Chapter 87

〈Decoy〉, that was the magic Tia used this time.

By incorporating the target's genes, she could copy their appearance and even reproduce their physical abilities to a certain extent, making it impossible to see through unless one had an exceptionally keen eye.

At the very least, Ripper, who knew nothing about Grain, naturally couldn't see through it.

"Well, let's hear who you are. You don't want to die at your age, do you?"

"Ugh..."

Ripper's neck was pressed by Grain's sword, and a trail of blood flowed.

Tia was also constantly maintaining her magic power, ready to cast a powerful spell at any moment.

There was no place for her to run.

But――――――――.

"......"

"Huh?"

"No... I don't want to kill... I don't want to kill――――――――!"

Grain's actions were precise.

He had cut the carotid artery of Ripper, who was about to struggle, with the sword he was pressing against her neck.

Or rather, he had tried to sever her head.

(What!? It felt like cutting through iron!?)

He could cut through metal if he wanted to.

However, as the phrase "if he wanted to" implies, the sword, which was intended to cut through soft flesh, could not sever the body of Ripper, who could turn his body into a holy sword.

"A... A lot of red..."

Even so, the carotid artery had been cut.

Ripper staggered, spilling a large amount of blood onto the red carpet on the floor.

Although it should have been a fatal wound, Grain felt an ominous premonition from her appearance.

(I have to finish her off here...!)

"Ah! Just die! KILL!"

〈Draw〉――――――――――.

As Ripper muttered, her body began to glow.

When the blinding light subsided, she was covered in various shapes of swords, each claiming to be a legendary blade.

"There are no wounds... Did you reconstruct your body?"

Tia activated her magic eye and analyzed the moment her appearance changed.

Grain and the others didn't know, but the correct term for holy swords was 〈magic swords〉, which possessed a small amount of divine power.

As befitting a sword of magic, they contained a large amount of magic power.

And 〈Draw〉, in principle, was similar to 〈Limit Break〉 in humans.

Therefore, Tia could see the large amount of magic power moving, as Ripper's magic power was once disrupted and then reconstructed.

"Kill! Kill! Combined Kill!"

"Ah! Tia!"

The speed was such that even Grain could barely follow it with his eyes.

If not for the magic barrier he had set up as a precaution, Tia's body would have been pierced by several swords.

However, the impact of the body slam at that speed was immeasurable.

Naturally, Tia, being a light person, could not withstand it and was blown away.

"There's a barrier...!?"

The barrier, which was meant to dampen the impact, was meaningless.

Tia, who had been blown away, collided with the wall several meters behind and turned the surrounding wall into rubble.

She was buried under the rubble and showed no signs of movement.

Grain, who wanted to rush to her immediately, was not allowed by the merciless holy sword.

"One more!"

"Ugh!"

Ripper ran around the floor, launching strong attacks from all directions.

Due to the speed, Grain could no longer follow her with his eyes and was barely keeping up by predicting her movements based on experience and intuition.

(We're running out of resources... I have to do something)

"Ah! No, no! I don't want to kill if I can't kill――――!"

"!"

〈Sword Forest〉――――――――――.

Ripper placed her hand on the floor.

After a moment's vibration, the same swords that grew from her body sprouted from the floor where Grain stood.

"Down...!"

Grain jumped to get away from Ripper.

"Kill Kill!"

The swords sprouted to chase after him, aiming to skewer him.

Judging that it was not wise to keep running, he boldly charged forward.

"If I'm being tracked, I can circle around!"

He ran in a circle around Ripper with his magic-enhanced legs.

The swords continued to chase him, but the moment he circled around, Grain slashed at Ripper.

She kept her hand on the floor and did not attempt to counterattack.

"Got you――――――――――"

"Stupid! 〈Sword Mountain〉!"

"!"

Swords sprouted from the floor around Ripper.

He hastily pulled back his sword to protect his vital points, but could not block all the densely packed swords, and several of them pierced his body.

The blades continued to grow, lifting Grain into the air.

Unable to move, he could only spit blood in the air.

"Ah... I'm done for..."

"Kill, Kill!"

"Ugh..."

Ripper struck the swords piercing Grain.

The vibration traveled through them, causing him, who was already full of injuries, to suffer.

His beloved sword was knocked away when he protected his vital points, leaving him without a weapon.

"Come down and kill!"

The extended swords returned to their original length.

This also meant that Grain's body was getting closer to the floor.

Ripper grew a sword at the position of his heart.

"Give me your heart."

"..."

She wore an innocent and mad smile.

A chill ran down Grain's spine, and cold sweat trickled down his cheek.

Then, the swords reached his armor――――――――.

"Come on, Tia...!"

"Sure thing!"

"!"

A ball of flame hit Ripper's body, sending her flying to the side.

Taking advantage of the opening, Grain used all his strength to break the swords that were restraining him.

He landed on the floor, avoiding the swords, and immediately knelt to catch his breath.

"You could have done that from the start."

"There was no such opportunity... I could barely manage to break them."

Tia approached and peered at his hands.

Grain's hands were covered in blood.

In this state, he could not hope to grip a sword.

"So... Are you ready?"

"Of course, I'm ready."

Tia, despite being covered in dust, gave a reliable thumbs up.

"Get out of the way...! Kill!"

"Unfortunately, it's over. We won't be killed."

Tia, facing Ripper, who glared at her with a look of anger, responded with her usual expressionless face.

Then, she smoothly brought her hands together and whispered.

"〈Limit Break〉"

Tia's magic power swelled.

The pressure forced Ripper to stop in her tracks.

And the moment she stopped, it became――――――――.

―――――――――――her greatest defeat.

"Magic Realm, 〈Infinite Heart〉"

Visible magic power was expelled from Tia's heart and swirled around her.

The amount of magic power was beyond comparison.

Even the magic power of Setsu and Fuyuma was surpassed by her now.

"Ugh... Annoying! Kill! Kill Kill!"

"Bang"

"Ah!"

A Flame Lance suddenly appeared and struck Ripper's abdomen as she lunged forward.

"Bang, bang"

"Ah! Ow!"

She was hit by an Ice Lance and a Thunder Lance in quick succession as she was blown away.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang"

"Ah! Ah! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

It was a scene as if continuous cannonballs were hitting her.

Every time Tia flicked her fingers, a Lance-type magic spell, specialized in power, was formed and aimed at Ripper.

The mysterious part was that the spells hit the moment she flicked her fingers.

Normally, magic is formed through incantation or non-incantation, and activated by speaking its name.

In other words, several steps must be taken to activate magic.

In her case, she ignored all these steps and cast magic in a single breath.

Truly, her appearance was that of a "Magic Realm."

The ideal form that magicians strive for.

"What's a Magic Realm... Just forcing a huge amount of magic power into a solid form, randomly assigning attributes, and skipping the steps. It's certainly incredible, but it's only possible because magic power gushes out like a spring."

If Tia's current state were to be described with an analogy, it would be like a boxer who doesn't think about whether to use the right or left hand, whether to twist the punch, or at what angle to strike, but only thinks about throwing punches.

The left or right arm moves on its own, and the angle and twist change depending on the situation.

In other words, Tia is just recklessly throwing punches.

There are no steps or thoughts involved, only attacking.

"It's starting to hurt..."

"Let's go outside. It's too cramped here."

"No! I'll kill you here!"

"Listen to me."

"Ah!"

Dozens of Lance-type magic spells appeared and continuously attacked Ripper.

Each hit pushed her body back, and even when she was against the wall, the attacks continued.

After 100 or 200 hits, the wall of the demon king's castle could no longer withstand it, and Ripper's body was blown outside.

Even in the air, the magic did not stop.

This time, a Flame Lance hit her from below, lifting her up.

Dozens of Lances followed, and Ripper was eventually floating high in the sky.

"No! I don't want to be here!"

The lack of obstacles and the ground in this situation was Ripper's greatest weakness.

Her style was best suited to areas with obstacles and the ground.

But here, in the air, there was no terrain to speak of.

"This is my special move. I'll show you something good at the end."

Tia raised her hand.

There was no trace of the rough attack she had been using earlier.

A delicate and beautiful magic circle was being constructed in front of her.

High in the sky, above the clouds, under the blue sky.

"This is the end. Star Magic――――――――〈Meteor〉"

It appeared suddenly.

It pushed away the clouds and fell straight down, a true meteor.

Its size was large enough to crush the entire demon king's castle...

"Ahh――――――――――"

"Goodbye"

Ripper, helpless, was struck by the meteor.

The heat from the meteor burned her body.

At first, she screamed, but her voice gradually grew weaker and eventually disappeared.

All that remained was the meteor falling straight toward the castle.

"Is this... going to be okay?"

"It's fine, I can dispel it."

Tia raised her hand again, and the meteor turned into a mass of magic power, dissipating into mist.

At that moment, Tia collapsed.

When Grain caught her and looked at her face, she had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily.

"...I guess it's not something to use often, since I always end up like this."

"Already... I can't do it anymore..."

"Ha... Indeed."

Grain, despite his aching body, carried Tia and headed for the upper floors.

◆◆◆

While Grain and the others were fighting Ripper... in the upper floors of the demon king's castle――――――――.

"Hmm... It seems Ripper has lost... This is going to be troublesome."

"What... are you...?"

In a narrow corridor filled with explosions and black smoke, Blood, Elka, and a man in a red robe stood.

"Sorry, my name is 〈Explosion Sword Explot〉. As a stepping stone to the extinction of humanity, I will start by blowing up the stronghold of this strong person."

A second unexpected holy sword attacked them――――――――――.