Chapter 68: Back - Silver Mist
-The Wyvern Squadron had taken the lead from Grace.
"Look at that!"
One of the knights yelled.
With the wyverns' eyes and the knights' eyes searching from above, there's no way they wouldn't notice anything suspicious.
A man standing at the corner of the harbor's pier. And a large dorsal fin peeking above the sea surface. If this is a report in progress, it seems they made it in time. At the same time, the man also raised his head and visually locked onto the Wyvern Squadron.
"Don't move!"
"We're knights. Let us inspect that creature!"
The man's response was swift.
"Go!"
He issued a short command to the shark-like familiar in the sea, releasing it into the ocean, while he himself soared into the sky.
Even his appearance changed. With a creaking sound, what had looked like a human form started to collapse.
A silver body. Smooth like an egg, with a featureless face devoid of eyes, nose, and mouth, reflecting the surrounding scenery. The arms and fingers were unnaturally thin and long. The legs had a structure resembling those of a beast's hind legs.
"Indeed, a demon!"
Silver demon - Zarbass stood between the knights and their familiars, taking position in the air.
"Lords of the knights, you've arrived. Our report might be incomplete, but..."
His entire face emitted a vibrating sound. Like an owl's - his head turned sideways.
Chasing after the familiar wasn't possible. The demon was rolling a clump of miasma in his hands, indicating that if they prioritized it, he could easily launch an attack from behind while they focused on the ocean.
Compared to the silver demon Zarbass in front of them, the familiar holding the report had a higher priority. However, ignoring the demon itself was also a difficult situation.
The knight atop the wyvern surged forward, his combat intent focused in his lengthy lance.
The confronting demon shrugged his shoulders with disinterest, then flexed his arm like a whip. It extended even longer than the spear. The knight attempted to block it with his shield - but...
"What!?"
The arm that had touched the shield entwined around it, grabbing the knight's body from an unexpected direction, and then flung him into the air.
"Damn it!"
"Wha-Whoa!?"
A miasma bullet was shot towards the thrown knight in midair.
However, Chesster intercepted it skillfully, snatching it away and leaving.
Flying parallel above the head of the riderless wyvern, he returned to the empty saddle.
"Sorry about that."
"Don't rush in recklessly! We'll attack with multiple members!"
Under Chesster's orders, four knights circled around Zarbass. Their ability to fly without colliding with each other at close range was surely a result of training. They executed acrobatic-like flights, thrusting their lances from the closest possible range. But they couldn't hit him. The demon contorted its slim body like a soft-bodied creature to evade the attacks.
Chesster closed the distance. He instantly realized that the spear wouldn't fare well against it. He closed the gap and delivered a sweeping strike with his spear. Zarbass crossed his arms to block it.
"What!?"
Chesster's eyes widened in surprise. It should have been a light attack meant to provoke, not a full-fledged assault. However, Zarbass had been propelled quite a distance. There was no visible damage. He controlled his flight technique and allowed himself to be pushed back by Chesster's spear.
Breaking free from the encirclement, Zarbass now moved at high speed, darting around. While a wyvern might have an advantage in sheer speed, the erratic flight paths of the demon made it hard to catch up.
Only Chesster was able to keep up with his movements. He swung his spear, clashing with the silver whip.
"Sudden... not peaceful, huh?"
As their weapons crossed, Zarbass spoke.
"It's true that we're enemies as humans. But wouldn't you want to know the other side's circumstances? Aren't you willing to hear their reasons?"
"Do you expect us to consider the circumstances of demons?!"
"Come on now. We have our reasons too. For example, what if we have comrades who are starving? Driven away by humans, forced to live in remote areas. Don't you understand the feeling of wanting to change that? Can't you relate to it?"
Chester's brow furrowed at those words.
"What about you? Don't you want to help your hungry comrades? Can you justify ruthlessly crushing those who are starving, outnumbered, and claim righteousness? Tell me, noble knight."
The tone was appealing to his emotions.
Those words were poison. If you didn't know about demons, you might think there's room for negotiation.
Let's discuss it, Zarbass gestured, slowing down his movement as if to suggest negotiation. And at that moment...
"Well, I don't really think that way."
He negated his own words, and a crescent-like crack ran across his head where nothing had happened before. From the dark depths, shaped like a smile, a miasma bullet was fired.
Caught off guard, Chester couldn't evade it from that distance.
"Ridiculous..."
What arrived was a thick metal mass.
It deflected Zarbass's miasma bullet, passing through with tremendous force and noise.
"The situation in which your hunger is fully satisfied essentially means you're subjugating humans and causing them great suffering, doesn't it? That's incompatible."
Grace caught up to the battlefield. She drew back her axe and stepped forward into the spot where Zarbass had evaded. Regardless of Zarbass's evasive maneuvers, she closed the distance in a straight line, relying on her explosive speed.
Even then, Zarbass continued to smile.
"You...!"
Chesster glared at Zarbass in fury.
"My, my! That's how it is. You won't be so pitiful as to be pitied by lower life forms! Your dear lady over there seems to understand, though!"
Raising their voices, Zalbash received the impact of two axes with miasma entwined around his arms. He must have judged that it wouldn't end well if they struck him directly.
The fast-moving whip and the axes of both arms clashed at a speed that left no trace of their movement, creating a peculiar metallic sound.
Zalbash and Grace, who were trying to create distance and pursuing, respectively. Due to the vigorous swinging of Zalbash's silver whip, the knights couldn't approach.
Grace gained the upper hand in close combat. She deflected the whip and stepped in, grazing his body lightly.
"Tch!"
Zalbash clicked his tongue with irritation, releasing a miasma bullet from his mouth, but Grace blocked it with the axe's belly as a shield. Pushed back by the recoil, they created some distance.
Grace tried to close the gap, but...
"Whoa, wait. Have you noticed anything?"
In response to Zalbash's words, Grace looked around with a puzzled expression. It was a glimmer. Something silver and mist-like was swirling around them.
"I've been scattering this area with it while fighting. You seem to think you won't be affected as long as you're blessed, but you're being naive."
"Wh... Mo...ther?"
One of the knights touched his head and widened his eyes in astonishment.
"Heh, looks like you see it that way. Seems like you can't separate yourself from your mother, huh?"
Zalbash's words were a kind of illusion. It was a type of magic that made those who inhaled the mist see him as someone they were close to. The effect extended to Grace as well. She glared at Zalbash with furrowed brows, but he just shook his shoulders and laughed.
"Let me make it clear, the mist's effects won't wear off until I'm dead. If you keep inhaling it, not only your sight, but other senses will also become dulled."
Zalbash moved toward Grace this time. They clashed again using their weapons in both hands, just like before.
However, compared to the previous encounter, it was clear that Grace's movements lacked precision. She tried to keep her distance from Zalbash, who was closing in on her with his face thrust forward. Since Zalbash naturally had the advantage in range, this defensive strategy left her in a disadvantaged position.
Was she trying not to inhale more mist, or was it something about his face that bothered her?
As Grace attempted to jump sideways, Zalbash's silver whip struck in advance, knocking her off course. She managed to cross her axes and block the attack, but her body was sent flying backward.
"Kuh!"
"Your movements are predictable too. I was a bit surprised at first, but you can only move in straight lines, right? You can only jump in the direction you kicked, so once you get used to it, predicting your moves is easy. Hehehe, take your time and let me torment you."
"With that face..."
"Don't say that with that face," he said.
Grace frowned, and at that moment...
"Grace!"
While engaged in battle with the fiery demon high above in the sky, a boy shouted. He was using wind magic to amplify his voice and reach her.
"I'm watching."
He was right, as he had said. He had devoted a portion of his magical control to parallel thinking. It was a simple way to grasp the general situation... He had told Grace that.
"Don't rely on your own eyes!"
"Got it!"
In response, Grace closed her eyes and smiled.
She charged straight toward Zalbash.
"Oh?"
Zalbash laughed as if mocking her. He evaded her effortlessly, but Grace used all the power in her legs to kick off the air, aiming to strike him.
Full speed. A desperate gamble.
"Oh—"
Leaving behind a trail of shimmering purple fighting energy in the air, Grace's attack sliced through Zalbash's body.
Zalbash's lower half separated from his waist and fell into the sea.
However, that wasn't the end of it. Grace let go of her axe, and it swung widely in an arc. The chain itself was wrapped in fighting energy.
The chain ensnared Zalbash's upper body, immobilizing him completely and pulling him back.
With her eyes still closed, Grace smiled, revealing her feral, predatory grin.
"Hehe... Hahahaha!"
Unfazed, she laughed out loud.
Grace swung her axe with a resounding blow, severing Zalbash's face along with the miasma bullets. The axe, almost invisible in motion, emitted multiple bursts of light, disintegrating Zalbash's head into fine fragments.
Slightly delayed, the upper part of Zalbash's body, bound by the chain, disintegrated into particles and scattered in the air.