CH 78

Chapter 78 - The Battle in the Twilight

The battle between the bronze demon blocking the mountain road and the six remaining small demon imps began.

“–Be the light that illuminates the darkness. [Lighting]!”

Aisha’s cleric’s staff, with its magic stone, lit up the sky above, illuminating the darkness of twilight.

This light eliminates the night vision advantage of the demon tribe.

“Merylou-kun.”

“Souya, leave the small demon imps to us.”

Souya confirmed Merylou’s voice and stood in front of the bronze demon that charged at them. 

“I’ll be your opponent. The same magic-swordsman style, huh. What a coincidence.”

Souya pointed at the Bronze Demon, who was standing upright and holding a red-black sword, with the Mithril Saber, and laughed fearlessly when he posed.

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The six small demon imps slipped by Souya and the Bronze Demon as they began to engage in a fierce battle. 

The wind spirit Sylph, summoned by Merylou, blocked three of them, but the remaining three attacked Mia, Tat, and Aisha, who was waiting in the back of the wagon. 

“Whoa, here it comes!”

Tat fired a slingshot at the approaching Imp, but the bullet only narrowly missed the Imp’s head.

The small demon imp swung his sickle at Tat with all its might.

“Woah!”

Tat dodged the sickle’s huge swing with his head down, dropped the slingshot to the ground, pulled out the dagger at his waist, and drew an arc in the air.

A well-aimed flash of the blade slices off one of the Imp’s wings, and kicks it away as hard as he can when it loses control and nearly crashes. 

“Gugyaah!”

“Fuh, that was close.”

When Tat saw that the small demon imp, which had rolled over on one wing, was unable to get up, he quickly approached it and put an end to it by piercing its throat with the dagger. He then quickly looked for his next target and looked at Mia, who was a little further away.

Mia was also facing the small demon imp with a scythe in its hand.

While confirming that she was the target of the attack, Mia calmly held up her cleric’s staff, and began to chant.

“–O Earth Mother Goddes Mikaela. With your compassion, take away the hostility of those I face. [Favour Circle].”

When Mia held up her cleric’s staff, a glowing magic circle with a radius of about three meters was completed around her, and the small demon imp who had entered the circle stopped in its tracks.

After confirming that the Sacred Art of Lifting Hostility had been applied, Mia continued to concentrate her mind and began to search the surroundings while maintaining the formation.

Aisha was confronting a small demon imp just ahead of Mia’s gaze as she searched for the enemy.

Aisha was the first to go on the offensive against the small demon imp. 

“–O Magic Power. Become a magic bullet and kill my enemy. [Magic Bullet]”

The magic bullet fired straight from Aisha’s staff hit the small demon Imp directly, but it wasn’t able to defeat the small demon Imp, probably because the chanting wasn’t good enough.

“It didn’t work well ……!”

Aisha stopped and took a defensive stance with her staff, but the Imp’s scythe was about to strike back.

“Gyaaah!”

The short bow arrow from Merylou shot through the heart of the small demon imp who was aiming at Aisha, killing it with a single blow.

“…… I-I’m sorry, Merylou-san. Thank you for saving me.”

“Aisha, if you don’t have confidence in your ability to defeat them, just don’t stop moving. If it’s just one, just run around and it won’t catch up to you easily.”

Aisha nodded and turned her gaze toward Merylou, where the wind spirit Sylph, who was guarding by her side, had finished killing all three small demon imps.

The two rock golems that Souya had created were guarding the wagon, but the little demon imp never made it that far.

Watching the small demon Imps being defeated, Peryton lowered his rapier and exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Take that …… Mia-neechan, are you okay?”

The small demon Imp, who’s hostility has been lifted by Mia’s divine magic and was in a daze, was cut down by Tat with a dagger attack from behind, outside the formation. 

“…… Thank you for your help, Tat-san.”

Mia thanked Tat, canceled the magic circle, said a short prayer to the Earth Mother Goddess Mikaela, and began preparing to cast her healing spell.

All six of the small demon imps have been taken care of by the escorts, leaving only the Bronze Demon.

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“…… Oh. They already defeated the small demon Imps.”

After checking the surrounding situation, Souya looked down at the bronze demon kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily and bloodied.

The battle between Souya and the bronze demon didn’t give either of them a chance to chant magic, and it became a pure contest of sword skills. 

The result was a one-sided game for Souya. The Bronze Demon had more than 20 cuts, but Souya received only a shallow blow to his left arm.

Even that blow was greatly reduced in power by his business suit, which offered the highest level of protection.

And after the small demon imps were dealt with, the wind blade of the wind spirit Sylph, who had rushed to Souya’s aid, sliced the bronze demon’s back wide open.

In the back, Merylou and Tat are waiting for the right moment to fire a cover shot.

“–Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

As the battle turns into a battle of many against one, the Bronze Demon, realizing its defeat, roars, pointing to the sky.

“Now then …… It would be helpful if you could tell me why you’re here and why you’ve been blockading the place. If you don’t answer me, I may have to torture you.”

Souya slowly raised his mithril saber and thrust it at the throat of the bronze demon.

That’s when it happened.

The Crimson Flames wrapped the body of the Bronze Demon in front of Souya’s eyes.

“…… Flames?”

The source of the flames was the reddish-black sword in the hands of a bronze demon. The flames gradually gained momentum, and the sword began to disintegrate with a flash of light.

“Self-destruction attack ……! Everyone, evacuate!”

Souya began chanting magic while loudly warning his friends.

However, the transition to self-destruct was too fast. And even if he used magic to transport the sword, if the flames spread, there was a high possibility that the flames would spread to the surrounding trees, leading to a forest fire.

(…… I have the Goddess’ Blessing that can bring me back to life. Should I suppress the explosion with my body?)

“–O Earth Spirit, shatter the earth and make a large hole! [Pitfall]!”

As soon as Merylou, who was the first to notice the unusual situation, completed her spirit art, the ground under the feet of the red-hot blazing bronze demon was gouged out, and a large hole was opened.

With the sword flashing as it disintegrates, the bronze demon is swallowed into the pit while being enveloped by the crimson flame. 

–Then came the sound of an explosion.

The earth rumbled, and a tremendous pillar of fire rose up from the large hole opened by the spirit art.

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