"Higyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"
The grotesque demon shrieked and flailed around as its body was being burned by furious flames of purification. With my eyes locked on him, I landed in front of the girls.
『Exa(-sama)!』
They all called my name and ran up to me.
"Sorry, I'm late," I looked back at them and said, "You guys okay?"
"Y-yeah, all thanks to ya. As ya can see, none of us even has a scratch." Ophir said.
"I see. That's great. Though I must say, you guys are amazing. That's just like"Superior Arms". No, since you're fused with the goddesses, it even surpasses it."
As I was looking at them with surprise and wonder, Magmell directed a look of confusion at me, "W-well, more importantly" and said, "we still couldn't defeat him even when we were ganging up on him, yet you were able to sweep him and his puppets away in a single blow. May I assume that it is related to your new look…?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, this is anti-demon—or more accurately, anti-'filth' combat form. It allows me to transform into the flame of purification itself, and I call it 'Phoenix Form'. I became able to activate it during my fight with Yomi just a while ago."
"Hmm. It transforms all of the power that flows out of your core into the flame of purification"Homura", and through a continuous process of condensation, virtually turns you into a high-density mass of flame. I see, how surprising. It's not a feat that even I, the god of fire, am easily able to achieve. Fufu, I expect no less from my husband. I'm really proud of you."
"T-thank you…"
I couldn't see her because she was fused with Zana, but Igniver-sama was probably proudly puffing up her chest, and I bowed to her.
Just then.
"…G, gigi… S-Sav-ior… Sa-vior… Saviooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrr!!"
――FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!!
『!』
All of a sudden, the demon stretched out a great number of tentacles with explosive force, and I promptly deployed a flame barrier to block them.
――BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!!
Then while the tentacles got themselves instantly purified into particles of light when they hit the barrier, I calmly pondered.
The first thing I had to do was to beat the demon.
Even though the girls were already fused with the goddesses, they still couldn't take him down.
He must be one of the stronger, if not the strongest, among the"Eight Sacrifices".
The question is, what kind of power does he has… As I was closely watching every movement of the demon while blocking his attacks, Zana suddenly called out to me, "Exa, calm down and hear me out. That demon, Valon, is made from the same 'King Vale' that you fought in Lastall."
"—!?"
King Vale…!?
Hearing that name, I doubted my ears for a moment.
I should have turned him to ash with my flames…
So how… The last words he had left suddenly surfaced in my mind.
『—I've yet to… be of use… to you…』
"!"
I see.
I'd had a bad feeling about it when he had left those parting words, but it seemed that King Vale and Elysium were already related since way back then.
If so, it was no wonder that Elysium revive King Vale as a demon.
As for King Vale's goal, it should be safe to assume that it was to take 'revenge' on us.
However, one thing still bothered me…
"Tell me. Is he really King Vale?"
"Well, he himself said this: I'm merely a being who is a product of the combination of 'someone who is formerly Vale' and his desire to 'keep on absorbing monsters'," answered Zana.
"I see. Hence his madness and his attempt to devour Yomi." I nodded.
"Yeah, that's right. From what you're saying, I assume the demon you were fighting was still safe, but two other demons have already been absorbed by him. And he has already made their superpowers his. One is a superpower to mimic your close ones, whereas the other is a superpower to create lifelike puppets."
"'Mimic' and 'puppet creation', huh… Both sure sound troublesome."
"Yeah, they are. That's why we haven't been able to defeat him. Apparently, his superpower "Grattor"allows him to absorb everything, including Magic Arts, which he then uses as nourishment."
There's only one exception—your flame of purification, Zana added at the end.
I nodded to her, "I see, noted."
I supposed those people-like things earlier were products of the 'creating lifelike puppets' superpower that he had absorbed.
And the fact that some were faces I knew meant that he had used it in combination with the other superpower, the 'mimic your close ones' one.
Their behaviors were clearly inhuman, so I had burned them down without hesitation, but if had they been behaving normally, I would have mistaken them for real people and hesitated to attack.
But of course, I still wouldn't let them touch the girls.
That said, when I returned my gaze to him, I found King Vale withdrawing his tentacles and producing new puppets to use as shields.
And since they were a countermeasure against me, the appearances that the puppets took were obvious.
"Stop, Exa… You're making me hurt…"
"Do you hate me…?"
"Child of man, can't you hear my voice…?"
"It's painful, Exa… Stop hurting me…"
――Yes, they took the appearances of my beloved wives.
"…"
"Exa-sama…"
Perhaps she had seen through what I was feeling, as Magmell called me with a sad face. I gave her a nod and said with a smile, "I'm fine."
Sure, their appearances were strikingly similar to Arca and the others, and so were their voices.
However, I didn't feel anything from them.
I mean, wasn't it only natural?
There were no bonds between them and me.
On the other hand, I could still sense the real ones even at this moment.
The warmth and affection of everyone, even those who weren't here, were flowing into me from the Phoenix Seals engraved on their bodies.
That was why…
――Blaze!
『Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?』
…I burned the fake ones before me without mercy.
Naturally, their screams, with the voice of Arca and the others, echoed throughout the hall. As they did, I turned my anger-filled gaze toward the demon and raised my voice, "Enough playing around, King Vale—no, Valon! For you to be using these methods to hurt our hearts and forcing me to burn my wives, even if they're fakes—I will never forgive you!!"