“Well, well...” she muttered.
“I’m not done!” Reiji cried out.
He was definitely pushing her back gradually. At this rate, he could cut her down. Even with such hopes in mind, Reiji quickly revised his estimations—he might cut her down. Seeing the immense power of the Evil God building within Moolah’s body, Reiji leaped back to put some distance between them and prepared his next move.
“Ishar Cluster!”
He called out to his sword and unleashed the Sacrament’s power. The azure light created crystalline, icelike clusters in the air. With a swing of his sword, the crystals shot out and extended like spikes into the surrounding area.
Despite the rain of crystal spears, Moolah fended off the attack splendidly. Some she cut down in midair, some she parried to the side—all through pure swordsmanship. She didn’t use a fragment of the Evil God’s power. Her talent for the blade was enchanting. In close combat, it was probably impossible to put up any kind of fight against her without at least being as strong as Titania.
Meanwhile, a part of the battle line behind Moolah had been caught in the crystal flood. The giant spears shattered on impact, dispersing into smaller, still-sharp crystals and piercing any demon in the vicinity of impact. The attack created a large hole in the demon formation, as if a portion of the horde had been scooped out by an enormous spoon.
The soldiers behind Reiji cheered at the sight of so many defeated demons, but other demons packed in and filled the gap immediately, then widened the line. They were putting space between themselves to defend against future projectiles.
Reiji decided to resort to his ultimate strike. At the very moment he made the decision, however, Moolah closed in at terrifying speed.
“Guh!” Reiji grunted.
“How careless it is to sink into thought in the middle of battle, hero!”
Both the intense strike of Moolah’s sword and the dark power enveloping it sent Reiji flying back. But he couldn’t stay on the defensive. Even in midair, he immediately formed more crystals to counterattack. He sent a rain of projectiles the size of pebbles and restrained Moolah’s movements. Reiji took advantage of Moolah’s temporary distraction to regain his balance, digging his heels into the ground to bring himself to a stop. He looked up to see Moolah standing there imposingly, already finished with deflecting the crystal barrage.
“So strong...”
This was Reiji’s honest opinion of her. She was powerful in a different way from Ilzarl. Ilzarl had displayed pure brute strength, but Moolah wielded tremendous technique. Naturally, the Evil God’s power within her was far beyond any of the other surrounding demons. If anything, Reiji considered, hands still numb from their earlier clash with Moolah’s sword, it was greater than any demon Reiji had ever faced.
And then, with no explanation, Moolah suddenly sheathed her sword and turned on her heels. She did nothing to defend her back from Reiji—as if leaving in disappointment.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” Reiji yelled, unable to maintain his composure.
“That’s enough of this warm-up,” she said.
“You think you can just turn your back on me and leave?!” Reiji shouted.
“Hmph. Don’t you have more important things to worry about?” Moolah retorted.
“Wha—?!”
The demon army immediately moved as one. A beat later, Reiji heard voices shouting behind him.
“Intercept them with magic!”
“Brace for battle!”
Mana built up as chants broke out like a chorus. Following the tremendous undulation of mana, flames covered the sky like a living curtain, and crashed upon the demons like a waterfall. Black and white smoke rose in the air, mixing with clouds of dust to obscure the already gloomy sky. A shock wave immediately followed, sweeping over Reiji. He felt like the sudden gust of heat would not simply burn him but carbonize his flesh if he reached out just a little too far.
“Reiji-sama, please back down for now,” Titania said, suddenly appearing behind him. “The magic attacks will only intensify from here.”
“Got it.” Reiji nodded, then retreated with her.
The simultaneous magic attack was powerful. In the medieval wars back in his own world, this part of the battle would probably entail volleys of arrows, but here, they used magic. The plan was to blow up a good chunk of the enemy forces magically before engaging in more direct battle.
“Sh-Shouldn’t I fire too?!” Mizuki yelled in a panic.
“Preserve your strength,” Titania told her. “Please support Reiji-sama.”
“S-Sure...! Anyway, this is amazing,” Mizuki said. “Can’t we defeat all of them like this?”
“No, it’s useless,” Titania said. “It’ll end soon with nothing more than burning their front line. It’d be a different matter altogether if the effects of our magic lasted longer, but I’m sure they have some sort of countermeasure.”
“Ah, they do have the Evil God’s power behind them...” Mizuki muttered.
The demons were likely using that to resist any and all magic.
“But is fire magic the only thing we’re gonna use?” Mizuki asked. “Aren’t there other kinds of magic that’ll work?”
“Fire and lightning magic are particularly destructive,” Titania explained. “Besides, magics of different attributes will clash and weaken each other. At worst, they can even cancel each other out.”
For the magic to be stronger, then, it was best for all of them to be the same.
“Once the magic barrage is done, the archers will follow,” Titania continued. “Once that is done, the demons will be upon us. Reiji-sama, Mizuki, get ready to fight.”
“Mm.” Reiji nodded.
“Yeah!” Mizuki replied energetically.
“Reiji, the scale of my magic is vast,” Graziella said, slamming her fists together. “Don’t advance too far and get caught in it.”
“It’s alright,” Reiji told her. “My crystals won’t lose to it.”
“Let’s see you back that up,” Graziella said.
They watched as clouds of dust rose farther into the sky. Reiji was still incensed about Moolah turning her back to him. Neither of them had gone all out, though, so that had to go both ways. He eventually leashed his irritation and watched as the demons rushed through the curtain of smoke. Magic, arrows, and rocks poured down on them in an attempt to halt their advance. Reiji wielded the Ishar Cluster to add crystal volleys to the effort.
Okay, it’s going fine.
All his combat experience so far allowed him to read the demons’ movements somewhat. He fought back the demons on land using the Ishar Cluster’s blade and created crystals to cover against the demons in the sky, launching icy spears to shoot them down. So long as he was careful about the miasma polluting the area, he wasn’t going to get caught off guard unless something extraordinary happened.
Being able to freely wield the Ishar Cluster played a major role in his ability to maintain superiority in this battle. By weaponizing it at will and fully manifesting its abilities, he vastly expanded his combat options.
“At this rate...”
He could do it. It was, of course, impossible for him to defeat the entire demon army, but he could cull their numbers significantly in preparation for the siege.
He could fight. He wasn’t falling behind. He wasn’t worthless.
Just as Reiji’s heart started filling with hope, he was assaulted by a tremendous urge to vomit.
“Guh?!”
What’s going on? Is this a demon attack? Unable to answer those questions, Reiji buckled over, as if to hurl the contents of his stomach. Upon witnessing Reiji in such a state, Titania immediately ran over to his side, flustered.
“Reiji-sama! What’s the matter?!” she screamed.
“I-I...”
He was feeling sick because of a certain presence. It was repulsive. It was as if something dreadful—something tens or even hundreds of times more concentrated than the miasma around Moolah’s sword—was somewhere out there.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look like you were hit,” Graziella said, concern clear in her voice.
“R-Reiji-kun...” Mizuki said, her eyes filled with anxiety.
It seemed none of them were affected.
“Don’t you feel it?” he asked them.
“Feel what?” Titania asked in return.
“From over there...” Reiji muttered, stumbling over his words. “I can sense something really, really bad over that way...”
And just then, an explosion thundered from somewhere along the defensive line. One beat later, Reiji’s party turned to face it.
There was now a gaping hole in the ground. Not a single soldier stood there, only a puddle of blood. Reiji understood the sight immediately—something had completely pulverized the soldiers. Body parts were scattered all over.
But the demons still hadn’t broken through the line. Did that mean something else had launched that attack?
“Ugh...”
Just as chaos began spreading through the area, Reiji sensed a repulsive and powerful presence. The cloud of smoke and blood dispersed, revealing a demon who looked far more disgusting than anything Reiji had ever seen, some horrid mash-up of insect and beast. Standing about two and a half meters tall, with long arms and tightly packed claws, its body overall looked like someone had glued together parts from various plastic models, random and irregular.
“That’s...” Titania said, trailing off.
“Tch. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Graziella said.
Both Titania and Graziella sensed it now too. Sweat ran down their brows and backs.
And as Reiji’s party remained frozen at the sight of the grotesque demon, it moved toward the soldiers nearest to it. Though the soldiers met the demon in groups, a single swing of its claws tore them all apart. The demon moved gracelessly, the swipe a simple gesture, as if swatting a fly—the soldiers may as well have been air. Its movements were so crude and casual, it wasn’t clear whether the demon was cognizant of the presence of others at all.