Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

91 – On That Day, He, With His Own Strength, as an Adventurer, for the First Time…

The next thing I use is…Poison.

「…urgh.」

Poison is really simple. It simply erodes the other person’s body little by little from the inside.

It may sound like it’s reliable when you say it does continuous damage, but it doesn’t last even a minute if it was a normal Black Sorcerer casting it.

There is also no change in the target’s appearance, unlike the poisonous arrows used by Leraje, where the flesh around the point of impact would rot.

It also has the effect of gradually worsening the target’s sense of operating their physical body, but since my previous party members defeated the Monsters before this effect could show, there may be many Adventurer fans who do not know about this effect in the first place.

「Contestant Mark’s movements seem to be a bit disordered…?」

「I think it’s more important to figure out Lem’s intention, rather than the Black Magic itself.」

「Certainly, Lem’s assertiveness in this tournament has been astonishing.」

It’s possible for him to resist my Black Magic.

It is also effective if he uses White Magic to detoxify the poison. If that happens, I will have to start over from the point where I have to reapply the spell again, instead of only using the Magical Energy needed to maintain the spell, and the Magical Energy consumed will increase.

However, since he is giving more priority to maintaining the White Magic for Philip, he cannot devote all his energy to deal with the Black Magic.

「The usual way of fighting for Black Sorcerers is to devote themselves to supporting the others. If they can make the enemy feel that they are troublesome, it’s a success, and if they can shift the aim to themselves, it would be a great success. It is easier to defeat an enemy that is trying to force its way through than it is to defeat a perfect enemy.」

「 Yeah. It’s not quite the same, but there have been instances in this tournament where people have tried to take on Lem, only to be thwarted by Berith’s wall. I’m sure that some of the people in the audience are aware of this.」

The video of the qualifying round was shown on the screen in between matches, during breaks, and when the venue was being repaired.

「Contestant Mark is very calm. Without forcing himself to chase or ignore Lem’s Black Magic, he is trying to read the true intention behind his action. Those who can do this will become stronger.」

Now, as I’m standing still, he’s closing the distance between me and him.

「It’s an amateurish idea, but I thought that「Wouldn’t things work out if he just went and straightforwardly fought him?」, what do you think about that?」

「For me and Hervor, we would rush into the fight thinking that it would be fun, including whatever the opponent is planning to do. However, this is not recommended. After all, it’s better to use your head.」

If someone has become the 1st and 3rd rank Hero, it’s not just me, but anyone will be able to straightforwardly challenge any strong opponents and no one will laugh at them.

「Ahaha. I see, so it’s important to choose a countermeasure that suits you.」

「I’m not saying that Mark isn’t strong enough. He still hasn’t cut off the White Magic on Philip. Moreover, he is maintaining the Resist towards Lem and he is still moving his body.」

「A lot of Holy Paladins give up on developing their White Magic, but he hasn’t neglected that either.」

If so, it would still be easy.

But Mark is different.

There is no compromise in both his swordsmanship and White Magic.

My line of sight intersects with him.

「…I’m sorry, Philip.」

The poison is removed.

He cast a detoxifying White Magic on himself.

The attack power enhancement that was applied to Philip is released.

The Diamond Hero is a swordsman with particularly good defense. With the addition of increased attack power, he has the strength to withstand Berith’s attacks and crush her defenses.

Berith would have an easier time fighting him since the enhancement had been lifted.

At the same time, Mark is now in perfect condition.

「Sorry, but I don’t have that much time.」

「You’re right.」

The difference between the audience evaluation and his self-evaluation, and the release of the enhancement on his partner.

There is one more reason for him to hurry.

So far, it’s been proceeding according to my strategy.

The moment I thought that, I was surprised.

That’s because…Mark has thrown away his big shield.

A shield user has thrown away his shield…? No, I see.

「Ohh, Contestant Mark has begun to adapt to the situation. This is wonderful. If this was a Dungeon Clear, it is unlikely that a shield user would throw away his shield. Since it would mean that he is abandoning his role as the tank to protect his companions.」

「As I mentioned earlier, this is a Tag Tournament. Taking that into consideration…he might have thought that the big shield in a one-to-one fight with a Black Sorcerer has only been hindering his mobility…which is why he threw it away.」

「I agree. He might also want to hurry to defeat Lem and support Philip. Did he decide that contestant Berith wouldn’t be able to interfere or did he believe that contestant Philip wouldn’t let her do that? Either way, the conclusion on this side seems to be nearing.」

Mark approaches me, as if to make Aerial’s words a reality.

The first attack came from the same trajectory as swinging down, it slightly shifted in a flash to make it hit my abdomen.

I promptly cast Attack Down, but because there is also Resist, the sword I’m using for the defense snaps off. Not only that, my field of vision is compromised. I got blown away.

I managed to kill the momentum by tumbling on the ground and once I prepared my stance, he was already in front of me.

Once he threw away his shield, he got faster.

Of course, it’s not only that, he also cast Speed Up on himself.

No, he also threw away his sword.

Well, that explains why he’s so fast.

A kick with the momentum of his sprint is approaching me.

Although I tried to defend against it by crossing my arms, I received the impact along with the sound of my bone breaking.

My back crashed to the wall of the field.

My left arm can’t move. My right arm somehow managed to have some strength in it and I didn’t let go of my broken sword.

「…urgh.」

The sword falls to the ground. Along with my elbow

He had picked up his sword and threw it at me.

His fist, approaching with a rushing momentum, is aiming for my head.

Just in time, I avoided it by diving to the ground.

That fist made the wall collapse.

He pulls out the sword that had been stuck in the wall after it cut off my right arm.

Mark kicks off the ground.

I also start running towards him.

Is there anything else? A moment of hesitation appears in his eyes. He brushes it away and holds his sword above his head.

His countermeasure against my Black Magic is perfect. He also has White Magic. Moreover, I no longer have a staff.

I don’t have the physical ability needed to avoid his attack.

There’s no way to avoid his attack. Mark will win.

If this continues.

I use Black Magic and cast Speed Down…

…on myself.

It’s a form of sudden stop for one of the two that are rapidly closing the distance between them.

I’m sure he was expecting me to change direction, accelerate, or decelerate.

But could he have imagined that I would cast a debuff on myself?

For me, this is a training method that I use every day.

But for most Humans, it’s an unthinkable way of using Black Magic.

My bangs were quickly slashed and the tip of the sword grazed over the tip of my nose.

Then, the blade cut the ground.

「Ku-」

I start to move again. I step on his sword and jump.

「But you already have nothing else to-」

「You gave it to me, didn’t you?」

It was only a moment ago.

Because of him, I lost my right arm starting from the elbow.

Both the exposed bone and flesh are from an Avatar so it’s obscured. The flesh immediately dissipates into magic particles, but the bones have a little more time before it gets disintegrated. Since the magic density is different.

The cross-section is sharp enough to pierce the bare human body.

「No way-」

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because the white bone from my elbow had pierced his throat.

He opened his eyes wide and was stunned for a few seconds, but in the end…he laughed.

Along with a regrettable, apologetic, praiseful smile, he left the field.

My body fell to the ground.

He had lifted his sword in that situation and severed my right leg from the knee down.

「…Wh-what breathtaking offense and defense. Th-the winner is…contestant Lem!」