They surrounded the fleeing Gagaran and Tia who struggled momentarily before gradually falling onto the ground like garbage. The flames disappeared as if they had been an illusion all along, and the two had already stopped moving and breathing. She strongly suppressed her own desire to immediately rush over to check their conditions. Evileye deeply understood the meaning behind the phrase ‘not daring to believe, yet impossible to deny reality’. That was a fatal injury. With a single strike, her companions, with whom she had gone through thick and thin, had been slaughtered.
She gritted her teeth, not letting herself make any sorrowful sounds.
“I merely tried to stop them with all my strength, but they were weaker than I had imagined and died from flames of that degree. Please accept my remorse.”
As if he was apologetic from the bottom of his heart, the man bowed deeply. Such an attitude made Evileye unable to suppress her own emotions.
What could possibly be the reason for him to disregard Evileye, who was the opponent in front of him that launched an attack, and instead strike at the two persons behind her? Escape was indeed one of the reasons, but in addition to that there was another.
He knew clearly just how big the difference strength between us was, and knew that I posed no threat to him whatsoever. But in reality… he did not even regard the person in front of him to be ‘the enemy’.
Since they were fleeing in front of him, he killed them first. The train of thought was just that simple.
“…So difficult. Dying from such a degree of injury, I can’t use you as the standard of measure… Why would you team up with those that are weaker? If you didn’t do this, wouldn’t you be able to challenge even higher-level areas?”
“—You! You! You! You are not permitted to say this!!! Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!”
This was not a cry of sorrow but a howl of anger. Full of hatred and shouting loudly, Evileye ran forward. It would be more accurate to say that she used magic power to glide through the air. Injecting magic into her fist, she accumulated “invalidation” and “difficult resistance” melee magic.
The devil raised his hand to receive the blow.
“Aspect of the Deviclass="underline" Archdemon’s Wrist.”
The devil’s wrist expanded multiple times and the enlarged arm hung down until it reached the ground. That cracking noise was not because it was inflated with air, but because it had turned into an extremely hard lethal weapon.
With the lethal weapon blocking the front, Evileye’s advance was stopped. Her heart wavered for a moment, but immediately she hardened her resolve to seize this opportunity!
The enormous wrist closed in on Evileye. With a speed beyond imagination, it was like a huge wall stretching endlessly within sight. As it was unavoidable, Evileye made a split-second decision and activated her defensive magic.
“「Translocation Damage」!”
Darkness covered her sight at the same time as she was sent flying by a strong impact, making her disorientated and not knowing where she was. Her body was thrown onto the stone-paved road and bounced up like a ball before being sent flying by another impact.
But there was — no damage.
Evileye activated the magic ‘Flight’ and flew up in an awkward and unnatural posture.
She had not been injured, but if she had not used a spell that turned physical damage into mana loss, she would have already been dead.
“「Enhanced Maximize Magic: Crystal Dagger」!”
A larger crystal dagger than the one before appeared in mid-air and shot out! This sword did purely physical damage and could not be resisted. On top of this, by further applying special magic skills, it was able to easily break through defences.
Without evading, the devil took the attack head on. Although he had received magic with the greatest damage output, not the slightest effect could be seen on the devil.
“…No injury even when defense shattering magic was applied?…It is a superior devil exceeding imagination… No, even greater than the demon king! It should be the Demon God King right?”
Although a king wasn’t necessarily stronger than everything else, it was common sense in this world that having this as part of the name meant that it was the strongest of the race. Humans were basically the only ones where the weak could proclaim themselves as king.
“Aspect of the Deviclass="underline" Razor Sharp Claw.”
The devil’s claws elongated, stretching beyond eighty centimetres. Evileye could not help feeling that these claws were unstoppable and could tear anything in the world apart.
I can’t retrieve those two’s corpses and get away. Even if others arrived, they would not be strong enough to face this person. I can at least move away from the battlefield and make it easier for others to discover their corpses…
The corners of Evileye’s mouth curled upwards.
The worst scenario would be allowing Lakyus, who was able to use revival magic, to meet this devil. That could never be allowed to happen.
“I’m coming!”
Just as Evileye was bracing herself to charge forward— a sharp sound rang out as something fell in between the two of them.
Unable to withstand the weight, cracks appeared on the stone paved road and dust billowed about.
There, with his body bent over because of the impact of landing, stood a single warrior.
The serene moonlight reflected off the dark armour, causing it to flash with a dazzling beautiful radiance. A cloak, as red as a burning flame, billowed in the night air. Both hands were separately grasping gigantic swords which shone with an incredible brilliant light.
Slowly, the dark warrior stood up. His body build was tall, about the same height as the devil. However that divine radiance made the devil retract his body, and Evileye caught a glimpse of the powerful demon turn fearful at the moment that the dark warrior had appeared. That expression was as if he had seen something beyond his imagination.
In the silence, Evileye heard the sound of saliva being gulped. This sound was from the devil. The devil which had exceeded Evileye’s imagination was holding in its breath in front of this burly warrior.
A cold, penetrating voice pierced through the darkness.
“Let’s see… who is my enemy?”
Interlude
The red carpet that covered the entire room was so soft you could feel your feet sinking into it. Two chairs were placed inside the room, made from high quality wood carved in the style of French Rococo, the black chairs gleaming in a way unique to treated leather.
The man on the chair stretched his legs and laid back into his seat.
A pretty face. If someone sketched his appearance perfectly, that would be how others think of him.
His blonde hair reflected the magical illumination, just like the shine of the stars. His clear purple eyes were like amethysts, tempting the people who looked at him.
However, people who actually saw him in person would have a different impression other than a pretty face. Basked in his aura of a natural leader that had nothing to do with his face, no one would have a different impression.
He was Jircniv Rune Farlord el Nix.
The reigning emperor at the age of 22, feared by the aristocrats and respected by the citizens, the most talented emperor of all times. He was also the one who purged the nobles within the Empire, a man feared by the neighbouring country as the Bloody Emperor.
There were four other men aside from Jircniv in the room, but all of them stood as still as statues.
Jircniv shifted his eyes away from the paper he had been reading and gazed into the distance. As if there was a blackboard before him, he started writing his thoughts on it.