âTia⊠As expected, you came.â
âOf course I did! You thought Iâd let you get away with such a perverted act, rendering a weak girl unconscious with a suspicious potion and then doing as you please?â
Tiaâs sharp words carve deeply into my chest. I expected her to show up, but her attack was a little unexpected.
â⊠I wonât make excuses. I am indeed here as an assassin to attack Donatella. So, what are you going to do about it?â
âOf course, Iâll stop you!â
Tiaâs rapier thrusted at me two, three times. But there was no way it could break through my banishment Skill, [Invincible]âŠ!?
âOuch!? Wait, stop!?â
âHere, here, here! Letâs keep going!â
âOuch!? It hurts!? Seriously, it hurts!? Damn it!â
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.
âHmm, what do you think? Itâs a fitting punishment for a rude man, isnât it?â
âWhat does that mean? How did you break through my [Invincible]?â
âOh, are you asking me that now? Werenât you blown away by my kick earlier?.â
Upon being told this, I realized I was moved from atop Donatella by Tiaâs blow. But even then, I was defending myself with my banishment skill, so in theory, I shouldnât have lost my balance no matter what kind of attack I received.
âIt was nullifiedâŠ!? Why, how!?â
Seeing me visibly panic, Tia grinned confidently.
âOkay, Iâll tell you. Remember, I still had abilities I hadnât told you about, Ed. Among them, there was one.â
With Tiaâs smile as she swings her sword, I feel an indescribable force. Normally it would be reassuring, but right now, itâs truly terrifying.
â[Sit Down and Listen to Judgment]⊠Itâs 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!â
âThatâs so unfair!?â
Who would have thought sheâd 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 itâs the same in that sense!
âWait! Tia! We can talk! Understand!â
Desperately dodging Tiaâs rapid thrusts, I contorted my body. Thankfully, as a pure swordsman, Tiaâs skills werenât that great, so avoiding her wasnât a problem.
Moreover, this made another thing clear.
âYouâre not using magic, Tia. You canât use spirit magic right now, can you?â
âWhat!? Of course I can! Iâm an elf, you know!?â
âHah, just because youâre an elf doesnât mean you can always communicate with spirits. I know that much.â
Spirit magic was a type of magic that communicated oneâs intentions to spirits to cause natural phenomena. Unlike the theory-based magic that completes within oneself, it required communicating the casterâs intentions to the spirits.
But when youâre under mental control, another beingâs intentions mix with the casterâs. This results in the spirits not being able to understand the intentions properly, making it remarkably difficult to use spirit magicâŠor so it seems.
Of course, I canât use spirit magic, so this is just what I heardâŠ
âAnd it was you who told me that!â
âUgh! Stop dodging! Donatella, you canât just stand there, fight with me!â
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.
âBut Iâm not like the Hero Lunaritia. I couldnât beat this man earlier. I can tell by his movements now. I canâtâŠâ
âThatâs because you donât know how to use your power! Listen carefully to what Iâm about to say.â
As Tia stood protectively in front of a worried Donatella, she thrusted her sword at me and declared,
âHero Donatella! This man is the chief of the Demon King you must defeat!â
âThe Demon King? This man isâŠthe enemy I must defeatâŠ!?â
The color in Donatellaâs 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 blowâŠ
I dodged Donatellaâs 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 Heroâs attack could reach me.
Of course, if I regained my power, it doesnât matter much if I suffer a little in a single world, but right now, Iâm maintaining a human vessel and have only collected five fragments of power. Fighting a Hero in this state is quite unfavorable.
âWhoa!? Ugh! Close call!? Whoa!?â
âCoward, stop dodging!â
âThatâs right, Ed! You should also take Donatellaâs attacks, not just mine!â
âDonât be ridiculous!â
Facing the attacks of the two, I devoted myself only to dodging Donatellaâs attacks, and reluctantly accepted Tiaâs 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 Tiaâs reinforcements, things should have been easy. After all, they couldnât attack me, and their attacks wouldnât 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 allâs said and done, only the attacks of the two could affect me, and I canât retaliate. A complaint arises from the bottom of my gut about why this is happening, but thereâs no point in directing it at my past self.
âWhatâs the matter? Youâre just avoiding! Youâre weak! Youâre feeble!â
âIsnât it okay to retaliate a little bit? Or maybe Ed likes being attacked one-sidedly? WowâŠâ
âNo way thatâs true!â
I shouted back at Tia, who was making a disgusted face. But no matter how much I am provoked, I canât 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 canât be fully healed with the potions I have, I canât use that tactic, and I donât 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.
Thatâs why I endure. If thatâs my role, then Iâll endure and endure and keep enduringâŠand finally, a loud noise echoes from outside the building.
âWhat was that noise just now?â
âWhat happened!? And why isnât anyone coming to help!?â
âHahh, hahh, hahh, sorry, you two.â
Even though I havenât shed a drop of blood, Iâm 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.
âOh, donât struggle!â
They tried to resist immediately, but I stopped them with a light tap. Meanwhile, they continue to inhale the potionâŠand soon, their bodies go limp.
âYeah, somehow. How about over there?â
âGahahaha! No problem! Everything went well!â
âI see. ThenâŠitâs our complete victory!â
The hands I extended were met by Hamokin and Gargado, and the sound of victory echoed throughout the village.