enough to make a crowd of girls blush and panic.

“Since it’s a party, how could you possibly leave out the one known as the Banquet Prince?” The man swept his bangs aside and smiled.

“Paul?” Muen’s mouth twitched.

The Love God, sure—an old repeat performer.

But he hadn’t expected to run into Paul in a place like this.

And the way he looked now... was he fully used to it? Completely unbothered by the fact he was in women’s clothes? It was honestly blinding.

“Why are you here?”

“That’s what we should be asking.”

A massive shadow dropped down, kicking up dust.

It was Reta—and behind Reta stood an arrogant little girl.

Annie crossed her arms, radiating pride as she spoke.

“Muen Campbell, why are you here? There was a huge disturbance just now—every demonfolk suddenly shot up into the sky. Do you have any idea what that was? And what’s with that little doll head next to you? Looking at it makes me kind of annoyed.”

“...Miss Annie, I’d advise you to talk less, or you’ll go home and get your butt spanked by your great-grandfather.”

“My great-grandfather would never—”

“All right, all right, this isn’t the time,” Muen cut in fast, before Annie could explode.

The demonfolk situation was way too complicated to explain in a few sentences. And he had no idea how much of it was information Teacher Mela wouldn’t want spread around—especially to this “younger generation.” Muen figured it was best not to run his mouth.

Besides, this didn’t look like a time for chatting.

“Leaving aside why I’m here, your timing is... really bad.”

Muen had assumed the “lively” Mela meant was some truly heavy backup—like the Calamity overhead coming down to smash the Love God into paste.

Instead, it was Paul and Annie, the same kind of infiltrators as him.

They were strong—among their peers, they were the very best. But just like Muen had said...

Even if he and An were bound together and multiplied by ten, they still wouldn’t be a match for the Enchantress Grand Duke’s corpse under the Love God’s control. Adding a few more fourth- or fifth-rank fighters wouldn’t help at all. That crowned-one gulf—

“Ah. It’s the Love God!”

Paul acted like he’d only just noticed the rotten figure in the middle, and put on a show of surprise.

“So it’s actually in a place like this.”

“See? This is exactly why your timing is—”

“Damn it, we finally found it!”

Paul suddenly slammed a fist into the wall and cursed viciously.

“We’ve been running around Gutongs Castle forever just to find where it was, wasting so much time—and from the look of it, we even missed something huge because of that. It’s infuriating!”

“Huh?” Muen blinked.

“Finally?”

What did that mean?

And why did Paul look happy about it? That was an Evil God—an Evil God, and he looked downright pleased.

“Yeah, finally! I almost ran my legs off. You all know I’m not good at walking. What am I supposed to do if my delicate little feet get blisters?”

A soft, lilting sigh.

A faint shimmer of magic flashed. Space twisted, and the frail figure of the mage Feier appeared directly in the room.

Her eyes were still closed. She looked languid and serene, like she’d just woken up.

After stretching in a satisfied, sensuous way, Feier first gave Muen a small wave in greeting—then turned to face the Enchantress Grand Duke’s corpse under the Love God’s control.

And in that moment, she used spatial transfer magic openly—placing herself only one step away from it.

【...】

The eyeball embedded in the Enchantress Grand Duke’s cheek froze. The crown’s aura paused mid-spread, as if even the Love God inside hadn’t understood why a tiny human ant would dare stand so brazenly right in front of it.

Muen Campbell, fine.

But this other human ant—where did she get the nerve...?

“Love God,” Feier said, smiling softly. “I know you’re confused, but the reason is actually very simple.”

Facing an Evil God, she showed not the slightest fear. Her tone was gentle—almost tender.

“Someone asked me... to send you their regards.”

As she spoke, Feier opened her eyes.

In an instant, every shred of darkness in the vast space under the night’s shroud was swept away.

Because an unimaginable light surged out from the eyes she had opened.

It was holy—soft—filled with countless exalted hymns.

But to the Enchantress Grand Duke, and to the Love God hiding inside that body, that sacred light carried the most merciless heat in the world.

Because it was Holy Light—the Life Goddess’s Holy Light, merciful and imposing.

【@#%#￥......!!!】

The Enchantress Grand Duke’s body began to disintegrate on the spot under that terrifying, supremely holy, supremely scorching force. A scream beyond human understanding tore out of the corpse. The trembling eyeballs were full of hatred, but even the power belonging to a demonfolk Grand Duke could not withstand the vast Holy Light flowing from Feier’s eyes.

“This is the Church’s... greeting,” Feier said, still smiling, “and its return gift—for what you did back then.”

The retaliation and judgment of the Church of Life were horrifying. She was clearly prepared. In a single instant, her Holy Light crushed the Love God’s movements.

Under that Holy Light, the Love God couldn’t mount any real resistance. The Enchantress Grand Duke’s corpse was a decent puppet, but with its soul gone, the body that remained could never compare to the original.

So in only a few seconds, along with the corroded crown, the Enchantress Grand Duke’s body was burned down into ash.

Only a spasming, twitching lump of flesh remained, still struggling.

【No... #％#％... not yet... ￥％￥... not yet...】

The remaining grotesque eyeball spun wildly, sweeping over Feier, over the others, even over Mela—before finally landing on Muen.

Hatred beyond imagination erupted from that single eye, carrying an Evil God’s wrath.

【It isn’t over yet!】

Muen jumped, then immediately felt wronged. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Hey—she’s the one burning you. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Why are you glaring at me?

I haven’t even swung yet!

But before Muen could react, cold steel rang out. With a wet splut, the lump of flesh was slapped flat.

“It’s over,” An said, reaching out and controlling the steel, her voice icy.