I watched as Kanami and the Winged Guardian left our location without taking any action.
If I were to cooperate with Kanami, or even if I didn't, there was no way I couldn't defeat that Guardian. It wasn't arrogance; it was a fact I became confident in after sparring with her once.
That's why I entrusted this battle to Kanami.
What I should be doing is not fighting her.
"Is Kanami-san okay?"
"'She said that she can be a warrior. There's nothing to do but believe and wait.'"
Honestly, this battle relies heavily on Kanami. When I entrusted her with such an important role, she nodded without hesitation. To be relied upon by a Hero was the greatest honor for her.
If that's the case, then worrying would be tasteless. The way to respond to her feelings wasn't to worry; it was to silently do what I needed to do.
"'They're coming.'"
I had thought that only the guardian would be sent, but as expected, the demon made their move. That's right, the Winged Guardian should be a powerful card even for demon. Sending her here meant they wanted to settle things here.
In the darkness, multiple shadows began to stir.
The presence that had not existed until just a moment ago now appeared countless times over.
It was as I had expected, but they had chosen the worst possible way to do this.
"Yuusuke-san, are those people being controlled by demon?"
"'Yeah, some are being controlled, and some are not.'"
"I can't tell the difference..."
As Lisha said, among those who had appeared one after another in the darkness were many humans. They wore school uniforms, suits, and casual clothing - the kind of people you could find anywhere.
Their identities were of two types: duplicates created by demon or the original humans being parasitized by duplicates.
One of them slowly walked up to us.
It was a boy around ten years old, with a cute face and a smile that seemed to diminish the viewer's hostility. However, I could clearly see his true nature with my eyes - the intense and sinister magic power that no ordinary boy should possess.
"'Are you the demon of Senai (chaos)?'"
The boy's smile deepened.
"Yes, that's right. I am the one who bears the title of 'Senai,' though it's a bit presumptuous of me."
His voice was innocent and lacked any hint of the vile means he was going to use such a sneaky method.
"And who are you? You don't seem to be a Guardian."
"'I'm a local magician. I happen to be assisting them.'"
"Local magician..."
Senai seemed to ponder for a moment before shrugging.
"It's impossible. The level of magicians in this world is low. I can't believe there are magicians like you here."
"'Regardless of your judgment, it's a fact.'"
"You don't seem interested in telling the truth."
With narrowed round eyes, Senai raised his hand.
"If that's your intention, I'll change my ways. It seems like I might be better off with a local magician like you."
At the same time, the humans lined up behind Senai, readying themselves. They leaned forward aggressively, even though they didn't appear to have any proper weapons.
"If you can't tell which humans are duplicates and which are real, what can you do?"
Even though this armor could withstand countless humans crowding around it without a scratch, it wouldn't be able to avoid damage if one of the duplicates hidden among them took advantage of an opening.
When Senai waved his hand, the humans began to rush toward us.
"Yuusuke-san, I'l l use Sanctuary!"
Lisha tried to activate her magic, but I stopped her with my hand.
Yeah, this is a nasty way to do it. If it weren't for me as the target, there would have been nothing we could do.
"'Don't underestimate me.'"
Distinguishing between ordinary humans and those parasitized by demon was difficult, but distinguishing between a complete demon duplicate and a human was even harder. However, if I knew what kind of tactics he was going to use, I could prepare accordingly.
I raised my sword to my left shoulder and infused it with magic power. The emerald geometric patterns crawled along the blade, forming the basis of the spell.
I stepped my right foot forward, gathering power in my hips and rotating. The force rotated my upper body, and the tip of the sword raced forward at an explosive speed.
It was a sweeping slash.
"'Cress (Moon Blade).'"
The crescent moon tore through the night, not the golden one in the sky but an emerald crescent that would mow down the approaching humans. It was a spell that cut through a wide area in a single slash, the 'Cress (Moon Blade).' It was faster than "Storm Sword" or "Ultimate Sword" and could be used from any position. The Moon Blade swiftly cut through everything in front of me.
As the afterglow of the flash disappeared, silence and darkness enveloped the surroundings once more.
"Fool, you dare to cut down the entire human race!"
In the midst of this, one of the severed Senai screamed with only its upper body intact.
But unfortunately, I hadn't cut down any humans.
On the dark road, there were the remains of bodies that had been severed, and people who had fallen, completely unharmed. Senai looked around and seemed to notice the situation for the first time.
"Don't tell me that you chose the person you were going to slay..."
"'What are you surprised about?'"
I've seen it once; it's easy to select specific targets for this kind of attack. It's precisely because it's a simple 'Moon Blade' that such adjustments are possible. Did he really think I would appear without any plans at all?
"Wow, Yuusuke-san, that was amazing!"
Lisha was amazed, but this technique wasn't all that rare. Of course, there are magics that can't be adjusted, but even Kanami wouldn't have trouble choosing attack targets.
I stepped forward while infusing my sword with magic power once more. It would be nice if this one strike settled it, but unfortunately, Senai's magic power remained unchanged.
"'I've cut down both your duplicates and the ones you've parasitized. Come at me with your full strength.'"
Dragging his upper body, which had been severed, Senai looked at me. Lisha finally let out a gasp at the bizarre sight. Jillzack Luiid looked relatively humanoid, but there are many other demons.
Even after having his body severed, Chaos continued to laugh.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect this level of strength. It seems I can't keep testing the waters forever, huh?"
"Ugh."
Finally, Lisha let out a cry.
It was understandable. Senai's small mouth distorted his skeletal structure and then opened wide, revealing ten fingers emerging from within.
The fingers forcefully spread the mouth even wider, making it emit a sound that was painful to hear as they extended from the mouth.
"Ah, it's getting annoying. I thought I'd go a bit easier, but..."
He had a tall, slender body with grayish skin, resembling a stone statue.
While his general silhouette was humanoid, calling him humanoid felt like a stretch. He had a long, thin tail and two horns growing from his forehead.
It was as if animal characteristics had been fused with a human form.
Even though his silhouette was roughly humanoid, calling him humanoid was a stretch. A long, slender tail and two horns growing from his forehead.
It was as if animal features had been fused with a human.
But the most non-human aspect was his head. The part that resembled a face was a massive mouth. Furthermore, from within that mouth, a single large eye peered out.
In other words, when viewed from the front, it looked like a bowling ball-sized single eye was swallowed by the mouth.
Clearly, he was far from the standard for living creatures.
"Well, there's no helping it. Let's go head-to-head before that."
Senai spread both arms and looked down on me. His entire body overflowed with even more magic power, covering him. His enormous eye wriggled within the gaps of his teeth, scanning the surroundings.
"Ah, but before that..."
In an instant, Senai's tail flexed.
The tail transformed into a whip and tore through the air at an incredible speed. His target was the people lying on the ground!
"!"
I managed to intervene at the last moment, blocking the tail with my sword. The collision produced a sound much harder than expected, and I felt a heavy impact in my arm. It was more powerful than I had imagined, but it wasn't a big deal.
Without hesitation, I slashed at the tail that I had intercepted. Although the surface was tough, the sensation inside was as heavy as slicing through mud. The tip of the tail rolled on the ground without even a drop of blood and Senai stood there without a hint of movement, despite having his body severed.
He's someone who can create duplicates and change his body. Physical damage doesn't seem to have much effect on him. Or perhaps he has some sort of core, and his body is just an outer shell.
But still, he came to kill without hesitation.
"'Do you know nothing about the God-Demon War?'"
"Is it true that if I kill too many people, I will be expelled? I wonder how many people one would need to kill for that to happen. And is it even a real thing?"
Senai spoke nonchalantly while rotating his head.
"If I understand that, it might be worth trying, don't you think? Fortunately, there's no shortage of materials lying around."
His tone was incredibly casual.
To this guy, humans had no more value than that. Lives were no different from dust, and he genuinely believed that if they could be used for something, it was better than being worthless.
I didn't intend to engage in a debate about that now. It would be impossible to convince ordinary people to cherish cockroaches, and it was somewhat similar to that.
But whether it was amusing to listen to was a different matter.
"'Do you have the luxury to be distracted from me?'"
"Well, it might be a bit of a challenge."
While saying such things nonchalantly, Senai lightly flicked his tail. The tail, which I had partially severed, began making cracking sounds as it transformed.
It happened in an instant.
The elongated tail split into segments encased in carapace, sharpening into something resembling a blade. Its appearance was more like a snake-belly sword than a tail.
A magic that altered the physical body. I had seen magic that added animal elements or changed the body according to specific rules before.
However, this guy's magic was different even from that. Regeneration, transformation, duplication—what kind of magic was this?
Senai clicked his teeth together and extended his tongue from the gap between his teeth and eyes, licking his eyeball.
"But very well, I've been wanting to try this for a while now."
"'Try what?'"
"Yes, I've been curious about how strong I am at my current level. That fallen guardian was too weak to even be worth discussing."
"'...'"
I see, I had assumed that the guardian was being one-sidedly coerced into a master-servant relationship because of the key, but she actually lost due to a pure difference in strength.
That Winged Guardian certainly wasn't weak by any means. If she didn't take it lightly, her combat abilities must be beyond imagination.
As I thought so, Senai spread his arms and looked up at the sky. All that lay beyond was a night sky that obscured even the stars.
However, Senai widened his eyes and spoke to something beyond the sky.
"I am Tarim, the one granted the title of Senai. A chaotic muck where all factors blend together. Ah, my Lord. I am grateful for this encounter. From now on, I shall send the foolish humans who oppose my Lord to the underworld."
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