The instant Luca changed his tactics...
Even before Si Bei made his move, the two Moro Mechas, which had been blindly attacking Mephisto's body, shifted gears first.
Luca knew perfectly well that if Mephisto's perception was sharp enough to notice him in the control room, the demon could likely hear his communications too.
So, the verbal command was just a smokescreen.
The purple-painted Moro Unit 1 on the left suddenly swung its sword upward, slashing diagonally toward the red rose on Mephisto's chest.
Mephisto, still strolling leisurely as before, took a seemingly casual step forward, neatly dodging the blade aimed at the rose.
In fact, he had done this countless times already.
Despite seemingly being immune to physical attacks, whenever an attack threatened to graze that rose, Mephisto would subconsciously dodge.
Although his movements were subtle—thanks to the superhuman agility and excessive elegance of an ancient demon—
Under Luca's meticulous observation and Hajimi's auxiliary analysis, Mephisto's behavior appeared deliberate.
However, this time, just as the sword tip—which Mephisto had easily evaded—was about to pass harmlessly over his chest as before...
A surge of energy suddenly poured from the Moro Mecha's arm into the hilt.
Then, a crack appeared down the center of the blade, and surging purple energy exploded outward.
What had been an ordinary longsword instantly swelled into a massive energy blade as wide as a door.
If dodging a normal sword aimed at a palm-sized rose only required a subtle shift in posture...
Then avoiding a slap from a door-sized greatsword made it impossible for Mephisto to maintain his elegance.
As he flew backward rapidly, his red-and-black eyes flickered.
He figured it out already? Interesting.
Ultimately, this avatar of Mephisto wasn't particularly powerful. The reason he held the upper hand earlier was simply due to his versatile tricks and refined control over magical energy.
Whatever. A waste is a waste.
Thinking this, Mephisto, retreating rapidly, tightened his grip on his cane.
But before he could act, the dark red mecha that had been lying in wait behind the purple unit he just dodged suddenly burst forward.
On the mecha's back, along a spine that looked like biological tissue, several interlaced thrusters emerged.
The moment the bio-thrusters fired, the red mecha turned into a streak of lightning, aiming to slam its body directly into Mephisto with raw, unadorned force.
Seeing he had nowhere to dodge, the smile faded from Mephisto's face. He murmured softly.
"Now, that won't do~"
He prepared to repeat his earlier trick, raising his cane to unleash a burst of power and blast the charging mecha away.
However, the moment he tried to lift the cane, he met resistance.
Only then did he realize that, at some point, several snakes with a metallic sheen had wrapped tightly around the shaft, biting down hard. No matter how hard he pulled, the cane remained locked firmly to the ground.
At the far end of the corridor, Si Bei was kneeling beside the Ghost Rider, hands forming seals, pouring everything into maintaining the ninjutsu.
As Luca's loyal subordinate, even though he knew the order to "snatch the cane" was a smokescreen to mislead Mephisto, he executed it faithfully regardless.
It happened in a flash.
In the split second Mephisto was delayed by the stuck cane, the red Moro Mecha slammed into him like a bolt of lightning.
Grabbing the vibrant crimson rose with one hand, the mecha plowed right through Mephisto's body, instantly appearing several meters behind him.
It skidded across the corridor floor, leaving two charred trails, before finally coming to a halt.
Without a moment's hesitation, Luca commanded the red mecha to clench its fist tight.
Squish.
The crimson rose exploded in the mecha's hand, scattering into tiny petals that drifted to the floor.
And with the shattering of the rose, the result was immediate.
The "Mephisto" who had been phasing like a ghost just moments ago flickered in place like a glitching video, then exploded into a shower of sparks.
Only the cane, tightly bound by the metallic snakes, remained standing steadily in place.
"Is... is that it?"
Tony, who had been tagging along beside Luca in his full Mark armor but doing absolutely nothing, couldn't comprehend how easily Mephisto was defeated.
"I thought you said he was a Hell Lord? That's all it took?"
Tony felt like he had wasted all that adrenaline for nothing. He felt this so-called Hell Lord was even weaker than the random demons he and Luca had been catching lately.
However, right after Tony asked this, and before anyone else could speak...
The cane standing quietly in the corridor suddenly began to twist and swell.
Then, twisted, hideous demon heads began to emerge from it, screaming desperately as they tried to break free from the cane as if escaping a cage.
"Si Bei! Stop them!"
But before Luca could even finish the sentence...
In the blink of an eye, over a dozen demons of various shapes and sizes burst free from the cane's confinement, cramming into the formerly spacious hospital corridor.
Without needing to look closely, a single glance told Luca and Tony that these were all the special demons they had captured over the past few days—the ones they hadn't killed yet, saving them for research.
Some only mastered basic elemental powers like earth, fire, water, and wind, but others possessed super-regeneration or abnormally high intelligence.
Unexpectedly, all of them had escaped at once.
But that wasn't the end of it.
The moment these demons appeared, their bodies suddenly began to split rapidly.
What started as "only" a dozen demons multiplied into dozens in the blink of an eye. Even the slowest ones split at least twice.
Although every floor of the Aurantius Tower was spacious, it couldn't hold this many demons at once.
Soon, demons began smashing through the outer walls, rushing outside.
More importantly, these newly reborn demons seemed solely focused on escaping.
Even the demons closest to Si Bei and the two Moro Mechas barely tried to attack them. Instead, they crowded together and surged toward the outside of the building.
Seeing this, Luca didn't have time to scold Tony for jinxing it. He immediately issued a new order.
"Kill them all!"
After saying that, Luca paused slightly, then turned to look at Shield and Green Bull standing behind him.
"You guys go too. Don't let these demons spread out!"
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