Chapter 21 | The Assassin Finishes the Job
I had removed the earth dragon armor and forced out the demon’s actual body.
The documents in the Sanctuary about each demon tended to be more detailed the more difficult they were for past heroes to defeat. The earth dragon armor had been described in great detail, but there was nothing about the real demon except that he was killed inside of the earth dragon.
I suspected that meant he wasn’t very strong. That’s why I decided to fight him using our normal tactics: Tarte would confine the demon, Dia would fire Demonkiller at him, and I would deliver the killing blow.
When performing a surprise attack, it was best to be out of sight. The hole the demon had bored into the ground was perfect for that.
“Freeze!”
I chilled the surface of the water so I could stand on it. That was all I needed to fire with precision. I could even hit my mark from within the crater. Given Railgun’s extreme firepower, shooting through the ground and piercing the demon was going to be a piece of cake.
I produced my Railgun from the Leather Crane Bag and used a wind probing spell to link the air and my vision. The new version of my probing spell enabled me to aim and fire with Railgun from deep underground.
My role in this assassination was to finish the demon off by sniping him and to help Tarte and Dia fight in the case that the demon was too much for them.
~ Dia & Tarte’s Point of View ~
Dia and Tarte poked their heads out from a trench they had dug to protect themselves from the explosion and iron shards. As soon as Tarte threw the Fahr Stones, the pair crouched down in the ditch, and Dia formed a strong magic barrier as a lid. Lugh had instructed Dia to do so because they would have died otherwise.
“So…is the earth dragon dead?” Dia wondered.
“Yes, that giant, gross creature is gone. It looks like the only thing remaining is a small human with shining white skin,” answered Tarte.
“Then Lugh was right.”
Tarte could also use Lugh’s special wind probing spell, allowing her to observe the situation carefully while still remaining safely in the trench. However, because the girl’s magic skill and computational abilities were significantly inferior to Lugh’s, the range of her scan was limited, and the information she collected had to be simplified so she could process it.
“Your role in Lugh’s plan is to hold the demon in place,” instructed Dia.
“Yes, my lady,” Tarte replied.
“Also, don’t forget that he told you to run if things become even a little dicey for you.”
“I’ll be okay. I’ve learned how to stay calm no matter the situation.”
Tarte grabbed her magic spear, Dia drew her pistol, and they both leaped out of the trench.
Tarte injected a drug into her neck. It only worked for a limited time, but it removed the limiter on the brain and increased one’s physical abilities and mana output. The substance also boosted her concentration.
Lugh had ordered her to aim for a brief fight. They didn’t yet know this demon’s abilities, so it would be suicide to not go all out.
Tarte gripped her spear tight, and Dia added some new parts to the barrel of the pistol she’d drawn from the holster on her thigh.
Dia was wielding a remodeled version of her firearm. It was a size bigger, and it could be fashioned into a bayonet by adding parts to the barrel. Magic runes were engraved on the blade.
“This feels great. It’ll make me even stronger.”
The bayonet had been added partially to give her a close combat option, but more importantly, the weapon served as a magic wand. It gave spells direction and assisted in gathering mana. Dia could cast just fine without the wand, but having it increased her precision and might.
The drawback of using a wand was that she wouldn’t be able to use the pistol for self-defense against nearby assailants. That was why Lugh had thought up a combination tool that could act as both. The added weight pushed the pistol’s center of gravity toward the front of the barrel, making it more difficult to handle, but its benefits far outstripped its detriments.
“I’m going after him!” said Tarte.
The faceless demon was trying to flee. He’d decided to abandon completing the Fruit of Life and prioritize survival.
They couldn’t afford to let him get away. There was no guarantee he couldn’t create his earth dragon armor again. And if he did, another town might fall prey to him. Tarte didn’t have a moment to spare.
She activated her most powerful skill, Beastification, and her fox ears and tail emerged. A hostile, carnivorous glint filled her eyes. She also performed the incantation for Wind Shield, covering her body in armor made of air that could be used for defense and speed boosts.
“My homework is paying off.”
Not too long ago, Tarte would not have been able to suppress her Beastification instincts, hampering her ability to cast spells. Due to her daily training and the homework Lugh had assigned her, however, she could now cast spells as difficult as Wind Shield without issue.
“Danger, danger, danger, must kill.”
The faceless demon lacked eyes, ears, and a nose, but he still turned to face Tarte and reached out his right hand. His sharp fingers hardened and extended toward her with the speed of bullets. Tarte relied on the animal senses and superhuman reflexes from Beastification as she released wind to accelerate, dodged the attack, and sped toward her prey.
The fingers she dodged stabbed into the earth, the dirt beneath each finger transforming into a giant golem. They all pursued Tarte.
It had to be some version of the same ability the demon had employed to create the earth dragon. If Tarte had been struck, she might have become his puppet.
“Too slow!”
Tarte ignored the golems chasing her and hurried forward. She released the rest of her wind to move quicker still, leaving the golems in the dust.
“So fast, so fast.”
The faceless demon reached out his left hand. Even with Beastification, Tarte would be unable to evade at this distance. It would have been physically impossible, no matter her reflexes and agility.
So Tarte elected not to dodge it.
“You’re mine!”
The girl never faltered, and she succeeded in stabbing the faceless demon before he was able to finish lifting his left hand. If she had hesitated even for a second, she would have been too slow.
The demon was pinned to the ground by the spear. Tarte had thrust it down diagonally to pierce the demon and trap him, and she ran past him after the polearm left her hand.
That wasn’t the end, however. She turned around and began to chant a lightning spell that Dia and Lugh had developed.
The spell was called Mighty Storm.
As the name implied, it produced a thundercloud and called down lightning. Using a cloud instead of producing electricity directly enabled a stronger lightning attack for the amount of mana expended.
The spell did have some problems. Namely, it took time for the lightning to strike, and as expected of a bolt from above, it was rather inaccurate. With the demon pinned to the ground and Tarte’s spear acting as a lightning rod, however, neither of those would be an issue.
The five golems finally caught up to Tarte and tried to interrupt her incantation. A bullet hole appeared in each of them before they had the chance, however.
The golems were so massive that a measly bullet shouldn’t have been able to stop them. However, the mana that had been imbued in the bullets expanded, solidifying their joints and rendering them completely immobile.
The shots had been empowered with earth mana.
“I recommend you don’t forget about me,” Dia stated before beginning a new intonation.
Tarte cast her a look of thanks, then finally completed her own magic.
“Mighty Storm!”
A violent thunderstorm appeared, and lightning struck. The bolt was absorbed into the spear that pinned the demon. Electricity surged through the mannequin-like creature’s body, frying his innards.
He had now been brought to a full stop. Dia finished her spell at that moment. There was only one spell she could be using at a time like this.
“Demonkiller!”
It was the one thing in the world that allowed a regular person to slay a demon. It was so difficult that Lugh and Dia were the only two in the world who could cast it, but Dia performed the incantation effortlessly.
She fired a red bullet of compressed mana from the tip of the bayonet that served as a wand. It hit the faceless demon, a field expanded, and a shining heart mixed with crimson jewels appeared in his abdomen.
That was the demon’s core. Until that was destroyed, demons would not just regenerate from injuries, they would also revive endlessly. In other words, destroying the core enabled the normally immortal demons to be killed.
“My heart is so beautiful…,” the demon muttered, entranced, as his charred skin was restored. He didn’t seem to think he was in danger.
Only the hero could destroy the Crimson Heart without the help of Demonkiller, and even once it was materialized, its hardness surpassed that of all metals in the world. Enormous power was required to smash it, and on top of that, Demonkiller only lasted a few seconds.
The demon understood all of that, and that was why he felt at ease. What the demon didn’t know was that an attack capable of ending him was approaching at that very moment.
A second later, a bullet traveling ten times faster than the speed of sound shot out of the ground and pierced the demon’s Crimson Heart. After a slight delay, his body fell to pieces, and he disappeared.
The demon did not regenerate again. He probably didn’t even have time to process that he was dying.
The absurd speed and force of Railgun brought the fight to an anticlimactic conclusion. Another demon was dead.
“Lord Lugh is amazing. He never misses,” said Tarte.
“He says he can see by linking with the wind, but he didn’t use his eyes at all. Lugh’s a monster,” agreed Dia.
Tarte ended Beastification, and her fox ears and tail disappeared. Dia removed the blade of her bayonet and returned the gun to her holster.
The pair then exchanged a high five.
“I’m glad we won… That was the weakest demon we’ve encountered yet,” Tarte remarked.
“He had probably invested most of his power into that giant, gross bug. Normally, that would have made him invincible. I wouldn’t have stood a chance against it. The way it could flee underground was totally unfair, too,” said Dia.
Tarte nodded. “Yeah, Lord Lugh is truly a genius for coming up with a plan to kill that thing.”
“That wasn’t the only reason we triumphed. That fight felt easy for you because you’ve become crazy strong. You can fight a demon as an equal now.”
“I owe that all to spending so much time by Lord Lugh’s side. I feel like if I’m with him, there’s no limit on how strong I can become. You are growing very powerful, too, my lady.”
Just as Maha had said, Tarte had changed. It wasn’t too long ago that she would have modestly deflected Dia’s compliment. It was a positive development.
“You’re likely right. Anyway, let’s go meet up with Lugh.”
“Okay! I can’t wait to hear him praise me.”
The two girls smiled and ran toward the hole where Bilnore had been. To them, the joy of defeating the demon was significantly outweighed by the joy of being praised, stroked, and embraced by the person they loved.
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