Mamon

Ellie, who had been clinging to me in a princess carry for quite some time, finally completely understood the sealing formula of the ruins.

,Stay still so the staff doesn’t shake!

In order to destroy the sealing formula, I had no choice but to adjust Ellie’s uncomfortable posture, bringing our bodies closer and touching her thighs and waist.

While I tried to keep my mind blank, Ellie used composite magic to destroy the ruins as she pleased with tremendous destructive power.

Kwaaaang──!

After several explosions, I could finally feel a change. A thick miasma began to mix in the hazy smoke created by Ellie’s magic.

,Ross, can you do it?

,…Don’t you usually ask before doing it?

At my question, Ellie grabbed my neck even tighter and laughed like a child.

,I believe in you. I’m sure Ross-ssi can do it.

,…Then keep believing. I’ll do a great job.

Saying that, I used space magic to move safely to the ground. I forcibly put down Ellie, who seemed reluctant to get off, and took out a mask from the space warehouse.

,Tell me if you need my help.

,Okay.

While Ellie moved away from the ruins, I materialized the Shadow Spear. I was confident that I could kill Mamon in one blow using the World Tree Spear, but my purpose was not to defeat Mamon.

The essence of the author that had been dormant within me absorbed Ourikuss-ssi into the Shadow Spear. By using the power of that essence, I would surely be able to absorb Mamon into the Shadow Spear as well.

───!

A huge roar that shook the earth. And as the road surface shattered, the ruins were sucked into the ground. A giant arm rose from the cracked ground along with the earthquake, and a huge body began to push against the ground, revealing itself as if escaping from a swamp.

[Ah, I’ve finally escaped from my long confinement. Hehehe!]

Mamon, a demon with a crow’s head, similar in size to the tallest building in the capital, let out a roar of joy. As a result, the surrounding area was filled with fluctuating magic power, and the road surface around the ruins was completely distorted.

Dangerous. A demon like this could easily destroy an entire city. Should I call him a demon specialized in siege warfare? I could understand what Ellie meant by a walking disaster.

Mamon, who was looking around, seemed to have discovered a city or town, and chuckled as he moved with a huge earth-shaking rumble. Unable to watch it, I used the method Ellie had told me in advance to attract Mamon’s attention.

Jjareureu, jjallang-!

The sound of numerous gold coins falling to the floor. That small sound, buried in the huge earth-shaking rumble, stopped Mamon’s footsteps.

Hwik, hwik, the huge crow’s head turns this way and that.

[Gold, gold coins…! Where is it, where is it!]

That’s right. Mamon is a demon with similarities to Estelle-ssi. He’s so obsessed with precious metals that there are records of using countless precious metals to set traps when Mamon was sealed in the past.

Jjareureuk-!

Tuk- As I kicked the gold coins I had spilled on the floor with my foot, Mamon quickly turned his head at the sound. The crow’s eyes, full of greed, gleamed eerily.

Kwaaaaang───!

[This is mine!]

Fearing that I might take the gold coins, he quickly stomped on them with his feet. I pulled my body back and placed my hand on the mask, materializing my essence.

In that instant, the world became eerily silent. The earth-shaking rumble completely disappeared, and I could only watch the scene of him lifting up and swallowing the entire floor where the gold coins had been spilled, with all emotions completely excluded.

In that moment, Mamon’s definition was newly written in my mind. The eyes of the author, piercing through what I had not seen before. The Mamon I saw was just a dummy filled only with a name, with many things left [blank].

The moment the senses of the body and the resonance of the heart become one with the mind, I realized for myself how I could absorb Mamon into the Shadow Spear. Just fill in what’s empty. A dummy can never be the main character of a story, so it can’t overcome the ‘weight’ that the Shadow Spear has in the novel.

Using magic power and space magic, I stabbed the Shadow Spear into the eyes of the greedy Mamon.

[Kuaaaak―――!]

Mamon, grabbing his bleeding eyes, began to rampage and trample the ruins. I increased my speed and continued to stab the Shadow Spear, but unlike his weak eyes, Mamon’s skin blocked the spearhead like stone.

[How dare you, how dare you attack this body!]

A giant arm swept past the spot where I was standing. Everything on the ground was swept away and disappeared by that arm. But I had already floated my body in the air with space domination.

Kwaang――!

He stomped his feet diligently, thinking of crushing me, but because he was so huge, I could easily avoid the attacks by using space magic. I stabbed the spear at his weak points, but it was still deflected.

[Annoying bug――!]

One of Mamon’s arms became even larger. The arm, which had become several times thicker on its own to the point of being grotesque, slammed down on the entire ruins. Taking advantage of the moment the arm passed, I used space magic to escape the range of the attack, and once again stabbed the spear towards his eyes, but this time it didn’t work. The thick eyelids blocked the spear.

[Die――!]

Perhaps he had learned something, Mamon simply closed his eyes and swung his arms indiscriminately. Even with that simple attack, the distant mountain range collapsed as if there had been a major earthquake, and explosions occurred somewhere.

Having confirmed the hardness of his skin, I realized that I had to use dimensional leap and intangibility at the same time to penetrate Mamon’s thick skin. Waiting for the moment when Mamon slammed down his arm, I instinctively used space magic to escape to the farthest place at the sudden feeling of death.

Kwaaaaaaaa―――!

The dangerous thing was not the enlarged arm. The black ray of light with the momentum of a raging wave that came out of Mamon’s mouth was the real attack. A huge destructive power that overturned the earth and a power that completely erased the recognized spatial coordinates. Each of Mamon’s attacks had the destructive power to destroy all the terrain that blocked him.

My body flinched involuntarily at the shockwave of the ray. Before another attack followed, I escaped to Mamon’s feet with space magic, and as planned, I used intangibility and dimensional leap at the same time to cut off Mamon’s Achilles tendon.

Ttuk-! With a sound, Mamon, whose ankle had split open, let out a bizarre scream. Black smoke billowed out, trying to reattach the split ankle, but I immediately took out self-igniting seeds from the space warehouse and threw them towards the ankle.

Chiiiiik―――!

The incandescent flowers, which had fully grown while flying through rapid growth, began to melt away the regenerating flesh the moment they touched Mamon’s ankle, along with the smell of burning meat.

[Kuaaaaak――!!!]

Avoiding Mamon’s frenzied attacks, I approached Ellie, who was watching the situation from afar. Ellie, who had been watching the fight with interest, lit up her eyes when I approached. The moment our eyes met, my essence tried to interpret Ellie’s changes on its own, but I instinctively rejected it. It was because I didn’t want to interpret Ellie as a character in a novel.

I pointed the spear at Mamon, who was scratching his split ankle with his fingers, and said.

,Can you draw Mamon’s attention with magic?

,Okay!

Perhaps she was happy to help me, Ellie immediately pointed her staff at Mamon and prepared the most destructive composite magic. After confirming that, I repeatedly used space magic to rise to a height where the giant Mamon looked like a dot.

The most destructive attack I could use was to use dimensional leap from a high place to plunge towards the ground like lightning. In particular, using intangibility just before the spearhead touched would maximize the destructive power even further.

A red flame flew in a straight line and attacked Mamon’s head. Attacked by Ellie’s magic, Mamon roared and tried to crush Ellie by swelling his entire body even larger and lifting his giant leg.

But Ellie didn’t run away, but rather looked straight at Mamon and poured out the gold coins that were in her pocket, definitely attracting Mamon’s attention. Not betraying Ellie’s trust, I reached the target without being late.

―――!

Lightning struck vertically. At the huge noise that came late, Mamon’s giant body was split in half. Black miasma flowed out from the flesh that stretched to the ground, trying to regenerate Mamon’s body, but I was already ready to absorb Mamon.

[Wh, what are you doing…!]

Mamon, whose body was split in half, instinctively felt danger and wriggled his body, but it was already too late. I drew magic power into the Shadow Spear and stabbed the core of the dummy called Mamon with the eyes of the author.

[Kuaaaak, this is absurd…!]

The shadow that flowed out of the Shadow Spear sucked up all of Mamon’s flesh. The Shadow Spear, which had been quietly vibrating with a humming sound, finally completely absorbed Mamon.