I felt my entire body stop.

A pair of deep black eyes stared directly at me, sucking me right into them. Thankfully,

Delilah didn't have any intention of doing any harm to me and I was able to pull myself from them quickly.

Still, I could feel a strange tension linger in the room.

"...It's faint, but I feel something else."

Delilah's face moved closer.

I tried to move my head back but found myself unable to do so.

Delilah's head cocked.

"Curse?"

Surprise flashed across her eyes. Then, as if realizing something, she pulled her head back. It was only then that I found myself able to move again.

"There's still such a huge gap in power between us.'

Just a look from her was enough to render me completely helpless.

It was scary.

"Since when?"

"....Not long ago."

I answered truthfully. There was no point in denying anything. While Delilah lacked any innate skill or spell to detect lies, she had her own way of seeing through someone. I knew that lying wouldn't work with her.

"I was developing my own domain when I found out another one."

Of course, just because I wasn't lying didn't mean that I was telling her the whole truth.

I couldn't reveal the other Julien to her.

Or maybe I could...?

'She might already suspect something, but I don't know how she'll react when she learns the truth.'

I decided to put the situation on hold for now.

At the very least, I had to take care of this situation first.

"You found another one? Just like that?"

"Yes."

Delilha's eyes felt piercing. I knew that she didn't exactly buy my words and I didn't blame her. Developing a second intent wasn't actually impossible. It was possible.

When someone's intent shattered, if one was lucky enough, they'd be able to develop a second intent.

One that was completely different than the first one.

That was the

way for

neone two develop to develop two intents.

ver, having two

'Concepts' at the same time?

....It was almost unheard of.

This was why I could understand Delilah's expression.

The only thing I could do was pretend to be clueless to some extent. Not that I wasn't. I was actually still surprised by this development.

Tap. Tap-

Delilah drummed her fingers over the table as she leaned back on her seat.

Her obsidian black eyes never once left me the entire time.

It felt uncomfortable.

"Try it on me."

"....What?"

I abruptly raised my head. Did I hear wrong?

"Try it on me."

With Delilah saying it a second time, I knew I hadn't heard wrong the first time. The shock that I felt, however, calmed down after a few short seconds.

'Right, I'm sure that even if I do try it on her she won't feel a thing.'

If anything, this would prove to be a good opportunity for me.

With her knowledge, she could definitely help me understand better what was happening to me and ways for me to improve my current domain.

My train of thought stopped there.

I had already made up my mind.

Closing my eyes, six orbs appeared. Laying my eyes on the orbs, I felt a slight change from how it was in the past.

I was now connected to the orbs.

It was as if they could move at my will.

I pressed my hands together.

Splash!

The six orbs splashed down into the void, coloring the entire world with all sorts of colors. A familiar scenery appeared in front of me and when I opened my eyes again, Delilah appeared within the scenery.

Her deep eyes looked around with a trace of surprise.

Rumble-!

That surprise, however, didn't last very long. All of a sudden the world started to shake.

"...Kh."

Sweat poured down from the side of my face as the mana inside of my body drained rapidly. I estimated that I could hold on for at most half a minute.

"Let me help."

A cool voice reached my ears in the midst of the struggle.

A warm current entered my body shortly after and the surroundings stabilized.

"...Is this your regular domain?"

Delilah's voice tickled my ears as she stood behind me, her hand pressed against my back. Taking a deep breath, I looked ahead.

"Yes."

"It's not bad."

"Here."

The warmth that was invading my body surged, and to my shock, a white ball formed inside of my body. It was foreign and something that I couldn't control but it pulsed every second,

injecting mana into my body.

'Is that mana?'

"With this, you should be able to last for a while."

Delilah pulled her hand away from my back.

By the time it took for me to blink, she was in front of me once more, admiring the

surroundings.

".....'

I was equally mesmerized by the surroundings.

This time, everything felt real. As if this wasn't a Domain but the real world.

I brushed my hand across the grass, feeling each slender blade glide against my fingertips.

The wind rustled through my clothes, and the sun's warmth radiated down from above,

grounding me fully in the moment.

'Is this how it feels to fully develop a domain?'

....Moving past the point of Materialization and reaching the end point?

It felt...

'Powerful.'

"You're almost there. As you reach the fifth tier you will be able to fully utilize your Domain."

Delilah's words brought me out of my daze.

Looking at her and meeting her eyes, she stepped back.

"Okay, now

Try...?

."

"Use your Domain on me."

"I..."

I opened my mouth to say something but stopped myself. Shifting my attention to the white

orb within my body, I carefully moved the extra mana inside of my body and lowered my

head.

'Let's give it a try. I'm also curious.'

"Hoo."

Turbid air flowed out of my mouth as my entire body relaxed.

Throb!

The white orb within me throbbed, sending a surge of mana pulsing into my body. My face paled slightly under the sudden influx but I managed to keep my composure in check.

Rumble-

The whole world rumbled as orbs began to materialize, emerging one by one from the very fabric that held everything together.

They were small, about the size of a golf ball, each holding a distinctive red color, but just as they appeared, they combined with one another, forming bigger and bigger orbs.

Rage, Anger, Wrath, Fury, Resentment...

Rumble, rumble- The surroundings quaked, and the ground beneath me split apart.

Lava flowed out from the ground beneath and the sky dyed red. Power unlike I had ever felt

before flowed into my body and my frame grew bigger.

Unlike in the past, my body felt no strain.

The power just continued to accumulate and my frame grew bigger with each second that

passed.

Pulling my fist back, I tensed my back and clenched my fist.

Then...

I punched out.

Booom!

The air exploded.

***

"Ummm."

Dread painted Theresa's features as she looked ahead.

So, the time had finally come. The time for her to face the third, and most powerful non

King.

To Tok-!

Her hand came knocking on the door.

Click-!

The door opened, and her gaze fell upon a familiar lock of red hair.

"Theresa...? What are you..."

Theresa went on the offensive immediately.

Wam!

She smacked the paper on her leg, holding onto a small tub with the word 'yogurt' imprinted

at the top with her free arm.

"Sign, or..."

Theresa slid her thumb across her neck.

The meaning was clear.

"..."

Wordlessly staring at Theresa, Aoife bent down and picked up the piece of paper. Reading the

contents of the paper, her eyes gleamed with a certain shine.

"You want me to sign this?"

Nod. Nod.

"...and if I don't sign, you will what exactly?"

Nudging at the tub on her hand, Theresa once again slid her thumb across her neck.

"Death."

As if that wasn't enough. She did it again.

"No, more."

"Ho, ho...?" "What's... so funny?"

"Hmm I wonder."

Theresa frowned. Aoife's expression was too nonchalant. Did she really think she wouldn't do

it?

"Hmph."

Theresa opened the tub of yogurt and took out a spoon.

She took a scoop.

"Oh my."

Aoife's eyes trembled at the sight. This didn't escape Theresa's sight as she took a scoop and

neared it toward her mouth. She smirked.

Scared, aren't you?

"Theresa..."

"Sign?"

"Eh... I'm not..."

Still hesitating? Fine.

Theresa's lips curled and she brought the spoon to her mouth.

"Warn-"

Her words stopped the moment the yogurt touched her tongue.

And the curl on her lips flipped.

"Blegh..."

Splat!

With her mouth hanging open, the yogurt slid from her tongue all the way to the floor, her

face wincing in disgust.

"Hahahahaha."

Holding onto her stomach, Aoife's body curled as she started laughing hysterically. Soon, she

started to clap her hands.

Clap. Clap.

"Hahahah. Did you really think you could blackmail me with that?"

But if that wasn't bad enough, Aoife rushed back into the room and took out a large device

that made a 'click' with each press. A paper appeared right beneath the strange machine.

Removing the paper, Aoife flipped it over to show Theresa.

"...!"

When Theresa caught sight of what was displayed on the paper, her face crumbled.

"Look at this. Hahahaha. Look at the face you're making. Are you sure you still want to

blackmail me when I have this?"

"...No."

The situation had been reversed.

But as if that wasn't humiliating enough, Aoife took the yogurt and the spoon from her hands

and started eating it right in front of her.

"Well, thanks for bringing me my snack. I really do like this."

It was a first for her, but Theresa was at a complete loss for words.

This...

Had she just been defeated?

"...How could it be..."

Her face was overcome with despair.

Thump.

And she fell to her knees once more.

She had underestimated the might of the strongest Demon King.

"Sniff... Sniff..."

"Stop that. It doesn't work on me."

Eh...?

Theresa stopped, and her mind blanked. That's because this time her tears were real, and not

a ploy.

"If you want to cry, you can do it to Evelyn. She'll probably fall for it."

"...No."

Theresa wanted to explain, but Aoife wouldn't let her.

"Oh, looks like she already did? Fair enough. Not surprised."

"Not fak-"

"Oh? You even got Kiera to sign it? Impressive."

As if giving up on her, the tears that had been welling up in Theresa's eyes all dried up.

"Well, if that's all... I'll go and enjoy my yogurt."

Clank-!

Theresa watched powerlessly as the door came to a close.

But as if that wasn't enough, right as the door closed, it opened up again and Aoife passed her

a tissue.

"While you're at it. Clean up the mess on the floor."