The Moonlight Weaver harmlessly flew around in the air as if it was a loose balloon. Both Dignitas and John noted the deadly aura that emanated from its staff, mentally reminding themselves to stay away from it whenever the spirit attacked.
As Erichtonerich was a spirit, that also meant that he used to be someone who walked Midania. And that meant he was able to harness Lifestraught, a variation of energy that only the dead could use.
"Let's go." Erichtonerich hummed from the inside of his mask.
As he now resided in a different plane of existence from all other living creatures, the Moonlight Weaver had but a set amount of time before the earthen plane banished him temporarily.
As all entities, living or dead, had a home, they could only function properly there.
"He… only has five minutes before he disappears." Evangeline notified Dignitas and John. "We should attack."
"Yeah, we cannot waste this time Eva's given us, Dignitas."
"No need to tell me. Let's go."
Both swordsmen drew their respective swords and pointed them at Baldurai. The Stone Demon had a confused look on his face, almost as if he wanted to ask Dignitas something.
And yet he was given no time to do so when Erichtonerich fired a beam of spectral energy at him, forcing him to shield his front.
Since John was the tougher of the two, albeit, not by much, he opted to be the one to engage with Baldurai. The moment they entered his striking range, the protagonist began slashing at the demon with swift, fluid slashes.
Baldurai reacted to each and every hit, not even bothering to defend himself thanks to his still-hardened form. Instead of wholeheartedly focusing on John, he diverted most of attention towards Dignitas and Evangeline.
The former was mostly due to Dignitas' current condition.
"One of my earth bullets should've pierced his skin and began releasing Devil Ashra inside. Did his body manage to fend off the corruption?"
"The generals notified me that Varnier was slain by the red sword the human is wielding. In that case, I should focus on disarming him. That is, if he really did kill my brother."
Baldurai still didn't buy into the fact that Dignitas had managed to defeat his older brother. A D rank managing to slay an A rank… it was completely unheard of.
But unlike Varnier, he was much more careful. The moment something started posing a threat to his life, it was his job to prevent it from growing.
"But the Moon Elf is also worthy of my attention." Baldurai noted as he flung away the trident that was thrown at him.
It was the very first time he was fighting against a Lunalite, much less encountered one. Their species were rare, and even the Demon King harbored a great interest for their supposed beauty that rivaled the moon in full bloom.
For now, the Moonlight Weaver Evangeline had summoned was working hard to inflict as much damage in short intervals.
That was because the elf had ordered him to avoid hurting Dignitas or John. This was difficult, as the two were practically glued to Baldurai like gum to a shoe.
But that had changed. Both of the swordsmen suddenly began retreating backwards when Baldurai started to make spikes rise from the earth at an increasingly fast pace.
"Get back, Dignitas! He's preventing us from engaging him any further!" John shouted.
"Yeah, this is getting difficult. Can we have the conjured spirit do our work instead? We haven't been able to do shit."
It was a time for a switch in tactics. Instead of working on suppressing Baldurai and making Erichtonerich's work harder, the two swordsmen now would start to focus on preventing the demon from taking the defensive.
"I think you're right. Our swords aren't dealing any damage against it. The Moonlight Weaver has the best chance of inflicting damage."
"Perfect. Hey, Mister Spirit!" Dignitas snapped his fingers at Erichtonerich. "We'll work on disabling him, so throw out as many high-damaging spells as you can!"
Understanding that their wishes aligned with Evangeline, the person who summoned him, Erichtonerich simply nodded, before starting to infuse his staff with his stored Lifestraught.
In response, Baldurai once again began charging Devil Ashra into his arms. Bang, bang! A seemingly endless volley of earth bullets began to shoot out from the holes in his body.
"Do you have any ranged attacks, John?" Dignitas asked the protagonist beside him as he casted Reality Construction to create a wall.
The spikes Baldurai had erected were still up, thus preventing any close range encounters from occurring.
"No, unfortunately. How about you, Dignitas? Do you think you could cast your Reality magic quickly?"
Dignitas knew what John was thinking. He wanted the author to slash multiple footholds in the air so as to make sure a close range confrontation could happen.
"No, I can't yet. I've barely had time to practice drawing. I could probably keep you moving in the air for like six or seven seconds, but that wouldn't be enough to deal enough damage to the demon. Maybe I'll ask Professor Shib to teach me how to draw faster when we get back home."
"Haha! It's almost like you're saying we'll make it out of this easily!" John remarked on Dignitas' easy going attitude that didn't seem to have a hint of panic in it.
"Well, of course we will. We have the protagonist on our side, don't we?"
"You're still going on about that protagonist thing…"
Whoosh! Suddenly, the two of them were interrupted by Erichtonerich finally beginning his magical assault on Baldurai.
Magic attacks of all kinds, fueled by Lifestraught, were fired at the Stone Demon in an attempt to pierce its impenetrable skin.
While that was happening, Evangeline approached the duo, looking like he had something to say.
"What is it, Eva?" John said. "Do you have a plan?"
The Lunalite nodded silently. She pointed to the Moonlight Weaver, who was relentlessly bombarding Baldurai with a barrage of spells. Beams, orbs, and attacks of all kinds were sent hurling at the stone demon, all with the goal of destroying that husk the demons of that race were so proud of.
Then, Eva pointed to a certain part of Baldurai's body.
That was when Dignitas and John noticed. As the demon raised its hands to defend against Erichtonerich's attacks, it would ever so often move slightly whenever the Weaver shot out one of its supercharged beams.
"Of course… I didn't think of that." Dignitas replied, finally realizing what Eva was referring to.
John seemed to have understood it too. Without another word, the trio nodded towards each other, before the two swordsmen charged at Baldurai.
"So, we're going with the plan, Dignitas? You said, six or seven seconds, yes?"
"Yep. Just a warning, though. I'm not confident enough to save you if you happen to fall off the platform. Try not to shake too much." Dignitas warned him.
"That's okay! We have Eva here to save me if things go wrong."
The Lunalite nodded in response. In her mind, she ordered Erichtonerich to continue overwhelming Baldurai with his attacks in order to conceal the two humans' plans.
"Okay, Princess. I'll make sure to prevent either one of the humans from getting hurt. Our queen never fails in her affection for the humans, indeed."
"Shh…" Evangeline urged the spirit to pipe down. Her benefactors didn't need to know anything about her past. For now, at least.
"Alright, here we go, John!" Dignitas shouted as both he and the protagonist approached the demon, who was still being pressured by Erichtonerich.
As an added measure of safety, he preemptively activated Death's Vision and marked John as his enemy, so as to be aware of his next movements.
Dignitas slowed down to an abrupt halt the moment he reached the edge of the spikes.
"Reality Construction: Foothold!"
Moving quickly, Dignitas deftly slashed Dainsleif in the form of a small square foothold, one just about large enough for one of John's feet to walk on.
Then, taking into the mind John's current location, and the information given to him by Death's Vision, he sent the foothold flying towards where he would go next.
He didn't stop at just one. Like a human repeatedly doing mindless tasks, his brain worked to allow him to shift his focus between John's current location, Death's Vision's prediction, and how fast he could draw.
"Let's do this, John."