Hm. It seems that the enemy this time around is on a different level entirely. Judging from its presence, it’s a demon. Even two hundred years ago, demons who could release mana this evil were few and far between. And it looks like he’s raring to go. I doubt he’ll wait to attack me.
“Huh?”
“What?”
I grabbed both Noel and Eliza, and jumped off with them in my arms. The wind whipped past us as we leaped through the spaces between the buildings to get out of the vision of the enemy. As soon as I did, there was a loud explosion.
Good grief. He has no common sense if he’s using a powerful Fire Magecraft in the middle of a city.
“There you are, golden-eyed black cat!” the demon rejoiced as he found me.
That’s a pretty nostalgic nickname. I guess I’m not too surprised he remembers me. He was the same demon our party had had the most trouble fighting against two hundred years ago. His name was Zeke, and even in the Demon King’s army, he was known as their strongest warrior.
“After all these years, I’ve not forgotten my grudge against you! Being sealed by you two hundred years ago was beyond humiliating!”
He was the one demon our party couldn’t fully defeat, and since we couldn’t beat him, we had to seal him away instead.
“Now, black cat, I will have my revenge, two hundred years in the making!” Zeke yelled, activating a powerful Fire Magecraft from his hand.
Hm. I won’t be able to block it with a normal Defensive Magecraft. Barrier Magecraft: Defensive Domain.
This Obsidian Eye magecraft was a barrier designed to alter the vectors of oncoming attacks. Regardless of how powerful an attack it was, if I could change its direction, I could avoid it.
In the next moment, our vision was filled with crimson. It’s still pretty hot. Even with the defensive powers of the barrier, it didn’t seem that I could completely block out the heat of his magecraft; my uniform, despite it being fortified, began to burn at the hems, letting off a unique smell.
Eliza and Noel froze in place in face of the enemy’s attack. Good grief. This really brings back memories from the past, whether I want to remember them or not.
I began recalling a scene from two hundred years ago.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few years after I’d left Chaos Raid, I’d ended up being brought on to join the group of people who’d later be known as the Great Four on their journey to defeat the Demon King of Twilight. Back then, demons were boastful of their great power, and to humans, were the ultimate symbol of fear.
Yet demons were just barely able to coexist with humans, for no other reason than the fact that they weren’t a monolith, and each demon primarily acted on their own. But everything changed once the one called the Demon King of Twilight came into existence. Under him, all demons came together as one organization and began pushing humans into a corner. The hearsay back then was that humanity was at a huge disadvantage.
But as if to reverse that opinion, our party steadily made progress. Before we knew it, people began calling us heroes, and looked to us for hope. When we got close to the Demon King’s castle, our battle with the demons intensified. In what would later be known as the Grand Quartz Battle, a sudden mortal combat began between us and the Demon King’s army.
“Ha ha ha! You weak humans! Feel the true strength of demons!”
The demon standing in front of us was named Guilltina, and worked at the Demon King’s side as his tactician. Today, he was riding on the shoulder of one of his giant demons while looking down at us.
“Crumble in despair, heroes!”
At his order, the giant demon swung his hand down towards the ground, and when it made contact, the earth shook, cracks formed, and sent fissures all around us.
“Abel!”
“Sir!”
My comrades screamed in worry. I see. The enemy’s aim is to split us up. Thanks to Guilltina’s machinations, I’d been separated from the rest of the party.
✦ ✦ ✦
After a little bit of time had passed after Guilltina’s plan had separated our party, I heard someone calling out my name.
“Sir... Sir!”
Who is it? It’s too dark.
“Oh wait! Maybe this is my chance!”
Oh. This stupid-sounding voice belongs to Ayane.
She’d been a fellow member at Chaos Raid, but after it fell apart, there were a lot of twists and turns, and she ended up accompanying our Hero Party frequently.
“Time for a kissy-kiss!”
When I opened my eyes, I saw Ayane’s gross lips getting closer to my face. Sensing the danger of them making contact, I flicked her on the forehead.
“Gaaah!” she screamed as she rolled away from the force, skirt and all. “Sir! What are you doing to a young maiden like me?!”
Hm. As usual, she’s got a sturdy body and mentality. If she’s this energetic, then I don’t think I have to worry about her.
“Ayane, give me a report on the situation.” At this point, the first priority was confirming the state of things.
“Hmph! Don’t go all serious mode on me so quickly! It seems that due to that huge demon’s attack, the Hero Party’s been separated. Apparently there was a teleportation barrier set underneath the ground. Maria, Daytona, and Cain were all sent to different areas.”
I see. That old general got one on us. Each of us had a magecraft we were proficient at, and by working together, we could take down demons. In other words, now that we were split, our chances of victory were slimmer.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering this, but did I lose consciousness?” I asked.
“No, you were simply put to sleep,” Ayane replied. “It’s not like you to be so careless, Sir,” she added.
I fell silent, not having any words in response. She was right. I couldn’t believe that I’d been put to sleep during a battle.
“You work too hard, Sir. You should rest a bit or you won’t last the entire battle.”
It’s true that I’ve been fighting to my limits a lot recently. Maybe after getting wrapped up in this teleportation barrier, my body decided to switch to sleep mode.
“My shikigami, Chirpy, found a village nearby. How about we take a break there before we meet up with Maria and the rest?” Ayane suggested.
Chirpy was a bird-type shikigami that Ayane had made. She mostly used Chirpy for scouting from the sky.
“Sorry, but it doesn’t look like we have the time to take things so leisurely.”
“Huh?”
This isn’t a human’s presence. It’s obviously a demon that bears us ill will.
“Wha— That’s—!”
Ayane noticed what was going on after I did. Looking up into the sky, we saw what was known as the dragon platoon—the Demon King’s strongest forces. There were easily over twenty demons screaming at us from above.
“I’ve been counting the days until we could meet, black cat!”
The one flying at the front was an evil dragon whose body was over three meters long. That was my first meeting with Zeke, and something that would later become the catalyst for the Hero Party to permanently part ways.