“Well,” the woman said with a giggle, “you’re probably too stubborn to understand. And it’s that stubbornness that will be your downfall.”
“Downfall, you say. So, your goal is as I thought.”
“That’s right. You’ve brought tens of thousands to ruin, and now your turn has come. But it’s only natural, isn’t it? After damning so many to a miserable end, you can’t possibly tell me you’re exempt. This is a little thing they call karma.”
“To think a demon like you would lecture me on the ways of the world...”
“Surprised? I feel like it only makes sense. No matter how you, your Church, or the world sees and judges us, we’re people just the same.”
“Nonsense,” he spat.
Riese wasn’t sure what exactly the demon woman was implying, but whatever it was, it stripped the hierophant of his cool. His smile was gone, and the twinkle in his eye was cold and dim.
“Very well,” he said. “You have a point. In any case, I have much more that I must do. If I am to fall to ruin, then it must be after that is all done; you will be the one to meet your end today.”
“My, my—what big talk,” she replied. “You take people’s blessings. You take people’s lives. But you cling to this world like the pathetic wretch you are. You think you can kill me, you half-baked storyteller?”
“I could say the same to you. As potent as your Skill is, it won’t work against me. I thought you would know that better than anyone. How do you intend to bring me down?”
“Oh, please. Did you think I wandered in here without any tricks up my sleeve? You both over- and underestimate me. You’re evil incarnate, living in humanity’s midst. Since the dawn of time, there’s only ever been one sort of person who could strike you down.”
“Nice speech,” a new voice said, “but your whole plan was to just throw it at someone else?”
A bolt of blue lightning zipped through the air, arcing toward the hierophant and demon. The former calmly watched it dissipate before reaching him, and the latter jumped out of the way in a panic.
“Hey! You nearly hit me too!”
“Yeah? If there’s a demon standing next to my target, I’m obviously gonna zap them both.”
“Oh, you have to tell me in advance! I had to dodge instead of taking it head-on!”
“Ugh, that’s your problem?” The scowling newcomer was a familiar young girl. Black hair and black eyes lined up next to the sword on her shoulder, while the weapon itself glowed with blue electricity. There was no mistaking her: Akira.
“Akira?” Riese said incredulously. “How are you here?”
“Huh? Uh, well...honestly, I was kinda against joining this whole scheme, but the more I heard about it, the less of a choice I had. Plus, I figured I should get a look at the person trying to kill me.”
“The hero? Now this is a surprise—both that a demon like you would ask her for help and that she would cooperate. To begin with, how did you summon her here?”
“Come, now, Your Eminence. Wasn’t it you who told me to bring a Gift Holder back with me? With your permission, it’s child’s play to teleport someone right in.”
“I see. It seems I was careless in my choice of words. I suppose I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
“Don’t worry—there won’t be a next time,” Akira said. “And who’s cooperating? I’m using her to clean up all my nuisances at once.”
The demon giggled. “You’re going to treat me to a fight as well? I’d love to, but I don’t think you’ll have any time for me. That thing is an utter monster.”
“Tch, I know. I hate to admit it, but...” Akira scrunched up her face as she looked at the hierophant. “This guy sure is a freak.”
Truthfully, Riese wasn’t sure what they were talking about, and neither was Noel, whose gaze she met once more. The two of them squinted at the hierophant in an attempt to figure out what they were missing but only ended up cocking their heads in confusion.
Despite that, Akira clearly wasn’t joking around. There must have been some kind of field that they couldn’t perceive.
Recognizing that this wasn’t going to be settled by a peaceful conversation, the two of them stepped back—though Noel seemed frustrated that she had to do so. Akira stepped forward in their place.
“Now then,” she said. “We can skip the pleasantries, right?”
“Indeed,” the hierophant replied. “I was caught by surprise, but maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Now I can settle two separate matters at once and show Lady Riese my strength. I’m sure once you see this divine power, you’ll understand the greatness of the gods and happily come to my side.”
“Sorry to intrude on your little fantasy,” the demon cut in, “but that isn’t going to happen. You’re going to meet your maker right here and now.”
“I am but a servant to the gods’ will. If they will my end, then so be it—but I know that they will not.”
“Hah!” Akira laughed. “Then it’s time for you to find out if you’re right firsthand!”
Lightning spewed forth from the hero’s blade, and as she smacked the ground, it zipped toward the hierophant. Behind the bolts, both Akira and the demon woman leaped forward at their target.
Riese knew a little about combat, but nothing beyond basic self-defense. She hadn’t needed any more than that, for one, but more to the point, she just didn’t have the talent for it. So she hadn’t bothered studying martial arts, nor would she have been able to pick them up anyway.
Yet even she could make sense of the scene before her: The three fighters present were in a league of their own.
“Man, this is killing my confidence,” Noel said. “I’d say I’m on the stronger side, but I’d get vaporized if I set foot in there.”
“I think that’s perfectly normal,” Riese replied. “Besides, you’re a smithing specialist, Noel.”
“I know, I know, but this is its own thing.”
It was more phenomenon than fight, like some kind of natural disaster. The ground cracked and shattered, lightning streaked every which way, and a deafening cacophony echoed in all directions. Akira swung her sword, the demon woman kicked, and the space around the hierophant morphed into a localized war zone. How many people could join the fray without getting instantly obliterated? That the hierophant was one of them was a testament to his strength.
“Tch, this bastard’s acting all smug and unfazed. How’s this, then?!”
“No, not at all,” the hierophant told her. “Frankly, I’m amazed. What incredible strength you two possess to not allow me to counterattack! I was correct to eliminate you as soon as I could.”
“I might appreciate the compliment more if you weren’t defending every attack,” the demon said. “And you’re keeping an eye on everything around you to boot! This is worse than I imagined!”
“Less talking and more attacking!” Akira shouted. “Get serious, demon!”
“How rude! I am being serious!” the woman cried. “But I can’t help not being enthused about fighting an opponent like this, can I? I suppose now isn’t the time, though!”
From their back-and-forth quips, one might imagine the hero and demon had just as much slack as the hierophant, but that wasn’t the case. Their faces were a dead giveaway, even if you weren’t paying attention to the actual battle. But if you were, the hierophant hadn’t moved a single step, nor had he suffered a single stain on his clothes, let alone any sort of injury.
The pair’s attacks were being blocked right on the cusp of landing. He must have had some kind of barrier around him, but even so, that he could continue to parry this many strikes was odd. Stranger still, both Akira’s and the demon’s attacks were strong enough to wreck their surroundings. As mentioned, while the hierophant himself was unharmed, the area around him looked like a war zone—at this rate, it wouldn’t just be the ground around him, but the whole building. These weren’t merely some light cracks forming, but utter destruction.