Evil spirits are beings that cannot be affected by physical interference. Swords, bows, and even cannons using gunpowder are useless against them.
The only things that work are magic, Aura brought outside the body, and holy power.
Among these, holy power was the most effective, but unfortunately, there was no one present who knew how to use it.
“Look at that huge thing.”
Kail charged towards the evil spirit, emitting an Aura Blade. When he reached right in front of the evil spirit, what Kail saw was a toe about twice as big as his own body.
If just a toe was this enormous, how big must the main body be? And what exactly did he need to do to bring it down? He had no idea.
So Kail simply did what he could. He turned the Aura protecting his body into an Aura Blade and emitted several meters of Aura.
“Dieeee─!”
The Aura Blade slashed through the ankle of the super-giant evil spirit. This evil spirit, which might not even have had an Achilles tendon, tilted forward the moment its ankle was cut.
It showed absolutely no reaction, as if it didn’t possess any survival instincts humans might have, and simply fell forward.
The sight of a dozens-of-meters-tall evil spirit falling forward resembled a building collapsing like dominoes. If the evil spirit had weight, a massive crater would have formed along its fallen path.
However, instead of creating a crater, the super-giant evil spirit scattered into millions of evil spirits and then regrouped repeatedly.
‘Damn, it’s not working.’
Kail felt a sense of helplessness he hadn’t experienced in a long time as he glared at the evil spirit. There was a time when he was brimming with confidence that he would never lose to any opponent.
But facing a dozens-of-meters-tall evil spirit directly, that confidence washed away like water. What exactly did he need to do to kill this evil spirit?
What could someone like him, merely a swordsman, possibly do?
“─How did you stabilize your position using the horizontal coordinate system?”
So, what he should be doing now wasn’t fighting that evil spirit directly. His job was to protect the magicians specialized in dealing with such giant beings. That was precisely what Kail was supposed to do.
Kail turned toward Sera, who was chanting strange spells from afar. Watching the evil spirit being repelled by Sera’s magic, Kail asked her about their chances.
“Sera! What should we do now!”
“What should we dooo─! I told you to run away!”
“You want us to just leave that thing and run? Do you really think that’s the right choice?”
“Then what! How are we supposed to fight hundreds of thousands of evil spirits merged together! Even if we kill ten at a time, we’d have to cast spells a hundred thousand times!”
“If we kill a hundred at a time, it’ll only take ten thousand times.”
But Kail already realized how absurd that statement was. Even swinging once per second would take ten thousand seconds. That meant continuously swinging his sword for about three hours just to barely catch that evil spirit.
Maintaining an Aura Blade throughout that period was difficult enough, let alone considering scenarios where the evil spirit might defend against or counterattack him.
In other words, simply relying on swordplay to capture it meant he would have to swing his sword all day long.
“It doesn’t seem possible.”
“What are you calculating for! You blockhead!”
“Well, isn’t there some kind of spell? As a great witch, shouldn’t you have some spell that can wipe out something like that in one go?”
Upon hearing Kail’s words, the great witch carefully turned her head to look at him. She was grateful for him breaking the curse she hadn’t been able to undo herself.
She had made various excuses—like how releasing those evil spirits might mean her own death—and avoided attempting it altogether.
Perhaps she would have gone mad without ever breaking the curse, remaining trapped here with the hundreds of thousands of spirits buried in this land forever.
Thus, this boy had forcibly saved her future.
“It exists.”
Now, trying to save her own life would be too greedy. The great witch Rizelotte prepared her ultimate magic.
“The reason that huge evil spirit can maintain its form is because it has a core.”
“A core?”
“While buried underground for hundreds of years, they fought and killed each other, forming a single core of loneliness.”
If that were to disappear, the huge evil spirit wouldn’t be able to maintain its massive body, Rizelotte advised.
And to destroy that core─
‘I must sacrifice myself.’
“Okay, so as long as we get rid of the core, right?”
“Huh?”
Rizelotte’s eyes widened in surprise at Kail, who suddenly started warming up. Before she could stop him, Kail dashed off.
How did he know where the core was? Even if he did know where the core was—did he really think he could survive fighting the evil spirits guarding it?
‘Even I have to risk my life, you know?’
After a brief hesitation, the great witch belatedly realized why Kail had dashed off: because he trusted her.
Because he believed she, the great witch, would ensure his safe passage to the core.
“…Really.”
She couldn’t betray that trust. Rizelotte immediately drew upon all her magic power and began casting her spell.
The vast magical energy spread across the world began to turn into dark magic, which soon transformed into a pitch-black curse flying toward the evil spirit.
Moving ahead of Kail, she cleared the evil spirits approaching him and paved his way forward.
“Go.”
Go and save everyone, young man.
With that thought, the great witch wrapped the body of the super-giant evil spirit in curses.
***
Kail, dashing toward the giant evil spirit, climbed the body of the super-giant evil spirit following the pitch-black curse guiding him.
Though the evil spirit couldn’t be affected by physical means, the curse served as a foothold. Climbing along the curse, Kail arrived at the heart of the evil spirit, where the curse supporting him forcibly opened the evil spirit’s chest.
What should have been an empty void surprisingly contained an unidentified pocket dimension within the evil spirit’s chest.
─Kyaaaaaaaah-!!
A sharp scream echoed, and hundreds of evil spirits poured out. Kail wiped them out with his Aura Blade and stepped inside the chest cavity.
Inside was the core Rizelotte had mentioned, guarded by hundreds of evil spirits.
“It’ll be easier than beating a million of them.”
Swinging his sword once per second to kill a hundred evil spirits.
To defeat a million, he’d have to swing continuously for three hours.
In comparison, defeating the evil spirits here would take only a fraction of that time.
Kail wasn’t the only one who realized this; the evil spirits seemed to realize it too.
─I… will die…
The hundreds of evil spirits began merging back into a single entity. Not long after, an armored evil spirit slowly revealed itself.
Though irrational and unable to speak, the evil spirit still retained its memories and experiences from life, carefully drawing the sword hanging at its waist.
Seeing this stance, Kail instinctively sensed that this evil spirit was no ordinary human.
‘A Master?’
The vengeful spirit of an ancient Master captured as a prisoner of war centuries ago and buried alive.
Expecting what this spirit might show, Kail unleashed his Aura Blade. In response, the evil spirit also began emitting a chilling aura from its blade.
Unlike the Aura fueled by vitality, this Soul Blade burned with souls as fuel.
Surrounded by an abundance of spirits to use as fuel, the Soul Blade looked even more magnificent than Kail’s Aura Blade. Smirking, Kail muttered:
“Here I go.”
Experience is always better when you have more of it.
Immediately, Kail’s sword clashed with the ancient Master’s blade.
***
“Haa, haa─.”
“M-Mistress. Would you like some water?”
“I-I need it….”
While Kail was fighting the guardian of the core, outside, Rizelotte was doing her best to halt the advance of the evil spirit.
The curse wrapping around the evil spirit prevented it from moving from its spot.
However, it wasn’t easy for a single individual to stop the movement of a super-giant evil spirit over dozens of meters tall, formed by millions of evil spirits.
Rizelotte sweated profusely as her magic power drained away endlessly like a bottomless pit.
Sera, now merely a two-star magician unable to offer much help, cheered from the sidelines and occasionally defeated the few evil spirits that came to interfere with Rizelotte.
“Can I… do it?”
“We believe in you! Mistress! You can do it!”
“It’s hard…”
“It’s not about believing in you! It’s about holding on!”
“Holding on?”
“Yes! Believe in yourself!”
Sera pointed to the motionless chest of the super-giant evil spirit and shouted:
“That guy may not be smart, but he’s never failed at anything he set out to do! Believe in Kail! Or believe in me, who believes in Kail!”
“…Interesting words.”
Even kids are trying their best, so I should hold on a bit longer too. With that thought, the great witch began squeezing out every last bit of her strength.
Her efforts bore fruit. Not long after, the super-giant evil spirit completely stopped moving.
“…Huh?”
Rizelotte watched dumbfounded as the body of the super-giant evil spirit shattered into pieces.
Millions of evil spirits ascended into the sky above, gazing down at her.
“A, aaah. Aaah─.”
The wish she had carried for hundreds of years was finally fulfilled.
