Chapter 55
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"You're in pretty bad shape now. This should be enough for the time being, right?"
Yuurai looks down at Fia, who has become like a tattered rag, and smirks with satisfaction.
At first, she was a cute girl, but after being beaten so much, her face is deformed and covered in bruises, leaving no trace of her former self. Her body is riddled with wounds, looking pitiful. Also, since she has thankfully fainted and is no longer spouting incomprehensible nonsense, that's a relief as well.
"Gilka, you saved me. Thanks."
"This much is a small favor."
"We'll interrogate her again later. Your subordinates seem to be doing fine too, Gilka."
The two subordinates are warming themselves with the fire Claire started. They've also borrowed clothes from the deceased, so they're no longer naked. Their wounds have mostly healed thanks to recovery potions and Lipia's magic.
"I think I'll go have a talk with the lord of this place. That should prevent any unnecessary conflict."
Right after Yuurai muttered this.
"It's the Demon King and her allies! There are piles of corpses nearby! So, the peace declaration earlier was a lie after all! It's either we get wiped out or we kill them! Kill them!"
Yuurai had hoped to resolve things through discussion, but she instantly understands that it's unfortunately no longer possible.
Coming from the direction of the lord's castle are hundreds of soldiers and an old man who seems to be the current lord. It's fortunate that the lord has come, but it's clear that he has no intention other than to fight.
"......Hey, Fia. Because of you, we've ended up in another fight. What are you going to do about this?"
Even as Yuurai grumbles, a barrage of arrows comes flying at them first. There's no magic to easily block physical attacks, but Yuurai creates over a hundred Blades of Darkness, deflecting every single arrow.
Incidentally, Yuurai carries two emergency swords at her side, but no staff. There's no staff that can withstand her magical power anymore, and she can perfectly control her magic without one anyway.
Seeing Yuurai block the arrows, Claire and Gilka speak up.
"......Yuurai, you've improved. Well, the moment you put that vast area under Marionette control, I kind of got a distant look in my eyes......"
"Yeah, I thought the same. That was probably an entire town, right? That's just insane."
(......I did it so naturally, but maybe that was overkill. Yeah, of course it was......)
"Haha...... Um, so, what do we do now? Do we really have no choice but to fight?"
Arrows keep flying at them. Magic attacks come too.
Arrows are blocked by Blades of Darkness, and magic is countered with Absorption. The range of Absorption has expanded, so protecting her allies isn't much of a struggle either.
"If Yuurai uses Marionette magic again to immobilize them, it won't turn into a fight. I think Pain Infliction (Pain) would be overkill, so it's better to hold back on that."
"Oh, but how about letting them fight with all their strength just once? If they have the experience of fighting at full power and still losing, they might obediently submit, don't you think?"
"Hmm...... True, my attacks might not make the opponent feel like they've truly lost. Some people can't switch their mindset unless they're utterly defeated. Let's go with Gilka's idea and let them fight with all they've got for now. I'm not good at holding back without killing, though......"
Using a small-scale Army of the Undead, Yuurai summons a hundred Skeleton soldiers.
However, the soldiers aren't just mere fodder; they can destroy Skeletons without much issue. Since the Skeletons revive, completely destroying them takes time, but the soldiers are stronger in terms of raw power.
"......Maybe I should make it a bit more obvious, let them feel like they've really fought."
Summoning a Fiend. The strength of the Fiend varies depending on how much magic power is poured into it, but Yuurai summons one with a combat strength of about 20,000.
It's a two-meter-tall Fiend, smaller than the ones left in Grimoire, wielding a spiked club, but it's quite intimidating.
By the way, Yuurai can use Demon Summoning even in her base state, but she can't use Netherworld Summoning. She doesn't want to use Corruption if possible, so she might never have the chance to use it again.
"Fiend, go fight. But don't kill them."
Yuurai dissipates the Skeletons and sends in the black Fiend. The Fiend swings its club, mowing down the soldiers.
The soldiers' combat strength is, at best, around 10,000. They can't stand up to the Fiend.
"Hey, generally speaking, are soldiers not that strong? Are people like Ceres rare?"
Claire answers Yuurai's question.
"There aren't many with Ceres' level of skill. There might be some in the royal capital, though. Normally, a town would have two or three Class Two soldiers. They're either not here, or Yuurai already took care of them......"
Claire and Gilka look around.
And right after that, the Fiend's body is sliced in half vertically.
"......Oh, a strong-looking soldier showed up. Were they off doing peacekeeping somewhere?"
Two newcomers appear. A large Swordswoman clad in black armor, different from the regular soldiers, and a mage in a white robe. The former's face is hidden, so their gender is unclear, but judging by their build, they're likely male. The latter is a blonde woman in her thirties.
"Good! Titan! Take down that Demon King while you're at it! Sasha, well done coming here! Work with Titan and defeat the enemy!"
The old man shouts with glee.
(Well done coming here? Why didn't he just wait at the castle or something until these two returned? Didn't he realize that regular soldiers are no match for us? Is he always in a state of confusion?)
"Hey, those two look pretty strong, but do they match up to Claire and Gilka in skill?"
"......One-on-one, they're not opponents I can't beat."
"In terms of pure combat strength, they're probably around our level. But I don't feel like we'd lose."
"I see. Then, can I leave it to you two?"
"......If that's an order. Just make sure you protect yourself, Yuurai."
"Yuurai-sama is vulnerable to sudden attacks, after all. Be careful."
"......I'll be careful. Then, I'm counting on you."
Claire and Gilka charge toward the enemy.
The mage creates countless fireballs and launches them at Claire and the others. Claire charges in without even defending, her armor's magical defense high enough to take no damage. Gilka can't charge in recklessly and dodges the fireballs, eventually disappearing from sight.
The mage loses track of Gilka. However, she seems well-versed in handling such situations, creating a wall of light around herself while rotating a swarm of fireballs around it. This makes it impossible for Gilka to get close.
"I see. So that's how you fight an invisible opponent. How will Gilka deal with this?"
There's no immediate movement.
Meanwhile, Claire initially aimed for the mage but was blocked by the black Swordswoman. The two engage in a spectacular battle.
They dodge each other's attacks by a hair's breadth, searching for an opening to land a decisive blow.
However, Claire seems to have the upper hand. Likely thanks to the Sword of Gaen, which can cut through most things, the opponent appears to be struggling.
"......So, the idle soldiers are coming for me now? Geez."
As miscellaneous soldiers start heading toward her, Yuurai summons another Fiend. Once again, it's a relatively weak one with a combat strength of about 20,000.
With the Fiend scattering the soldiers, Yuurai breathes a sigh of relief.
"You guys might be fighting desperately, but for us, this isn't even a game. What a boring fight."
She's not the type to enjoy bullying, so a fight meant to demonstrate the difference in strength is honestly tedious.
"......Oh, the mage is down. Wait, there's a sword stuck in her."
It seems Gilka threw a sword.
(That sword can nullify magic a few times a day, right?)
If you can't get close, just throw a sword, huh? The sword has pierced the mage's abdomen from behind.
It's a pretty deep wound. The mage woman might die.
Right after that, Claire's fight also concludes. Claire destroys the opponent's sword and severs one arm and one leg. This opponent is also gravely injured.
"W-What!? Yusef's strongest two have been defeated!?"
The lord stands there, dumbfounded.
The other soldiers are visibly shaken, their will to fight clearly gone.
"The Fiend can go now too. You're dismissed."
The Fiend disappears.
The plaza is enveloped in silence for a moment.
Thinking it's her role to declare victory, Yuurai speaks first.
"This is our win, right? If anyone still wants to fight, I can give you an especially harsh torture session. Anyone up for it?"
The soldiers drop their weapons and flee.
The lord follows suit, running after them.