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–––Lacus’ viewpoint

I left Ditoner to take care of the hero Freya while I took the sky to fight Lapis. She easily flew up after me, and once I saw her getting closer I could not stop myself from smiling. Flying was second nature to her, even though that magic had only been used by demons for the last few centuries, and she was just as fast as me. I could sense an exciting battle coming up.

“Before we fight, do you have any last words? I’ll be blunt, but I’m too strong for you. If I don’t pull any stops, this fight will end in the blink of an eye.”

I told her with a good-natured voice, but she tilted her head in confusion.

“It seems you misunderstand, I don’t intend to die yet, nor do I think I’ll lose against you. Though there is one thing I can agree with, going all out will end this fight instantly.”

She spoke without fear, not even looking nervous. She was really overconfident after all, which meant I had to teach her a lesson and show her the limits of humans. I could always kill her after toying with her for a while.

“If you say so. Let’s just start this already, we’re talking too much.”
“You’re right, you can take the first move if you want.”
“I guess I’ll do just that!”

As I spoke, I stretched my right hand out and sent multiple giant fireballs her way. I did not need to chant like humans, and I could cast multiple spells at the same time. It might have been a bit excessive for a first attack and I would not be surprised if she turned into a pile of ash from that. I saw her raise her hand trying to cast a protective barrier, but I doubt she would do that on time. I was getting excited to see her fall down, but contrary to my expectations her hand produced fireballs just like mine, and in a large quantity as well.

“What?!”

The fireballs collided with each other and illuminated the night sky. Still, I had no time to stare in awe, she had already sent more fireballs after the first barrage.

“You can’t be serious!”

I barely managed to get out from the fireballs’ path, and then had to make another sharp turn to avoid crashing into a nearby roof. When I turned around, I saw Lapis holding her halberd right behind me. She had moved so far so quickly? Just how fast could she fly?! It seemed I had no reason to hold back anymore, so I gained altitude again and confronted her.

“Now that was a surprise. I see you can cast identical powerful spells as mine. Or maybe you’re just good at fire magic?”
“I don’t think it’s really my forte. And compared to a dedicated magician my power is nothing special. I have a friend that could set this entire city on fire with a single fireball.”
“Hah! Like I would believe such tall tales! Not even a demon king would have enough mana to do something like that.”

If there really was such a magician, I would have heard about them by now. The humans would never keep something like that secret.

“Anyway, sorry for doubting your skills earlier. Holding back too much can be rude as well, so shall I show you a glimpse of my true power?”
“…Sure, you might be better off if you just go all out. Though I don’t blame you, demons are like that by nature.”
“You sound confident. Or do you think the fight will play out the same as earlier? You should think twice in that case!”

She was getting annoying. I tried having some fun and that made her get cocky. I had to teach her a lesson for being so foolish. I poured magic into my entire body, Strengthening it, and then cast three spells in the air. One was of fire, another earth, and the last ice. Only high-ranking demons could attempt to learn to manipulate three elements at once like this.

Faced against that, she would be fully cornered and would perish. But just in case she managed to evade everything, I gripped my sword firmly. I formed my magic into spears of fire, ice, and stone, which I raised into the air and to her sides to launch them at the same time. Seeing things go differently from how she expected, Lapis looked shocked…everything went according to plan.

“Gooo!”

Under my command, the spears snapped pointing towards her before being shot to impale her. There was a spear flying towards her from every direction, she was trapped by them. Not even an insect would be able to escape that. If she tried to protect herself with magic, some of the elements would cancel each other out and she would still get hurt.

If she made it out alive, then I would go there and personally deal the finishing blow. Thinking of how her cocky face would contort in fear realizing her situation, I could not suppress a smile. But when she glanced at the three spears, she did not show any signs of using magic and merely held her halberd ready. Was she actually thinking of somehow evading them with a weapon?!

“There we go.”

With a disinterested voice, she reached to the spear that approached her the fastest, the stone one, and merely touched it with the tip of her halberd. The spear continued moving at the same speed so I thought her plan had failed, but then I witnessed something astounding.

The spear she had touched merely changed directions without losing any momentum and passed behind her. It kept moving and collided with the ice spear, which then also changed directions and crashed into the fire spear. If it had happened one time I would have considered it a fluke, but somehow she had nullified all the attacks on her only with her halberd! Witnessing an impossible scene like that, I was lost for words even though we were in the middle of a fight.

“I…I can’t believe it. Is there really a human capable of that? …Wait?!”

Before I noticed Lapis had charged straight towards me. I had let my guard down! I thought I had nailed down her maximum speed already, but I had seen something so hard to comprehend I had lost track of her!

“Here!”
“Gah?! Ghuh!”