Chapter 53

"Heh... Humans are truly amusing. Even though they know they will end up crawling pitifully, they still come here with their companions."

Saying this, the demon spread its wings wide with a swish.

Under the moonlight, the wings, spread grandly, shone eerily in the light.

"Well, it's quite convenient for us. The fear that arises in their hearts as they are about to be trampled by me is the finest feast for us."

"..."

I, along with everyone else, listened to the demon's muttered words while being on guard against its movements.

In the midst of this, I felt a slight sense of unease when I saw the wings on the demon's back.

(Those... patterns on the wings...)

"Here it comes! Get ready!"

Urushima's voice echoed.

The demon had spread its wings wide in the sky.

Then, the spread wings were pulled back.

A strong wind was generated.

"Whoa!"

Akashi's scream echoed.

The strong wind that blew fiercely shook our bodies.

No, it wasn't just that.

"Crack!"

I realized it.

Cracks were gradually spreading across the rock we were hiding behind—.

In an instant, the rock was torn apart.

It was as if it had been cut by a sharp blade.

Just before that, I and Ikusa were carried away by Garai and evacuated from the spot.

Akashi and Urushima also reacted to my voice and managed to avoid it similarly.

"Wind blades!"

The battle-hardened Urushima seemed to have instantly understood the enemy's ability.

Probably something like a kamaitachi, creating a vacuum blade with the wind generated by the wings.

"Mako, do you have any ideas?"

We were hiding behind another large rock.

Among us, Ikusa looked at me and said,

(Ikusa...)

Ikusa really seems to trust me.

Even when facing a demon, it doesn't change.

He always seeks my opinion on important matters.

(Well, I should respond to that...)

"What... Do you have any ideas?"

Urushima asked, furrowing her brows.

"First, those wings are a problem. I want to restrain them."

As I said this, I activated my skill, Alchemy.

"Urushima, Akashi, can you trust me?"

"Of course!"

"...Alright, tell us your plan."

***

"...Heh heh, what are you all whispering about?"

While floating in the air, the demon looked down at the rock we were hiding behind, a wicked smile on its face.

"Pathetic humans, don't you understand that hiding is meaningless?"

The demon spread its wings wide again.

Wind blades were flying towards us—.

"Ha!"

In an instant, Urushima, who had been hiding behind the rock, jumped out, raised the large sword on her back, and cut through the incoming wind blades.

"Hmm."

The demon let out a slightly impressed sound.

According to Urushima, she can use the skill Acceleration to increase her sword speed.

She was swinging that large and presumably heavy sword at high speed.

"Heh, good. It wouldn't be fun if you didn't put up some resistance."

The demon laughed and kept sending wind blades.

Urushima swung her large sword, deflecting them, but gradually began to be overwhelmed by their overwhelming number.

"Ugh...!"

"Look, what's wrong? I haven't even used a tenth of my power yet?"

The demon mocked.

In an instant—something approached behind the demon.

"!"

The demon turned around.

It must not have sensed anything.

"Yah!"

It was Akashi.

He had the skill Stealth, which could eliminate all sounds and presence from his body.

He activated this power, was thrown by Garai, and reached behind the demon.

Then, Akashi wrapped "it" around the demon's body.

"Ugh!?"

The demon must have suddenly felt the weight that had attacked its body.

What Akashi wrapped around the demon's body was the metal "chain" I had alchemized.

"Alright!"

At the same time as wrapping it, Akashi locked the "chain" with the "padlock" I had created.

He clung to the demon's body, adding his weight.

The demon, unable to move its wings properly, fell to the ground.

"Alright! Did we get it!?"

Urushima shouted.

Urushima, that's a flag!

"Whoops, what's this!"

Then, the demon, with a vein popping on its forehead, must have used all its strength.

The "chain" wrapped around its body was torn off.

Unfortunately, the flag was broken.

"Whoa!"

Akashi, who was falling, was caught by Garai.

The demon remained airborne.

"It didn't work... Mako, what's next?"

Ikusa, who was hiding with me behind the rock, urged me.

"It's no good, we need to retreat!"

In response, Urushima shouted.

"Clearly, we can't handle this alone! We need to return to the capital and get reinforcements—"

"Can I confirm one thing?"

Then, I stepped out from behind the rock to Urushima's side.

"Idiot! Stay hidden!"

"Hmm? What's this, a little girl?"

The demon smirked upon seeing me.

"Do you have some winning strategy against me? Go ahead, try it."

It was completely underestimating me.

But that was convenient.

I had felt a sense of unease when I saw the demon's "wings" earlier and activated my skill based on that.

That was—my last awakened skill.

"Let's see... Skill: Insecticide."

A faint light floated in my hand—.

At the same time, a spray bottle appeared.

"Whoa, a spray bottle."

A transparent container with a nozzle.

It felt like I hadn't seen something so modern in a long time.

The container held a liquid with a creepy, eerie color.

This must be the insecticide.

"I don't know what you're going to do—"

In an instant, the demon descended straight from the sky.

It recklessly charged at me.

"A mere human thinks they can defeat me, a Marquis under the Demon Emperor, the Lord of Insects, Beelzebub!"

It spread its wings even wider and flew at me with all its might.

"Run!"

Urushima shouted, but I didn't move.

The demon—Chlorotres—was right in front of me, in an instant.

"Here."

I sprayed the insecticide at it.

"Bebooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

In an instant, Chlorotres screamed and crashed into the ground, rolling and tumbling.

It hit a rock and stopped, raising a cloud of dust.

"Wha—"

Urushima, who was next to me, was speechless.

On the other hand, Chlorotres was writhing on the ground.

"W-What is this feeling... It's... painful..."

"Sure enough, it was a 'fly.'"

The wings on this demon's back.

Their shape, their pattern... I had seen them before.

They were exactly like a fly's.

"If it was just a demon that looked like an insect, it might have been a problem, but I'm glad I tried it."

"Y-You, what did you do to me..."

I remember, this demon said it was under the "Lord of Insects" Beelzebub.

Even I know Beelzebub.

So, it was indeed a complete insect demon.

"Did... Did you defeat it?"

Everyone gathered around the convulsing Chlorotres.

Urushima was still half-disbelieving.

"Mako, what did you do?"

Akashi was also confused.

Would they believe me if I told them I just sprayed insecticide?

Probably not with a regular insecticide.

It was a magical insecticide I created with my magic, so it had a significant effect on insect-type demons.

"Is it okay? Should we finish it off—"

"Ah, no, it seems to be fine now."

While Garai said this, Ikusa noticed that Chlorotres's body was gradually disappearing.

It was fading away like mist.

"Never... in my life... did I think I would be defeated by a mere human... What a disgrace."

...Sorry.

I casually defeated it, but I'm sure it was a very strong demon.

"Defeating me... will be widely known in the demon world... Your deed will be known to other demons..."

Chlorotres, gasping for breath, continued.

The demon world?

So, there is a demon world, and demons come from there.

"Never forget... By defeating me, you have made the entire demon world your enemy... A puny human like you will be toyed with and destroyed like other humans..."

"..."

"Heh... Everything in this world is our plaything... Enjoy your temporary victory—"

I sprayed the insecticide on Chlorotres's face again.

"Owaaaaaahhh..."

With a scream, Chlorotres quickly disappeared.

I told it,

"Come if you dare. You seem to want to wreak havoc in this world for fun—"

As I spoke, Chlorotres's entire body vanished, turning into mist.

I consciously made the insecticide in my hand disappear.

It seems I can retract it when it's not needed.

"..."

I turned to everyone.

Especially to Urushima and Akashi, who were looking at me in shock, not knowing what to say.

"I guess I defeated it."

"You didn't just defeat it!"

Instantly, Urushima grabbed my shoulder with incredible force.

"A demon! You easily defeated a demon, a symbol of terror for humans, on par with dragons! A-Class, S-Class adventurers would need to be prepared to face such a foe! Mako, who are you?"

"You're not just anyone... I didn't expect someone like this..."

"No, well... Anyway! The demon issue is settled! Let's move on!"

Trying to calm the two confused people, I pointed ahead.

"Look! Our mission is to investigate that cave!"

***

In any case, we finally reached the cave in question.

"This is the cave rumored to contain treasure."

Ikusa said, looking at the mission documents we had received from the guild.

The demon's presence had overshadowed the original purpose of this mission, which was to search the cave for treasure.

And to rescue the missing artist and adventurer, Delphi, if he was still alive.

"Let's go."

We entered the cave—.

"..."

"Hey, finally the rescue team arrived."

As soon as we entered, we saw a cave lit by torches.

On the ground, various small glass figurines were arranged.

"There was a nasty guy, so I couldn't go down the mountain. I was just passing the time by making various artistic things here. By the way, the treasure rumor was a hoax. There was just a wall at the back of the cave."

"You are—"

He was still quite young.

He might be the same age as me, or even younger.

He had silver hair that reached his shoulders.

On his face, hidden by his hair, there were... scales on his cheeks.

A demon... or a demi-human, perhaps?

He was wearing clothes adorned with glass beads, like marbles, all over his body.

This was—

"The artist—"

"Yeah! I'm the great artist, Delphi Egeus!"

The man—Delphi—said with a smug smile.

"So, who are you? Are you fans of my art or something?"