Chapter 51: Commander of the Gluttonous Legion (4)

“I have no idea what’s going on.”

Sion muttered under her breath.

She had been happily setting up modified blood bombs in strategic locations, connecting them via magical circuits. They were primed and ready to detonate at any moment. 

However, just as she was doing a final check of their placements, her spellbook suddenly disappeared from her hands.

It wasn’t a pre-arranged signal from her earlier meeting with Isabella about their strategy.

So, suspecting something might be wrong, she had come upstairs to find Isabella—and as expected, she found an absolute catastrophe.

‘Isn’t this an Abyssal Fiend? And quite a powerful one at that.’

Sion thought as she scanned Tarkus from head to toe.

His aura was strong enough to rival even the generals she commanded long ago.

Perhaps he really was a Legion Commander. Sion had been suspicious about the lack of strong defenders in this supposed key Demon King’s outpost, and now it made sense.

Maybe he had been away and had just returned.

Could this be the current generation’s Gluttony Legion Commander?

-“S-Sion! Princess’s arm! Her arm!!”

-“I know. Quiet.”

Sion silenced the panicked Exia before quickly surveying the area.

Lancia, Therese, Marianne… everyone she knew was knocked out cold, scattered around the cave. They must have fought the Legion Commander before she arrived.

How reckless.

‘At least none of them seem to have serious external injuries.’

Sion sighed inwardly with relief, then knelt down beside Isabella.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I arrived too late. But don’t worry, I’ll stop the bleeding right now. Cure Critical Wou—”

“Sister, behind you! Behind!!!” 

Isabella screamed in panic. In her eyes, she saw a massive axe swinging down toward Sion’s head.

“How dare you turn your back on me, you trash!!!”

Sion swiftly drew her sword and swung it behind her.

-Clang!!!

A terrifying, skin-splitting sound echoed through the entire cave.

The red axe clashed with Sion’s massive golden sword, the resulting metal screech vibrating through the space.

“You recovered faster than I expected. I was sure I severed your wrist cleanly.”

“Hah. Just patch it up with fire, and it’ll reattach itself.” 

Tarkus snorted. It was a ridiculous explanation, but it seemed to work.

His right hand, which had been severed earlier, was somehow reattached, fully functional. 

His durability and recovery were clearly far superior to most other fiends.

Tarkus stroked his chin with his newly restored hand. 

“So, you must be the one who killed my precious subordinates, right?”

“…..”

Sion said nothing, simply adjusting her stance for battle.

Seeing her unwavering resolve, Tarkus laughed with satisfaction.

“Hahaha! Yes, that’s the look! Unshaken even in the face of my immense aura! It’s been a while since I’ve found a proper opponent to fight…”

Gripping his axe with both hands, Tarkus braced himself. 

“Just don’t disappoint me by dying too easily!”

In the next instant, he charged at Sion with explosive speed, as if he had teleported.

His sheer size made his blinding speed all the more incredible. The force behind his charge was leagues above what he had displayed when fighting the others.

Sion slightly furrowed her brow as she raised her sword. The moment they clashed—

-Boom!!!

A flurry of attacks that the naked eye could barely follow erupted.

“W-Whoa…”

Isabella, lying on the ground, was so mesmerized by the intense battle unfolding before her that she momentarily forgot her pain.

Tarkus’s combat prowess was overwhelming.

Despite wielding an axe that looked like it could easily weigh hundreds of kilograms, he swung it lightly and swiftly as though it were a mere branch. 

And it wasn’t as if the power of his strikes was lacking, either. With every swing, the air seemed to howl, cleaved apart by the sheer force of his blows. 

There were no flashy techniques or precise strikes—only raw, brute strength honed to an incredible level.

His fighting style seemed less focused on attacking his opponent directly and more on obliterating the space around them entirely.

Tarkus’s ferocious assault was terrifying to witness, but Sion’s movements went a step beyond.

She avoided strikes that would have shredded her flesh with just a few sidesteps, missing the attacks by mere inches.

For the ones she couldn’t dodge, she lightly deflected the blows by aligning her sword with the trajectory.

It was a style of swordsmanship that relied on minimal movements—an efficient and calculated technique.

Unlike Tarkus, who attacked with blinding speed, Sion’s actions seemed almost leisurely in comparison. To an untrained eye, it might have appeared as though Tarkus had the upper hand.

However, in reality, Sion held the advantage.

“….ugh…!’

Tarkus let out a frustrated grunt.

It was the first time someone had perfectly parried his axe strikes, and even counterattacked occasionally. Not even the proud [Arrogance] had managed to do this.

Whenever he left the smallest opening, Sion’s blade would find it, striking with unnerving precision.

But if he deliberately created a weakness, she wouldn’t fall for it.

It felt as if she could read his mind in real time, a deeply unsettling sensation. 

As the fight dragged on, small wounds began to accumulate across his body.

‘If this continues, I’ll be at a disadvantage!’

Realizing this, Tarkus immediately leaped backward, putting distance between himself and Sion. He raised his hand and shouted a spell.

“Explode, Hellfire Storm!”

Once again, violent hellfire erupted from his grasp. The heat was so intense that Sion involuntarily frowned, and then, as if performing a ceremonial gesture, she calmly murmured:

“Divine Shield!”

Disguised as Divine Shield, but really a [Wall of Force]!

A transparent, invisible barrier of magic appeared in midair, blocking the incoming flames.

The fiery storm collided violently with the barrier, creating a standoff between heat and magical force, much like a clash between two phalanxes.

After a brief struggle, the storm dissipated, and the barrier melted away.

“…You managed to block that.”

Tarkus said, his face twisted in displeasure.

The fact that his signature move had been thwarted was clearly a blow to his pride.

He slung his axe over his shoulder and muttered, “I see now… I had a feeling you weren’t ordinary, but that divine shield confirms it.

You must be the rumored Hero of this generation, aren’t you? No wonder they call you a Hero.”

“….”

Sion silently stared him down, offering no response.

Though she kept quiet, the situation was no less troublesome for her. Thanks to her habit of keeping a poker face, she didn’t show her frustration.

But when speaking with Exia, where she didn’t need to hide her feelings, she was honest about her concerns.

-“This is getting complicated.”

-“Huh? Why?”

-“The enemy is stronger than I expected. A lot stronger.”

-“!?!”

Exia gasped in shock. Was Sion really saying something like this? The same Sion who never complained about an opponent?

-“It’s that bad? You mean you can’t win?”

-“No, it’s not that…”

Despite being a Legion Commander, Tarkus was still only a second-in-command in the Demon King’s army hierarchy.

He couldn’t compare to the Demon King, the true pinnacle of the Demon Realm, even if Sion was weaker than she was in her prime.

However, a few complicating factors made things more difficult in this situation.

“First, with Isabella awake, I can’t use all my magic freely. I’m limited to mid-tier spells that I can disguise as holy magic. That’s the first issue.

The second problem is that I have to fight while minimizing collateral damage.”

“Considering the number of unconscious people here, including the descendant of the Dragon Princess, I can’t exactly go all out.”

When powerful beings clash, the surrounding area always bears the brunt of the impact.

Techniques like [Hellfire Storm] can devastate everything nearby, and even a stray sword slash could easily shatter the surrounding rocks.

Tarkus, being a demon, didn’t care about the destruction he caused, but Sion was different.

She wasn’t heartless enough to sacrifice the lives of the young, especially when she had the power to protect them.

If she had no other choice, that would be one thing, but since she had the ability to safeguard them, she had to.

This meant she had to fight while protecting them.

-“Because of these handicaps, the amount of power I can unleash is significantly reduced.

And, even though Tarkus is only a Legion Commander, he’s still not someone I can defeat easily while holding back like this. If this situation drags on—”

“-If it drags on…?”

Sion glanced at Tarkus before continuing.

-“It’ll probably take me about five minutes to take him down.”

-“…?”

Exia blinked in confusion, wondering if she had misheard.

-“Five minutes to win? Even with all these restrictions?”

-“That’s right.”

-“Uh… Isn’t that still a positive outlook? I thought you were going to say something like, ‘there’s only a 30% chance of winning’ with how you set this up…”

Exia tilted her head in confusion.

Sion had talked about how “dangerously strong” Tarkus was, so she had braced herself for something dire.

But if Sion was still going to win, did it really matter if it took five minutes or five hours?

However, Sion clicked her tongue, giving Exia a disapproving look.

-“Think, you idiot. How’s Isabella right now?”

-“Huh? Oh, well, her right arm is torn off and—ah.”

Exactly.

Isabella’s right arm had been completely torn off, and she was bleeding profusely from her shoulder. If they didn’t stop the bleeding soon, she could die from excessive blood loss.

In that kind of situation, taking five minutes to defeat Tarkus was far from a positive outcome.

-“And five minutes is only based on what I’ve seen from him so far. If he’s a true warrior, he likely has some trump cards or finishing moves.

Factoring those in, the time it takes to win could stretch out even longer.”

Of course, even if that happened, Sion still wouldn’t lose.

Worst case, he could use high-level magic to overpower Tarkus and then erase Isabella’s memories afterward.

But memory manipulation was a last resort.

She preferred not to use it if possible. Ideally, Isabella would leave the battlefield of her own accord.

“Princess?”

Sion called out, turning to Isabella.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, especially when you’re in such a state, but do you think you could use ‘Blink’ or a dimensional door to escape? I’ll take care of countering any attempts to block your magic.

If you can’t, at least try to stand and take shelter down below…”

“Princess?”

There was no answer.

Sion frowned as she turned to look behind her, thinking that if Isabella was ignoring her again like during the ‘Death Worm’ incident, she’d give her a swift kick to bring her back to reality.

But then—

“Ugh… Ah…!”

“!?”

It wasn’t a matter of running away or anything like that. Isabella’s body was already submerged in a pool of her own blood.

Exia’s panicked voice rang out as she saw Isabella’s pale face and trembling form.

-“S-Sion! This is bad! She’s at her limit!”

“Dammit…”

Sion bit her lip.

“Try telepathy! Get her to wake up and drink a potion from her bag to stop the bleeding! Yelling into people’s minds is your specialty, isn’t it?”

-“It’s no use! She’s completely unconscious!” 

“Are you sure? Have you actually tried?”

-“Of course I have! I’ve been shouting, ‘Wake up! Please!’ over and over, but she’s not responding at all! If this keeps up, she’s really going to die!”

The situation had reached a critical point. Isabella’s bleeding was so severe that she wouldn’t last even a minute longer without emergency treatment.

But if Sion tried to heal her now, she’d leave herself open to Tarkus, and his axe would likely come crashing down on her head.

A choice had to be made between defeating the Legion Commander or saving the princess she had fought alongside for seven years.

Sion, however, reacted with a calmness that seemed almost too relaxed for the circumstances.

“Oh, is that so?”

Her voice, now sounding oddly at ease, caused Exia to blink in confusion. 

“Perfect timing then, that she’s passed out.”

-“W-What? What do you mean, perfect tim—?”

“Telekinesis.”

Without any effort to hide her incantation, Sion cast the spell, and with a swift motion, she retrieved Isabella’s severed arm from across the battlefield.

Both Exia and Tarkus were stunned.

“Wait, are you really just going to do that so openly—?”

“How? You’re a servant of the gods! How do you possess telekinesis?!”

Tarkus shouted in disbelief. 

But Sion, seemingly unfazed by their reactions, continued with her spellcasting as she tended to Isabella.

She used ‘Major Creation’, her preferred alternative to traditional healing magic.

Combining it with telekinesis, she expertly manipulated the blood spilled from Isabella’s body back into her veins, while seamlessly reattaching the severed arm.

All the while, it was as if Tarkus didn’t even exist in her world.

“You arrogant fool! How dare you ignore—”

“You’re the one making all the noise.”

Sion’s voice, now low and cold, interrupted Tarkus. Without even sparing him a glance, she raised her left hand and chanted another spell.

“My faithful servant, bind this enemy in eternal chains. ‘Chain of Shadow’.”

“!?!?!”

From the ground, hundreds of shadowy chains shot up, coiling around Tarkus’s massive body and locking him in place.

These chains were far stronger than anything his brute strength could break.

It was a spell of at least the 7th circle, something impossible to replicate with divine power alone.

Tarkus’s face contorted in horror as he shouted, “What the hell are you?! You’re not a Hero, are you?! How can you wield power like ours—?!”

“Kneel.”

“What?”

Sion slowly turned to face Tarkus, and with that, a terrifying pressure erupted from her.

The Legion Commander involuntarily gasped. He prided himself on his commanding presence, but the aura Sion exuded was on a completely different level.

Her presence warped the space and time around her.

The air trembled, and the rocks groaned under the immense weight of her energy.

It wasn’t just pressure—it felt like gravity itself was crushing down on everything.

In all of the long history of the Demon Realm, only one being had ever been capable of creating such physical changes with their aura.

The King who led the Great Invasion of Elpidion 500 years ago, the most powerful being to have ever lived.

Could it be…?

“I don’t like repeating myself. So I’ll say it just one more time.”

Sion said, her icy gaze locking onto Tarkus.

It was the gaze of someone who had her opponent completely under her control, a gaze of absolute superiority.

“Kneel.”

-Thud.

In the next instant, Tarkus’s knees buckled, forcing him to the ground.