"Now, then...do it," I instructed my clones, both using Teleport upon my command.

The first one appeared to Belia's left, with a powerful, swirling sphere of flames, lightning and wind between his hands...thanks to a slight modification that Diablo and Lazarus had made, I could see through the eyes of my clones now, it was a little confusing to have three different lines of sight, but I can just about manage.

​​

As the first clone fired his Elemental Magic blast at her, which disappeared through another shimmering portal, the second clone silently reappeared right above her in her blind spot, concealing his presence and suppressing his bloodlust as he raised his blade.

Right as my Obliteration blast petered out, the second clone swooped down and swung his short-sword in a downward vertical slash from behind, the blade coated in swirling wind, ripping her vertically in half as the blade tore through her body. I then zipped towards her, before instantly closing the gap by rejoining with both clones and charging up another Obliteration Magic blast in my hands.

"I can't believe you managed to split me in half...you really are something else!"

Her voice seemed to be echoing out from nowhere...her mouth wasn't moving at all. I ignored it and fired my blast...suddenly, one of the halves of her body disappeared, and the other half...became fully intact in an instant, her arm was back, her clothes weren't even torn or anything...man, this Restoration Magic makes my Healing Factor look like child's play in comparison.

And she managed to activate that Dimensional Magic defense just in time to avoid getting wiped out by my blast. I swiftly extended out my palm, briefly forming a fireball as a decoy, before suddenly dissipating it and firing out Repulsion instead, striking her midsection.

She let out a gasp of pain and surprise as I caught her off-guard and sent her flying back through the air rapidly, before she halted herself by swiftly spreading out her wings. I continued to zip after her, before using Teleport to appear right under her and swung my foot straight up while extending out several bone spikes from it, which tore through the top of my boot.

She let out a scream of pain as my foot struck her right between the legs, the bone spikes piercing through and then rapidly extending further, bursting out through the top of her head, before I made them branch throughout her body. Gotcha...let's see her escape from this.

"Ow, that really hurts! Of all the places to kick me-...!"

"...I picked the one you'd least expect," I completed her sentence for her with a smirk, "You have to activate that defense of yours manually, don't you? In other words, if you don't see an attack coming, it's pretty much guaranteed to connect. And it also means that you can't keep it active constantly, can you? Otherwise you'd just keep it active all around you at all times, and you'd basically be invincible."

"So, two people managed to figure out how it works, huh?" She remarked with a wry smile.

"Let's see how many times I need to kill you before you stay dead...after all, people die if they are killed, to quote a famous saying. Now, take this...Incineration Cannon: Obliterate!"

I charged up and fired out a combined blast of lightning, fire and wind mixed in with Obliteration Magic...overkill, I know, but whatever. The attack struck her and wiped out all trace of her in an instant, not so much as a hair left...but a second or two later, I sensed her reappearing a little way off to my left.

"I've been inflicted with my fair share of severe injuries, but no one's ever erased my body so thoroughly before," She remarked with a wary smile, "I think I'll take my leave for now...I already sent back my pawns and two sidekicks, so I don't need to stick around any longer. I've had my fun for today, no need to push my luck."

Don't think I'll let you escape...!

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Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

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"If you really think I'll let you run away that easily, you're sorely mistaken," Warned Kuro icily.

He's so cool! Ooh, I want to keep fighting him...! But I can't push it...I've used far too much Divine Magic today as it is, I won't be able to have much fun next time if I use up too much more...

"And if you think it's that easy to stop me, you're the one who's sorely mistaken," I countered with a smirk, as I opened a portal behind me and began sinking into it.

He swiftly chased after me, but he won't make it in time...and if he teleports, I've got a barrier spell ready to activate, it'll stall him for at least a couple of seconds. I was almost halfway through the portal now, it felt like time was flowing at a near-standstill...I could feel a gripping sense of anxiety as he closed the distance bit by bit...what a thrill, this is the absolute best! But...there's no way he can reach me in the literal second it'll take me to go through this portal, but even so...

I could feel his murderous intent directed at me, it felt too...confident, he seems sure that he can get me before I can get away. And suddenly, he stopped in mid-air with a faint, triumphant smirk appearing on his lips...as I felt myself getting ensnared in an illusion spell.

He got me...crap, I was so worried about him that I forgot to not make eye contact...did he deliberately not use any illusion spells so that I wouldn't be alert to the possibility?

This feels like a Chaos Magic spell...no matter, that caster can't move while casting Chaos Magic, and it shouldn't take me more than a couple of seconds to unravel even the most complex Chaos Magic spell, so-...w-wait, what is this?

I...I don't know this spell...but that's impossible, when a human resists a Demon that has Chaos Magic, they can only use the default Chaos Magic spells that I set when I first created the Demons. It is possible for Demons to create new Chaos Mavic spells, but...only the more powerful Demons are capable of creating new Chaos Magic spells at all!

In other words, this should be impossible...heh, this guy...he really is the best!

I better unravel this spell quickly, or-...suddenly, I felt a wave a fear wash over me, and the next thing I knew, I was strapped to a metal table in a cold, strange-smelling room with bright lights right over me...is this an illusion? It feels so...realistic. There were men around me, wearing white coats, similar to what the researchers in The Valaque Empire had worn...lab coats, if I remember right.

"The test subject is prepped and ready to operate on."

Huh? Test subject? Does he mean me?

A sharp pain then burst out from my stomach, my body stiffening and my mind overcome with terrified agony. My body...they're cutting it open...I could feel the blade slicing through my skin, I could feel them poking at my organs, I could feel it all so clearly and vividly...I felt helpless and trapped, my only option is to bear it...

"Some damage to organs, but nothing severe. Test the formula again."

Suddenly, I let out a scream of pain, as it felt like lightning was running through my body...and then, I felt a prick on my shoulder...a syringe, someone using it to inject something into me, excruciating pain spreading throughout my body from that spot-...no, what am I doing, this is an illusion!

When...when did I start believing that this was real, when did I lose sight of the fact that I'm in an illusion? What...wh-what is this, this doesn't feel like an illusion at all!

"Adverse reaction, try the other formula after ten seconds of electrocution."

And yet, it didn't feel real either...time felt like it was rushing through and going slow at the same time...I couldn't tell the difference between five seconds and five days, I felt like I was losing my mind...how long have I been here? Days? Months? Maybe even years!? I...I-I can't tell...I then let out a sharp gasp of horror as I looked down and saw my arms rotting and falling off...n-no, if this keeps up, I'll-...

"The test subject is starting to deteriorate."

No, stop it, I need to get a hold of myself...th-this is an illusion...it's j-just an illusion, I have to get back to unraveling this spell, or else-...I was snapped out of that line of thought as I felt my body being electrocuted again...wait, I don't know that word...oh, that's right, the people torturing me mentioned it...so when it feels like I'm being struck by lightning, it's called electrocution? Whatever it is...it hurts, it hurts so much!

"Perform dissection to gauge the extent of the deterioration. How much longer can we use this test subject?"

I could feel myself getting cut open again...stop it, it hurts...I don't like it...make it stop-...damn it, snap out of it, this is an illusion! Unravel...come on, hurry...unravel already...! I suddenly froze, feeling petrified as I watched my legs rot and fall off...it took several months for them to decay, but at the same time, it felt like it had only been a few seconds...but I felt every instant of pain in great detail...

When will this end...I can't deal with this anymore...I want to die-...no, I don't, this illusion is tricking me! I-I need to snap out of this...otherwise, I really will lose my mind, and my Restoration Magic can't fix me if I'm a vegetable, not that I'd even be able to use it if I'm put in that state. I had no idea that I could be psychologically broken like this...and if this keeps up much longer, I'll be broken beyond repair...

I can't let that happen...!

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Point-of-View: Kuro Black

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"Hm? You actually snapped yourself out of it, huh? I didn't think you'd be able to unravel it within just ten seconds," I remarked, wincing slightly as the spell took its toll on me...Diablo wasn't kidding, this really is severe, it feels like my head is about to split in half...

"T-ten seconds? You're saying...you're saying that all that was just ten seconds?" She inquired weakly with a look of surprise, before letting out a faint laugh as she sunk into the portal behind her, "H-how did you...how did you create your own Chaos Magic spell like that? That should be impossible..."

Damn it, it's taking all my strength to just stay airborne right now, I can't even muster the strength to chase after her...I shouldn't use this spell unless I'm out of options, this really hurts, even for me.

"Heh...let's just say that I have a top-notch manual."

"Hey!" Exclaimed Diablo indignantly, "I don't mind the 'top-notch' part, but don't call me a manual!"

Whatever you say, Emanuel.

"Huh-...ohh, I see what you did there, nice."

"A manual? Ahh, I see, then it's not just Lazarus, Diablo's consciousness is inside you too...," She remarked, almost fully gone.

"Tch...next time, you won't survive so easily."

"Yeah, well...I'll leave you with this warning, the fun's just getting started. And this attack today...," She smirked, and added right before she fully vanished into the portal, "It was just the prologue to the chaos I plan to cause...and we, Chaos, will be back!"

Is that so? Whatever, next time will be different...next time, she'll have to deal with me right from the beginning, and she will die, I'll make sure of it...

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