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Mix and Niruryates didn’t have any strength left after defeating Zahava. That’s why the two of them used their remaining mana to concentrate on healing me, and I headed above alone.

I moved by the side of the room and Haiya-san immediately sent his thoughts in my mind.

(Good work. I will let you get an understanding of the state inside first, so please grasp the atmosphere at least. You can break the wall to intrude when you think you can.) (Haiya)

I could tell the state inside the room just by being near the wall.

It had nothing to do with my detection ability. What Haiya-san perceived was being poured into my brain one after the other.

What was happening in there was a battle of transcendentals that far surpasses my imagination.

There’s hundreds of seals and barriers around the whole zone. Detection magic is constantly being activated in the surroundings, so they always have the most recent information within the space.

They are maintaining such advanced techniques while displaying even better physical prowess than me.

The Green Demon Lord and Haiya-san are sealing him without lowering their guards by using some sort of power. That must be the power to alter the laws.

The Colorless Demon Lord is destroying the seals and barriers one after the other, but the two of them are faster in creating new obstructions.

Even though every single one of them is different from the other, they are pulling such exchanges at this speed…

Even if I had led a life that specialized in control magic, I wouldn’t have been able to compare to them.

Also, I don’t know if it was on purpose, or because Haiya-san was concentrating on the battle, there would be times when his thoughts would be transmitted to me.

I felt chills every time I heard his thoughts.

He has segmented his own thoughts and running parallel to them.

Thoughts to react by reflex to the actions of the Colorless Demon Lord; mana strengthening to the body and weapons; thoughts of imbuing magic effects and adjusting them; thoughts of managing the space while blocking the attempts to alter the laws together with the Green Demon Lord; and thoughts of their progress, considering ways to corner the Colorless Demon Lord, making adjustments through simulations, and preparations to put them into action.

Just experiencing the thoughts of Haiya-san was enough to tell me just how much depth Arcreal and the Green Demon Lord, who are far ahead of me, have.

Even though I haven’t gotten one bit stronger here, I felt as if I could grasp victory.

Haiya-san said to Ilias ‘You have reached the peak of what a person can reach’. But I can’t see my place anywhere in the scenery I saw just now. That’s how overwhelming the difference in power is.

This is Yugura Haiya. This is the view of the world from the being that was born to become the substitute of the hero that saved the world.

I thought Haiya-san was pitiful before lamenting my own weakness. So he has been seeing this world with that field of view.

I felt lonely from the talent as an Illegitimate.

I may have obtained color in the world thanks to Shishou, but there were times when I would feel the fear of being isolated by the gazes that viewed me as special.

But Haiya-san was isolated from the very beginning.

He knew the worth of his own power more than anyone else, so he knew he shouldn’t get involved with anyone.

He accepted loneliness more than me at that time.

So he was this strong…so he was this sad of a person… I felt bad towards him from the thoughts that would flow into me every now and then.

“Hey, welcome! Good work on the spider extermination! Did you come to help out? That’s praiseworthy. Want candy?”

Haiya-san is doing his best, and has the Green Demon Lord and Arcreal, who are really skilled, as comrades, and yet, they can’t defeat the Colorless Demon Lord.

Colorless looked at me and laughed heartily as he talked all casually. What’s hidden in that carefree attitude? Leisure or just bravado?

What I know is the reality that he is avoiding all the attacks of Haiya-san with paper-thin difference.

He is using a variety of abilities. Even though he should only be able to use the basic body manipulation of a demon and mana strengthening, this Demon Lord is pulling the best move in an instant to deal with the circumstances.

The Colorless Demon Lord stretched his hand into empty space and the scythe that was lying on the floor flew into his hand as if it had been sucked into it.

His means to attack as well. I have seen Ilias shoot slash waves of mana a number of times. But I have not heard of a technique to shape the mana into slashes and shoot them at different intervals.

Haiya-san is dealing with it without breaking a sweat, but the Green Demon Lord and Arcreal, who are concentrating on defense, are pretty exhausted.

“…”

“Ooh, being all timid there. How pitiful. Your mana is the only remarkable thing about you, so you should have just stayed back. You are way too normal to be stepping into this room, young lady.” (Colorless)

“No, no, it is enough even with just one trait that stands out. Wolfe-san, it is okay for you to not worry. I will fight while protecting you with my whole power, so please face him with all you have.” (Haiya)

Haiya-san smacked my back gently and smiled with a peaceful tone.

He has been fighting the whole time against this Colorless Demon Lord in the time I was fighting Zahava. He should be pretty exhausted, and yet…

“…Alright!” (Wolfe)

“It would be more dangerous for you to be attacking directly than using that weakling. What are you scheming now?” (Colorless)

“You will understand soon. Very soon.” (Haiya)

If Haiya-san says it is going to be alright, I can just believe him.

I have my mana flow through my whole body and get the strongest mana strengthening I can.

I don’t know if it is because of my fatigue from fighting Zahava, or I am withered from facing the Colorless Demon Lord, my mana is not flowing well.

Even so, I still have enough spare energy, so I won’t complain here.

I jump in without hesitation and get into the range of the Colorless Demon Lord.

The man just looked at me as if looking down on me while not showing a single movement in response.

“See? You don’t even perceive the slash. You don’t belong here.” (Colorless)

“?!”

I got in a distance I couldn’t go back from, and finally noticed that the air around the Demon Lord was warped.

This is a slash. There’s already countless slashes set in place, and they were in a state that could be shot at any moment.

It is easily over ten of them.

Even though I didn’t see him swing his scythe… No, he did swing it once.

He moved the tip as if returning it to position when he called back his scythe to his hand. He set those slashes at that moment and divided them…?!

“Dying so anti-climatically. Being hated by that man for this just ain’t worth it.” (Colorless)

“Let’s have her do her best until it is worth it, then?”

The moment I thought my vision warped all of a sudden, the scenery changed.

There’s no doubt it is the same room, but I was somewhere far from the Colorless Demon Lord by the time I noticed.

It is teleportation magic, but I didn’t feel any signs of it. This is just like the switching of places from Zahava…

“—Hyu, worth it.”

Haiya-san switched my location between me and Arcreal’s spot.

The Colorless Demon Lord will retaliate with no effort if I go in carelessly. Even more so if it is within his range and even a sword can reach.

But when did he set it…? Ah, my back.

There’s a magic circle stuck on my back at some point in time.

Haiya-san had set a magic circle when he smacked my back. Moreover, he activated it by using my mana.

The flow of my mana being bad when I was making my mana flow in my whole body wasn’t because I was in bad condition, but because this magic circle was taking away my mana.

I may be able to use mana detection, but I can’t detect the magic circle hidden inside of me, wedging itself into someone like me who has a massive amount of mana.

He managed to think of a way to make use of an inexperienced person like me effectively in such a brief period of time.

“Crap, you really have a nasty personality!” (Colorless)

He already can’t stop the slashes that he was going to shoot. And they are all being directed at Arcreal in short range.

The sword of Arcreal is running through the Colorless Demon Lord who hasn’t even fixed his posture. Each and every severing slash that doesn’t allow evasion is being returned by the swing of a master swordsman.

The Colorless Demon Lord is trying to take distance while his whole body is being sliced into pieces.

Even if the slashes of Arcreal were slicing him apart, it is not reaching the core.

The one who can deal an effective hit is me who can spread out the impact of my attack with a surge of mana. I have to attack without hesitation.

I accumulate mana into my fists and place strength in my legs to dash in.

It may be a bit far to close the distance in one go, but it is better than just watching.

“Nice. I can give you a passing grade for your aggressiveness.” (Haiya)

“?!”

My vision switched again.

Arcreal, who I was watching from afar, disappeared and the sliced up Colorless Demon Lord was in front of my eyes.

The sensation of the hair on my back being slightly sliced. Looks like I was switched with Arcreal the moment the divided slashes passed by.

The Colorless Demon Lord’s eyes showed surprise at this.

I am most likely more surprised here, but this isn’t the time to hesitate.

“Yaaaaah!”

I don’t know where the core is in his sliced up body. But I can make my mana course through every corner in this range.

I release the accumulated mana in one go and blow away the body of the Colorless Demon Lord.

The mana strengthening’s potency is still pretty high even when he was sliced up that much. The shape of the body was still maintained even when it was blown into the surroundings.

He will be regenerating next.

The core should be centered around it.

I won’t miss that and target th—?!

“Don’t look at my body so seriously. It makes me shy.” (Colorless)

“No way?!” (Wolfe)

The Colorless Demon Lord regenerated lying down below both of my feet as if looking up at me.

He moved the part where his core was below me the moment I released my attack, and adjusted it so that it would be struck towards my feet?

He has already finished regenerating.

He must have begun regenerating before my attack was unleashed.

Both of my legs have been grabbed. I can’t move at all as if I have been affixed to the ground.

I won’t be able to put proper strength with him being right below me.

“I have dealt with your mobility at least—gohoh?!” (Colorless)

“Popping up below the feet of a girl makes me question your character.”

Haiya-san stabbed the body of the Colorless Demon Lord faster than he could put more strength in his arms.

He was wary of my surroundings without even glancing at the pieces of flesh thrown about? Or does he have a perfect grasp of the situation in this world? What’s certain is that the speed in which he reacted to this is not normal.

“Haiya-san!” (Wolfe)

“I told you it was fine, right? …Uhm, if possible, can you not wag your tail to the sides? It doesn’t hurt, but the vision…” (Haiya)

“Ah, sorry!” (Wolfe)

I confirm that the restraint of the Colorless Demon Lord has weakened and I take distance.

The sword of Haiya-san pierced through the body of the Colorless Demon Lord and reached the ground.

But it seems like it didn’t reach the core even in that situation.

“You are good at moving it away at a moment’s notice.” (Haiya)

“I wouldn’t be able to fill the role of Yugura’s partner without this stubbornness. Using your comrade as bait is messed up.” (Colorless)

“Thanks to my blood, I guess?” (Haiya)

“No doubt. But, well, you have finally entered my range.” (Colorless)

A nasty sound that would make my hairs stand on end.

It seems like that sound came from the direction of Haiya-san. From the pierced sword.

There’s also an abnormality on the body of Haiya-san.

His whole body stiffened and it looks as if there’s intense pain running through his body.

It seems like there’s something resembling mana flowing, but it is different from mana.

“Guh! This…is…!” (Haiya)

“A technique like this one is handy to seal one’s movements and disturb the mind. A fresh feeling, right? The feeling of a thunderbolt coursing through your whole body.” (Colorless)

“Haiya-san?!” (Wolfe)

“Stay back, Wolfe.” (Haiya)

Plants grow from here and there, and entwine themselves around Haiya-san and the Colorless Demon Lord.

When that happened, nasty sounds rang from those plants too, and they burned in an instant.

“It is impressive that you immediately thought of dispersing it. Plants can’t absorb the electricity completely though.” (Colorless)

Electricity.

Shishou has taught me before that it is used in his world to light up things like street lights.

It has the trait of flowing in things like metal and water, and it is a dangerous power that can flow through the blood of people.

I at a glance can’t feel that big of a mana flow. But, judging from the painful expression of Haiya-san, there must be quite a lot of power in it.

“You…tinkered with your own body?” (Haiya)

“That’s right. How is it, Haiya? Contrary to my body that has been tinkered in a way that it doesn’t affect me, it should be pretty painful for electricity to run through a human body, right? No, it wouldn’t be strange for you to die instantly. Isn’t your mana strengthening quality insane? Oh well, it seems to be working anyways, so that’s fine. Your muscles stiffen with electricity flowing through your body, so you can’t let go of your sword either. You will be burned from the inside like the plants there if you loosen your mana strengthening even one bit.” (Colorless)

Haiya-san is in danger if things go on like this.

But I might end up getting burned to a crisp in an instant if I were to touch those plants carelessly.

What should I do…?!

I fix my breathing and make mana flow through my whole body.

I can still squeeze out mana from my body. I concentrate around the magic circle on my back and pour mana to it.

My mana really is being absorbed.

I can give mana that Haiya-san can use.

“—! Nice job, Wolfe-san! Green!” (Haiya)

“Take it.” (Green)

The Green Demon Lord appeared behind me and placed a hand on the magic circle.

When he did, a massive amount of mana was imbued in the sword pierced in Haiya-san.

The mana absorbed from my body must have been teleported to the sword.

The Green Demon Lord easily controlling the magic circle Haiya-san created is simply impressive too.

“Wa?! You moved the authority to—” (Colorless)

“Haha, what an astounding amount. Too much even. And so, you know what will happen, right?” (Haiya)

“Oi, you idiot, stop!” (Colorless)

“I won’t, and I can’t. I want to see that face for a bit more, but I am unfortunately in a state where I can’t do anything.” (Haiya)

The mana that didn’t know where to go exploded.

It exploded inside the Colorless Demon Lord’s body, so his body was once again scattered into pieces, and Haiya-san himself was sent flying.

But the plants that swiftly grew from the walls caught Haiya-san gently.

“Fuuh, you saved me there. There were a lot of movements that invited stabs, so I did predict there was something, but…that was close.” (Haiya)

“It can bring about a high output even with a low amount of mana, huh. The theory itself could even reach the forbidden level. Can you still move?” (Green)

“Yeah. A few of my nerves have been burned, but I can treat them while fighting if it is just on this level.” (Haiya)

I don’t really get what they are talking about, but it seems like it really was dangerous.

Arcreal was nodding a number of times by my side, but that’s the face of someone who doesn’t get it.

“Good grief. Even though I thought my hidden trump card sealed the deal. It really is a numbers strategy. Aah, I want friends. Constant interactions are a pain, so I just want someone who would help me out when it is convenient.” (Colorless)

The Colorless Demon Lord has already regenerated most of his body.

Strong.

Zahava was strong, but the type of strength of this person is just different.

There’s almost no shaking of emotions from this person. He has been showing dramatic reactions a number of times, but I can tell that he is actually always calm.

Just how far has he calmly predicted our actions and thought of countermeasures for them?

I can see visible exhaustion from Haiya-san and the others.

Just how much do we have to fight to…

“I can see victory here.” (Haiya)

“…Hah? It is too soon to—?!” (Colorless)

The knees of the Colorless Demon Lord drop from his relaxed stance. It seems like he tried to use his scythe as a cane by reflex to maintain his posture, but there was no strength not only on his knees but also his arms, so he collapsed without even breaking the fall.

“Mana has the will of people in it. That’s why they have their respective color and have special traits. But Wolfe-chan, who has a talent as an Illegitimate, has an amount of mana that swallows even her own emotions. That’s why her mana is transparent and it is easy for her mana to resonate compared to any mana soaked in magic. You received an explosion of such mana inside of you. It must have resonated…in your core.” (Haiya)

Right.

I gave quite a lot of my mana to Haiya. More mana than the strongest blow I could unleash in one go.

If he made it blow up inside his enemy’s body, the shockwave of it should have certainly reached his core.

The Colorless Demon Lord excels in mana and magic compared to any enemy until now.

But I felt like Murshto and Zahava were far sturdier from what I felt when I punched him. This person probably doesn’t specialize in brawls or stuff like that.

The Colorless Demon Lord is trying to get up over and over, but he couldn’t stop the trembling in his body and continued falling.

“…Seriously? We fought that much, and this is how I am left after one mere mana explosion?” (Colorless)

“Colorless, it is true that you are above us as someone who has been granted knowledge by Yugura. If you were to use that power without any reservations, we wouldn’t be able to match you even if we were to put all of our forces together.” (Green)

“…That’s how it should have been.” (Colorless)

“But you are not a hero. You won’t be able to take advantage of your strengths as long as you are imitating Yugura.” (Green)

I now understand the reason why the words of the Green Demon Lord bothered me. The Colorless Demon Lord has high technique, knowledge, and decision making.

But this person showed up here without a plan.

Just for the sake of pushing through this with pure power.

The result was that his power to alter the laws was sealed, and was cornered to a degree where he could only deal with this with the limited moves he could use.

If we were the ones who were bringing the fight to him and he was in a state where he could set traps and reinforcements, the result would have been completely different.

“…Well, it makes sense that imitating him wouldn’t work, huh. Obviously.” (Colorless)

The plants controlled by the Green Demon Lord assailed the Colorless Demon Lord, who was laughing in defeat, from above.

It seems like he managed to avoid his whole body from being crushed, but his whole body ended up in tatters in an instant.

The Green Demon Lord has been making preparations until now for the last push.

He has been making not only the plants around this room, but also the plants hiding in this whole castle grow.

They are raging all at once with the power of Prosperity and closed in on the Colorless Demon Lord.

The Colorless Demon Lord was still all smiles even when seeing that and was swallowed inside of it.

Red blood was flowing out from the entangled plants.

Regeneration and destruction; just how many times have they repeated that? Even with all that, the Colorless Demon Lord leaked out from the openings and barely maintained a human shape.

“…Wow.” (Wolfe)

The words that leaked out from me were words of praise for my enemy.

I hate the Colorless Demon Lord and I thought I would surely not think anything about killing him, but there’s a part of me who thinks he is impressive.

He probably already doesn’t have the strength to stand, he is not moving his body at all. But those eyes were still unchanging as he looked up at us.

“Challenging us without preparation is like heading to the battlefield after leaving both of your arms behind. You mistook the one to serve.” (Green)

“…Idiot. It is exactly…because I made a mistake that…I am who I am…and am standing here…” (Colorless)

“…No doubt about it. Then, accept the present.” (Green)

The Green Demon Lord spreads out his plants to continue the attack.

Haiya-san is not lowering his guard at all even in this situation, and Arcreal is still in a battle stance.

Is it a show of respect or fear towards this persistent Demon Lord? Or is it both? I was also drawn by this and maintained my battle stance.

The Green Demon Lord didn’t change his face at all and sent an order to the plants.

The plants received the order and stretched out their bodies emotionlessly and mercilessly to take away the life of the Colorless Demon Lord.

“That was a good death scene. Good work, Tedoral.”

I couldn’t even register what was done.

All the plants were sliced up at the same time, torn apart, burned, withered, and disappeared.

What I could understand was that the plants that were filling up my whole vision were gone, and the inside of the room had a clear view now.

And there’s a single man standing in front of the collapsed Colorless Demon Lord.

He is not that tall and doesn’t give the impression that has trained his body much. His face looks similar to Haiya’s, but he is young to a degree where I still feel youth in it.

It is the same as what I saw in the Hero Index in Kuama.

If I had to point out a difference, it would be that he has white hair that shines faintly from mana overflowing.

My instincts must be trying to escape from seeing reality in the face, only the outward appearance of that man was entering my head.

I was desperately trying to avert my attention to the despairing pressure I felt in my skin.

The one who was there was not a person or a Demon Lord. No matter what kind of way, method, path, or choice we were to take, we would only reach one answer…a sole conclusion.

Yugura Nariya was the being that changed the very foundations of this world.

The man called the Hero.

——

Protagonist and Tedoral: “Making his entrance like a hero.”

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