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179 – The Tenth Stratum – The Realm of Demons and The Awakened Interceptors 12 / Traversing the Garden Part 2

Amduscias’s blade hit Aerial’s neck, but it stops there. It wasn’t Air Armor, it was on a much smaller scale and defended a pinpoint area like an Air Sheet on his neck, deflecting the sword. At the same time, Aerial puts on a blade of wind on his left arm and severs Amduscias’s right arm. He tries to pull out his right arm from her abdomen.

But then Amduscias starts running. Since she is moving forward along with him, he isn’t able to pull out his hand. That’s not all. His movements are slow because our Black Magic finally got through to him.

Speed Down. More precisely, the speed at which signals get sent from the brain to the body is slowed down, which results in the opponent’s speed falling. Two people’s worth of Magical Energy Black Magic was sent straight into his eyeball.

Even though he has Resist on, there isn’t a thick layer of Magical Energy on the mucous membrane. It feels irritating to those who can sense Magical Energy, and there aren’t many Black Sorcerers who are able to target at a pinpoint target like their opponent’s eyes during battle in the first place. It’s a complete waste.

Even to Black Magic users like Foras and I, this was next to impossible. But we did it. The second his movements twitched to a stop, Amduscias swung her sword again, Foras closed in to bash him with his shield and I continued casting Black Magic while my arm was still covered by the horn’s Magical Energy.

「Wind Blade.」

Before Amduscias’s blade could land a hit, her body was split vertically. Her body instantly turned into Magical Energy particles and scattered. She was defeated. She took a massive Wind Blade at point-blank range…

However, the fact that he had to deliberately yell out the elementary magic’s name is evidence that Speed Down is working. Magic materializes the image in your mind via Magical Energy manipulation. The time it took to create said image was slowed down, so he was forced to practice the basics that they teach in the School, which is to say the word and then picture the effect from there.

By that time, Foras was approaching him. Since Amduscias was defeated, Aerial’s right arm was no longer stuck in place and he was falling. but he was already swinging his left arm horizontally, which Foras intercepted.

As the blade tears halfway through the Black Explorer’s shield, I understand why Foras decided to put his weight on the shield. It was to wedge the blade. Aerial’s body was pulled forward and the blade broke on the way. Aerial posture crumbles.

Suddenly, our Black Magic was resisted.

Aerial performed a roundhouse kick in midair. The kick missed, but this was just like the matter with his arm. There was a blade of wind on his leg.

It split Foras’s upper half and lower half and turned into Magical Energy particles.

Cutting across that, I rush in front of Aerial.

As he landed, I attacked Aerial with my right arm.

His deployed Air Shield shattered into pieces like glass as my fist continued forward.

Aerial tries to dodge.

But he couldn’t.

「…This…」

「You bullied Ammy-!」「Hey-!」「I’m mad-」「Go, Chief of Staff-」「Beat him up-!」[1. TL Note: Ammy is short for Amduscias.]

It was the Alraune.

In the end, a Beast Master is just someone Monsters obey. Even if the Beast Master is gone, the employed creatures will still remain.

Each and every one of them possesses an Avatar.

The Alraune are brought in as seeds by Amduscias, and when she turned into a Centaur, she scattered them about. The ones that were used to help find the correct route weren’t all of them.

The seeds sprouted quickly and they stretched out ivy to entangle the man who split their master in two.

It is difficult to sense the Magical Energy of plant types. Just as how you can’t sense the very thin amount of Magical Energy in the air, they feel too natural and aren’t enough to give an unpleasant feeling.

My fist will finally connect.

…This blow is from everyone.

This attack is only possible due to the strength of all the Monsters that Aerial defeated to get this far.

The Magical Energy he had to use to defeat the Watchdog of Hell Naberius, the Demon of Love Sitri, the Phantom Thief Crow Raum, the Sea Monster Forneus, all the Birdmen and aquatic Monsters, the Dragonkin, the One-Horned Poet Amduscias, and the Black Explorer Foras.

Other than that is the Magical Energy he had to use to destroy Furcus’s armor, defend against Ellie’s attacks, and deploying and maintaining Sky Garden.

That is why he was forced into a situation where he had to fight the three of us with very little Magical Energy.

None of their efforts were wasted. Even if they looked like mooks to anyone else, I will prove to them that it all piled up and lead to this victory.

Prove that it’s OK for Monsters to join forces and defeat a Hero.

I give my thanks to the Alraune as well, who kept him in place, as I swing my fist.

「Disappear, Storm Hero.」

My fist drove into his gut.

The wind is knocked out of him as his body goes flying through the space like a gust of wind.

The ivy that the Alraune grew to entangle him were torn, and his body flew through dozens of blocks in an instant.

Finally, he hit the ceiling.

Sky Garden…is canceled.

Immediately after, he falls to the floor…but just before he crashes into it…

He gently floats and leisurely lands on the floor.

「Heh…heheh, hahaha…」

Is he…laughing?

「Splendid. Judging from the extent of her wounds from the first attack, that one-horned woman immediately set out to buy time for her allies, and even thinking as far as after she is defeated, she sows Alraune seeds. That Minotaur was not in fact your shield and was actually an extremely excellent Black Sorcerer just like you. In addition, he fought while covering you, who was behind him. I was also caught completely unawares by the Alraune. Last but not least, your Black Magic and fist were nothing short of superb.」

The side of his torso was gouged by my fist. I was sure I was about to gouge a hole in his center…

Did he divert my fist in that instant?

But that spot is…

「I tried to dodge your fist but I failed. My Magical Energy organ is unusable now. Which is why…」

Even if he had enough Magical Energy remaining within his body to cushion his landing, it is impossible to fight with anything more.

Of course, he still has alternatives. Spirit Contractors still have a trick up their sleeve.

「Sylpheed, I wish to borrow your power.」[2. TL Note: A Sylph of Sylphid is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus.]

The very air trembled. This feeling… It’s probably too soon to call it nostalgic. Not even a year has passed.

This is the same feeling I felt when Fenix called upon the power of his Fire Spirit, Sara.

One of the Four Great Spirits – Ruler over wind Sylpheed distributes the requested power to the contractor.

Spirits. Paranormal beings that let Heroes, who they find interest in, enter a contract with them. Each and every Spirit has a personality of its own.

Particularly the Four Great Spirits, who are famous for being difficult to deal with. It is said that one of the reasons why Four Great Spirits contractors don’t often appear is that the criteria they have to choose a contractor are peculiar.

Take Wraith’s Water Spirit for example. He told them to hop on only if they want to be a spectator and they did.

Simply asking them to lend you their strength like a normal Hero is just not attractive to them.

Sylpheed only gives out its Magical Energy when the contractor’s life is in a time of crisis.

Like when her Highness approached them, it responded to Aerial’s cries.

The fact that the Wind Spirit is lending its strength to Aerial now must mean that we have driven him into a corner.

This is still within expectations.

He has a large-scale Spirit Magic called Storm Crash. It is an attack that sends out swirling wind, like a condensed storm. At a time like this, he would use that.

Normally, that would rip me to shreds and that would be the end, but I have found an opportunity to win there.

By deliberately charging into the scenery-warping, wind-churning attack, I can hide my body from the camera. After that, I release what’s left of the horn while clad in high-density Magical Energy, and approach him from the opposite direction that he released the Technique.

I give him a quick blow and then retract the horn. The timing will be tough, but it should be possible.

「Storm Wrap.」

Wha-?!

It’s not Storm Clash. On the contrary, it’s a magic spell he’s never used once up till now…

「Honestly…I prepared this to do battle with Sir Lucifer. But…hm. I believe you are a suitable opponent.」

This…is Spirit Magic that he came up with in order to defeat my master.

I could hear the sound of a storm brewing. A storm that can be heard even from afar. The closer it got, the more unsettling the sound of the wind. It was a sound of a natural disaster that spreads fear, that people can never go against.

The source of this sound was incredibly…from a man’s arm. A storm swirled around Aerial’s right arm.

There are many similar-looking Techniques among Wind Magic users, but there are none that have ever had complete control over such an amount of Magical Energy.

…I’m not sure if the complete unleashing of the horn could…

「I am a Hero too, so I cannot afford to lose.」

Think! It’s because this is the first time I’ve seen it. Because it was unexpected. Because of the power of the Spirit.

I will win.

「I shall crush that hope with this next attack.」

We both clench our fists.