Overlord (Light Novel) Chapter 42

Chapter 9: Jaldabaoth

Part 1

“Huwaaaah..”

The woman swallowed and placed a hand on her throat. There was a dry, sticky sensation there, and she got off the bed to get a drink of water. She threw on a long, thick robe to cover her nude body, slid her feet into a pair of slippers, and exited the room.

Surprised, Hima walked to the corridor. This mansion was always quiet when there were no nobles around, but this was too quiet.

Among nobles, even legitimate heirs would need to wait a long time before they could succeed the family estate. It was quite common for them to only do so after the age of 30.

Hilma provided drink, women and drugs, all the while whispering sweet nothings into their ears designed to play on their pride. She allowed them to meet others in the same situations as themselves to build a sense of closeness. Hilma would entertain them and build friendly relations with them.

She walked along the quiet hallway, looking for water to drink.

“…What's going on?”

People who don't move when they have to become food for others. This was a belief she subscribed to, and by adhering to that principle, she had risen from a high-class hooker to where she was now.

Trusting in her sixth sense, she headed towards a secret room which only she and a few others knew. There were several magic items and gems there, as well as an escape tunnel. This might have been her home base in the Royal Capital, but she had several other safehouses in the city itself. Perhaps she ought to flee there.

“What… is this?”

The window, made of sheets of thin glass, were covered in several layers of vines. As a result, almost no light could get in. She tried to open the window but it would not budge.

“What happened? Who could have…”

Who could have done this, and what was their aim?

“Dammit!”

She reached the staircase and looked down. It was still silent.

“—!”

There was a person in the hallway staring at her. That person seemed to blend into the shadows as it stood there, but it was not because they had shadow-melding abilities like thieves or other related jobs. Rather it felt that way because of their dark-skin, which gave the wrong impression. That was a Dark Elf, and their mismatched eyes seemed to sparkle against the black cloth wrapping them.

The secret room was behind this mysterious girl.

If only she were a playmate brought along by some noble.

When she heard that Cocco Doll had been captured, she had prepared to flee to a safe place to hide since she did not know how the higher-ups would react. Under these circumstances, there was no way her people would bring in outsiders, or fail to report such a thing to her.

After calling out, Hilma wrinkled her brows in suspicion.

Her clothes were exquisite and not the sort which ordinary people could afford. For all Hilma knew, even she might not have something of that quality.

If not for the sinister atmosphere, Hilma would have concluded that this child was a slave to satisfy some noble's degenerate lust.

She approached slowly and carefully, trying not to arouse his suspicion.

She was not displeased to be called an auntie. To a young Dark Elf like him, women of her age were probably all aunties.

She stopped halfway. She had a bad feeling about this.

“Yes! That's right! I'm the most important person in this mansion.”

The boy smiled. His smile was so pure that even under the present circumstances, it almost managed to ignite the desire to defile his purity within Hilma's heart.

As if in response to the boy, a nearby door opened. A girl slowly stepped out from within. She looked like a girl wearing some kind of bizarre maid uniform, but what surrounded her was not the scent of perfume but the stink of blood and gore.

The maid's lovely little hand clutched a man's arm. It looked like she had ripped it from his shoulder socket, given the torn fibers of muscle.

“Er, um, ah, it seems someone wanted to attack this mansion, so we decided to finish up some things before those people came. Therefore, er, I asked her to come along.”

She was able to address Hilma without moving her mouth. That was quite strange, but there were more pressing questions than that. What made Hilma shudder was the question of what exactly she had eaten to fill herself up. She could guess, but she did not want to believe. With those thoughts in her heart, she asked them.

“Eh? Ah, er, no. You have other uses, auntie.”

“—Then, then how about this, my boy. Want to have some fun with me?”

This was her body, her pride and joy. When she had still been a courtesan, it would have cost a fortune just to spend the night with her. After that, she had kept any excess fat off her frame and maintained her sensuous figure. She was confident that she could fill anyone with all-consuming lust for her, even if her target was a child.

She could admit that her charms were inferior to that maid over there. Even so, she had been a pro, despite the fact that she was retired. Even if he did not swing that way, she could still arouse him—

She could not sense anything like desire from the boy,

It was the Viper Tattoo.

However, the boy nimbly extended a hand and seized the whip-like snake as it struck, then proceeded to crush the life out of it without hesitation.

Hilma was now in the worst-case scenario of having initiated hostilities and having nothing to show for it, and so she stumbled back unsteadily. However, what most frightened her was the fact that the boy's expression had not changed at all during this string of events. He was not worried at being attacked, and neither did he show any hostility.

Go where? Just as Hilma began to wonder about his words, intense pain shot through her kneecap at that very same moment. The unbearable pain left her unable to stand and she collapsed to the ground.

She wailed in anguish, breaking out in a cold sweat because of the pain, and then she looked down at her knee. She then regretted doing so.

The kneecap of her left leg was twisted in the other direction, and bone protruded from her blood-red — from her flesh.

The boy grabbed Hilma by the hair and then walked out.

“It hurts! It hurts so much! Don't do this!”

“I, I have to hurry up and get there!”

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) 4th Day 22:20

She peeled a paper strip off her leg, wadded it up and threw it into the depths of the building.

However, that itself was not a problem. That was because Demiurge — who had sent Entoma and Mare here — had indicated that a development like this was a possibility. The problem was more that they had exceeded the allotted time by too much.

Indeed. The reason why their timing was completely off was because they had discovered a basement while they were retreating. And that basement was piled high with contraband items and forbidden drugs.

To begin with, there were several underground rooms heaped high with miscellaneous items, and the high-value items were salted and concealed among the dross. As the saying went, the best place to hide a tree was in a forest. Even Entoma and the demons could not have brought all the goods away with them, and so they had to sift through said forest for the trees in question.

Entoma and the demons decided to inspect each and every item, and they threw everything they judged as worthless into a room. This was a tedious task for the gathering party, whose strength far exceeded those of human beings. However, their hard work had paid off, and they had recovered everything valuable from the basement.

“All right~ Then, hurry up and move it all, everyone.”

The insects flew straight toward the prearranged meeting point, their wings making a deep bass sound as they flapped.

“Ah, I haven't eaten it yet. How silly of me, how silly.”

“While the fat of women's meat makes it tender and children's meat tastes good despite having less fat, eating the meat of a muscular man is best when trying to lose weight.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“Yo, this is a pretty nice night.”

Entoma had trouble telling whether the human who was slowly emerging was male or female. It seemed female, but judging by its muscular frame, it also seemed male.

“Taking a walk.”

“Meat.”

“Yup. Human meat.”

“I see. So the monster makes an appearance. I didn't expect Eight Fingers to rear such monsters. But by the looks of things, they didn't train you up properly.”

“I say. Could we just pretend we didn't see each other?”

“You see, I came here to work too, and dealing with you would be very annoying. The most important thing is that right now, my tummy's stuffed fit to burst.”

“What a pain. Still, you say you're strong, huh? In that case, I'll use you as emergency rations, then.”

It appeared to be a pure warrior.

Entoma was not a pure warrior, and so she could not estimate her opponent's strength. However, she did not feel that her adversary was stronger than her.

The manwoman ran at Entoma. Then it raised its spiked warhammer high and smashed down at her.

Entoma evaded once more, and then activated a skill.

The manwoman swung its warhammer at Entoma, and the gale in the wake of its blow whipped past her head, stirring the strands of her fake hair.

Her mockery was met by the clicking of a tongue. Entoma used her skill once more, and at the same time she easily avoided the plunging smash of the spiked warhammer. Having missed its target, the hammer crashed into the ground with all the force which had been meant for her.

However, Entoma then realised in the next moment that her opponent was waiting for this — for the hubris that only the overwhelmingly powerful possessed.

The earth shattered where the spiked warhammer had struck it. No, the stone floor had shattered. It was like a localized earthquake. For the first time, Entoma lost her footing. In contrast, her opponent had used some kind of magic item to remain as stately as a mountain.

I underestimated my opponent.

Evading that move was easy enough. Indeed, if she had been human, she would have lost her balance when her footing was destroyed, and the shockwave of the ground fragmenting under her feet would have reached her legs and acted as another set of shackles to bind her in place, making escape very difficult. However, Entoma was one of the Pleiades Battle Maids, and the magic items she wore were all of superior quality. Such conditions did not bother her in the slightest.

She would have to jump in order to evade, but that would dirty the maid uniform she wore.

That was enough — no more playing around.

No more playing around.

Entoma turned to face the falling spiked warhammer and raised her left arm. She no longer felt like a human flicking away a bug, but the actual desire to kill. Perhaps it would be different if she were a Floor Guardian, but for someone of Entoma's level, it would be very difficult to survive unscathed if she were to block that attack with her defenseless left arm.

At this moment, a shield clung to Entoma's left arm. “Clung” was not a metaphorical term — an insect with over eight legs gripped Entoma's arm tightly and refused to let go.

“You see, I'm an entomancer. So I can call out bugs like this and command them as I like.”

“These is a Sword Bug and this is a Shield Bug. I've decided that I'm going to kill you. I hadn't intended to take your life at first, but now you cannot be spared.”

She ripped through the manwoman's breastplate and fresh blood fountained out. However, it was not a fatal blow by any means. Her opponent had not been able to avoid a serious attack from Entoma, but she had only been lightly wounded.

She was not a pure fighter like Yuri Alpha, but Entoma Vasilisa Zeta was still a member of the Pleiades, and she possessed power entirely incomparable to that of mankind.

Thanks to the injury she had taken just now, this wound was deeper than the last, and it could no longer be considered light.

The spiked warhammer fell on Entoma with a furious cry, and Entoma deflected it with her Shield Bug. She felt a tremendous impact race through her, but she stood firm, determined not to budge so much as a step. In truth, nothing would have happened if she did move, but this was an expression of her pride, and her determination to not move for a mere human being.

Entoma did not know that this was the trump card of Blue Rose's Gagaran, her super combo made by simultaneously activating many martial arts. Each hit of that crashing wave of attacks was made with all the strength her steely arms could produce, and they could even break through the [Fortress] martial art. Only the defensive technique known as [Invulnerable Fortress] — which only a few geniuses could master — could hope to fully defend against it. However, Entoma's innate muscle power had blocked every single strike.

The beginning of despair began to appear in her opponent's eyes, but Entoma felt nothing for it. All she wanted was to kill her adversary.

She heard what sounded like a swimmer gasping for air as their head crested the water's surface. The combination attack had also stopped. Entoma cocked her right hand — the one with the Sword Bug — back like she was drawing a bow, and then stabbed forward like loosing an arrow. She was aiming for the chest of the manwoman.

—Or at least, that should have been the case.

Entoma's head swivelled. She wanted to see who had interfered with her attack.

“Sorry about that, Tia. I thought I was a goner.”

“What are you acting all surprised for? It's not like this is the first time you've seen me get hurt.”

“That's not a power-up, that's becoming another race entirely!”

As she heard the two of them bantering, Entoma grew angry. She was the strong one here. Only she was allowed to act so casual. They needed to know where they stood.

Entoma grew cautious for the first time. The manwoman — Gagaran — was nothing to fear. The problem was the newcomer — Tia. If her clothes were not just for looks, then she ought to be a ninja. That was a job class which required a minimum character level of 60 to take.

If she were a real ninja, then even Entoma would not be able to win easily. She had thought to conserve her strength and eliminate her opponent, but things being as they were, she could no longer afford to hold back.

Before her opponents could act, Entoma had already thrown out four talismans from her right hand.

These spiders were comparable to the monsters conjured by [Summon Monster 3rd], and they were hardly powerful creatures, but they ought to be enough to gauge her opponent's strength. They would also buy her time to prepare herself.

“[Kage Bunshin no Jutsu].”

Entoma paid no attention to it. The clones generated by the [Kage Bunshin no Jutsu] were only a quarter as strong as their creator. Their evasive ability varied in proportion to how much of their creator's mana had been allocated to them, but that was all. Perhaps they might be considered formidable opponents for the Shikigumo, but they were hardly a challenge for Entoma.

A swarm of Bullet Bugs gathered out of nowhere and covered her left arm.

The shadow clone was running ragged just trying to evade the attacks of one Shikigumo, while the original was dealing with two of them. The fact that she had only killed one after so long suggested that her foes were most definitely not high-levelled. That being the case, victory ought to be easy even if one factored in Gagaran's fighting power.

She was not going to show them any mercy. She would quickly end the battle with overwhelming force.

The bugs had encrusted Entoma's arm until they had practically doubled its diameter. As one, they crawled to the front of her arm and then took wing from her extended finger, one after the other. The incessant buzzing of wings called to mind the image of a Gatling gun. The path of the Bullet Bugs meant that they pierced through her own Shikigumo, but in total, 150 of them flew downstream at Tia.

“[Fudou Kongou Tate no Jutsu]!”

Entoma had no tongue, but she clicked it anyway. However, the fact that she could force her foe to use one ace in the hole after another was like lighting the path to her victory. So far her foe could withstand Entoma's attacks, but once Entoma's offense surpassed her opponent's defense, the flood which washed over their protections would surely consume them too.

If the dazzling lights of the [Fudou Kongou Tate] had affected Entoma's vision, she would not have been able to block Gagaran's leaping attack from the darkness. However, Entoma's vision was not affected by such petty trickery. In addition, her field of vision was much larger than that of a human, even when she wore “that”.

“This is terrible, I don't feel like we can win at all. How did she do that, her timing was too good, don't you think? She barely even saw me but she blocked me anyway.”

“It should be something else. I think it's more likely that it's an entomancer ability, or some kind of magical sense… that said, everything's in her favor, so why didn't she attack while we were talking?”

“I see. In other words, she's studying all our moves. That's completely unlike our shorty, these careful types are really hard to deal with.”

The insect clinging to Entoma's right arm fell to the ground and vanished into the night with a scrabbling noise.

Another insect crawled onto the now-vacant arm. It resembled a centipede. No, it practically was a centipede, if one disregarded the fact that it was ten meters long and the sharp fangs at what passed for its face in front.

Entoma began channelling her strength into her legs.

“Oops.”

“I just ate my fill, but after a bit of exercise I'm hungry again.”

Although her favorite food was humans, until now she had only been able to sate her cravings using green biscuits as a substitute. Of course, she did not resent the Supreme Beings because of that. In fact, Entoma felt that the Supreme Beings were quite generous for allowing her to eat the arms which had been severed during the experiments on the humans captured from a certain village,

The two of them shuddered, exposed as they were before Entoma's hungry gaze. They were not afraid of the killing intent she emitted, but this was a trembling born of the revulsion any living being had when a carnivore set its sights on them.

This was the first time Entoma had gone on the offensive in the battle, and her attack was accompanied by a shrill cry that sounded like two pieces of foam rubbing against each other. Predators pounced their prey in a straight line, and at very high speeds.

Seeing Gagaran the frontliner raise her weapon, Entoma decided on the first person she would incapacitate, and she swung the whip in her right hand.

Entoma was now using the most powerful insect that she, as an entomancer, could summon —

This movement was only possible from a creature that was a fusion of weapon and lifeform. Even a veteran of a thousand bizarre encounters like Gagaran had probably never seen or experienced this sort of thing before. It was only natural that she would be surprised by witnessing something like that for the first time.

Gagaran evaded the attack by the narrowest of margins, and as the insect-whip flew past her face —

If not for that suicidal explosion, the Thousand Lash Bug would have pierced her skull. It had been well-dodged. However, Entoma's attack did not stop there. The Thousand Lash Bug suddenly turned as though it was on strings, heading at Gagaran's blackened body.

—It was a Thunderbird Talisman.

If there were two opponents, then all she had to do was let her bug deal with one of them. One could say that was an advantage that entomancers possessed.

“Motherfucker! I hate these squirmy things!”

Tia stepped forward and threw a dagger, which struck Entoma's Shield Bug with a metallic sound.

Entoma cast out many talismans with her left hand. They transformed into birds that were slightly smaller than before and converged on Tia. However, Tia vanished, and bereft of a target, the thunderbirds flew on.

The few remaining Bullet Bugs shot out at Tia as she stepped out of the shadows.

The stink of fresh blood accompanied a cry of pain, but Entoma sensed that her opponent was still able to fight, and so she followed up on her attack.

An explosion more intense than the one Tia had previously made shattered the nighttime silence. Tia was blown away, rolling along the ground, and more talismans continued flying after her. They were Keen Slice Talismans and Buffeting Gale Talismans. Tia could not find a chance to get to her feet, and she left a trail of bloodstains in her wake as she rolled further and further away, all the while being slashed and blasted.

The insect whip had already wrapped up Gagaran, who was cursing from inside the spherical mass.

Entoma chuckled under her mask.

“…The sequence of events is kind of wrong, but oh well, I guess I can't do anything about that. In any case, I'll probably be able to eat my fill since there are so many muscles, and it looks tasty too.”

Entoma grabbed the bugs and stepped lightly towards Tia.

“Hm? What's that?”

It looked like a cavalry lance made of crystal. However, that was no ordinary lance. That was because the cavalry lance which had pierced the stone floor was made of fragile crystal, yet it did not have a single crack on it.

As a spiritual magic caster, Entoma could sense certain common qualities which all magic-using careers shared from the cavalry lance.

The person who answered her descended slowly upon the butt of the cavalry lance. She was a dimunitive, masked girl in a robe with a childish voice.

“That's enough from you for now.”

“I see, so you're a man-eater. And you're dressed up like a maid, are you kidding me? Who the hell would want a monster who reeks of blood attending them?”

Entoma had accidentally spoken in her true voice, and she hurriedly clamped her hand down on her throat.

What did this woman just say to me? Me, a Pleiades Battle Maid of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, one who serves the Supreme Beings?

“I'lL kILl You!”

“Evileye!”

“I was wondering what you were trying to do… ahhh, honestly. Lesson One; always consider the relative strength and weakness of yourself and your opponent. She's stronger than you… and weaker than me.”

“How dare you bully my comrades, you monster! Now I'll teach you what it feels like to be bullied in turn! You can thank me for it later!”

Entoma was radiating murderous intent of her own from every pore of her body, and she broke into a sprint. In Entoma's hate-filled mind, the other two were nothing more than bothersome pebbles.

Those words echoed through her mind, again and again.

“I'll squash you flat with your friend! Damn woman!”

“Hmph, what a boring attack.”

“[Reverse Gravity].”

As long as the wearer successfully resisted a spell, their equipment would also resist it. However, insect weapons did not use their wielders' resistance, but had to resist spells and effects on their own.

However powerful Entoma was, she could only give up her original plan in the face of this magic.

“Gagaran! You're in the way! Go heal up Tia! If your gloves are used up, feed her potions!”

Evileye was on Entoma's level. If she had help, the tide might quickly turn against her.

She had already used it once to exterminate everyone within the mansion in one fell swoop, but she could still use it two more times.

The flies expelled by the breath were like cattle flies. They did not eat flesh in and of themselves, but they laid flesh-burrowing grubs. The grubs would burrow into their victims' bodies and cause damage over time to them. Worse, once the larvae sprouted wings, they would become a choking swarm that would attack anyone who entered their area of effect save certain individuals.

With an awwwwrblargh, she vomited a mass of swarming flies.

White vapor spread from Evileye, as though to meet the attack.

She had made a mistake.

As they touched the vapors, the flies fell to the ground one by one. Said vapors then enveloped Entoma's body. At that moment, Entoma was wracked by incredible agony.

“Abbbaahhhhh!”

Evileye's objective had been to negate her opponent's breath attack, but she had not expected it to reveal her enemy's true face.

Gagaran had her spiked warhammer raised and she was looking for a chance to approach her opponent. As expected of an excellent warrior, she had probably sensed that this was the deciding moment of the battle. In truth, given their opponent's fighting power, they had to follow up on this attack and finish the fight quickly.

“What on earth was that spell?”

“It's an insect-killing spell, [Verminbane]. There was an insectile Demon God among the Demon Gods 200 years ago. So I invented this spell to wipe out the insects it summoned. Ah, well, it's something like a unique creation.”

“It won't. It's especially effective against vermin, but it's non-toxic towards other living creatures.”

“Tia, that's because her true identity is… erk! No, that's not a face!”

“To think it was an insect shaped like a mask…”

The maid's throat was exposed. There was a slit in that abnormally hard-looking throat, and a big chunk of something slime-covered fell out of it.

“What the…”

“—A Lip Bug.”

“This insect devours the vocal cords of humanoids and uses them to produce the voices of its victims.”

As everyone stared at her, the maid slowly removed the hands covering her face. The visage thus revealed resembled that of an insect's.

The fact that an inhuman monster like this had actually set foot into the world of humans made them all feel like they had been violated.

That voice was cold, stiff and difficult to understand.

Gagaran's words were practically dripping with hostility. She was the most compassionate of all of Blue Rose's members. In all likelihood, she was thinking of all the victims of this girl. The grip on her weapon grew tighter.

During the previous battle, their opponent had always striven to present a calm, composed front. However, that composure was nowhere to be seen now.

“The real battle's about to begin! Don't slack off, you two! What's in store for us is an attack even fiercer than the last!”

The insect maid's back swelled up, and four long legs — like those of a spider — sprouted from under her clothes. It looked like she was wearing insect legs as a backpack.

Now that she had a height advantage from overhead, the monster spewed its [Fly Breath], seeking to engulf everyone in it.

“ONlY yOu! yOU'rE tHe OnLy ONe I haVe tO feAR! ONCe You'Re deAd EvErYTHIng elSE WIll bE SimPLe! WhY aRE YOu sO hARD To DeAl wiTH?!”

“Take this!”

Evileye might have the advantage, but Gagaran was not willing to dump everything on her. She stepped up beside her comrades to challenge this formidable foe. Evileye smiled at her from under her mask. If she had not been wearing, she might have have been too shy to do so.

In response to the [Smash]-enhanced strike, the monster spat a mouthful of spider silk. There was so much of it that painted the upper half of Gagaran's body white.

“[Crystal Lance].”

It hit Entoma and penetrated deep into her body, but it did not seem to hurt her at all. Worse, she seemed strong enough to summon more insects from the night, causing her left arm to swell up.

The white vapors caused the insects swarming on Entoma's left arm to fall off, and the monster moaned in pain.

Defending with magic would be a waste of mana. I'm immune to binding anyway, so I should just take — no!

“[Crystal Barrier]!”

“Was that razor webbing?!”

The net of woven black thread which Tia cast out expanded in mid-air. However, that net could not find purchase on the monster's body. The net passed through the monster's body like an illusion and fell to the ground.

“Cheh! Time out!”

The startling thing was that when the greave made contact with the maid uniform, there was a sound of metallic collision.

“POkiNg hERe anD PoKInG theRE… wHaT a PAiN!”

“Did you hear that? That maid uniform's as hard as my weapon, what a joke.”

“Adamantite… no, that's not it.”

“Which means?”

“We need to attack head on and hit her with everything we have to drain her health.”

“We'll just use our strongest moves. For me, it'll be [Verminbane].”

However, depleting the health of one's foe with high firepower was not as simple as it sounded.

If damage had to be done, then Gagaran could take care of that with physical attacks. Evileye's role was to prepare countermeasures for when physical attacks were ineffective, and not to focus on attack magic. That was what she had always believed. However, given the present circumstances, she could not longer say that.

Evileye considered the spell she ought to use.

The three of them looked at each other, and they attacked at once.

♦ ♦ ♦

It was true that their foe was very powerful. She could spit all kinds of spiderwebs, launch magical attacks with talismans, and summon insects to attack. In addition, she possessed powerful magic items, beyond those of Blue Rose.

If she were asked what had determined the course of the battle, Evileye would puff up her chest and proudly say, “my friends.”

In particular, the side that could have others heal them when they could not heal themselves had an advantage. That point had been the decisive factor between victory and defeat.

Part 3

It had been a fierce battle.

Evileye's mana was heavily depleted, and her expendable items were almost gone. The cost of this battle had been ruinous.

Gagaran, covered in wounds as she was, announced their victory in a panting voice. While she was completely out of healing items, she had not lost as much health as her external injuries would indicate.

“Got it.”

Now that she lacked the ability to fight, it would be best to take her life without hesitation.

“I believe that will be all for now.”

He was dressed in strange clothes which they had never seen before in this region. From what Evileye knew, this was a type of clothing worn in the south, known as a “suit”. The man wore a mask, and they could not see his face.

“Oi, you a friend of Evileye's?”

“—Are you alright? Allow me to take care of things from now on. You should go back and rest.:”

The fear she felt from the top of her head to the ends of her toes refused to vanish.

“…Run away… idiot, don't look at me. Shut up and listen. That… he's too powerful. He's a monster among monsters. Don't look back, just run with all your might.”

Gagaran's face was bitter as she asked that question.

And then, somehow, the insect maid — who should have been rendered immobile by her injuries — rose shakily to her feet. She did not seem to have used any healing magic, nor did she seem to have drunk anything.

Although their enemy was getting away before their eyes, Evileye did not care. She could not tear her eyes away from the man in front of her. The other two were like her, covered in sweat and frozen in place.

In the 250-plus years of her life, Evileye had seen powerful beings of all shapes and sizes. However, the man before them had a unique aura about him. No, it was more that the nauseating malice he emanated had no equal in all her experience.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting. Now then, since we do not have much time for this, let us begin right away.”

Evileye's voice was more of a wail.

However, those thoughts were immediately overruled.

Certain extremely high-level demons and angels could use skills that could prevent the use of teleportation in their vicinity. Evileye had now lost her means of retreat.

“Death ought to come in the appropriate order. The young should live, while the most aged should die first. I believe that is proper.”

“Now then, after you. Of course, if you will not do anything, then I shall make the first move.”

I am Evileye. I am a woman of legend. No matter how powerful my enemy is — I must fight!

Her opening move was her most favored spell. Shards of crystal, each slightly smaller than a fist, scattered forth.

She had resigned herself to death, and yet she dared not advance. Evileye could not help but mock herself for that. However, she ought to fight carefully when she did not know how powerful her opponent was.

Is this the spell resistance which only certain species possess? He's that much more powerful than me?!

Ignoring Evileye, who had misplayed her opening move, the man grandly swept his hand. He looked like the conductor of an invisible orchestra.

A wave of heat crashed into her back. Evileye could not believe it, and hurriedly turned back to look.

The fleeing Gagaran and Tia were enveloped by the black fire. Their limbs twitched like puppets, and then they fell to the ground like so much rubbish. When the fire had vanished like it had never been, the two of them remained motionless. Evileye fought the impulse to rush to their side. She could hardly believe it, but she had no choice but to do so. Evileye knew those had been fatal injuries. With just a single blow, the comrades with whom she had shared her joy and sorrow had lost their lives.

“I had hoped to stop just short of killing them, but they were weaker than I had expected. To think they could not even take flames of that magnitude. You have my sincerest condolences.”

He had ignored Evileye before him — the one who had actually attacked him — but had instead attacked the two people behind her. Why was that? Obviously it was because they were fleeing, but there was another, greater reason beyond that.

The person before him would not flee. So he would kill the people who did flee. That was probably what he was thinking.

“—-You have no right! To say that! Uwaaaaaahhhh!”

The demon raised his fist and prepared to meet her.

The demon's arm swelled up to several times its original size, and it was so long that it dragged upon the ground. This was not pneumatic inflation, but a sturdy arm of muscle and bone that was a weapon in its own right.

The gigantic arm closed in on Evileye. It moved much faster than she had imagined, filling up her field of vision like a gigantic wall. Evileye sensed that she would have a hard time evading and cast a defense spell.

Her vision turned black, and at the same time she felt a massive impact, as well as her body being savagely hurled through the air. Her line of sight spun round and round, and she had no idea where she was. When she hit the floor, the impact was such that she bounced lightly off, like a ball. Then she hit the ground again this time sliding to a halt.

Evileye used [Fly] to get back up in a way that defied common sense.

“[Penetrate Maximize Magic – Crystal Dagger].”

The demon did not dodge, but took it on his body. The spell's damage potential had been maximized, yet it did not seem to have affected the demon at all.

Just adding the word “Lord” to a name did not make a monster stronger, but the more powerful members of a species often called themselves “Lords” or “Kings”. That was common knowledge in this world. Frankly speaking, humans were the only species who would crown their weaker members as kings.

The demon's fingernails grew to a length of over 80 centimeters long. Evileye's instincts told her that they were sharp enough to cut through anything.

Evileye quirked up the corner of her mouth.

“Here I come!”

Unable to bear that weight, the stone slabs shattered, and dust flew everywhere.

His jet-black armor reflected the calm light of the moon, making for an oddly beautiful sight. His crimson cape fluttered like a roaring blaze, with the night sky as a backdrop. Each of his hands held an extraordinary greatsword, gleaming with the light of judgement.

Evileye heard the sound of swallowing in the silence. It had come from the demon. That unfathomably powerful demon, whose strength even Evileye could not accurately judge, did not dare breathe loudly in the presence of this imposing warrior.

_{The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ʟɪɢʜᴛɴᴏᴠᴇʟᴡᴏʀʟᴅ.ᴄᴏᴍ website.}

She heard a cold voice shatter the night.

“Now then… which of you is my enemy?”

Chapter end