Chapter 73 – Ash and Scars

“This is… I made a mistake in how I reported this,” Zevion said as I approached him lying on the ground.

Not understanding what he meant, I furrowed my brow, and he closed his eyes and smiled.

“He’s saying that you’re more of an obstacle to us than any seal.”

…So he’s implying they can handle the door situation however they want.

“What’s at the Moonlight Temple?”

“Who knows? He said there’s something there that will cure my boredom. I was tired of these meaningless days spent only burning away worthless fools. So I cooperated too.”

Come to think of it… he did say earlier that he was bored. With such a dangerous ability, he probably never found anyone who could match him—

Flames erupted from inside his body. From the edges of his wounds.

“But at the very end, I got to enjoy—a good fight.”

With that—Zevion’s entire body burst into flames. From within the fire, I heard his voice. The last remaining ashes were swept away by the wind along with the rising flames.

I watched until the final handful scattered into the sky, narrowing my eyes.

…Curing Zevion’s boredom, huh? Judging from his tastes, no matter how I think about it, it only seems like something dangerous for humans.

“Theo!”

I heard Grace’s voice.

“Ouch…”

When I tried to turn around, I ended up grimacing in pain.

Maybe I let my guard down after the fight ended and hearing Grace’s voice. Or perhaps the stinging pain of the burns just now came back to me, or resurfaced. I was practically writhing slightly.

The most painful one was probably the wound on my side where I barely avoided his Combat Skill by a hair’s breadth. Well, none of them are serious, so as compensation for defeating a Demon of that class, it’s probably a good outcome.

“Theo… You’re injured all over…”

“None of them are that serious, so it’s fine. I’ll just use Healing Magic.”

When I summoned the light of Healing Magic into my hand, Grace spoke up in a flustered manner.

“N-no, you can’t! If you use emergency Healing Magic, the burns will leave scars!”

“…Understood. Then let’s go back and ask Ashley. What about you, Grace? That Demon said something about the fog’s effects disappearing if he died, are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. But—”

I could see the Knights returning from the distant sky. Judging by their unenthusiastic expressions—

“His Familiar got away, huh?”

“…My apologies. I tried chasing it for a while too. But by the time we defeated the Demon, it had disappeared from view.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

If even a Wyvern’s speed and eyesight couldn’t find it, then this was probably impossible. Or rather, Zalbash probably spread that fog to prevent pursuit too. Even if we had tried to shake off Zalbash and chase it, it likely would have been futile.

I don’t know if that dorsal fin was from a shark or dolphin—but it probably wasn’t a normal creature. If that type of marine Familiar submerged and seriously tried to escape, both detection and pursuit would be difficult.

Zalbash said his report ended up incomplete. I wonder how much disruption we actually caused.

In terms of actual damage—I think we kept it to a minimum. Although some buildings got damaged during the process of luring him to high altitude…

“You showed us something magnificent,” said Mildred and Mercedes, who appeared riding an Earth Dragon.

“How’s the damage situation?”

“My subordinates are checking the damaged buildings now. I told them to transport anyone injured if there are any… but we were already progressing with evacuation guidance, so it should be fine, right? I intend to pull some strings to ensure you two don’t face criticism for the damaged equipment either.”

“Thank you for that.”

Especially the inn. I blew away its wall.

“You two are the greatest contributors this time. Leave the minor cleanup details to us. I think you’ll hear from the Royal Castle eventually… but probably not today.”

If that’s the case. Then we’ll let the Knight Order handle the cleanup and reporting to the Royal Castle, and Grace and I will head home.

“How is it?”

Ashley’s worried expression. Sheila and Irmhild also looked rather concerned.

“Hmm. It’s cold and feels good. But somehow, it’s kind of… ticklish.”

After returning home and sitting on the couch.

Under Rosetta’s supervision, I had Ashley apply burn-specific Healing Magic to me.

Apparently, the two of them had been waiting in case I got injured.

“Bear with it. We’re restoring the burned parts underneath back to normal,” Rosetta said with a wry smile.

Something like a membrane of water was attached to various parts of my body.

Water Healing Magic, Healing Shell. It’s effective for injuries like necrosis and burns where the boundary between damaged and undamaged tissue isn’t clear.

In BFO, it had an effect like continuous recovery, I think. I skipped it since I didn’t really feel the need for it, but I never imagined it would be a magic that felt this ticklish.

“However, the wound on your side will leave a scar. Oh, don’t misunderstand. It’s not about Ashley’s skill—the same would happen even if I did it?”

“And the wound on your cheek—” Ashley’s voice sounded worried.

“Hmm. I think it should be fine,” Rosetta tilted her head slightly. Whether she trusted Rosetta’s assessment or not, Ashley sighed in relief. Well, for me, it doesn’t really matter either way.

“Speaking of which—you said his name was Blazing Heat Zevion? Is that certain?”

“Yeah. That’s what he called himself.”

“To face such an opponent… and come away with only these minor injuries is surprising.”

“You know of him?”

“He’s a Demon who went on a rampage in the Kingdom of Growfonica quite some time ago. I thought it was strange we hadn’t heard his name recently since he was never defeated, but to think he came here…”

Growfonica. The western neighboring country.

I heard they suffered considerable damage fighting Demons there. So that was Zevion’s doing. If I recall correctly, that happened before I was born.

Linette always went by Linette. Was Zevion using an alias because his notoriety was so widespread?

Rosetta had a dumbfounded expression… but no. When fighting him, it was all or nothing, you could say.

If I had taken one of his attacks directly, that would have been the end, or even if not, continuing the fight would have been impossible. So if I won, having only minor injuries makes sense. The burns were just a necessary cost.

“By the way, what are your plans starting tomorrow? The Labyrinth again?”

Rosetta stood up and asked me that.

“Hmm. I’ll take a break for a few days.”

“I’m relieved to hear that,” Rosetta said, making me smile wryly. The burns are fine though. It’s more about my mood, or rather.

I’ve also identified some future challenges. Trying to handle the Flight Technique entirely on my own seems difficult, but considering that with properly tailored auxiliary Equipment, aerial combat should be quite feasible…

Since the Demon’s objective lies within the Labyrinth, the likelihood of fighting Demons in the future remains high. I’ll probably need proper Aerial Combat Equipment, not just makeshift gear. With Greg’s faction weakened after this incident, resistance has probably diminished too, so it might be good timing.

“Well, I’ve confirmed you’re safe for today, so that’s enough for now.”

“We’re going to check on the West District once,” Rosetta said with a smile as she stood, and Sheila and Irmhild followed suit.

Now then. Various things about anti-air equipment. Matters concerning Demons.

There’s a lot to consider, but I’ve decided to take it easy for the rest of today.

When my eyes met Grace’s, she gave me a radiant smile.

The backlash this time seems quite significant. Given Zalbash’s fighting style, it probably made her quite angry. And it seems like she was being heavily influenced by the Vampire side as a result.

Grace said she was fine, but maybe I should have her practice Circulating Ki and check her condition.

—As a later note.

Regarding the main damages from this incident, there were apparently no human casualties, but there was a hole in the roof of Sheila and Irmhild’s roost in the West District.

…Hmm. For the damage to pinpoint our own people’s places. Although they were actually laughing about it amusedly. It was definitely the right call to have them evacuate.