"…Kh." Yomi was thinking to himself, hiding behind a huge rock that he had manifested out of the ground with his Combat Art.
Naturally, such an impromptu protective measure couldn't completely block the extreme light of purification. Even as he was hiding, smoke was constantly rising from his body.
Needless to say, he could no longer hope to regenerate with 'filth'. Yomi vexedly gritted his teeth.
Still, he never thought the Savior would be in possession of such power.
――'Phoenix Form'.
The ultimate combat form when it came to battles against demons.
No, it not only applied to demons.
It was an instant death-level power that could forcibly purify anything that originated from 'filth', such as monsters.
Facing it in person, Yomi well understood its terrifying power.
Even when he had created a long distance and hid himself behind a rock, his body still continued to be burned.
And closing on the Savior would only result in his body disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Yet one thing puzzled him. Why did the Savior not go on the offensive despite possessing such great power?
With that power, he should be able to erase Yomi in an instant if he so wished…
Could it be that he couldn't move…? As Yomi felt doubt, the Savior spoke.
"You've got it now, right? You have no chance to defeat me. If you don't want to die, I advise you to just stay right where you are."
"Ridiculous. I haven't lost yet."
Yes, that was likely the case.
There was no way he could exert that much power without any risk.
Speaking of, the way he was releasing his power was similar to omnidirectional release-type Magic Arts which centered around the caster such as barriers.
To maximize the potency of such Magic Arts, the caster must keep on channeling their power without moving from their spot.
If that was the case, he may have a way to breakthrough this predicament.
"—Grand Éclair Blade!"
――BOOM!
"!"
Yomi struck the rock in front of him with a super high-speed punch, and at the same time used it as a shield to close in on the Savior.
"Kh!?"
Bang! The Savior retreated, and at the same instant, the purification light diminished. Having confirmed that things went as he had predicted, Yomi kicked the rock again and slashed at him with the fastest quickdraw technique he was capable of.
"Grand Ray—Zero!"
It was the light attribute quickdraw technique that had struck him previously at the oni village.
The slash sliced the Savior's torso in half—or so it should.
"—Wha!?"
Yomi instead found the blade of his sword vanishing without a trace.
Savior, meanwhile, crossed dual swords clad in silver flames in front of his body.
"…Sorry, Yomi. You seem to be thinking that you could stop my flames, but they're not a product of Magic Art. They're simply the result of me discharging my power, and if I stop, the power will just stay coiling about my body—they 'condense', if you will."
"W-what…!?"
That was why the blade of his sword had vanished.
Because it had touched his condensed flames.
"Farewell, Yomi. I had no intention to kill you, but my comrades' lives are at stake. Time to end this!"
"Gh!?" Yomi took a defensive posture, but he knew that doing so was futile.
Therefore, Yomi, having resigned to his fate, inwardly apologized to his lord, Elysium, for his unfortunate defeat: 'My lord, my deepest apologies…'
Yet, at that time,
"—!?"
――Bang!
"Gaha!?"
Suddenly, he felt a dull pain in his abdomen. Yomi found that he had been kicked away by the Savior.
At that moment.
――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNGGGG!!
""—!?""
Without any warning, something that appeared like a tentacle shot out from underground and swept itself at the spot where Yomi and the Savior had just been.
◇ ◇
What's this thing… The grotesque tentacle that had appeared out of nowhere evoked unpleasant feelings in me.
The tentacle was huge; it could easily swallow a person whole. Wriggling, mouth-like organs were closely packed across not only the tip part of its body, but also its sides.
"Be gone!"
――BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!
I intuitively knew that I couldn't leave it alone, so I burned it with flames of purification without hesitation.
"Gigeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"
After which, the tentacle turned into particles of light while raising a jarring screech.
However, what I just erased was most likely only a part of the tentacles—the 'main body' from where it had extended should be beyond the hole it had come from.
I didn't know who it was, but I was sure that it was one of the"Sacrifices"just like Yomi.
Not to mention.
"That thing clearly was targeting you. Did you have a fall out with your comrade?"
"..."
It had come targeting Yomi, one of their own.
Something unexpected must have happened.
…Now, what do I do?
From the looks of it, Yomi had lost the will to fight… or more accurately, he had been shaken by the tentacle's attack. I had the option to just go past him and head to Elma.
Though, to be perfectly honest, I was disinclined to leave this trouble alone.
I, of course, believed in the girls, but I got the feeling that I had to burn whoever owned that tentacle with my flames.
(…Sorry, Elma. Please bear with it a bit longer.)
As such, while feeling sorry for Elma—
"—My bad, but the situation calls for a temporary cease-fire. You can follow me if you want, but let's settle our fight later."
Leaving those words to Yomi, I jumped into the hole the tentacle had come from.