Chapter 204 Strongest Sage, Whittles Down Life Force

 

There is no way I could master magic combat if I couldn't get out of this little predicament.
My goal, the space monsters, are incomparably way more powerful than this demon.
Even if my sword isn't good enough anymore, I shall make sure to survive somehow.

Steeling myself, I blocked Zaridias's sword while whittling down my life force.
Nothing has changed outwardly.
Feigning like this is one of many fields I'm good at.

I predict how Zaridias is thinking and move in a way that deceives him.
Even if he's well experienced in battle, he can't possibly notice my state right now.
--But that's only if he doesn't know 『The objective of my fight』.

I've noticed the existence of one demon in the city from its mana reaction.
Once that demon realized Ruli and Alma's goal and reported it to Zaridias, that moment would be when he realized that I was buying time.
And it seems that time has come.

"...Mu?"

Zaridias turned his focus away from our fight for an instant.
It looked like he had just talked to someone who isn't here.

I deployed a barrier magic in that opportunity, but Zaridias broke it apart with his magic.
And then--the demon changed his stance.

Before, his stance was of that of one who sought victory while thwarting any counterattacks for certain.
Right now, he's taking the stance of one that will try to end the fight quickly even while taking the risk of counterattack.

"...Haaa! Gu... Nunn!"

The fight became many times fiercer than ever before.
I'm losing my life force at a tremendous rate, my sword and magic are gradually losing their strength.

There is a limit on overcoming gaps with skills alone.
And that limit is coming fast.
It's taking me everything just to parry his sword, I can't even afford to check on mana reactions in the surroundings.

--Right at that time.
I could hear a voice from the direction of the capital's great barrier.

『Take it!』

--Alma's voice. Ruli must have used comm magic to make her voice reach me.
And then, Alma threw the magic sword as it flew off her hand.

These girls must be trying to throw the sword while hiding it from Zaridias.
However, there's no way the demon didn't notice comm magic that wasn't even magically disguised.

Zaridias concluded that I shouldn't be allowed to get the sword, took some distance away from me in an instant, spread his wings and began to supply them with mana.
He's trying to snatch the magic sword, to destroy my rope to victory for sure.
If I let him did it, my chance of victory would vanish in a puff.

In such a situation--I use amplification magic and shout out loud to Iris in dragon language.

『Iris, fire the second breath!』

Hearing that, Iris peeked her head out of the barrier.

"--!?"

Zaridias who noticed Iris's movement stopped trying to pursue me and made a u-turn.
Zaridias probably understands dragon language. Since I didn't use comm magic, in all likelihood he must have heard what I told Iris.
And that's the whole point.

I clearly saw Iris's state after she shot the first breath.
--Iris cannot shoot the second breath. This is a done deal.
However, Zaridias has no idea about that. Thus this bluff worked.

And using the chance, I accelerated toward the thrown magic sword.
Making use of the time I gained from the bluff, I accelerate using mana converted from my life force.
Zaridias who noticed that Iris wasn't going to shoot her breath, flew off toward the sword, but my acceleration that came at a price of my life force did not allow him to overtake me.

And I won the speed contest against Zaridias.
I tightly grasped the magic sword Alma threw in my hand.

--A moment later.
A huge sword went through my heart.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
Zaridias had never set his sight on the magic sword.
He fully intended to get me the moment I took the sword.

"Fool. Showing your back on your opponent, you're just asking to get killed."

Even if the magic sword is needed to win the fight, showing your back on the enemy in this kind of fight is like asking to get killed.
--That's right. I was asking to get killed.

"Yea. You're exactly right."

I slashed Zaridias at point-blank range as I said that.
The strongest blow I've done so far, buffed with eight kinds of magic.

Zaridias who never in his wildest dreams imagined that he would be attacked couldn't manage to parry the slash.
Zaridias whose neck was shallowly cut looked absolutely shocked.
I took the sword that was lodged in my body and took a slight distance away from him.

"H... How are you moving with that wound! Humans cannot possibly manage that!"

Zaridias uttered intelligible words for the first time. That's just how much this shocked him.
Understandable.

"...Beats me."

This magic sword is disposable.
Among all magic swords I created in the past, this sword had been poured with the most advanced techniques I knew, yet at the same time, it can never be used again once it demonstrated its effect.
That's exactly why this sword makes the impossible possible.

The requirement for activation--its user's death.
Its effect is the user's revival, and a supply of enormous amount of mana.
That amount of mana is such that if I even make a slight mistake controlling it in my current state, an explosion that would instantly obliterate the entire region of the royal capital will occur.

However, there's no chance of me making any mistake in the control.
The experience from my past life and the mana control prowess of Disqualified Crest.

There's no way I would err in mana control with these two.
I'm especially well versed in managing a vast amount of mana in my experience of mana control.

"Tch..."

Zaridias tried to get away after seeing the enormous mana.
However, I won't allow him to.
I bind Zaridias with binding magic that makes use of my mana amount.

And then I slash at him with a sword buffed with multiple magic.
The amount of buff magic is not many, but the mana put into them is in a different league altogether.

This should manage to wound Zaridias even with the reduced strength of my sword due to the whittled down life force.
Zaridias attempts to stop the sword, but I've already foreseen his every moves.
The sword clad in an enormous amount of mana accurately hit the vital point on his neck.

"Guh...!"

Even while groaning painfully, Zaridias tried to counterattack without slowing down.
However, right now I'm faster than him.

I forcefully move my listless body using mana.
Then I slip through Zaridias's counter and strike another blow.

The battle is one sided now.
I've lost most of my life force, exhausted to the point that I can't move my body with my strength alone.
The only thing I'm still managing is mana control, converting the mana I got from the sword into attacks on Zaridias.

On the other hand, Zaridias still hasn't given up trying to find a chance to kill me.
However, his attempts all end up in vain, and he's finally at the last of his strength.

"...This is it huh."

Zaridias muttered while looking at his left hand that was turning into ash by my magic.
Then he makes a declaration at me.

"I admit my defeat. However, I am not the only 『Chaotic Demons』 left in this world... Now then, I wonder if you're capable of eradicating every last one of them?"

To that, I ready my sword while keeping silent, and pour the highest amount of mana so far into it.
Normally, you'd think that this was a trap, but my intuition tells me that it isn't case.

--And then, my sword lop Zaridias's head off.
The fight is over now.






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