Shortly before then.
"This gotta be the worst joke ever…"
Aetia dashed through the passage with a sour face.
"Oi! Stop right there!"
"Fufu, escaping from the enemy is not praiseworthy, you know?"
And the fused 'Shield' Saintess and goddess of thunder were hot on her tail; they were going to catch up to her at any moment.
"Kh, just you wait…"
How did she end up falling into such a situation?
It was due to the bad matchup between Aetia's superpower—"Disperanza(SuperMimic)"and the saintess and goddess.
As she had displayed in the minotaur village,"Disperanza"was a superpower that allowed Aetia to change her appearance to one that would let her best take advantage of her enemy's weakness
This was because most people would stop attacking when faced with the 'weak'.
Furthermore, in this place where she was holding the territorial advantage, it even allowed Aetia to mimic the person her opponent held most dear, which in the saintess and goddess' case, was the gentle Savior, making it a near-invincible power.
However, the 'eyes' of the saintess named Shiva allowed her to see the true form of all things.
With that being the case, no matter how perfect Aetia's mimic appeared to be, it was pointless.
After all, in the saintess's eyes, Aetia's appearance stayed the same.
Therefore, Aetia continued running down the passage, to ask for help from another "Sacrifice".
"—Valon!"
『—!?』
"…Oh?"
And so, she arrived at the space where the being that was presumably Valon, the first-ranked demon, was.
'Presumably' because his body was no longer in its original shape and had undergone an abominable transformation.
However, his presence was, without a doubt, that of Valon's.
Aetia also found two saintesses—who likely had fused with goddesses like Shiva—nearby, but she paid them no attention and shouted, "Let's work together, Valon! My power isn't effective against my opponents! But I'm sure it'll be effective against yours! So you and I, let's combine our strengths!"
"Combine our strength…?"
"Yes, that's right! Please, Valon! I need your strength!"
Valon, who now appeared like a kraken, gave a nod to Aetia's plea, "Yes, yes, very well! I've always had my eyes on you for a long time now! Please, become my strength!"
"Yes, gladly! Let's make them regret messing with us!" Aetia gave a big nod while inwardly cheering, 'How lucky ♪'.
Because Valon said 'he'd always had his eyes on her'.
He covered his face with a hood all the time, and Aetia couldn't figure out what he was thinking, but she never imagined that he'd been holding such feelings for her…
If she tempted him with her top-tier body, he would surely listen to whatever she told him to.
He appeared hideous, to be perfectly honest, but he was the first-ranked demon. It would be well worth the price to make him her pawn.
Things can't get any better than this—so Aetia thought.
However…
"Ufufu, what a shame, isn't it? Our positions are now reversed. Well then, how do you prefer to di—guha!?"
『—Wha!?』
…out of nowhere Valon's tentacle grabbed Aetia from the side—her body was restrained from chin down, leaving only her head exposed.
"W-what do you think you're doing, Valon!? Are you betraying me!?" Aetia was, of course, bewildered; she was unable to understand his intention.
But.
"…Betray? Whatever are you saying?" Valon tilted his head and said, "You said it yourself. 'Let's combine our strengths'. That means—you wanted me to 'eat' you, am I wrong?"
"N-no…!? I-I just…!?"
"Ah, I'm elated, Aetia. I've always wanted to eat you. I never imagined you'd been thinking the same."
"W-wait…!? That's not what I…!?
"…I-I know!" As Valon's mouth opened wide, Aetia said in a pleading tone, "A-after this battle is over, I'll be your woman! You can do anything you want with my body, and I will let you feel pleasures you've never imagined before! So… s-so…!?"
The closer the deformed mandibles got to her, the more terrified Aetia became. She eventually pleaded with tears running down all over her face, "N-no… W-wait… P-please… n-nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo———————....."
However, Valon simply turned a deaf ear and swallowed her whole.
◇ ◇
"What on earth…"
"…He sure has gone crazy. No one would eat their comrade, otherwise…"
After witnessing the gruesome sights, Zana and co muttered in pity for the end of Aetia despite her being an enemy.
At the same time, they were filled with righteous indignation toward Valon. Zana gritted her teeth tightly.
After which, Valon said in, for some reason, a joyful voice, "Ah, how delicious… I've never eaten such delicious food… and this overflowing power… I want to eat more…. more… more… Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore!!"
『―!?』
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssshhhhh!! Valon suddenly stretched out his tentacles in all directions, leaving Zana and the others to stare in astonishment.