After the pope transformed, he and Asmodeus began fighting. Their de and magic shed several times, causing Yuina and Aki to be shocked. He flung Aki from his shadow at the start ofbat, now fighting beside the princess.


    They tried to watch while fighting off the deranged nobles and knights.


    The moment Asmodeus revealed his strength, the eyes of Pope Johan became bemused. His young and attractive form glowed with a dark light. However, that shocksted but a moment before his fingertips snapped, turning several of the nobles into blood mist.


    "Pope Johan!?"


    "Hmph! Mere animals who exist only to serve our lord do not speak my name!" Johan''s eyes gazed at the beastkin like garbage.


    The next moment, ck runic and magic circles flooded the space around Asmodeus, while the demon king merely pointed towards the pope. "Arrogant priest!"


    A bloody shockwave exploded, causing half of them to shatter. Afterwards, he swiped his sword and cleaved through the others, rendering the pope''s attack worthless.


    "Nice trick, Demon!" The pope''s body vanished, his body rapidly teleporting and appearing in front of Asmodeus. Johan''s ck staff ms down towards his head. He responded by catching it with one hand before thrusting his sword directly towards the pope''s head.


    Johan''s face distorted slightly, tilting his head before the force knocked him back several metres. In response, the priest smiled with satisfaction. "You are truly a suitable vessel for my Lord."


    ''What?!''


    "Eh?!" It was Yuina and


    [No... Asmodeus, you cannot keep fighting here! Take the princess, empress and your knights and leave!]


    ''Serena?''


    A feeling of doubt crept into his mind; hearing even Serena speak that way made his heart waver. Was this a trap? The entire thing from meeting the cult of death to being driven to the south and them waiting here?


    ''I don''t understand?!''


    He felt confused. How could Mephisto want his body... but before he could ask her, the connection suddenly became distant again, like in the forest...


    It was at that moment that the pope of death stabbed his staff into the ground; a rumbling sounded through the temple as countless blood golems sprouted throughout its vast halls.


    Countless dead nobles contributed to the formation of the blood golems. A strange mixture of animal parts created the monstrosities, which oozed with sticky ck blood.


    "Kill them," Johanmanded as more and more monsters grew.


    "Asmodeus!" Yuina called out before her body glowed in a faint golden light. She lowered her hips, dodging the enemy''s de, before using her eastern sword, slicing the throat of a ck knight. However, before she could recover, two golems appeared behind her.


    In response, Asmodeus moved towards her side to save her. He pushed her body towards Aki and used his de to block violent fists filled with immense pressure. Yet the nobles were constantly being drained of their life force to power the five golems.


    "Ngh... Yuina, Aki, are you alright?"


    "Hahaha~ a touching little mutant!" Johan''s Right hand touched the cheek of Asmodeus, creating a small magic circle while forming arge one overhead.


    Asmodeus growled before pushing back the golems. Johan grunted as two dark spells cast from his magic circles shed above and below against Asmodeus. "You are different from those other fools that bow at the altar of the gods."


    The Pope expressed surprise as they continued their spell sh. "You do not have a god, nor can you obtain the faith of others. That is why my master, my lord, my everything desires that body! Surrender it to me, and I will save your precious lovers!"


    ''?!''


    The moment he used the plural, a sense of dismay filled Asmodeus. He knew it wasn''t about Yuina or Aki instinctively. It was far more dreadful than he thought possible. Liana, Vinea, Ci... and Levia were outside the city! ''Did these bastards attack them?''


    ''He knows something! Fuck!''


    His thoughts and emotions erupted in rage as his opponent yed on his greatest fear... losing someone! However, he couldn''t submit or give up; grasping his sword, he cut through the spells as they sliced his cheeks and chest apart with ck lightning.


    "What is wrong, Demon King? You know you must submit yourself to save them. So surrender!"


    "Lies... Hngh..."


    "...?" A look of surprise appeared on Johan''s face. It turned into disdainful pity for Asmodeus.


    ''Dammit...''


    While keeping Johan busy, he was trying to figure out what exactly Serena meant and what he needed to do. The moment the sigil appeared on the floor, all thoughts of how to deal with Johan went out the window because Mephisto desired his body.


    "Yuina! Take her and go with Aki back to the others!" Asmodeus snapped his left-handed fingers at the empress, who was like a marite on her throne, bleeding from her nose. ''That damn ck mist is eating them alive to make the pope stronger... fucker.''


    "Asmodeus?!" Yuina cried back, but he couldn''t just let her stop. He needed her to listen.


    The sh of de and staff echoed as the Pope didn''t give him a moment to recover, magic exploding and shooting at him from all directions.


    With every sh, the immense divine power weakened. Noticing this, he formed countless shadow spears to try to fight back the five golems attacking him whenever the pope took a moment to cast. They rushed over with terrifying momentum and didn''t feel pain.


    "Aki, do it! Take them out; I''ll make a path!" Hemanded as he parried with his de, using the momentum of the pope. Despite the appearance of Asmodeus struggling, their strength and speed were far from equal. It was because of the golems and Yuina being here that caused him to struggle.


    *Swish*


    "Ugh... what is this?!" A ck de prated the right shoulder of Asmodeus, with the ck divine energy rapidly festering on the wound. While his body tried to regenerate, the sudden burden on his mana caused a decline in his abilities, mistakes bing more apparent as his mind fogged up.


    ''Fuck...''


    "W-what?!" Yuina screamed before Aki pulled on her arm.


    "P-Princess, we have to go!" Aki dragged her towards the distant wall, and she saw dozens of blood-red magic circles forming. The empress dragged along the ground as Yuina held her arm.


    "Make sure you go find Liana!"


    Asmodeus pushed out his left hand before beams of bloody energy burst from the magic circles. Their immense force destroyed the barrier entirely. Then, the runes faded into nothingness as if they only existed for one purpose. However, the red energy beams continued into the sky as if to warn the others.


    "Sigh... well, I guess it''s not gonna just end, right?" The voice of a tired young man rang out, his hair messy and sweat covering his forehead.


    "Now you don''t have any hostages, so shall we fight for real?" Asmodeus was tired, but his desire to fight grewrger looking at the pope, and four remaining golems.


    ***


    "Haa.....ha...."


    "I don''t understand; why don''t you ept my lord''s offer? Your shoulder looks so painful," The pope asked with curiosity, finding it strange. "Can you not hear his voice? That divine one calling out to you?"


    "Shut up... I don''t care if you want to kill all of the beastkin in the city. Can you leave me and my women out of your dirty ns?"


    Johan''s brows raised, and a smile spread across his face. His hand moved down toward his hips asughter resounded throughout the temple. "Ahahahhaaha! Oh, my dear Lord Mephisto. This petty king truly thinks he could defeat me... let me show you the true meaning of death!"


    The next moment, the pope took out a ck vial with a strange fluid inside and quickly swallowed it. Johan''s body began to pulse, causing Asmodeus to feel a sense of danger.


    ''Did this fucker lose his mind?''


    However, he noticed something, not only a distortion within Johan''s soul but his flesh was melting... Then, as the golems closed in on Asmodeus, their bodies exploded and turned into sticky crimson liquid. The blood transformed, turning into tentacles and attaching themselves to his arms and legs. "Hiss... I feel his love! His power! Mephisto~e to me!"


    At this point, Asmodeus could no longer hold himself back; his eye narrowed before his demonic mana exploded. Without dy, he transformed, instantly forming his wings, horns and exoskeleton while facing the deformed pope. A horror fused with the flesh golems made of dozens of nobles.


    "Hah!"


    "Suffer and repent!"


    A thick shadow spear formed on each fingertip of Asmodeus before flinging them straight at the monster. Yet with a single swipe of his hand, Johan sent them flying each one exploding against the pce walls, creating arge st.


    The golden-haired man flew forward, and the sound of space shattering rang out as he mmed into Asmodeus with the back of his fist.


    "Ngh..."


    Not missing an opportunity, he twisted his hips, creating a sudden howl, flinging his opponent away, smashing him into several pirs. Asmodeus couldn''t stop his momentum and crashed into the stone wall. Shards of rock flew outwards as dust and smoke spread out.


    "Give up! A demon King cannot defeat a god!"


    ***


    A little earlier...


    On the far side of the battlefield, near a castle tower, three people hid behind debris.


    "Yuina?!" A female voice sounded as several knights stood looking at the trio with confused looks. It was Vinea, Liana and Ci, while Levia seemed missing from the knights.


    "Liana?! You''re all okay!" Yuina let out a sigh of relief before hugging her, the demon princess. "You should be out of the city. Where are the caravans?"


    Vinea gazed at Yuina. "Some knights in ck armour suddenly attacked us; thankfully, we won... but Levia is wounded."


    Something strange was happening in the capital. Yuina looked back at the pce while Empress Aurelia seemed to be slowly recovering from the strange ck mist.


    "We should help our husband!" Vinea shouted. The group agreed before hearing the loud explosionsing from the pce.


    When suddenly, a figure flew from the roof and mmed into the ground beside them, rolling several times with a few bounces.