Ch.232Chapter 232: Fog and Flames (5)

The massive body of Behemoth, thrown by my hand, soars high into the sky.

So high that I have to crane my neck considerably just to properly see its enormous form.

…I threw it much higher than I intended.

I had planned to toss it up moderately and then finish it off with my dragon sword.

After wearing the Red Dragon Armor for quite some time, my strength had increased more than I realized, resulting in a failure to control my power.

[…That’s excessive. Did you throw it that high to give her a view of the moon?]

I launched it so high that even Fafnir felt the need to make such a sarcastic remark.

All I could hear was the sound of air being violently cut through as that massive body ascended at tremendous speed, and…

“I will not let this stand!!”

The enraged scream of Adorator, who had failed to grasp the situation when I first threw her but finally came to her senses after being airborne for some time… yes, it was definitely a scream.

Though it might be too fierce in tone to be called a mere scream.

“Even if this body is merely fashioned from a fragment of my true self, I’ll make you pay for the audacity of throwing Adorator like this!!”

Normally when spouting such words, Adorator would wrap herself in a semblance of dignity, but she was slightly stumbling over her words now, confirming that this was indeed a scream.

Well, judging by how high I’d thrown her, it was obvious that when she fell, that Behemoth fashioned from mist wouldn’t even be able to position itself to step on me, let alone crush me—it would just crash spectacularly.

Watching her self-destruct like this would be quite enjoyable, but…

Unfortunately, this wasn’t some empty plain in the northern region, but inside the imperial palace supporting an entire nation where countless people resided.

Even if it was a Behemoth made of mist without physical substance, considering the impact it would create upon falling…

[You’re not planning to just stand by and watch, are you?]

‘Of course not.’

I knew I had to intervene even without Fafnir’s nagging.

I gripped my dragon sword with both hands, pointing its tip slightly below knee level.

A lower stance, not the upper stance I usually took when wielding the sword.

I would have preferred my usual upper stance, but…

With a gigantic monster far beyond human proportions floating high in the sky, taking an upper stance would make attacking quite difficult.

So I temporarily set aside my pride and took a lower stance that would allow me to swing my sword naturally at an airborne opponent.

“Haaah…!!”

I gathered the fighting spirit surging within me and channeled it into the tip of my dragon sword.

This way, I could slash the moment the beast approached the point where my released fighting spirit would reach.

Now that I was prepared, all I needed to do was wait for Adorator’s Behemoth body to fall to the right position…

Crack-crack-crack!!

…What is that sound?

[Above! Look above!]

I know where the sound is coming from. I just don’t know what it is.

While maintaining the fighting spirit gathered in my sword, I tilted my head further upward to identify the source of the sound, and what entered my vision was…

“Did you think I would retreat empty-handed? I shall at least take one of your arms with me!”

It was the distortion in the air caused by the crimson particle storm that composed the Behemoth’s body controlled by Adorator, who was threatening me with a voice filled with malice directly into my mind.

I couldn’t see it. The massive Behemoth body that I had just lifted with my own hands was now completely hidden, enveloped in mist without a trace.

In that darkness created by the impenetrable mist, the only thing I could confirm was…

Crack-crack-crack!!

This strange noise resonating in my ears, like the sound of joints being twisted.

What on earth was happening in there to make such a sound?

Before curiosity and anxiety could settle in my mind…

My instinct, sensing something suspicious was about to happen, decided to release the well-gathered fighting spirit in my dragon sword.

“Where do you think you’re going!!”

Without hesitation, I swung my dragon sword horizontally toward the darkness enveloping Adorator.

Swish!!

As soon as I swung, the crimson fighting spirit gathered in my dragon sword flew like a beam of light, with the momentum to cleave through the darkness.

Upon contact, my fighting spirit, imbued with the power to burn and purify the unholy, should dispel that impure darkness…

Bang!!

…It failed.

The intermittent sound of twisting joints followed by the air-splitting boom revealed a presence through the dispersing darkness, proving my attack had failed.

[…So it finally changed to a more convenient form for fighting. Still long though…]

Just as Fafnir remarked with indifference.

What appeared through the veil of darkness that had concealed itself in the night sky was still made of mist like before.

The difference was…

“Try to dodge this if you can, redhead!!”

Unlike the muffled voice from earlier, Adorator now revealed her killing intent with a much clearer voice, and instead of the somewhat disjointed Behemoth…

Although still an imperfect form made of mist, she was now diving toward me in a form that resembled her true self as closely as possible.

Crimson horns reminiscent of a mountain goat, impressively majestic.

Blood-red eyes.

And a face that, though somewhat fierce, clearly revealed her characteristic decadent nature.

Though hastily created, judging by the appearance that reproduced her true self as much as possible…

There’s no doubt—this is Adorator’s own form.

And she’s fast. Incredibly fast.

She moved at a ferocious speed that made me wonder how such a form made of mist could achieve a velocity nearly identical to her true self.

“Let’s see if you can even track this movement with your eyes!”

Unlike her previous fierceness and sharpness, Adorator’s voice now revealed a certain smugness, as if she felt she had gained the upper hand against me.

The Adorator rushing toward me displayed the sharpness of a predator stalking its prey, not the desperation of someone on the defensive from moments ago.

Not intending to let that stand, I immediately swung my dragon sword toward her, but…

“Too slow!”

With a voice tinged with leisure, Adorator evaluated my attack as her body instantly evaded my sword strike.

Bang!!

With a piercing explosion in my ears, she appeared behind me.

Just moments ago, though I had thought she was fast, I could still somehow track her with my eyes, so I swung my sword without hesitation in the direction she was moving.

But the fact that she dodged it meant her movement had suddenly transcended my dynamic vision.

Surprised, I tried to turn my head to follow her, but…

Crack

My attempt to turn was halted as a subtle cracking sound settled in my ear.

Before I could wonder what this sound was—a sound that shouldn’t be there—I quickly realized its identity.

Thud

It was the sound of a tiny piece of my Red Dragon Armor’s helmet falling to the ground, having cracked from the recent shockwave.

The helmet immediately restored itself after the piece fell off.

I didn’t suffer any physical impact in this process, but…

It was shocking that even with my enhanced senses and spiritual perception from wearing the Red Dragon Armor, I couldn’t properly track Adorator’s movements when she hadn’t even revealed her true form.

I needed to focus on each of her movements to figure out what I was missing, but…

“How does it feel? Did you really think that Adorator, even if not in her true form, would be so easily defeated by the likes of you?!”

It was extremely difficult to track Adorator’s movements as she rushed toward me while making her triumphant declaration.

Tracking Adorator’s movements during our annual winter encounters had always been one of the most challenging experiences I’d had when facing beings of the demon realm.

But it was never this difficult.

The movement Adorator just demonstrated was at a speed incomparable to any other time.

Pop-pop-pop!!

This time, what accompanied Adorator’s vanishing form was not a chaotic sound but a much more refined explosive noise.

Thud

Following that was the sound of a piece of my Red Dragon Armor’s breastplate falling to the ground.

The pattern was identical.

Just like before, the armor was restored to its original form immediately after being damaged.

While I didn’t suffer any physical damage from these attacks…

The results before me occurred because I couldn’t track them with my eyes and thus couldn’t respond.

“Hahahahaha!!”

Adorator’s triumphant… or rather, pretend-boisterous laughter filled my ears.

I say “pretend” because even within that loud laughter, I could hear her slightly disturbed breathing from her intense movements earlier.

Apparently, despite her fatigue, she found great pleasure in the fact that I couldn’t respond to her movements.

“You can’t see it, can you? My movements, that is.”

And Adorator confirmed my thoughts with words full of smugness.

It’s growing. The smugness in Adorator’s voice, who appeared behind me after another successful attack, was increasing.

To block that, I would need to either punch her with my bare fist or cut through her fragmented form with my dragon sword to banish her from this place, so I could only watch for now.

Someone watching from afar might think I looked helpless, but…

I didn’t feel unpleasant hearing Adorator’s smug voice.

[Is she an idiot? She’s way too transparent to be celebrating an attack that’s momentarily invisible.]

As evident from Fafnir’s indifferent soliloquy…

Adorator’s attacks were merely causing minimal damage to my armor that could be instantly repaired, and…

“Huff… huff… huff…”

The breathing that had shown signs of strain earlier was now completely ragged, revealing how exhausted Adorator was, with her endurance already hitting bottom.

I could just wait and expect her to self-destruct.

Additionally…

“H-how about it? Are you scared? Frightened? If you surrender now, I’ll make you a gentle sacrifice for the obsidian altar.”

Her voice, so exhausted that it sounded pitiful even to the ear, came through the mist body she had so impressively recreated, yet it seemed ridiculous.

“…”

I focused on maintaining the standoff, pointing the tip of my dragon sword at Adorator who was throwing light provocations at me, without making any response.

Even though my face was already hidden by the Red Dragon Armor’s helmet, I had to forcibly compose my expression that was trying to relax on its own.

“W-why don’t you say something? I-I’m even condescending to speak to a worthless human like you.”

….

In the three years since my regression…

Many changes have occurred in me, and the people around me have also changed to varying degrees while living with this transformed version of me.

But none have shown as dramatic a change as the Adorator whining before my eyes right now.

[She seems to be in worse condition. She wasn’t this foolish originally…]

To the extent that even Fafnir was concerned about an enemy.

The Adorator before me was far from the dignified and madness-filled figure who claimed to be the mistress of the demon realm that I had experienced before my regression.

I had to swallow the “Who are you?” that was about to escape my lips.