Chapter 60

Until now, the demon, which had been standing, finally fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Anne!"

Helen's sharp voice. Anne exhaled and swung her greatsword. With most of its head and limbs gone, and the only remaining right leg unable to move, there was no way to avoid it. Anne's greatsword cleaved the demon's torso, slicing through where a normal creature's heart would be.

I shouted to warn them.

"Don't let your guard down! If you defeat it, it should all disappear!"

Everyone nodded and cautiously surrounded the cleaved torso. We watched in tense silence, but only the lower half of the torso disappeared. This meant...

With a squelch, the missing torso regrew. Without a moment's delay, Anne's greatsword attacked the demon's body again, cleaving it once more. It was unclear under what conditions this happened, but a head regrew from the neck of the upper torso. Helen swiftly cut it off with incredible speed. Perhaps she really hated the sound it made. If that was the case, I could only agree.

Even after being cleaved multiple times, no new body parts grew from either of the severed sections.

At this point, the battle was almost over. We would cut off the regenerating parts as soon as they appeared. Anne, Helen, and I took turns, and if it tried to move with just its arms, Diana's spear and Sermia and Ridi's bows would handle it. The demon sometimes tried to regenerate all its parts simultaneously, but Anne quickly severed the torso, I cut off one arm, and Helen swiftly removed the remaining arm and head, leaving the demon "without a leg to stand on."

"How long is this thing going to keep regenerating..."

Helen grumbled. It was understandable, as she had lost count of how many times she had cut off its head. The battle was almost over, but it was unclear how long it would continue. The fight would go on until the demon vanished completely.

The only relief was that, as a monster, it didn't bleed, and the "dead" parts disappeared. If it were a normal creature, the severed parts would have remained, turning the area into a literal sea of blood. Still, it wasn't a sight I wanted to see repeatedly.

"Alright!"

Anne swung her greatsword again, cleaving the torso once more. I noticed a slight delay in her attacks.

"Is it regenerating a bit slower?"

"Yeah."

When I voiced my question, Helen agreed while cutting off the head that had regrown with a delay. This meant...

"Ridi!"

"It's decreasing!"

When I called out to Ridi for confirmation, she gave the expected answer. The demon was regenerating using the stagnant magic power around it. As the source of regeneration diminished, it would...

After repeating the same process a few more times, the situation clearly changed.

"It hasn't been regenerating anything but its arms and head for a while now."

"Right."

Anne and I nodded in agreement. The demon, or rather the stagnant magic power, was reaching its limit. The arms that had regrown instantly were now growing much more slowly, and the intervals between regenerations were increasing.

"Helen"

When I called out, Helen nodded and flashed her dual swords. The demon, now reduced to a pile of remains, was instantly cut into several pieces, with one larger piece remaining and the rest disappearing.

The larger piece wriggled slightly but eventually stopped moving and dissolved away.

"Ridi!"

"Yes!"

When I spoke, Ridi released her bow, closed her eyes, and focused her senses. Sermia and Diana cautiously approached. We couldn't let our guard down completely yet.

We spread out and remained vigilant. I didn't sense anything, but I wasn't as skilled as Helen, and my senses relied heavily on my cheat abilities. It was hard to know how much to trust them.

After a while, Ridi, who had been intensely focused, exhaled deeply. I gently asked her.

"...How is it?"

"It's gone. The stagnant magic power in the area has disappeared."

This meant...

"We did it!"

Ridi let out the loudest cheer of the day, and we all erupted in joy. The hunt was a success. A wave of exhaustion washed over me.

Helen rushed to Anne, who had slumped to the ground, and I also fell to the ground, filled with joy.

I took a deep breath and stood up, saying,

"Let's return in triumph!"

The first volume of the comic will be released on February 27th this weekend!

Some bookstores will include special bonuses, so please be sure to get your copy!

For more details, check the official website or the websites of individual bookstores.