To subjugate this Demon Lord, Canary's plan was remarkably simple.
Since Maxwell's Demon was so fixated on Willa, they just needed to use a honey trap to lure him in, then have Croix capture him. If Croix failed, they could always call in Arcadia's true leader, Kōmei Kasukabe.
That guy was a free spirit, probably off making friends in the South Side without a care in the world, so dragging him over would be perfect.
There was nothing wrong with Canary's plan itself. It just overlooked one crucial point: the sheer extent of Maxwell's obsession with Willa.
She had assumed that no matter how much of a pervert he was, he wouldn't just charge into the headquarters of a Floor Master, right into Salamandra's main base.
Especially when he clearly knew Salamandra was a member of the Arcadia Grand Alliance. Any normal Demon Lord would have chosen to observe and plan their next move.
But Maxwell's Demon did not.
Just as a king cannot predict the movements of a bronze-tier player, just as Canary's plan was being finalized, a series of violent rumbling and explosions echoed through the air.
BOOM!
It was as if a massive number of bombs had been detonated simultaneously. A large section of Salamandra's outer wall collapsed, plunging the entire City of Blazing Flames into panic.
The sudden attack might have confused ordinary people, but Canary and the experienced old fire dragon already knew the identity of the assailant.
Sure enough, the passionate cry that followed confirmed their suspicions.
"Willa! My beautiful, lovely bride! Stop playing coy! While I don't mind indulging your willfulness, a bride who is too mischievous won't be able to win a man's love, you know! Isn't it time to drop the act and marry me?!"
A torrent of heat and cold battered the entire palace.
Because the palace had been constructed with rare Gifts and was protected by others, aside from the destroyed outer wall, the fortress-like interior only suffered broken doors and windows, managing to hold up for the most part.
But under the alternating cycles of heat and cold, even mythical minerals would eventually wear down. The opponent was a four-digit-level powerhouse. If he went all out, the entire palace could be reduced to ashes.
Of course, more important than the material losses was how to deal with the man before them.
His fanatical gaze was like a physical touch, fixated on the Pale Flame Grand Demon before him. Besides Willa, the Demon Lord saw no one else.
Being confronted by such a pervert, Willa's eyes welled up with tears. Like a frog stared down by a snake, she subconsciously recoiled.
This display of fear, however, was misinterpreted by Maxwell's Demon as tears of joy. The buxom, baby-faced girl's pitiful appearance only fueled the fire in his heart.
"What is it, my dear bride? Are you so overjoyed to see me again? It seems your love for me is far greater than I imagined!" Maxwell's Demon said, completely lost in his own world.
Hearing this, Willa's brow furrowed, her face paled, and she shook her head vehemently. "So disgusting!"
"Indeed, more disgusting than I thought," Canary, ever composed, nodded in agreement.
"To reach this level, even I have to stand in awe. You're not a pervert; you're just plain insane!" Even Croix couldn't have imagined that this opponent would be so bizarre.
He clenched his fists and charged towards the distant Demon Lord with a force equivalent to the third cosmic velocity.
"I can't believe I'm actually saying this one day..."
"Pervert, die!"
An attack powerful enough to shake mountains and seas shot forward, only to be completely engulfed by a wave of cold.
Maxwell's Demon could sift through the internal energy of molecules without cost, which, on a macroscopic level, meant he could separate a glass of lukewarm water into half a glass of cold water and half a glass of hot water, achieving a cost-free conversion of matter and energy in defiance of the law of entropy.
As a four-digit-level Demon Lord, the cold waves and heat flows he unleashed were enough to burn or freeze an entire planet.
An ordinary five-digit being couldn't withstand such an assault, and even a four-digit would have to avoid a direct hit.
However, Croix didn't need to worry about that. Because...
"It's just a Boundary Gate. Who can't do that?" In a flash, he passed through a Boundary Gate, teleporting behind Maxwell's Demon, and landed a direct hit.
A blow imbued with the authority of a death god was enough to harm a four-digit-level powerhouse. However...
"Watch out!" the old fire dragon warned in time. "He's immortal!"
With the dragon horn left by the Star Sea Dragon King, the old fire dragon himself could reach the four-digit rank and had fought the opponent before.
Although the origin of Maxwell's Demon's Gift was complex,
its effects were quite simple. Heat and cold were the most common attribute attacks, and the draconic bloodline happened to have a high immunity to water and fire Gifts.
This had once given the old fire dragon an advantage, but in the end, he still couldn't finish him off. Because Maxwell's Demon's immortality was simply too powerful.
No matter what damage he sustained, he could self-repair with an endless supply of energy—a manifestation of his Divinity's second component: a perpetual motion machine.
As expected, Maxwell's Demon, who had been ambushed by Croix, quickly recovered and turned to deliver a counter-attack.
Unfortunately for him, as a death god who stood on the edge of life and death, Croix also possessed a self-healing ability that could convert between life and death, making his own immortality on par with Maxwell's.
And so, the battlefield devolved into a meaningless stalemate.
Both were four-digits, both controlled a Boundary Gate, both possessed immortality, and both were extreme perverts. In terms of power, they were like twin brothers.
"What do we do, Canary? We have the same skill set. I can't break through!" After several exchanges, Croix realized he had celebrated too soon.
This guy was fast and couldn't be killed, just like himself, with a vitality even more tenacious than a cockroach's. At this rate, there would be no end to it.
Faced with this situation, Canary, who already had a plan in mind, was about to speak. "Then let's just..."
But as the words left her mouth, she caught something amiss out of the corner of her eye.
In the previous battle, Salamandra's palace had been ravaged by the aftershocks and was now on the verge of collapse. Everyone was evacuating the interior.
The fire dragon maids, out of concern, rushed into one of the rooms, seemingly worried about the young master, wanting to take the still-egg-bound young lady with them.
To remember the young lady in such a situation, these maids were truly loyal. But this was during a battle, and their actions were too conspicuous.
There was already a barrier around the eggshell. Even if the palace collapsed, Sala wouldn't be harmed. Leaving her be was the best option.
"Stop—" Canary was about to stop them and gestured to the old fire dragon.
At this moment, the old fire dragon also realized the problem and was about to stop the maids' actions. But by then, it was too late.
"Oh? You seem to care a lot about this egg?" A dark Boundary Gate opened, and under the old fire dragon's trembling gaze, Maxwell's Demon appeared directly inside the barrier, next to the dragon egg of his first child.
Although he wasn't sure what the relationship between the dragon egg and them was, it was enough to know that they cared about it.
"If that's the case, then just listen to me obediently—"
Shink!
Halfway through his threat, a thousand sharp blades erupted from under Maxwell's Demon's feet, impaling his entire body without harming the dragon egg in the slightest.
"Is that a trap set for Croix?" Canary guessed.
"Hey, hey, hey! We're old friends, isn't this a bit too cruel? If I hadn't been able to hold back just now, wouldn't my lower half have been minced?" Croix was dumbfounded, not expecting that the old dragon hadn't been joking and had really set up such a high-level defense for his daughter.
"Is this the time to worry about such trivial matters?" Faced with this accusation, the old fire dragon's expression remained unchanged, his eyes grim. "This can only teach you a lesson. It... also can't kill a Demon Lord!"
After all, it was an attack against an ally. At most, it could kill once. This defense was very effective against others, but it didn't mean much against an immortal.
Sure enough...
"Hehehe... hahaha! Old man, it sounds like your child is inside this eggshell?" The resurrected Maxwell's Demon revealed a sinister smile, his eyes glinting with sadistic light.
He stretched out his right hand, gathering a sphere of heat and cold, and brought it close to the dragon egg. A force that could destroy a planet was more than enough to easily destroy this unhatched egg.
Then, with a warning gaze, he swept over Canary, Croix, the old fire dragon, and finally settled on the buxom, baby-faced Grand Demon, Willa.
"My patience is just about at its end. Willa, I'll give you one last chance. Choose to become my bride willingly! Otherwise, I don't mind treating everyone to some roasted dragon egg."
At the very end, he seized upon the weakness of everyone present and resorted to threats.
Hearing this, Pumpkin Jack froze in place, unable to advance or retreat.
"I..." Faced with this dilemma, the buxom Grand Demon mumbled, then resolutely took a step forward.
Although she was unversed in the ways of the world, she was kind-hearted by nature and didn't want to see an unborn fledgling die because of her.
So, despite her disgust and reluctance, she closed her eyes and steeled herself. "If you let them go, I..."
Just as Willa was about to force herself to agree to his terms in a heroic sacrifice, the old fire dragon's voice rang out.
"Impossible!"
At these words, everyone was stunned.
They all turned to look at the old man, seeing the iron-like resolve in his aged eyes. "Salamandra does not have a habit of compromising with Demon Lords. No matter what Demon Lord it is, they will not tarnish our community's name! Even a guest has no right to do so."
The old fire dragon's tone was calm and heavy. In Little Garden, a community's flag and name were things worth defending with one's life. For them, this was no mere slogan.
Hearing this, Maxwell's Demon laughed in fury. "Fine! Then I'd like to see what expression you'll make when I burn this thing!"
Seeing him about to act, Willa looked at Canary in a panic, not knowing what to do. However, Canary, who had been so resourceful before, now wore a strange, delighted expression, as if her mind was completely elsewhere.
What's going on?
The confused Pale Flame Demon finally realized she was powerless to change the old fire dragon's mind, that Canary was unreliable at the moment, and that no one else could stop Maxwell's Demon.
This situation seemed to be what Pumpkin Jack had taught her was a desperate plight. And according to what Jack had said before, when you're in a desperate situation, there's one thing you can still do: pray to God.
God would hear her voice and show her a miracle.
Just now, Canary had said the same thing. Even if the hope was slim, as long as she prayed, God might appear, perform a miracle, and punish the wicked.
Although she didn't know if it would work, at this moment, it was the only option left.
And so, the buxom, baby-faced Pale Flame Demon closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and apprehensively began her first prayer.
"Lord Su Mo, please, if you can just save that child, I'll do anything!"
In her desperation, Willa offered up her everything. Clearly, she didn't know if the high and mighty god would answer her.
However, the next moment...
"Did you just say you'll do anything?"
A completely unfamiliar, yet strangely gentle male voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
Willa, who had never been so close to a man before, was slightly stunned. She hopped back a step like a frightened rabbit and opened her eyes.
Only then did she see the figure of a black-haired, black-eyed man who had suddenly appeared before her.
She blinked, feeling confused. When did he appear? If it wasn't a Boundary Gate, how did she not feel anything? If it was a Boundary Gate, as a fellow user, shouldn't she have felt the spatial fluctuations?
Just as she was feeling utterly bewildered, she suddenly heard Canary's voice, filled with immense surprise and joy.
"Lord Su Mo!"
"Eh?"
The Pale Flame Demon tilted her head, and after a few seconds of processing, her eyes slowly widened.
The great lord... actually appeared?