Amaterasu and Kamui were being held captive by a man with dark red hair.
"So, you're finally awake," said the man.
"Who are you?" Amaterasu asked.
"Relax a little, will you?" the man replied.
Amaterasu stared at him with an annoyed look. The man grinned cunningly and dragged Kamui's beaten body into view.
Seeing that, Amaterasu's anger exploded.
"You bastard! What did you do to him?!"
"I just tortured him a little."
"You piece of shit! I'll kill you!" Amaterasu screamed, struggling violently.
"Calm down, buddy."
The restraints snapped, and in an instant, she punched the man's face hard, sending him flying.
But she wasn't done. She rushed toward him and continued to punch him over and over.
"Hey, do you even realize who you've been hitting?" said the man's voice — from behind her.
Amaterasu turned around, shocked.
"How are you behind me?!"
The man pointed to the one she'd been beating.
"Kamui?"
The man smirked.
"My name is Gabimaru — a hero, and a master of high-level illusion."
"Why are you doing this to us?"
"To put it simply, it was Erina's order — your beloved teacher."
"What are you talking about?"
"My task is to kill useless students like you."
Amaterasu's eyes widened in disbelief. Gabimaru laughed wickedly, covering his left eye with his hand.
"Oh, is that so?" said a voice — Allen.
Gabimaru turned, startled.
"Since when have you been here?"
Allen pointed behind Gabimaru — where Rika, Stella, and Megumin were holding Erina hostage.
"This can't be…" Gabimaru muttered in disbelief.
A little earlier…
Allen had planned to save Amaterasu and Kamui, but Megumin stopped him.
"Don't be reckless."
"Relax, I'll finish this quickly," Allen replied.
"Idiot, what if it's a trap? Besides, you still need to train your energy control."
Allen turned and glared at her.
"You think I'm weak now, huh?"
Megumin fell silent.
Suddenly, someone approached.
"Long time no see, Allen Stolen."
Allen and Megumin turned.
"You… Fujimiya?" Allen said.
"Yep," Fujimiya replied, grinning. "You two look like you get along so well."
"In your dreams," they both retorted.
"Hahaha. What are you doing?"
"Who's this guy?" Megumin whispered.
"He's Fujimiya Hanemia, my classmate. A crazy genius strategist."
"What are you whispering about?" Fujimiya said, smiling.
Allen and Megumin explained the situation.
Fujimiya stroked his chin.
"If we report without hard proof, our report might be ignored… or delayed."
"So what should we do?" Megumin asked.
"We'll set a trap to make the enemy admit their crimes."
He paused.
"I'll pretend to be the captured Erina. But first, we need a guard to act as a witness."
"Nice plan," Rika said.
Back to the present…
A knight of the Celestial Dragon faction crashed through the roof and confronted Gabimaru.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, GABIMARU?!"
Gabimaru looked down.
"YOU'RE A HERO! WHY DO SOMETHING THIS STUPID?!"
Gabimaru responded by stabbing and tearing open the knight's body.
"What are you doing?!" Allen shouted.
"My brother was trash anyway," Gabimaru muttered.
"Don't you fear prison?" Fujimiya asked.
"I'd do anything for Lady Clara — anything!"
Everyone readied their weapons.
"I'll go get backup," Fujimiya said, running off.
"Idiot!" Rika yelled, but he was already gone.
"Haha, looks like he ran away scared," Gabimaru sneered.
He snapped his fingers.
> SYSTEM: 15 high-level monsters summoned.
King Orc (Lv. 1500)
Passive: Debuff
Quantity: 5
Undead (Lv. 330)
Passive: Devours everything
Quantity: 5
Wyvern (Lv. 1000)
Passive: Enhanced slime abilities
Quantity: 5
"You've got to be kidding… That's way too many," Rika complained.
The monsters charged, and Allen's team fought back.
Allen summoned his Shinigami Sword and started cutting them down.
Stella's Excalibur was ineffective against the Orcs. She was nearly attacked by an Undead — but Allen noticed and cast a holy spell.
"Lunar," he chanted.
A holy explosion destroyed the Undead.
Gabimaru realized Allen was a key player — so he leapt over his own army and kicked Allen into another dimension.
Megumin, Stella, and Rika were shocked at how easily Allen was defeated.
"Allen!" Stella cried.
"So that's his name," Gabimaru said.
Allen returned, badly wounded. Gabimaru sent him flying again.
Allen realized something: his cheat ability wasn't working.
Gabimaru lifted Allen's body, opened a portal to another universe, and threw him in — trying to prevent destruction of their world.
"Allen Stolen… so this is all you've got?" Gabimaru mocked, then took his sword and beheaded him.
But—
"Damn, my avatar's all busted," said a voice.
Gabimaru turned.
"No way…" he muttered.
> SYSTEM: Avatar has died.
Restoring true power.
Power: 100%
Passive – Adaptation: All Gabimaru's attacks are now ineffective.
Passive – Reactive Evolution: Allen is now 100× stronger than Gabimaru.
Allen grinned.
"Who… Who are you really?" Gabimaru asked, trembling.
With a smug look, Allen replied,
"Name's Allen Stolen. Demon King."
To be continued…