The sun was beginning to reach for the western horizon.
From the closed runway of Haneda Airport, we ascended into the sunset sky. Kayla looked down and waved goodbye to Mr. Wan. We’d decided to meet him back here after defeating the Demon Lord.
I glanced down at the girl standing next to him; Shiki had been asked to stay behind. It was the only way. Even though she’d leveled up rapidly, she was only at Level 25—less than half the level of Arisu and the others.
We couldn’t afford to have her die now; there was still so much she needed to do in the other world.
“Kazu,” came a telepathic message from Coeurl. “The Master has sent a message.”
“Now, of all times?”
“It appears that the gate to the other side is indeed open around the Demon Lord. It’s only a tiny hole, but it seems the Demon Lord uses it to draw magical power, to sustain its massive form.”
So, this was what Mr. Wan had mentioned—a rift in the world. Soon, his allies were supposed to activate a boundary barrier to sever that connection.
This meant that the recently restored telepathic link between Coeurl and his master, the Black Winged Mad Wolf, Algrafth, was also about to be cut.
“What’s Algrafth doing? Can’t he send reinforcements or something?”
“The Master is currently focusing all his efforts on maintaining the Wedge.”
“Maintaining the Wedge…? So, if Algrafth doesn’t keep at it, the one in the mountain near our school will…”
If that one was destroyed, the world we were supposed to return to would face destruction. Algrafth and his monster army were now inextricably linked to our fate.
“Until the sun sets.”
“What?”
“The Master said that the limit is sunset, in the time of this place.”
“So, you’re saying… Algrafth can support the Wedge only until then. How can we protect it?
“Eliminate the being that keeps draining magical power from the end of the Wedge.”
Coeurl looked at the massive black sphere floating ahead, several kilometers in diameter.
An unbelievably large structure floating over Tokyo Bay—the Demon Lord.
“Either way, that’s what we’re about to do. Can you relay that back?”
“I have already conveyed it.”
“That makes things faster, thanks.”
Our conversation aligned closely with what Mr. Wan had mentioned, as well as Diasnexus’s actions; the Ghost King had been scheming to waste time and nullify Algrafth’s efforts.
Nonetheless, we had thwarted the Ghost King’s ambitions. Now, only the Demon Lord remained to be defeated.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sensation of cold washed over my entire body.
“Looks like the barrier’s been deployed,” Rushia announced.
That should have severed the link between the Demon Lord and the Wedge, but…
Looking at the Demon Lord floating in the distance, I thought I could see its massive body shuddering. Or maybe it was just an illusion. However, it had been right after the barrier’s deployment that the opponent reacted.
Without any warning, flying jellyfish appeared around the Demon Lord.
The Flying Jellyfish.
But their numbers now…
There must have been tens of thousands. The sky ahead was filled with monsters, silhouettes against the sunset. The semi-transparent mass glowed an ominously toxic orange.
“This is…” Rushia murmured in astonishment. “This is the Demon Lord.”
We had some understanding of the disparity in strength between us and our foe. We knew it was vast. Of course it was.
Even if direct confrontation was out of the question, we believed that with the right strategy, there was a way to manage. After all, we had somehow made it through until now. We believed it would work out this time as well, somehow.
But this—this scene unfolding before our eyes? It was far too much, far beyond… This was no longer a matter of a disparity in strength. Even if the enemies were giants and we were ants, the difference in power should not have been this immense.
“K-Kazu-san, what should we do?”
“Just give us a command. If you tell us, we’ll do it.”
“No, no, no, charging in without any plan is absolutely out of the question.”
I tried to offer a smile to Arisu and Tamaki, whose faces had gone pale. My face might have been strained too, but I hadn’t lost my cool… I hoped.
At least, I wasn’t acting recklessly. No matter how formidable the enemy might be, we didn’t actually need to defeat all of them.
In fact, we didn’t need to defeat a single Flying Jellyfish.
There was only one enemy: the Demon Lord. And we had an ace up our sleeve when it came to battling the Demon Lord.
“Kayla, how long will it take to infiltrate the Demon Lord?”
“I’m gonna dive inside,” she said, not really answering the question.
“On your own?… No, maybe we can come with you.”
“If it’s just one person, then…”
Okay, so only one can go with her. Then, there’s only one option.
“I’ll go with you. Is that okay?”
“Yes, Papa!”
“W-wait, Kazu-san! It’s too dangerous!” Arisu was panicking, but this was non-negotiable.
It was just like when Rushia and I had conducted the infiltration mission. I had my summoning magic.
“Everyone, do whatever it takes to get Kayla and me close to the Demon Lord. Although, since Kayla has Dimensional Step… if we get within about a kilometer of it, she should be able to teleport us directly there.”
The distance Kayla could leap with Dimensional Step increased by one hundred meters per rank. Thanks to the enhancement from Wind Shooting Technique, her effective rank in Wind Magic was now 11.
“The problem is how close the Flying Jellyfish will let us get before they attack…”
“In Shibuya, they started firing at us from quite a distance, didn’t they?”
That was during the incident in a simulated Shibuya… but yes, they had been firing from kilometers away.
“Can’t I close the distance with my Shape Lightning?” Arisu suggested.
Hmm, that could be an option, but…
“There might be invisible barriers, like the night before last when we fought the troll in the forest of the World Tree.”
During that encounter, trying to approach with Sha-Lau’s Shape Lightning had ended disastrously.
In the end, it was Mia’s Dimensional Step that allowed us to engage the enemy. That battle clarified that certain spells cast by monsters could create invisible walls, but Dimensional Step could bypass them.
“Should we give it a try?”
“If it works, that would be best. Tamaki, go with Kayla and Arisu.”
If Arisu and Tamaki were together, they should be fine if anything unexpected happened.
✦ ✦ ✦
In the end, they couldn’t reach the Demon Lord using Shape Lightning.
Arisu and the others appeared at quite a distance from the Demon Lord and were met with concentrated fire from the Flying Jellyfish, left with no choice but to make a hasty retreat.
Fortunately, there were no injuries, but all three were sweating profusely and slumped in mid-air.
“Mr. Wan did mention something about distortions in space preventing planes, and drones, and missiles from getting close, didn’t he?”
“Could you have remembered that a bit sooner, Kazu-san?!”
“Well, it’s only now that we’re seeing it for ourselves that I really get what he meant. Looks like Dimensional Step is our only option… though I’m still not sure if even that can get us there.”
In that case, we would be out of options. No more moves to make.
“It’s okay! We can get there with Dimensional Step!” Kayla declared confidently, puffing out her chest.
Uh, where did you get that info?
“Mama told me!”
“I wish you’d mentioned that a bit sooner…”
“I mean, she just told me now!”
What?! All of us looked at my daughter in surprise.
Kayla hastily covered her mouth with both hands.