Dignitas stared at the sight in front of him. John was locked in an intense battle with some kind of demon.
At first glance, the demon seemed normal. If one were to ignore how easily it was keeping up with John's sword swings, it could be confused for a simple librarian.
Wearing a ragged brown hood that covered its entire body, the demon was fearlessly shaving off the attacks from John's sword like it was nothing. Dignitas found it hard to peer inside the darkness of its cowl even with how much it was moving.
"Guess now's as good a time as any to test out my new skill. Let's see… Author's Insight."
Instantly, a wave of information assaulted Dignitas' head. He felt as if the screen that appeared when chanting "Status" had been forced inside, only allowing the image of the demon's stats to appear. And yet, Dignitas swore he could see a holographic screen in front of him.
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Hauser Friede – Demonized
1200, M
Rank: B-
ATK: B+ DEF: C
AGI: B- MANA: B
Skills
[ Grace Of The Mental Demon ] [ A- ]
Being one of the thralls of a Demon General enhances the user. At the cost of one's ability to think, the user can enter a mindless state where they receive increased stats. Borrowing power from a Demon, much less a General, is not without consequences.
[ Tome Knowledge – Superior ] [ B+ ]
A passive skill. As the keeper of the Mental Demon's archives, the user is granted a vast understanding of tomes and grimoires. Lessens the time required to chant when wielding a Tome.
[ Light Spears ] [ B- ]
Use one's control over the Light Affinity to conjure spears that seek out enemies. Cannot be affected or destroyed by other skills, unless the user wills it.
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Dignitas underestimated the skill. In just a few seconds, he had received answers to so many questions, some he wanted to know for a very long time.
"So my hunch wasn't too far off the mark. Malphasia really is the one who infected Makarov's Lockheart. But when...?"
That was a question for another time. Right now, Dignitas had to do his best to study the demon's skills.
Just the first few lines had indicated Hauser was not of sound mind. He was demonized, and a Thrall. This meant Malphasia was definitely able to control him whenever she wanted, like a puppet master.
And just like a real one, she could choose to sever the strings attached to them, permanently destroying Hauser.
That was part of what made Malphasia so scary in the original novel. Her extremely high proficiency in Mental magic allowed her to create an infinite number of Thralls.
If she wanted to, she could allow them to live their lives unaware that she controlled them.
With this, she could spy on any corner of the world. Her Thralls would relay the information they received to her, thus making the already scary General even more terrifying.
But thankfully, they had the means to sever the ties Malphasia had with her Thralls, without killing them in the process. The key was John's Severance Style.
Its original purpose was to exterminate any bit of demons that existed in the vicinity. The current situation was perfect for that.
"So that's why he's having trouble. He's trying to save him."
Dignitas noted a few times when John could've stabbed his sword through Hauser, ending the fight then and there.
Even so, not once did he attempt to. He would ever so often infuse his blade with a beautiful blue flame, and slash at the space above the demon.
Hauser seemed to be aware of what John was trying to do, and focused all his stamina on preventing the sword from cutting the strings.
"He looks like he could use my help. Guess it's time to save another demon. Gah, am I getting infected by John?"
Shaking his head, Dignitas brandished Dainsleif and charged towards the demon. Hauser's back was currently faced towards him, so he didn't notice the author running full speed.
John, on the other hand, did. He nodded subtly towards Dignitas, as if pleading the author not to kill Hauser.
'You don't even need to ask. He's probably worth a few.'
Just before Dignitas brought down Dainsleif on the unaware demon's head, it suddenly twisted its body and sent the former flying backwards.
"Wha-? How?"
The demon didn't even notice him. It was as if his body had moved on pure instinct, allowing him to fend off the danger lurking.
By now, Hauser had noticed the appearance of another human. As if waiting for this moment, he quickly waved his hand over the open tome in his hand.
The book's pages seemed to glow at that, and a sudden bright light descended upon the room the next moment.
Dignitas and John raised their free hands to cover their eyes. Without warning, both of them were assaulted by a myriad of flaming fireballs, and sent hurling backwards.
John recovered first. "His Tome contains a lot of spells! Be careful, Dignitas!" He warned.
Tomes were known for being similar to staves and wands, in the sense that they acted as the catalyst for some magicians to user their magic. It wasn't necessary to use them, but the ones who did often found their chanting speed to be faster and more refined.
Still, Dignitas never entertained the idea of giving Alter or Percivale a magical artifact of this type. The Void Mirror and Feather Shifter were exceptions—they weren't designed to break despite their fragile names.
Tomes and Grimoires in particular, were able to store within them chants to various spells. They were essentially manuals most magicians could consult in the heat of battle.
"So he's a speedy magician, huh. His stats are pretty impressive for a B- rank. Really even."
As both swordsmen stood up, they found Hauser in the middle, nonchalantly flipping through the tome in his hand like he was browsing a magazine. He yawned provocatively, causing Dignitas' smile to for stop for a split second.
"Time to teach this guy a lesson."
Smacking the dust that had accumulated on their school uniforms, both swordsmen suddenly disappeared from their positions, almost leaving behind afterimages.
Dignitas wondered. Why wasn't he feeling any fear? This was a B- rank demon, more than five sub ranks above him. Was it because John was with him?
The two swordsmen instantly appeared beside Hauser. In sync, their swords slashed downwards flashing. Hauser retreated a few paces backwards, before casting Light Spears.
Behind him, three long spears manifested. With a single command, they charged towards John, who Hauser pointed at. Like a bunch of seeking missiles, they flew towards the protagonist.
'He's treating me lightly and wants to take me out first. Fine, we'll see who goes down.'
Now that John was preoccupied with dodging the Light Spears sent to kill him, Dignitas was left to face Hauser.
Grinning wildly, he quickly drew a small bullet from Reality Construction, and sent it flying towards the demon. He didn't wait, and slammed the flat side of Dainsleif against it like a baseball player.
With a mere turn of the head, Hauser dodged the bullet, no difficulty whatsoever. Dignitas closed the distance between them both and started hacking at the demon.
It was then that John's body appeared out of thin air. He had used his blinking skill to trick the Light Spears and sent himself right in front of Hauser.
Bringing the sword behind him, John chanted as he swung. "Come, demon-consuming flames. Severance Style!"
Out of nowhere, a translucent blue flame ignited, and his blade was set on fire. This was the Severance Style.