Chapter 190

A blade of wind released at the neck.

I prevented it by guarding with my right arm, and I glared at the demon who released the blade —- Nero Agents.

He was not too surprised that I had prevented the attack, and he brushed off the sword as he raised it and returned it to its sheath.

“……”

“……”

A strange silence ensues, even though we are supposed to be in the middle of a war zone.

Nero looks at me as if to observe me and I am ready to respond to whatever attack Nero launches.

The opponent is a monster of equal strength to Rose.

It’s safe to assume that I’m cut off when I attack from this side.

“What’s your name?”

“?? Hmm, it’s U-Usato …….”

There is no point in hiding here, so I will be honest and give my name.

Nero finally opens his mouth to me, who looks puzzled.

“I am the Commander of the Demon King’s Army, First Legion. Nero Argents. I am the one who has a connection with your master.”

“!!!”

First Corps Commander ……!?

It never occurred to me that the last legionNeae not identified was Nero himself.

…… No, I understand that you are that good just by being relative to them.

“You’re very similar.”

I tilt my head at Nero, who looks at me and mutters.

What is he talking about? Who do I look like?

You think that’s going to upset me?

“The way you look at me, your eyes, your spirit, the way you stand —- everything overlaps with Rose. But I can’t say they’re the same.”

“…… What are you trying to say?”

“……”

I ask back, but Nero does not answer.

What is it?　Do strong people not try to communicate properly?

Is it like Rose where they talk using their fist?

“Why did you come up to me?It’s not like you don’t see the difference in our abilities, is it?”

“…… I understand that, of course. If you and I fight, I will certainly be killed.”

“Then why?”

……The reason I came up to him, who would have been out of my depth, is simple.

“You are the one who must be stopped in your tracks here.”

“…… is that because you heard about my history with Rose?”

“That’s not it. That fate has already ended. At least for Leader.”

Nero frowned slightly at my words.

Surely the fight with Rose is not over for this person.

“The reason I’m standing here is to keep you from moving on from here.”

“My magic sword?”

I don’t mean to be stingy with Nero’s fighting style. Rather, he is no more effective in battle.

And …… They are also a natural enemy for us healing magicians.

“With you, the number of injured people who cannot be healed by healing magic will continue to increase. People who should be able to be helped will die. That’s why I’m going to nail you here.”

“……”

If I can’t win, I’ll do everything in my power to get in the way of you going on the defensive, in the way that I can’t win. ……!　No one is better than me for stubbornness, quickness, resignation and bad luck. ……!

Nero meditates once on me daring me to be too backward.

The next time he opened his eyes, they were filled with an extraordinary fighting spirit.

“Originally, I came to this battlefield to fight Rose. While doing so, I was thinking of dropping the human side’s stronghold. ……”

Nero drew his sword.

The red blade is exposed and the tip of the sword is slowly pointed at me.

“I wanted to see a little more of your power.”

I naturally take up a position with Nero, who gradually starts to wind down.

The thought of dropping a base by the way is frightening, but I guess the man in front of me could do it.

As I was thinking this, I saw a red blade in front of me——

“I’m going to die!”

“Mhmm, you avoided it.”

Quickly, I divert my head back and just barely avoid the slash.

I roll backwards with the momentum of the deflection, but the blade of the wind is closing in on me as I get up.

Nero was quietly surprised when I repelled with my gauntlet a blade of wind that was accurately fired at my neck, shoulder joint and heart.

“You’re good. Now how about this?”

He creates a whirlwind with his palm and releases it to the ground.

The whirlwind splits and comes towards me from another direction.

It’s like manipulating a magic bullet!

The moment you touch the wind to counteract it with your left fist, you get a razor cut on your fist.

“Ouch ……!”

I cancel the whirlwind with my healing burst palm and drown out the rest with my right gauntlet – but the whirlwind that should have been erased regenerates and attacks me again.

“As long as the wielder’s magic power lasts, it will continue to attack…….!”

To escape the whirlwind, I use healing acceleration fists to move and keep my distance from Nero.

“You have a medium reaction time. Your movements are also not comparable to a human’s.”

However, when a strong wind blew from the direction Nero was in, he approached right in front of me with such speed that it could be mistaken for instantaneous movement, and swung his red magic sword at my head.

With a chill running down my spine, I put my left hand on my right arm and caught it head-on.

“That’s close ……!”

A powerful wind blows from the sword I received and from Nero’s own body, and the wind created by it becomes a blade and cuts my body.

Just being up close, it’s like being in the middle of a storm. ……!

Nero draws his sword back as it is and continues to swing it.

“I won’t be cut down so easily!”

Ignoring the pain of having my whole body ripped open, I swing my gauntlet with all my might and parry the sword that is swung in rapid succession.

Remember what Hyde-san taught you!

You have to look not only at the sword, but at your surroundings and your opponent’s whole body and deal with it!

The barrage ended when a sword swung down from the upper level was caught by a gauntlet with the left hand attached, but the blade was pushed in instead.

“That cuirass is no ordinary one, either.”

“Yeah, the only thing about me is that I’m never going to break. ……!”

“…… Let me correct you. You are not like Rose. It’s more heterogeneous.”

“Well, thank you!”

I push back his sword with all my might and slam a healing fast strike fist, which specialises in the speed of the initial blow, into Nero’s torso.

“Oraa!”

The fist did indeed catch Nero, but just as the fist was about to touch his body, a gust of wind blew around him and blew my body away with great force.

“Wha-!”

The attack bounced back with the body without question…!

“Oh, shit! I’m an idiot!”

If Nero is the master of Amira, who wore flame magic as armour, then there’s no reason why he can’t do it too!

Nero, who has wind magic, always wears wind armour.

In terms of defence, so to speak, Nero is in a constant state of super-armour.

Normal fists will never get through, and the wind armour will also aid Nero’s attacks and movement.

…… Isn’t it too much, Rose, to have brought such an opponent to a draw!

“Be on your guard.”

“Ah!”

After forcibly convincing my nearly confused head, I try to stand up as I recoil from rolling on the ground, but in the follow-up attack, the demon sword that Nero swung sideways hits me directly in the torso.

The sound of the shattering of the resistance spell Nea had cast on me echoes from my body.

“Gaa ……!”

“Mu……?”

The slash is prevented, but only the impact passes through, so they are blown further away and roll on the ground as they are.

Without Nea’s magic, I would have died. ……

As I stood up, holding my chest in shock, Nero tilted his head, comparing his own sword to mine, with a whirlwind around him.

“I hate to say it, …… but you’re an even more wondrous healing magician than Rose. I thought I had definitely sliced through the torso, but the blade didn’t go through. …… Is that your constitution?”

“Gu, u……”.

I always knew I couldn’t win, but I didn’t realise I couldn’t even stop them in their tracks. ……!

And they are not serious at all against me. I feel like I’m being taken lightly, just like when I fought Rose.

…… but we’ve got to stand up for ourselves.

“Do you still want to stand up?”

“Just because I can’t win is no reason for me to go down ……!”

“…… I see.”

There is no magic of Nea resistance at the earliest opportunity.

The next attack on my flesh and blood would render me incapable of combat.

Just as Nero was about to step towards me, keeping his heart strong and beginning to wear a strong wind again —– a white shadow approached Nero from my right side and struck him.

Nero’s eyes widened as he was forced to retreat despite his wind armour.

At the sight of her, I sit up in relief.

“Looks like you’ve been hit pretty hard.”

“Yes. If …… it had been a little later, it would have been cut in half. Leader.”

I’m glad you made it in time. ……

Rose laughed at my words.

“Well, that’s a shame. A bit of pain would have helped your reckless habits.”

“I can’t. It’s in my nature now.”

I grab Rose’s proffered hand and stand up.

Then, somewhat later, Nea flies to me.

“Usato oh?! You’re alive! Did you lose your arm or something?”

“I’m alive and well. Thanks for bringing the Leader here.”

Nea flies around me to make sure I am safe.

…… It would have been hard to find the Leader, who is travelling faster than I am.

I talked to Leader as I dusted off the dust.

“I’m sorry for being …… unworthy.”

“No, you’re not in the wrong. I don’t know how you’ve endured this far. …… Leave it to me to deal with this guy.”

Having said this, Rose turned her attention to Nero.

Relative to her, Nero shows a spirit that he didn’t show when he was fighting me.

“Rose ……!”

“It’s been a long time. Nero Argents. You’ve been bullying my cute little disciple for quite a while now, haven’t you?”

“You can’t just call me cute, can you? I am an inhuman thing with healing magic, just like you.”

“Haha, there’s no difference.”

Why should I be recognised as a monster by my master’s arch-enemy and then have to agree with him?

From my point of view, you are more like monsters.

“As you wish, I’ll be your partner from now on. I’m going to punch you in your ugly face one more time.”

“That’s the way it should be. ……”

Nero made a smile at Rose’s words and created a small whirlwind in his palm.

Each time Nero poured his magic into the tornado, the whirlwind drew in the surrounding wind, but it remained the same size —– it seemed as if it was building up its power.

System enhancement, eh? It appears to be infusing extraordinary magical power, more than anything I know.

“I won’t let you get in the way of my fight with you.”

“…… I see, so the ‘tornado’ is you after all. ……Oi, Usato!”

“Yes?

Rose turns around and looks at me with serious eyes as I respond to her sudden anger, my voice turning inside out.

“You know what you have to do!”

“…… Yes!”

“Then, good!”

When she replied, Nero slammed the whirlwind he was making in his palm into the ground.

“—- System enhancement.”

The whirlwind that struck me seemed to expand to engulf Nero himself and Rose, and then it went on to become huge, blowing me out of the air as if I was nearby.

No, it’s not just me. It bounced everything in its range outwards, regardless of allies or enemy demon soldiers.

I landed on the ground, looked up and what leapt into my view was —– a huge tornado.

“!!!”

Artificially induced tornadoes.

It was unmistakably created by system reinforcement, and the magic swirled around as if in a cycle.

I let out a stunned cry at the sight of so much.

“It’s like Karon-san’s on a magic scale that has gone out of control. ……”

“It’s a real monster.”

The whirlwind created by Nero Argents turned into a tornado so high that it became enormous and rose to the heavens.

However, unlike ordinary tornadoes, the one he created stagnated in place and only continued to draw in the surrounding wind.

It seemed as if the magic was filled with Nero’s strong will to “not let anyone interfere with the battle that is about to take place inside the tornado.”

“So this was the prediction that Amako saw ……”.

Prediction seen by Amako before the battle, during the fight against the Demon Lord’s army.

When she first saw the prediction, she did not know what the circumstances were, but she now understands that what she saw was a prediction of the battle between Rose and Nero.

We can no longer know what is happening in the tornado.

“……I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

Rose had to face Nero, and I was the only one in white who could move.

If so, I have to move in her place as deputy commander.

There are people around me who have been blown down by the wind, so I’ll help them first and then complete my mission.

“Nea, we’re going to help them. ……”

“…… you need to get some rest, don’t you?”

“I’d like to, but I can’t say so …….”

At that moment, at the edge of my vision, I catch sight of a black shadow approaching you.

Some kind of black beast-like nanny running on four legs.

For a moment, I thought it was a new type of demon, but it is not.

“Shit, the timing is too bad. ……”.

“Hey, hey, Usato …… that’s …….”

Sharp fangs peeking out from a mask reminiscent of a bird’s beak, a black band wrapped around its body like a weave.

When he came close enough to see the whole of it, he shouted in a somewhat exultant voice.

“Oh, you’re alive and well!　Usato!”

“Koga ……!”

The “enemy” I least wanted to meet.

Koga Dingal, Commander of the 2nd Legion of the Demon Army.

The powerful enemy I had fought in Hinomoto, the land of the beastmen, had donned a deformed robe and attacked me.