—Oops, can’t let our guard down just yet.
“It’s not over yet! ‘Divine Deracinator.’”
The high-ranking demon, split in half, prepared to fire a small Beam Cannon. Multiple beams surged toward the Divine Deracinator, exploding into flashes of light and fireworks. While not as powerful as the main cannon, their numbers combined to create quite a significant impact.
“‘Achilles Hunter,’ sir!”
Pochi, approaching rapidly from behind the high-ranking demon, sliced through its ankle along with the barrier, leaving several blue streaks in her wake. It seemed she’d used the ability “Vanquish Slicer.”
“‘Boulder Fling’?”
Tama, emerging from the shadows of the high-ranking demon, unleashed a finishing move on the opposite leg that Pochi had struck. A series of swift attacks with her twin swords was launched, but their power was a bit lacking. Though the barrier was shattered, each wound was shallow, allowing the demon to heal from the damage as quickly as it was dealt.
“Instant Movement—‘Helix Spear Attack’!”
Ms. Liza used her special attack on the high-ranking demon, launching the attack at the back of its head. True to its name, the dragon spear pierced through both the barrier and the tough armor without any resistance.
“Good wo—! Ms. Liza!”
“…Phalanx!”
The high-ranking demon’s head transformed to create a hollow space, firing a dispersive beam toward Liza. We managed to protect Liza immediately with Phalanx. However, she was forced to retreat after the high-ranking demon followed up with a backhand attack.
“No looking away, I declare.”
Nana caught up with us before hitting the demon with a “Shield Bash.”
Oh?
Something sparkly on the demon’s back spread everywhere. Upon instantly appraising it with my “Appraise” skill, I realized that it was part of the high-ranking demon’s barrier. It seems that Nana executed her signature barrier-breaking finishing move, “Blast Armor,” using her large shield instead of a sword.
“‘Vorpal Shadow Bite’?”
At the spot where Nana shattered the barrier, Tama unleashed her finishing move enhanced with ninjutsu. This time, it seemed to penetrate quite effectively.
“‘Vanquish Strike,’ sir!”
Before Pochi could charge in, the high-ranking demon regenerated its barrier, but Pochi relentlessly pierced through it with her finishing move, thrusting her enlarged sword toward its heart. The high-ranking demon, surprisingly nimble for its massive size, attempted to evade Pochi’s attack, but that wasn’t going to happen. My Deracinator and Tama’s Shadow Binding prevented the demon from dodging.
Ugh.
The high-ranking demon burst through its bark from the inside and unleashed a beam of light.
“‘Fallink’—”
Pochi quickly activated Phalanx, but a few of the beams had already gotten through ahead of time.
“…Sir!”
Pochi tilted her body to dodge, but it grazed her shoulder piece slightly, sending her spiraling backward.
“Pochi!”
Tama caught Pochi with an instantaneous movement, skillfully dodging the high-ranking demon’s follow-up beams with agile footwork. In frustration, it finally fired a dispersive beam, which was blocked by Nana’s large shield and floating shield. I used the Space Magic spell Object Pull to draw Pochi and Tama back to me.
“Are you injured?”
“Woowheewha, shir!”
“She seems fine, just dizzy.”
“That’s a relief.”
Upon hearing that Pochi was safe, Tama let out a sigh of relief and dashed over to Liza and the others.
“Funyukurikurari, sir.”
Pochi’s body swayed from side to side as the White Dragon Egg popped out of her golden armor. Using some kind of power, it floated gently, circling around Pochi.
“…Ah. Mr. Egg cheered me up!”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, sir. Pochi doesn’t give up that easily!”
When Pochi said that with a determined look, the White Dragon Egg landed in her hands and stopped moving. Pochi returned the egg to the Storage in her golden armor, then instantly teleported back into the battlefield. There was no conversation between the two, but somehow, a sense of bonding could be felt.
“Arisa, here comes another!”
At some point, the high-ranking demon had distanced itself from Liza and the others, preparing to fire a beam. It was hard to see from a distance, but it looked like vine-like things temporarily impeded everyone’s movements.
“Behemoth—disaster.”
A rain of lightning struck the high-ranking demon, causing the ground to crack open and swallow it. The reflection of red light suggested that the chasm was filled with lava beneath the fractured earth. Mia fell to her knees, depleted of mana.
“Nice, Mia! Lulu, will it take you some time to recharge?”
I handed Mia a high-level Mana Replenishment potion before asking Lulu if she was finished reaching her mana for the accelerated shot.
“Sorry, Arisa. It’s only about one-third recharged.”
“Got it.”
I used a “Visual Short-Range Leap” to move to a position above the high-ranking demon, where I could see it swallowed by the lava.
“Free-falling, huh? Scary!”
I suppressed my fear with that one phrase and unleashed my most powerful advanced magic.
“…Inferno.”
The Inferno, intensified by the heat of the lava, thoroughly roasted the high-ranking demon. I had seen something like this in a manga before, but the power was doubled. A hot wind blew up from below, but my golden armor’s mana barrier protected me, so I took no damage. Before charging into the ultra-high-temperature area, I reactivated my “Short-Range Teleportation” skill and moved next to Mia and the others.
Whoa.
There were multiple beams piercing through the ground where I had just been. That was close. If I had stayed there any longer, I would have ended up full of holes.
“Just how strong is it, if an attack like that doesn’t kill it?”
“Something’s off?” Tama muttered, overlapping my grumbling.
“Arisa, I think that attack came from a different place.”
Ms. Liza gave a more detailed explanation of the weird off feeling Tama had.
Did that mean…?
“Mia, could you dismiss Behemoth and summon Genomos, and have it check underground?”
“Yes.”
Mia shook her head in the direction of the behemoth—it began to shake the ground in response.
“Wait, can Behemoth do it, too?”
“Yes, possible.”
Mia closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
“It’s coming.”
““Phalanx!””
“Sir!”
“‘Fortress,’ I declare.”
As Tama declared it was coming, Liza and the others all joined in a chorus as they unleashed all their defensive skills. Around the same time, the bark demon blew away all the trees and unleashed a giant beam of light.
—Damn it, we’re too late.
“Is everyone all right?!”
“Yes, Arisa. Everyone is fine, I report.”
What a relief. Everyone was fine even without my Deracinator.
“Phalanx is done for after that.”
“Mee tooo?”
“Pochi is still fine, sir!”
“Fortress took a real beating, I declare.”
Man, we’re in a real situation.
“Arisa found it. Underground,” Mia told me—with an unusually long sentence.
Just as I thought, the main body of the high-level demon was underneath us.