The outcome of half of all battles is determined by the first strike.

This was a fact Ziel understood all too well.

And that is why he leapt.

“Hah—!”

The three-step distance was crossed in a single bound.

In that instant, he swung his upper body with force. The inner energy was coursing through his body in its complete form right from the start. Ziel no longer worried about his sword being unable to withstand the power, as it had caused him grief countless times before in the labyrinth.

Every sword has its strongest point.

Similarly, every living being has an exceptionally soft spot.

If one understands that principle, sees it clearly, and has the strength to strike that exact spot—then the quality of the weapon has no bearing on the success of the attack.

At least, that should have been the case—

“Tch—”

“Oooooaaah!!”

Clang!

Ziel’s strike was intercepted by the demon’s large right blade.

“Fast—!”

The encroachment of the Outer Apocrypha magic armor had transformed Godach’s physical form.

His height, already large to begin with, had nearly doubled Ziel’s size.

Large beings generally struggle with fine movements.

But the sight before him defied that rule.

A perfect defense.

The offensive leap meant to aim at the neck had left Ziel’s body airborne.

Being airborne meant being unable to move.

“Gahh!”

The demon swung the large blade horizontally.

Unable to take it head-on, Ziel didn’t resist the force—instead, he flowed with it. He redirected the demon’s power backward, letting it pass through his body. The result was an exaggerated tumble.

Rolling to a halt only when his back hit the city wall, Ziel raised his face—and the demon was already there in front of him, having leapt.

“———”

Ziel didn’t rise. Nor did he brace himself. Instead, he sank even lower.

A roaring sound reverberated.

It wasn’t just the wall crumbling. The entire city trembled violently, as though shaken by a giant’s hand.

Ziel evaded it—slipping beneath the demon’s landing and circling behind, slashing at its heel.

Remaining focused, Ziel didn’t linger where the demon’s retaliatory attack could reach. He quickly stepped twice to create distance.

Taking stance again, the colossal demon that had torn through the city loomed before him, its back exposed. Smoke rose from the heel Ziel had slashed, and as the flesh pulsed like a heartbeat, the wound healed rapidly.

“...I see.”

Ziel realized the opponent wasn’t unbeatable.

Fast movements. Immense strength. Even significant wounds healed almost instantly with its overwhelming magic.

But the purpose of a sword is to defeat an opponent greater than oneself.

The vision was clear. Evade the enemy’s attacks, find openings, and strike one blow at a time. A simple, straightforward path to victory...and Ziel had the confidence to say he could walk it.

“...But if I have to repeat this a hundred, two hundred times, I wonder.”

He muttered, a bead of sweat forming in the cold night air.

The demon leapt. With countless great birds and stars as its backdrop, it descended from above.

Ziel dodged by leaping far back.

In front of him—close enough to graze his chest—the demon’s blade slashed past. The moment it completed its arc, Ziel stepped forward. The blade, having swung to the right, was about to reverse to the left. At the exact moment its momentum and arm strength reached zero and the massive blade paused midair, Ziel used it as a foothold to climb.

The final step was a powerful stomp, enough to smash the massive blade into the ground.

With a resounding crash, Ziel’s sword slashed at the demon’s neck.

“It doesn’t work, huh.”

Even a deep slash that almost severed half the neck was quickly enveloped in smoke and healed in an instant.

“Oooooaaaah!”

“Then how about this—!”

As the demon raised its massive blade, Ziel stepped on it again.

Though the demon was overwhelmingly stronger, Ziel’s intent wasn’t to subdue or break the blade.

It was to gain the high ground.

Concentrating all his inner energy into his right heel, Ziel soared above the demon’s head.

And then, he brought down a devastating kick—

“Exploding Thunder!”

With a surge of power, the blow struck the demon.

Light exploded. Behind his glasses, Ziel squinted. After the attack, he quickly retreated to observe the demon.

Swords don’t grow stronger.

But Ziel’s body—through training in the labyrinth and his third Experience—had grown far stronger than it had been when he struggled against the colossal horse.

Thus, his body no longer broke under the power of his full-force attacks.

And so he unleashed his technique.

“Gwoooooooo!!”

“...Still not enough.”

Though a quarter of its head had been destroyed, the demon was already regenerating its form.

Slashes, strikes—they seemed ineffective. Stabs, with their narrow range, would be even less so.

In that case, Ziel had two options.

One: persistently repeat this offense, over and over, until the demon’s magic depleted from healing.

Two: deliver a single blow so devastating that it surpassed the demon’s regenerative capacity.

No time to deliberate.

“Tch—!”

The healed demon instantly closed the distance.

The large blade swung down from above. Ziel avoided it with a sidestep instead of a parry. The weight behind that strike was far too much for his dull blade to handle.

The ground shook from the impact.

Expecting the follow-up, Ziel timed his movement with the demon’s swing.

Even a tiny effort was enough. Power isn’t constant; every movement has a beginning and an end—no matter how strong, there’s always a moment of weakness. Exploiting that moment with full force can overcome even the greatest strength.

And with his enhanced vision, Ziel could perceive that fleeting moment.

A tenth of a second’s pause.

That was all Ziel needed.

His sword tore into the demon’s abdomen.

“Gaaa—!”

The demon didn’t falter.

A wound that would incapacitate an ordinary person was instantly healed, allowing the demon to continue its relentless attacks. Ziel’s preemptive maneuvers lost their effectiveness. Thus, he swiftly removed his foot from the massive blade—

“Hah—”

He spun his body, slipping into the demon’s blind spot.

The massive blade was lifted. By the time it was raised, Ziel’s sword was deeply embedded in the demon’s leg.

The next move was predictable—the leg’s counterattack. Anticipating it, Ziel used the leg as a springboard, leaping into the air. Guiding his trajectory by grabbing the demon’s head, he rotated his body midair and pressed his blade against the demon’s neck.

“Got you—”

The blade found its mark.

Just as the edge began to sink into the flesh, Ziel felt it—that unmistakable, incomparably dark sensation he had encountered once in the labyrinth.

Death.

But it wasn’t something he was about to give the demon.

“———!”

He acted without hesitation.

Even though he was moments away from severing the demon’s neck, Ziel withdrew his sword and forcefully kicked off the demon’s shoulder to escape.

In the next instant, a violent explosion—

“Demonic Sword Release, huh—”

Ziel found himself muttering.

He had seen it before—when he was knocked from the third to the middle layer. The technique , a magic sword skill so powerful that even seven words of “overwhelming” couldn’t suffice to describe its magnitude.

Now, the demon’s massive right blade had unleashed it.

The difference was staggering. Compared to the first time he witnessed it, its power was on an entirely different level. If his judgment had been delayed by even a moment, he was certain he would have been obliterated without a trace.

“At that time—”

He murmured, recalling.

Back then, Godach had restrained the power of the Outer Apocrypha. That’s why it hadn’t been as devastating.

“...Run away...”

Having completed , the demon turned slowly toward Ziel, leaving behind massive destruction in its wake.

“No human...can ever...”

Ziel understood that the demon’s words weren’t exaggerations.

The he had just witnessed possessed as much power as the breath that had once torn him apart in the labyrinth. Perhaps even more.

It was no wonder Godach believed humans couldn’t win.

“It’s enough...if the seal...is safe... Leave this place...”

“No.”

Yet even so—

Ziel gripped his sword tightly.

“I’ll take you down—because I don’t like leaving things unfinished.”

He pointed his sword at the demon, the upper-tier Outer Apocrypha magic beast standing before him, ready to settle the debt of half a year.