Chapter 251

Raining Fire

Putting Rodd-sama aside, it would be dangerous to leave Mei and Alea on their own .

Claire-sama and I decided that we needed to go, even if we’d be targeted from behind . The moment we turned away to leave,

“Why not just watch over the fight between Rates and Rodd-sama? So long as you don’t try anything, I won’t either . ”

The Demon Queen said something strange .

“You think we’d trust those words?”

“It’ll just be some entertainment, Claire-sama . Besides, it’s just on my whims that I haven’t personally gone after your trump card . Or… do you have some way to break through my barrier without your trump card?”

“Why you…!”

Claire-sama was visibly a mix of anger and hesitation .

I’m sure she wanted to rush over to her daughters as soon as possible, but if she were to do that the Demon Queen’s attention may also shift to them .

“Claire-sama, let’s do as the fiend says for now . ”

“Rei…”

“Let’s believe in our daughters, and Rodd-sama . ”

“…”

Digging her teeth into her lips, she silently lowered her magic wand .

◆◇◆◇◆

“Perhaps I’ll begin by destroying that nuisance of a toy . ”

Laughing through a human-like mouth on his bee head, his mantis-like arms stretched toward the Magi Shibley .

“No you don’t!”

“I won’t allow it!”

In unison, Mei and Alea readied their weapons .

However, a single figure stepped forward from behind them .

“It’s not time for you two to step up . Leave this to me . ”

It was the handsome ore-sama with spiky hair―Rodd-sama .

Rodd-sama held a longsword in one hand .

Looking closely, the sword also had a magic gem inserted, it likely doubled as his wand .

“Come!”

In response to Rodd-sama’s sharp shout, an army of flame soldiers appeared .

Though his magical aptitude was average, his true worth lay in his exceptional magic capacity .

As he had previously displayed in his fight with Misha during the entrance exams for the Academy’s Order, overwhelming his opponent with quantity was his go-to .

Minions―the soldiers created by fire magic were slowly increasing in number .

“Hmm… That small sword of yours and those insignificant underlings have no chance of even scratching me, you know?”

“You think so?”

Immediately converting words to action, Rodd-sama left an afterimage as he closed in .

The next time I saw him, he was already swinging his longsword down on Rates .

Though not quite as fast as Dorothea, it was exceedingly fast .

However―

“Hmph, did it not turn out as I said?”

A sharp metallic sound rang as Rodd-sama’s sword seemed to bounce off Rates’ skin .

Though the blow did leave a mark, it was horribly shallow .

“Would you like to be the first to go?”

Rates used both of his sickles to assault Rodd-sama .

Sliding his longsword to match the trajectory of the attacks, Rodd-sama aimed to parry the attacks rather than accept them head-on .

“It’s something I picked up from Yuu . Even I know I can’t leave everything to brute force . ”

With a fearless smile, Rodd-sama launched himself off of Rates’ arms, which were now out of position . Flipping himself while in the air, he aimed for Rates’ neck .

“Hmph . How childish . ”

Without even bothering to correct his position, Rates calmly accepted Rodd-sama’s sword with his throat .

With a dull sound, his sword was repelled .

“Damn, your skin really is tough . This sword is known for its sharpness back in the Kingdom . ”

“Should you wish to scar my body, you should bring both sword and skill on par with the emperor’s . ”

Taking the opportunity at Rodd-sama’s landing, Rates used the front legs of his bug-like lower body to sweep the area .

Rodd-sama also parried these strikes .

“The weak are such a bother . The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy . ”

“Hey I’m with you . This kinda thing really isn’t for me, but I don’t have much say here . ”

Rodd-sama momentarily moved back to create some space .

They had only exchanged a couple of blows, but Rodd-sama was already visibly sweating .

It goes to show how much concentration Rodd-sama needed to maintain in his tense exchange with Rates .

“Is that all that you wanted to try? If so, I’ll go ahead and kill you . ”

“Hey hey, isn’t it a bit too quick for that? Let’s enjoy the fight a bit more . ”

“Unfortunately I prefer taking things easy . I’d like to finish the job and take a nap . ”

Having said that, Rates yawned .

“You’re pretty different from Plato, hey? Though he had a twisted attitude, he was pretty serious about everything he did . ”

“Though he was a bit crude, he was earnest . His loyalty to the Demon Queen and his longing for nihility were many times greater than most . . ”

“And you’re different?”

“Me? As for me, I’ve lived too long to obsess over either . I don’t carry the same passion as Plato . ”

“It seems there’s all sorts amongst the demons as well . ”

Even while keeping his guard up, Rodd-sama laughed curiously .

“Well then, that should be enough chatting . I’ll kill you now . ”

“Sure, if you can . ”

Rates very simply ran toward Rodd-sama .

Similar to the Pope’s failed assassination attempt, it was a simple but heavy strike .

Due to his large body, he wasn’t particularly dodge .

Unfortunately, if Rodd-sama were to dodge, the Magi Shibley would be destroyed . That was simply not an option .

“Uooooah!”

Rodd-sama braced himself to directly intercept Rates’ heavy strike .

With his longsword fixed upright to accept the attack, he was pushed backward .

“That’s not enough, you know . I have many hands and legs at my disposal . ”

“Guhh…!”

Rodd-sama’s body was sent flying backwards .

Though he had narrowly defended against the initial strike, Rates’ front legs had swept him away .

While it was a simple attack, it had the force of a head-on collision with a truck .

“Gahh… cough…”

While coughing blood, Rodd-sama tried to force himself up .

However, his longsword had already broken into two .

“You held out comparatively well . However this is the end of that, now then, let’s get back to the matter at hand . ”

Rates concentrated his sights onto the Magi Shibley .

Mei and Alea stood in the way .

“Please run, Mei, Alea!”

Claire-sama raised her voice to a shriek .

However, the two stubbornly refused to run .

“That is admirable for ones as young as you . However, that will only shorten your lives . ”

Rates calmy approached the two, raising his arms .

“Hey now, didn’t I say that I’m your opponent?”

“!?”

A sudden explosion .

Rates’ body was blown away, travelling a couple of meters .

The explosion was well directed so Mei and Alea were unharmed .

“You again? To think you were still alive . ”

“That wasn’t nearly enough to kill me . There’s no way I could bear to show the woman I love such a pitiful sight . ”

Rodd-sama gave a smile that wreaked of manly pride .

“However, what can you do? Though that spell knocked me back, it did not injure―”

“Well yeah, I didn’t expect it to . ”

Interrupting Rates’ words, Rodd-sama shrugged .

“Then how about we multiply that by a hundred?”

“…?”

“You really haven’t realized it yet?”

“Why you, what are you trying to say?”

In the face of Rates’ puzzled look, Rodd-sama pointed up .

“…?”

Once Rates looked up at the sky― .

“Wha!?”

In that space there were several hundreds, no thousands of minions floating .

“Y-you, you were just buying time!?”

“Yeah, pretty much . ”

Showing the minions early, he showed them to be ineffective . Keeping Rates’ attention with melee combat, he had continued to mass produce minions in the sky .

This had been Rodd-sama’s aim from the beginning .

“The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy? You’ve got it wrong . The strong who make use of technique and strategy, are truly strong . ”

“As if I’ll let you!”

In a panic, Rates made a rush for Rodd-sama who was the caster .

However, as previously mentioned, his large body was by no means quick .

“Fire Squall . ”

Rodd-sama swung down his arm, which had been pointing at the sky, to now point at Rates .

The countless minions high in the sky rapidly began their descent .

“Uooooohh!?”

Flaming soldiers poured down from the sky like rain, exploding on contact .

While each on its own was only on the higher end of a regular explosion, the quantity spoke for itself .

Then upon further inspection, it seemed that all of the explosions were aimed at the smaller scars that Rodd-sama had previously made with his sword .

“To think something such trifle… magic as trifle as this could…!”

Even Rates was forced into a defensive position in this scenario . However, Rodd-sama continued to rain down his minions without a care . ”

“Guaaaahh…!”

Rates’ scream eventually disappeared within the barrage of explosions .

Even then, the minions continued their assault for another couple minutes .

Once the fire and smoke had cleared, not a trace of Rates’ body remained .

“… Phew… I’m exhausted…”

As expected, the attack had drained a lot of his energy . Rodd-sama collapsed and sat where he just stood .

“Rodd-sama, you did it!”

“As expected of you, Rodd-sama!”

The twins ran toward Rodd-sama and hugged him .

“Heh, how was it? Was I cool?”

“Yeah, about cool enough to be second to Claire-okaasama!”

“Just about as cool as Rei-okaasama!”

“… Heh, is that so . ”

Having received the disappointingly specific praise, Rodd-sama gave a wry smile .

However, that face instantly stiffened .

“What!?”

“You let your guard down, young one . ”

Just as a hoarse voice resounded from next to the Magi Shibley, a grotesque metallic lustre was regenerating before our eyes .

“Did I not say? The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy . I am but one of the weak who relies on strategy . ”

With those words, Rates swung his sickles at the Magi Shibley .