Ch.3838. Sewers (3)

I watched the fallen devil worshiper, or black mage, on the ground… only after confirming that his life had completely faded did I shed my basilisk skin and return to my original form.

“Ugh… My back…”

“The Seer wonders why your back hurts. The Seer… isn’t used to animal transformation.”

“Urgh… It’s probably because I haven’t transformed in a while. When you transform, you end up using muscles you don’t normally use.”

I briefly responded to Sophia’s question as she clung to my side and spoke with casual nonchalance after I returned to my original form. By now, that black mage’s corpse looked as valuable as a gold nugget to me.

Basically, to become a mid-level or higher black mage, one literally has to sacrifice people, so there was a high probability that a national bounty had been placed on him… Even if there wasn’t a bounty, I could at least get some modest reward by taking the corpse to the pantheon.

Therefore, I was about to walk toward the black mage’s corpse to collect it when…

-Crack!

“…?!!”

The moment I saw the black mage’s corpse suddenly begin to twitch, Sophia and I immediately reacted, each quickly launching our magic.

-Crackle-zzzzzap!!

-Slash! Slash! Slash!!

As electricity burst from Sophia’s fingertips, the slashing attacks I shot by gathering wild energy simultaneously chopped up and seared the black mage’s corpse.

It was a shame to damage the black mage’s corpse, which would have been quite valuable… But the safety of myself and my companions was not something to be traded for a few coins.

Knowing well the bizarre records of demons and their worshippers from ancient texts, even the slightest carelessness was a luxury we couldn’t afford when facing demonic beings.

The problem was… despite being chopped into dozens of pieces and electrocuted, the twitching of the corpse didn’t stop.

“The Seer commands her friends to deploy!”

“Everyone, come out!!”

As Sophia and I, recognizing that the corpse needed to be rendered completely harmless, summoned all the animal friends we could call forth, the twitching dismembered corpse began to twist and transform.

Something black and sticky that seeped out from between the chopped pieces devoured the entire corpse and formed a single mass. Then it swelled, taking on some enormous form.

Glossy red scales. A long, sleek lizard tail. Reverse-jointed legs with hooves. Dragon wings and bull horns. And a hideously distorted face with a body that must have been 3 meters tall.

A demon possessing power incomparable to the lesser demon that had been guarding this place. It was a species I’d seen in ancient texts—a Long-Tail Demon, one of the mid-level demons.

Demons are ultimately a broad classification encompassing all entities originating from the demon realm. Therefore, most demons’ combat abilities and fighting styles vary greatly… Fortunately, this was a demon I was somewhat familiar with.

Intelligence at human level. Combat style was a hybrid of mage and warrior, capable of employing a wide range of tactics based on its excellent physical abilities and magic skills befitting a mid-level demon.

Due to its hybrid nature, it wasn’t particularly specialized in either area, making it generally well-rounded… but that also meant it had no particular weaknesses, making it tricky to deal with.

Its appearance through the demon’s corpse was probably some butterfly effect from a ritual the black mage had performed while alive.

Having quickly assessed the situation, I relayed the information to my animal friends. The moment the demon fully crossed into our reality… my animal friends and I immediately began our attack.

[Die!!]

-Grrrr—CRACKLE-BOOM!!!!

It began with Corin, surrounded by golden lightning, unleashing the power of the thunder bird to fire dozens of lightning bolts.

[■■■…… ■■■■ ■ ■■■!!!]

Of course, being a mid-level demon, it used the same “words of power” that the black mage had used earlier to deflect the lightning across its skin, and then…

[—■■■!!]

Using another spell cast with power-infused words, it enveloped its long, sharp claws and the blade at the tip of its tail with black demonic flames and began charging toward us.

The demon, faster and more agile than I had imagined, approached in an instant, and if those black flame-covered blades were to cut us, we certainly wouldn’t escape unharmed.

The black flames summoned by demons are unique, burning magical power rather than being a physical phenomenon. Naturally, the magical power that constitutes spells is also subject to combustion, and without protective magic, my body would be easily torn apart.

Therefore… I decided to move before being attacked.

-ROOOAAAR!!!

Astra, receiving my intent, charged forward and rammed the demon with his large, beautiful horns, carrying it away.

-Thud!!

The charge of Astra, a mid-level magical beast, was enough to send the relatively lighter Long-Tail Demon flying. The demon quickly regained its posture and made an expression that anyone could recognize as furious, and then…

-WHOOOSH!!!

-CRACK!!!

“…?!!”

Suddenly, the demon’s tail elongated and expanded in an instant, then struck me directly with a sound like a whip cutting through the air.

If not for the protective magic of my robe, it wouldn’t have been strange for something to be shattered.

And then…

“—Hup!!”

-Whoosh!

With my strength enhanced by wild magic, I grabbed the tail that had struck me and, before the demon could do anything, began swinging it around and smashing it into the ground.

-CRASH!! BANG!! CRASH!! CRASH!! CRASH!!!

Smashing it down, hitting it against the wall, swinging it in the opposite direction, then back again. After thrashing the demon around like a club for quite some time, I finally threw it with all my might into the distance—

[—And thus sparkle with starlight, O flash!!]

-BOOOOOM!!!!

One of the decisive celestial magic techniques that Sophia had been preparing all along with Minerva’s assistance. The spell ‘Downpour of Starlight’ formed starlight-glowing magical bullets that all struck the demon directly.

This spell, which originally forms thousands to tens of thousands of starlight bullets and pours them down like rain, was restructured in Sophia’s hands to concentrate hundreds of bullets on a single target.

The bullets empowered by celestial force naturally contained the holy power wielded by priests, and this holy power that repels impurity was like acid to demons, who are essentially masses of impurity.

[■■■■■■■■■■■—!!!!]

Terrible screams and shrieks erupted from the demon’s mouth. As a result of being hit by hundreds of bullets, half its body had melted away. It tried to desperately scatter terrible magic in all directions, but…

To leave it thrashing like this would be dangerous, as demons are unpredictable variables and first-class hazards.

[—Slice!]

-Slash!

A magic I developed on the spot by combining the mysteries of Fenrir Lobo and the shadow rat swarm. The slashing magic, modeled after the image of a beast swinging its clawed forepaw, easily dismembered the demon’s body.

The flexible tail was severed, limbs were cut off, and the wings too small for flight and the horns that controlled the demon’s magical power were chopped into pieces and scattered on the floor.

The severed pieces turned into something like black dust and dispersed before hitting the ground. The demon’s torso, with all limbs severed, rolled helplessly on the floor.

The main method demons use to manifest in this world is summoning. This method, which uses the summoner as an anchor to manifest in the world and draws magical power from them to maintain form, has disadvantages but even greater advantages.

Due to the nature of summoning, they can’t exert their original combat power depending on the summoner’s capacity, but since their essence remains in the demon realm, if they die while summoned, they simply return to the demon realm.

On the other hand, when the main body crosses over directly, it’s much more difficult, but once it crosses, it can establish itself without external help like a summoner… But since the main body has crossed over, death is final.

And for exactly the same reason, this demon here had directly crossed over in its main body. It was an enemy that could be killed if we wanted to.

[W-wait—]

-Slash!

Disgusted by the common tongue flowing from the demon’s vile and hideous maw, I launched a slashing attack without hesitation. The demon’s body, split in half by the vertical slash, immediately dissolved and scattered.

And… what remained where the corpse had been was a red crystal orb the size of a baseball. To be precise, it was like a trophy—the materialized essence or soul of the demon we had just defeated.

And so, the commotion in the underground sewer seemed to come to an end.