Yekaterina's bone sword, surging with powerful Demonic Aura, sliced through the air toward Zeke's head to crush his skull.
Thud!
Zeke raised one hand and caught Yekaterina's bone sword, wrapped in Demonic Aura, right out of the air.
Crunch!
As he applied force in that state, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the bone sword.
"This... this can't be."
Yekaterina's bone sword was a special weapon forged by refining the sturdy spine of an Abyssal Magical Beast in the flames of Gehenna.
It was impossible for a human to shatter a bone sword tougher than any metal with just the grip of his hand.
The startled Yekaterina tried to pull her sword free and retreat.
But she couldn't extract the bone sword from Zeke's grasp.
"Urgh!"
She was confident in her own strength, but for some reason, she couldn't budge the sword caught in Zeke's hand.
Sweat beaded on Yekaterina's forehead as she gripped the sword.
At that moment, Elizaveta, who had regained her senses, approached.
"Lina, stop this right now!"
With those words, Elizaveta knelt in a formal posture before Zeke.
Seeing this, Yekaterina cried out in alarm.
"You idiot! Beta! Have you lost your mind?!"
Ignoring Yekaterina's words, Elizaveta bowed her head toward Zeke and said,
"First Princess Elizaveta. I pay my respects to the Esteemed Guest of Pandemonium."
Yekaterina was utterly shocked by Elizaveta's mention of "Esteemed Guest of Pandemonium."
"W-What? You mean this human is an Esteemed Guest recognized by Father?!"
Elizaveta remained silent, maintaining her formal posture toward Zeke and simply awaiting his response.
Seeing this, Yekaterina broke into a cold sweat but soon released her grip on the bone sword.
As she withdrew her intent to attack, Zeke also let go of the bone sword.
Yekaterina dismissed the bone sword and stepped back.
She still wore an incredulous expression and stood awkwardly without immediately assuming a formal posture like Elizaveta.
Leaving her as she was, Zeke turned to Elizaveta, who was showing her respects, and opened his mouth.
"What does it mean to be an Esteemed Guest of Pandemonium?"
In response to his question, Elizaveta lifted her head and explained.
"It refers to a noble guest recognized by the Demon Archlord, who is the ruler of Pandemonium, 'The Master of the Irresistible Contract.' We followers cannot be rude to an Esteemed Guest and must show all due respect, as if treating our lord."
Zeke's face took on an expression of bewilderment at Elizaveta's words.
"Mephistopheles. What kind of scheme is this?"
He hadn't even accepted the contract yet, but by treating him as an Esteemed Guest of Pandemonium, the princesses were prevented from attacking him.
Zeke looked at Elizaveta and asked again.
"Does that mean, because I am Mephistopheles's Esteemed Guest, you followers can no longer oppose me?"
As Zeke uttered Mephistopheles's true name, Elizaveta and Yekaterina's faces paled.
For followers like them, even directly naming a constellation was a significant taboo, so they were shocked that Zeke spoke the true name without hesitation.
Yekaterina, standing behind, trembled visibly, while Elizaveta struggled to maintain her composure.
Zeke clicked his tongue inwardly and spoke to Elizaveta again.
"I asked if, as an Esteemed Guest of Pandemonium, you have no choice but to obey if I order you to halt this invasion and withdraw."
At those words, Elizaveta finally composed herself and nodded.
"We cannot enter an Esteemed Guest's domain without permission. I have already ordered the entire army to turn back."
Zeke turned his head to look at Yekaterina.
She bit her lip hard, then nodded and said,
"...The entire army has been ordered to withdraw... sir."
As a proud member of the Tuma Tribe, Yekaterina seemed uncomfortable speaking deferentially to a human, but she had no choice but to comply.
Realizing the two princesses could no longer oppose him, Zeke addressed the most urgent matter first.
"For now, it would be best to drive back the invasion fortress. And..."
He grabbed the nape of Anastasia, who lay sprawled on the ground, lifted her up, and said to the two princesses,
"Let's go somewhere quiet and talk for a bit."
*
The assault by the Demonkind attacking Mycenae came to a halt.
Those who had defended the castle to the end cheered in victory and mourned their fallen comrades.
As Zeke's Defense Mode was deactivated, the summons and Guardians were reverse summoned and vanished once more.
The citizens of Mycenae began repairing the damaged walls and city facilities, returning to daily life.
Hades, grinding his teeth, vowed to fortify the defenses so the Demonkind could never invade again and urged Feynen and Gelion to engrave a large-scale defensive barrier for high-ranking demons across the entire wall.
While Mycenae was normalizing, Zeke took the three princesses from the Demon Realm to Hoshgar's mansion in Baranaon.
It was now used as Richmond and Bane's laboratory, but known as a mansion haunted by a cursed wraith for a thousand years, no one approached it.
This made it an ideal place for a quiet conversation.
Upon entering Hoshgar's mansion, Elizaveta showed curiosity at the traces of the great archmage scattered everywhere, while Yekaterina took interest in the bone summons and ice summons conjured by the liches.
Anastasia, still in her cat form, seemed burdened by the Demon Archlord's descent into her body and kept dozing off, unable to stay awake.
Zeke had brought the three princesses to the mansion primarily to keep them far from Mycenae, and secondarily to learn about the sealed constellation, "The Arrogant Savior."
First Princess Elizaveta quickly grasped Zeke's intent and spoke first.
"Esteemed Guest, the sealed body of The Arrogant Savior is in the Phenomenal World."
Zeke already knew this from the Final Arc Scenario, but he listened silently to Elizaveta. She continued.
"In the past, The Arrogant Savior's authority was so formidable that it instilled fear in all Fallen Constellations."
"According to the Demon Archlord, The Arrogant Savior was the one who first designed the current Pandemonium."
At Zeke's words, Elizaveta nodded.
"Yes. It was indeed The Arrogant Savior who first conceived the idea of building a new civilization and city in the Demon Realm. However... the city 'Babel' that he sought to create in the Demon Realm failed."
"Babel. So that was the original name of early Pandemonium."
"Babel was not just Pandemonium but a massive city encompassing the entire current territory of the Demon Realm."
Zeke's expression showed surprise at her words.
"Abyss, Abaddon, and Gehenna all included?"
"Yes. The Arrogant Savior sought to use his authority to build a colossal city in the Demon Realm comparable to the Phenomenal World. He succeeded to some extent, which is why the four domains are now fixed, forming the basis of the Demon Realm." Unlike the Phenomenal World, the Demon Realm existed in the rifts between dimensions, making space itself unstable.
Establishing stable domains in such a place demonstrated that The Arrogant Savior's authority was incomparable to ordinary constellations.
Zeke thought for a moment, then looked at Elizaveta and asked, "Then why did the Babel created by such an Arrogant Savior fail?" Elizaveta shook her head at his question.
"That, I—and my other sisters—do not know. It happened so long ago, and it's not history permitted to us."
Zeke frowned slightly at her answer. He had received the "Fragment of Forgotten Time" karma data from the Demon Archlord.
The problem was that the data was incomplete.
Through the Akashic Code, he could only verify that the Demon Archlord's words weren't lies by filling in the gaps, but he couldn't learn exactly what happened at the time to cause Babel's collapse and The Arrogant Savior's sealing.
"In the end, I have to find and absorb the sealed body to fill in the missing information."
Zeke looked at Elizaveta and said,
"Then you don't know where in the Phenomenal World The Arrogant Savior's sealed body is hidden."
Elizaveta nodded quietly in response to Zeke's words.
Though she was the Demon Archlord's adopted daughter, she apparently wasn't permitted knowledge of the secrets of the Fallen Constellations.
At that moment, the silent Yekaterina looked at Zeke and spoke.
"...I've heard stories related to it."
Her voice was much softer than before, still awkward about speaking deferentially to a human.
Zeke turned to Yekaterina this time and asked,
"What stories have you heard?"
Yekaterina pressed her lips together, then continued.
"It was said that The Arrogant Savior descended to the Phenomenal World to reclaim the soul of the sealed Demon King and never returned to the Demon Realm." Zeke furrowed his brow at Yekaterina's words.
"The Arrogant Savior descended to the Phenomenal World to reclaim the sealed Demon King's soul?"
Zeke recalled that Mephistopheles had said he was the one who sealed The Arrogant Savior.
The Arrogant Savior possessed authority so immense that no one in the Demon Realm could oppose him.
Thus, it was likely that the soul of the Demon King was used as bait to lure him to the Phenomenal World and seal him.
"If the sealed Demon King's soul was used as bait to draw out The Arrogant Savior, then it could be connected to Narak as well."
Having gained a clue to finding The Arrogant Savior's sealed body from Yekaterina's words, Zeke nodded and said,
"I'll need to investigate this further."
He looked at Elizaveta and Yekaterina and said,
"I've heard enough, so return to the Demon Realm now. I won't tolerate further disruption to the Phenomenal World."
At his words, Elizaveta shook her head in surprise.
"T-That won't do. Father ordered us to remain in the Phenomenal World and assist the Esteemed Guest."
Yekaterina, beside her, had now fully grasped the situation unlike before, so she bit her lip and nodded.
"Father's words are absolute, so we have no choice but to obey."
Mephistopheles wanted Zeke to absorb The Arrogant Savior's sealed body and become the sixth lord of the Demon Realm.
"If his words were true, then he needed a force to check the other lords of the Demon Realm."
Even if the princesses of the Demon Realm stayed in the Phenomenal World, as long as they didn't attack and instead aided him, it wouldn't be a problem.
Zeke organized his thoughts and said to Elizaveta and Yekaterina,
"Very well. Then stay here for a while. But be warned: if you show any suspicious behavior, I'll reverse summon you to the Demon Realm immediately."
At Zeke's words, Elizaveta nodded deferentially, while Yekaterina bit her lip in frustration.
Glancing at them, Zeke gestured, and Richmond and Bane entered to escort the three princesses to their rooms.
Left alone, Zeke pondered for a moment before pulling out the green sword from his inventory.
He then summoned Arataso.
Woooong!
Arataso appeared in the form of a humanoid clad in green armor.
Zeke looked at him and said,
"You know why I called you."
[...Yes.]
According to Mephistopheles, Arataso was one of those who had scattered from The Arrogant Savior's faction to another.
"Previously, when I asked about how a mid-rank demon like you held a knight's title in the Demon Realm and even had subordinates, you just said there were complicated circumstances. Was it because you were originally in The Arrogant Savior's faction and then moved to the Demon Archlord's?"
Arataso slowly nodded at Zeke's words.
[That's right. Since you already know, the restriction is lifted, and I can speak.]
He straightened his chest, his eyes glowing with surging green energy, and said,
[I was a member of the once-mighty knight order 'Morning Star,' led by the Fallen
Constellation The Arrogant Savior, and his most loyal sword.]