She shouted angrily in response to her little sister’s excited exclamation.
“It’s not over yet! How could he have flown so far!?”
“Given your brute strength, I think it’s possible, Nee-sama...”
“He flew out by himself!”
Indeed, not only had she allowed Jaldabaoth to escape the encirclement, she had even given him the chance to hide in a house.
The reason why they could take on enemies like Jaldabaoth was because they could encircle their opponent and force them to face many people at once. Allowing him to hide in a cramped home was too dangerous.
In addition, Jaldabaoth’s actions would change now. It was possible he would stop playing around now.
“Remedios! What should we do?” Calca shouted.
Usually, Remedios would ask and then Calca would answer, but now the opposite was the case. During battle, she was better able to make the right choice than the other two.
“Demolish the house without going near it!”
After hearing that, the priests cast attack spells one after the other.
They collapsed the house in short order. However, it was hard to believe Jaldabaoth had been crushed under the falling debris. Even Remedios in her enchanted armor could survive that much unless she was very unlucky. Also—
Remedios looked down at her blade, which was unstained by blood.
Could he have rolled with that blow just by flying away? Had he used a martial art like 「Fortress」 or something? Or was it a demon-only skill? There were many possibilities for that, but things would become troublesome if she could not see through it.
Amidst the sounds of destruction, the neighboring houses crumbled under the area-effect spells. Dirt and dust filled the air, and she could not help coughing.
“Say, Remedios, why hasn’t Jaldabaoth come out yet?”
“...Nee-sama, could it be he’s already escaped by teleportation?”
That demon, who spoke so arrogantly? I can’t imagine he’d escape without being hurt...
“...We ought to use fire. Pour on the oil and ignite it. May I ask you to bless it, Calca-sama?”
“Nee-sama, are we going to conduct the ritual of Holy Fire? Doing so to harm an opponent… is that really what a paladin ought to be doing?”
“That’s fine, if Remedios thinks that’s the best way, then we’ll go with it. No, we should do it. Since he’s a demon, there’s no reason he won’t be hurt.”
Many demons were resistant to fire, but the Holy Fire was of the holy element, and fire resistance was only half as effective against it.
“Then, Calca-sama, the preparations for the ritual—”
“We don’t have time for that. Please use the simplified version.”
Calca looked straight ahead as she said that, and from the corner of Remedios’s eye, she saw her little sister wondering if she should go “But that—”
Simplifying the Holy Fire ritual spell would place a great deal of strain on the user’s body. This was not something which she, as one of Calca’s subordinates charged with keeping her safe, ought to recommend. However, it would be even worse if they gave Jaldabaoth time.
“If you think this is the best way, then we’ll do it. However, if I perform it by myself, I won’t be able to help you after that. Please keep that in mind… Then, can you light the fire right away?”
“Understo—”
“—Kukuku. My, this is quite vexing.”
Suddenly, Jaldabaoth’s voice issued from the pile of debris.
“Nee-sama!”
“I know!”
Remedios immediately stood in front of Calca and readied her sword.
Jaldabaoth had been buried under the house after all. Therefore, bringing up the Holy Fire attack just then was the right choice. They had not thought that he might have lost consciousness because of the shock of being buried under the fallen house.
“It would seem that it is time for me to get serious.”
“Oh? Then we should have done it earlier. I’ll wait, so why don’t you show me your power? ...Calca-sama, Queralt, get back.”
Remedios whispered her directions to the other two. At the same time, Remedios fell back as well, allowing the resummoned angels to form a wall along the path between themselves and Jaldabaoth.
“Oh yes. In that case, please get back. It would be quite disappointing if you were to die from my shockwave.”
The collapsed pile of timbers and bricks swelled up. As they collapsed to the ground, something massive slowly stood up from among them.
“...Jaldabaoth?” Remedios could not help muttering under her breath.
That was because he looked completely different from the previous Jaldabaoth. It made her wonder if he had changed places with another demon. However, there could not be many demons who looked like that.
Indeed, that was Jaldabaoth. That was Jaldabaoth’s true form.
It flapped its fiery wings, and flames burned at the end of its long tail. Its brawny, frightening arms were also on fire. Its wicked face bore a wrathful expression.
“Priests, order the angels to charge!”
Obeying Calca’s order, the priests commanded their summoned angels to rush in. Jaldabaoth did not strike back at the angels as they swung down with their weapons, it simply endured the blows in silence. Even though it was surrounded and pounded, it did not seem hurt in the slightest. It looked just like a horde of children trying to hit a fully armored paladin with sticks.
“This is my true nature.”
Jaldabaoth spoke in a coarse, basso profundo voice that seemed to shake the pits of their stomachs. It took a step forward, and the mass of angels pressing against it were forced back.
It ignored every single attack the angels made as it slowly raised its flame-wreathed hands, and then clenched them into fists. Its fiery form resembled a red-hot volcanic bomb.
“Now, you foolish and bothersome insects — disappear.”
With a bang, the angels which should have been in front of Remedios vanished.
Jaldabaoth had punched with extraordinary speed, and even Remedios’s trained motion vision could not capture a single frame of its movement. Just that single hit was enough to exterminate all the angels that were forming a wall for Remedios.
This was Jaldabaoth’s true form.
Remedios gulped as she witnessed that overwhelming power which could easily slaughter multiple angels in a single blow, and then she gripped her holy sword tighter. Her sweat gushed forth and it seemed like it was making her clothes change color under her armor.
Could — could she win this? No—
“—Yeeeeeeeaaart!”
Remedios shouted to banish her fear. While it was a thoughtless move, if she did not charge right now, she would be essentially admitting defeat to him in her heart. She gripped her holy sword tightly, and leapt forward.
She used the full might of her body in a massive downwards chop.
Jaldabaoth did not block or dodge it.
And then — it bounced off with laughable ease.
“...Eh?”
The sword, made of an unknown metal that was harder than adamantite, bounced off Jaldabaoth’s skin.
She looked up and saw that Jaldabaoth was not looking at her. It was similar to how a human being would not care about a worm writhing around on the ground.
“Dealing with you empty-handed is a little troublesome… no, there is an excellent weapon here.”
Jaldabaoth stepped forward, paying no heed to Remedios. His massive body shoved her aside.
“Wha—? D-Dammit!”
Remedios and the freshly-summoned angels chopped at Jaldabaoth’s back. However, his metallic-gleaming skin remained untouched beneath their blades.