Chapter 150
The Leader
Using
Jaunt again, I crushed the demons as a little extra bonus along the way.
It seemed they had already received news of the attack and set up an
interception formation, but it was largely meaningless.
「「「Angyaaaaaaahh!!」」」
Or
rather, thanks to them conveniently gathering in one place, I could take them
out all at once with Chain Lightning, which actually made things easier.
After
testing out various types of magic, it seems that Light Magic is highly
effective against demons. Perhaps because their aptitude for Dark Magic
is high, they have a special weakness to it.
After
rescuing about four Adventurers and soldiers who were imprisoned
similarly, there were no more human reactions left inside. However, there were
still a considerable number of demons left that weren't in my path.
「Alright, let's blow them all away at
once.」
I
increased my altitude using Ice Pillar and observed the situation from
above. While I was at it, I used magic to shoot down the demons flying in the
sky to grasp the scale of the area. Hmm, this castle is quite large, so a
quadruple activation of Judgment Ray or Gungnir wouldn't have
enough range.
「Ice Arrow Rain: Quadruple.」
Ice
Arrow Rain
is the Ice attribute version of the area-of-effect attack Light Arrow
Rain. Since I haven't used it much, I was slightly concerned about its
power, but thinking about the future, I needed to use this one.
I
unleashed the rain of ice by dividing it into four zones, and to be safe, I
decided to cover for the uncertain power by using it again. But even so, driven
by the brute force of my magic attack power, the ice arrows displayed
tremendous might, becoming a merciless storm of violence raining down upon the
castle.
The
splendid castle, seemingly constructed using Earth Magic, was
transformed into a piteous pile of rubble. Pierced by massive amounts of arrows
and crushed beneath falling debris, the reactions of the demons inside steadily
decreased.
「One more time, Ice Arrow Rain:
Quadruple.」
I
fired the quadruple magic once more into the ruins where the castle was
destroyed and the inside exposed. The demons who seemed to be looking up at me
and saying something were struck by the rain of arrows and fell one after
another. With this, the only ones left are... three?
「Lightning Bolt: Triple.」
When
I unleashed three lightning strikes by combining dual activation and regular
casting, the remaining reactions dropped to one. Which means...
「You bastard... to think you'd pull
such a deeply insulting stunt...」
The
demon flying up towards me, seething with anger, was the leader governing this Demon
Territory Zwaarth... Sigur von Zwaarth.
♢♢♢
「I was absolutely certain it was a
fellow demon... but to think the attacker was a human.」
The
leader of the demons who arrived... Sigur was a demon with two twisted
horns. His skin color was a dark, purplish-black, and two black wings
reminiscent of a bat grew from his back.
Magic
Power Perception
showed a high reaction. Since everything above a certain level of strength
shows up like this, I really won't know for sure until I try.
「Not satisfied with merely destroying
the castle... you really went all out killing them. Not just my subordinates,
but even my wife and sons... I trust you are prepared for the consequences?」
「You're the ones who have been
kidnapping and killing people left and right all this time. Aren't you the one
lacking resolve?」
「Spout your nonsense!」
Sigur flapped his wings, instantly
circling behind me and drawing his sword. Fast... but not so fast that I can't
track him!
As
I drew my sword, a high-pitched ring echoed out. Cold blocks of metal clashed,
scattering the heat of sparks.
「Alley-oop.」
「Guh...!?」
I
swiftly carved in two more attacks, lightly slicing Sigur's body. No...
this guy is incredibly fast.
I
just swung with the intent to kill, you know. I'm pretty sure he's broken past
his agility limit. Excluding the Knight of the Holy Corpse, this guy is
the fastest. He's even faster than Priola when she's going all out.
But...
yeah, well, I can beat him. To me, someone who defeated that crazy inflated
bastard, the Knight of the Holy Corpse, he still looks like he's
standing still.
「You bastard... Who are you!? A human
with such strength... Don't tell me, a Hero!?」
「...Sigh, no. I'm not a Hero.
I'm just a shut-in who stayed holed up in my Home.」
Why
do demons immediately assume any strong human is a Hero? There are
strong humans besides Heroes, you know. I wish Kazuma-kun would
have some Hero-like awakening and take over this position for me right
now.
「—Gehenna Flare!」
Perhaps
judging a head-on fight to be disadvantageous, he tried to melt the foothold I
was standing on. Black flames melted the ice, and I began to fall headfirst.
Attempting to pursue me, Sigur unleashed a thrust. And at the exact
moment he finalized his posture and the thrust was about to hit, I used Jaunt
to get behind him.
「Over here.」
「Guuuhh!?」
Adding
the gravity of the fall to the power of my swing, this time the slash connected
exactly as intended, cleanly severing his right wing right down the middle.
Just as I thought, those wings were apparently meant for flying. While spurting
dark red blood, Sigur managed to glide and tried to fall towards the
ground.
「Accel, Quick, Physical
Enhancement.」
Naturally,
I had no intention of missing that opening, so I unleashed strikes while
constantly changing my position using Jaunt. The number of cuts on Sigur's
body increased, and unable to launch a proper attack, he was forced into a
one-sided defense.
「Ice Fold.」
Until
now, my weakness was that my slashes lacked power while high in the air, but
using this Ice Magic spell, Ice Fold, greatly improved that. It's
a spell that simply creates a thin layer of ice beneath one's feet.
In
reality, when used normally, it was a spell that only created frost beneath
your feet, so I thought it was a completely useless dud spell.
However,
after Priola taught me that it could be conjured in mid-air... combined
with the brute force of my magic attack power allowing me to create ice as
thick as a hearty steak, the situation changed completely.
Being
able to freely create ice strong enough to serve as a foothold in mid-air
massively boosted my aerial combat capabilities.
Using
the foothold to launch a slash with momentum, then using Jaunt to
short-warp to a new location faster than the opponent's counterattack could
arrive, and repeating it over and over. The ultra-high-speed combat I excelled
at on the ground became possible in the air thanks to Ice Fold.
「Guh, to think you could do this
much...」
That's
not all. This magic that allows me to place footholds in mid-air enables me to
maneuver in three dimensions.
I
became capable of true three-dimensional maneuverability, not just moving
front, back, left, and right in two dimensions, allowing me to engage in
close-quarters combat that would normally be impossible for me.
I
create a foothold the moment I become defenseless after launching an attack,
using it as a pivot point to flip my body. I launch a spinning slash, then use
a foothold above my head to launch a downward strike, and use an ice foothold
to brake into a horizontal sweep.
Moving
freely in all directions, unmatched in this era. My swordsmanship, maxed out to
the highest LV, tells me the tens and hundreds of timings when I should
unleash my slashes.
The
opponent's speed was considerable, but ultimately, he was no match for me, who
continues to train even after breaking past the agility limit.
「Guh... Regrettable...」
Faced with my overwhelming mobility, Sigur was carved to pieces without being able to mount a proper counterattack and perished. Thus, I successfully defeated the demon ruling the Demon Territory Zwaarth. Alright, with this done, all that's left is to apply the finishing touches.
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