Awakening is not just empty words.
Evan reveled in his strength as he cut down the demon blocking his path.
He wasn’t being arrogant.
Considering how many times Aria had suffered because he had done nothing, he couldn’t afford to be arrogant even if he wanted to.
He was simply surprised that his power was stronger than he thought, and he was determined to ensure that no one would touch Aria.
All he could think about was quickly capturing that Maleficent or whatever it was and saving Aria.
Evan looked around at the demons before him.
Perhaps it was because he had witnessed a high-level demon fall in a single strike, but they seemed hesitant to approach.
He had no intention of sparing any of them.
After all, they were the enemies of humanity who had made a mess of the academy he attended.
If they tried to escape, he intended to chase them down and hunt them down.
Evan lowered himself, still holding his weapon horizontally against the demon.
“If you don’t come… I’ll come to you.”
Feeling much lighter than before, Evan kicked off the ground and shot forward. As he handled Divine Power with increasing proficiency, skills he had barely known began to surface in his mind, and he effortlessly severed the neck of a low-ranking demon right in front of him.
– Kii, ex…?
The demon didn’t even realize its neck had been cut before it perished on the spot. The lingering traces of intense Divine Power engulfed its head, completely incinerating it before the other demons comprehended what had happened.
– Kieek…– Kraa, kraa…– Kyaaaak!!
They were no longer hunters,
– Kieeeeeek!!– Kwarooooooooo!– Kyiik…
Another demon’s neck was severed.
The demons were too busy fleeing.
Confronting that hero was no longer a feasible task for them.
Determining this, the demons quickly tried to save even their own skins by fleeing desperately.
To them, there was no sense of camaraderie.
The dead were merely the weak, and the survivors were the strong; it was the basic principle, so they sought to escape, even if it meant abandoning lives that were nothing but fellow demons.
It was routine for a mid-level demon to grab a low-level demon by the head and throw it at the hero.
They chased after the oncoming low-level demon, effortlessly slicing through its body to catch up, then severing the legs of the mid-level demon and cutting off its head as it fell.
Once the neck was severed with the Divine Power-infused Sacred Sword, survival was impossible, even for a mid-level demon.
As he left behind the mid-level demon engulfed in flames, Evan swiftly began to slice through the remaining demons one by one. In his eyes, he noticed Uriel, who was staring blankly at him amidst the chaotic demons.
Seeing the situation, the demons quickly thought they had to take that human hostage to survive and rushed toward Uriel.
However,
“W-what’s going on? The demons are…?!”
Uriel exclaimed in panic as she raised her great sword to intercept the demons charging at her.
The sword was so thick it looked more like a crushing weapon than a cutting one, but she didn’t care.
It had always been that way, and she had been using it since ancient times.
But then…
Swish!
– Kii, eeek…?
The demon couldn’t comprehend it.
How could a mere ordinary human, devoid of any power, exude such Divine Power? With a vacant expression, it gazed at its melting body, and it perished.
“Uh, huh…? Did I…?”
Was it something she had done?
It was just like before when she had simply swung her sword, but seeing the demon’s body split in two left Uriel stunned as she looked down at her sword.
‘Ah… Lord Argen?’
Now that she thought about it, hadn’t Evan connected their magical pathways earlier?
She realized that while Divine Power was weakly flowing through her body, it was something most Divine Power remained concentrated in her great sword, making Uriel smile faintly.
Her ancestors had truly been extraordinary beings.
What once had been a foe she could barely manage was now an easy target that was effortlessly cut down with just a casual swing.
Uriel raised her sword.
Now, there was nothing to fear.
“I will take care of it!”
With that, Uriel dashed forward, stepping with confidence as she effortlessly sliced through the body of another demon that had tried to take her hostage.
The real fear about demons lay in their ability to strike, and unless one possessed proper sword intent, it was impossible for a sword to connect.
Compared to that, the power of a low-ranking demon was not that formidable, so with the barrier removed, even a regular person who couldn’t wield a sword would find it possible to cut through given the weakened durability of the body.
Of course, no ordinary Divine Power could accomplish this.
It was precisely because it was the Divine Power of a “Hero” that such incredible power could be displayed.
“… Oh no!”
Caught up in the excitement of cutting down the demon right in front of her, Uriel belatedly sensed something approaching from behind her.
By the time she realized it, she was already seeing a demon swinging its claw, filled with magical energy, aimed at her back.
If this continued, she would end up just like the demons she had just sliced through.
In that moment, when she couldn’t react,
Whoosh!
– Kieeeeeek!!!
A massive flame engulfed the demon.
Trying to shake off the flames clinging to her body, the demon flailed around, but the fire melted it faster.
As Uriel gazed down at the slowly dissolving demon with a blank expression, she met Stella’s startled gaze.
Stella also seemed taken aback, surprised that her magic could unleash such power.
“… I-I’ll cover you!”
“Y-yes!”
But for now, they had to focus on defeating the demons.
Whether the power of the magic had increased or if it was easier to confront the demons was of no consequence.
Indeed, it was simply a minor detail.
– Kwoooooo…
In the meantime, Evan had taken down another high-ranking demon.
“Huh…”
Thinking it was just luck before, he had been denying reality, but after seeing another powerful high-level demon fall in an instant, there was no more room for such denial.
Indeed.
This human before him was someone they could not confront.
Determining this, the demons made the choice to flee completely.
The academy,
They must return to the academy.
Returning to the academy to torment and kill those weak humans would be much more enjoyable. It was all the same whether they died here or returned to trample on the humans and enjoy a final feast, only to be killed by Maleficent.
However,
– Kieek?
– Kik?
They all had the same thought.
As such, they were rushing to flee as quickly as possible.
That was their mistake.
“Where do you think… you’re running to?”
Evan, gathering Divine Power in his Sacred Sword as though he had been waiting for this moment, smiled.
It was time to use his next skill.
With this, he could sweep them all away.
Confident in that, Evan swung his Sacred Sword without hesitation.
“『Purifying Starfall』”
Immediately after swinging the Sacred Sword, the gathered Divine Power burst into the sky, and soon it began to coalesce and fall like shooting stars.
It was akin to meteors splitting apart as they plunged from the cosmos.
And then,
Whoosh!
– Kik?
– Kii, Kieek?
– Kikiikk?!
– Kwo?
A rain of meteor-like stars began to pour down to exterminate the demons.
– Kieeek!– Kwaroooooo!– Kyaaaaak!!
Numerous low-ranking demons floating in the sky, and even other demons fleeing on the ground were struck by the Divine Power-infused shooting stars, or engulfed in the explosions of purifying power as they perished.
In the blink of an eye, Evan had exterminated all the demons and sheathed his Sacred Sword with a sigh.
‘I’ve grown stronger.’
To an extent that was incomparable to before.
He had become strong enough to easily confront high-ranking demons.
He wasn’t sure about the utmost levels, but he would surely find out when he faced them.
“Let’s go back.”
All the demons wreaking havoc at the academy had been defeated.
Now, all that remained was Maleficent.
Evan began to head towards where Aria was, alongside Uriel, who had just finished off the last demon.
