"Understood, Momon-san."
The three of them landed in front of Jaldabaoth. Evileye looked around, and from a house adjoining the plaza, a maid appeared.
She wore a mask like the last time she saw her, with a fixed expression. But Evileye could feel the hatred directed at her.
There's probably more than one of them.
Jaldabaoth already knew who was stronger between herself and the insect maid. Now that their side also had Nabe, a magic caster who might be able to rival him in power, there was no way he would join the battle alone. Was he planning to swamp them in demons, or was there another subordinate of a comparable level waiting in the wings? Both possibilities made Evileye break out in a cold sweat.
After that maid, more people in masks similar to his appeared.
They were all wearing different kinds of maid uniforms.
And they numbered…
"…Four of them?!"
There were a total of five people with fighting power comparable to herself. Two against five would be far too great a difference in power. The battle seemed unwinnable from the very start.
"Damn it! I underestimated Jaldabaoth's forces!"
If this kept up, they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and then the maids would go on to interfere in Momon and Jaldabaoth's duel.
In an evenly-matched battle, even a little bit of support could make the difference between victory and defeat, just like that battle with the insect maid.
"Then I will leave the five of them to you."
Saying that, Momon grasped his swords in his hands, striding naturally toward Jaldabaoth. As his mighty back receded from her, Evileye's heart filled with sadness. If only she could lose herself in that flowing red cape of his, it would clear away all her unease and frustration.
Evileye rebuked the part of her that wanted to reach out a hand to him.
She had originally come here with the determination to die. Even if her opponents were stronger than expected, she could not do anything as shameful as beg for help. And Momon's earlier words were clearly a sign of how much he trusted her. A man like him would never be so callous or cruel.
Come to think of it, he definitely said something from behind his back. If it was Evileye and Nabe, they would definitely be able to hold the enemy back until I won, something like that.
A fire blazed up from within the depths of Evileye's heart.
"Then here I come, De… demon!"
Momon roared, and slashed at Jaldabaoth. A fierce battle started. In order to keep the other two from being drawn in, Momon pressured Jaldabaoth, slowly forcing him away.
"Then, I'll take three and you take two, how about that?"
"Are you sure? I'm alright with three people too."
"Hmph," Nabe smirked.
"You take two, I'll take three."
Evileye felt she had a better grasp on Nabe's personality, and smiled.
To be more precise, Evileye's impression of Nabe as a rival was improving, as a fellow mage who could stand by Momon's side.
Really, if it was just Momon and Nabe, I could just take off my ring and reveal my true form… Well, first I need to go back alive.
"You're so stubborn. All right, I get it. I'll take care of these two quickly, and then come to support you. Fight like you want to live— what?"
Evileye had the feeling that everyone present — all five maids and Nabe — were all looking at her. As though they had already planned out everything in advance, something seemed out of place.
"No, there's nothing."
After that cold answer, Nabe took the first step to the side.
"Then, although I said I would handle three of them, our opponents will be the one deciding who they will send at us."
The ones who were lured out were the insect maid, the twin-braided maid, and the drill-haired maid. The ones who stayed with Evileye were the maid with the bunned-up hair and the long-haired maid.
"My name is Alpha. This is Delta. We shall be your opponents."
"Are you now? This is all quite formal. My name is Evileye. I shall defeat the two of you!"
Evileye had not intended to prolong the fight with conversation. Had she thought that way, her opponents might have picked up on it and killed her instantly. She had to be patient.
"Is that so? How scary."
Evileye's first move was to activate her ace in the hole. It was a special ability that would cause the negative energy flowing through her body to overload, and infuse every attack she made with negative status effects.
"Here I come!"
With a cry, Evileye began her spell.
"Don't look down on me."
The negative energy-infused crystals sprayed out at the running maid, Alpha. This was a bludgeoning and piercing physical attack, and the negative energy would drain her life force.
At least, it should have. However, Alpha kept running, with no sign that she had been hit at all.
"Kuh!"
Evileye took to the sky. Close combat was a very bad idea for an arcane magic caster. Putting more distance between them would increase her chances of victory.
As she floated into the sky, something bounced away before her eyes. It must have been an attack deflected by her ‘Crystal Wall’, but at the same time, the sparkling light wrapping her body began dimming rapidly.
Although it could neutralize fairly powerful attacks, she would be lucky if the only things they threw at her were things the ‘Crystal Wall’ could negate by itself. The ‘Crystal Wall’ would only work against attacks below a certain level, and it was completely useless for anything more.
"Again?!"
The one using ranged weapons was the maid in the rear, Delta. She had fired on Evileye when she was flying earlier.
"Hah!"
Alpha entered a stance, and lunged at Evileye. It made her click her tongue.
Normally, Evileye wouldn't even take anyone coming at her with their bare fists seriously, but that was only the arrogance she felt toward the insignificant beings who had always been beneath her. Shortly after fighting with Alpha, she was keenly aware of that. Alpha was truly a fearsome opponent. Every time she tried to open a gap between them, her opponent would come in swinging, several times faster than herself. If she took a direct hit without the protection of her barriers, she would be destroyed.
If she was still with Gagaran and Tia, she would not have been so careless. Now, Evileye felt like she was walking on a tightrope.
The most annoying thing was their flawless coordination. Teamwork could greatly increase the fighting power of adventurers. Right now, the two of them were giving her an object lesson in jolly cooperation.
"How can demons work together so well… what the hell!"
I have no right to say that, Evileye thought. The others in her party were human, but she was one of the undead.
A gang sound rang out, and the protective ‘Crystal Wall’ grew ever thinner. One more hit and it would be pierced.
Evileye cursed, trying to get away from Alpha, who was intent on chasing her down and beating her up. Although Evileye's body was superior to a normal human by virtue of being a vampire, Alpha's body was even more so. The only reason why Alpha had not caught her already was entirely because of her flight spell.
Using magic required focus, during which the body could not move. As a result, having to constantly back away was very difficult. Movement would disrupt one's sense of balance and make concentration difficult. This was why magic casters stood still to cast their spells. Because of this, Evileye had chosen to use ‘Flight’ to maintain a distance without disrupting her concentration, and thus fight a mobile battle. That was nothing special by itself; any magic caster who could use ‘Flight’ had mastered that tactic. How well they did it was a matter of talent, but as a vampire, Evileye had the natural ability to fly and 250 years of experience to master it in.