Chapter 62

Glancing back,

Renz and the others... yeah, they’ve already fled outside the castle.

Now I can focus without any worries.

“Well then—”

“Guh…!”

Gizalum took a step back.

He raised his hand, trying to gather magic power, but it failed.

Of course, the surrounding magic power had been significantly depleted by the previous attack.

Normally, mages use their own magic power, not the surrounding magic power, to cast spells.

It’s easier to control, and with the amplification of the spell formula, the output is sufficient.

In contrast, Gizalum’s method is far too forceful.

Indeed, gathering a large amount of surrounding magic power and releasing it means he doesn’t have to use his own magic power.

But doing so recklessly depletes the surrounding magic power, making it impossible to attack for a while.

...I remember Grimo used ancient magic that simply gathered a large amount of magic power and released it. It was a simple method, but it was enough in the demon world, so there was no need for refinement.

“Alright! His attacks are nothing to fear! It’s time to counter, Lord Lloyd! Right now, he’s defenseless. Even as a demon, if you hit him with that spell from earlier, you can take him down! Finish him off quickly!”

Grimo was excited, but it won’t be that easy.

Gizalum, noticing something from my serious expression, twisted his mouth.

“! ...I see. I understand. Haha... So that’s it. Indeed, my attacks might not be able to land a decisive blow on you. But the same goes for you, right?”

“...You’re sharp.”

The spell I cast earlier didn’t damage Gizalum at all.

As Grimo said, the ‘Void’ that can send even magic power to a subspace could take him down, but its range is too short.

Spatial magic is very difficult to control, and it tends to go out of control once it leaves your hand. It also takes a considerable amount of time to activate, making it extremely difficult to hit a moving target.

“S-Such...”

“That’s right. Moreover, even if your other attacks hit me, they won’t damage me. But if my attack hits you, I can kill you. So, I just need to keep attacking until you run out of breath. When you run out of magic power and can no longer defend, I will win.”

Gizalum floated a magic sphere in his hand.

Hmm, his magic power is replenishing faster than I thought.

Even though the magic power in this area has been depleted, it flows in from elsewhere like water flowing downhill.

It should be possible to perform continuous attacks with moderate power without depleting the surrounding magic power.

“So... it’s really bad, isn’t it!?”

As Grimo screamed, Gizalum released a magic blade.

“Hahaha! That’s right! It’s best to die quietly!”

“Guh…!”

I deflected all the attacks with a magic barrier and attempted a counterattack.

I began chanting a spell while creating a mouth on my right hand.

“■■■, ■■■”

A dual chant of the highest-level fire magic ‘Flame Fierce Fang’ and the highest-level wind magic ‘Sky Fierce Storm Fang’.

The swirling flames and wind formed sharp fangs.

—Composite magic ‘Flame Storm Vortex Fang’

With a loud explosion, the fangs of fire and wind hit Gizalum.

“Haha... Useless, useless.”

But it seemed to have no effect on the incorporeal Gizalum.

No matter how much I tried to burn or cut him, he would immediately return to his original form.

“This body is just a temporary one. Any attack is useless, useless, useless! It’s impossible for a human to defeat us demons. And there’s one more thing I’ll tell you... something truly hopeless...!”

Gizalum raised his hand, and a magic circle enveloped his body.

A spell formula!? Why now...? As I wondered, Grimo moved my hand.

“Lord Lloyd, behind you!”

A magic sphere from Gizalum grazed right next to me.

Looking back, I saw only Gizalum’s arm floating behind me.

“Haha, close...”

Gizalum’s arm, which was speaking, disappeared halfway.

It seems he had only transferred his arm through space.

“...I see, Jade’s ability.”

At the assassin guild, the ability to deliver letters directly.

I had suspected it, but it seems Jade’s ability is indeed spatial transfer.

Moreover, he combines his ability with spatial magic and auxiliary spell formulas, controlling it freely.

Mmm, how convenient. I’m envious.

“Ha ha ha ha! Can you handle attacks from all blind spots!?”

Gizalum transferred his hands to above my head and behind my back, firing magic spheres.

Magic spheres from all directions.

The flow of magic power was hard to read, and the power was too much to block with a magic barrier alone.

“Lord Lloyd, right... no, above... no, below, right behind... Ahhhh! I can’t tell anymore!?”

“Can’t handle it with just a magic barrier... then, I’ll use this!”

I drew the magic-absorbing sword from my waist.

In addition to this sword, which can absorb and store magic, I copied Silfa’s movements with a control spell.

“Huff!”

I took a short breath and swung the sword. It absorbed all the incoming attacks.

I then launched a counterattack at Gizalum’s floating hand, but it only grazed the spell formula.

“Oh, I underestimated you. You can move more than I thought. ...But I’ve memorized that speed.”

Doom! My jaw was hit from below.

A magic sphere fired from below shattered the automatically deployed magic barrier.

I immediately swung my sword, but it was too far to reach.

Taking advantage of my missed swing, another magic sphere was fired.

Doom! Bang! Clang! Thud! I was completely out of range, and the magic spheres from my blind spots or out of reach destroyed my magic barrier.

Finally, a magic sphere that broke through everything caught my head and shook it.

“Lord Lloyd!”

I stumbled a bit from the impact, but I was fine.

I guarded with a strong magic barrier deployed at close range.

But the rapid-fire magic spheres hit me from above. Hit me. Hit me.

With loud thuds, the impact resonated, and I finally fell to my knees.

The attacks didn’t stop.

“Hahaha! How pitiful! You look like a turtle! Just crouch there! I’ll strip away your magic barrier like a turtle’s shell!”

Laughing, the rain of magic spheres continued to pour down from above.

I could only crouch and endure.

“It’s over! Die! Die, die, die, die! Die! Regret defying me and die—”

Gizalum’s attack stopped.

He had no choice but to stop.

After all, the arm he was about to attack with had already disappeared.

“Wh-What!? Why is my arm...!?”

“Hmm, it seems that even as a demon, a part that has been absorbed into a subspace cannot regenerate.”

Gizalum looked at the spot where he had transferred his arm.

A black vortex floated there.

A vortex created by the magic ‘Void’, which opens a door to a subspace.

“Wh-What the hell!?”

Gizalum’s arm became hazy and seemed to dissipate like mist.

It was similar to when a demon disappeared.

“What did you do...? I was moving with each attack and hitting your blind spots. You shouldn’t have been able to predict my movements. I shouldn’t have been hit by such a slow attack...!”

“That’s right, Lord Lloyd! You said that the magic is slow to activate and has a short range, so it’s impossible to hit!?”

To the questions of Gizalum and Grimo, I nodded and answered.

“Yes, that’s why I set up a spell formula. Just now, while I was crouching.”

—Earlier, I had touched the spatial transfer spell formula with the magic-absorbing sword.

By touching it, I absorbed and analyzed the spell formula.

The magic-absorbing sword has a ‘Identification’ spell formula engraved on it, allowing me to analyze the structure of the absorbed spell formula.

I then set up a spell formula to detect the start of the analyzed spell formula.

All I had to do was link it to the ‘Void’ spell formula.

When Gizalum’s arm transferred through space, the spell formula would be read, and ‘Void’ would activate at that location.

A hole to a subspace would open at the same spot where the arm appeared.

“You set up a spell formula!? While you were crouching!? Spell formulas, even simple ones, take days to set up. It’s not something that can be done in just a few dozen seconds! Impossible! Impossible, impossible, impossible!”

“I can’t believe it! It’s incredible, Lord Lloyd! It’s all thanks to your daily tinkering with spell formulas and modifying magic! Your ability to analyze and construct spell formulas is at an unbelievable level!”

The two were muttering.

I still have some leeway. I’ll finish him off.

I aimed at the panicked Gizalum and activated ‘Void’.

“Shit—!?”

Distracted by his muttering, a black hole appeared on Gizalum’s forehead.

His body was sucked into it.

His torso, limbs, head—

“Guh... K-K... Damn...!”

Gizalum’s dying scream echoed through the castle.

But it quickly faded.

The black vortex disappeared, leaving only silence.