It was a close call…
I trembled with pain, or rather pleasure, coursing through my entire upper body from the enormous hand piercing my abdomen.
It was strange to block an overwhelmingly serious attack from the demon with a divine barrier unscathed; it felt more like I barely managed to fend it off with my body.
Moreover, I forcefully created the barrier by amassing divine power around my body, a method that was practically coercive.
‘My consciousness…’
I had lost too much blood…
This was a fatal wound that would likely be fatal for an ordinary person.
‘I can’t believe it’s come to this…’
Even though I knew this was a time where even intermediate demons struggled to fight, I didn’t expect to be able to push an upper demon back even for a moment.
Of course, the demon was probably weak because it was trying to maintain the dimensional gate that connected to the demon world as well as its barrier…
In the end, I could commend myself for forcing it to reveal its power at the cost of giving up on both the barrier and the gate.
‘What should I do…’
The pleasure that came from the pain was so intense it felt intoxicating, but if I lost my consciousness like this, either Evan or Stella might die.
If it hadn’t been long since their death, I could probably revive them easily, but leaving them to die was not a good idea.
Even if they could come back to life, experiencing death would likely cause them to wake up with psychological trauma.
In games, if you revived someone while clearing dungeons or progressing through a story, they would be debuffed and unable to participate until you cleared the dungeon or finished that chapter.
Naturally, that was a setting created for balancing purposes.
However, this was reality.
There was no way I could allow that to happen.
‘Why on earth are they here…?’
In the game, the story clearly explained why they would end up here, so I assumed I could prevent them from coming here in advance.
Reflecting on the troubles I went through yesterday for that made it feel all the more unjust.
‘I thought I could manage them and then kill them with the Chasm’s Stone in one blow…’
Even without the Chasm’s Stone, it was hard to imagine this was the beginning, as I had enough divine power to struggle against upper demons.
In other words, the very fact that I was overwhelmingly tortured by the demon was nonsensical.
Essentially, it felt like my entire plan had unraveled right from the start.
If they found out that I could purify even an upper demon in no time with the Chasm’s Stone, misunderstandings about me could arise.
That was something I wanted to avoid at all costs.
‘Right now, the best action I can take is…’
I could only create a scenario where it looked like I was deliberately blocking with my body.
Perhaps because I had suddenly appeared, the demon seemed flustered and didn’t withdraw its hand.
Now’s my chance.
I gathered divine power from within and held onto the hand tightly so it couldn’t pull away.
I fixed myself to the ground, pouring all my divine power, even to the extent of drawing power akin to a breastfeeding infant, ensuring that I wouldn’t budge, not even under the demon’s immense strength.
It was a bonus that I transformed the divine power into purifying energy so that it seeped into the demon’s arm, weakening it.
‘Hwaah…♡’
The magic was protesting against the divine power, causing quite a scene inside me.
If I could eventually capture a demon, injecting that magic into myself might feel like a drug…
Enjoying the small happiness I received from the demon, I sent my thoughts toward Evan.
“[Hero… Please…]”
Because of the magic, my thoughts didn’t convey well.
‘Ha…’
I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t fool around here alone, but there was no helping it.
While enjoying the pain, I still had to avoid arousing suspicion to continue my comfortable and happy concept play.
And the prerequisite for this happy concept play was to somehow defeat the Demon King and return home.
Up until now, I had merely planned to enjoy some pain and then annihilate the demon without leaving a trace, but if this continued, all the buildup until now would collapse.
If Evan or Stella died, especially if Evan died, it would all be over.
Even if I revived them, I would have to provide psychological care so the journey ahead would be even more arduous.
So…
“[Hurry… Please cut off the demon’s arm with that sacred sword…!]”
Just take it and eat it, please…!
If I’m going this far and they still act recklessly and don’t move as I wish, Evan might end up disliking me greatly.
“……”
I couldn’t hear well.
‘Is it because of the magic…?’
It was difficult to send my thoughts or assess the surroundings because of the strong magic gnawing at the divine power within me, so it wasn’t strange that it was hard to hear my thoughts.
However, having lived for years, communicating this way, I had learned to decipher the meaning just from the form of the thoughts.
That meant I could somewhat grasp what Evan was saying.
The thoughts carried confusion, surprise, and immense shock and despair.
‘W-Wait… Are you panicking right now…?’
No way!
Then we would really be in deep trouble!
I wouldn’t die from this, so can’t they please just cut off this arm that is piercing my abdomen?
Holding on like this has its limits…!
‘You idiot…!!’
I didn’t find it hard to understand.
Watching a girl I had been talking to fine and dandy just yesterday, now wounded, covered in blood, with her guts hanging out and an arm piercing her abdomen, was shocking enough to say the least.
I wouldn’t be able to see clearly and would only feel pain, but if I had seen myself like that…
…
…
No, anyway!
‘You’ll be seeing more of this in the future so don’t be so troubled over something like this…!!’
I wanted to shout that out to Evan immediately, but if I did, the image I had maintained until now would shatter.
And most importantly, since I didn’t know the language of this world, shouting would be meaningless as they wouldn’t understand.
So for now, I had to rely on Evan.
No, I must trust him.
If he didn’t help, it would be impossible to steer this tangled situation toward a good outcome.
So please, do something!
I silently begged.
At that moment.
Rustle!
‘It worked…!’
Was my shout conveyed to the hero? I could definitively feel something that had pierced my abdomen severed.
As the arm that was connected to my abdomen was cut off, the magic that had been gnawing away at me vanished, and the divine power within me began to quickly purify the magic that had invaded through my arm, restoring my body to its original condition.
Although I still looked like I was dying, and regeneration wasn’t happening, I could once again sense my surroundings.
“Gah… Gah…”
It seemed that cutting off the arm surrounded by the powerful magic of the upper demon consumed great strength, as Evan was panting heavily.
“M-My arm… youdared…how dare you…!!”
The demon, losing reason over the mere fact that it had lost its arm, began to scream hysterically.
“How dare you! How dare you, you lowly creatures!!”
As it screeched, the demon began to gather magic.
“Forget about this task! I will wipe you all out at once!!”
Screaming such, the demon lifted all the residual magic in its body and began casting spells toward Evan, who had exhibited the power of the sacred sword.
Wait, spells?
‘No way…!’
Normally, if provoked, it would immediately flee?!
Why was it trying to cast spells instead of fleeing?!
I focused on the demon’s thoughts, overwhelmed with confusion.
[I will kill you! I will kill you! I will definitely kill you! I will chase you to the ends of hell and bring you eternal suffering!!!]
The demon’s thoughts were filled with a fervent hatred to wipe out everything, including Evan, who had just cut off its arm, and the entire academy.
‘Insane…!’
It lost its reason?!
“Ugh, that cannot happen!”
In a panic, Evan raised the sacred sword and lunged toward the demon, but the difference in strength was so stark that he bounced off, unable to break through the barrier of magic.
‘W-Wait… I can’t move right now…?!’
A chilling energy enveloped my entire body.
I could tell instantly that despite being weakened by my divine power, this was a tremendous level of magic.
Stella, what happened to Stella?!
“[S-Stella!!]”
I sent my thoughts to Stella in a hurry.
However,
[It’s because of me… I… I… I saw Aria… Aria right in front of me… Ah…]
Huh…?
Feeling Stella’s returning thoughts, I froze in place.
It was a form of thoughts I was so familiar with.
‘This, this is…?!’
It was a form I frequently sensed in the demon realm.
She had experienced a tremendous mental shock, and her mind had shattered.
Most people in that state would need time to heal.
‘This is bad…!!’
I was too frightened…!
At this rate, the training ground and everything nearby might explode.
‘Given the situation, I have no choice but to use the Chasm’s Stone…’
It was a consumable artifact, but it possessed strong divine power, so I could pass it off as merely having barely subdued it…
Even if it wasn’t consumable, I would end up having to say it was for the sake of using it later when I can’t use it in front of others.
But right now, nothing other than the Chasm’s Stone would work.
Was there no other option?
I reluctantly grasped the necklace, gathering divine power.
Then it happened.
“《Stop.》”
A low voice resonated like a wave.
As a result, Evan, who had been rushing toward the demon, the demon was casting a spell, and I, who was holding onto the necklace to activate the Chasm’s Stone, all froze in place.
In a world where everything was halted, only one girl emerged, with her arms crossed behind her back.
“I followed the traces of the magic…”
In reality, the world hadn’t stopped.
Time was still flowing.
But we had come to a standstill.
As if we had somehow separated ourselves from this world.
‘This voice is…’
Though the tone was that of an old man, it belonged to a delightfully familiar young girl’s voice.
There was no way I could not recognize it.
“While I was out for a moment, a moth flew into the fire.”
『Great Magician of the Spirits』, and the headmaster of Argen Academy.
‘A-Argen Isis…!’
Hope surged within me.
