āIn the meantime, as Abel said earlier, I think we should let go of the baggageā¦ā¦! That guy earlier, itās definitely getting closer!ā
Sophia will try to convince me, but as for me, I definitely donāt want to give up the Lapides Sword.
I feel bad to Rinoa for staying up all night to make it for me, too.
The next time we see each other, I may not be able to look straight to her face.
Andā¦ā¦ I canāt just throw it away at a stage like this when I havenāt even done a proper performance test yet.
āIāll take care of it myself! So Sophia and the others stay away!ā
āWhat crazy thing are you saying, bro! If you do that, Negrogriff-sama will kill us!ā
Augen said as he shook my shoulder, followed by a look at Mea.
āHey, little girl. You tell him, too! My brother, he plans to die! You donāt know what the scariness of a demon is like!ā
āUh-, Uhmmm~ā¦ā¦ but since this what Abel wantsā¦ā¦ No matter what you say it will not workā¦ā¦ā
āWhat are you talking about!?ā
Thatās Mea, you know me well.
But Iād like to take out ā¦ā¦ insurance.
I readied my wand and calmed my mind and hit the magic sensing.
I do feel ā¦ā¦ two large magical power.
You can think of these as that demon manipulating space.
āReveal that guyā
I imagine the magic circle and then cast the spell.
I donāt trust the status spell too much because it doesnāt measure my own ability value either, but Iāll check ā¦ā¦ for insurance in case.
Since Iām sensing magic power, theoretically, this magic should be able to measure the approximate size of a large source of magic power for me.
The muscle power value doesnāt correspond to non-humans, so I canāt calculate it at allā¦ā¦
A small square plane suddenly appears in front of me.
-
āļ¼ļ¼ļ¼ļ¼ļ¼ļ¼ā
STR (muscle power):???
MAG(Magic):464
-
āWha-ā¦ā¦ā
I couldnāt help but squeal.
Because it was far higher than any number Iād ever seen before.
Iād only ever seen numbers around 100 at best.
Then it was suddenly in the 400s.
Sure, this sorcery is still imperfect and not absolutely reliable, but itās reason enough to beā¦ā¦ wary.
In case youāre wondering, when I measured myself in the past when I was little, it was close to 1000, but it soon became immeasurable.
Apparently, there is something wrong with my magic and my constitution is incapable of giving the correct measurements.
At the time, I was happy about it, but a figure of 1000 would not be helpful at all.
āW-whatās the matter, brother?ā
āIā¦ā¦ I guess you could say Iām just kind of curiousā¦ā¦ā
When I looked back at Augen, he looked blatantly exasperated.
āThis is bad, brotherās eyes, theyāre shiningā¦ā¦ā
āLetās just leave him alone and go!? I donāt want to be involved in this kind of collateral damage!?ā
āKa, Kamla-san, what are you talking about!ā
āCan you really get away from someone who distorts ā¦ā¦ space in the first place?ā
In the meantime, it looks like we should launch a preemptive strike at ā¦ā¦
Itās been a while since Iāve had a shot at a seriously bad guy.
I pulled away from Augen and raised my wand into the air.
āFlame, form, ballā
A large flame emerges on the tip of the wand and compresses it more and more.
If it becomes smaller, I add more flames, compress it again, adds more flames, compress it again, and repeats the ā¦ā¦ process.
This is the magic that I used to smash the Zeshum Ruins.
āA, Abel-san? What are you doing? Anything more than that can beā¦ā¦ I think, is a bit dangerousā¦ā¦ā
Sophia looks at my magic and looks at the light quizzically.
āIs that so dangerous ā¦ā¦?ā
Seeing Sophiaās condition, Kamla asks her.
āIt seems to be wrapped in a singular ward and applying full force to the sphere, but if I were to compare it to ā¦ā¦ it would be like stacking blocks of wood on the elbows of both arms while running as fast as you can. You never know when youāll lose your balance and go out of control ā¦ā¦ā
It seems a bit off, but ā¦ā¦ well, itās a good way to get a sense of it.
āWhat happens when it gets out of control?ā
āI think that would wipe out all of us at ā¦ā¦ā
āNo, stop! Stop that sorcery!ā
āC-calm down, Kamla! If you touch brother now, heāll lose his balance!ā
Kamla was about to attack me, but Augen and Sophia were stopping him from getting to me.
What Sophia said was wrong.
To be precise, if it were to go out of control, this entire mountain would disappear cleanly.
āDonāt worry. Iām confident in my ability to control my magic, so I wonāt lose my balance even if I get poked a bit, and I can make it disappear in a heartbeat if I have to.ā
āHow can I trust you! Anyway, stop it! Please!ā
Gradually, the presence of the demon that was coming towards me became more and more intense.
Even if you donāt pay special attention to it, you can feel a chill as if your spine is being licked.
Indeed, this guy might be an incomparable big deal compared to the opponent weāve been dealing with so far.
If the Lapides Sword had attracted the great demon that was sleeping in the mountains, then ā¦ā¦
āā¦ā¦ This sword, itās a good thing I brought it with me.ā
āHey you, what did you just say!?ā
Kamla, who was being held down by Sophia and Augen, increased his strength and tried to jump at them.
āI-, it wonāt help if weāre falling out! Levi-sama said. Even a small wave will increase in its power when several overlapsā¦ā¦ Harmony is the shortcut to overcoming difficulties!ā
āIām not the one at fault, right?ā
With the arguing behind me, I just kept on reinforcing the heat ball of light more and more.
āIām surprised. I didnāt realize that the power that I was something this smallā
In my head, I hear a voice.
Itās a thought wave.
The way it speaks seems somewhat different from the type of demon Iāve had before.
Could it possibly be a fairly rational demon ā¦ā¦?
āOopsā¦ā¦ do you understand this? I am Dantalion. One of the great spirits who served the ancient and destroyed earth god Garujaā
He spoke to me not in spirit language, but in the language used on this continent.
Absent-mindedly, a cloak that looked like a clown suit spread out in front of me.
There was a frill around its neck, and four female faces grew out of it, each facing a different direction.
It was only above the shoulders, and two arms floated slightly away from the cloak.
The four heads were scowling.
Iāve never seen a demon with such a bizarre appearance, either.
Iāve never heard of a demon named Dantalion, but if itās true that he served the ā¦ā¦ earth gods, then heās a demon from the mythological era.
Most of the demons of that era were said to have been killed around by the god Kudor, but I didnāt know that there were ā¦ā¦ survivors.
āIt sounds like they donāt seem to be hostile.ā
When I turned back to Kamla and the others, all three of them were staring at Dantalion with their weapons at each of them.
āW-What do we do ā¦ā¦?ā
āIf we canāt beat āem, weāll just have to punish āem. I didnāt want to fight you, but if youāre telling me youāre a demon from Garuja, I canāt let you get away with it.ā
āLetās cut at least one of their heads off. Iāll use a special move, Iām sorry to Augen-san and Kamra-san, but please you to buy me some time.ā
ā¦ā¦ Itās clearly a change from earlier, and itās clearly a killing intent their showing.
They said the earth and water gods did not get along very well with each other.
As a church member, maybe they have some thoughts.
āW-, waitā¦ā¦ the other side is stepping up to us, so letās go a little more moderately ā¦ā¦ā
āIām going to pull you down to earth!ā
āDie in this one!ā
Kamla stretches out the arm he had hidden from his robe, exposing the crossbow secured to his arm.
Kamla pointed the tip of her arm at Dantalion and ejected it.
The speed of the arrow is considerably faster than a normal crossbow.
It seems to have a special material that increases in elasticity with magic power.
In addition, the arrows are engraved with a magic formula. Thatās ā¦ā¦ the explosion magic.
āFuwaaaa!ā
Augen with a wooden mallet jumped to a tree and kicked it off, then leaped up to chase the arrow with the recoil.
Incredible leaping power.
That would get him to the height of Dantalion.
āExplodeā
Kamla shouted as he pointed his small sword at Dantalion.
Their plan is apparently to create an opening with the explosion, while Augen is planning to smash the mallet into it.
āIām not interested in any of the ā¦ā¦ you guys, though.ā
Each of Dantalionās four faces caught Kamla and Augen, respectively, and they sent thought waves flying as they opened their mouths in unison.
As Dantalion raised his hand, the arrow bounced back to Kamla, and Augen fell to the ground as if pulled by the mallet in his hand, hitting his shoulder.
āGuooooooh!ā
The impact of the slamming hit made Augen sprawling and release the mallet from his hand.
The arrow stuck in Kamlaās feet flashed with a snap.
āGehā¦ā¦ this is bad!ā
I pointed my wand toward Kamla, working to maintain my hand toward the ball of light.
The arrow made a snapping sound and collapsed into pieces.
āTha-, thank Godā¦ā¦ā
It was an odd trajectory, even if it was a bounce back.
Indeed, he seems to be able to control space.
āHmph, you little guys, itās impertinent of you to go against me. Quickly, you can offer me the thing. Iām not going to talk about this anymore. If you make me wait too long, I can kill you all, you know. I, Dantalion-sama, have taken it upon myself to give you a reprieve. Donāt piss me off, okay?ā
āUh, what is it you are looking for, Dantalion-sama?ā
I asked, half curiously, to Dantalion.
āHow shamelessā¦ā¦ you know what Iām talking about. The sky godās legacy. I can feel his magic so stronglyā¦ā¦ I have a grudge against him, after allā¦ā¦ and I canāt be satisfied until I can crush the rest of whatās left of it.ā
āThe sky godās, legacy ā¦ā¦?ā
I knew thatās what Levi Church has, not meā¦ā¦
āYes, from that areaā¦ā¦ā
Dantalion pointed a finger at me.
I couldnāt help but look back.
Mea was just standing there.
I froze, keeping eye contact with Mea for a few seconds.
āMea, you have something for meā¦ā¦ā
āN-noā¦ā¦ Mea thinks itās still the sword from before ā¦ā¦ Maybe that demon ā¦ā¦ was something that bad ā¦ā¦ā
āWhatā¦ā¦?ćThenā¦ā¦?ā
āYou know what Iām thinking. Now, hand it over quickly. Or ā¦ā¦ if you really donāt want to hand it over, thatās also a good thing ā¦ā¦ Foolishness is a sin. If you are too stupid to see the difference in power between you and me,ā¦ā¦ you will be rewarded with death for your sins. Donāt think that you can die easily. Repent forever in the underworld.ā
Dantalionās, four heads laugh loudly.
Suddenly, Dantalionās figure blurs and moves momentarily to another position.
And then it moves again to another position for a moment.
The sound of Dantalionās laughter can be heard from around the area.
I felt as if I was surrounded by dozens of heads.
āYou little ones will not even be able to catch a glimpse of my image. Getting arrogant by playing imitation, these servants of Godā¦ā¦ I will teach you what is the horrors of real sorcery.ā
Unlikeā¦ā¦ humans, spirits can directly use magic power to cause singular phenomena.
As such, they donāt need a magic circle, but ā¦ā¦ there seems to be a pattern to the teleportation and the residue of magic power, so itās not difficult to follow them.
Well, ā¦ā¦ even if I donāt bother to do that, itās enough to have a homing function that tracks a specified magic print (like a fingerprint of magic power).
I carved Dantalionās magic crests into the light ball as information on where to track it.
Iād like to avoid battles as much as possible, butā¦ā¦ a demon is still a demon.
Itās not like we can talk to each other,ā¦ā¦ and Iām not going to hand over the Lapides Sword either.
Besidesā¦ā¦ I genuinely wanted to see how far I could fight a mythical age demon on my own.
The other sideās trick is exposedā¦ā¦ If it comes down to it, I should be able to at least run away.
āThere.ā
When I extend my hand, the ball of light flies toward Dantalion.
As Dantalion moves in transition, the ball of light also changes its trajectory to match Dantalionās.
The four smiling faces change in unison to bored faces.
āIt hurts on one side that you think youāre competing with this level of petty tricks. Did you forget what happened earlier? Apparently, the little ones have completely forgotten as a species while Iāve been hiding in these mountains. ā¦ā¦ This is like a bird or a pig ā¦ā¦ā
Dantalion holds out his hand to the ball of light.
ā¦ā¦ This attack is going to be a wait-and-see approach.
With the homing function of the light ball, it could be a countermeasure to the magic that manipulates and bounces off that space.
The power of that light ball is outrageous, but instead, it has been given a mechanism that allows it to easily disperse its power at any time to prevent outbursts.
Even if itās countered, thereās no danger of it.
The ball of light comes to a standstill between Dantalion and me.
Dantalionās four faces frowned at the same time.
āHm? What justā¦ā¦ā
Cracks appeared in space, and a loud sound that seemed to break through the glass echoed around the area.
A ball of light dived between the cracks and approached towards Dantalion.
āHuh, itās more fragile than I thoughtā¦ā¦ā
I thought the distortion of space was indestructibleā¦ā¦
Easily, the light ball broke through between Dantalion and me.
āWha-ā¦ā¦ Whawha-ā¦ā¦ Wha-ā¦ā¦!ā
Dantalion revealed himself to be unhinged.
One of the heads swells up and swallows the ball of light with its large mouth open.
The head that swallowed the ball of light turned its face to an earthen color and turned its head limp to the ground.
āā¦ā¦ For a little one, that was close. You can send me honest praise. I will acknowledge that you are worthy of being my equal in a fight. As expected of being a worthy successor to the sky godās legacyā¦ā¦ Is what Iād like to say. I wonāt let my guard down anymoreā¦ā¦ and I wonāt hold back anymoreā¦ā¦ā
Dantalion turns three angry faces to me.
One remains deflated.
āIā¦ā¦ can collect and make any impact, any energy body, disappear by sacrificing one of my heads. In other words, I will never die until three timesā¦ā¦ Even an atrophied head can be resurrected after a day. By eating the heads of you little people! Iāll make up for lost stock with you!ā
As soon as Dantalion shouted that, the head that had just swallowed the light ball slowly raised its head.
āMuā¦ā¦?ā
The other heads tilted their heads questioningly at the sight of it.
The next moment, the head burst into flames, spewing powerful fire from its eyes and mouth.
āAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaā
Dantalion flew dizzily and tried to flee somewhere as the fire burned from head to head, spewing black smoke.
āI thought you were going to make it disappear at the expense of one of its headsā¦ā¦ā
Eventually, the flames spread to the cloak.
Its arm, which was far away from the body, seemed to catch fire as he struck it, and in an instant, a fireball formed.
āAzui, Azuiiiiiiii!ā
The cloak burst into flames and turned to ashes, and a chunk of cloth fell in its place.
It happened in a flash.
The space around the area wriggled languidly.
It seems that Dantalionās influence is gone and has been restored to normal.
Dantalion had said that he was going to teach me the horrors of real magic, but what the hell was he talking about?
In the end, we didnāt know, as we didnāt have any significant attack magic from Dantalion.
I have no idea about the sky god or anything else because it burned up so quickly.
Did Lapidestatoa had anything to do with the sky god?
Or rather, ā¦ā¦ this ā¦ā¦ was really a demon living from the mythical era that was driving the magic field of this mountain crazy?
I wanted to test my abilities against a powerful opponent, but all I could feel was an indescribable sense of guilt that I had done something that was not right.
I picked up a piece of cloth that had fallen off.
āAzuiā¦ā¦ Human is scary ā¦ā¦ā
ā¦ā¦ A thought wave came through the cloth.
For now, I decided to keep the fragment of Dantalion in my pocket.
I might be able to use it for something else.
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