episode_0161

Woosh—

El picked me up and flung me aside like a piece of luggage.

“Eric!”

“Ghk…!”

It hurt like hell.

This bastard, I told him to throw me gently!

It felt like every bone in my body had shattered.

“Are you okay?!”

“Kgh… I’m in enough pain to wish I were dead.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes.”

“I’m fine. For now, at least.”

Since we’d run into Elia, we had to play along with this new development. If not, someone as sharp as her would definitely grow suspicious.

“This was a trap… from the very beginning.”

“A trap?”

Instead of answering, I pointed at El standing in front of us.

“We fell right into this bastard’s scheme.”

“Quite right.”

El nodded arrogantly.

“Didn’t you ever find it strange? A demon wandering the back alleys of humans—if such a rumor were spreading, it was either complete nonsense… or the demon simply didn’t care.”

“From the start… you were banking on someone taking the rumor seriously…”

“Indeed. A being like me roaming freely through the empire should’ve been impossible. Yet I waited for those strong enough—foolish enough—to believe the rumors and come hunting. Most weren’t even worth the effort, worthless insects… But it seems my patience wasn’t in vain. After all, I got to meet you two.”

“Damn it!”

Elia slammed her fist into the ground, frustration burning in her eyes.

She was probably thinking this—some sly demon king orchestrating a scheme to crush any potential threats before they could grow. And she and Eric had stupidly walked right into it.

Close, but not quite. So I decided to spice it up further.

“That doesn’t make sense! Even if you spread rumors, a demon as powerful as you couldn’t have existed solely through whispers!”

“Because none endured long enough to confirm them. Many who entered this barrier either died or went mad. Humans from my time were never this frail.”

“So we passed the test with flying colors. What an honor.”

“You should take it as one. You’ll be the first witnesses to the glorious advance of the Demon King. Even my subordinates never received such an honor—be grateful.”

“Ha. So the Demon King has a sense of humor.”

“No humor. I’ll spare you both—so long as you don’t oppose me, neither I nor my army will seek your lives.”

“Liar. You’re saying everyone else gets slaughtered.”

“Merely stating the obvious.”

El replied breezily.

“The worthy are kept, the worthless discarded. Isn’t that how humans operate as well?”

“……”

Elia gritted her teeth, glaring silently at him.

“Hit a nerve? No need for shame. The strong are worthy of respect. That much is undeniable.”

“Humans have intellect and emotion. That’s why we don’t judge everything by some brute standard of power like you demons—we don’t!”

With those final words, Elia instantly unleashed a barrage of magic.

“—Hup?!”

The sudden attack forced El to shield his face.

“Now!”

Seizing the moment, Elia grabbed my arm and sprinted away, her earlier helplessness completely gone.

“Uh… wha—?”

“Don’t stop! Keep running!”

Dragging me along, Elia kept glancing back and firing spells at El.

(What now?)

El’s voice echoed in my head. Neither of us had expected Elia to resist this fiercely.

Still, things were within manageable limits. Given how hard Elia was trying…

(Stay still first. We need to hear her out.)

(Got it.)

And so, after letting El pause and running for a few minutes, another fatal flaw in Elia’s plan surfaced—namely, my stamina.

“Huff… huff…”

I hadn’t even run that far before my legs were burning. I had been keeping up with training, but damn, what kind of superhuman stamina did these “hero party” guys have? Or maybe I was just pathetically weak.

Noticing my struggle, Elia muttered:

“Excuse me.”

“Wagh—?!”

She abruptly slung me over her shoulder like a sack and took off even faster. No more restraint—she was going all out.

“Why won’t this end?”

“We’re still inside that demon’s barrier. He hasn’t used any special tricks, but his sheer magic distorts the space here. No wonder he was so confident.”

“And here we are, running for our lives. Do you really think this will work?”

“…Since when are you the pessimistic one? What, you wanna sit here and wait for death instead?”

“Just asking.”

Of course, I’d planned to ask this later, but what the hell—good opportunity.

“Ask what?”

“Your thoughts. Even if we somehow survive this—if that guy lets us go—”

“That won’t happen. That thing is weaker now than it’ll ever be. Prepare and strike here—there won’t be another chance.”

“What?”

“I can’t explain in detail, but I know. If we bring him down and escape, humanity might still have hope.”

“Hope?”

“I wasn’t idle after hearing your prophecy. I prepared evacuation plans and future strongholds. Even in the worst case, I can guarantee saving 30% of the imperial capital—including high-value personnel and combatants.”

Swish—

“Duck!”

THUD!

The moment I obeyed, something whistled past my back.

Seconds later, the stray spell smashed into a wall, shattering it completely.

An attack so reckless, it almost made me doubt whether El actually knew killing me would doom him too.

(What if that hit me?! What then?!)

(Would it have killed you?)

Right. Our illustrious demon lord would scoff at something so trivial.

(Keep chasing?)

(Elia plans to bring you down here. Thoughts?)

(Hmm… tough. But doable. Easier if Eric helps.)

El wasn’t some flawless Demon King yet—against Elia, she might still have a shot.

(Okay, I’ll lag behind on purpose. Use that opening to—)

———————–

“Kgh…!”

Elia gasped raggedly for air.

“Huff… Eric… you okay?”

“I’m dying.”

“Too soon for that.”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

Clutching my pounding chest, I spoke to El in my mind.

(Magic left? Elia’s reaching her limit.)

(Same. She’s incredible.)

(Well, she is the hero’s party…)

Elia’s magic output was unparalleled—where Luciella needed multiple swings of the holy sword, Elia could match it with a gesture.

But even that had its limits.

(Aim for her legs. It’ll cut off her magic.)

Elia’s body was practically a condensed magical circuit—pure mana refined to perfection. She could utilize even residual magic most couldn’t, and its quality was unmatched.

But because of that—

“Kyaa?!”

“Elia!”

—the slightest interference sent it spiraling. Like a glass cannon—precisely why she fought from the rear.

Blocking an attack meant for me, Elia crumpled to the ground.

“Hey—!”

“Quite entertaining, but this seems to be the end.”

El loomed over Elia as she struggled to stabilize her shattered mana flow.

“I commended your courage, your strength. That this is how it ends—well, fitting, for ones I acknowledged. Pity it had to be this way.”

“Tch—!”

Still defiant, Elia tried to rise, but a disrupted mana loop wasn’t so easily restored.

(In three.)

(Mm.)

“No last words, then.”

Fwip—

Like some alien, El raised a finger—aiming at us both—just as I clenched the artifact in my pocket.

“Close your eyes!”

The street erupted in a flash so blinding it hurt even through shut eyelids.

“Eric… what is this?”

“Not too late. That was close.”

“‘Golden Palace’? How do you even have this artifact—?”

“Let’s just say I suffered endlessly to get it. And I was saving it for a real emergency…”

Elia and I were now shielded behind a golden barrier.

The Golden Palace. An invincible ward that nullifies any attack within its range—for exactly ten minutes. Absolute defense alone made it priceless.

(You sure about using it here? We only get one.)

(I’ll handle that. Don’t worry.)

I turned to the still-stunned Elia.

“Don’t just stand there—recover. The second this barrier drops, we’re dead.”