Hundreds of ratmen wielding knives charged in unison towards Garett, yet despite being faced with such a large number of opponents, he felt absolutely no pressure.

It was as if he was in a garden surrounded by vegetables, and all of a sudden one of the tomatoes shouted 'Kill him!! We're gonna grow until we wrap around him and choke him to death!!!', and all the other plants shouted out in unison 'Yeah!!'.

It would take hours, days, perhaps even years for the plants to grow to that point.

By the time they actually grew that much, Garett would be long gone. It was more likely that he would already have harvested the vegetables and made them into a salad before they actually grew enough to threaten him.

And so too these ratmen who rushed at him seemed as if they were running in slow motion.

"Could you all hurry up and come to me? I don't have all day, you know.", Garett taunted as the expressions of the men around him were filled with an even greater hatred.

"You think you're hot stuff demon, but you're just putting on a final death throe!!"

"We'll see how brave you are when you're on the ground!!!"

However, no such thing happened.

To the spectators, it almost appeared as if some sort of black hole had appeared in the center of the arena.

The men wielding knives rushed into the center of the arena as if they were compelled by some imaginary force, and when they reached the center they seemed to disappear as soon as they came into contact with the demon.

Just as when something enters a black hole, one never sees it again, so too it was with these ratmen.

300 men rushed at Garett, slashing him from all angles, but as soon as the blades came into contact with him, they would disappear.

"Hm!? My weapon.... it's gone!!!"

"It really isn't there anymore!!!! Agh!!!"

The men were left with barely any time to scream in horror, for as soon as they came into contact with the demon they were already gone.

200 men now remained, all of them wielding ranged weapons.

"D-don't freak out!!!! It's just an illusion!!! Or maybe a teleportation spell!!! Fire, everyone!!!!"

Another round of projectiles was released onto Garett, to no avail.

A similar cloud of bullets engulfed him, however this time there was no cannonball shot and as such no cloud of dust came forth.

The bullets which came into contact with the bandages which covered the demon seemed to bounce off without effort, instead being redirected to the ground around him. The ones which slipped through any cracks simply disappeared.

"This skill is neat but.... it lacks tact. I can defeat my opponents easily, for sure. But.... something about it just isn't as fun.", Garett said as he deactivated the skill.

Walking forward, he approached the men around him.

"Well? Do you all have any further tricks up your sleeves? Or was that it?"

"D-demon...."

"Demon....."

"Monster....."

"Monster....."

A few people in the arena at this point had realized that they stood no chance. Most people in the crowd, while they were scared and confused, had no idea what was going on below.

'What's happening?'

'I must be seeing things...'

'Aren't there less people than before?'

Garett then rushed through the ring of people, and in a single fluid motion used his hand to slice off the heads of almost every single ratmen surrounding him.

Not only did their heads fall to the ground, but their bodies fell apart into pieces, the limbs being cleanly cut from the torsos of the people. Only a few- around 10 men- remained alive, these men being the noisiest of the bunch.

"That's more like it. At the end of the day, butchering someone is more my style. Hey guys!! Looks like we got some fresh cuts for tonight!!!"

"Delightful.", Trevor responded.

Ashley seemed to be licking her lips just looking at the meat all around them, and Samantha grinned seductively as she looked at the faces of terror in the people of the crowd.

"You.... monster..... how.... how could you do this?? How could such power exist!?!?! I didn't even see it, and now...."

Many of the men who were left alive stared in complete terror, faced with the chunks of meat which were once their fighting comrades.

"You.... you must be the most powerful demon in the world..... you must be the ultimate weapon of that demon who has taken over the city, right?? There's no way this much power should be contained within a single person...."

The remaining ratmen had now stumbled backwards to the point where they hit the walls behind them, writhing in fear.

"But.... there has to be someone who can defeat you out there.... there has to!!! Someone will kill you!!! Even if it isn't me, you will regret doing this one day!!!!!! T-that's right!!! If you are trying to become demon lords, the Hosts of Sin won't let you do this!!!"

Garett approached the 10 men, licking the blood off his claws.

"Hm? I missed that last statement. What were you saying?"

The people of the crowd had gone completely silent, holding their breath.

"I believe you just said that there is someone out there who can defeat us. I certainly would like to meet such a person."

Garett shrugged it off.

"But that is neither here nor now."

Trevor put his hand to his chin in thought as he looked around the arena, eyeballing the screen in front of him.

"Hm.... interesting. While this result was close to expected, it seems that only 95% of the people's expressions in the crowd have changed from :) to :O. That is, from awe to fear. Everyone who was filled with anger is now lying in front of Gary, but why are there still 5% of people who hold respect for us? Truly, the Determined must have made some good allies during her time here in the city for such a large portion of the population to still hold respect for us after such a display. Or perhaps we merely look that magnificent right now?", he mused.

As Garett approached the 10 men, he laughed demonically.

"Heh heh heh.... most powerful demon in the world? Ultimate weapon? I may be one of the antiheroes, but I'll tell you something, idiot. You're just trying to find an excuse. An excuse for why you lost. Out of the four of us here, did you think that I was selected to fight because I am the warrior? Hahaha!!! Wrong!!! Unfortunately for you, I happen to be the WEAKEST among the four of us."

The men flinched as Garett explained this, terrorized by his sinister expression as he raised his claw to slash at them.

"Y-you're lying!!! You have to be the strongest!!! There's no way the others are stronger than you!!!!"

"Y-yeah!! You're trying to intimidate everyone by playing your strongest card and then pretending like it's your weakest!!! Nobody will fall for that!!!!"

Garett chuckled menacingly, closing his eyes and then opening them to reveal ones filled with bloodlust.

"You think so? Haha.... sorry to say, but I'm no warrior. I'm the craftsman."

Slash.

Ten more heads fell off the bodies of the men, a fountain of blood exploding from the neck of each of them.

Garett walked off to the center of the arena, surrounded by butchered people, and then looked around to the crowd.

"Are there no more who wish to fight?"

After confirming this, Garett hopped up to the throne again. He sat down regally before speaking out in a loud voice to all.

"To the remaining people of the ratmen, one and all. I welcome you. You are now officially our slaves, and members of the Dictatorship. Now then..... it's time to destroy this city once and for all."

----

Lisa and Mori were no longer terrified.

Even watching as the men in front of them were slaughtered by this demon, they held no fear.

For the malice was not aimed at them, but rather the people who willingly stepped up and fought, under the assumption that they would be able to outnumber their opponent.

'If you aren't willing to die, then you should never step foot on the battlefield. If you try to take a life and aren't prepared for your own to be taken, then you're nothing more than a fool.'

This was what Mori's grandfather had told him once when he suggested going off to fight himself, and so as these men were killed, he did not feel remorse for them.

For they had stepped forward under the assumption that they would not have any problems slaughtering the demon.

A slaughter had happened. It was merely that they were on the receiving end.

"C.... so these are your subordinates...."

"So these are the antiheroes...."

Rather than being filled with terror, these two were filled with an awe and respect for Claire, who managed to control these four existences of chaos that shouted power with every fiber of their being.

'It's no wonder we couldn't understand her actions before.... but I trust her. I trust that she will keep her word and do what is best for this city. Even if part of her is a demon..... there is another part of her that is an angel!! And I believe that the angel will save the people of this city, even if the ones who serve her are these demons right in front of us!!!', Mori thought.

However, the statement of the crimson demon shook fear even into Mori and Lisa for just a moment.

"To the remaining people of the ratmen, one and all. I welcome you. You are now officially our slaves, and members of the Dictatorship. Now then..... it's time to destroy this city once and for all."

'Eh?'

'Destroy this city?'

"W-what does he mean by that!?", Mori whispered to Lisa.

"I... I don't know!!", Lisa whispered back.

The two held their breath as they watched the next moves of the demons in front of them.

----

Tiffany, who was sitting next to Al the entire show, found herself fighting off the urge to throw up the entire time.

'T-these.... these are that woman's subordinates!?!??!'

Looking back and forth between Al, the people who were once underneath her, and these four who sat regally upon their floating thrones, she was filled with disbelief.

'I.... there was no way I could have ever competed with her.... even her subordinates are far more beautiful that I am.... but that only makes me want to serve her even more.... she is a queen.... the queen of all queens.... I may not be first.... I may not be second.... I may not even be third.... compared to all under her, my beauty is third rate.... it is complete trash.... utterly disposable....'

Tiffany looked up to the people in front of her with her gleaming red eyes, in the hopes of someday ranking among them.

'Especially that succubus over there.... her beauty almost matches that of the Determined.....'

"To the remaining people of the ratmen, one and all. I welcome you. You are now officially our slaves, and members of the Dictatorship. Now then..... it's time to destroy this city once and for all."

'Eh? W-wait just a minute!! If the city is destroyed, then how will I be able to become one of her subordinates!?!?!? No!! This can't be!!!'

----

Fina sat next to her sister Gina, both watching closely as the crimson demon slaughtered all who came near him.

"Sister.... is that what you had to do when you were fighting in the arena!?! Did you have to face off against countless opponents like that!?!?", Gina asked, concerned.

Fina watched intensely, trying to keep up, but even with her goggles she could not.

"Well.... I never had to face that many opponents. The most I ever faced at once was 30."

"Still... 30 people at once!?!? But wait.... that demon.... he's facing 500 at once!!!!"

"Yeah.... he's strong. Too strong."

Gina gulped, just thinking about what would have happened if they had went up there as well.

'Fortunately, we talked the other day with the Determined... who knows.... perhaps if we didn't meet her before, sister would have jumped up there herself....'

As the last few men were slaughtered, Fina smiled lightly.

"So this is what those people felt when they watched my shows before.", she said with a slight bit of excitement in her voice.

"Sister.... I don't think you should be enjoying this...."

"Is that the case? What's the reason for that?"

"Well, didn't you hate the people who took enjoyment out of your fights?"

"Hate? I don't really understand that term. I only killed them so that they wouldn't be able to harm you."

Gina hugged her sister.

"I see...."

It was then that the demon sat back in his throne, and spoke his final words to the crowd.

"To the remaining people of the ratmen, one and all. I welcome you. You are now officially our slaves, and members of the Dictatorship. Now then..... it's time to destroy this city once and for all."

"Eh!? Did he just say he was going to destroy the city!?!", Gina exclaimed quietly.

"He did. Worry not though. I sense no malicious intent from him anymore. It disappeared with the last of the men who were killed in the arena."

"I see..... I hope you're right, sister."

Fina smiled.

"We can trust them. The Determined, and these antiheroes. So long as we don't go against them, I think they will assist me in my goal of protecting you."

----

'Demons....'

'Demons...'

'They're going to destroy the city....'

'They're going to kill us all.....'

Many people in the crowd went into a panic as Garett said these words.

However, this was the exact response he was hoping for.

'To lower the hopes of people before raising them up from hell itself. This is our way of doing things.'

'For only by becoming villains can we truly help anyone, through any method possible.'

This was the tenant Trevor had placed forward, with the end goal being complete annihilation of the scum of the world, and the complete regulation and maintenance of every person, profession, and existence.

Absolute control.

This was the end goal of the antiheroes.

Control over every aspect of the lives of the people under them, and the ensuring of prosperity wherever one went.

With this, the four flew up into the air, high above the arena. Garett held his hand out as they approached the ceiling, and with a single touch the entire metal ceiling disappeared.

The group continued floating upward, until they had reached the clouds themselves.

[Brace yourselves. It's going to get a little bumpy.], Garett stated as his words were transferred to the minds of every person present.

Ashley then stuck out her two hands, closing her eyes.

When the four had reached high enough to touch the clouds of smog, she smiled wickedly, and her eyes bursted open with an evil malice.

"Hehehe!!!!! All this energy is part of myself!!!! I can feel it..... there is dark energy completely covering these skies, of which I am the origin....."

As Ashley said this, the clouds themselves seemed to be sucked up like a vacuum, all converging on Ashley as the gas seemed to seep inside of her.

Despite being transparent, her body did not become any darker or filthier. She kept her pale white complexion, and yet as if an entire whirlwind had surrounded the city, the entire atmosphere was sucked up into the girl.

What was left, was the brightness of the sun.

"What is that!?!?"

"A ball of fire in the sky!?!?!"

"Is that a spell!?!? Did that girl just perform a spell to create such a large ball of fire!?!?!?!?"

"How is that possible!?!?!"

"No, for these people.... perhaps that is possible....."

The people were filled with shock, but Fina looked up with happiness.

"Sister..... look..... it's the ball of fire.... that's the ball of fire I saw in the land without the smog....."

"It's.... bright..... but it's beautiful....", Gina replied.

[We've now destroyed your very sky. And now, for those factories which you all hold so dear.]

The people watched in horror as Ashley closed her eyes once more, and massive fireballs the size of entire buildings seemed to flower out from her like missiles, homing in on their respective locations.

A vast amount of explosions were heard in the distance.

"They.... that girl.... she just created a number of fireballs to destroy the factories...."

"I can't believe it....."

"Demons...."

"These demons have truly come to kill us all....."

"They've destroyed our factories...."

"Our only food source which we have fought over so desperately.... gone... in an instant....."

The people in the arena were filled with the despair of doomsday, knowing that their entire lifestyles had just been set aflame, with only ashes remaining.

Everything they had ever fought for was now destroyed, and there was nothing left.

[Will you go right where nothing is left, or left where nothing is right? We were asked this question before, you know. Why don't you all take a guess which one we took?]

Garett closed his eyes, and a blueprint appeared in his mind.

He spread out his hands, and constructing themselves, entire buildings sprouted up where the ashes of the factories were.

Not only were new factories now present, but ones which were almost completely automated.

They would endlessly produce enough food for the entire city with little the need for laborers.

Of course, the people of the arena could not see such factories being built, and so they were completely unaware of this.

'Demons.....'

'They've destroyed everything.....'

'How will we feed our children now!?!'

[The answer: We went left. Because nothing that we ever do will be right. Muahahahaha!!!!!!]

The demonic laughter filled the minds of the people, who writhed in fear of the overarching beings in front of them.

And then, the beings disappeared from their sight.

They were gone, just as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Sister...."

"I know....."

The two sisters looked up at the sun, and smiled.

"The smog is gone."