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––Camilla’s Perspective

“Nielsen, how goes the battle?”
“Milady. Our forces number a little under 200, whilst the opposing Kira Unit have a little over 300. Although there is a difference in numbers, as Mühen’s guerilla unit carries out its duties, we maintain a status quo. And at last, we have lured that damnable Kira himself.”
“Hu, that damned Kira is surely exasperated.”

These past few days, Mühen’s unit has been attacking the Kira Unit. By exhausting Kira with guerilla warfare, it seems that Kira has grown tired of waiting. A move to be expected of a single-celled organism like Kira.

“Controlled by his anger, Kira has charged into the frontlines. They are all heading towards headquarters.”
“All right, I shall kill Kira! Nielsen, you round up the surviving members of Mühen’s unit and after Kira’s death, bring them to hunt down the remaining enemies!”
“As you will.”

Nielsen and I headed promptly to the battlefield. We ran with the strength of the demon race, enhanced with body reinforcement magic. That type of speed was not something common.

-Tap tap-
-Tap tap-

Leaving only footsteps behind on the plain, our two figures flashed by.

“Speaking of which, Nielsen, have you grown used to controlling your mana?”

I asked Nielsen, as we sprinted.

“Milady. Even now I cannot properly suppress it, and the mana rages deep within my body.”
“I see. Mastering it at once is impossible. Even I have been struggling, and at last, have been able to reduce my mana to a tenth.”
“As expected of Lady Camilla.”
“Something at this level is still far from comparable to my elder sister.”
“No, no. Being able to suppress your enormous mana to a tenth is already a splendid accomplishment.”
“Pfft. Nielsen, you must try your best as well.”
“As you will. But still, Lady Tilea’s training methods were admirable.”
“I had also not believed that elder sister was doing nothing but cooking, but to think that there was this kind of training method―”

The day that Nielsen also became elder sister’s subordinate, Nielsen and I received orders to work in the kitchen.

Why did we receive such an order?

Even though with elder sister’s power, the world could immediately be brought into her grasp. Why were we made to take such a detour? Could it be that she did not intend on walking the path of the conqueror?

…And then, I remembered.

Earlier, did elder sister not say that she would guide me!?

Indeed. Elder sister wanted to train Nielsen and I before advancing on the path of the conqueror.

What a waste on two people like us!

But what kind of training is kitchenwork?

I agonized over it. I had considered asking elder sister about her true intentions, but I did not want to discourage her by letting her know that I could not comprehend even this. And so I pondered on it desperately.

And then, I noticed something. Why was I unable to feel elder sister’s mana? Even though elder sister had that much mana, I could feel none of it surging from her.

Why?

However, when I carefully searched for mana, I discovered that deep within elder sister’s body lay an enormous mana. Elder sister was performing kitchenwork while suppressing that mana.

Mana is the source of power. Without mana, combat is unthinkable. Elder sister was keeping her mana suppressed so that it would not leave her body. Almost none of it did.

Why was she doing such a thing?

The time when elder sister kicked Nielsen made me understand it clearly.

After Nielson came back from clearing out the scouts and had a few words with elder sister, he suddenly suffered a kick.

In that moment, her mana rose to an incomparable level.

I felt that the scales had fallen from my eyes. Indeed; simply increasing our mana is not enough. Even with enormous mana, unless you can properly control it, you will be unable to demonstrate any satisfactory power.

Huhu, as expected of elder sister. We demons thought of nothing but increasing our mana, and saw the control of the mana is secondary. Elder sister kept silent to make us realize this ourselves.

After that, Nielsen and I began suppressing our mana at all times, and endeavored to reach the point where it was a natural thing to do for us.

Working in the kitchen whilst controlling our mana was extremely difficult. It was work that required a high degree of competency. While concentrating on our mana, we often blundered. Just how many times had Nielsen accidentally overturned the cauldron…?

To regulate one’s mana while controlling one’s strength. I had never even dreamed that working in the kitchen would become such training.

Nielsen and I trained desperately each day, but could not manage to do things as skilfully as elder sister. Elder sister regulates her mana as naturally as breathing. And what’s more, she has her mana lowered to the level of a human.

Mana at the level of a human…

Because of that, I had also mistaken elder sister to be a human at first. Holding down such powerful mana within herself and lowering it to the level of a human, and then performing her duties in the kitchen. It would require a huge amount of skill.

Elder sister is amazing. I must also learn from her example! Elder sister’s humongous mana may be one thing, but what will I do with myself if I cannot even suppress as little mana as mine!?

Even magic beasts so ferocious that they destroy boulders and tear up their prey can control their mana and sooth the babies they have given birth to. If the ignorant magic beasts can do so, then there is no way that we demons cannot.

Running for a short while, whilst pondering the training over these last few days, I could suddenly hear a roaring sound.

“Are they close?”
“Yes. We will come into contact with the Kira Unit very soon.”
“I see. I am itching to test my arm against― Mu-!?”

At that moment, together with the sudden sound of an explosion, a huge hole opened up in the ground. It was a hole of 3 meters diameter, and deep enough that a normal person could not see its bottom. I could tell the power of the explosion.

“Tsk, I missed!?”
“Kira, huh? A surprise attack? A sly one as always.”

The demonic birdman, Kira…

One of the Six Demon Generals. Feared as Kira the Impaler, in the previous war, he skewered many humans on his great spear, and exposed their bodies to the air. His large wings, and those shining and ferocious eyes of his are his special characteristics.

“Heh heh, Camilla. To think that you would betray the Demon King Army. In other words, I can kill you openly now.”
“Hmph. You think that you can kill me?”
“You never change, ey? Arrogant enough that you could call it overconfidence. I really will have a good time killing you.”
“And you haven’t changed either; still a single-celled organism. However, single-celled though you may be, we were once comrades, and so I will personally perform your last rites. Feel grateful.”
“Kuh-, insisting on having the last word! You lot―! While I’m killing Camilla, make sure you don’t let any of the small fries escape. We’ll skewer every one of her comrades without fail!”

Having received their orders, hundreds of Kira’s subordinates surrounded my unit.

Hmph, no matter how many smallfry you gather, they still aren’t anything worth mentioning!

“Nielsen, we proceed as planned. I will tidy up that fool.”
“As you will.”

After I gave Nielsen his orders, I turned to face Kira. He was tightly gripping the great spear in his hand. It isn’t a simple great spear. It is a great spear that is famed for hitting its target without missing, and striking through target and all at lightning speed; the divine weapon Gae Bolg. Because of all the blood it sucked in the previous war, it has gotten even sharper.

“Camilla, I’ll bring you down with one shot; you won’t be able to run!”

Kira drew out all the strength he could muster as he held up the great spear. Even if a defective one, he is still one of the Six Demon Generals, so the mana that he put into the spear far exceeded a normal demon’s.

“The throw of an idiot who only knows one trick, is it!?”
“Too much prattle! Secret Technique, Skymark!”

Kira threw the great spear at lightning speed. It happened at a speed that a human could not even see, and at a speed that by far surpassed a mid-class demon’s reaction speed. Even if a high-class could see it, they would probably struggle to dodge it.

However, I would be troubled if you group “Camilla of the Flash” together with any regular demon.

“Hmph.”

I twisted my upper body to avoid the incoming spear.

“Idiot. Did you think you could escape? No matter how one runs, my spear will always change its trajectory to stab you.”

The spear changed its trajectory to pierce me through the heart.

―GAKIN!

However, before it reached my heart, it stopped.

“Wha-!? What’s going on?”
“Fool. Did you forget that I am surrounded by my magic barrier at all times?”
“E-, Even so, to stop my surefire kill…”
“Something like this may have been impossible for me in the past. However, now that I have learned mana control, something of this level is no trouble.”
“M-, Mana control, you say?”
“That’s right. I bring my mana under control, amplify the mana in one section, and concentrate it into one point. I knew that an idiot like you would aim for the heart as usual, after all.”

Indeed; I knew that it would come towards my heart. Even in the previous war, this idiot would single-mindedly aim for the opponent’s heart. If you know where it’s going to hit, no matter how fast it is, dodging it is easy after all, and you can even concentrate your barrier into one point to meet the attack.

After grabbing the spear that had been stopped by my barrier, I threw it away with all my power. The spear drew a parabola in the air, and disappeared deep into the forest.

“Given that you have no use other than spear throwing, this is your loss now.”
“DON’T MAKE FUN OF ME! DIEEEEEEEEEE!”

Kira let out an angry scream before amplifying his mana and shooting magic bullets at me. Countless magic bullets appeared from his hands.

“Oh? You want to compete with me in magic? How amusing!”

I shot magic bullets as well, not losing to him. The bullets of we two Demon Generals collided. Together with an incredible roar, the nearby trees, rocks, and earth were all gouged away, one after another.

There were even soldiers injured by the blast. Dozens, hundreds, of bullets flew each way.

And then…

“Hahh, hahhhh, hahhh… W-, Why are you― so-, so relaxed…?”

Kira was wheezing due to our exchange of magic bullets. His face was pale, and his whole body ran with sweat. Because he fired magic bullets without pause, there is no doubt that his mana has run dry.

“When you go all out with your mana in the beginning like an idiot, this is what happens. What’s important is mana control. Here comes the finisher, Kira.”

In order to fire my secret technique, I began to chant. And then a magic circle appeared.

“P-, Please wait!”
“I won’t wait. O magic bullets, become countless stars. Star Freya!”
“Hi-, HIEEE!”

Kira flapped his wings and rose into the air to escape the bullets. He shouldn’t have had any energy left, but I suppose this was his final struggle to live. He frantically flapped his wings up and down.

“Foolishness. My magic bullets track their mark. You may die now!”

The countless magic bullets followed the rising Kira, and struck into him. One of those magic bullets has enough power to erase a low level demon. And hundreds, thousands, of those were raining upon him.

“UGYAHHHH!”

Together with his death throes, the sky resounded with an explosion, like fireworks.

“Hmph. That was too good of a technique to waste on you.”