Chapter 71 – Silver Mist

—The Wyvern Corps was slightly ahead of Grace.

“That one!”

One of the knights shouted.

Since they were searching from above with the eyes of both wyverns and knights, it was impossible for a suspicious figure to go unnoticed.

A man standing on the pier at the edge of the harbor. And a large dorsal fin visible on the sea surface. If the report was still in progress, this could be considered a situation where they had arrived just in time. Simultaneously, the man also looked up and spotted the Wyvern Corps.

“Don’t move!”

“We are the Knight Order. We will inspect that animal!”

The man’s response to the command was swift.

“Go!”

After giving a brief order to the shark-like Familiar in the sea and releasing it into the ocean, he himself soared into the air.

His form had also changed. With a creaking sound, the human shape crumbled away.

A silver body. —A smooth, egg-like face with no eyes, nose, or mouth, reflecting the surrounding scenery. His arms and fingers were abnormally thin and long. His legs had a structure resembling the hind legs of a beast.

“So it is a Demon after all!”

The silver Demon—Zalbash positioned himself in the air as if to interpose between the Knight Order and his Familiar.

“So the knightly entourage has arrived, huh? My report got cut short, but—”

His entire face vibrated as it produced sound. Like an owl—his neck spun horizontally with a gurin.

They couldn’t pursue the Familiar. The Demon was rolling a Miasma Mass in his hand, and if they prioritized that, it was easy to imagine he would attack from behind while they were distracted by the sea.

Although the Familiar holding the report likely had higher priority than the silver Demon Zalbash right before them—ignoring the Demon itself was a difficult situation.

The knight astride the wyvern closed in, pouring his Fighting Spirit into his long mounted Spear as if to say no discussion was needed.

The Demon meeting the attack shrugged his shoulders dismissively, then twisted his arm like a Whip and swung it away. It extended and retracted even longer than the Spear. The knight tried to block it with his Shield—but.

“What the—!?”

The arm, clinging to the Shield as it touched, entangled and grabbed the knight’s body from an unexpected direction. Then, he simply hurled him into the air.

“Annoying bastard.”

“Wh— wha—!?”

A Miasma Bullet was fired from his palm toward the knight thrown into the air.

But Chester snatched it up as if seizing it and retreated.

Flying parallel above the wyvern whose master was absent, he returned the knight to the now-empty saddle.

“Th— thank you.”

“Don’t rush in recklessly! We’ll attack with numbers!”

Under Chester’s direction, the four knights flew circling around Zalbash. That they could fly at close range without colliding with their comrades was surely thanks to training. Performing acrobatic-like flight, they thrust their mounted Spears from the very edge of their range. But they didn’t hit. He avoided them by wriggling his slender body like a mollusk.

Chester closed the distance. Instantly judging that thrusting was a poor match, he slipped through a gap and delivered a Sweeping Strike with his Spear. Zalbash crossed both arms to block it.

“What!?”

It was a light attack for deterrence, not meant to press deeply—or so Chester thought, his eyes widening. Despite that, Zalbash was sent flying a considerable distance. There was no visible damage. He had controlled his Flight Technique, allowing himself to be pushed by Chester’s Spear.

Having neatly broken the encirclement, and perhaps to avoid being surrounded again, Zalbash began flying around at high speed. In pure speed, the wyverns likely had the advantage, but the Demon flew in irregular trajectories, making him impossible to catch.

The only one who could keep up with his movements—was Chester. Swinging his Spear, he clashed with the silver Whip.

“Right off the bat—not very peaceful, are we?”

While crossing blades, Zalbash spoke.

“Sure, we’re enemies with you humans and all. But don’t you have things like hearing the other side’s circumstances?”

“You Demons have no circumstances worthy of consideration!”

“Hey now. We’ve got our reasons too. For example, what if I said we have comrades who are starving? Driven out by humans, living in remote places. Don’t you get the feeling of wanting to do something about that?”

At those words, Chester’s brow furrowed.

“What about you? Don’t you wanna do something for your starving comrades? Can you call it justice to crush a hungry opponent unilaterally with superior numbers? Hey, Sir Knight.”

A tone appealing to emotion.

Those words were Poison. If one didn’t know about Demons, it might make them think there was room for negotiation.

As if to say “let’s talk,” Zalbash spread his arms, and for a moment Chester’s movements slowed. Right then—.

“Weeell, I personally don’t think that at all.”

Denying his own words—a crescent-shaped crack ran across his featureless head. From the dark abyss forming a smile-like shape, a Miasma Bullet was fired.

For Chester, eyes wide in shock—it was an unavoidable distance.

“—Nonsense.”

What flew in was a thick mass of Metal.

It Deflected Zalbash’s Miasma Bullet, roaring past with tremendous force.

“The situation where your hunger is fully satisfied would mean dominating humans and making them suffer terribly, wouldn’t it? That is unacceptable.”

Grace caught up to the battlefield. She immediately pulled back her Axe, stepping into the space where Zalbash had dodged. No matter how Zalbash flew around, she closed the distance linearly, using only her explosive power as her Weapon.

Even so, Zalbash was laughing.

“You… bastard!”

Glaring furiously, Chester was given a glance by Zalbash.

“Keheheh! Well, that’s how it is. We ain’t so fallen that we need pity from you inferior beings! Seems this young lady knows it well, though!”

Zalbash wrapped Miasma around his arms to block the two roaring Axes. He must have judged that taking them with his bare flesh wouldn’t end well.

The Whip being swung at high speed, and the Axes in both arms. The parts beyond their hands collided at speeds too fast to leave a trace, producing strange metallic-like sounds.

Zalbash trying to create distance, and Grace pursuing. Due to Zalbash’s silver Whip being swung with ferocious intensity, the knights couldn’t get close.

In close combat, the advantage went to Grace. Deflecting the Whip, she stepped in and delivered shallow Sweeping Strikes to his torso.

“Tch!”

From Zalbash’s mouth, clicking his tongue in irritation, a Miasma Bullet was fired, but Grace blocked it using the flat of her Axe as a Shield. Recoil sent her flying back, opening distance between the two.

Grace bent her body, trying to close the gap—.

“Whoa there. Hold up. Don’t you notice something?”

Prompted, Grace looked around with a suspicious expression. It was a glimmer. A silvery, mist-like substance was dancing around them.

“I’ve been scattering this all over the area while fighting. You seem to think that just ’cause you’ve got Blessings, you won’t be affected—but that’s naive.”

“Wh… wha, Mother?”

One of the knights brought a hand to his head, eyes wide.

“Kukku. So that’s what you see? Can’t seem to cut the apron strings, huh?”

Zalbash’s ability was a type of Illusion Magic. Making those who inhaled the mist perceive his form as that of someone close to them—. The effect reached Grace too. She furrowed her brows, glaring at Zalbash, who shook with laughter.

“Let me tell ya, the mist’s effect won’t wear off until I die. If you keep inhaling it, not just your vision but your other senses will get dazzled too.”

This time, Zalbash moved toward Grace himself. The same form of both hands wielding Weapons clashing.

However, comparing them, Grace’s movements clearly lacked vigor. She tried to take more distance than necessary from Zalbash, who thrust his face forward as if pressing in. Since Zalbash originally had the advantage in range, that left her purely on the defensive.

Was she trying not to inhale more mist, or was that face—bothering her?

The silver Whip, flying ahead to intercept, struck down Grace as she tried to leap sideways. At the last moment, she crossed her Axes to block, but her body was flung far back.

“Kuh!”

“Your moves are figured out too. At first, I was a bit surprised—but you can only move in straight lines, right? You can only jump in the direction you kick, so once you get used to it, reading your moves is easy. Kukuku. I’ll take my time torturing you to death.”

“With that face—”

Don’t say that with that face.

Just as Grace furrowed her brows—.

“Grace!”

While clashing with the Infernal Demon high above, the boy shouted. Using Wind Magic to amplify his voice, he sent it all the way to her.

—He’s watching.

Just as he had said. Parallel thinking, carving out a portion of his Magic control ability. It was a simple thing, just enough to grasp the general situation… or so he had told Grace.

“Don’t rely on your own eyes!”

“—Yes!”

Simultaneous with her reply, she closed her eyes and smiled.

Then, she charged straight at Zalbash.

“Huh?”

Zalbash laughed mockingly. He leisurely dodged, then swung his Whip as if to circle around to where Grace had kicked through the air—or so he tried.

Grace’s right arm had accurately thrown an Axe aimed at Zalbash’s head. Flying at shell-like speed, he barely avoided it by twisting his body.

Zalbash’s Whip cut uselessly through empty air. He had lost sight of Grace’s position too. The kick Grace had shown was itself a Feint. If he poorly predicted and focused his attention there, he could no longer follow.

Assuming Grace must be in the direction the retracting Axe was heading, Zalbash turned his face that way and let out a shocked cry.

“Wings—!?”

On Grace’s back, against the sunlight, were black wings. They were Caduceus transformed.

The blood used to create Caduceus. Half of that catalyst—was Grace’s.

Grace was also a master of Caduceus. With the boy acting as an intermediary, their senses could be linked.

“—Indeed. As long as you remain in that form, it’s simple.”

Grace controlled the wings with her own will, capturing Zalbash’s aberrant form through Caduceus’s vision.

Grace, crouching, kicked through the air using the spring of her entire body.

Full speed. All or nothing.

“O—”

Leaving a trail of purple-glowing Fighting Spirit in the air, she swept through Zalbash’s body.

Zalbash’s lower half, separated tearfully, fell toward the sea surface.

But it didn’t end there. An Axe was released from Grace’s hand, drawing a large arc. The Chain itself was wrapped in Fighting Spirit.

It entangled Zalbash’s upper body, completely sealing his movements, and pulled him back.

Eyes still closed, Grace bared her teeth in a smile. A ferocious—predator’s grin.

“Fu—fufu”

“Wh— whoa!?”

Along with a cool, wind-borne laugh, he was pulled back. A crack ran across Zalbash’s mouth, and from it a Miasma Bullet was fired—but.

“Fufu, ahahahaha!”

She paid it no mind.

Grace’s Axe, swung with a high, roaring laugh, cut through Zalbash’s face along with the Miasma Bullet. The Axe, whose trajectory couldn’t even be seen, unleashed multiple streaks of light, scattering Zalbash’s head into fine pieces.

A moment later, Zalbash’s torso part, bound by the Chain, turned to dust and scattered into the air.