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–––Bandit’s viewpoint

Karin and Epsilon were unable to evade Behemoth’s body slam, being sent flying away from the impact. They were unable to stand again for a while, their bodies rolling on the ground for more than ten meters before stopping. They seemed to have fainted from that, lying still on the ground. The two hadn’t gone down without trying to fight back though, noticing they couldn’t dodge, they had struck their weapons forward and buried them deep into his body. They pierced through his thick muscles, creating a torrent of blood. But Behemoth was not done yet, he turned to our rear guard, Ciel and Diaria, pointing them as his next target and charging again. I also jumped, sword in hand, trying to intercept him.

“Yahhhh!”

My sword struck his front leg, his momentum being transferred to me so powerful I knew it could kill me. But I yelled to overpower that fear and pushed with more force against Xanthus. The entire blade pierced into his leg, my hands feeling so much resistance I was about to let go of the demonic sword. But I couldn’t afford to do that now! I was a hero as well, so I couldn’t let those girls do all the fighting while I watched from afar!

“Gahhhh!”
“Growrrr!!”

By the time I reached the center of his leg, my sword was barely cutting anymore. At this rate I wouldn’t be able to finish my attack, overpowered by him, so I channeled all the remaining magic power in my body and strengthened it. After seeing the strengthening magic Barbaros used in Leble, I began searching for a similar skill that could serve as a last effort.

The type of magic Luvias used was good enough for most cases, but I still needed one that could allow me to overcome my limits in the direst of situations, just like we were now. Eventually, I developed one, my unique strengthening magic that could push me far beyond my limits, with the downside of being unable to move after the effect was over. But I had to act now and think later!

“Aahhhh!”

My muscles seemed to screech being pushed beyond their limits. I ignored my creaking bones, and finished the swing of my sword.

“Ghaaaaa!”

A cascade of blood spurted from Behemoth’s severed leg. The pain was clearly too much for him, turning towards me with his eyes burning in rage as he opened his jaws trying to chomp off my head. But I had already used all the power in my body and had none left to evade.

“Brother!”
“Bandit! Dodge!”

I heard my sisters yell. But I couldn’t get my body to respond anymore. That was as far as I would go, as much as I hated it, but I had hit my limit. I would go with a heck load of regrets, but I had landed a clean hit on one of the Four Great Spirits, so that was quite a feat if I say so myself! Heheh, what a life! I almost felt like a bystander, watching myself get eaten by Behemoth.

§　§　§

It seems I lost consciousness for a moment. I had been sent flying with so much force my entire body was in pain. After shaking my head trying to remember, I recalled getting knocked away by Behemoth.

“Ouch ouch…”

It had been more than a century since the last time I got this hurt. But I had to expect that much from one of the Four Great Spirits. I had not exactly let my guard down, but this was an opponent I was fighting for the first time, so I misjudged his power.

“Alright!”

After healing myself for a short time, I cleared the remaining rubble on my head and sprung towards the large cavern. Next, I checked the status of the fight. Titis was looking at me with round eyes nearby, but she seemed to be completely safe.

A few steps away lay Karin and Avenis, no movement in them so they had probably fainted. They were bleeding in different places, and their limbs twisted to impossible directions, so they most definitely had a few broken bones.

A distance away I spotted Ciel and Diaria, who wore quite resistant armor but still were covered in wounds. But at least they were fully awake, their staff and bow pointed at Behemoth.

Next to Behemoth stood Bandit, Behemoth’s jaws about to close around his neck. I flew at full speed towards him, stabbing my halberd into the open jaws and sending Behemoth’s enormous body flying into the air.

“Lapis!”
“Master!”
“Heh…I knew ya were still kickin’.”

There was a loud thud a distance away, followed by some rustling as Behemoth rushed to stand up. Looking more clearly I noticed he was missing a leg as well, everyone had been hard at work while I was out.

“Sorry for the wait, everyone. I’ll join as well now.”
“Uhh…sure. But Lapis, the lotta blood coming from yer head doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
“Huh?”

Wondering what Bandit meant, I pulled my hair back and felt something sticky in my hands. When I looked at them, they were dyed red. I was not sure if that happened when Behemoth hit me, or when all the rubble fell on me, but that was probably when I got hurt.

“Are you okay, Master?”
“Yup, the wound should be healed already. I can’t really put the blood that comes out back into my body so it just looks like I’m still hurt. Still, don’t get distracted now. Behemoth is still alive.”
“Grrrr….”

I smiled at Luvias who looked worried at me, and then I glared at Behemoth. He growled with a low tone, his eyes more watchful than before, mostly because of me. There was a high likelihood that in his long life I had been the first human ever to send him flying like that.

“Though…”

I glanced at my weapon, it was bent in the middle and could hardly be used as a weapon anymore. While it was not a fabled or demonic sword, a common mithril halberd was not powerful enough to handle all my power.

“Ya should use this, Lapis.”
“Bandit?”

I felt conflicted seeing Bandit offer me his sword. His breathing seemed rough, but he still wanted to give me his own unique sword.

“Me, I can’t fight anymore, but at least make good use of my sword. It doesn’t look like much but it’s still a demonic sword. Ya should be able to go wild with it no problem.”
“…Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Sure, and don’t forget it’s supposed to control the flow of water or something. I’m sure ya’ll figure it out.”

That was a huge help. I would be able to fight without worrying now. Behemoth had enough time to do as he pleased while I was out, but I’ll repay him tenfold for everything he did.