Chapter 95: Night Invasion (2)

I can confidently say that Sion is strong.

Without a doubt, the strongest in the world.

Whether as the Demon King or a member of the Hero’s Party, there was never a problem she couldn’t solve.

She only pretended that she couldn’t.

With just a gesture, she could crush a troll’s body, and with a single strike, she could take a dragon’s life.

That was the power of Sion in her “serious mode.”

Even during the final battle, when she was essentially fighting with only half of her strength, she managed to drive her four companions to the brink of destruction.

Her power speaks for itself, leaving no room for further proof.

However, as the saying goes, “Even the simplest of shoes has its pair.” Even someone like Sion, who had no equal in strength, had a nemesis she could not oppose.

Quick and nimble movements, constantly wriggling antennae, and countless legs hidden beneath a hard exoskeleton.

A being that inspired fear in many with its disgusting appearance, filthy ecology, and tenacious life force.

Known by the codename “B” (Sion would never refer to it by name, always calling it this way).

Though Sion possessed transcendental strength and unshakable mental power, she was inexplicably weak when it came to B.

To this day, she still didn’t understand why.

She could endure other insects (spiders, worms, etc.), but she could never get used to B.

She had pondered over this for ages but never reached a conclusion.

She could only accept it, thinking that perhaps she was just born this way.

And now, that worst nemesis was blocking Sion’s path as she hurried forward.

“I, I demand a correction.”

Sion muttered in a trembling voice as she slowly turned away from B.

“Y-You think I fear such an abomination? No, no, with a snap of my fingers, I could crush it.

There’s no way I should be scared. I-I just find it revolting. I can’t even stand to have it in my line of sight.

It’s like avoiding a pile of excrement on the road. It’s not because I’m scared, it’s because it’s disgusting. Do you understand??”

-“…….”

Well, that’s generally considered fear…

Exia thought to herself but didn’t voice it aloud.

Pointing out facts to Sion when she was in this state would only have the opposite effect.

For now, it was best to calm her down and get them out of here. Teasing could wait.

After clearing her throat, Exia spoke softly.

-“Alright, fine. Forget about that part. But if you’re going to kill it, why not do it quickly?

You said you could just snap your fingers. So go ahead and blow it up and let’s get out of here.”

“How dare you, you fool! Do you think it’s that easy?!!”

-“????”

Wait, didn’t you just say it was easy?

After a brief moment, Sion seemed to realize the contradiction in her words, hastily adding an explanation.

“What I meant by snapping my fingers was when I can see it! You need to be able to recognize the position of the target before you can kill it, whether it’s telekinesis, fire arrows, or ice spears! Don’t you understand?!”

-“Then just look at it. You’re not blind, are you?”

“Don’t make it sound so simple, you rude brat!!!”

Sion screamed in frustration.

“Again, I don’t want to see it! Just feeling its presence makes me want to vomit!

Haven’t you heard of the term ‘gaze violation’? That’s exactly what it feels like! Why can’t you understand my feelings!!!”

Exia, now at a loss for words, let out an incredulous laugh.

-“I can’t believe it. You’re this seriously afraid of it? I hate cockroaches too, but it’s not like this. What are you, a little girl?”

“Wait, am I even a girl right now?”

-“Ah, it moved.”

“EEEEEKK?!!!”

At Exia’s words, Sion jumped up, now with her eyes tightly shut.

“Where is it?!! Where is it?!! Report quickly!!!”

-“Uhh… Near the back door?”

“What, what did you say!!!”

Sion shivered in despair, her face showing an expression as if she had just heard the world was about to end tomorrow.

“Wh-What should I do?… If this goes on, we won’t even be able to escape…!”

-“Why can’t you? Just go out the front door.”

“You idiot! What if it suddenly charges at us from the direction we’re headed?!!”

“After showing movement, it’s clear that it could go anywhere in this room now! I can’t just step out carelessly with that possibility! Think before you speak!!!”

-“……”

Crack.

After being repeatedly scolded, Exia’s patience finally snapped.

-“Fine, fine. I’m an idiot, I don’t know how to solve this situation, okay? So how about you, the smart Sion, figure it out yourself? I’m leaving now.”

“!?!? Wait a minute!!!”

Sion desperately shouted.

“T-That was a slip of the tongue! I was wrong! I apologize!! So please help me! This situation cannot be overcome without your assistance!!”

-“Why should I help? Isn’t this your own fault? I kept telling you to go find the teacher, but you ignored me.”

“Well, yes, but…”

-“Right? This time, there’s no way this is my responsibility, right? So you better handle it yourself. Bye-bye.”

As Exia tried to deactivate her self-awareness, Sion finally resorted to her last-ditch move.

“Please!!! I’ll buy you bingsu!!!”

-“…Oh?”

Exia’s ears perked up at that.

-“How many times? Don’t tell me just once?”

“No! I’ll buy it every weekend! I promise!!!”

-“Hmm~ Once or twice a week is a bit much… But honestly, I prefer it when you make it yourself rather than buying it.”

“Okay! I’ll make it every day! I’ll summon ingredients with a creation spell and make it anytime!!! Is that good now?!”

-“Three meals a day?”

“What, how much are you planning to eat???? Do you want me to enchant your sword with ice attributes or something?”

-“That’s not something you need to worry about! So, will you? Yes or no?”

“Ugh… Yes! Yes, now help me!!”

-“Okay, deal.”

Exia smirked inwardly.

When an opportunity arises, you take it, no matter how petty it seems.

She felt a bit guilty for being so underhanded, but considering everything Sion had done, this was nothing.

-“So how exactly do you want me to help? Do I have any role to play in this?”

“Yes. Could you lower your magical resistance for a bit? Like when you used polymorph?”

-“Like this?”

After Exia intentionally dispersed the divine power inside the sword, she opened her mind.

Sion placed her hand on the sword and recited a spell.

“Minor Hallucination.”

Then, a red laser shot out from Sion’s index finger and touched the floor.

-“Oh? What’s this?”

“It’s an illusion in the form of a heatwave that only you can see. As you can see, it stretches straight from the tip of my finger.

From now on, I’ll be aiming at the location of B with this while keeping my eyes closed, so please guide me on the direction I should move. It’s not difficult, right?”

-“More to the left, a little higher, something like that?”

“Yeah.”

Exia nodded.

It wasn’t a difficult request.

As long as she was just indicating the direction, that was fine.

It might feel a bit silly, but she could tolerate it if ice cream dropped.

Exia briefly cleared her throat.

-“Hmm, alright. Are you ready?”

“Anytime.”

-“Alright. Then… to the right first.”

Ziiiiii—

Following Exia’s guidance, Sion’s finger slid to the right.

As a result, the laser pointer also moved to the right.

Since it was an illusion visible only to Exia, there was no need to worry about B reacting.

It was a safe aiming method.

It wasn’t as smooth as intended, though.

-“Good, now up a bit.”

“Like this?”

-“No, you’ve gone too far. A little lower.”

“Just a little… is this enough?”

-“… No, more to the left, no, to the right.

Yeah, perfect. And from there, slightly to the right…”

“How are you giving directions like that?! Either the right or left, say it clearly!!”

-“Your hand is shaking so much, the direction keeps changing!!! Steady it!!”

Exia shouted in frustration.

The finger itself was shaking like crazy, and now she was being asked what to do.

If she was upset, she should stop shaking it.

After receiving the sharp rebuke, Sion groaned softly.

Then she clasped both hands together like she was praying, steadying them to reduce the shaking.

“How about this? Is it better now?”

-“Much better.”

It was more ridiculous, but Exia chuckled inwardly.

From then on, Exia continued to guide the self-proclaimed Demon King, who was nothing but a coward, through the aiming process.

Whenever Sion seemed like she was about to scream, Exia would tell her to stay quiet, and when Sion couldn’t hold back her stress and was about to use an area-of-effect spell, Exia would desperately stop her.

About five minutes later…

-“Good! That’s it! If you shoot there, it’ll be perfect!”

“Really? Are you sure this time?? You trust me??”

-“Yes!! Shoot it now!! Quickly!!!”

Sion took a deep breath, then loudly recited the spell.

“Chaos Bolt!!!”

Chaos Bolt. A typical 2nd-circle spell that gathers darkness and launches it with physical force.

 Nothing special about it.

However, the Chaos Bolt cast by no other than the Demon King himself far surpassed the level of an ordinary basic spell.

A powerful bullet, imbued with enormous magical power, shot towards the cockroach, and then—

BANG!!!!

An enormous shockwave and explosive sound echoed from the point where the sphere made impact.

“Did it work?! Did you catch it?!”

-“Uh… well…”

Exia trailed off in a hesitant voice.

At her ambiguous tone, Sion was immediately alarmed and pressed her for answers.

“Did… did you miss?! Then where did it go?!”

-“N-No, I didn’t miss. I caught it. It disappeared in a puff, leaving no body behind.”

“? Then why are you reacting so oddly?”

-“….Hmm, I think you should see it for yourself.”

Following Exia’s words, Sion gently opened her eyes, which she had closed.

Only then did she see the devastation before her eyes…

…The entire half of the classroom had been destroyed by the explosion caused by the Chaos Bolt.

“…….”

It seemed she had failed to control the power properly due to being in too much of a hurry.

At least the basic structure like the floor and ceiling hadn’t collapsed, so that was a small comfort.

Sion let out a small sigh and said,

“There’s nothing we can do. It’s impossible to reverse it now, so I guess we’ll just have to quietly slip away without anyone noticing.”

-“You’re really a nuisance, you know…”

“Shut up.”

At Exia’s disappointed tone,

Sion cleared her throat awkwardly and turned her head.

Then, she opened the only remaining intact door and tried to step outside.

No, she was about to.

Click, click…

“”!?!!?!””

If it weren’t for the sound of footsteps echoing from the hallway outside…

-“What, what is it?! Are they coming this way?!”

“Eh, no way…! It’s probably just the regular corridor patrol!”

Holding onto the doorknob, Sion desperately shook her head.

It couldn’t be. There’s no way the timing would be this bad…!!

“What’s that? I think I heard a loud noise inside the classroom… Should I check it?”

But reality was cruel.

Even Sion’s small wish was ruthlessly crushed and thrown to the ground…