Chapter 26 - The Center Stage

We reach our destination which turns out to be a small park, but the area is giving me the chills.

[The area is engulfed in a barrier.]

A barrier huh. Is it the same as ?

[Affirmative.]

Good. Let's enter shall we?

Bracing myself and reminding the others to be careful, we enter the barrier. I have to say, for a thirteen year old to be the one issuing orders, they seem to listen well. Especially Uncle Gio who's technically the oldest and strongest among us. But I suppose the language barrier is kind of a hindrance for his leadership.

Now then, let's dive straight to danger!

Ugh! What is that smell? I feel like I'm going to puke! It's like the smell of rotting corpses!

And yes, I've smelled those before.

And is it just me or is the air a little hard to breathe? Just what did the demons do to this area for it to feel as oppressing as this?

"Heads up. We got company." Uncle Gio warns.

I see a few figures ahead of us.

Whoa. The aura around them are heavier and more sinister than what I'm feeling right now. I guess my instinct really was spot on.

"Prepare for battle!" Uncle Gio shouts and he unsheathes his gigantic sword and starts swinging towards the enemies.

"Shizu, stay back and be on support! Nik, stay and guard Shizu! If an enemy somehow gets past us, you deal with them!"

""Okay!""

Seriously. It's a mystery why they're listening to the orders of a thirteen year old. Physically only at least, but they didn't know that.

Now back to the enemies.

!

"Lightning Magic: Thunderclap!"

I zoom towards the enemy and take them out with a streak of lightning, effectively frying and burning them.

Hmm… I wonder.

Is my ability considered western magic? Or eastern magic? I seem to be capable of dealing with any type of monsters no matter their origin.

What do you think Slayer?

[Unable to answer.]

Figures.

Now then, let's finish this and deal with the stronger ones!

And save the girls!

"Earth Magic: Earth Lock!"

Fissures appear on the ground, swallowing my opponents' feet, locking them in place.

And now for the final blow; "Fire Magic: Explosion!"

A series of explosions detonates on where the enemies are stuck. As the smoke clears, I can only see dust and smoke from where they were standing.

[You have slayed your enemy!]

[You have slayed your enemy!]

[You have slayed your enemy!]

I'll check those later.

I take a glance ahead of me and I see Uncle Gio hacking his way further inside with his giant sword. I notice a few ghouls and lower demons but with one swing of his sword they're out for the count. From behind, I notice Shizu glowing a little with a shield in front of her. Random lightning strikes hit any opponents that come close, together with Nik who's swinging his katana with no problem.

Wow. A katana. It brings back a few memories from my past life. I wielded a katana once and never got the chance to do so again. Well I did so I never got the chance.

Oops! I almost got clawed by a lesser demon. Get your head straight during a fight April!

"Ice Magic: Frozen Arrows!"

A rain of arrows emerges from a magic circle and strikes all the yokai and demon in front of me.

At this rate I might be able to-

Ugh! What is this? This feeling of dread, fear and… death!

Oh no! Don't tell me they're starting the ritual? But the moon hasn't even… Oh. We got too caught up in fighting the small fries that I didn't even notice that the moon is already out.

"Uncle Gio! We have to move faster!"

"Tell that to these blockheads!"

"The get out of the way!"

I'll blast them with my wide-range offensive attack!

"Earth Magic: Crater!"

The ground collapses and the enemies fall right in it.

"Lightning and Fire Unison: Lightning-Fire Balls!"

Countless small orbs of fire surrounded with tendrils of lightning emerge and fall to the crater.

*BOOM!*

The huge explosion shakes the ground and luckily I did not lose my footing. When the smoke finally clears, there's no longer any enemy in front of us. There's some really drastic destruction but we no longer have to worry about small fries.

As for my [Slayer System] a bunch of [You have slayed your enemy!] pops up but I shoves them to the side and we start running deeper into the park. From the satellite map I studied a while ago, there's some sort of stage in the middle of the park for any presentations and performances the city may have.

I think the stage at the very center is too much of a coincidence, but something like that is definitely not easy to miss.

Oh my gods. The nuns and female teenagers are tied to crosses around the stage. With my I can see a small red thread connecting the victims and the magic circle carved on the stage.

The girls aren't dead yet, but I'm pretty sure they soon will be so we need to act fast.

"Get them off the crosses!" Uncle Gio directs and we immediately scramble to the one nearest to us.

Just as I thrust my hand to the rope, I feel a sting and see some sort of barrier around the teenager I'm trying to save.

The heck! They enemy's making sure they cannot be removed!

I relay to this Uncle Gio, Shizu and Nik. I don't think they needed it really since I heard them yelp a while ago.

*SLASH!*

Shit! I didn't even see it coming! I can't believe a claw nicked me in the arm!

And damn, the demon in front of me looks ugly. His face was green with welts and I seriously feel sorry for the guy, but he did just try to hack me so never mind.

Name: Gutria (Upper Demon)

Level: 18

HP: 21400/22000

Damn! Level 18! Not to mention his HP is twice higher than mine!

Wait, the demon is an upper demon and has a name! No wonder it's powerful! I heard that named monsters are powerful than regular monsters.

The problem now is… How do I defeat a demon stronger than me in a lot of levels?

Think April! What did your instructor say back then? If your opponent is stronger than you then fight smart.

Right… Fight smart, huh Then, if I can't fight this demon head on, I will have to resort to using a few tricks to take him down.

Before I can even think, my body is already moving on its own, forming a bow made of ice and starts shooting at the upper demon with ice arrows. I shoot two arrows at his feet which he breaks and suddenly comes at me with surprising speed.

Damn it! He's fast!

!

I manage to get away from the upper demon's gasp but it's like we're playing a game of tag, only that we're moving at inhuman speed.

This is bad. That demon at the center is already starting the ritual. A demon can actually conduct the ritual?

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The hostages! Why are they suddenly screaming in pain!

On no! I can see blood being drawn from them. The pain from that is probably something very terrible! I have to save them!

I raise my arms and imagine pieces of the ground float in the air, and then; "Earth Magic: Earth Prison!"

Those pieces of earth shoots towards the upper demon, encasing his entire body therefore restricting his movement. With the demon stuck with the spell, I make a dash towards one of the crosses.

My goal is to get at least one of the supposedly sacrifices off the crosses and get them out of danger. By doing so, I'm sure the ritual will stop. Well, I'm hoping it will stop, but it's kind of the only choice available to me at the moment.

Oh well. Here goes nothing.