Caligulio had received a stream of desperate reports. He really didn't need them. The catastrophe was happening right before his eyes, and the only silver lining was that, since it happened so fast, they were able to die without feeling any fear or regret. Meanwhile, the survivors of that fearsome magic had fled back to the main camp with terror in their eyes. Having experienced the soul crushing horror firsthand, they lost all trust in the Empire, cursing their own foolishness. There was no time for fancy speeches as the staff officers shouted for retreat—but at this point, survival was impossible.
How did this happen? Should I have chosen enslavement instead? No— Where did I even go wrong in the first place?
He tried his hardest to cease his looping thoughts but failed. Once again, he looked out at the desperate battlefield, considering whatever possible strategies he could take by now. There was nothing—no saving grace that he
could ever come up with at this moment.
And more to the point…
"No… What's that? What is thaaat?!"
Caligulio was tossed into a crucible of fear and confusion. Magic that heinous was beyond what he was capable of understanding. How could you take tens of thousands of soldiers protected by layer and layer of anti-magic resistance and kill them all like you'd squash an anthill? Nearly two hundred thousand troops were utterly destroyed with just one blow, and it'd only be a matter of time before the rest were wiped out.
"M-maybe…"
"Maybe what?!"
"It… It's still a theoretical magic spell, but I know about one that interacts with the gravity of the planet. It's likely the most devastating magic in the nuclear family, but it requires an enormous amount of energy to activate, and every step requires exacting control…"
"…Gadora told me about it once. Gravity Collapse, right?"
Yes, Caligulio had heard about it. It was a spell that was still under research, merely a theory at this point in time. No example of it had ever been observed before, and even with otherworldly knowledge, research was at a standstill even in the theoretical phase. This tactical-level magic had the power to annihilate entire nations, not just battlefields. But as far as Caligulio knew, they had concluded that it'd be impossible to ever conjure it in real life.
But here it was. Executed in perfect fashion—by a single monster.
Now the term demon lord struck Caligulio's brain with a palpable sense of fear. Have we meddled with someone who we never should have meddled with? he asked himself.
"I admire your knowledge, sir."
The matter-of-fact tone of one of his staff officers brought him back to reality.
"But it's theoretical!" he shouted back in frustration. "We were boasting about how we could slaughter Veldora if we made it work!"
"Indeed, sir. That's how powerful that magic is. It's practically limitless." At some point, the staff officers had polarized into two separate camps.
"It was from…from a monster? Just one of them could perform a magic that massive…?"
Some were in a state of panic…
"Astounding. Ah-ha-ha-ha! I'll write a research paper on this when I get home! Now we, too, can get our hands on that spell!"
…and some were babbling at each other like madmen. One side had lost the will to fight; the other had lost their grip on reality.
At this point, the Empire's command HQ was no longer functional. Nothing in the world could be done in the midst of these horrifying circumstances. But nonetheless, Caligulio was in command. He was responsible for the lives of what soldiers he had left. Throwing in the towel was the one thing he could never do…but the situation was no longer conducive to ordering a retreat. Counting the crazed troops who fled the front lines, there were less than two thousand men and women left in the main camp. They were chaotic, disorderly, and even if they somehow made it out of there, they were all doomed to be slaughtered.
Power. Power was the one thing Caligulio wished for right now. If you have power, all is forgiven—the iron rule the Empire always stuck to. Only through the overwhelming power they had was it possible for them to subjugate the whole world. But if you didn't have power, you were doomed to face a tragic end—something that was obvious, given Caligulio's current situation. As one of the three commanders at the top of the Empire, he was proud to be one of the world's great power brokers—but now he finally realized it was all an illusion.
I can't believe how powerless I really was. How incompetent. How weak. I had no idea I was such a miserable peon, constantly being exploited…
He couldn't help but lament his fate. Fortune, fame, and everything that came with them were worthless in his current circumstances. When you got into serious trouble, there were far, far more important things you needed at hand.
"I wish I had power…"
Large tears spilled from Caligulio's eyes. Nearly a million soldiers, people who believed in the glory of the Empire and the commander who led them, were dead. The impact of this undeniable truth was devastating him.
"R-reporting, sir! A huge flame was observed in the sky above the battlefield. Based on the amount of heat it generated, we believe the chances that anyone on the ground survived it are hopeless—"
"It's over," Caligulio's first officer muttered. "The Empire's been completely defeated…"
The rest of the staff fell silent. Even the ones trying to escape reality a moment ago were stunned, as if waking up from a dream. They tried to face the reality that awaited them, but their brains refused to accept it.
"…Let's offer our surrender. Whether they'll accept it is a gamble, but there's a chance they'll find us useful. At this rate, we're all going to be killed anyway. I think it's our only chance for survival, but what do you think?"
Better to be enslaved than dead. That was the thought behind this officer's proposal, although he worried it was coming far too late. Nonetheless, Caligulio decided to accept the offer.
"…Right. Yes, it may be pointless, but let's try to negotiate. At the very least, if we can turn the enemy's attention toward us, that'll give Misha and her comrades a better chance at escaping."
Even if this battle ended with them all dying, their defeat would still have meaning if the Empire received the information they learned. That thought alone made Caligulio reluctantly agree. It was uncharacteristically modest of him, but his heart had long since been shattered.
Admittedly, thanks to this, he was able to think once more about the best course of action in this situation. If he had gained this state of mind earlier, it would have made him a master general for the ages, no doubt. It took him fully abandoning his greed and vanity to accomplish, but at long last, Caligulio had regained his original, latent intelligence.
But the decision came far too late. Any hope for Caligulio and his staff had long since disappeared.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Surrender? Ooh, we can't have that now, can we? I'm afraid you'll have to deal with me for a few moments."
Diablo, who had actually been in the tent for some time now, was dressed in his usual butler's uniform, a smile on his handsome face. The moment he saw the demon, Caligulio realized the sheer difference in power between them. Now that he had regained his calm judgment skills, he wasn't going to throw away his life for the sake of trivial pride. Negotiation came first now, so he had his guards lower their swords. That was undoubtedly the right thing to do. Any attempts at a fight were futile.
Out the corner of his eye, Caligulio spotted Krishna, cowering and intoning "I can't… I can't…" over and over. Just like the commander, he must have immediately recognized the overwhelming difference in strength. Internally praising himself for making the right decision, Caligulio decided to identify himself first.
"My name is Caligulio. I am the commander of this operation. May I ask your name?"
"Oh? How polite of you. My name is Diablo, loyal servant of the demon lord Rimuru."
Diablo loved giving people his name. He couldn't look more cheerful right now.
Caligulio took a moment to think. There was little chance they could beat Diablo, even if everybody in command HQ jumped him en masse. The sheer demonic energy they sensed was denser than that of the greatest of dragons, an aura of utter supremacy that outclassed even that of the demon lord Clayman, whom Caligulio was acquainted with. Plus, Diablo came here without giving away any hint of his presence. He had infiltrated their HQ without showing any sign of the supreme aura that oozed off of him now.
But despite such an absolutely powerful presence before him, Caligulio's mind was tranquil. This is an opportunity for us. It sounds like he won't accept our surrender, but he is willing to negotiate. If we can buy enough time, maybe we can keep this dangerous man at bay for long enough.
And that would offer more safety for Misha and the other escapees. But that
hope was doomed to fail.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Are you trying to stall for time, perhaps?" "What?"
"Several of your people fled from here, and you're serving as decoys for them. A truly excellent example of self-sacrifice, but I'm afraid it's not going to help you. You see, I've already taken care of them."
Diablo laughed. When a demon comes up to you, he'll never let his prey go— and Diablo just proved it. Out of empty space, he produced two corpses and dumped them on the ground.
"Are those the Single Digits?!" a shocked Krishna shouted. They were the bodies of Bernie and Jiwu.
Intense fear ran through the command center. Krishna wasn't the only one left speechless. Everybody in the tent knew what the defeat of not one, but two Single Digits meant. There was no beating Diablo. And not just that…
N-no… In that case… In that case, our deaths, and the deaths of all those soldiers… It's going to be all for nothing!!
A deep despair struck Caligulio.
"Draw your swords! Intruder! Kill the intruder!!"
The guards responded to the second-in-command's frenzied shouting. Unlike Krishna, the armed sentries knew nothing about Diablo's strength, reacting without realizing just how reckless they were being.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… You lowly worms think you stand a chance against me?"
Diablo laughed in their faces. But Caligulio's aide was undeterred.
"Silence, demon! There's still over a thousand warriors surrounding you. Powerful or not, what can you do by yourself?!"
He was trying his best to mask his fear with rage. But Caligulio didn't move. He wanted to scream at his assistant to stop, but he couldn't even open his mouth any longer. His aide thought a thousand against one were good odds,
but they weren't, and he had to tell him, but he couldn't…
Now Caligulio thought he understood what strength was. What Emperor Ludora wanted from them all. A single powerful figure can triumph over a million-strong army. The extreme, unthinkable magic they just saw was proof of that. And if they had even one monster capable of killing two Single Digits, the entire Armored Division was easily crushable this whole time.
And if he needed any more evidence:
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… I'm afraid those words came a little too late. The only ones still alive in this camp, you understand, are all inside this tent."
The aide didn't understand what he meant for a moment. But Caligulio didn't need to open a tent flap to know what must've happened. It was too quiet outside, something that had been nagging at him for a little while now.
Diablo snapped his fingers—and then the entire tent was blown away, letting the occupants examine the scene outside.
It was a field piled high with dead bodies. The soldiers had all passed, as if sleeping on top of each other—as if someone had silently extracted their souls from each of them…
That's exactly what happened, Caligulio realized. Diablo took their souls. He didn't let a single one resist him.
And now, once again, the tragedy played itself out before Caligulio's eyes. Another snap of Diablo's fingers, and Krishna and the others toppled over.
Waves of despair and sadness crested across the commander's heart. "Nn, nhh… Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh…!!"
He screamed, shedding tears of blood. And right after that, his body was so saturated with emotions that he exploded.
Diablo had no reason to allow any enemy soldiers to escape in the first place.
After receiving the order from Rimuru, Diablo merrily strode onto the battlefield. Following the signs of Krishna that he had detected, he discovered the enemy's command tent and took a look inside. Then he was accosted by Bernie and Jiwu, but since he had no intention of letting any Empire soldiers escape, he quickly opted to deal with them on the spot.
They were much stronger than he thought.
Well, well, well… Even with my unique skills tuned to maximum, these two remain unaffected? But it appears their powers are borrowed from someone else. They are unbalanced, you could say—I doubt they've actually awakened to any of these abilities. And if they haven't, I can still work with this.
Despite his slight puzzlement, Diablo was still reliably in command from start to finish as he dispatched the two Single Digits.
Misha, who came over in a hurry once she saw what was going on, quickly revealed that she was working for Yuuki. Rimuru had a tacit agreement to fight alongside Yuuki, and Diablo would never go against his will, so he let her go free.
But were those ultimate skills they had? I still resent how much Guy bragged about his to me long ago, but perhaps this is worth investigating…
Diablo was never one to shy away from any chance to become stronger—and here, too, he abandoned all self-restraint. If he found something effective, he'd take advantage of it; that's how the demon was. But despite this newfound interest in ultimate skills, he didn't lose sight of his mission.
Returning to the Empire's camp, he easily made his way inside, invoking End of the World to take the lives of anyone he saw. He worked quickly, indiscriminately, and without any hesitation or concern as he slaughtered them all.
Caligulio was now screaming in front of Diablo. It made the demon chuckle a bit.
The commander had now surpassed all limits of the human body. Maybe he had the potential to do this all along. By this point, he was well past Enlightened, his energy growing higher and higher.
Awakening out of sheer despair, eh? It looks like his sense of guilt is bringing him to a higher level. And that makes him much more worthy to fight me.
For most of his existence, Diablo had little interest in gaining strength. But now he thirsted for it—all so he could be a helpful servant, or tool, for Rimuru, the lord who he served. In his mind, a tool was meaningless unless it could prove its usefulness to its master. Needless tools had no value in existing, as far as he was concerned. That was why Diablo never fielded any of his own servants. He always preferred to live alone, rather than put up with a bunch of incompetents below him.
Along those lines, Diablo never forgot his own ambitions to become stronger, more capable. And fighting someone as strong as this was an opportunity like none other for him.
As Caligulio heard what seemed like a distant scream, he awoke. Power coursed through his veins, a ferocious power like none he had ever experienced. Overwhelming, he thought. The answer, despair, and terror from having his friends killed became the key to shattering his own limitations—and this, right now, was exactly what Emperor Ludora was anticipating from him all along.
He actually said it to Caligulio in person once: "I have high hopes for you." Caligulio had never forgotten that day. He thought His Majesty meant that he'd become an army commander and serve the Empire with value—but he misinterpreted the emperor's words.
This was it. This was it the whole time. His Majesty, Emperor Ludora, wanted me to awaken!
And when he realized that, he understood. Everything that had happened to him up until then really was meaningful.
Caligulio was no longer just Enlightened—he had become a Saint. Every cell in
his body blended together, his spirit surpassing his physical form. He could easily tell that his body was being remade; transformed. The power was tremendous, on par with an awakened demon lord. And now that he was awakened to it, he realized just how incompetent he had been until now. Not just him—everyone. With this now at his fingertips, the entire Armored Division seemed like a bunch of cheap toys. The Empire's military, as it stood now and before, never had a chance of beating Veldora, nor any demon lord.
"I—I was such a fool…"
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… You're exactly right."
"But now… Now I swear I'll make up for all my mistakes!"
The moment he shouted that, a shining suit of divine armor wrapped itself around his body. It was God-class armor, handed down from the time of ancient gods and gifted to him from the emperor. Only the Marshal and the three commanders were allowed to use this armor, which served as proof that its wearer ranked among the Empire's very best. Now, at long last, it had recognized Caligulio as its true master.
"You'll pay for this, demon! I'm gonna mow you down!"
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-heh… It would hardly be fun otherwise."
The two sides glared at each other, and the final battle began.
Exercising the limits of his power, Caligulio sent out a full-throttle strike to start. His fist, protected by a gauntlet, was a deadly weapon in itself, capable of smashing through almost any material in this world. The tip of his fist exceeded the speed of sound, not even leaving an afterimage as it traversed the realms of mythology. The shock wave it produced shattered any physical being's defense, destroying its very molecular bonds—and the spirit inside his fist could pass through the heart's barrier and damage one's astral body, letting him kill any spiritual life-form.
Caligulio knew Diablo's name. He was one of Rimuru's Big Four, and his real identity was an evil demon. That, and—incredibly enough—the report he saw claimed he was now a Demon Peer, something that existed only in legend before. He had previously scoffed at the Imperial Information Bureau's
investigations, but he could believe every word of that dossier. If two Single Digits challenged Diablo and died, that made him a truly fearsome adversary.
But all his fear was now gone.
He's a horrible demon, I'll grant you that—but now I can take him. With this power, I can defeat anything—True Dragons, demon lords, even Heroes!
If you awarded a score of one to a person of average strength, the physical ability of someone designated A rank would be at least ten. For a high-ranked magic-born, it was close to a hundred; for an Arch Demon, they'd notch up 140. A demon lord would probably be at least three hundred, and while a True Dragon was impossible to measure, estimates pinned it at over a thousand. Now, Caligulio realized, his own power was in the quadruple digits as well—a world that only a Saint could ever reach. And that wasn't all. He was wearing God-class armor, mythical gear whose energy was comparable to his own.
It was more than enough to be able to destroy a Demon Peer. He was convinced of that, and it wasn't hard to see why.
"Hmm… A tad disappointing."
But his killer fist was lightly brushed away by Diablo.
"No!"
"Oh, do you have a question?"
"Why—why are you still unharmed?!"
That one blow should've been able to destroy any demon. Seeing him unscathed was simply ridiculous. He refused to accept it.
"Why? It's simple. You don't have the skill level required to handle that power."
The awful truth was delivered as casually as the day's weather. "The skill level?"
"Yes. It's quite a pity for me, too. It was too early for you to fight. If this is how things are, the duo from before were more powerful. They both boasted ultimate skills, albeit borrowed. If you had awakened to this power sooner than
now, this would've been a much more exciting battle… But alas."
Fruit needs to ripen before it tastes sweet. Diablo was lamenting the fact that he picked this one off the tree far too soon. But all this was an insult Caligulio was too loath to admit.
"God dammit! Don't you belittle me, you demon bastard!!"
He could shout all he wanted, but the situation was already grim. Caligulio understood that. He knew he couldn't beat the demon in front of him.
But what piqued his curiosity was the secret of the Single Digits' power Diablo just inadvertently revealed. They were the strongest fighters in the Empire, handpicked by Emperor Ludora—and the emperor must have been the one who lent them their ultimate powers. Diablo described them as borrowed, not acquired through personal effort, and that was exactly why they didn't work on him.
If you didn't have insight into the essence of power, and how to make it your own, then all the strength in the world was meaningless. It was as true for Caligulio as it was for the dead Single Digits. As Diablo put it, he was fighting too soon—a reality he couldn't deny, no matter how much he wanted to.
"Aaarrrrggghhhh!!"
There was no winning this. He knew it now. But even so, he'd still try with everything he had. He had to retaliate, at the very least, or else all this was for naught. He had to deny that at all costs, and so he challenged Diablo to a truly reckless battle.
But by now, it barely even counted as a fight. For Diablo, who had correctly assessed Caligulio's current abilities, it was little more than a procedure. Even the God-class armor and all its mighty force couldn't be fully utilized by Caligulio as he stood now. The armor had accepted him, but they still weren't at a heart to-heart level of communication yet. God-class gear had a will of its own, and there simply wasn't enough time to build a relationship and have this armor truly recognize him as its true master. A tool only had meaning if you could use it well; there was nothing sadder than a tool without a user who could bring out its full potential.
So Caligulio, the last surviving member of the imperial invaders, was defeated, unable to even make Diablo fight him seriously—and with that, his soul was reaped.