After Miko convinced Yutaro to tell her the plan, he said:
"Here's the plan: I have an ace up my sleeve, but it takes a little time — and against Diablo, even a little time feels like forever. Here's what matters — I'll go all in, engage him head-on, and buy you time. You go find the warrior and tell her the plan."
Miko cut him off. "What's your ace?"
"Since the danger level against Diablo is this high, my ace won't come cheap. I'm going to try to seal him away — in his own palace. But we need to be close to it for that. Or... I sacrifice myself to seal him instead."
Miko was stunned by his boldness, his willingness to throw his life away.
"Are you out of your mind? You were terrified just a minute ago. Are you really about to sacrifice yourself — or are you about to run?"
Yutaro smiled. "A hero doesn't retreat. Not even at the cost of his own life."
"Finish the plan," Miko said.
"While I distract him, I'll try to get him angry enough to chase me — even if I'm flying through the clouds again. I'll pull him away from the forest, even if it's just a little. So don't take too long — because if you do, I don't expect I'll come back alive."
"That's the whole plan?" Miko asked.
"What were you expecting? You got a better one?"
"No... I don't have a better plan. But don't worry — you're not going to die. I'll make sure of it while you're fighting him."
Yutaro smiled. "Alright... I'll be waiting for—"
Diablo cut him off, his aura swallowing the entire area. Yutaro's face twisted, and he hurled Miko toward the forest.
The instant Miko left his hands, Yutaro felt something coming straight for his skull. He ducked — a sword swept over his head, splitting the air and erasing the dust itself from existence.
Yutaro pulled back and threw a handful of small stones at him.
Diablo turned toward him. "Oh... look who's back. How was the flight?"
"Terrible," Yutaro answered.
Diablo laughed. "Seems like you're eager to go back up there."
Their eyes locked. Diablo set Sebastian's body aside and surged toward Yutaro.
The wind alone from Diablo's charge was enough to count as a hurricane. Yutaro's expression hardened — it was his turn now to defend, to buy time.
Diablo swung his sword to cut him down. Yutaro grabbed his right arm — the one holding the blade — and set it on fire. It did nothing to Diablo, but it was enough to slow him down by a half-second.
Diablo seized Yutaro's throat with his left hand, his grip crushing, strong enough to kill. Yutaro bit down on Diablo's hand and tore off one of his fingers, then spat the blood straight into his face.
Diablo's fury exploded. He hurled Yutaro upward and struck him with his blade. Yutaro managed to block it with his shield but was still thrown backward, feeling something crack in his hand.
The pressure of the air itself was too heavy to let him react.
With everything he had left, Yutaro managed to cast a spell, forming a shield of compressed air that caught him and brought him to a stop. He planted his right foot on it, and as he moved to bring his left foot down too — Diablo was already standing right in front of him.
Yutaro's mind raced: How do I put distance between us?
He noticed Diablo had left his sword behind. He hurled the air-shield straight at Diablo's face. Diablo hadn't expected it, and tried to block — but the shield alone hit harder than he did. It slammed into his face and knocked him back from Yutaro.
Yutaro lunged for Diablo's discarded sword, hoping just to grab it — but the blade shot upward toward his own throat instead. He threw his right hand up on reflex, only then realizing the shield wasn't in his grip anymore.
Then he noticed someone approaching. Yutaro smiled and shouted:
"NOW — Warrior!"
Out of the darkness, From the heart of the open sky, Rosa fell like a sudden meteor — no warning, no trace before her arrival.
She lit the ground beneath her with a blinding glow as she plummeted, both hands locked around her late brother's sword — a blade that pulsed with vengeance and loyalty both.
In a single flashing instant, she brought that heavy blade down, aimed straight at Diablo's sword, was brimming with arrogance.
The two blades collided with devastating force, scattering sparks and scattered in every direction — and Diablo's sword split clean in two, shattering under the weight of that single, final blow.
It wasn't an ordinary strike. It was a thunderbolt of destruction, a shockwave that tore through the entire area, flames and thick smoke surging upward in its wake.
The force of the explosion was so violent the air itself couldn't bear it — Yutaro was flung high into the open sky, swept upward by the blast as though a storm of fire had hurled him there itself.
Miko caught his hand mid-air and threw him straight at Diablo.
Yutaro shot toward him like an arrow. The dust between them cleared just as Yutaro's foot connected with Diablo's face — then he grabbed his shield and slammed it into him.
Diablo reeled from the blow, visibly rattled. Yutaro felt a surge of something like victory — but when he went to strike again with the shield, Diablo caught his face along with it, and began slowly crushing his skull.
The sound of Yutaro's bones cracking became audible. He screamed in agony.
Diablo roared with pure fury, a sound that forced everyone around him to their knees. He unleashed an aura so powerful it tore a scream out of the Jewel herself, and the light surrounding Miko vanished entirely.
He spoke, his voice soaked in murderous rage:
"Listen to me carefully. I was playing with you. Humoring you. But now... playtime is over."
He lifted Yutaro into the air. Yutaro struggled desperately to defend himself, striking Diablo in the face and shoulder—but Diablo wasn't even affected. He hurled Yutaro into the sky.
While Yutaro hung there, suspended, Diablo raised his palm toward him and snapped his fingers. Black fire burst to life around his hand.
He smiled, fury still burning in his eyes, and launched the black flame straight at him.
Yutaro felt the heat tear through his skin… but he smiled. Then the black flames consumed him, burning him to nothing.
Despair crept back in — the Shield Hero, the one they'd believed would stand with them through this fight, had vanished.
Diablo turned, black fire still coiling around his hand, and said to Rosa and Miko:
"I'm starting to get bored of this game."
(End of Chapter 59)