With me concentrating on trying to cap her and cause her pain with orders, and Miki trying to weaken her, the demon lord retreated for the first time. The remaining three guards and the prince continued their attack, but it was truly Lydia who did the most. Although she wasn’t in her beast form, that was probably for the best. That form was far too destructive and didn’t have enough strategy.

“Die… all of you!” The demon lord shrieked, sending out dozens of miasma blades.

Lydia managed to cut them down and dodge them, while the prince and remaining guards managed to keep any remaining ones from reaching Miki and me. I kept creating order after order, intending to confuse and disorientate her. Meanwhile, Miki launched attacks against her spirit, further pushing her back.

We finally had her cornered, and she was starting to grow damaged once again. Her body was looking more and more haggard, and her miasma attacks appeared more and more frantic. She could barely even defend herself. She started trying to protect her body now. With that, the prince and the bodyguards surge forward. In an instant, she would be defeated. With four swords striking her at once, if it didn’t create a fatal blow, nothing would.

“Oh, no!” Miki suddenly gasped “Run!”

The demon lord’s eyes opened, their red glow piercing through the darkened, miasma-rich sky. It had been a trick from the beginning. She had been saving up to cast a very powerful spell with a long cast time. That was why she had pretended to be losing. A massive power exploded out from her. The power of a miasma tsunami exploded out. Those closest to her were hit the strongest.

“My lord!” One of the bodyguards grabbed a pendant around Prince Aberis and ripped it off.

His body disappeared and teleported 500 meters away. It was some kind of saving blink spell. However, the strike was still severe enough that he passed out. The other three guards disintegrated as they were carried away by the wave. As for Lydia, I watched as she two disintegrated. Her mouth was moving as she flew back, her eyes locked on me.

“I love…” The third word never formed as her head dissipated.

I let out a cry, realizing the wave was still spreading out. I had underestimated its strength. I immediately cast armor on myself and Divine Aura. The wave hit the Divine Aura, shattering it instantly. My mind was still too shocked to think. I froze as the massive cloud approached. At the last second, Miki leaped in front of me.

The Miasma struck her first, and she flew back, her body hitting mine. As it spread over us, it felt like my flesh was being melted off. We were farther away, so the spell was weaker, but that only meant we weren’t instantly evaporated. Parts of her skin started to evaporate in the wave. Her eyes met mine, tears now flowing freely.

“Master… must… win…”

She grabbed my arm, I suddenly felt a surge of life flow into me. I gasped as I realized that her spiritualist also had the give life ability. In essence, with her last breath, she was giving me every last ounce of breath. We struck the ground and the miasma passed by. The temporary surge of energy quickly ended. It was enough that I didn’t die, but the wounds across my body were innumerable. I could barely move.

With my last bit of energy, I reached down to grab Miki, only to realize she wasn’t there. She had given every ounce of her lifeforce, and even her body was gone now.

As for the Demon Lord, she floated back up into the air, her wounds already healing once again at an extremely fast rate. This was the true power of a demon lord. We never had a chance.

“This world… and everyone in it will die.” She said to herself.

I was the only one left to hear it.