Kurata Yui's magic, now under Rei Ao's restraints, was finally something she could control. As a result, the Collapse incident came to a halt.
"Are you going to stay here any longer?"
Asami Lilith asked Kurata Yui.
Yui looked back at her "home," then shook her head.
"No. Now that I can handle my magic, I'd like to see the outside world."
"Sounds good. Let's head back up, then."
Lilith said this, but the moment she spoke, she suddenly froze in place.
(Lilith… come to me…)
A hazy voice echoed in her mind, and Asami Lilith's consciousness fell into confusion.
"Huh? Why'd you stop moving?"
Kazama Levi asked in surprise.
Rei Ao commanded. With a wave of his hand, everyone—including Kurata Yui—was pulled behind him by an invisible force.
The abrupt movement startled everyone, but then they noticed something strange about Lilith.
Black magical energy began leaking from Lilith's body.
"Lilith's magic is running wild, too?"
Yamana Mira immediately compared her condition to Kurata Yui's. But the truth was different.
Lieselotte narrowed her eyes.
"No, no… that's a power only a Demon King would possess."
"She carries the Demon King Factor."
"Demon King Factor?!"
All eyes turned toward Rei Ao. In this world, there was only one Demon King—him—and only he could grant that power.
Rei Ao watched with interest.
"It's coming from her father's power. Looks like he chose quite the moment."
Probably Kurata Yui's massive outburst of magic—and the power Rei Ao used—caught his attention, prompting him to take action now.
Those who were close to Lilith wore looks of shock.
Fudou Akio: "Lilith's father is a Demon King? I never knew that!"
"Have you ever even met her father?"
Kazama Levi shot her a glance.
None of them had actually seen Lilith's father, and Lilith herself had never mentioned him.
"This isn't the time for that," Yamana Mira said urgently. "What's going on with Lilith? Is the Demon King Factor out of control, or is it… awakening?"
She eyed Rei Ao, the only one who could possibly know Lilith's true condition.
"Looks like you care about Lilith."
Rei Ao said with a playful smile.
"C-care about her? N-no, I don't!"
A faint blush crept across Mira's cheeks.
"I-I'm just worried she'll cause another Collapse like Kurata Yui did!"
Kurata Yui apologized again.
"I'm not blaming you!"
Realizing her words might have unintentionally singled out Yui again, Mira hurriedly explained.
At that moment, Lilith's body changed. Black magic wrapped around her, and in the blink of an eye, her outfit transformed into a black cloak and over-the-knee black boots.
Compared to before, her aura had turned dark and chilling. With crimson eyes brimming with killing intent, she glared at Rei Ao and the others.
"Uh… is Lilith… hostile toward us now?"
Fudou Akio asked uneasily.
"I'm sensing it, too. Something's off."
Kazama Levi drew her sword. "Everyone, be careful."
In the next second, Lilith lifted a finger and pointed it at them. A black sphere of magic formed at her fingertip.
A beam charged with annihilating force shot straight out.
Several of the others simultaneously attempted to conjure magic to stop the sudden attack.
Rei Ao casually waved his hand, and the deadly ray disintegrated mid-flight.
Everyone stared at Lilith in disbelief. She was actually attacking them?!
"Does the Demon King Factor turn someone into a different person?"
Selena asked, baffled.
"It doesn't," replied Rei Ao.
"But if the Demon King who bestowed it intends to, he can manipulate the person's actions through that power."
He gave a meaningful smile.
"Isn't that right, Lilith's father—Trinity Abyss?"
No sooner had he spoken than space behind Lilith began to ripple. A blood-red tear opened in midair.
From within that crimson rift came a burst of unrestrained laughter. Then a tall man in a black robe stepped through.
"What incredible luck," the man said as he pushed back his hood to reveal a youthful face framed by white hair. His red eyes swept across Rei Ao and the others, shining with greed.
"A bunch of magic-users… plus a newly ascended Demon King. If I devour all your powers, I'll be unstoppable!"
His face was overtaken by raw avarice.
Fudou Akio and the rest tensed up immediately. The suffocating pressure radiating from Trinity Abyss confirmed it—he was definitely a Demon King.
Kannazuki Arin gripped Rei Ao's hand. To her, he was the only Demon King she recognized. Rei Ao sensed her distress, reassuring her by interlacing his fingers with hers. Then he spoke up, revealing the newcomer's identity:
"Trinity Abyss. As a Demon King from another world, why force your way here and use your own daughter like a chess piece?"
The others picked up on the key words: Trinity Abyss was not this world's Demon King.
"Heh," the white-haired man snorted. "You, the new Demon King, know nothing."
"Have you heard of World Reincarnation?" he asked. Even a Demon King couldn't stop the cycle of reincarnation from happening. When a world died, its life died, and so did its Demon King. Yet the cycle of reincarnation would restart everything—world, life, Demon King included.
But if he was reborn, would he still be himself? Searching for his pre-rebirth memories proved fruitless. Eventually, Trinity Abyss concluded that once reborn, he would cease to be the same entity—and thus, he would die. That realization led to raw terror of reincarnation.
"I don't want to die. I can't die. I must escape reincarnation!"
"In the end, just as my own world was about to reincarnate, I found a method."
His eyes gleamed with excitement as he spread his arms wide.
"All I have to do is travel to other worlds… and replace their Demon King. That way, I'll never die!"
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