## Chapter 1304 – The Mazoku

“What the hell is this bastard doing?”

The captain seemed quite flustered.

And there, still emitting light, was the bizarre, enormous gem.

The large, red gem floated slightly, and the chains emanating from within still formed the magic circle.

This bastard had confidently declared that he wouldn’t be able to use the power of the gods while activating that, right?

“Attack together!”

The captain quickly regained his composure and gave the order, and the remaining Mazoku warriors and mages roared once more as they began to attack in unison.

Of course, it was useless.

There was no need to exert my full power. Objectively speaking, it’s true that these guys are strong. The humans of this land would truly be helpless.

But none of them are as strong as the Fallen Hero Ludencor. And I have a sword in my hand. No matter what they do, these bastards can’t beat me.

—Slash!

With a single strike, they are all cut down. There’s no need to exchange blows. There’s no point in taking them seriously. If they don’t match my strength, they’ll just be slaughtered meaninglessly.

“Kuaaaaaaaah!”

Among them, a guy who seemed to be the most skilled used his comrades as shields and charged forward.

He bravely roared and swung his sword, but the trajectory and movements were predictable. The power contained within was nothing compared to mine. I could dodge it. I could counterattack. No.

—Clang!

I could just take the hit and it wouldn’t matter.

“No way…!”

The warrior who struck my head with his blade said those words as if he couldn’t believe it. He attacked with all his might, but to me, it was just a cotton swab-like blow. How insignificant. Have you been preparing for war since the Idol War? The airship was decent. It’s definitely strong. But it just can’t catch me.

—Flash!

Anyway, the guy quickly distanced himself from me.

“H-How can this be! Captain! Our attacks aren’t working!”
“…Kugh.”
“Just what is that ridiculous power…!”

Now, only the captain and that warrior remained on the deck.

“Do you feel that I am overwhelming?”
“…”
“The humans who died from your cannon fire must have thought the same.”

This airship erased mountains and cities with cannon fire and magical bombardment. An overwhelming enemy and an unavoidable death. During the World War, civilians were massacred by bombs dropped by bomber pilots who seemed to be playing a game.

“…Truly astonishing.”

The captain said those words as he took off his hat and pointed his sword at me.

“Was your power not given to you by the gods?”

Ah. Right.

Looking at it roughly, I understand.

That gem and chain magic circle, it was that. A technique to sever the connection between humans and the heavens. It seems the Mazoku have created magic that prohibits `divine power`. Divine power is power that the gods remotely transfer from the heavenly realm. If that passage is blocked, it’s natural that it can’t be exerted.

“I see. That’s a magic circle that blocks the divine power given by the gods.”
“…Answer the question.”

If that’s the case, it’s only right to answer.

“Yes. It’s not power given by the gods.”
“…”
“It’s my power.”

—Grind!

At those words, the captain gritted his teeth.

I didn’t expect them to prepare something like that. Certainly. You could say their preparations were perfect. What kind of era was the Idol War? A war where rampant religions, gods, and extra-dimensional beings fought fiercely.

At the time, humans tended to rely heavily on the gods.

It’s still significant now, but it was even more so back then. Therefore, there must have been many who amplified their power with divine power, which was like a blessing from the gods, and wielded it. Those people were called heroes, and they fought for humanity.

The Mazoku remember that era. So, they judged that the greatest enemy threatening them was those heroes with divine power. That’s why they prepared something like that.

But what can you do?

My power isn’t divine power.

This is my inhuman power built up by the Heavenly Demon.

These bastards didn’t predict that.

That there is a true powerhouse who doesn’t borrow power from gods.

“Hehehe, I don’t beg for power from gods. I have no intention of wielding power that isn’t even my own.”

In the end, power borrowed from others is just someone else’s power.

Historically, rulers who brought in foreign armies to solve their country’s problems and that country never had a good ending.

Borrowing power ultimately means you have no power yourself. Then, you don’t know when those who lent you the power will reveal their ambitions.

Divine power is the same.

Power that the gods can give and take back at will. People in this era think there’s nothing wrong with that. Kadia has a similar way of thinking.

But that’s just voluntarily becoming a slave of the gods. I have no faith that the gods are good. Only I, Kim Kat, can define goodness.

I don’t need power that isn’t mine.
I pursue my own strength.

“…Interesting.”
“What is.”
“To think that humans could be so strong… To be at that level without divine power. I can’t believe it. I thought humans relied on the gods.”

Dordo definitely said something like that too.

“Gods are just beings below me.”
“Ha, hahaha! Yes! If you’ve built up that much power yourself, you’d think that way!”

The captain suddenly burst out laughing and shouted.

“A true warrior! Enough to be an enemy of our Mazoku!!!”

This bastard… Earlier, he seemed to hate those who borrowed the power of the gods, but now he seems to be acknowledging me. Does he hate the gods? Does he know they’re outer gods?

“But you won’t be a match for me. I can easily destroy this paper airplane.”

Of course, the Mazoku are no match for me.

“I’ll destroy your fleet and smash that aerial fortress. Even the Demon King you worship won’t survive! You’ll all die!!!”
“Try it, human hero!!!”

—Bang!

In an instant, the captain exploded his top. Then, his overwhelming muscles were exposed. This bastard! He trained his body to the extreme!

“Hehehe! It’ll be fun to kill you!!!!”

I will cut off his head and commemorate the victims!!!

“Long live Pelazer! Long live the Mazoku! Long live the revival of the Demon Realm!”

Red tattoos emerged from the captain’s body. —Whoosh! At the same time, he was enveloped in a red aura. I could tell from that. His power was going berserk. Did he amplify his own power on his own?

“If I kill only you, our Mazoku will win!”

—Clang!

The captain, in that state, kicked off the ground and charged.

“Hehehe, do you think it’s possible to kill me! You don’t know the difference between recklessness and courage, foolish Mazoku!”

Of course, he’s no match for Ludencor!

—Swooooooosh!!

A sword strike that seemed to bend like a snake, spewing out a red aura, rushed in. —Flash! I lowered my stance, gripped the handle of Vigal tightly. And then.

I swung the lowered blade horizontally.

—Slice!

The captain’s waist, which was charging in, was cut in half. The red aura. The seemingly good sword. None of it mattered. If it gets caught in my sword, it’ll just be cut.

“H-Huh…! T-To think I’d be cut down in one blow…!”

The upper body, launched like a rocket missile. The head on top of it shouted in astonishment.

“Truly! Truly amazing! To think such a powerful warrior exists in this land! But! Our Mazoku will not lose! In the end, we will win!!!”

What?

“Hey. No. You. You’ve been cut in half, why are you talking for so long?”
“You will not be able to defeat Lord Pelazer!!!”

Infinite trust.

“Is he as strong as me?”

—Thud.

Finally, the captain fell.

“Keeeugh…!”

His eyes began to roll back. He had a pretty long tongue for someone who had been cut in half.

“Lord Pelazer… has reached transcendence… Even if you are strong… you will eventually be defeated.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Pelazer is the one who’s going to die.”
“K… Kekeke… Good luck… Mazoku… Long live…”

You’re going to die.

—Thump.

With that, the captain died.

“Uwoooooooooooooooooo!!!”

In that instant, one of the remaining guys attacked me from behind. I lightly turned my body, grabbed the wrist of the guy swinging his sword, crushed it, and grabbed his neck.

“Cough!”
“Hey. Do you know anything about the gods of humans?”
“Kugh…! What’s that!”
“I’m asking if you know anything about the gods of humans.”

To get an answer, I lightly released the strength in my grip, and he spat out blood and said.

“The gods of you humans…!”
“Yes. The gods of us humans. Tell me why you hate them so much.”
“Isn’t it obvious! The gods of humans are our enemies!!”
“No other reason?”
“That’s right!”

—Crack!

Having heard the answer, I immediately snapped his neck.

Yeah, well. It seemed the Mazoku didn’t know much about the identities of the gods. That doesn’t matter anyway. I immediately threw the corpse.

“Hmm.”

Only corpses remained on the airship. Nevertheless, it was still operating. Are there crew members inside?

—Thump, thump.

I approached the cannons lying nearby.

“Damn big.”

The cannons were all murderous. It seemed the ammunition was automatically loaded from below, but I didn’t really care.

There’s no way I can learn anything about them just by examining this. Thinking that far, I immediately deployed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

“Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”

My overflowing power!!!

Was concentrated on one point!!!!

“Heavenly Demon Descent.”

The Heavenly Demon steps on the ground.

With that.

「—Rumbleeeeeeeeeee!!!!!」

It was over.

The intense vibration that started from the place where I stepped permeated the airship. The permeating vibration became thunder, became an earthquake.

—Crack!
—Kukwakakakakakakang!
—Pakakakakakang!!!

The deck surged like a wave. The floor exploded, and the walls and cannons flew away. The destruction, centered on me, covered the entire airship.

—Kugugugugugu!

With that, the airship lost power. It could no longer maintain flight and crashed as it was.

“One down for now.”

Standing on the ship that was crashing in pieces, I thought as I faced the wind.

“These bastards.”

The severance of humans and the heavens. The gods in the heavenly realm are giving divine power to humans. The Mazoku have identified that principle and reached the point of blocking it.

Very good preparation.

It’s a feat created by the purity of a child who brings well-prepared items.

But it’s meaningless.

The power of the gods is greatly weakened in this era. It’s impossible to create heroes with divine power alone. It might be possible to neutralize the paladins for now… But that’s not very meaningful either.

And there’s an aerial fleet with the power to erase cities and destroy mountain ranges. It’s strong. Various defenses are well-prepared, but in the end, they can’t catch me.

The captain rushed in with the determination to die together, but he was immediately cut down. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to judge that one airship itself isn’t a problem. No. It’s certain.

As Kim Kat sees it, this airship is not something that can handle a transcendent like me. This is for destroying countries. It can’t handle an out-of-規格 Heavenly Demon like me.

Therefore, the problem is.

The atrocities they will commit where I am not.

That is it.

“…Pelazer.”

And there’s Risha’s father. In other words, the Demon King Pelazer, one of my many fathers-in-law. No. Damn it. But why do I feel like I have so many fathers-in-law?

Anyway, moving on.

The captain was confident of victory even after taking my power head-on.

Is the Demon King Pelazer that strong?

Or is it unfounded belief?

The soldiers of Nazi Germany also mistakenly believed that Hitler had superhuman powers. They thought that just by swinging his fist, he could strike the American mainland. They believed that if he stomped his feet, a huge tsunami would rise and sweep away England and France.

Of course, Hitler was a pushover who lightly allowed the righteous Adolf to assassinate him. He was never a superhuman. The righteous Adolf, who infiltrated the Nazi secret bunker, gifted Hitler with a pistol bullet with the determination to die together, and Hitler, who received it, somehow died instantly.

That is the truth of history.

「—Kwakakakakakakakakang!!!」

Nazi Germany was defeated. The airship that collided with the ground exploded as it was, scattering debris. The equipment inside. All the crew members were destroyed.

Only I, Kim Kat, was thinking clearly in the midst of the explosion.

—Whoosh.

When the explosion ended, all that remained was wasteland. In the first place, it was a place that had become wasteland due to the cannon fire, so it didn’t matter much.

Anyway, I cut one down, but it’s not over.

How many more are left?

“Let’s go.”

I kicked off the ground.

And.

A full-scale war began.