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I received a call from His Majesty in the middle of my patrol route.

I was told it was something similar to a feeling with no basis, but that feeling was right on point.

If I had gone on my route as planned, I wouldn’t have made it in time to save Lord Leano.

Lord Leano’s figure entered my vision before I interjected. I could tell in one go that he wasn’t in a state that could move properly.

“Jumping down from the back of a wyvern was too reckless, Sis!” (Haaku)

Haakudoku and the others get down from the back of the wyvern that descended from the sky.

We now have the people.

We have to concentrate on defeating this demon called Zahava in front of us.

“More crept out… Moreover, there’s 2 men who smell nasty…!” (Zahava)

“Eh, I am washing my body nicely though. Haakudoku doesn’t really stink either.” (Arcreal)

“Yeah. Maybe she is smelling the scent of Illegitimate?” (Haaku)

“That, huh. So, what’s your impression?” (Arcreal)

“It is ba~d news. I would have fainted if I hadn’t used a stimulant.” (Haaku)

I can tell Haakudoku was putting strength on his whole body.

Haakudoku has a constitution that would make him faint when encountering a Demon Lord, so we gave him a stimulant before heading to this battlefield.

He apparently can endure it to a certain degree if he is on guard, but it would be dangerous if he were to encounter one all of a sudden, so Barastos prepared this.

“Hmm, then me and Ilias will be going. Girista, come in once you learn her moves. Haakudoku, leave that bearded old man at the place of his subordinates.” (Arcreal)

Arcreal drew his sword and dashed towards Zahava without hesitation.

I took a step too after seeing that and closed the distance.

“You are coming to me? Are you sane?” (Zahava)

Spider legs jump out from Zahava’s body.

The speed and power are comparable to that of Lord Ragudo.

Arcreal avoided this thrust that would be hard to detect with normal dynamic vision as if natural, and sliced down the spider legs that stretched out completely.

“!”

“Ooh ooh, that’s a fast thrust. Tough on top of that.” (Arcreal)

Arcreal avoided 3 of the 4 attacks while slicing them down.

The remaining one came to me, but I managed to avoid it by lowering my stance.

It is just like the report of Lord Leano. You can read the timing of Zahava’s attacks to a certain degree with her eyes.

If Arcreal and I come at her at the same time, her attacks will spread, and her number of moves will decrease.

Zahava swung the spider leg that came at me to hit Arcreal, but he avoided it and sliced it off.

Arcreal’s swordsmanship can do both evasion and attack. The epitome of unreasonableness in that if you attack, you will instead be slashed yourself.

This is sharp even when the opponent is inhuman.

But I can’t lower my guard. The spider legs he sliced down just now have already regenerated.

I should consider her regeneration speed equal or higher than Niruryates.

“Such a convenient body. Not like I want to become one though.” (Arcreal)

“Such a pest!” (Zahava)

The 3 regenerated spider legs all came from different directions towards Arcreal. It is harder to see them all compared to monotone thrusts, but it is far slower compared to the first attack.

Attacks of that level won’t hit.

“She is smarter than a woman flailing around her legs, right?” (Arcreal)

“Agree.” (Ilias)

Arcreal rushed in to avoid the attacks, and slashed the body of Zahava.

I jumped out from behind Arcreal and sliced off the head of Zahava.

This would be the end against a human, but we are dealing with a demon. The fight is not over yet.

Zahava jumped back to take distance and one spider leg that was sent flying stabbed the head to retrieve it.

A head that was pierced by a spider leg and had a crushed eye looked at us.

“…I see. So humans have reached at least that level.” (Zahava)

The head was returned to its position and the wound was healed in the blink of an eye.

You could say there’s almost no damage from the coordinated attack just now.

But I am clear of something with the regeneration just now.

The core of Zahava is currently in her head, and we should be able to defeat her if we can crush it.

It is possible she would move the position of her core like Nektohal, but she wouldn’t try to retrieve her head on such occasions.

There’s the need to slice off her head again and see how she reacts before going for the next move.

“Zahava, right? You are awfully calm for someone who had her head sliced off.” (Arcreal)

“I like killing humans. Love it. It would be of benefit for the Demon Lord-sama the more I kill after all. But I kill with reason. I can just enjoy the sense of achievement after I finish killing them all. I want to enjoy the feeling of it slowly, to my heart’s content, once everything is over.” (Zahava)

Zahava directs a slimy gaze at us.

Deep inside them, I can feel the calmness of eliminating her enemies coldly aside from her feelings of wanting to enjoy killing.

She has reassessed us as enemies after finishing this exchange.

From prey that’s being hunted down one-sidedly, to enemies that must be eliminated.

“You say it is for the sake of the Demon Lord-sama but, in the end, it is just because you want to enjoy killing, right?” (Arcreal)

“Having fun killing is for the sake of the Demon Lord-sama. Don’t you get it?” (Zahava)

“No, I don’t. As if I would understand the nonsense of a spider that is rotten to the core.” (Arcreal)

“Then, I just need to kill you!” (Zahava)

The spider legs retracted and came out from all directions this time around.

2 from the front and 2 from the rear. They stabbed onto the ground respectively and slowly lifted the body of Zahava.

And then, the next instant, Zahava’s body sprung forth.

Jumping power that uses the inhuman spider legs. The speed of that rush resembled Murshto.

“Oi oi, jumping in? That’s far more emotional than the thrusts of before—woah.” (Arcreal)

Arcreal, who can move from evasion to offensive, could only manage to make a big evade.

The reason behind this is the arm of Zahava -the human one.

Magic was shot in the place Arcreal was in, and the ground was gouged out.

Judging from the damage, it looks like gravity magic that creates a gravity field in a point.

She approaches the location where the enemy is and crushes them whole with magic. An attack that you can’t avoid at short range. That’s why Arcreal couldn’t retaliate.

“You are flailing around magic instead of your weapon now, huh. But that much is—!” (Ilias)

I slash at Zahava, matching the end of her spell.

Zahava skillfully used the spider legs stabbed on the ground to switch her stance towards me in an instant, and then, she tried to shoot gravity magic at me that she formed with both hands.

“—Magic seal stone!” (Zahava)

“That’s right!” (Ilias)

But there’s a magic seal stone embedded in my sword.

If I swing my sword within its effective range, the spells that are cast in its path will all be scattered.

Zahava’s magic was dispelled, and got hit by my slash without any means to block it.

My blade stopped after reaching from shoulder to chest. And then, I pour mana to my sword in one go.

“You—” (Zahava)

“Burst!” (Ilias)

I swell up mana violently and have it explode.

This attack can’t bring out much power against a body that has been enhanced with mana strengthening.

But that is if it was an attack that was done to the outside.

The torrent of mana that exploded from the inside blew up the body of Zahava, that should be as hard as steel, into pieces.

“Arcreal, cut off her head!” (Ilias)

“Gotcha. I will finish this!” (Arcreal)

The head of Zahava slipped into the flying pieces of flesh. Arcreal landed, caught sight of it, and swung his sword.

If she is still alive despite her body being destroyed, that must mean the core is still in her head.

It will take time for the body that retrieves her head to regenerate. With this…

“Hey, why do you think you can win with just this much?” (Zahava)

“?!”

Zahava’s head changed trajectory in midair, and the sword of Arcreal missed.

The head fell straight down and was sucked into the right arm of Zahava that was scattered around.

“That just now…” (Arcreal)

“A string. She must have set it up beforehand, expecting for her head and body to be separated.” (Ilias)

Spider strings can endure despite being thin.

A spider string made by Zahava who is human size must have quite the strength if it also has mana strengthening on top of it.

The body of Zahava is regenerating at fast speed with her head as the center.

Not being able to finish her with that little scheme of ours just now hurts quite a bit.

“Looks like it will be pretty tough to crush her head.” (Arcreal)

“But she will need to regenerate her body again if we destroy her body like just now. We should be able to shave off her mana with this.” (Ilias)

She has regeneration so strong she looks immortal, and yet, she is still careful.

These demons are strong in both body and mind. What a fearsome opponent.

◇◇

“Ukka-sama, it seems like a demon has been confirmed in the Gahne Nether. We have been told by the Taizu King to be careful in the Mejis Nether too.”

“Umu. I wasn’t planning on lowering my guard to begin with.” (Ukka)

The war situation differs between Nethers.

The Green Demon Lord’s army has the superiority in the Taizu Nether; a demon appeared in the Gahne Nether and battle has begun with the raid team; and then, there’s the Mejis Nether where a Unique monster has appeared in the frontlines and rampaging.

The raid team has headed there and is fighting, but I got a report from Maya that there’s still no sight of the demon.

I would like them to continue keeping an eye out for the demon, but it seems like that Unique is far more troublesome than they imagined, so the Blue Demon Lord and few of the raid team are staying there to continue the battle.

The Blue Demon Lord has a Unique Skeleton Dragon called Daruagestia.

I heard that it is as strong as the Great Devil, Dyuvuleori, that overpowered Yox.

To think they would have a hard time even with such a fighting force with them. As expected of the army of the strongest Demon Lord.

“What’s the state of the frontlines?” (Ukka)

“It seems like the traps and facilities we set up beforehand are working well on all the places aside from the place where the Unique has shown up. But there’s a lot of enemies, so it is being recommended to move the line back.”

“It will be a drawn battle after all. The ideal would be to defeat all the enemy army in the Nethers, but such naive thoughts won’t work.” (Ukka)

The evacuation of the people of Mejis and the construction of stations in the country is going well.

The Pope-sama wasn’t thinking of stopping the Black Demon Lord army in only the Mejis Nether to begin with.

He is prepared to make the whole Mejis into a battlefield.

“The volunteers that stayed in this village have finished evacuating. There’s only soldiers remaining.”

“I am impressed they cooperated until it was so close despite being unable to fight. I will give them my thanks at the evacuation point.” (Ukka)

“Ooh! I am sure everyone would be happy to be thanked by Ukka-sama!”

“Hmph. I will walk as much as needed if they can get happy with the words of someone like me.” (Ukka)

The other Archbishops have gone to the battlefield.

Archbishop Maya joined the raid team where powerhouses are gathered, and is getting ready to subjugate the demon that is the top fighting force of the enemy.

But I am here providing support at the back from a village near the frontlines.

“There’s no need to deprecate yourself like that.”

“I am weaker in combat compared to the other Archbishops. I am the one who understands this the most.” (Ukka)

“But you are the one who has the most talent in working hard.”

“Everyone works hard. I am the person that worked harder than others and still couldn’t overcome the talents of others.” (Ukka)

“That’s…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I understand that I am lagging behind, but I have no intention of rotting there. I had blood curling experiences to become an Archbishop for the sake of the Pope-sama I admire. I will do everything I can if I don’t have the skills. If the other Archbishops are going to be doing 10 jobs 1 time, I will show you I can do 1 job 100 times.” (Ukka)

Even when I had such a rebellious spirit and it quickly got to my head, and ended up failing, the Pope-sama didn’t abandon me.

He brought forth worth in me and acknowledged me as someone fitting to be an Archbishop.

In that case, I shall continue recovering even if I fail countless times. I shall swallow the many mistakes with a mountain of successes.

That’s my way of living.

“Right. Many people respect you, Ukka-sama, including me. The nobles recommending you as the representative when the Yugura Church was on the verge of dividing was partly because of this.”

It is mostly because I am easy to control. They can even assassinate me if need be after all.

But well, there’s no lie in the words of this knight.

It is true that there’s such hopes directed at me.

“…Hm. I will answer the hopes at least. But the Pope-sama is the one that can support the Yugura Church. I can’t back down on that one.” (Ukka)

“Then, the one who can support the Pope-sama is Ukka-sama. I can’t back down on that one.”

It is rare to see a youngster this eloquent. The only one from Mejis who could talk back to me to this degree would be Pentes.

Speaking of which, his daughter became a holy knight, right? …Could it be that such a personality spread in the holy knights because of her?

I received a call from the communication crystal.

The battle against the Unique at the frontlines has intensified, and the formation is apparently crumbling faster than anticipated.

“Prepare the supplies. We have to make preparations as soon as possible now that the villagers are not present, or we might even get caught in the frontlines.” (Ukka)

“Yes sir!”

I gave orders to the knights and continued preparations to make resting spots so that the people who arrive here can rest immediately, and horse stables so that we can face the monster army immediately.

The knights are moving fast, most likely thanks to having prepared thoroughly beforehand.

“Umu, we managed to make preparations faster than anticipated. Now then, let’s move to the village—?”

I saw someone from beyond my vision.

A young man.

He is looking up at the sky with eyes that I can’t feel any life from.

He is not wearing armor and isn’t wearing cleric attire. It is a somewhat peculiar attire for a villager.

The one other thing I can think of is…an adventurer?

The adventurers that were asked for cooperation have formed parties, and are assisting the soldiers in the battlefield.

He probably retreated early because the frontline had begun to crumble.

“You there, are you alone? Take a break quickly if you have returned from the battlefield. There’s a limit to how many beds we have after all.” (Ukka)

“…”

The young man didn’t react to my words and continued looking at the sky.

I follow his gaze and look at the sky, but there’s only white clouds in the blue sky.

There’s no birds flying most likely because monsters are rampaging nearby.

“Is there something in the sky?” (Ukka)

“Blue and white.”

“Why are you stating the obvious…?” (Ukka)

“It is not. The sky I see often is dark and impure as if mud has been thrown into the water. It has been a while since I have seen such a blue sky.”

I unconsciously use mana detection because of the weird atmosphere of the young man.

The mana I felt was that of a human. A normal person with nothing strange… No, that’s strange.

All the villagers that were helping out the soldiers have been evacuated.

We made a list so that there would be no one missing, and have led them to a different village under my supervision.

There may be an adventurer here, but there’s no way there would be a normal civilian.

That’s not all the strange points.

There should always be fluctuations in the mana of a living human. But this young man’s mana has no fluctuations as if it were dead still water.

“…Who are you?” (Ukka)

“Aah, right. Humans do greetings. I forgot since it has been centuries. Hello, my name is Ofaro. I am just a sun that eats away the world.” (Ofaro)

The mana surrounding the young man disappeared as if it melted. And then, a reddish brown sinister mana like a burning fire overflowed from inside of him.

It was already too late by the time I noticed the identity of this young man. Everything in my vision had dyed red.

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