The other side of Reincarnation

　The moment came simultaneously.

　Five separate declarations tore across the battlefield, each one carving reality itself into an isolated domain before a single blow had properly landed.

　Kai’s dimension rose first.

　Thyatire.

　Vast.

　Grim.

　The moment it manifested, Vorath and Skorne were pulled into its boundaries alongside him.

　The outside world simply ceased to exist for the three of them the instant the barrier closed.

　Nyxara’s dimension followed, dragging Nao Shimizu into a space entirely of her own making.

　Ivy’s dimension claimed Jiro.

　Mirella’s claimed Nero.

　And Demigra’s—

　Gluttony Sin.

　It swallowed both Vados and Enzo together.

　A deliberate two-against-one arrangement that Demigra seemed entirely unbothered by choosing for himself.

　Six battles.

　Five separate realities.

　And beneath all of it, completely unaware that the true weight of the war had just shifted somewhere they would never see, eight hundred thousand soldiers continued fighting over ground that no longer mattered nearly as much as what was happening above their heads.

　Far to the north, Senna had no such luxury of isolation.

　The northern front remained chaotic and completely exposed.

　The Western Alliance desperately held a line that threatened to collapse beneath Shimizu’s relentless pressure.

　Three Holy Lights of the North pressed Senna simultaneously.

　One wielded blades wrapped in holy fire.

　Another channeled magic on a scale that shook the earth with every spell.

　The third simply continued pouring endless bombardments down upon the allied soldiers below.

　Senna blocked one strike.

　The resulting shockwave cracked the earth beneath her feet.

　She was already moving.

　Several hundred meters away, she appeared in an instant and threw up a barrier around a cluster of Western soldiers just as a holy spell descended upon them.

　The attack struck.

　The barrier held.

　Another Light appeared behind her.

　Senna turned.

　She caught the attack and redirected its force harmlessly into the sky.

I can’t fight them properly while I’m also keeping these soldiers alive.

　Another attack came.

　She caught it bare-handed this time.

　The ground beneath her cracked from the force she absorbed.

　Senna looked across the battlefield.

　Hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

　The Western line was bending dangerously close to breaking entirely.

　Something settled into place within her expression.

　”I see.”

　Her voice was quiet.

　Almost amused.

　”I don’t need to fight this army myself.”

　She raised one hand.

　”I just need to delegate.”

　Her demonic aura spread outward.

　Across the entire battlefield.

　Unmistakable.

　Absolute.

　One of the Holy Lights stared at her.

　”What is she doing?”

　”Calling for reinforcements,” Senna replied.

　The sky darkened.

　Magic circles began appearing across the battlefield.

　Not one.

　Not ten.

　Hundreds.

　They multiplied rapidly, growing denser with every passing second.

　Then the ground erupted.

　A Sin-Marked Demon emerged.

　Then another.

　Then dozens.

　The summoning continued without pause.

　One hundred.

　Three hundred.

　Five hundred.

　Seven hundred.

　Until finally—

　Eight hundred and sixty-seven.

　The summoning stopped.

　The entire battlefield went silent.

　These were not ordinary demons.

　Every single one possessed power approaching Demon Lord tier.

　Even the Holy Lights, composed as they were, visibly faltered at the sheer scale of what had just appeared before them.

　Senna surveyed the assembled army without ceremony.

　”I don’t have time to think of names for all of you.”

　She pointed toward the nearest demon.

　”You are One.”

　She pointed toward the next.

　”Two.”

　Then the next.

　”Three.”

　She continued down the line without hesitation.

　Until she reached the final demon.

　”Eight hundred and sixty-seven.”

　Senna turned toward them properly.

　”You are Sin-Marked Demons, under the command of Demon Lord Senna.”

　Every demon knelt.

　Unanimously.

　”By direct command of your master, Lord Kai...”

　Her eyes turned toward the Shimizu army.

　”Annihilate them.”

　The demons smiled.

　”As you command.”

　What followed was not a battle in any conventional sense.

　It was a hunt.

　Some demons took to the sky.

　Others teleported directly into the heart of enemy formations.

　Some tore through defensive lines as though they were nothing more than paper.

　Others raised barriers that trapped fleeing soldiers exactly where they needed to be.

　The Shimizu army attempted to reorganize.

　It didn’t matter.

　Eight hundred and sixty-seven beings, each individually approaching Demon Lord strength, simply overwhelmed everything in front of them.

　Senna didn’t participate.

　She stood silently, watching.

　For the first time since the fighting began, she was free from the burden of dividing her attention between combat and protecting the soldiers around her.

　One of the Holy Lights looked toward the collapsing battlefield.

　Then back toward Senna.

　Understanding finally reached him.

　Too late to matter.

　”You—”

　”Now.”

　Senna’s aura erupted outward.

　Vast.

　Total.

　”We can fight properly.”

　Freed from the need to protect anyone else, Senna simply vanished.

　One of the Holy Lights never saw her movement.

　She was already behind him before his instincts had finished registering the threat.

　He turned.

　Blocked.

　Barely.

　Her second strike shattered his barrier completely.

　He attempted to cast holy magic.

　Senna walked straight through it.

　A third Light attacked from above.

　She caught the weapon mid-swing.

　Cracked it in half.

　Then threw him bodily across the battlefield.

　The remaining Lights finally understood.

　Individual resistance meant nothing.

　They coordinated.

　One raised a Holy Barrier.

　Another reinforced it.

　A third launched a dedicated anti-demonic attack.

　The fourth attempted to seal Senna outright.

　For a moment—

　She was genuinely trapped.

　Then Senna smiled.

　”Is that supposed to stop me?”

　Her aura exploded outward.

　The barrier cracked.

　Fractured.

　Then shattered completely.

　Senna stepped through the wreckage without a scratch.

　The sky above the northern front turned black.

　She gathered her full strength.

　The entire battlefield disappeared beneath the weight of her demonic aura.

　”You were powerful enough to force me to divide my attention,” she told the remaining Lights calmly.

　Then she smiled.

　A small, cold smile.

　”But now?”

　Her eyes sharpened.

　”You’re nothing but prey.”

　What followed was not simply an overwhelming display of strength.

　It was systematic.

　Precise.

　Every technique they raised, she countered.

　Every defense, she dismantled.

　Every retreat, she closed.

　Every attempt to regroup ended before it could begin.

　One by one, the Holy Lights fell.

　And when it was over—

　The Holy Lights of the North no longer existed.

　Senna looked across the battlefield one final time.

　Below, the eight hundred and sixty-seven Sin-Marked Demons continued finishing their work.

　”Don’t leave survivors.”

　”Yes, Lady Senna.”

　The response came as one.

　Senna turned away.

　She didn’t wait to watch the rest unfold.

　She had already accomplished exactly what she came to do.

　　　　　　　　　◆

　Elsewhere—

　Inside a dimension of pale silver light, Ivy and Jiro stood facing one another across an empty, unnervingly silent expanse.

　Neither attacked immediately.

　Jiro had arrived already informed.

　He knew who Ivy was.

　He knew what she meant to Kai’s household.

　And he understood the broad shape of her power.

　Ivy, meanwhile, knew only that this man had been present somehow—connected to everything that had happened to Horizoncrest.

　Their first real exchange began without a word.

　Blade met barrier.

　Magic met force.

　They exchanged strike after strike.

　And within moments, Ivy understood.

　Whatever inherited power Jiro possessed made him considerably more dangerous than an ordinary Demon Lord’s rank suggested.

　His barriers held longer than they should have.

　His movements carried the precision of an old hero who had spent years perfecting combat.

　Yet beneath that precision was something colder.

　Something Ivy couldn’t immediately identify.

He’s not simply strong.

He’s been trained by someone who genuinely knew how to fight.

　The battle continued.

　A long, serious exchange.

　Neither giving the other an easy opening.

　Then, even while moving, Jiro finally spoke.

　”Your master was reincarnated into this world, wasn’t he?”

　Ivy said nothing.

　”I was reincarnated too.”

　He blocked her next strike with practiced ease.

　”Why does that matter?” Ivy asked flatly.

　”Because your master and I came from the same world.”

　That landed.

　Ivy’s attention sharpened despite herself.

　”If you truly came from the same world as Lord Kai...”

　Her voice became careful.

　”Tell me why he was reincarnated.”

　Jiro smiled.

　”Wasn’t it old age?”

　A pause.

　Then his smile faded slightly.

　”No.”

　His eyes met hers.

　”I killed him.”

　Ivy went completely still.

　No scream.

　No words.

　Nothing.

　Her expression simply went blank.

　For one long, unreadable moment—

　Even her aura flickered out.

　Jiro, mistaking Ivy’s stillness for simple processing rather than the calm before something considerably worse, continued speaking.

　”I never thought reincarnation was actually real, honestly. Certainly didn’t expect him to come back.”

　A short, careless laugh escaped him.

　”His sister killed me, in the end. That’s actually how I ended up here myself.”

　He kept talking.

　Completely unaware.

　Ivy didn’t move.

　Didn’t blink.

　Didn’t answer.

　Jiro continued for several more seconds before finally noticing the silence.

　”Hey.”

　He tilted his head slightly.

　”Are you even listening to—”

　He didn’t finish.

　Ivy was already in front of him.