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I-, I’ll just tell things straight!

Just as I was thinking of fighting together with her, Jessica suddenly told me, “Ms. Tilea, I’ll leave the rest to you,” and left me here. I faintly knew what she meant, but I was trying to escape from reality. If only it had just been hypnotism, or she had just happened to be running at high speeds…

Right now I’m faced with a most terrifying reality; a 1v1 with a demon.

Aahh, I never even imagined that I would be stuck duelling the chief of the demons. Even if I have to fight him, I was hoping that at least Jessica would be here to support me with magic.

Wahhh, to think that she abandoned me…

“Fwo fwoh, simply useless struggling. I already remember her mana. If I teleport, I shall catch up in a jiffy.”
“You hear that? Jessica, come baaaaaaaaack! Apparently even running is pointless, you know, so let’s fight together. At this rate, he’ll pick us off one by one, you know.”

I shouted towards the back of the running Jessica, but she didn’t even turn to look at me.

I see! Maybe she’s escaping with a wounded person, which is why she’s desperately ignoring me…

“Fwo fwo fwoh, humans sure are cruel. It looks like you’re just a sacrificial pawn.”
“I-, I’m not a pawn, okay. Jessica trusts in me, which is why she left me to take care of it.”

He kind of pissed me off, so I accidentally spoke my mind. I don’t want to hear a demon talk about cruelty. Just what do you understand about Jessica!

Yeah. I’m ashamed that I ever thought that she abandoned me. Jessica is just desperately trying to save her injured friend. She was badly hurt in her fight with this guy, and if she doesn’t get healed soon, she might even die. That’s why Jessica believed in my power (knowledge) and left for Headquarters first.

And also, Jessica is still only fourteen. Basically a middle schooler. I’d be unforgivably pathetic if I was relying on a child for backup. If you include my old life, I’m already way too old to be acting like this.

Y-, Yeah. This is for the best. While I buy some time, Jessica should just run.

“I-, I won’t let you pass here. I-, I’m gonna stop you!”
“Fwo, a human like you, is going to stop a demon like me? Hmph, acting quite conceited for a member of the weakest race!”
“Just because we’re the weakest, doesn’t mean we can’t beat the strongest!”
“Fwo fwoh, what a saucy girl. My injuries are healed now. I can catch up to those two whenever I want. Very well. This old man will play with you.”

Saying that, the Chief of the Demons (strongest race) suddenly approached me. I immediately produced a laminariales.

What should I do?

He’s totally different from everyone else so far. He’s like the Royal Guard of the Demon King. Even if I just mindlessly throw laminariales like before, it’ll be hard to defeat him. He might be able to dodge, and if I miss his vitals, that opens myself up for a counter. Strategy is important here.

Mn!? Hang on. To begin with, will laminariales even work against him? No, I’ll have to believe in it. Or rather, if it doesn’t work, I have no options left. If I watch for an opening, and throw them in succession, I might have a chance to beat him.

Alright. For now, I need the first shot to hit.

To begin with… Ummm~ What to d― wai-, sto― he’s getting closer and closer as I think.

“S-, Stay away! A-, Are you fine with this? I have seven thousand subordinates!”
“Fwo fwo fwoh. What, a joke all of a sudden?”

Kuh-! It might have been a snap judgement, but maybe I overdid it with seven thousand. Ah-, but it looked like he stopped moving at least.

“Y-, Yeah. But even if seven thousand was a joke, I still have five hundred of them. Are you fine with this? If something happens to me, don’t think they’ll take it lying down.”
“Fwo fwo, even if you did have five hundred subordinates, so what? Come on. Bring them out. I shall make prey of them all.”
“Y-, You’re really fine with this? A-, All of them are a match for a thousand, you know. Y-, You’ll be really beaten up, okay. All of them have 30,000 mana.”
“Fwo fwo, amusing, amusing. So if the subordinates have 30,000, then how much does their master have?”
“Eh-!? M-, Me? Y-, Yeah. O-, One hundred thousand.”
“Fwo fwo, if you’re going to lie, then do it after studying. The mana levels you’re uttering are completely at random.”

T-, This is bad. I meant to buy time until I thought of a strategy, but I was flustered, so I was completely confused. It sounds bad to say this myself, but it was ridiculous to say that every member of the Praetorian Guard was a match for a thousand. Even I’m astounded by what I’m saying.

“Now then, is the sideshow over? In that case, it’s time to dance.”

Flames appeared at his fingertips, and they began to scorch the ground.

“D-, dowah-, wah-! S-, Stop that.”

I ended up moving in dance steps.

“Come on, come on! More! Dance more! Your feet are going to disappear, you know.”
“Uwah-! Wah-! W-, Whoa-!”

Again and again, flames sprayed from his fingers. The ground beneath me started to fill with holes, and rocks and rubble began to evaporate.

I-, If that hits me, not even bone will remain…

But this guy is aiming to just miss me on purpose. I’ll bet he’s trying to prolong this to scare me.

“So cowardly!”
“Fwo fwoh, of course. To we demons, the strongest race, humans are nothing more than ants to crush as toys.”

Dammit, he’s totally making fun of us!

Just watch. Just watch as I show you the power of human knowledge. I’ve got my secret weapon, the laminariales, to turn the tables on you. I’ll make sure you fully taste the weakness of vampires.

But, in more practical terms, what should I do?

He keeps spraying flames, so I can’t grasp the timing. Should I close the gap in one go?

I decided to move backwards.

“Fwo fwoh, you shall not escape.”

With that, flames appeared at the wall that I was running to.

I immediately tried to turn left, but,

“Fwo fwoh. Just where are you going? Take this! And this!”

Dowah-! Stop doing such scary things!

That b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ created a flame ring around me to trap me.

A-, At this rate, it’s just a matter of time until I burn to death. The one saving grace is that he’s still playing, so I won’t be killed right away. But I won’t know when he’ll change his mind. If he does, I’ll be turned to ash in an instant.

Kuh-! What do I do to break out of this mess?

I guess there are three options.

① The cute and beautiful Tilea suddenly thinks of a counterattack
② Her friends will come and save her
③ Reality is cruel. She burns to death ♪

Hmm~mm, I really can’t leave it to anyone else, so it has to be ①. I’ll come up with a ground-breaking idea to break past this flame wall.

-Think think think… Fwish-

I-, It’s not good. I can’t think of anything. All that comes to mind is charging through it. If I try to break past this with effort and guts, I’ll just turn into soot.

C-, Can’t be helped. It’s ② then. I hate leaving problems to others, but you can’t break through a crisis without sacrifice. I’ll rely on my allies.

Ummm~ allies, allies… Jessica is in the middle of bringing her friend to Headquarters. Myuu is guarding Timu.

Which means…

I breathed in deep, and then…

“REEEMIIIIIIILIIIIIIIAAAAAA! SAAAAVEEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEE!”

It’s a pinch, a pinch, a huge pinch!

Your future girlfriend is about to fall into the hands of the demons. Please get on your white horse and ride in here. My first kiss, my virginity, I’ll give you anything, so please.

Or so I prayed, as I screamed loudly.

“W-, What!? Why are you suddenly screaming? I thought my eardrums were going to burst.”

Huh? Did I maybe anger him?

Up until a moment ago, he was having fun like a cat tormenting a mouse, but now he looked a little angry.

“Honestly, even if you call for help, none will come. I have already checked to find that nobody was around. And even if help did come, they would simply have the tables turned on them by me.”
“T-, That can’t be…”
“Hahh~ Honestly, my eardrums are crying. Impertinent for a human. Aahh, I’m done playing. You can just burn!”

With that, the flame walls began to constrict around me.

Awawawah, w-what do I do?

I-, It really is ③ after all, huh~

WAHH, WAHHH, hic-, UUWAHHHH, I DON’T WANNA DIEEE! SOMEBODY SAVE MEEE!

In panic, I ran this way and that.

“Fwo fwo fwoh, die in fear! Let me hear a good voice!”
“YOUUU! WHAAT AARE YOUU DOINGG TO ELDER SISTEEEER!”
“Heh?”

Just as I was lamenting the cruelty of reality, suddenly, a voice from behind me…

T-, This voice is… Timu!?

UOHHHHHHHH! It’s ②! IT’S ②!!!!!!

Nice! Super nice timing!

If Timu is here, then Myuu is here too. Thank goodness. A veteran warrior has come rushing in.

But still, Timu’s enraged expression is…

I’m sure she’s super mad because she thought I was about to be killed. She’s a good girl, so that’s quite like her. She looks like she’ll attack him this very instant.

But, she can’t. It’s dangerous. I’m happy that she’s worried for me, but let’s leave it to Myuu.

Mn!? That damned demon chief!

He suddenly extinguished his flames at their arrival.

This is a chance to attack!

I don’t know why he’s all confused, but while he’s dazed I’ll smash his face with a laminariales. I took a laminariales in hand.

B-, But will this actually work? I can’t shake the feeling that this won’t work on a demon chief.

I know! Here’s my counterattack plan! I crushed a laminariales, and squeezed the juice all over the cross. That’s right. With this, I get both the attack power of the cross, as well as the effect of the laminariales. It multiplies the effectiveness.

Huhu, this should have at least double the damage I’ll deal. Even this guy won’t be a problem.

“I was wondering why I heard elder sister’s voice, so I came here to investigate… and the outrageousness I find!”

“Wha-? Hah-? Elder sister?? What do you mean by― I-, I simply, for the Esteemed―”
“I am not listening to excuses. Nor will I have mercy. I will punish you myself. I shall destroy you to the last cinder!”

Alright. This is it. I’ll get him while he’s distracted by Timu. Taking advantage of the situation, I dashed into his opening.

Heh! The chief of the demons looks scary on the outside. Of course, not just his appearance. His power, his cruelty, all of it is fit for the title ‘strongest demon’.

But please don’t look down on humanity too much. Humans might be weak, but we bridge over our shortcomings with knowledge. Don’t think that humans will just take things standing down.

With the laminariales’d cross in my hand, I thrust my fist vigorously into his face.

“I’m coming for you, ‘Strongest’ (Demon Chief)! ―My ‘Weakest’… might shake you up a little!”

My fist slammed into his face.

―An instant. In that instant, I felt a crack against my fist, and then something hit my face with a splatter.

“Heh?”

Huh? What is this sensation? What is this thing writhing in front of me?

There before my eyes… was the now mince-meat corpse… of the half-destroyed demon chief. The scene of his meat chunks convulsing after death… was graphic.

HE-, HE SPLATTERRRRED!

Eh-? Eh-? N-, No matter what, aren’t you a bit too shaken up!? This might have been a plan I came up with myself, but it’s SUPER EFFECTIVEEE!

Eh-? Then, could it be that the stuff on my face is flesh? I brought my hand to my face, and pulled it off.

UWAHHH, IT’S ALL STICKY AND GROSS. -BLARGH!-