c22 (1/2)

CHAPTER 22: MAZOKU, THEIR POWER

—Just as everyone was frozen in shock

Froures appeared

The wings of a bat, the horns of a goat, and a reddish, rust-colored body These strangely diverse parts nevertheless fit together sea in a hideous silhouette

The existence of such a creature was quite the common occurrence in fantasy stories They were the enemies of the Hero, oddly-formed creatures from the Abyss that thrust the world into chaos

When coical beasts and monsters ere also enemies of humanity

These beings, however, were capable of huhly durable bodies, traits attributed to them in all stories

However, that aside, they were actually divided into a handful of types and tribes according to the variances between them

…Our world never hadlike this, Suiht to himself as he watched their enemies fly closer

Although he’d had nu non-human entities back ho creatures like this, which al Even when coons of antiquity described in his oorld, they were nothing alike For thatlike a vas …This was, of course, referring to their appearance If you were to enumerate all the discrepancies, the list would never end

He would never guessed that in a fantasy world like this one, between demons and subhumans, he would encounter demons first

—In any event, there was a new probleh they’d now confirmed their enemy’s identity to be that of the Mazoku, that answer only raised the new question of what they were doing here

(From what that minister with the parted hair said, after the Mazoku took the north, they’ve been relatively quiet…)

This was soht have claimed the northern nation of Noshi+as for themselves, there should still be at least two countries and a e between their territory and here For them to appear here of all places was extremely unnatural

That was, of course, only assu normally These creatures were not human, and it was perhaps a h a human viewpoint It was also entirely possible that they freely moved about as they would, and that any hu their own kingdo

Man…

If that was really the case, then this was deeply troubling

Either orrying about this noas rather beside the point Accordingly, Suiaze sharpened, and bloodlust filled his eyes as he stared down his enemy

He focused on a single Mazoku before hieted him as well

Suddenly, it waved its arm fiercely in his direction

The Mazoku had seized the initiative

Was that mana or was that ether?

He saw a circular ball of energy gather in its pal in his direction, arrow-like, with a vigorous wave of the Mazoku’s arm

Like hell I’d get hit that easily— Sui attack, which whistled through the air

The attack cratered the ground, casting up a cloud of dust as it hit, but Suih it had been as fast as an arrow, but to the eyes of astill

Sian to beat furiously as flew in his direction

Sui doard out of the air straight for him

This threw off his enemy’s visual perception

The Mazoku touched down, only to e either backward or to the side, while he’d have thrown off the Mazoku’s initial targeted point, it would have been able to fix its flight path mid-course Since he had instead dashed directly toward it, however, it had been forced to slam on the brakes, and so—

Sha!

Suimei and his ene as it struck, the Mazoku swung its claard Sui to the fact that it hadn’t had time to properly adjust its prepared actions, its hasty attack also forced it off-balance

Exactly what Sui for

Pivoting off his left foot, he dodged the arc traced by its claws Grabbing its ar your enemy

“Haa—”

“—!”

Suimei upped his speed yet further Under the effects of the increased force, Suiround

The Mazoku rolled several times Despite all this, it didn’t seem to have been injured It i off into the air once more

It hovered in the air, its wings flapping as it cautiously maintained a certain distance from Suimei

Having been taken down from the air once already, it was a bit apprehensive Even if it hadn’t actually really been hurt, it nevertheless hovered in place, its concentrated bloodlust nearly tangible as it spoke in a coarse voice

“Accursed hue technique…”

“Calling it ‘strange’ sure is rude It just takes a bit of skill is all”

“Hmph…”

Suiuard up even as he mocked his enemy The Mazoku snorted contery

However, or rather, what Suimei really wanted to say was—

“So you guys can speak, huh?” he said, straightforwardly saying as on his mind

The Mazoku simply snorted once more

“—Hmph Pitiful humans You actually think that the ability to speak is so only you possess?”

“When it coes anyway”

Suimei’s ansas delivered without any anxiety whatsoever

“You really think language is so only humans have? You humans sure are stupid”

“…’soe…”

“Quit your jabbering”

From its answer, Suimei could tell it had misunderstood and frowned It looked like conversation would be i spoken its piece, the Mazoku closed itsbloodlust

“Hmm”

Faced with this azed it at indifferently

Its claws, so disturbingly like therise to an instinctual feeling of revulsion The conversation was over

…The Mazoku had stopped talking, but that didn’t mean it had started to attack either The attack it had suffered earlier had it on guard, and it watched his every

So it’s watching me… In that case…

Suimei, too, kept an eye on his opponent as he felt out for the presences around him

The merchants appeared to have hidden themselves already as they were nowhere to be seen The others were already engaged in combat with the Mazoku, and froes ofsmashed

It seeuards had gathered

From within the depths of the forest behind hiical presences than had appeared before the caravan Lefillethe reatly lessened the pressure on the caravan itself and direatly In this sense, her actions had been a most effective countermeasure

…As he contemplated the situation, Sui the Mazoku across fros opened wide

I guess it’s about time to act

“Die…”

“Take this!”

—Snap!

As Suiround under the Mazoku – about to fly straight for him – suddenly exploded

“Wha—!”

The sound of an explosion filled the air

But that was just a smokescreen

The ers obstructed his ene forward

At that mo, he activated another ic

“…Now then, let’s see just how strong these enemies of this world’s humans are”

With a low athered the requisite mana

With a sideways glance, Sui equivalence relation of his ic

—This was the Kabbalah’s most prized technique, the Sefirah

“—Flaician’s will, flae)

Froing flame burst forth

The flames soared toward the Mazoku, as if attracted to it

The Mazoku, however, didn’t move It allowed itself to be drowned in fire

Eh?

Seeing that his opponent hadn’t bothered to so e, Suimei was taken aback Was it that his enemy was stupid or that it had a way to deal with his attack?

As his spell continued to wreathe the Mazoku in flaht have prepared

This was uished until it had disintegrated its target… Or at least, that’s as supposed to happen Instead, peering into the fire’s depths, he saw his eneure, completely unharmed

At long last, disturbed by some force or another, the flame was bloay

“…No use, huh?”

The re fro to Suimei’s mumbled words, spoke in a stunned tone

“…You seriously thought you could defeat ic like that? I’ve been seriously underestimated here”

“…”

…The ic just now had been too weak, huh The Mazoku’s body showed no signs of having been burned

Even though his ene down on it, the truth was Suiy with eitherbefore hied

He’d originally thought to decide the battle with a single spell Indeed, he looked to have severely underestimated his opponent He’d used a spell in accordance hat he judged the enemy’s ability to resist to be based on the amount of mana he sensed within the its body The effected result, however, had been entirely outside of his expectations

Oncepower

This time, however, it didn’t bother with arm motions The lump of power shot forward on its own

His foe seeed with rooathered once more on the Mazoku’s hand

Thereafter, as though a solo y flew at Suimei one after another

Suiet too close to the wagon carrying the caravan’s cargo

Trying to suppress me with sheer numbers, is it…?

As Suian to grow ever more anxious

Any normal person would already have been done in It seemed he was more of a troublesome foe than the Mazoku had expected

Anyway, if his opponent wanted a long-range battle, then that was rather advantageous for Sui blows froician

Hounded by transparent arrows of energy, Suiic

—Since last tiic had failed, he would use an even more powerful offensive spell

“—Flaician’s will, flaive form to its death throes!)

The scene froic circles appeared once more This time, however, they weren’t solely to be found in the air, but were rather also on the ground, and all over their surroundings Moreover, there were at least fifty percent ht was also incoreater

Fire poured forth once round, sing the arrows of energy whole as it screaet

“Sh…”

The fire this tie, but it was too late Its delayedflames

The brilliant flaet

However

“…Hoeak! These flames!”

“…!”

Fiery lines drehirlpool of flaht in the eye of the storain unable to cause it har its mouth to speak

Ignoring the searing flames, it waved its arm in Suimei’s direction

“I’ve had it with you!”

An enor the re the trees behind Suimei to dust as it approached

Nevertheless, an attack of that level was so that Suimei could avoid with ease He took a firm leap backward

In the next instant, a cloud of dust, thrown up by the attack, crashed into his person

Suimei held up a hand to protect his face as his mind raced

Even that attack didn’t do anything…

The enemy before him, a Mazoku

What was it about it that rendered his ic so ineffective?

Looking it over, he couldn’t find anything that would grant it such a resistance That his ic would be utterly impotent was hard to believe

…Its ic I’ve been using, but it doesn’t look like it’s an innate, physical resistance either…

His eneic enough to extinguish it, nor should the Mazoku be in possession of a body with a ree either Even if its body was extremely durable, but fro into the ground, it wasn’t at a level that surpassed other lifeforms

It was conceivable that it had innate resistance to fire, but for it to be to the extent that it hadn’t been so ed by his flames was not

If he were to assume that it was not a resistance to fire, but rather the ability to extinguish its flames, then several possibilities existed

That was because fire created byphenomenon

The fla phenomenon, which would only occur when the conditions of a fuel source and sufficient oxygen were met Instead, it operated via the mediu the coical fire would si the path outlined by the spell

Subsequently, unless you countered the o out until its target had been completely consumed

Of course, if it was a simple spell on the level of a firestarter, then that was a different ic Suimei had just invoked was of the other type

So as it that the fire brought about by his ?

…He was thoroughly confused by this s for the ti

Battle was still ongoing all over, but there were no signs of having lost any ground to the Mazoku This was because the attacking Mazoku were far outnu the caravan

The other escorts don’t see any problems In that case, let’s try this…

Then, in that case…

shi+k!

Suimei evaded the slash of his eneed as the Mazoku continued to chain its strikes

“In that case, there’s another reason why it’s not working—”

“You just don’t shut up, do you…”

“—Your clinginess is really getting on my nerves!”

“Hah!”

Suiers

Even though the Mazoku was subjected to his attack froe, it was essentially unhar it flying

“…You brat Using the saic over and over like an idiot!”

“Sorry I don’t have that ics on hand, after all”

“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!”

The Mazoku snarled, its figure growing hazy Reacting purely on instinct, Suimei threw out an arm

“Primum excipio!” (First bulwark, local activation!)

To prevent the charge of the Mazoku, accelerating nonstop toward hiic

As if the ranted a power of some kind, at thesparks

“W-what—?!”

A thoroughly shocked expression appeared on the face of the Mazoku, seeing this defensive spell for the first tie feeling of disharmony that filled him

…What in the world? My olden fortress completely stopped its attack?

If his opponent had an ability that would directly affect ic should have been disrupted just now Even if it wasn’t able to completely shatter his defense in an instant, the subsequent shock should have broken through

However, that had most definitely not happened Its attack had been rendered entirely impotent Consequently, an endless tide of questions streah Suimei’s mind

“W-what just happened?! How could I be stopped by that thing?!”

“Ha, isn’t it obvious?!”

“Impertinent brat—”

—The Mazoku, co, and concerned about a counterattack, placed some distance between them

As Suimei frowned, the sound of an explosion ca the Mazoku in his peripheral vision, he turned in the direction the sound had come from There, a caravan escort had destroyed another Mazoku with an explosive ic

A fire ic

And yet, unlike when he had done so, the Mazoku was scorched by the flames, and drew its last breath

“That guy…”

What the heck?

Even though his ical flames had been entirely ineffective, it was nevertheless now evident that the Mazoku did not possess any sort of exceptional, innate resistance to flame

Suddenly, as Sui the situation, a male voice suddenly called out

“Hey! What are you doing?! Get back!”

“Hmm?”

“You! The guy with the black hair! Pull back!”

Enemy defeated, he’d noticed Suimei’s situation

The other adventurers, their Mazoku eliminated, rushed over

Looking nized them as the party that Lefille had happily conversed with

As directed by the warrior adventurer, a girl – the party’sforth from the end of her staff

Perhaps having noticed, the Mazoku suddenly flew backith a flap of its wings

So that ic is one to be avoided…

Sensing the danger, it pulled back Although it had previously tried to avoid one of his spells, but this ti to the difference between his ainst the Mazoku

Next

The adventurer who had raced to his side spoke

“Get back We’ll take care of things”

“No, it’s okay I can do it”

“What do you mean you ‘can do it’…?! You were clearly in a desperate situation!”

“Desperate? No, not at all…”

“What else would you call it?! That Mazoku is as healthy as can be!”

Well, on the surface of things, that was undeniable But that just meant it’d take a little more time is all That Mazoku posed no threat to him whatsoever, not to th

All the sa his foe down, from an outsider’s point of view, he was indeed locked in a desperate battle

“…Maybe, but either way, I still want to continue”

“No way Retreat back to the caravan, we’ll take care of this”

“Eh? No, no, that’s a problem!” Suimei rejected the adventurer’s words with a shake of his head

Indeed, it would be troubling for Suimei If he were to simply leave this in someone else’s hands, then he’d never be able to unravel the enigainst the Mazoku He would leave without knowing precisely just howthat he wasn’t in any danger, he couldn’t just allow the mystery to remain unsolved

And yet

“Huh? What proble down, there won’t be any probleht? Now then, hurry back to the caravan—?!”

Not entirely paying attention as he spoke, the adventurer’s words suddenly stopped short

That was due to having to avoid so that flew his way – the Mazoku’s attack

The adventurer at Suirasped the attack, as he unnecessarily leapt a great distance away

Realizing that its attack had been avoided sight unseen, the Mazoku circled around horizontally, as if gliding, while drawing close

It attempted to flank them in order to attack from a blind spot

“shi+t, it’s already here!”

Gripping his sword, the adventurer advanced a step, see that he should feel grateful for

However, both feelings of gratitude and nervousness vanished before Suimei’s next incantation

“—Astrum micans profundum Cupio csuspento is ut vomica!” (—Sea of stars, transform the Blessed Mother’s words into a curse!) [TN: The author completely butchered the Latin on this one I mean, they usually only barely make sense, but this time, he included both a term that doesn’t exist – “csuspento” – as well as one that makes no sense in the context it’s used in – “vomica” If anyone kno to fix this incantation, I’d very estions]

Below Suiic circle the color of dayflowers appeared In order to quicken the construction of the ht hand, he constructed a “refined spell archetype”

“Ha! Have you still not realized that your ic is useless?!”

He definitely understood However,that would endlessly pursue every hypothesis until each and every one had been disproven As long as possibilities still continued to exist, they would never give up

“—Stella maris!” (Go! Cursed, frozen star!)

—Cursed Stella Maris

As he released the ic arraysits power

Acceleration, acceleration, amplification, and then refinement

Hail with a vapor trail Co into the air, these frozen stars plummeted toward the Mazoku

“Ice?! —Wha?!”

The Mazoku raised its altitude and escaped backward

As the ed upward like bloo flowers The icy moisture created by the icicles instantly froze the Mazoku’s torso, even in the air as it was

“…Tch Its a lot weaker I guess that’s the best I can hope for without either Spica or Sirius in the sky…”

It was the saic that relied on the constellations was difficult to wield in this other world, seeing as neither they nor the stars of his world appeared in these skies

Unable to draw on the power of the stars, the ht had weakened considerably

“Hehe, you’re too naive, hu to— W-wha?!”

“Heh Sorry to disappoint, but this is a different type of ic from the ones I used before I don’t think you’ll find it that easy to break free”

“So of this level – shi+t! Why can’t I break this brittle ice?!”

Trying to escape its prison, the Mazoku pounded on the icicle with great strength, though it didn’t so much as shudder