After witnessing such a memorable display, Garasu was sure that Buio would be just fine. He needed no further supervision to say the least and had passed with flying colours.
Even though he had been monitoring Tanoshi as well via the senses of his mirror beings, he had placed most of his focus on her mentor. However he still knew she was doing fine. She was doing more than fine.
There were numerous bodies splayed across the ashes in her vicinity. Most of them baring ghastly wounds.
Many of the demon's body's seemed to have only been rendered unconscious, however upon closer inspection one would realize that they were undoubtedly dead.
Going back through the vague memories of what his mirror beings had witnessed while his attention was divided, Garasu realized that the demons with no apparent wounds were attacked using bubbles which were composed of a clear substance visually similar to water.
However he was sure that she hadn't used regular water bubbles to drown her opponents. That particular attack must have been the one he was told that she used during the tournament, or it was something similar in nature.
But what clear substance was akin to water visually and could kill even demons? He did not know and hoped to never find out.... a greater majority of the other demons were in a completely different state.
Unlike the demons slain by her mentor, who had such precise clean cuts that it would probably make a surgical doctor proud... the demons strewn about around Tanoshi were in a ghastly state.
Some of the bodies were horrible to look at, sporting wounds which indicated their flesh was melted off the bones. Near those bodies the evidence of what had done it was sizzling in the ashes... it was lava.
As for the rest of the mutilated bodies, they were giving the lava victims a run for their money. For a fleeting moment Garasu pondered if demons used money. Pushing that thought aside he continued to probe his memories.
After summoning several large bubbles which released what seemed like frost even before they were dispersed, Tanoshi caused those bubbles to explode and the demons within range were frozen solid.
'Ahh, this is that attack she used on one of her opponents and his Permaclone during the tournament.'
After that attack she simply used more bubbles to create an explosion with enough impact to crack the ice. This caused the demons bodies to shatter to pieces and fly in every which direction.
As a result, there were countless bloody chunks of demon flesh strewn all about.
At the moment she was fighting a small horde of demons, her Permaclone was being utilized in this fight and Tanoshi was rapidly siphoning mana from the Demons.
However she was not drawing it into herself, instead it flowed into a diamond bracelet on her wrist which he hadn't noticed before.
Her permaclone was assisting by temporarily trapping the demons in a giant translucent bubble, this one also seemed to be made of simple water... but whenever the demons become ensnared by it they would immediately start to convulse in pain.
At which point the permaclone would dispel the bubble, this was obviously not meant to kill them immediately but probably could. Tanoshi obviously didn't want them dead yet... she was keeping them alive on purpose.
The enchanting mage had been doing this for some time now, looking at her bracelet was like staring at the sun for a prolonged period of time.
After a while she stopped siphoning mana from them, there was a massive pulse as she expelled mana from her body forming a gigantic mana bubble trapping every demon in the immediate vicinity.
Her entire body then transformed into a mass of countless bubbles which began filling up the entirety of the mana sphere. Every demon trapped inside with her started to spasm uncontrollably, clawing at their throats and screeching till they fell lifeless.
After which she swiftly absorbed the mana back into her body, letting their body's fall in a crumpled heap to the ashes.
Looking around at the destruction left in their wake, his eyebrows furrowed. Garasu needed no further demonstration, these magi were beyond tier two demons.
Regardless of what had already been achieved, the three of them remained in that region of the tier two segment of the demon dimension cleaning up what few stragglers they came across.
Every demon they killed was one less possible future death prevented. Besides neither of them seemed to be in an hurry to leave as yet. Especially Buio in particular, it was as if he had been waiting for this moment his entire life.
By the time they exited the barrier of the demon dimension, it was as if Purple Coat had gained new life. He seemed to have become cheerful even and Garasu could swear at some point he had heard the recluse humming a tune.
'Humming a tune after exiting the tier two segment of the demon dimension, what kind of person is he?' Garasu could only wonder as he chuckled to himself and shook his head.
After stopping by a restaurant and treating themselves to an haughty meal of sweet potatoes and curried goat, they headed back to the guild headquarters where Garasu made a report and left it on master Fukutsuno's desk.
.....
In an alley inside the kingdom not too far away from the palace where the Supreme magi lived, a woman with only her echanting beautiful hazel eyes visible behind a red mask with some type of bird beak where her nostril should be... was waiting for someone.
Mere moments later her head shifted slightly to her right, suddenly a man with toned muscles and a posture which gave away a stern demeanour was standing next to her as if appearing out of nowhere.
"Where the hell have you been?" She asked with an hint of irritation in her voice. "For someone with your abilities no one would expect you to be late all the time you know!" The man leaned his back against the wall and scoffed, not showing even an hint of remorse.
"Well miss perfect, when you work your ass off to make sure someone has everything they need to excel and they slack off and disappoint you then you can complain to me. I just finished training the lazy bastard, so forgive my tardiness."
The hazel eyed beauty glanced at her peer and chuckled. Then replied: "oh well, almost everyone got their asses handed to them this time around, at least that's what i heard. It's not that surprising really, considering who they were up against."
The mage she was addressing could only nod his head in agreement. "That young man is powerful indeed, he's at the least on par with guild masters at his current level. Which is quite surprising for his age. However that's not the biggest foil in our plans if we are to potentially recruit him, i'm sure you've heard the rumors that he despises demons. Alas those rumors have been more or less proven as fact now."
His co conspirator looked him in the eye then started rubbing the beak of her mask: "Well, we could just capture him and that little bubble popper that follows him around like a shadow and subject them to some torture, then i could convert them to our cause regardless of their desires like i did to this pretty little birdy. Couldn't i?" She said her voice growing sinister.
"You dont see her complaining now, do you?" The man rolled his barely visible eyes behind his mask and shook his head. "She can't damn well protest after what you've done to her soul, can she?" He hissed.
"That ability of yours makes you worse than the demons, at least they have to get permission."
The enchanting woman giggled. "That's why i'm well respected and revered." The man looked away then spat: "don't you mean hated and feared?"
"Potato, potatoe," she replied smirking behind her mask. "Anyways if it becomes too tall of a task we can just kill him, if he gets in our way. It's as simple as that."
The man shook his head slowly. "It might not be that simple, when i fought him he was holding back. Holding back against me of all people, there are very few people in this kingdom who can match me in speed now he's among them... and he only unleashed his innate ability twice. He said it's reserved strictly for demons, seeing as he harbours such hatred towards them i reckon it's downright deadly."
The woman clicked her tongue. "Hm, is that so?" Her accomplice simply nodded. "Well, they got in, the infiltration is complete. Are you ready?"
The man eased himself off the wall, turned and started walking away. "Yeah, i'm ready."