TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 2 Part 2
“Nice to meet you, High Human. I’m Eleonora of the ‘Time Heaven’, one of the ‘Four Heavens’ like Lucifer and Alogis.”
Eleonora gave me a graceful bow.
“Four Heavens…”
I’d never heard of that before, but it’s probably another name for an apostle. Literally there were four of them, so excluding Eleos, whom I had defeated in the recent rebellion of the Four Heavenly Kings, these three were the remaining apostles of the Evil God.
“… I’m Haruto.”
“Haruto, isn’t it? Would you be willing to accompany me?”
“No thanks.”
I could sense Eleonora’s displeasure at my refusal.
But I didn’t care and turned to Alogis and told him.
“First Demon King Alogis. I’m not your opponent.”
“What?”
“The current Demon King, Fran, said she’d be your opponent.”
“That vampire girl?”
He smiled, probably remembering their previous meeting.
“…Interesting. I’ll personally see how good the current Demon King is. Once I kill her, it’ll be your turn, so just wait.”
“Sorry about that. You’re going to lose miserably.”
“Stop spouting nonsense. Oh well. I already know where the little girl is. I’ll deal with her quickly and deal with you.”
With that, Alogis teleported away.
The only ones left were Lucifer and Eleonora.
When I turned to look at the two, Lucifer was looking coldly at Eleonora.
“Eleonora. You are supposed to be in charge of the army.”
“That’s true. I understand. I’ll hand this over to you… Ah, it’s troublesome. But, well, in the end, it’s just a group of weak humans and demons. Let’s get this done quickly.”
As Eleonora sighed, I opened my mouth.
“Hey, you, Eleonora.”
“What is it? Do you want to fight me?”
“No.”
I paused for a moment and told Eleonora.
“Don’t underestimate humanity. There are many other strong people out there. If anything, you’ll probably suffer.”
“…That’s interesting. Then I’ll kill them in a gruesome way. Well then.”
After saying that, Eleonora teleported away just like Alogis.
The only ones left were Lucifer and me. I watched Lucifer’s every move, not missing a thing.
Lucifer laughed at my reaction.
“Haruto, are you wary of me?”
“Of course.”
It would be strange not to be wary of someone of a higher rank.
“That’s very pleasing. Well, as a favor to you, I’ll go first.”
Immediately after Lucifer said that, several magic circles appeared around me.
I instinctively realized that I couldn’t escape, so I immediately deployed an Aegis space-cutting barrier.
The magic unleashed from the magic circles hit me directly, causing the barrier to shake greatly.
The attacks stopped shortly after, and Lucifer shouted in praise.
“You can withstand that… What an incredible strength. It’s a shame to treat you as an enemy.”
“Thanks. But you seem pretty relaxed.”
“Yes. You’re weaker than me.”
It’s true that I was at a lower level than Lucifer right now.
But that’s just a matter of numbers.
“Is that really so?”
“I see.”
At the same time that Lucifer retreated from the spot, countless earthen spears came charging at him from the spot where he had been standing.
If they had hit him, they would have caused some damage.
“That was a close call.”
“You dodged them so easily for a guy who says that.”
“Oh. I thought I was good at acting.”
I guess his attitude must be really relaxed.
“It’ll be interesting to see how long you can keep up that relaxed attitude.”
As I said this, I checked with Ellis.
Ellis, can I leave the activation of defensive magic to you from here? I’d like to focus on offensive magic instead.
《Understood. I will now focus on defense.》
I nodded and used the high-speed movement skill ‘Ground Shrink’ to approach Lucifer and unsheathe my sword.
“Cherry Blossom Flash – Extreme!”
It was a powerful technique that could even cut through space.
However, my beloved sword, the Black Sword Benizakura, which was launched straight at Lucifer, was deflected by something he had deployed around him.
Lucifer blocked my full-powered blow with ease.
It was as if he was unfazed by the Aegis, the space-cutting barrier I was using.
Lucifer pointed his palm toward me, his eyes wide open.
“You’re being naive. That won’t reach me.”
A black fireball the size of a small fist appeared in the palm of his hand.
“—The Flame of Condemnation, Elmekia Zero!”
I tried to dodge the fireball that was about to be unleashed, but Lucifer wouldn’t let me.
An earthen wall was formed around me on both sides and behind me.
At this point, I wouldn’t be able to teleport in time.
I was completely at a loss as to where to run, but I had a capable partner.
《Deploying three layers of Aegis Barrier.》
Ellis deployed the Aegis barrier, and Lucifer’s magic hit it directly.
At the same time, the first Aegis barrier was shattered in an instant.
The second one held up a little, but was destroyed soon after, and when it hit the third and final one, the fireball disappeared.
Honestly, it was too powerful to laugh at.
I never thought the Aegis barrier would be destroyed so easily.
What principle did it use?
My best partner, Ellis, was always the one to answer my questions.
《I sensed the magic power of space-time magic from the spell Lucifer just unleashed, ‘The Flame of Condemnation, Elmekia Zero.’ I believe it is a compound spell that combines fire magic and space-time magic. I also assume that the effect of his unique skill, ‘Fiery Sky,’ is also multiplying it, increasing its power.》
A unique skill, huh… I think that’s what it does.
<Fiery Sky>
Abilities include Space Domination, Space Manipulation, Foresight, Magic Creation, Thought Acceleration, Appraisal, and Barrier.
Can halve the power of magic attacks at will within a 100-meter radius.
Constantly doubles your own magic effect and power.
Can reproduce and copy abilities that you have seen once.
But I could use fire magic and space-time magic, too.
Can’t I use the same magic?
《Yes. Even if you put the same amount of magic power into it, Master’s skill increases the power of attack magic by a large factor, so it can be powerful.》
I see, that’s perfect.
As I got ready, I stared at Lucifer.
Lucifer, on the other hand, looked at me with an amused grin.
“I didn’t think you’d be unscathed. I was able to defeat most of my enemies with this.”
“I see. By the way, can you withstand my magic?”
I held out my palm to Lucifer.
“Of course. But you can’t use it—”
“—The Flame of Condemnation, Elmekia Zero!”
“–What!?”
I generated a black fireball the size of a fist in my palm and released it.
Lucifer deployed a barrier in front of the approaching fireball.
However, the barrier easily shattered and the fireball hit Lucifer directly.
It was probably a barrier that separated space, just like the space-cutting Aegis barrier that I use. However, it seemed to be insufficient in strength.
This wouldn’t end here.
“Look. There are still many more.”
As I spoke, black fireballs appeared, surrounding Lucifer.
I’d estimate there were at least a hundred.
“This is my thanks for teaching me good magic. Please accept it.”
And then I released it towards Lucifer.