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There was feedback.

I could feel the head of Zahava disappearing completely through my sword.

The little remaining torso also began to collapse, showing that the body has lost its core.

But my senses as a knight I have honed until now are telling me that this battle hasn’t ended yet.

“Haakudoku, use detection on the surroundings!” (Ilias)

“A-Alright! Uuh…!” (Haaku)

The spider leg that Arcreal cut off just before was in the direction Haakudoku reacted to.

The meat of the spider leg’s cut part moved, and began to expand in one go.

That created the shape of a person in the blink of an eye, and transformed into the appearance of Zahava we met at first.

“This is beyond being resilient!” (Haaku)

“No, it is her who is the skilled one. She is taking full advantage of her own special traits.” (Arcreal)

It is as Arcreal says. We were tricked by Zahava.

The spider leg that she swung as useless resistance before I blew up her head was actually her way to escape from the brink of death.

Zahava’s movements were sealed by the demonic sword, and her teleportation was prevented by Haakudoku.

Zahava dealt with things calmly even within that situation.

She moved her core that should have been in her head to the tip of the spider leg, and swung it with the assumption that me and Arcreal would slice it off.

We have been slicing the legs from the side until now because that would require us to cut the least amount. It is a method that she took after learning this, but if we had sliced it vertically instead, or if we had cut off more to the tip because of a difference in reaction time, it would have been possible for the blade to have reached the core.

Decisiveness and resolve; this is a feat that couldn’t have been possible without having both.

Zahava is utilizing all manners of means by utilizing her traits as a demon, as a spider, and her demonic tool to its best capabilities.

She is unbelievably composed for a lunatic that was shouting loudly that her objective is to kill people.

But it is not like this is all a bad development.

Zahava has lost a great deal of mana because of our attacks just now.

It is in part because of the attack from the demonic sword that caught her off-guard, but it is mostly her moving the core to the tip of her leg to evade, leaving most of her mana in the body that she abandoned.

It must have been an action she took after learning about how Haakudoku excels in mana detection, so that she wouldn’t be noticed.

The fact that she lost her spider form and has returned to her human one speaks volumes about how intense the exhaustion is.

“…I see. You are strong despite being humans.” (Zahava)

Strange chills ran down my spine at the cold voice of Zahava unlike any before.

Is it because she is now perceiving us as enemies that must be eliminated instead of just targets to kill?

It feels as if her belittling gaze is now facing us straight on.

“It would be troubling for you to misunderstand. We are strong exactly because we are human.” (Arcreal)

“I don’t care.” (Zahava)

“You should…” (Arcreal)

“If we continue like this, I could kill you all, or I might be killed. But I won’t be able to fulfill my duty like that. So I really do have to turn into that completely.” (Zahava)

The body of Zahava looked like it cracked all of a sudden, and it made me strain my eyes.

That’s not the case when I look at it calmly.

The crack I saw just now was a hallucination, and the appearance of Zahava hasn’t changed at all.

But there was a reason why I hallucinated this.

My own instincts are telling me: Zahava is trying to throw away everything.

She is trying to throw away everything and take a step into power that lies beyond.

“Sis, this is bad!” (Haaku)

“I could feel it, too. Looks like she is finally getting serious.” (Arcreal)

The two must have felt that atmosphere, they are making even more serious expressions than before.

I also follow suit and grab my sword tighter.

But contrary to our tension, Zahava’s atmosphere suddenly lessened. The sinister air suddenly thinned, and she herself made an expression as if her concentration had been perturbed.

“…I see, so it is the order of the Demon Lord-sama. Can’t be helped then.” (Zahava)

Zahava sighed and hung both of her arms down.

Order of the Demon Lord… Are you telling me the order to retreat came?

The reality is that the strength to fight I could feel from Zahava is completely gone, and she has even lost her interest towards us.

“Wait, are you running away?! There’s no way we would let you!” (Arcreal)

“I will. To think I would use this method because of you people. It is really displeasing though…” (Zahava)

Zahava took a deep breath and shouted a weird word.

A mysterious language that had several tongues overlapped.

It felt similar to the language that man used, but it is most likely a different one.

It is most likely the original language that the Black Demon Lord and her demons use, the one that’s called demon language.

“What an unbelievably loud voice… Or more like, the reason why she is raising her voice here is…” (Arcreal)

“That’s right. It is the last order towards the monsters that are around here.” (Zahava)

I direct my gaze at the monsters that are fighting in the distance.

A change was born in this battlefield where the human side is maintaining the advantage and they are steadily getting pushed back.

The movements of the monsters suddenly increased in intensity.

But it is not like they grew violent. On the contrary, they are running as if ignoring the knights and soldiers.

The direction they are heading to is not the Nether, but…

“Could it be…” (Ilias)

“‘Kill the people in the buildings’ -that’s the order I gave.” (Zahava)

“!”

The monsters ignored the people who had weapons and were trying to get out from the Nether.

The knights noticed those movements of theirs and tried to stop them, but they couldn’t stop them all.

If the monsters don’t direct their attention at the people there, it is hard to stop the monsters that have the overwhelming advantage in numbers.

“We have to hurry and stop them or the damage will increase, huh. But if we let you go here, it would end up killing more of my comrades! Something like that…” (Arcreal)

“What are you saying? This is my last job before running away. Making the monsters reach the land where the humans live was an order we gave them beforehand.” (Zahava)

She is going to escape.

The moment we took a step, Zahava had already sliced off her head on her own with her spider leg.

Zahava’s sliced head stuck out her tongue at us.

The demonic tool that I should have blown up was there.

She must have moved her demonic tool at the same time as she moved her core to her spider leg.

So her demonic tool still being present means that Zahava can switch places with her own mana…

“I don’t want to hand over prey, but what I have to prioritize the most is the order of the Demon Lord-sama. Let’s meet again -if we are both alive the next time that is.” (Zahava)

Zahava’s body threw her head far into the sky.

Her body then blew up, and the pieces of meat and mana scattered into the surroundings.

Arcreal and I reacted a second faster and jumped to the thrown head, but the head teleported before our swords reached.

I landed on the ground and looked around.

The pieces of Zahava’s body remain here and there, but I can’t see the head.

She must have teleported somewhere in the mana scattered around. The mana sent flying is different from the pieces of flesh in that it has flown further than my eyes can see.

I can narrow down the direction since she is escaping, but finding her and catching up to her from here is…not possible.

“…She has escaped. Haakudoku, are you alive?” (Ilias)

“S-Somehow…” (Haaku)

Haakudoku used the demonic sword reflexively as a shield to block the explosion from the torso.

As for Girista…her whole body is being covered by a part of the right arm devil of Haakudoku.

She was further away and was lying down, so it seems like there’s no damage.

<<Lady Ratzel, respond.>>

I heard the voice of His Majesty from the communication crystal.

We have made it possible for our voices to always be sent to their side, but His Majesty only calls in emergencies.

I hurriedly take out the crystal.

“Yes, Lady Ratzel speaking! I am so—” (Ilias)

<<It is okay. I already know the situation. I have a general idea as to why the enemy retreated. All the demons will most likely retreat.>> (Marito)

“What do you mean…” (Ilias)

<<First is the use of the monsters. We can catch up to the bipedal monsters with horses, but the ones that fly or run on fours can only be caught up with Taizu horses or wyverns. Move together with Arcreal to wipe them out.>> (Marito)

“Understood. Is it the same in the other Nethers?” (Ilias)

<<That’s right. We have already dealt with things on those sides. Do your best.>> (Marito)

The call from His Majesty ended there.

The monsters in the Taizu Nether and Mejis Nether are also moving while ignoring the soldiers.

It will be hard for monsters to flow into Taizu from the Taizu Nether as long as there’s the Black Demon Lord Killer Mountain, but it is possible for them to show up through the Gahne Nether.

If the demons have retreated and the only threat is monsters, we should be thinking about how to get rid of them.

“Arcreal, can you run?” (Ilias)

“Yeah. It is tiring, so I don’t want to do it that much, but I should be able to run faster than a wyvern if it is in flat land.” (Arcreal)

“You can run…? Then, Sis, I just need to carry Girista on a wyvern, right?” (Haaku)

“Yeah, counting on you.” (Ilias)

I regret having let Zahava escape, but I am also not sure if we would have been able to win if the fight continued on.

That’s how creepy the sensation I felt from Zahava was when she recognized us as enemies.

But the demons are obstructions that cannot be avoided in order to win this war.

I will surely be drawing my sword at the demons again.

“…I will definitely make it. He must be waiting after all.” (Ilias)

◇◇

I threw Lazarikata into the Serende Nether, and got an order from Black Sis, so I headed to the Mejis Nether just like that.

I had to retrieve Ofaro after giving the orders to the monsters.

It is easy with Zahava since she will listen to the orders of Black Sis no matter how pissed off she is.

No, it isn’t easy. It is just comparatively better, and she is on the top of the people I wouldn’t want to get involved with at all in the future.

“Now then, Ofaro…” (Colorless)

It is pretty easy to find Ofaro when he is in the middle of a battle.

He drags the space he perceives into his own altered laws after all. I can just use my familiars in the air to search for him and…see? Just like that.

There’s a space that has disappeared cleanly.

There are probably people in there who are being sunbathed without a way of escaping.

I think wheat colored skin like mine isn’t bad, but I don’t want to overlap my character traits with someone, so I would be grateful if they were to just burn down as it is.

“How’s the inside doing…? Hm, the temperature is beginning to decrease.” (Colorless)

Ofaro has most likely unleashed his power and is on the way to returning the space to how it was.

If he doesn’t lower the temperature to a certain degree, he would also get burned in the real world after all.

I am impressed that he has obtained the ability to utilize a power that he can’t control, but the way he does it is just dangerous.

He should be able to deal with the small fry around with just the power of his demonic tool though.

I was thinking this and the shaved away space returned to normal.

That said, the ground that was taken there has melted completely, and has turned into glass.

Oh my, so pretty. Can’t a woman in a skirt walk on top of that? The one in the middle is the guy I seriously hate, Ofaro, though.

“Heya there. Was there an opponent you had to use that much power on?” (Colorless)

“—Tedoral…huh. There was someone who could use the power of the ancient era, so I simply played for a bit.” (Ofaro)

The ancient era power… The magic of a new dimension that Yugura created.

The power that shows absolute influence by altering the laws of the world directly. The evolution of a world that has been weakened by magic seal stones…

This power really shouldn’t exist.

Moreover, it shouldn’t be possessed by a trashy guy like this one.

Anyways, was there someone here? Aah, maybe it was Ekdoik or the Great Devil? Right right, the mana-like sensation I feel from that object there…

“What. Did you hold back or something?” (Colorless)

“…?”

Burned charcoal was rolling on the ground a bit further ahead.

I could see a familiar face within that. The chain user Ekdoik.

What remains in the inner part of the charcoal is…the flesh of a devil, huh. I see, so that’s how it is.

Life Detection, Confirm Survival.

Ekdoik is alive without doubt. His shape still remains, so of course he would be alive since he is a demon.

Not bad, Dyuvuleori. You managed to protect him even against the sun.

“You didn’t measure it well. This ain’t cooking, so just burn them completely.” (Colorless)

“…”

Ofaro was trying to approach Ekdoik who was lying on the ground.

He is either going to check what happened, deal the finishing blow, or both. But it is already too late.

“Woah, that’s as far as you go. An order from Black Sis: ‘Have the monsters head into the human realm and return at once’. We are going back.” (Colorless)

“I am fine obeying that order, but it is fine to finish someone on the brink of death, right?” (Ofaro)

“No. Lazarikata lost to the Green Demon Lord not that long ago. He is coming here.” (Colorless)

Black Sis told me to unleash the monsters at the time when I brought back Lazarikata, but breaking through the Taizu Nether that’s filled with giant monsters is asking too much.

The Green Lord has left the Taizu Nether most likely because of this wiggle room. Moreover, in tandem with teleportation magic.

That Molari woman may excel in grasping the space, but she isn’t good with using a super long distance teleport because of her magic skills and the amount of mana required.

That said, you can get all the way here if you just use Teleport consecutively though.

And so, every second matters when running away from here.

It is seriously a pain to run away from him after all!

“…I don’t mind if we were to fight each other to the death here though. But that would go against the order of Black-sama, huh. I don’t want to be killed by Yugura, so I will obey obediently.” (Ofaro)

“Yeah, do that. Your personality is trash, but you are obedient at times like this.” (Colorless)

“I admit my bad personality, but I am not an idiot. Is Lazarikata crying in mortification right about now?” (Ofaro)

“Isn’t she? Comfort her as fellow trash.” (Colorless)

“Me comforting her would make her break her dams instead.” (Ofaro)

No doubt.

Lazarikata, who wants to stand above everyone, looks down on people like Ofaro the most.

If he were to do that, Lazarikata would rampage to a degree where she wouldn’t care even if she were to be killed by Yugura.

We could kill Lazarikata immediately with me and Yugura, but she is still a precious fighting force.

We can’t just expend her for fun.

I teleport together with Ofaro.

The place we headed to was near the border of the Serende Nether and the Gahne Nether.

If my calculations are correct, it should be about time for Zahava to retreat here though…

Oh, there she is.

Zahava used her spider legs to spring her way here.

How can spiders move that fast? I am so jealous.

I don’t want to imitate it since it is gross though.

“Heya there, good work.” (Colorless)

“…What’s the reason for the retreat?” (Zahava)

“Lazarikata couldn’t buy time more than expected. Green Lord was heading to your places.” (Colorless)

“I see, can’t be helped then. If I were in a fight to the death with that man, I wouldn’t have time to kill other people.” (Zahava)

Ofaro and Zahava really dare to say they can fight to the death against Green Lord. Even though your colleague got completely defeated not that long ago.

These two look down so much on each other.

The fight would most likely be settled in an instant if they were to fight Green Lord though.

“Or more like, why do I have to jump here and there to do menial work?!” (Colorless)

“Don’t complain when I am here. Just hearing your shouting is unpleasant. I hate your voice to begin with.” (Zahava)

“It is because you can use teleportation magic. Isn’t it your fault for increasing the things that you can do without thinking just because you wanted to stand by the side of Black-sama as much as possible?” (Ofaro)

“You guys always say a word too many! I definitely won’t save you even if you are on the verge of dying! Just accept your death, okay?!” (Colorless)

——

Author: if there were a straight-laced demon still alive, I feel like they would go complain to Zahava, Ofaro, or Tedoral, and be killed.

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