Chapter 71

A one-on-one duel.

I have engaged in several training sessions with Orobus, but this is the first time I have faced a human since I fought Legal at school back then. At that time, thanks to Crossel's intervention, I won, but I can't say I won with my own strength alone. Therefore, I have resolved to win this duel with my own strength. I have grown since then, and I have a good chance of winning.

"Orobus, don't interfere."

"Huh, as you wish, Master."

I give Orobus the order in advance not to interfere, to prevent something like what happened when Crossel intervened from happening again.

"So, how are you going to fight me without being able to use magic?"

Sanches sneers.

"You'll see, just wait a moment."

I say this, recalling the spirit summoning technique Gami-jin taught me.

Currently, I have four sigils engraved on my body, each containing the power of a corresponding element. The sigil of Aim is engraved on the back of my right hand, and the power of fire resides there. The sigil of Focalor is engraved on the palm of my right hand, and the power of wind resides there. The sigil of Crossel is engraved on the back of my left hand, and the power of water resides there. The sigil of Agreas is engraved on the palm of my left hand, and the power of earth resides there. Thus, I can use natural magic for the first time by hosting the power of four demons, as I cannot use the power of spirits.

Additionally, I had previously hosted the power of Veral in my left eye to search for the Many-legged Dragon, but I released it once I found the monster, so it is no longer hosted.

Now, due to my constitution that makes me attractive to demons, I cannot control the power of spirits that ordinary magicians can. Therefore, I always host the power of four demons. However, according to Gami-jin, this is very inefficient. When four spirits are summoned simultaneously, they repel each other, preventing each from fully exerting their power. Gami-jin says it's better to limit the number of spirits summoned at once to two.

"Release all."

So, I release the four spirits I had summoned. I also learned from Gami-jin that I used to need a long incantation to summon demons, but thanks to his teachings on the true nature of spirit summoning, I have successfully shortened the incantation significantly.

"Come forth, Aim, the 23rd in the hierarchy. Focalor, the 41st in the hierarchy."

Instantly, the sigil of Aim is engraved on my right hand, and the sigil of Focalor on my left hand. This is not just a simple hosting of their powers. Previously, I controlled the demon's power to concentrate in one point on my hand. However, Gami-jin said this was very wasteful. Humans have a soul near their heart, from which magic power flows throughout the body. Additionally, the right and left sides of the body have independent flows of magic power. Therefore, to most efficiently draw out the demon's power, it is best to circulate the demon's power in the right and left sides of the body, intertwining it with one's own magic power. This way, I have succeeded in drawing out about 70% of the demon's power, compared to the 1% I could previously draw out. The difference is significant.

"Come on, show me your magic!"

"Sure, I'll show you now."

Aim grants me the power of fire, and Focalor grants me the power of wind. I use these powers simultaneously. The combined magic of fire and wind is a heat-induced explosion. With my current abilities, I can perform this without an incantation.

In the next instant, a deafening explosion occurred.

"Oops, I missed."

The explosion occurred far to the right of Sanches. The method is different from what I used before, so my aim was off.

"Why can you use magic...?"

"Oops, I forgot to mention. I can use magic now."

"There's no way! How can you suddenly use magic when you couldn't before? And you can use advanced magic without an incantation!?"

Right, explosion magic is classified as advanced.

"You have time to talk?"

"Shut up! I can easily defeat a nobody like you with my unique magic!"

"Is that so? Then show me."

Sanches began the incantation to activate his unique magic. Honestly, I thought I could easily defeat him by using explosion magic while he was incanting, but I decided to wait. I wanted to see how far I could go against unique magic.

"I command you, under the name of Sanches, to quickly inhabit my body. Grant me the power to turn everything into a frozen wasteland. Pierce everything as I will—Unique Magic Activation, Frozen Desolation."

Unique magic. Creating an original magic by engraving a spell formula into one's soul. Normally, magic requires multiple steps, such as incantations and magic circles, each time it is activated. However, unique magic requires incantations and magic circles only for the initial activation. After that, the magic can be used without these steps.

"I'll crush you with this!"

Sanches, who said this, was emitting cold air from his entire body. His feet were frozen, and he was exhaling white breath.

"Die!"

Sanches moved his right hand as if swiping it. Ice spears were created and launched at me. I countered with the power of the explosion.

"If you keep using advanced magic, you'll run out of magic power quickly!"

Sanches kept throwing ice spears at me. Since I'm using the power of demons, my magic power consumption isn't that high. However, I won't reveal that.

"You can use magic, but you can't use unique magic. You're still incompetent!"

"True, I haven't learned unique magic yet."

For magicians, unique magic is considered the pinnacle. But I probably don't need unique magic.

"Come forth, Agreas, the 2nd in the hierarchy. Crossel, the 49th in the hierarchy."

After releasing the spirits of Aim and Focalor, I now engrave the sigils of Agreas and Crossel on my right and left hands, respectively. Agreas grants the power of earth, and Crossel grants the power of water. The combined magic of earth and water is cold.

"Die!"

Sanches launched countless ice spears simultaneously, intending to finish me off.

Now, I'll show you that the power of the demons I host surpasses unique magic.

"Freeze everything."

Instantly, a massive block of ice appeared. It advanced, as if swallowing the countless ice spears Sanches had launched. The massive block of ice didn't stop after swallowing all of Sanches's ice spears; it continued to swallow Sanches's body and even broke through the dungeon wall behind him. When I realized it, a huge block of ice had appeared.

"What... is this...?"

Only Sanches's face was not frozen, as I had controlled the power to avoid it. He was the only part that could move, and he was saying this.

"Are you going to continue?"

A one-on-one duel continues until one side concedes. So, I asked.

"I... I give up..."

Sanches said this with a dejected expression. It seems I won decisively.

◆

"Excellent, Master."

Orobus praised me for my victory.

"Thank you, Orobus."

After thanking Orobus, I turned to Gami-jin, who was standing next to me.

"Thank you, Gami-jin. Thanks to you, I was able to win."

The spirit summoning technique Gami-jin taught me became a great power for me. Thanks to the spirit summoning technique, I can now draw out the power of the demons I have met even more effectively. I should treat Gami-jin to more meat dishes.

"Arf arf!" Gami-jin, who came close to me, wagged his tail. Wow, he's so fluffy. This might become a habit.

"Thanks, Barbatos."

I also thanked the other demon.

"No, I didn't do anything."

"No, without Barbatos, I wouldn't have understood Gami-jin's words. I really appreciate it."

"R-Right..."

Barbatos nodded, blushing.

"Now, Orobus. What do you think is the right thing to do with him?"

In front of me was Sanches, who was trembling violently. I had just rescued him, as he would have died if left alone.

"Master, may I decide?"

"Sure. After all, you were the most angry. Sanches, do you agree? I remember the agreement was that the winner could make the loser do anything."

"...Yes."

Sanches nodded with a pale face. I remember he said he would make me strip and do a dogeza in public if he won.

"Then, Master, may I propose my idea?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Hmm, how about this?"

I see, I see.

"Orobus... That's quite a harsh punishment, isn't it?"

Is this a demonic trait?

"Is it not acceptable?"

"No, since I said you could decide, I won't say no."

A few minutes later—

A man was observed performing peculiar actions outside the dungeon. According to eyewitnesses, the man was almost completely naked, wearing only his underwear, and was walking through the streets. Moreover, he was crawling on all fours. Additionally, he had a leash around his neck, which was held by a large dog-like creature. It seemed the dog was walking the man. Some passersby reported that the man occasionally barked, "I am a loser dog!" at them. This interpretation seems to be quite accurate.

"Why did the man engage in such bizarre behavior? The mystery deepens."

"Orobus, are you satisfied now?"

In the distance, Sanches was being led by Gami-jin, crawling on all fours. Passersby looked at him with shock. Honestly, I feel embarrassed just watching. Since I planned to stop him once Orobus was satisfied, I asked Orobus.

"Yes, I feel much better, thanks to you!"

Orobus raised his thumb with a clear expression. Since Orobus is satisfied, it's fine now. So, I instructed one of Sanches's knights to stop him. After confirming this, I decided to leave the scene quickly to avoid being recognized as an accomplice.

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