Duel Of The Wind

I concentrate my mana into the hand pointed at Lyle.

One blast of this would likely erase him without a trace.

“—Fried-sama, defend yourself!”

Suddenly, Stella’s voice rang out.

“Rune Shield!”

I instinctively leapt back, manifesting a blue defensive field around myself. Just to be safe, I created one around Stella as well. Immediately after, a flash of light flooded out from beyond the trees.

“What is this—!?”

Hundreds of arrows of light were being rained down from all directions. Protected by the mana barrier—the Rune Shield—Stella and I didn’t budge an inch, but the surrounding trees were mowed down and blown to splinters one after another.

…Take better care of nature, would you?

I couldn’t help but mutter the thought in my head. Amidst the howling storm of destruction, I used Energy Hand to pick up my mask and put it back on.

“Are you okay, Lyle-kun?”

A young girl came running from the front. Her blue hair was tied in twin tails with yellow ribbons. She wore silver light plate armor. Her age appeared to be about the same as Lyle’s, or perhaps a year or two older. It was the girl from the “Sacred Edges” I had seen in the footage earlier.

“You saved me, Ludmila,” Lyle said, unsteadily rising to his feet.

“That crest… a Demon Lord, then.”

The blue-haired girl—Ludmila—glared at me.

“I’ll take it from here.”

She leveled a jade-colored bow. It was a longbow with a unique X-shaped form. The Seraph-class Miracle Armament, Raphael, huh? As Ludmila pulled the string, a glowing arrow appeared in her hand. Once fired, the arrow split into dozens.

“Fire.”

I intercepted them with the lowest-tier flame spell. The cluster of light arrows and the pea-sized fireball collided in mid-air, scattering a magnificent burst of light. The one that won in terms of power was—the cluster of light arrows. While most were extinguished by the collision with the fireball, several surviving arrows of light continued toward me.

I effortlessly deflected them with the mana wall deployed in front of me.

“…You shot right through my Fire?”

Even if it’s the lowest-tier spell, my Fire has enough power to erase a mountain. Among my previous opponents, the only one to ever block it was Demon Commander Regal.

“As I thought, you’re different from the other Heroes.”

I displayed Ludmila’s status.

Compared to the Heroes I’ve met so far, her level is far higher.

“I am the Sacred Edge of ‘Wind’—Ludmila Deal,” she declared with a dignified tone. She held her bow ready, prepared to fire the next shot at any moment. “Wicked Demon Lord, your fate ends today!”

“A-as expected, Ludmila…” Lyle backed away fearfully and tucked himself behind her.

Before I settle things with him, I need to deal with her first.

“My business is with Lyle. Move,” I said quietly. “If you block my path, I will show no mercy.”

This was my will as the Demon Lord. A will that would not waver, no matter who stood in my way.

“If you block my path, I will show no mercy.”

Ludmila stared straight at the arrogant, masked Demon Lord. If she stayed on the defensive, she would be killed. She understood that much from the brief clash just now. It had taken dozens of light arrows just to erase a tiny fireball that was likely nothing more than a probing shot. If he unleashed his full power with an attack spell, she wasn’t sure if even Raphael could intercept it.

Victory goes to the first striker—I have to do it before he does.

Ludmila notched an arrow of light. These arrows manifested according to her mental strength. The maximum number she could fire at once was 777. She couldn’t fire them infinitely in a continuous stream; there was a gap of a few seconds before the next volley. Still, her sheer volume of fire could be called overwhelming. She should be able to push through by maintaining the offensive—.

“Pierce, Raphael!”

With a shout, she unleashed over a hundred arrows of light.

“Rune Shield.”

The Demon Lord deployed a defensive field, just as before.

“Then, over there!”

Ludmila immediately changed her aim to the other demon. She fired over a hundred light arrows toward her as well.

“Tch…!”

The silver-haired demon woman retreated in a panic. In the next instant, a blue defensive field covered her entire body. The Demon Lord had protected her.

“Targeting Stella instead of me, are you?”

“Taking out the weaker one first is the standard tactic of battle.”

“I won’t let you have her.”

Though his expression was hidden by the mask, anger seeped into his voice.

…He actually cares for his subordinates?

Were there demons who possessed compassion like humans? Or did he simply not want to lose a pawn? Either way, it didn’t change the fact that demons were enemies that had to be defeated. Especially a Demon Lord.

“You are the enemy of humanity—of the world.”

Ludmila fired another volley of light arrows. But again, they were effortlessly deflected by the defensive field the Demon Lord deployed. It seemed a head-on breakthrough of that Rune Shield was impossible.

(Still… there’s a way through.)

From what she could see, there was a slight time lag in its deployment.

“If I can strike that opening—”

Ludmila continued to fire arrows, weaving in feints—pretending to target the Demon Lord only to target the demon woman, Stella, or trying to outthink him even further.

Not a single arrow landed a decisive blow. However, because he was protecting Stella, the Demon Lord seemed unable to switch to the offensive.

Ludmila fired. The Demon Lord defended. Reading each other’s aims, shifting positions in a complex dance, they repeated this exchange over and over. Dozens, hundreds of times.

And then—.

With a sound like glass shattering, a small hole opened in a section of the defensive field. No matter how hard the defense, if an attack is concentrated on a single point, it eventually exceeds its durability limit and breaks.

“Now, this is the end, Demon Lord!”

Ludmila concentrated her mental strength to its maximum level and cried out in a clear voice.

“Miracle Armament Raphael—Full Burst Point Breakthrough!”

She fired 777 light arrows simultaneously toward the hole in the defensive field. They merged as they streaked through the air, becoming one gargantuan arrow. The radiant bolt passed through the hole and closed in on the Demon Lord.

Full Burst Point Breakthrough. It was Ludmila’s ultimate technique, concentrating the energy of Raphael’s maximum capacity of 777 arrows into a single point to destroy and erase the target with immense destructive energy. No matter how powerful the Demon Lord, taking this would not end well.

“PIERCE HIM!”

The Demon Lord took that arrow, fired with absolute confidence—

With a single hand.

“N-no…!?”

“I was waiting for you to target only me.”

All the arrows were crushed in his grip and dissipated into mist.

“I saw through it. Once you fire that arrow, there is a time lag before the next shot. I’m ending this before you can target Stella again.”

“Ah… ahh…”

Her ultimate strike, delivered with every ounce of her mental strength, had been effortlessly blocked; Ludmila’s knees buckled, and she collapsed on the spot. Finally, she realized.

From the very beginning, it hadn’t even been a contest. The dimension of combat ability between herself and the Demon Lord was simply too different. Far—far too different. The Demon Lord had merely been waiting for the most certain timing to win while protecting the demon woman. Ludmila hadn’t been on the offensive; she had merely been allowed to attack—.

“I’ll say it again. I won’t let anyone block my path.”

“Kyaa!?”

Hit by a violent gust of wind, Ludmila was sent flying. Was it a shockwave of mana? She was slammed into the ground and lay there, incapacitated.

“Ugh…”

She lay prostrate, unable to stand.

“Now, where were we? Lyle.”

The Demon Lord didn’t even spare Ludmila another glance as he walked toward Lyle—.