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While it's true that there's an upper limit to evolutionary abilities, it's only natural that evolving into the ability of "faith" and then refining it into divine power would be a logical next step, right?

Why don't they do that?

And the biggest one looks like a bunch of weird stuff with a dozen breasts piled up together.

Although it always felt like Theresa's main point was the last sentence, the fact that the demons hadn't evolved [divine power] was, in essence, a major research headache for the United Nations.

Especially for magical dolls, divine power is essentially the same as magic power—in other words, demons are very likely to evolve divine power. But why don't they?

The couple looked at each other, and then, without prior arrangement, their gazes fell on Margarita and the raven perched on her head:

"Doesn't the world goddess Gaia have anything to say?"

Margarita sighed and asked the question on behalf of the two of them.

The crow cawed loudly, then transformed into a young girl in front of Theresa's astonishment.

"...Perhaps it's because the demons have no experience of escaping divine power alive."

Gaia, the world goddess who had transformed into a young girl, pursed her lips and said that even if demons wanted to evolve, they would have to be alive first in order to complete the evolution.

Demons that don't survive naturally have no chance of evolving divine power. Besides, most demons probably never witness a human praying.

For [Divine Power], a heartfelt prayer to a certain being is an extremely important ritual.

Without this ritual, one cannot obtain divine power, let alone utilize it.

not to mention...

Do demons, a race more like weapons, truly possess the concept of "prayer"?

They even share the same thoughts. Is it really possible that someone fears death and prays to a higher being for peace?

Originally, the world goddess Gaia wanted to say "impossible".

But then I thought about how the Roman demon on Elusia's side was transformed...

kindness...

"...Let's prepare for the worst-case scenario where the demons learn divine power."

After Gaia finished speaking, she transformed into a raven before anyone else noticed and perched on Margarita's head once again—no one knew what use she was.

And it was at this moment that Kino rushed back from the corner of the platform.

She used flesh magic to create something resembling tentacles. After exploring the underground, she brought Yang Hao and the others both bad and good news.

"The good news is... we've found the entrance to the secret passage."

Kino, trembling as he looked at the gathering demons in the distance, swallowed hard.

"Right beneath our feet..."

The bad news is...

"The demon... also discovered that secret passage."

Ah, this is truly terrible news.

This means that the demons will not only attack the high platform where they are located with all their might, but will also dig down to the location of the secret passage while attacking.

Although the underground ruins have been specially reinforced with magic, it probably won't be of much use against the claws evolved by the demons...

...

Damn it.

Yang Hao sighed, watching the demons' actions from afar. He noticed that the giant demon that Theresa had criticized was beginning to shrink, and amidst the exclamations of the magical puppets, the entire area was gradually covered by magical remnants.

"Ah—our magic storage device has been copied? I remember we used a man-made magic reactor...the demons of this continent haven't learned how to use it yet, have they?"

“Actually, it’s a problem on Isgard’s side.” Margarita shook her head. “Don’t forget, we spent a lot of money to buy magic storage equipment from you before—part for scientific research, and the other part… well, it’s for military use, isn’t it?”

"...So now you're causing us trouble."

"But this is the last one."

The demon learned how to store magic.

Fortunately, they only learned how to store magic.

Chapter Twenty-Six: [The Final Battle in the Capital] Part Three

On the high platform stood an army composed of humans and golems.

Below the high platform lay an army of demons.

Because the high platform space is really limited, even though the surface war has temporarily eased, Elena and Finn can only send down a portion of their elites to replenish their fighting force.

If we have to talk about the proportion, it's just that the number of people has increased from less than 60 to 100—any more and there won't be enough space on the high platform for maneuvering.

If mobility is impossible, the transfer of wounded and ammunition to the front lines will be severely hampered. The inability to transfer wounded and ammunition will naturally lead to major setbacks in the ensuing battle.

So no matter how helpless he felt, Yang Hao's only available fighting force was the 100 men he had on hand.

The demons, on the other hand, have a much larger number of members.

Aside from the countless and endless demon larvae, there are probably several thousand demon larvae.

In the past, during the era of cold weapons, even with the advantage of terrain, it would have been unthinkable for a hundred people to fight against thousands of demon larvae on a small high platform.

But now.

Yang Hao looked at the machine guns set up on the bunkers on both sides of the slope, then at the barbed wire fences lying haphazardly on the slope, and finally at Theresa, who was yawning but was actually ready to unleash her divine flames at any moment to kill the demons on a large scale.

Even disregarding the golems that Naruja temporarily created, the firepower deployed on the high platform alone could easily deal with the invading demon larvae.

In other words, at least they don't have to worry about being at a disadvantage in a clash of core fighting forces.

"But isn't the core of the problem in high-level combat capabilities?"

Margarita pursed her lips, her gaze fixed on the high-ranking demon in the distance.

"While I'm not entirely sure if Your Majesty Theresa can actually unleash your full power in a place like this, I'm certain that the demons would never hesitate to go all out."

"If they fail, they're finished; if we fail, we can try again. That's how it is."

"So let's assume the demons will go all out... Do you think we can win?"

Margarita first glanced at Theresa, who was yawning, and then, while grabbing the crow by the neck, which seemed to be trying to run away, turned back and nodded at Yang Hao.

Yang Hao nodded:

"We can win. After all, there seem to be very few high-ranking demons, and there are no Titan demons present."

The demon army is vast in number, but its high-level combat force capable of securing victory is extremely limited.

There are fewer than ten high-ranking demons. There are zero Titan demons.

If we had to name the most threatening special demon, namely the demon leader... it seems to have evolved a lot of team support functions, and in terms of combat power, it should be inferior to ordinary high-level demons.

In other words... in the comparison of high-end combat power versus mid-to-low-end combat power, the United Nations has a clear advantage.

The only variable lies in the underground passage.

It's unknown whether the demons will choose to dig underground while attacking...

...... ......

Kino further explored the underground passages using tentacles summoned by flesh magic.

Gunfire erupted all around her, and wounded soldiers were brought back from the front every now and then to be replaced by new soldiers.

"Waaaah... How scary... It seemed so normal when we were on the surface..."

Kino looked up in fear at the building components on the ceiling that were constantly shedding dust.

When fighting on the ground, the thing people worry about most is something falling on their heads.

After all, while attacks from the front, back, left, and right can be blocked, attacks from directly above are a real problem.

Not to mention this is inside a cave! I initially thought that having a ceiling nearly a hundred meters high overhead would be quite safe, but upon closer inspection, it's not a case at all!

The battle between demons and humans resulted in a hail of stray bullets.

Leaving aside human guns and cannons for now.

The acid or lightning spewed by the demon actually struck the stalactites on the ceiling.

With each muffled thud, more and more dust was shaken down from the ceiling.

As the dust fell, more and more stalactites teetered on the brink of collapse, under the horrified gaze of the siren maiden.

At a height of nearly 100 meters, even an apple could kill someone if it fell from that height.

Not to mention the pointed, cone-shaped stalactite that looks to be at least two meters long.

"I... I said?! Something up there is going to fall! Doesn't anyone care?!"

The siren girl, unable to leave her post due to work, trembled amidst a hail of bullets. She looked up at the sky, her face pale with fear at the precariously swaying stalactites.

While others can move around freely, I, currently linked to the tentacles generated by flesh magic, cannot.

If you move around recklessly, at best your magic will go berserk, and the rampaging flesh magic will assimilate the entire platform and everyone on it into flesh and blood.

In severe cases... this situation, rich in both magical residue and artificial magic, could cause the continent that has finally managed to float to the surface to sink again...

So others can hide!

I absolutely cannot dodge this!

(I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die?!)

Looking at the stalactite that seemed about to fall from the sky and hit him directly on the head, he felt as if it were about to collapse.

The sirens finally burst into tears.

"Wow--!"

"Don't cry on the battlefield. Since we dared to stand here, we must have some damn good intentions, right?"

What saved Kino was an inelegant sigh.

Along with the silvery-white barrier, the stalactites falling from above turned into bullets and were thrown at the horde of demons.

Kino turned around with teary eyes and found that Mother Teresa was already standing next to her.