We ascend the staircase.

It’s wide enough for us to walk side by side, but we decide to proceed with Ivy leading the way, while Rey and I follow behind.

The only sound that echoes is the steady tapping of our footsteps against the steps.

Until now, the staircases connecting the floors hadn’t been particularly long, but this one, leading to the topmost floor, stretches so far ahead that we can’t even see the end.

(Beyond this... the Demon King is waiting, right?)

We came to the Demon King's castle to defeat him.

So reaching this point should be something to celebrate.

But now that we’re here, have I even had a moment to catch my breath?

I can’t help but think about the others we left behind.

Shannon-san and Sanshita—are they safe?

Are they managing to defeat the other members of the Demon King’s Ten Fingers without issue?

Of course, it’s not that I don’t believe in them, but feelings of unease are difficult to control.

It’s strange, really. More than worrying about whether Ivy can defeat the Demon King, I find myself more anxious about whether everyone else is winning against the Ten Fingers.

(…Either way, all I can do is believe in them. Besides, if we just defeat the Demon King here, I’ll be able to check on them afterward.)

Thanks to everyone’s efforts, Ivy has made it here without having to fight or use magic even once.

We are fully prepared for the final battle.

We continue ascending.

The staircase, which should have been long, passes in an instant—perhaps because of the tension.

And then, at the end of the stairs, we arrive at the throne room.

There—

"...So, the time has finally come..."

Seated on an ornamented throne is a towering, imposing figure.

I had imagined that the King of Monsters would have a grotesque appearance, but the Demon King looks far more refined than I had expected.

His appearance is strikingly close to that of a human.

If not for the black tail slithering behind him like a living creature, one might not even recognize him as the Demon King.

All of the Demon King's Ten Fingers had distinctly monstrous appearances.

Compared to them, the Demon King himself is the most human-looking of them all.

Or perhaps... was it because they consumed his claws that they began to take on human forms?

(But… this magic power is overwhelming.)

The sheer energy emanating from his body is enough to send a shiver down my spine.

I had thought that, next to Ivy, I was the second most powerful magic user in the world—but even at full strength, the Demon King’s magic surpasses mine.

I had expected the Demon King to sit on his throne, sneering down at us humans with contempt.

But instead, he merely gazes at us with cold, piercing eyes.

"Now, I too shall resist my fate..."

The Demon King rises and grasps the massive sword resting against his throne.

The blade easily exceeds two meters in length.

It’s so heavy that only a man of his immense stature could wield it—so much so that the floor where it had rested is visibly dented under its weight.

"—Miiiii!!"

In response to the Demon King’s voice, Ivy leaps into the air and rapidly grows in size.

The audience chamber, built wide enough to hold grand military inspections, is enormous.

Taking advantage of the space, Ivy returns to her true size for full combat readiness, while Rey and I remain at the foot of the stairs, watching her confront the Demon King.

And then—

"GAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"MIIIIIIIIIIII!!"

The final battle between Ivy and the Demon King begins—

How could I even begin to describe their battle?

I'm not eloquent enough to find the right words.

There are no limits to the magic Ivy can use.

With an inexhaustible supply of magical power, she can wield not only modern spells but even ancient, long-lost magic.

She is, therefore, the strongest. Invincible.

Ivy summons pillars of radiant light unlike anything I’ve ever seen, opens ominous portals to summon demonic creatures, and even controls the Demon King's mind, forcing him into self-inflicted attacks.

Apparently, ordinary magic attacks have no effect on him.

The overwhelming single-action magic that had effortlessly annihilated countless monsters before—

Shockingly, even after taking those hits, the Demon King remains unscathed!

As a result, Ivy begins cycling through an array of unfamiliar spells, searching for one that can harm him, gradually dealing damage with each attempt.

In contrast, the Demon King fights in a much simpler style.

He casts powerful area-of-effect spells capable of harming Ivy’s massive body, breaking through her barriers with sheer force.

He weaves through Ivy’s barrage of spells, cutting them down as he closes in, swinging his sword at her vital points.

A battle of sheer overwhelming power.

All we can do is watch, utterly mesmerized.

The spectacle unfolding before us is so grand it feels like a story from a legend come to life.

"Incredible..."

"Yeah. Honestly, Ivy looks like the villain here."

"Agreed..."

The fight between Ivy and the Demon King resembles a clash between a titan and an ant.

The Demon King is putting up a fight, but his attacks are failing to deal any lasting damage.

After all, Ivy can instantly deploy the highest-tier healing magic in multiple layers.

No matter how devastating the Demon King's strikes, she heals herself immediately.

The Demon King appears to have formidable regeneration as well, but Ivy has begun to counter it.

The wounds that once healed in an instant now remain.

Though I can't fully grasp what she’s doing, it seems she’s using a spell to lock his state in place, preventing his wounds from closing.

More and more injuries accumulate on the Demon King.

Meanwhile, despite taking attacks head-on, Ivy regenerates so quickly that no wounds are left visible.

How long has this battle lasted?

Five minutes? Ten? An hour?

Slowly, but surely, the outcome is becoming clear.

The Demon King's movements grow sluggish as his wounds increase.

Meanwhile, Ivy's magic only grows fiercer.

To an outsider, it would be impossible to tell which of them is the true enemy of humanity.

But in the end, Ivy remains the strongest.

Even the Demon King can do nothing but struggle to keep up.

With a deafening crash, the Demon King collapses to the ground.

He is undeniably on the brink of death.

His strength and magic power are fading.

"Hah... In the end, I could not defy fate. But to think my misfortune would be this great... that the All-Dragon Leviathan would be revived now of all times..."

"All-Dragon...?"

That term—where have I heard it before?

"I see now..."

"Rey, do you know what it means?"

"Yes. It's one of the most famous fairy tales. But if it's real... then that explains everything."

As Rey speaks, the memory resurfaces.

The All-Dragon is the legendary calamity said to have devoured nations, people, monsters—everything in its path.

This tale dates back thousands of years, to a time before kingdoms even existed.

The All-Dragon appeared suddenly.

And then, it swallowed half of this world before perishing.

"Ivy… is an All-Dragon?"

“…I always thought it was strange. No matter how rare a turtle may be, there shouldn't be a creature capable of easily defeating one of the Demon King's Ten Fingers. And yet, Ivy took down the Demon King without even struggling. If such a being exists… it wouldn’t be strange for it to be an All-Dragon.”

Before our very eyes, the Demon King drew his last breath.

Now that I think about it, defeating the Demon King is no ordinary feat.

Ivy has always been an anomaly, so I never really paid much attention to it… but if Ivy is an All-Dragon… I see…

That explanation certainly makes a lot of sense.

For example, why Ivy was initially reluctant to take part in the Demon King's subjugation.

Because the Demon King might have known her true identity.

And because she was afraid of me finding out, she hesitated.

“Mii…”

Before I knew it, Ivy had returned to her usual palm-sized form, trembling slightly.

She looked at me, her head slightly lowered.

The moment I saw tears welling up in her eyes, my body moved on its own.

Ivy.

You are truly…

“Ivy, come here…”

With a wry smile, I reached out to pick up Ivy.

But then—

She suddenly began shaking more violently than ever before.

“Miiiii—!!”

All at once, spheres of light appeared around Ivy.

The light grew brighter and larger, engulfing me.

And then—my consciousness faded.

“Gyaa—”

Before me stood a single lizard.

Looking closely, it bore a faint resemblance to Ivy.

(Is this… Ivy’s… no, the All-Dragon’s memories?)

The All-Dragon, who carried Ivy’s likeness, grew larger and larger.

At first, she had companions.

Other lizard-like monsters surrounded her, but they gradually drifted apart.

As the All-Dragon grew bigger and stronger, none of them could keep up.

“Kisha…”

The All-Dragon cried.

There were no tears, but her heart wept.

She only wanted to play.

She only wanted to be with someone.

It didn’t matter if they weren’t as strong as she was.

She didn’t need them to be.

She would protect them.

All she wanted was… to not be alone.

And so, she spent countless years in solitude.

She had grown too large to remain among the lizards, so she tried to join the dragons.

But they rejected her, saying she was not one of them.

She then sought companionship among other creatures, but no one would walk alongside her.

Ironically, as the years passed, her body only grew larger, her magic more immense.

After living for centuries, she became the strongest being alive.

Yet not once did she find someone willing to stay by her side.

Those who approached her either sought to use her, deceive her, or slay her for glory.

She was only ever met with selfish greed.

And so, she withdrew from the world.

But even in isolation, her power continued to grow.

Eventually, the world came to fear her.

Humans, monsters, dragons—every living being sought to kill her.

No matter how powerful she was, she could not fight against the entire world.

Nor did she want to.

And so, the All-Dragon’s life came to an end.

Broken and battered, she thought—

Strength means nothing.

All I wanted was…

And then, the All-Dragon perished.

But the sheer magnitude of her energy was too great.

Even in death, her existence could not be erased.

Thousands of years later—

Her reincarnation was born.

A creature that inherited only fragments of her power and memories.

A new species of monster—

Ivy.

Ivy was not an All-Dragon.

Not truly.

She was simply a being that carried a sliver of that past.

Most of her former life’s memories were lost.

But one thing remained.

Loneliness.

The sorrow of never being understood.

The agony of solitude.

The despair of never forming a true connection.

So even though she knew she was not an ordinary turtle, she chose to live among them.

And that decision—led to our fateful meeting.

A festival stall selling turtles.

Among the gathered creatures, one stood out.

A strange, unusual turtle.

The moment I saw her, I fell in love.

“Come here, Ivy.”

There, I saw my younger self.

The tiny Ivy swam toward me.

In her heart was hope.

Unlike her past life, she had yet to experience betrayal or deceit.

She was pure.

She disliked the greedy eyes of the people at the stall, hated the gaze of the stall owner.

So she released her gravity magic and responded to my call.

She simply wanted to be with someone.

And so, we spent our days together.

From then on, my memories were hers as well.

The way she kept trying to sit on my shoulder, even after she grew too big.

The fights I had with my mother because of her.

The time the villagers feared her and hired adventurers to slay her—only for us to meet Jennifer.

Me becoming an adventurer.

Ivy becoming my companion.

Sanshita joining us, then meeting Rey, then taming Icicle.

Maybe it wasn’t the peaceful life I originally sought.

But through it all, Ivy was never alone.

And so, she was happy.

She wished for it to last forever.

“Mii…?”

When I came to, I was sitting on the ground.

Looking down, I saw Ivy gazing up at me.

She hadn’t meant for me to see those memories.

She was flustered, panicked.

She was afraid.

Afraid that if I knew she was an All-Dragon’s reincarnation—

If I knew she was powerful enough to slay the Demon King—

That I would leave her.

“…You idiot. You absolute fool.”

I pulled her into an embrace.

Her cool body fit snugly in my hands.

As I ran my fingers over her flawless shell, she let out a soft, contented sound.

“It doesn’t matter what you are.”

A single tear slipped from Ivy’s eyes.

I gently wiped it away with my thumb.

“We will always, always be together.”

“Mii—!”

And then we laughed.

Holding each other, smiling through our tears.

From a short distance away, Rey watched over us with a warm, gentle gaze.