Chapter 9

"......It's not enough... It's not enough at all...!"

The blue-skinned man floating in the sky, with his red hair standing on end, bared his teeth and lamented.

"The heat isn't enough... What's wrong with you guys? Even though we're going all out, it's still so cold...!"

His roar shook Kiril's eardrums with a tingling sensation. In response to the expansion of his will, a wave of heat spread out from him—

"Prometheus—Illegal Formula!"

As he raised his arm toward the sky, the ground cracked, and a tower of red flames, several dozen meters high, erupted from a square kilometer of land. The territory of the demons, shrouded in darkness, was suddenly illuminated in a hellish red.

The illegal spell was a technique created by demons to amplify the power of magic by excessively consuming magical energy. Normally, the spell Prometheus could only create a sea of fire over a 100-meter square area. By using the illegal spell, he had expanded it even further. The trade-off was that controlling the magic became more difficult, but the only demon left in this area was he, Tsaiyon of the Phosphorescent Flame. The town had already been destroyed by the heroes, so there was no need to worry about the surroundings.

"Eterna, use your magic to extinguish the flames!"

Sage Jean, who was working with the witch Eterna and the holy maiden Maria to cast a wide-area shield to protect the party, ordered her irritably.

"I don't need to be told."

Even before Jean spoke, Eterna was already in action. She calmed herself, focused her mind, and activated a large-scale water spell.

"Water Meteorite"

With just one word, a massive sphere of water appeared above Tsaiyon's head. It was drawn down by gravity, crushing him with its immense mass. It seemed that Eterna intended to both attack and extinguish the flames with this spell.

"It's lukewarm!"

But Tsaiyon, enveloped in flames, deliberately entered the water and burst through it. Moving from the bottom to the top of the water mass, he kicked it like a ball toward Eterna, who had cast the spell.

"What the hell!?"

"It's outrageous."

"Unexpected."

Jean, Maria, and Eterna were astonished by this unconventional counterattack. They wondered if the shield they were currently maintaining would hold up. At that moment, the warrior Gadio suddenly rushed forward, charging at the approaching water sphere. Each time he kicked off the ground, a small crater formed, due to the weight of his black armor and his massive two-handed sword, which was over two meters long. Despite this, he could still move at high speed, thanks to his overwhelming physical strength. Moreover, Gadio even used magic.

"Earth Grave"

He quietly declared the activation of the spell, concentrating his magical energy at his feet and spreading it through the ground. Rocks rose from the earth, forming a series of steps. Gadio ran up these steps, gaining altitude, and approached the falling sphere—and Tsaiyon beyond it. There was still some distance before Tsaiyon was within range of his two-handed sword, but Gadio began to refine "Prana" on the spot. He converted the power within his body into an invisible force, different from magical energy, often called "ki." In exchange for a large amount of stamina, he was about to unleash a fatal blow. This technique, originally used by knights serving the kingdom, was called Knight Swordsmanship.

"Hn!"

Gadio swung his sword with his Prana-filled arms. The speed of the sword distorted the surrounding scenery, and a high-pitched sound tore through the air. The Knight Swordsmanship: Ki Sword Slash released a shockwave that split the water meteorite in two. The sword pressure, undiminished, continued to fly and approached Tsaiyon.

"Damn, it's you again!"

He raised his hand and released a black smoke in front of him. The smoke was not fire-based but "darkness" based. Tsaiyon, as his nickname suggested, was a rare individual who could control both fire and darkness. He caught the Ki Sword Slash with his bare hands, which were covered by a thin layer of flame to prevent direct contact with his skin.

"Still... not hot enough, your heat isn't enough at all!"

He bent the shockwave as if it were a metal rod and, with a rough cry of "Here!" threw it into the sky. But Gadio was still standing. He kicked the last step of the rock staircase and soared into the air. Tsaiyon, in response to Gadio's great sword, attacked with a fist wrapped in flames.

"Gin!"

The fist and the blade collided, and the impact shook the surrounding air.

"Ugh...!"

"Let's end this warm-up—now!"

Tsaiyon, with both magical and physical strength surpassing Gadio, overpowered him. With a roar, the armored knight was blown away and crashed into the ground like a meteor. At the same time, the water, which had lost its form, splashed on the ground, extinguishing the flames. The rising steam obscured their vision.

"Hey, hero, stop cowering on the ground and come to me! You're the only one who can heat us up, the three Demon Generals!"

Tsaiyon was not wrong. With the hero's power, they would not have been at a disadvantage in the battle against the three Demon Generals. However, Kiril, still haunted by his parting with Flamm, was struggling to use his magic properly due to his wavering heart.

"—Got it."

Meanwhile, far from the burning earth caused by Tsaiyon's Prometheus, at a distance that would be impossible for a normal human to see with the naked eye, an arrow was fired. Linus, the archer, who had been waiting, aimed it at Tsaiyon, who was distracted by Kiril. Despite the considerable distance, the arrow did not lose speed, and it flew straight toward Tsaiyon's forehead, hidden by the steam. Tsaiyon, sensing the danger more by instinct than consciousness, caught the arrow and crushed it.

"Too clever... That's not it... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,