(Rebecca Storm POV)

I looked around me seeing my fellow S ranks standing with me. There were many names I knew; Blanche Sistina, Umbra Moria and more. They were all fixated on the enemy awaiting my command to strike.

'I haven't seen Umbra in a long time. I wonder how he's faring... shit I can't get distracted. I need to focus on the demons. I can talk to him later. If we make it out alive.'

"When you called for all S ranks, why wasn't I given an invitation?"

A voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Trevor Wells!"

"Right in the flesh."

"I honestly thought you croaked."

"That's rude. I only plan to die fighting these foul creatures."

He hadn't changed since I last saw him. He was still the principal at central high when I attended, though he was in his prime.

After chatting with him, he left and got into his position. I presume he noticed my nerves and wanted to get me in the right headspace. I needed to be completely focused.

We could hear the sounds of the demons marching. They were just marching at a normal speed without using mana to enhance themselves.

From here I could see the face of the demon army and the demon who was leading them.

He had black hair that was darker than the midnight sky, and soulless eyes that matched his hair colour with red pupils with a golden dash in the middle.

He had light red skin with two blood-red horns sticking out of his head. He had black tattoos that ran from the left side of his face down to his left arm.

He was devilishly handsome that could attract even humans, though the evil aura he was emitting would make anyone run away in fright.

'He's strong. Even stronger than the Demon King I fought previously.'

All the demons were much stronger than the ones we fought before. I didn't know how they hid such a powerful force from us, but it didn't matter at this point.

All we needed to do was to defeat the enemies in front of us.

After scouring the demon army I looked back at the demon that was leading the march. After not noticing a stronger opponent, I marked him as my target.

I couldn't even feel his full strength., so wasn't confident in defeating him, but I knew I had to. It was my duty as the Hero and Mage Empress. If I lose, so would humanity.

On this battlefield, there were only S ranks and above. No lower-ranking mages were loud. There was no strategy or plan. This would be an all-out brawl to decide the fate of the continent.

"LI TAMT VOS TRIDIYANT!"

I shouted the battle cry at the top of my lungs.

"LI TAMT VOS TRIDIYANT!"

The S ranks behind echoed my chant.

This phrase was a rallying cry that had existed since the start of the war. It was Zenalese and roughly translated to "My soul for humanity".

The battle cry heard at the start of the war would now be the signal for the final clash that would determine the end of the war.

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AN: This is a made-up language. I might use the Zenalese language in future and create more words.

Trevor Wells immediately went into action, slamming his hands onto to the ground.

*SNAP SNAP*

He created powerful tremors that split the earth, making the ground around the demons unstable.

He followed it by punching the air in front of him.

*CRACK!*

This punch released powerful vibrations that pulverised the debris and damaged the internals of the demons.

Though befitting of S ranks, they were all mostly unaffected, only distracted for less than a second. But, this moment was enough for three more S ranks to come forward and launch powerful blasts out of their hands.

I recognised the attribute they were using. It was the fission attribute- one of the most fearsome attributes in existence.

The users of the attribute can affect strong nuclear force, allowing them to split the nucleus of an atom and release the stored energy. This energy is released as a nuclear explosion. This process is known as nuclear fission, hence how that attribute got its name.

*BOOOOOOOM!*

After the attacks landed on the demon army, a massive amount of heat and radiation was released. A mushroom cloud started forming from the hot air rising.

We felt the shockwave created by the explosion pass through us. Normal humans' internal organs would be crushed and probably die in an instant, but for us, it felt like a gentle breeze.

A demon with the gas attribute blows away the mushroom cloud revealing the melted ground and the giant crater around the demons. An immense amount of heat was radiating from ground zero.

Despite being in the epicentre of the explosion, everyone was unharmed with the extent of injuries only being burns that were visibly healing.

An observer would say those attacks were useless since no demons were harmed. However, those attacks served two purposes.

Firstly to boost the morale of the S ranks here and secondly to drain the mana of the demons. During the attacks, they had to waste a portion of their mana to reinforce themselves and heal themselves.

Though in absolute terms, it was a minuscule amount of mana, however, that tiny difference in mana could mean life or death.

The demons, realising our strategy to wear them down, immediately started charging towards us. We weren't going to stand there, so we responded in kind.

Within a split second, we arrived in front of the enemy combatants.

*BOOM!*

Another seismic wave was released, from the simultaneous clash of 100s of S ranks. Everyone wordlessly chose a target to defeat. My target was the strongest demon here; the Demon King.

Our swords were in contact with each other, with us trying to overpower the other. I could feel that he was stronger than me so I stepped back and resigned from the clash.

However, soon he followed up with another sword swing which I barely managed to parry.

'He's not only stronger but also faster than me?'

I was worried now. I took pride in my speed and believed myself to be the fastest on the continent. It was my greatest strength that allowed get the advantage over my opponents.

However, now that was taken away from me, I was going to struggle in the fight. Obviously, my speed would surpass his when I used {Light Transmutation}, but that technique drain a significant amount of mana and I couldn't attack in that state.

I was put on the back foot already and I didn't want to exceed my maximum to catch up to his speed. It would be even more detrimental to me in the long run.

As more pressure was put on me, a flash of lightning passed by my eyes. Matthew suddenly appeared and punched the Demon King. Despite the surprise attack, the Demon King blocked it with his blade, albeit only barely. But that attack still sent him flying backwards.

"Looks like you needed help."

Matthew jokingly smiled. The rest of my comrades also arrived as well.

"What about the others?"

"Don't worry about them. They'll be fine and know their job. It's the Hero's Party's job to defeat the Demon King, not just the hero."

I didn't argue with them. We needed to work together if we wanted the best chance of winning. Arguing would disrupt our rhythm. Also, I need their help if I didn't want to get overpowered by the Demon King.

After silently agreeing, we rushed forward and met the Demon King who was already up and cleaning the dust that got on his armour.

"Wow. I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd be that strong Hero Rebecca. The rest of you are also extraordinary."

"You must be the Demon King, right? The one I killed last year was a fake."

"You would be correct. The other Demon King was just a puppet. Still, I'm disappointed he died. He was a valuable resource. He was a SS rank after all."

'He thought of him as a resource? Does he even care about the soldiers he sent into battle? It doesn't matter. In fact, it's better for me. He has erased all the doubt in my heart. He is evil through and through. My Justice attribute will be at max power because of this.'

"What is your name?"

Despite my burning hatred for him, as a warrior, I wanted to know the name of the opponent I was facing.

"Very well then. My name is Demon King Diablo. I am the strongest demon on the continent and the one that will end your lives."

As soon as he introduced himself, the battle between the Hero's Party and the Demon King commenced.