Chapter 67

Originally, Keita had been prepared for a tough battle when he was told from above that "long-range sniping is not allowed."

Therefore, Keita initially thought, "If it can't be finished in an instant, I might as well make it a prolonged battle."

This was because he had the intention of making the prolonged battle with the demon useful, not only for himself and the maintenance staff but also for the future pilots of the mass-production models, hoping that it would serve as a reference for operating the mass-production models. Additionally, he thought that it might help establish a method of dealing with similar situations if they arose in the future.

In a prolonged battle, it is just as important to understand the enemy's capabilities as it is to know your own.

Especially regarding the types of weapons and the range, a single mistake could mean death, so he was very serious and cautious, always keeping a margin for evasion.

Thanks to this—though it's unclear if it can be called a benefit—Keita remained unharmed.

Of course, Alba was also unharmed, but there were several differences between Alba and Keita.

First, while Alba was holding back, intending to test the performance of Keita and the mass-production model, Keita had not considered that Alba was also observing him.

Alba thought Keita was desperately trying to kill him with attacks, but that wasn't the case.

Keita was observing Alba's movements, refraining from rapid fire even when he could, and even deliberately ignoring opportunities to strike when he could have easily done so—of course, he would have attacked if he was certain of a kill, but he lacked that certainty—prioritizing observation. From this, he successfully extracted necessary information such as the timing of attacks and evasion habits.

Next, regarding defense. Neither Alba nor anyone else present, except Keita, noticed that throughout the battle, Alba always used the shield in front to block Keita's 40mm machine gun attacks.

The shield, coated with magic, effortlessly deflected all of Keita's 40mm machine gun attacks, leaving Keita's attacks completely ineffective.

Alba and Ruffina, who was watching the battle, might not have seen this as a problem.

But if you look at it more accurately, you can understand part of Keita's intention.

The fact that Alba always used the shield in front to block attacks meant that Keita, who should have been skilled in three-dimensional movement, did not use it and instead performed only short jumps, attacking only from the front.

In other words, Alba was being forced to defend with the shield in front.

Through this, Keita obtained detailed information such as how Alba defended against scattered bullets, the angle at which the shield was held, whether the shock was transmitted through the shield, and whether it was possible to advance while under attack.

The information Keita obtained was not limited to this.

Alba always dodged the incendiary armor-piercing shells fired from the 88mm smoothbore cannon. This was also valuable information.

This is because deliberately dodging attacks means that Alba, or the demon he controls, cannot withstand 88mm attacks, or that even if they defended, they would suffer significant damage.

The most telling was the 80mm incendiary grenade that was dodged earlier.

If Alba could completely block heat with magic, there would be no need to take such a large distance with a body six meters tall. The fact that he took distance suggests that Alba cannot block heat with magic in an emergency, or that he cannot defend against the blast.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Alba chose this evasion method just to stand out. However, based on the feeling from the battles so far, Keita judged that Alba, as a demon, would not show such a weakness unconsciously in front of someone who had fired incendiary grenades with a 40mm machine gun.

By consolidating this information, one conclusion naturally emerges.

That is, "Alba is not an unreasonable enemy who cannot be defeated until he experiences a loss event. He takes damage when hit. In other words, he can be killed if hit, and he will die if killed."

This might seem obvious, but it's important to remember that this is a world with demons.

An entity that doesn't die even when hit by 88mm.

An entity that doesn't die even when killed.

Who can say that there isn't an entity that only starts after being killed?

But at least Alba is not one of them.

Just knowing this was enough for Keita.

"Let's go."

---

(…What?)

Because the external speakers were turned off, Alba didn't hear Keita's declaration. However, Alba sensed that the aura Keita emitted had changed significantly from before.

(Has he finally decided to give up his life after the last surprise attack was dodged? Too late. Way too late. He should have come with that resolve from the start!)

The problem was that Alba couldn't understand what this change would bring. But at the moment, Alba didn't have the mental capacity to think it through.

It's not that Alba was cornered, but rather that he was so engrossed in the excitement of the battle and the release of his powers that he couldn't think about anything else.

(Now, the finishing touch!)

Specifically, Alba had been forced to endure a series of childish and inferior displays leading up to this battle, and the fact that the so-called hero, whom he had not expected much from because he was the same age as the children, was actually a decent opponent, had excited him.

Moreover, Alba didn't think this excitement was a bad thing.

He never considered that he, an entity that had transcended humanity, could lose.

He even thought that this was the spice that made the battle enjoyable.

"I don't know what you've decided, but it's just a futile struggle! Die like the trash you are!"

Alba had already gauged the performance of the new model Keita was operating. He was slightly surprised by the last surprise attack, but he managed to dodge it.

Therefore, he attacked Keita, who was dejected after his decisive surprise attack was dodged, with a speed and power that he believed Keita could not avoid.

(It's over!)

The attack, which was faster and deeper than before, had enough power to completely crush the machine Keita was operating if it hit even once.

Even if Keita tried to dodge, it would be impossible with a mediocre speed, and if he did manage to dodge, his stance would inevitably be disrupted. Alba could then follow up with a second and third attack.

This attack was undoubtedly the "finishing blow" for Alba.

But Keita was not so naive as to take such a "decisive attack" lying down.

"Too naive."

Keita easily dodged the attack by flying to the side.

"What!?"

This was not the close call that Alba and the others had expected. The reaction speed and the distance flown were different, and as a bonus, his stance was not disrupted at all.

To anyone, it looked like a relaxed dodge.

"What's going on!?"

Alba, who was surprised that his attack was completely dodged—especially with a speed he hadn't seen before—realized that Keita had done more than just dodge.

"Burn."

Keita fired the incendiary grenades he had scattered as a parting gift, creating a scorching hell in Alba's path.

"Ugh! You're good! But—!"

Alba, who had to dive into the thousands of degrees of heat generated by the thermite reaction, immediately wrapped himself in magic to reduce the damage. But this was also within Keita's expectations.

"Of course. That's what you'll do. That's all you can do."

While reducing the damage with magic, Alba tried to blow away the heat with the magic he had wrapped himself in. Keita mercilessly fired 40mm bullets at him.

"Ugh, aaaaaah!"

Alba, who could not dodge the bullets fired while moving at high speed, saw his demon body gradually being worn down.

"You've been holding back this whole time, haven't you!?"

However, the attacks that would have caused significant damage under normal circumstances were not causing much damage due to the magic he had wrapped himself in to block the heat.

Moreover, it was only after causing damage that Keita realized that the demon body controlled by the demon could be healed by the demon's magic.

(…It can heal too. Well, the machine heals when stored, so it makes sense. A demon with a lot of magic can do that.)

In short, to take down Alba with 40mm bullets, Keita would have to fire enough to overwhelm the healing or focus on piercing the cockpit.

"Human scum, you underestimated me!"

Knowing this, Alba had been focusing on defending against frontal attacks.

At first glance, the series of attacks seemed to have ended with the result of showing that any damage would be healed.

"Got it! No matter what you hide or how you run, I can't be killed by you!"

In fact, Alba and those watching the battle thought so.

Even Shizuka and the principal felt a sense of despair, wondering, "How can you kill it…?"

However, Keita, who was observing the enemy's recovery at close range, saw things differently.

(If it can heal as long as it has magic, it can't heal when it runs out. Moreover, the healing amount is not that large. In other words, I can win eventually.)

The cold, calculating eyes of the hunter were convinced that Alba was not an invincible entity.

"Die!"

Alba, who had been observing Keita's recovery, attacked him with a more powerful and focused attack, free of any carelessness or overconfidence.

"It won't hit."

However, the attack, which was intended to hit with certainty, was a telegraphed punch to Keita, who had already read Alba's motion patterns.

Moreover, the machine Keita operated, even though it was a mass-production version, was a hybrid model with four legs for enhanced mobility, and its speed far exceeded that of the demon body Alba controlled.

Additionally, unlike Keita, who had experience fighting grass-type and medium-sized demons through simulators and training, Alba had no experience fighting a creature with a human upper body and a beast lower body.

Therefore, all of Alba's attacks were unknown to him. It was impossible to read his motion patterns.

"…"

"Aaaaah! Stop jumping around!"

Alba's attacks could not reach Keita, who was flying around, and Keita's attacks hit Alba, who exposed a weakness.

(If this continues, I won't lose, but I'll get tired. Moreover, if I keep looking this bad, Ruffina-sama will kill me!)

Trapped in a vicious cycle, Alba, remembering the presence of his superior who was watching the battle, decided to use his trump card, which he had not planned to use.

"Aaaaaah!"

With a battle cry, the demon body glowed black, a sign that the demon had used its trump card.

In this state, the demon body's abilities were enhanced by the magic circulating within, and the magic released outside the body provided a significant boost to all actions.

"Haa. Haa!"

Although there was a significant drawback of considerable exhaustion after use, it was a genuine trump card for the demon, capable of turning the tide even in a slight disadvantage.

"Here, it ends… 'Fool'… Gah!"

Under normal circumstances, one might be surprised by the change in appearance.

Under normal circumstances, one might be overwhelmed by the surging killing intent.

Under normal circumstances, one might be swept away by the momentum.

But unfortunately for Alba, Keita was far from normal.

"Pointless."

Without any hesitation, Keita, who had been waiting for Alba's transformation to complete, fired 88mm shells at his head and torso.

"Y-You…"

"Still alive?"

"Ugh…"

Alba's misfortune was that Keita had only seen him as prey, was certain that a demon like Alba would hide its trump card, and had no patience to wait for a hero's transformation. Moreover, Alba had to stop moving to use his trump card.

"Just to be sure."

Keita fired a couple more shots at the fallen demon.

"…"

"…No movement. It seems to be just a lump of flesh."

Thus, the demon body, which had been exerting overwhelming pressure just moments ago, had its head blown off by the 88mm armor-piercing shells, and its chest was left with a large hole, reducing it to a mangled mess.

"This is Keita. The target is silent."

After confirming that the target was completely still, Keita, still on guard against the now-mangled body, calmly reported the end of the situation.

Thank you for reading.