“I’d like to preserve as much strength as I can,” Elliot said, tapping the gauntlet on his left hand. “If that particular demon shows up again I’d like to be able to handle it somehow.”
He’d used the gauntlet while supporting Reiji, but he was hoping to hold it in reserve here.
“Very well,” Lefille agreed. “In that case, you’ll take a supporting role and cover me. Is that alright?”
Elliot nodded “That’s fine. What do you think, Hydemary-chan?”
“It works for me. I’ll have my playing cards do the work for me.”
“I’ll use magic to support everyone,” Christa added.
“Please do.”
Now that they had a plan, Lefille ended the conversation by leaping from the shadows. The demons still showed no signs of moving, as if they were going to keep hiding and were intent on letting her run past them.
But Lefille wasn’t going to permit such a thing.
She unleashed the power of the spirits. Ishaktney’s Red Gale swept over the area, gusting forth like the premonition of a great storm. The glowing red tempest peeled away the Evil God’s camouflage in an instant, revealing the demons hiding within.
Now that they were exposed, the demons changed plans and faced Lefille, but were glued in place by the red wind’s great pressure.
“Wow, what’re those? They’re so gross,” Hydemary said without any inflection.
Elliot and Christa couldn’t tell whether she was being serious. If Suimei were here, he would be able to differentiate her tone from her usual voice.
“Right, this is your first time seeing demons, isn’t it?” Elliot noted.
Hydemary nodded. “Mm-hmm. I had them described to me already, but they really are stereotypical demons, huh? They don’t have goat heads, though.”
“Hmm, so that’s what they look like in your world.”
“What about yours?” Hydemary asked.
“In my world? I guess they’re more... slithery and slimy?”
“Mm... Sounds like you have it rough,” Hydemary said, her expression unchanging but voice sympathetic. “Suimei-kun would probably scream in disgust.”
At any rate, seeing that the demons were helpless against the red wind, Hydemary and the others got to work. Christa fired magic and Elliot used his sword, defeating demons one after the other. As for Hydemary, she unleashed her card soldiers. The large playing cards—each accented by a set of limbs and a head—attacked the demons with vicious swords, spears, and maces.
The battle was completely one-sided. The demons were unable to do anything because of the red wind, whereas everyone on Elliot’s team had complete freedom of movement.
“I see...” Elliot muttered meekly. “I suppose it makes sense you don’t consider me necessary.”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Elliot-dono?” Lefille asked.
“Aah, nothing really,” he said. “I was just thinking how amazing your power is. I’m not needed here, am I?”
“E-Elliot-sama?! What’re you saying?!” Christa protested.
“I mean, if you just take a look at the result...”
“You’re the same as ever,” Lefille said. Because of his playful behavior, she didn’t take him seriously at all. “You never let your true feelings surface.”
“Hm? Lefille-chan, do you want to see the real me? If so, I’ll show you anytime you want.”
“No, I’ll pass.”
“Elliot-sama!” Christa said.
“Yes, yes, I know. I’ll concentrate on the task at hand.”
Lefille was watching Elliot soothe Christa when a sudden thought came to mind. The way he masked his true self was somewhat similar to Suimei.
A short while later, after the demons were completely cleaned up, Elliot spoke.
“That was anticlimactic,” he said, curious. “They didn’t even put up a fight.”
“It’s as you say,” Lefille agreed.
“The demon general apparently has some splendid plan in play, but it seems we drew the short straw in all this.”
“Isn’t it possible they underestimated us?” Hydemary remarked. “I mean, we do have extra reinforcements.”
“No, that demon general was strong,” Elliot said. “If she’s come up with some elaborate plan, we should assume there’s a reason for it.”
“Hmm. Okay then.”
Just as Hydemary accepted his reasoning, a thunderous roar shook the area with all the force of a cannon firing.
“Hm?!”
“Ew, it’s all dusty,” Hydemary complained.
“And here it is...” Elliot muttered.
Only he knew what was coming. What had crashed down among them was a figure far too mismatched to be normal. It was a muddled mix of insect and beast—the grotesque demon.
“Is that the crazy demon you mentioned earlier?” Hydemary asked.
“Yes, it is,” Elliot acknowledged. “Be careful.”
“It’s certainly as you said. Its figure is rather bizarre,” Lefille said. “Not that any demons are normal.”
“True... Oh, isn’t this the one Reiji and I cornered?” Elliot remarked. “Good grief, it hasn’t even treated its wound. Is it being discarded?”
The grotesque demon had a large cavity in its torso, causing its movement to be severely stilted.
“Ugh, it stinks,” Hydemary said, pinching her nose. “Is it rotting?”
“Seems so. Still, for it to leave that wound as is...” Elliot muttered.
The cavity inside the demon was decomposing, blackening it even more than it already was. It was clear the grotesque demon hadn’t received any treatment whatsoever. The demon general really did see it as nothing more than a pawn.
“Yuck... Everyone, keep it away from me,” Hydemary said, deploying a total of thirty-five card soldiers.
They spread out and encircled the grotesque demon, then charged with swords, spears, and maces. However, they were all blown away with a single hit, returning them to simple playing cards.
“Not even enough to buy any time, I see,” Hydemary observed.
“Half-hearted attacks aren’t going to work on that thing,” Elliot told her. “It’ll be hard to keep it down unless you unleash significant power.”
“Then how about this? I’ll wash you properly later, so do forgive me,” Hydemary said, addressing something the others couldn’t quite see. “Jetz kommen, mein niedlicher Teddybär.”
[Now come, my cute teddy bear.]
With an adorable poof, a giant teddy bear wearing a conical hat manifested in the air and engulfed the grotesque demon. A solid thud resounded through the ground as if an enormous rock had crashed down from the sky. Hydemary expected the grotesque demon would be unable to move from beneath the teddy bear, just like the Monkey King had been squashed beneath Five Elements Mountain.
However, with a repulsive roar, the demon grabbed the teddy bear, swung it around violently, and flung it away with tremendous force.
“Seriously? Beat-tan is no good either? Seems like I might have to resort to grand-magicka-class spells...”
But Hydemary’s attack had still helped to bring the grotesque demon to a halt. Taking advantage of this, Elliot charged in, slashing at its defenseless face. However, his sharp strike was stopped by the demon’s tenacious flesh, and Elliot was blown back in the next instant. He’d managed to time a jump to his opponent’s blow, and he landed on his feet without taking any damage.
“What’s going on...?” he muttered in bewilderment, looking down at his blade.
“Elliot-sama! Is something the matter?!” Christa yelled.
“No... I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
“Did that gross thing do something to you?” Hydemary asked.
“It didn’t. This is a personal problem.”
Hydemary and Christa were puzzled by his answer.
“Lefille-chan...?”
Elliot, on the other hand, was confused by Lefille’s actions. For some reason, she casually strode forward.
“...fro...low...bove...below...”
She muttered quietly to herself as she marched on. What was wrong with her? Elliot couldn’t see her face, so it looked like she was completely out of her mind. And just as he figured out she was mumbling “From above to below” over and over, Lefille’s eyes suddenly shot open and she faced the grotesque demon with firm resolve.
“I’ll be using you to test my new strike.”
With that declaration, Lefille held her greatsword up high, pointing it at the heavens and poised for the grotesque demon to come straight at her. Ishaktney’s Red Gale whirled around her as if she was at the center of a tornado. Elliot could see that a circular field was forming around her.