The battle between the attacker and Galm ended so one-sidedly that it wasn’t even worth describing. It was like an adult playing with a child, or a world champion fighting an elementary schooler. With Galm now wielding the same strange power in his arm, there was no way he could lose to someone who had nothing but that mysterious arm to rely on.

Galm effortlessly dominated the fight and brought the unconscious attacker, now a crumpled heap, back to the lab. I immediately amputated the man’s right arm and restrained him, preparing a truth serum for him to ingest. Of course, this kind of research was illegal, so my knowledge of it was limited—just what I’d skimmed from old papers and random internet sources.

Still, I figured it was better than doing nothing. By the time the attacker woke up, the truth serum was already coursing through his veins.

“─What is this…?!”

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“You dare—dare to amputate the arm bestowed upon me by him…? You creatures aren’t even human!”

“You’re the one who’s not human. Do you even realize how many people died today because of your attack?”

The citizens of City E had been exceptionally well-trained to respond to villain attacks, with evacuation drills that prepared them for situations just like this. They could evacuate to shelters faster than anyone in any other city when villains struck.

Even so, it was impossible to prevent all casualties. Evacuations only occur after the disaster starts, and there’s no way to predict when a villain is going to attack City E and issue a warning in advance.

For the first time in years, City E had suffered civilian deaths from a villain attack. The news was already going wild, and the boss was furious.

“─Thanks to you, we’ve decided to pull out all the stops.”

“…The Unified Council won’t sit idly by and let this happen.”

“Oh, are you talking about human rights or something?”

“Yes. No matter how powerful your corporation is, the Unified Council—”

“Sorry to break it to you, but I’m not part of Eblis Corporation.”

The attacker blinked in confusion, as if trying to understand what I was saying. His bewildered expression made me chuckle.

Now I was starting to understand why the boss founded a villain organization in the first place.

“─I’m a villain. A scientist of evil.”

“What? What are you talking about—?”

“As an evil scientist, I don’t really have to worry about things like laws and human rights.”

Eblis’ blade. A tool that could cross the boundaries of legality and illegality, always ready for Regalia’s command.

I’d always wondered why a corporation as powerful as Eblis would run a villain organization, but now I understood—it was because they were so powerful that they could do it openly.

“Well, let’s start with introductions, shall we?”

“You think I’m going to reveal that I’m Hugritch, one of Baphomet Corporation’s Seven Apostles?”

“Great, looks like the serum’s working well.”

I grinned at him as his expression started to sour.

“People who treat lives so lightly deserve to experience the same.”

The interrogation began, and his life story came pouring out—everything from minor details to the secrets he most wanted to hide.

“A demon, huh?”

“That’s what he said. He claimed to be an apostle of Baphomet.”

“Baphomet… those guys from City B, right?”

I reported all the information I’d extracted from the interrogation to Regalia. Her face twisted into a grimace. Even someone as high up as her, a leader of a global corporation, seemed unfamiliar with the concept of demons.

Well, it made sense. This was a world where science and supernatural powers had already conquered everything, from the moon to the deepest parts of the ocean. For humanity, who believed there were no more secrets left on this blue planet, the idea of demons must have felt alien.

“Demons… So, scientist, do you know anything about them?”

“No, this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this.”

“Hmm—so they aren’t that dangerous, then?”

“…Actually, I’d say the opposite. Just because I don’t know about them doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. In fact, the less we know, the more dangerous they could be.”

“Hah! You’re telling me there’s something even you don’t know? That’s a good one.”

Regalia’s strangely excessive confidence in me made me chuckle wryly. There were plenty of secrets in the world, some of which I had no clue about. But with her putting so much trust in me, it was hard to know how to respond.

As I was chuckling, Regalia seemed to make a decision and nodded her head.

“─We’re going all out. Use everything we’ve got to crush Baphomet.”

“Are you sure? We only just acquired Omega.”

“We don’t have a choice. A king must protect their slaves.”

Regalia gritted her teeth and growled.

“There’s no way I’m going to forgive those wretches for causing chaos in my territory!”

She trembled with anger as she immediately issued orders for the villainous organization’s executives to mobilize. Already furious about the attack on City E, the executives were eager to rush off to battle.

Seeing their bloodthirsty enthusiasm, I handed over the anti-hypnosis devices I had prepared alongside the truth serum.

“─Here, if you wear this, you won’t fall under any hypnosis.”

“What’s this…?”

“A choker?”

As I handed them chokers to wear around their necks, I warned them not to take them off. Then, casually leaning back on the sofa, I noticed Galm staring at me, puzzled.

“Scientist, aren’t you coming?”

“Me? Why?”

“Well, as an executive of the villain organization, to take revenge for the attack on our headquarters.”

“Come on, why would I go? It’s not like I’d be able to do much. A scientist’s place is to stay hidden in the base, after all.”

“…You have a point.”

Still, he seemed disappointed that I wasn’t going to join the revenge operation, so I shrugged to reassure him.

“Besides, I have work to do here.”

“Work?”

“Yes. Maybe something even more important than attacking their base.”

“Hmm… So by the time I reach City B, their base will already be half-destroyed?”

“Now that’s just… Don’t expect too much. This is more of an experiment.”

I glanced at the boss, who nodded, signaling the order.

“─Villain organization, mobilize.”

“Hail Eblis.”

“Hail Eblis.”

With that, the soldiers set off for City B. All the executives participated in the operation, except for the first and sixth executives, who had yet to reveal themselves.

After watching them leave, I headed back to the lab with Birana. There, lying restrained and armless, was the seventh apostle, alongside the severed Devil’s Right Hand I had taken from him.

“What are you planning to do with this?”

“I’m going to hack it.”

“…Hack it?”

Confused, Birana tilted her head as I connected various devices to the Devil’s Right Hand. Whether or not demons truly existed, and whatever they were, this sort of interference with our reality was a fatal mistake.

After all, if they could interfere with our world, that meant we could interfere with theirs.

‘Time to meet this demon face-to-face.’

I began the process.

A life-hacking operation.

Back at Baphomet Corporation, the employees were scrambling to prepare for the incoming attack.

“Move faster! We’ve confirmed an S-rank villain organization is on its way!”

“Grab the important stuff! Leave personal items behind!”

“Hey, hurry up! Why aren’t you running!?”

As lower-level employees rushed around, carrying computers and boxes of documents, Lize sat in the CEO’s office, biting her nails in frustration.

“─Why am I only hearing about this now?”

“I-I’m sorry, ma’am. We have no excuse.”

“Enough apologies, just tell me why this happened!”

“We… We were told all electronics in City E temporarily malfunctioned… The employees monitoring the apostle only managed to make contact after leaving the city.”

“Are you telling me this is some kind of joke!?”

Lize slammed her hands on the desk and stood up, glaring at the sweating executive in front of her.

“Electronics malfunction!? Right at the critical moment when the apostle was attacking City E!?”

“That’s what we were told…”

“Does that make any sense to you!? Malfunctioning electronics, right when it matters most!?”

“We… We’ll hold those responsible accountable.”

“Is punishing them going to solve the problem?”

Lize sent the executives away, demanding they bring solutions, not excuses. She had no time for arguments right now. Reports had just come in that the seventh apostle had been defeated, and that a full squadron of villains was heading for City B.

In other words, the enemy had somehow managed to not only defeat the apostle, but extract information from him and keep it hidden until their soldiers were already en route.

It was unbelievable. Considering that the seventh apostle couldn’t physically or supernaturally betray them, the very idea was absurd.

How had they done it?

There wasn’t time to dwell on it. Lize carefully knocked on the door of the chairman’s office. A deeply disappointed voice came from within.

─Enter.

“Yes, father…”

As Lize stepped into the office, she was immediately overwhelmed by the suffocating presence of the demonic energy filling the room. The aura of the demon from beyond the dimensional veil was all too clear.

This was a sign that he was furious. One wrong move, and not only her life, but the entirety of Baphomet Corporation could be destroyed.

As she trembled under the pressure, the chairman opened his eyes.

“The ritual will proceed.”

“…Yes, father.”

“The sacrifice this time will be you, Lize. You understand, don’t you?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

“Let’s begin.”

Hearing the chairman’s words, Lize bowed her head and followed him. The chairman’s private elevator descended to a basement that no ordinary employee knew existed.

There, as if by prior arrangement, demon worshippers had already prepared for the ritual. Surrounded by blood and corpses, Lize understood her fate as she stepped into the magic circle.

‘This is my duty. The duty of the head of Baphomet Corporation…!’

Moments later, the ritual began, the magic circle glowing as chants filled the air. The prayer to summon the demon made her head spin.

The demon, watching over them from beyond the veil, reached out to interfere with this world through her.

─■■■m̴̢̱̭̗̪̊̄͌̓̓͝ǫ̶̝͍̫̳̈́͐̈̈́͡l̶̡̥̰̞̟̃͑̊͂͂͠■■■

“Oh, ooooh! Baphomet!”

“Baphomet—!”

As the worshippers rejoiced at the demon’s descent, Lize, connected to the demon as the sacrifice, felt something else entirely.

It was not the awe she had expected, but confusion. A rare emotion to feel from a demon.

Unlike the other worshippers, who couldn’t understand a word the demon spoke, Lize could hear part of its message.

‘What… did they mess with…?’

As the incomprehensible words faded, the demon vanished like melting snow. There was a faint echo, like the sound of a demon’s scream. At that moment, all the demon worshippers in the room felt their souls being torn from their bodies.

It was the excruciating pain of a broken contract. While the worshippers panicked from the sudden agony and failure of the ritual, a massive hand burst through the ceiling, grabbing several of them. Seeing the hand, the worshippers laughed in joy.

“He’s descended at last! From above—urk—!”

But they were wrong. The hand that crushed the demon worshippers and tore through the concrete wasn’t Baphomet. It was the hand of a beast clad in a tiger’s pelt.

“─So, you were all gathered here, huh? You scum.”

“A… a beast?”

“He descended into the body of a beast!?”

“That’s impossible—!”

As the demon worshippers cried out in terror, Lize, who had been the sacrificial offering, recognized the owner of that hand. It was the sharpest fang in City E’s arsenal—Galm, King of the Beastkin.

She didn’t know how he had come to possess the demon’s arm, but one thing was clear.

‘Ah… it’s over.’

Sure enough, in the next moment, the demon worshippers began falling one by one under the relentless assault of the villain executives. It was a massacre, so thorough and one-sided it was as if they had no powers at all.

They couldn’t even resist.

Defeated without a single fight.