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There was just one Twin-bladed Devil attacking for the time being. But the problem was, there was no guarantee that it would be the last one. Michelle kept that in mind and lightly rubbed her Megingjord bracelet on her arm.

Using it had to be the absolute final measure.

“Michelle, it’s all up to you.”
“Leave it to me.”

Michelle climbed on the city’s outer wall and took on the shooting position at Cloud’s words.

Haumea also positioned herself behind her.

“Will Cloud be alright?”
“He will.”

She didn’t know Cloud’s skill so she asked in worry, but Michelle instantly dismissed her fears.

Cloud wasn’t exactly reliable in daily life, but he was extremely reliable in battles.

After being trained by Lyell and Gadius and gaining real combat experience with Nicole, Cloud’s ability was beyond that of your normal Adventurers.

And Michelle had witnessed his skill with her own eyes many times.

The Twin-bladed Devil approached. Its body was far too big, making Cloud, who stood in its way, seem very helpless.

It was understandable that Haumea was so worried.

However, there was Haumea’s partner, Cole, as well as other healthy Adventurers, so their battle power looked quite reliable.

“Let’s go! Don’t let it get inside the city!”

A man that seemed to be the leader of the Adventurers yelled out. The rest of the Adventurers also yelled back in high spirits. But their elation was replaced by despair in the blink of an eye.

With every swing of the Twin-bladed Devil’s swords, humans were blown away. The swords used to block its attacks were shattered, and their armor was torn like paper. People started dying within a minute of the encounter.

“I-Impossible…”

The Adventurers present were basically people who had never crossed swords with Devils. The ones that had fought the Devils in the previous battle had mostly fallen behind due to injuries.

These people were either those who had observed Gadius and Nicole’s battle, or those who were unable to do even that.

This result was only to be expected when they crossed swords with the Devil.

“There’s…no way we can win…”

As an Adventurer became hopeless and was about to give up, Cloud got between him and the Devil.

He then firmly blocked the Devil’s overhead swing with his shield.

“What are you doing? If you can’t fight, just get back!”

Cloud yelled at him, not having enough leeway himself.

His hands were trembling and his knees were giving in from the weight of the impact. But it was thanks to his daily training that he was able to stand before the Devil still.

The Devil’s attack was certainly heavy, but it was still better compared to Lyell’s.

“Khh, but still… it’s heavy!”

The Devil alternated its wings and barraged him with torrential slashes. Cloud barely blocked them with his greatshield.

But that scene gave some courage to the observing Adventurers.

“W-We should do it too!”
“Yeah!”

The Adventurers commenced their attacks along with yells. But this time they weren’t focused on the offensive and instead, they charged with shields.

They had learned that focusing on attacks would be dangerous now that they knew how strong the Devil was.

That gave Cloud enough time to fix his posture.

“Y-You save…woah?!”

Cloud took a breather and tried to open the distance again, but the Devil followed up with another attack.

It was proof that the Devil had realized Cloud was the one who had made a comeback from the disadvantageous situation and blocked its way to let the other Adventurers reorganize.

He held up his shield and also used his sword to ward off the Devil’s attacks.

His body barely endured such violent attacks. However, his shield was the one to give in first. It gave a creaking sound and broke.

It was thanks to its incredibly solid frame that it was able to maintain its form as a shield. The steel broke, exposing the Evil Dragon’s hide under it.

“My shield—?!”

But the Devil wasn’t so nice as to stop attacking. It commenced a fierce attack at Cloud as he held up his broken shield.

The other Adventurers also tried to prevent it, but the Devil’s thick skin didn’t let any of their attacks through.

Just as the Devil was about to swing down its sword, an arrow flew towards its eyes.

“I’m saved this time at least… was it Michelle?”

He took a glance back, and saw Michelle shooting arrows from above the wall. Haumea was also next to her.

“I don’t like being ignored here either!”

Haumea’s partner, Cole, shouted and slashed at its face with a dagger. He didn’t have much physical strength, so he was aiming for vital parts from close range.

They were quite annoying to deal with for the Devil.

“Mr. Cole, direct its attention to me!”

Cloud saw that and promptly gave directions. He asked to lead the Devil toward him.

“What?!”

It looked suicidal to Cole to lead the enemy toward Cloud whose shield was broken.

But he sensed that he had some prospects of victory, so he did as told and moved to Cloud’s side.

And as planned, the Devil switched its attacks back to Cloud.

Cloud blocked its attacks with his broken shield.

But fortunately, his shield that had Evil Dragon’s skin under it was fulfilling its job in a different way. The skin was tough and elastic, and succeeded in softly warding off the enemy attacks.

It was just like how pirates used to use hides on their shields instead of making them out of wood or iron to ward off attacks.

This shield that God Hastur made was fulfilling the roles of both an iron shield and a hide shield.

The Devil roared in vexation from a different type of recoil in its hands.

It continued foolhardily attacking Cloud, its attention entirely on him.

Michelle didn’t let that opportunity go and shot it.

Suddenly, an arrow pierced the Devil’s eyeball as if it had sprouted from it.

That attack bypassed its thick and strong skin and directly gouged out its brain behind the eyeball.

“G-Gah?! Ggggg—”

But it didn’t end there. The next moment, the Devil’s head burst open just like a firework.

“Nice! The new weapon is successful!”

Hearing Michelle’s voice behind him, Cloud noticed the true nature of the earlier arrow. It was made of the fire phosphorite from the time they went to gather it in the mountains at the kingdom’s border.

It was a mineral that exploded even from a slight impact. This special arrow had its powder stored inside the arrowhead.

“W-What a terrific thing to make…”

It was God Hastur who made it, the same person who had commissioned it too.

He then handed it over to Michelle to see how it would do in real combat.

If they had this, even archers that could only attack one by one would be able to deal area attacks.

But still, Cloud wanted to protest that he handed something so dangerous that would explode if you fell down, to his precious comrade.

“—W…We did it! We beat the Devil!”
“It was her! She did it! It was Michelle!”
“As expected of the Bow Saint! No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a Bow God at this point!”
“Cloud did well too. If you weren’t here, we’d be done for!”

Adventurers swarmed to Cloud and Michelle’s locations and patted their backs in cheers.

Not only that, they even lifted them up and started singing their praises.

The clamor made it seem like it was a festival.

It was after experiencing this horseplay that they realized why Nicole didn’t reveal that she was Reid.

Afterward, two more Devils appeared, who they slaughtered much the same, and became irrefutable savors of the city.