Chapter 204

Chapter 204 Strongest Sage, Whittles Down Life Force

There is no way I could master magic combat if I couldn't get out of this little predicament .

My goal, the space monsters, are incomparably way more powerful than this demon .

Even if my sword isn't good enough anymore, I shall make sure to survive somehow .

Steeling myself, I blocked Zaridias's sword while whittling down my life force .

Nothing has changed outwardly .

Feigning like this is one of many fields I'm good at .

I predict how Zaridias is thinking and move in a way that deceives him .

Even if he's well experienced in battle, he can't possibly notice my state right now .

–But that's only if he doesn't know 『The objective of my fight』 .

I've noticed the existence of one demon in the city from its mana reaction .

Once that demon realized Ruli and Alma's goal and reported it to Zaridias, that moment would be when he realized that I was buying time .

And it seems that time has come .

" . . . Mu?"

Zaridias turned his focus away from our fight for an instant .

It looked like he had just talked to someone who isn't here .

I deployed a barrier magic in that opportunity, but Zaridias broke it apart with his magic .

And then–the demon changed his stance .

Before, his stance was of that of one who sought victory while thwarting any counterattacks for certain .

Right now, he's taking the stance of one that will try to end the fight quickly even while taking the risk of counterattack .

" . . . Haaa! Gu . . . Nunn!"

The fight became many times fiercer than ever before .

I'm losing my life force at a tremendous rate, my sword and magic are gradually losing their strength .

There is a limit on overcoming gaps with skills alone .

And that limit is coming fast .

It's taking me everything just to parry his sword, I can't even afford to check on mana reactions in the surroundings .

–Right at that time .

I could hear a voice from the direction of the capital's great barrier .

『Take it!』

–Alma's voice . Ruli must have used comm magic to make her voice reach me .

And then, Alma threw the magic sword as it flew off her hand .

These girls must be trying to throw the sword while hiding it from Zaridias .

However, there's no way the demon didn't notice comm magic that wasn't even magically disguised .

Zaridias concluded that I shouldn't be allowed to get the sword, took some distance away from me in an instant, spread his wings and began to supply them with mana .

He's trying to snatch the magic sword, to destroy my rope to victory for sure .

If I let him did it, my chance of victory would vanish in a puff .

In such a situation–I use amplification magic and shout out loud to Iris in dragon language .

『Iris, fire the second breath!』

Hearing that, Iris peeked her head out of the barrier .

"–!?"

Zaridias who noticed Iris's movement stopped trying to pursue me and made a u-turn .

Zaridias probably understands dragon language . Since I didn't use comm magic, in all likelihood he must have heard what I told Iris .

And that's the whole point .

I clearly saw Iris's state after she shot the first breath .

–Iris cannot shoot the second breath . This is a done deal .

However, Zaridias has no idea about that . Thus this bluff worked .

And using the chance, I accelerated toward the thrown magic sword .

Making use of the time I gained from the bluff, I accelerate using mana converted from my life force .

Zaridias who noticed that Iris wasn't going to shoot her breath, flew off toward the sword, but my acceleration that came at a price of my life force did not allow him to overtake me .

And I won the speed contest against Zaridias .

I tightly grasped the magic sword Alma threw in my hand .

–A moment later .

A huge sword went through my heart .

Zaridias had never set his sight on the magic sword .

He fully intended to get me the moment I took the sword .

"Fool . Showing your back on your opponent, you're just asking to get killed . "

Even if the magic sword is needed to win the fight, showing your back on the enemy in this kind of fight is like asking to get killed .

–That's right . I was asking to get killed .

"Yea . You're exactly right . "

I slashed Zaridias at point-blank range as I said that .

The strongest blow I've done so far, buffed with eight kinds of magic .

Zaridias who never in his wildest dreams imagined that he would be attacked couldn't manage to parry the slash .

Zaridias whose neck was shallowly cut looked absolutely shocked .

I took the sword that was lodged in my body and took a slight distance away from him .

"H . . . How are you moving with that wound! Humans cannot possibly manage that!"

Zaridias uttered intelligible words for the first time . That's just how much this shocked him .

Understandable .

" . . . Beats me . "

This magic sword is disposable .

Among all magic swords I created in the past, this sword had been poured with the most advanced techniques I knew, yet at the same time, it can never be used again once it demonstrated its effect .

That's exactly why this sword makes the impossible possible .

The requirement for activation–its user's death .

Its effect is the user's revival, and a supply of enormous amount of mana .

That amount of mana is such that if I even make a slight mistake controlling it in my current state, an explosion that would instantly obliterate the entire region of the royal capital will occur .

However, there's no chance of me making any mistake in the control .

The experience from my past life and the mana control prowess of Disqualified Crest .

There's no way I would err in mana control with these two .

I'm especially well versed in managing a vast amount of mana in my experience of mana control .

"Tch . . . "

Zaridias tried to get away after seeing the enormous mana .

However, I won't allow him to .

I bind Zaridias with binding magic that makes use of my mana amount .

And then I slash at him with a sword buffed with multiple magic .

The amount of buff magic is not many, but the mana put into them is in a different league altogether .

This should manage to wound Zaridias even with the reduced strength of my sword due to the whittled down life force .

Zaridias attempts to stop the sword, but I've already foreseen his every moves .

The sword clad in an enormous amount of mana accurately hit the vital point on his neck .

"Guh . . . !"

Even while groaning painfully, Zaridias tried to counterattack without slowing down .

However, right now I'm faster than him .

I forcefully move my listless body using mana .

Then I slip through Zaridias's counter and strike another blow .

The battle is one sided now .

I've lost most of my life force, exhausted to the point that I can't move my body with my strength alone .

The only thing I'm still managing is mana control, converting the mana I got from the sword into attacks on Zaridias .

On the other hand, Zaridias still hasn't given up trying to find a chance to kill me .

However, his attempts all end up in vain, and he's finally at the last of his strength .

" . . . This is it huh . "

Zaridias muttered while looking at his left hand that was turning into ash by my magic .

Then he makes a declaration at me .

"I admit my defeat . However, I am not the only 『Chaotic Demons』 left in this world . . . Now then, I wonder if you're capable of eradicating every last one of them?"

To that, I ready my sword while keeping silent, and pour the highest amount of mana so far into it .

Normally, you'd think that this was a trap, but my intuition tells me that it isn't case .

–And then, my sword lop Zaridias's head off .

The fight is over now .