The current enveloped Ergo’s entire body. A paroxysmal scream escaped Ergo’s lips as the current burned his flesh.

“Kkuaaah! Aaargh! You, you……!”

A handful of purple blood spurted from his frantically twitching mouth as he tried to look at Cadel with killing intent in his eyes, which were in and out of focus again and again.

“I admit that you’re strong, but I didn’t show my full potential either.”

Cadel didn’t have to wait for reinforcements. Ergo was surrounded on all sides, and his companion was the vice commander of the Holy Knight Order. The pressure was much less than it had been when he first faced Ergo.

Cadel shielded Modeleine from the explosion of mucus from the swamp underneath, but Ergo’s defense was unrelenting. Even as he was being roasted, Ergo was channeling his power with remarkable concentration, and the mucus that soaked him seemed to provide a temporary barrier, softening the impact.

“I…… I’ll kill you!”

“I won’t get hit twice.”

It was easy to cast a spell without much thought, just to ‘kill’ the opponent. The formulas in his head became increasingly complex as he added line after line.

What he wanted was a 3-attribute, simultaneous-cast spell. A spell that would kill Ergo perfectly.

Phoosh—

A calm breeze gathered around Ergo. Slowly, the wind picked up speed, spiraling, becoming a fierce whirlwind and gusting.

Sparks flew. The embers spread rapidly, carried by the fierce wind. An enormous [Fire Tornado], piercing the sky, engulfed Ergo in a single bound.

Drip, drip, blood was flowing through Cadel’s nose.

The poison fed by Ergo had worn off, but Cadel had not yet fully recovered from its effects. He had marched on without rest. Even at the level of 7-star, the use of this amount of mana was not something Cadel could afford to take lightly.

‘I’ll kill him here, no matter what.’

But his gaze never wavered. Without even bothering to wipe his dripping nose, Cadel stretched out his arms and drew upon his full power.

And so, under the cover of Cadel, Modeleine reached the depths of the swamp, where it bubbled like a volcano on the verge of eruption, constantly spewing mucus, all of which was blocked by the barrier that enveloped him.

Reaching the front of the swamp with ease, Modeleine looked up over the hole he had descended from. A tornado of fire had appeared, spewing hot breath directly overhead.

Powerful magic, yet no damage to the surroundings. Fine-tuned control to consume only the target.

‘I can’t believe a magician of this caliber is leading a mercenary corps…….’

This confirmed what Modeleine had been suspecting since he realized Cadel had the famous Lumen Dominic as a subordinate. Cadel was a man worth trusting.

“Then I’d better make sure I do my part, too.”

Modeleine raised his sword. A sharp resonance of light energized the sword, surrounding it.

‘I can’t break it all at once. I have to trust Sir Cadel and disarm it calmly.’

He was a holy knight who fought by combining swordsmanship and magic. It was unavoidable that the disarm of the magic circle was slower than a magician who purely dealt with mana.

“Heyya!”

Condensing his mana to the limit, Modeleine hurled his sword into the swamp.

Gurug. Grrr. Grrrrr.

The swamp began to bubble, as if rebelling against Modeleine’s mana. As the swamp’s rebellion grew stronger, the light in the sword grew brighter.

Leave the demon to Cadel.

Modeleine was going to put everything he had into destroying this swamp.

* * *

Seriously, how many monsters had they dealt with so far? Did the members of the Twilight Knight Order, including Lumen Dominic, reach out to help after they couldn’t catch a single demon?

Until arriving in Baskin Village, Garuel thought so.

He thought that if his men still hadn’t gotten rid of the habit of relying on their commander, they would have to give up soon.

“……This is a situation where I shouldn’t be surprised, right?”

Garuel gaped as he looked back at the unconscious villagers lying in huddles in a narrow private house, his men dragging their tattered bodies and receiving healing magic, and the battered Lumen as if he had gone through a pretty fierce battle.

Lumen, who was undergoing healing, cast a brief glance at Garuel, then withdrew it. He didn’t bother to explain.

His subordinates were busy using healing technique to the wounded and dying villagers, and here and there an agonized groan could be heard, reminding him of a familiar battlefield.

As he watched them, a knight ran to Garuel.

“Commander Garuel! You’re finally here!”

“Yes, Millow. I heard you were tracking a demon, apparently……. Did the seal on the Demon Realm break without me knowing?”

“It was all done by a single demon…….”

The knight called Millow hastily stood in Garuel’s way as he opened the liquor he had brought with him.

“Commander, there’s information that the messenger couldn’t deliver. The demon is holed up in Baskin Village, and is currently being dealt with by Sir Modeleine and the commander of the Scarlet Scales Mercenary.”

“Modeleine and the mercenary commander?”

If it was the mercenary commander, wouldn’t it be the pretty magician he treated?

The corners of his mouth twitched up in interest as he looked around the room at his subordinates and Lumen once more.

‘The number of people being beaten is this many. And to be able to deal with the demon with a body that has just recovered……. Tough, so tough.’

Garuel felt it even when they first talked, but he was the type to play with something different. On the good side, of course.

“We’ll have to rush reinforcements. Millow, gather those who can fight. Hurry Sir Lumen’s healing as well. Is there anything else I should know?”

“……There is.”

Millow spoke thoughtfully.

The death of Twilight Knight Order’s Sten and the monsterization of the villagers. The smile faded from Garuel’s face as he listened to the heavy information.