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In Vulcan’s hand, the heart of the demonic race throbbed as if it were still alive.

Suddenly, a scene from three years ago flickered in my mind. The memory of the day I made the worst choice.

The day when Professor Eden, once human, devoured a demonic being and transformed into one himself. Even reminiscing about previous encounters, he was exceptionally strong, making him a formidable adversary for us, who were then lacking in power.

Fortunately, thanks to my complete awakening as a Hero, we were able to defeat him, but that memory was still deeply ingrained in my mind.

At that time, Professor Eden had urged us to eat the heart of the demonic race, intending to turn us into demons like himself.

Normally, consuming a demonic heart doesn’t turn a human into a demon. It would merely lead to addiction to mana or even death if one couldn’t endure it.

Similarly, even if a demon were to consume another demon’s heart, it wouldn’t abruptly become significantly stronger. If that were the case, surely demons would be too busy devouring each other by now.

Yet still, Vulcan brought the heart to his mouth and sank his teeth into it. Instincts honed from walking the line between life and death rang alarms in me, but given the distance, I could only watch as he consumed the heart.

With one bite, he devoured half of the heart. The piece he chewed went down his throat, visible as it passed through his neck.

Before it could even be digested, Vulcan’s energy, which had diminished after regrowing an arm, fully returned to its original strength.

In just two bites, he finished the heart. Blood oozed from his mouth, staining his face, but Vulcan showed no signs of concern.

Now, his strength was evidently greater than before. He turned his head, looking back at us, but in his eyes resided an insatiable thirst.

“Eden, was it? That half-baked fellow really left us something precious.”

The name I least expected rolled off Vulcan’s tongue. Although Eden was already dead at our hands, it seemed his research notes had somehow made their way to the demon side. That clarified the situation to some extent.

“But it’s still not enough…”

Vulcan’s gaze shifted beyond us, towards the battlefield where our armies were intertwined.

“We have to stop him from leaving here!”

It was evident what Vulcan was aiming for, even without saying. He likely desired the heart of another upper demon—a fresh one. Even after consuming just one heart, his power had surged; pondering the consequences of consuming another was beyond my imagination.

Fortunately, sensing that things were going awry, Anne abandoned her earlier nonchalant attitude and immediately launched an attack at Vulcan.

“Haah!”

With immense strength, Anne swung her great sword. It wasn’t just raw might; the distinctive crimson aura of House Klain shimmered above it.

Vulcan, unable to ignore Anne’s assault, raised both arms to block. Although his feet didn’t move, there was no time to waste, and both Selian and I charged Vulcan as well.

His arms occupied with fending off Anne’s great sword, he couldn’t retreat. It was a situation where he was left with no choice but to receive our swords, but Vulcan’s solution was staggeringly simple. Lacking hands to defend, he simply created new ones.

From above Vulcan’s shoulder, two additional arms erupted to intercept our swords. Instantly quadrupling his hands, Vulcan, despite no time to adjust, swung them fluidly, adeptly parrying the attacks from Selian, me, and Anne.

“I can’t believe this.”

Despite my wish to refrain from cursing, it just slipped out.

Vulcan’s mana was so ferocious that Anne, whose Klain bloodline made her sensitive to mana, had her eyes bloodshot. Her unique red aura was overflowing uncontrollably.

Swish,

Each time Anne’s great sword sliced through the air, the sound of heavy winds grew more intense.

Boom!

Anne’s great sword struck the ground, creating a massive crater as if an explosion had gone off at that spot.

“Uh, um… Anne? You know I wasn’t cursing at you, right?”

“Sorry, Anne! Actually, I lied and jumped ahead of you last time!”

I hurried to clarify, fearing that Anne might have misunderstood, but she seemed not to hear as she swung her great sword indiscriminately. Madness sparkled in her eyes, indicating that she was likely intoxicated by the raging power of blood.

If I were to get hit by that monstrous great sword Anne wielded, I could confidently say there would be nothing left of my bones.

Ultimately, as Selian and I retreated to avoid getting caught in the intensifying assault, Anne began to rampage without restraint.

“Khah, khahahaha!”

On the other hand, it seemed Vulcan found Anne’s rampage amusing, as he engaged in direct combat with her, clashing against her great sword. It appeared the thought of consuming the heart of that dim-witted upper demon had long since faded from his mind.

Power against power, madness against madness.

The great sword that was once held with two hands was now wildly swung with one, while the other hand hurled punches at Vulcan.

Vulcan, while still blocking Anne’s great sword with his two arms, was also swinging the additional two arms he had created towards her.

With each collision of Anne’s punches against Vulcan, deep, resonating impacts reverberated, yet neither of them would relent. At worst, only a bit of blood trickled from their mouths, but neither side showed any signs of retreat, moving ever closer.

I was aware that the power from Anne’s bloodline reacted to demons, but recalling all our previous encounters, I had never seen her lose her sanity to this extent. Typically, her strength would only increase a bit; she had never surrendered her reasoning to the point of frenzy before.

The situation likely stemmed from the unexpectedly potent mana that Vulcan now possessed, combined with Anne being stronger than usual. It must have also had a hand in her impulsive personality.

“Shouldn’t we intervene?”

I asked Selian, who had quietly been observing with a worried tone.

It was fortunate that someone was managing to withstand Vulcan, but regardless of the blood’s power, ultimately, it was Anne’s body that needed to endure.

She might seem fine now, but lacking Vulcan’s resilient demonic body, her human limits would soon be reached. Once accumulated damage crossed the threshold, there would be no turning back.

If only Anne were a Sword Master, it might have helped, but she wasn’t that either.

“But… how can we possibly get in there when she’s rampaging like that? I can force my way in somehow, but I can’t think of a way to calm her down…”

Even I, the one suggesting intervention, had no idea how to stop Anne. During our exchange, the fight between them continued, and Anne’s great sword finally severed one of Vulcan’s arms. Of course, Vulcan instantly regrew a new one and retaliated.

… Will Anne actually take down Vulcan all by herself?

I was supposed to be the Hero of this round, but somehow I felt more like a sidekick.

It wasn’t even a joke; as time moved on, Anne’s movements grew increasingly agile. Vulcan’s punches began to miss more often, while Anne landed more hits against him. Struggling to keep up, it seemed even blocking her great sword was becoming burdensome for Vulcan, who began to retreat, leaving marks in the ground.

Bang! Bang!

Now the sound of their clashes resembled explosions rather than mere impacts. Instead of striking at Vulcan with her great sword, Anne plunged it deep into the ground, embedding the massive blade halfway into it.

Now, Anne solely fought with her fists, starting to engage decisively. As Vulcan’s right fist flew towards her, she merely tilted her head aside to avoid it. Then, as the additional fist from above came down, she lightly deflected it with the back of her hand.

With minimal movement, she managed to evade two of Vulcan’s colossal punches. Taking advantage of the brief opening from earlier, she swiftly delivered a kick to Vulcan’s side.

With a crack, something snapped, and Vulcan finally succumbed, flying far away. However, Anne showed no signs of letting up, charging straight at Vulcan through the swirling dust.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

While sitting on Vulcan, who had fallen, Anne mercilessly pummeled his face with her small fists. Surely, despite their small size, the sounds of her strikes were anything but petite; they echoed with tremendous ferocity.

“Grahhh!”

Vulcan attempted to escape the situation using all of his arms, but Anne remained undeterred, gazing at him with madness in her eyes, continuing her onslaught.

With each hit, the resounding noise grew louder, while Vulcan’s protests diminished.

How long did this go on? When no more moans escaped from Vulcan’s lips, Anne finally clasped her hands together, and—

Crack.

A sharp sound reverberated through the air.