CH 220

“Tia… As expected, you came.”

“Of course I did! You thought I’d let you get away with such a perverted act, rendering a weak girl unconscious with a suspicious potion and then doing as you please?”

“Ugh!?”

Tia’s sharp words carve deeply into my chest. I expected her to show up, but her attack was a little unexpected.

“… I won’t make excuses. I am indeed here as an assassin to attack Donatella. So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Of course, I’ll stop you!”

Tia’s rapier thrusted at me two, three times. But there was no way it could break through my banishment Skill, [Invincible]…!?

“Ouch!? Wait, stop!?”

“Here, here, here! Let’s keep going!”

“Ouch!? It hurts!? Seriously, it hurts!? Damn it!”

With the intense pain coursing through my body, I instinctively drew the sword at my waist and swung it widely. I held back, but even taking that into account, Tia easily dodged my sword attack and stood in front of Donatella with a relaxed smile.

“Hmm, what do you think? It’s a fitting punishment for a rude man, isn’t it?”

“What does that mean? How did you break through my [Invincible]?”

“Oh, are you asking me that now? Weren’t you blown away by my kick earlier?.”

“What!?”

Upon being told this, I realized I was moved from atop Donatella by Tia’s blow. But even then, I was defending myself with my banishment skill, so in theory, I shouldn’t have lost my balance no matter what kind of attack I received.

“It was nullified…!? Why, how!?”

Seeing me visibly panic, Tia grinned confidently.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. Remember, I still had abilities I hadn’t told you about, Ed. Among them, there was one.”

With Tia’s smile as she swings her sword, I feel an indescribable force. Normally it would be reassuring, but right now, it’s truly terrifying.

“[Sit Down and Listen to Judgment]… It’s an ability that allows me to convey pain and impact over your banishment Skill, an ability I gained in order to fight you on equal terms!”

“That’s so unfair!?”

Who would have thought she’d acquire an ability specifically against me? What kind of harassment is that!? Well, most of the abilities Tia had acquired so far could only be used against me, so it’s the same in that sense!

“Wait! Tia! We can talk! Understand!”

“Hey! Hit it right!”

Desperately dodging Tia’s rapid thrusts, I contorted my body. Thankfully, as a pure swordsman, Tia’s skills weren’t that great, so avoiding her wasn’t a problem.

Moreover, this made another thing clear.

“You’re not using magic, Tia. You can’t use spirit magic right now, can you?”

“What!? Of course I can! I’m an elf, you know!?”

“Hah, just because you’re an elf doesn’t mean you can always communicate with spirits. I know that much.”

Spirit magic was a type of magic that communicated one’s intentions to spirits to cause natural phenomena. Unlike the theory-based magic that completes within oneself, it required communicating the caster’s intentions to the spirits.

But when you’re under mental control, another being’s intentions mix with the caster’s. This results in the spirits not being able to understand the intentions properly, making it remarkably difficult to use spirit magic…or so it seems.

Of course, I can’t use spirit magic, so this is just what I heard…

“And it was you who told me that!”

“Ugh! Stop dodging! Donatella, you can’t just stand there, fight with me!”

Tia, frustrated by her unsuccessful attacks, called Donatella to join in. Donatella, who seemed to have somewhat recovered from the effects of the potion, stood up and clenched her fists, but there was a look of uncertainty on her face.

“But I’m not like the Hero Lunaritia. I couldn’t beat this man earlier. I can tell by his movements now. I can’t…”

“That’s because you don’t know how to use your power! Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

As Tia stood protectively in front of a worried Donatella, she thrusted her sword at me and declared,

“Hero Donatella! This man is the chief of the Demon King you must defeat!”

“Wait! What!?”

“The Demon King? This man is…the enemy I must defeat…!?”

The color in Donatella’s eyes changed dramatically to gold as she looked at me. At the same time, a golden aura rose from her whole body, and a loud alarm bell rang in my mind.

This is bad. Really bad. Even a grazing blow…

“Take this!”

“Whoa!?”

I dodged Donatella’s fist, which approached with a roaring sound, in an exaggerated manner. The power of a Hero was highly effective against me, the Demon King. At least in this world, even if I regained all my power, a Hero’s attack could reach me.

Of course, if I regained my power, it doesn’t matter much if I suffer a little in a single world, but right now, I’m maintaining a human vessel and have only collected five fragments of power. Fighting a Hero in this state is quite unfavorable.

“Whoa!? Ugh! Close call!? Whoa!?”

“Coward, stop dodging!”

“That’s right, Ed! You should also take Donatella’s attacks, not just mine!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Facing the attacks of the two, I devoted myself only to dodging Donatella’s attacks, and reluctantly accepted Tia’s attacks. Pain ran through my whole body, but I resigned myself to it under these circumstances.

(Damn, this is harder than I thought!?)

Originally, even with Tia’s reinforcements, things should have been easy. After all, they couldn’t attack me, and their attacks wouldn’t affect me at all. In that case, it would have been a stalemate, which would have been the best situation for buying time.

But when all’s said and done, only the attacks of the two could affect me, and I can’t retaliate. A complaint arises from the bottom of my gut about why this is happening, but there’s no point in directing it at my past self.

“What’s the matter? You’re just avoiding! You’re weak! You’re feeble!”

“Isn’t it okay to retaliate a little bit? Or maybe Ed likes being attacked one-sidedly? Wow…”

“No way that’s true!”

I shouted back at Tia, who was making a disgusted face. But no matter how much I am provoked, I can’t retaliate.

If I just wanted to win, I could still win from here. If I cut off one of their legs, I win at that point. However, since missing limbs can’t be fully healed with the potions I have, I can’t use that tactic, and I don’t feel like using it anyway.

On the other hand, retaliating halfway was tricky because the opponent was uncomfortably strong. A non-lethal threatening strike could leave me vulnerable to a fatal blow.

That’s why I endure. If that’s my role, then I’ll endure and endure and keep enduring…and finally, a loud noise echoes from outside the building.

“What was that noise just now?”

“What happened!? And why isn’t anyone coming to help!?”

“Hahh, hahh, hahh, sorry, you two.”

Even though I haven’t shed a drop of blood, I’m still battered and bruised. I grin at the two of them. The next moment, an arm extends from behind the two who were focused on me, and a piece of cloth soaked with the familiar potion is pressed against their mouths.

“Mmph!?”

“Be quiet!”

“Oh, don’t struggle!”

They tried to resist immediately, but I stopped them with a light tap. Meanwhile, they continue to inhale the potion…and soon, their bodies go limp.

“Are you okay, Ed?”

“Yeah, somehow. How about over there?”

“Gahahaha! No problem! Everything went well!”

“I see. Then…it’s our complete victory!”

The hands I extended were met by Hamokin and Gargado, and the sound of victory echoed throughout the village.