Shion’s words struck like a bolt of lightning.

The first to react was Iris.

“You plan to… kill my mother? Was that the reason you stayed in her party all this time? Only to betray her in the end?!”

Iris’s voice trembled as she struggled to suppress her anger.

The same thought crossed my mind.

But—

“…What are you talking about? As I’ve said before, I have absolutely no memory of such a thing.”
“What?!”

Iris’s face froze, her mouth opening and closing in disbelief.

It was such an absurd statement that it rendered her unable to process her anger, let alone express it.

Unlike Iris, however, I found myself filled with doubt.

“Master, something feels strange.”
“…You noticed it too, Lycia?”
“Yes.”

Lycia seemed to share my sense of unease.

There was no doubt Shion had appeared here with the intent of killing Lene.

But if that were true, why would she claim to have forgotten her betrayal from three years ago?

There didn’t seem to be any advantage in such a lie.

The unease I’d felt earlier solidified into conviction.

—Shion truly didn’t remember what happened three years ago.

I couldn’t understand why that was.

The only thing I knew was that we would have to fight her regardless.

“Is that explanation sufficient? Now then, let’s begin the battle.”

Shion raised her voice confidently.

I wracked my brain, searching for a way to avoid the confrontation.

“…If you’re controlling these demons, that means you were watching our earlier fight, right? Hate to break it to you, but even if the three of them team up, they don’t stand a chance against us.”
“That’s true. If they fought individually, the swordsman and the martial artist here would simply take them down one by one. It seems there’s a considerable difference in our strength.”
“Then if you know that, why pick a fight…?”
“But that’s only if they fight separately. Now, it’s time.”
“—What?! What is this?”

Shion raised her hand slightly, and the three Lesser Demons converged in one spot.

Slowly, very slowly, their bodies began to merge.

“What’s happening…?”
“They’re becoming one?”
“The sinister energy is intensifying…!”

The three Lesser Demons fused their bodies, transforming into a higher being.

“Hehehe. Demons are unlike humans—they are pure masses of magical energy. By combining them, it’s possible to evolve them into a higher existence!”

Shion’s words proved true.

In mere moments, a new creature took form—a being noticeably larger than the Lesser Demons.

Its appearance had changed only slightly, but the magical energy emanating from it was incomparable to before.

It must have absorbed magical energy from the surrounding atmosphere during its evolution.

The power it now held was on par with that of the Hydra, the formidable foe we had once defeated with all our strength.

“Behold. This is the Archdemon… the one who will kill you.”

Shion’s confident declaration resounded.

“I shall destroy you.”

The Archdemon responded to her will with a booming voice.

“This is… troublesome.”

I grimaced at the sight before me.

If it were only a matter of strength, we might still have a chance.

We’d managed to defeat the Hydra back then, after all.

But the real issue was that this opponent was a demon.

Unlike the Hydra, attacks from Flare and Tetra, who lacked holy power, wouldn’t be able to deal a fatal blow.

Even Lycia’s purifying abilities might not be effective against something of this level.

If only we could use Iris’s necklace, imbued with Lene’s magical energy, like we had back then…

“But Lene said she’d wait until she recovered before recharging it, didn’t she?”

The necklace Iris wore now wasn’t charged with Lene’s power.

We couldn’t rely on that this time.

So, what should we do?

I frantically racked my brain.

But the enemy wouldn’t wait for us to figure things out.

“Dealing with this many before the real target is a hassle, but… so be it.”

Shion issued her command to the Archdemon.

“Annihilate them.”
“As you command!”

The Archdemon surged toward us with terrifying force.

There was no other choice.

I had to make up my mind.

“Let’s do this, everyone!”
“Leave it to me, Ike!”
“I will crush it.”
“Of course, Master!”

Thus began our battle with the Archdemon.