Chapter 54
Chapter 54 – Demon (Part 2)
Clouds of dust and flames whirled as a shockwave rippled through the surroundings .
There was a thunderous boom as the ground shook . Waves of intense heat and air forced everyone to cover their faces .
Wynn laid his body flat on the ground to prevent himself from being blown away by the explosion .
How strong, Eliza marveled as she shielded her face with the sleeves of her robe .
The dust flying through the air prevented her eyes from fully opening, and she struggled to find Leti .
Trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes, she finally caught sight of Leti .
Leti had crouched to weather the oncoming shockwave .
Whenever a spell was invoked, the caster would be surrounded by residual mana, which functioned as a shield, protecting them .
The stronger the spell, the more mana resided, so Leti’s shield should have blocked most of the shockwave .
“Fireball” was one of the most basic offensive spells, but the one Eliza cast couldn’t even compare to the one Leti had just cast .
Despite using a spell far surpassing Eliza’s abilities, Leti didn’t seem tired at all .
If it’s this, even a demon would…
“Awoooooooo!”
Eliza’s thoughts were interrupted by a wolf-like howl .
At the same time, a maroon light pierced through the inferno .
The flames dispersed as smoke rose from where the wolf was last seen .
“No… no way…” stammered Eliza with widened eyes .
“Impossible!” Louis cried out in disbelief .
“Whoa, that was surprising . Didn’t think a strong magician ’d be here . ”
Veldaroth had cut through the flames, but smoke still rose from his body .
His right arm had grown by several sizes, maroon light pulsing along its length .
“There was a lotta mana, but I dunno why she used normal flames . Guess she’s still green, eh?”
Eliza ground her teeth when she heard why the demon was unscathed .
The fireball that Leti had cast was the same spell as Eliza’s .
She imagined the spell in exactly the same way as Eliza did, so Leti didn’t channel her mana efficiently into the spell .
As Veldaroth said earlier, Eliza was far from being a first-rate magician .
She was skilled… for an adventurer . Compared to the empire’s knights and court magicians, she was a mere novice .
This was apparent in the Fireball spell she had cast .
For every ten units of mana she used to make the fireball, only two, at most, would enchant the flames .
Two of the remaining eight units were spent casting the spell, and five were used to create normal, unenchanted flames .
The remaining unit became the shield of residual mana .
A magician’s skill depended largely upon their own comprehension, which was expanded by gaining knowledge from arcane grimoires, and experience gained from trial and error .
Senior magicians tended to outperform their juniors because they could enchant more of the flames through their accumulated knowledge and experience .
Unlike most living things and monsters, which could be injured by the ordinary flames, demons were different . Veldaroth could only be affected by two-tenths of the total magic power used for the spell — the two-tenths enchanting the flames .
“More… If only I’d used more mana…” mourned Eliza, consumed by regret .
Since Leti merely mimicked Eliza’s “Fireball”, including its flawed magic composition, the spell was lacking and fell short of its full potential .
“Ya seem more interestin’ than these guys over here . ”
Veldaroth turned his bloodthirsty gaze towards Leti .
The adventurers could feel the intense, suffocating pressure .
Leti’s face froze in terror as the bloodthirst focused on her .
She couldn’t make a sound . Her feet trembled, her teeth chattered .
Tears streamed from her eyes and down her pretty porcelain cheeks .
“Hey, show me that spell again . Come play with me . ”
“Eek!” Leti could only let out a frightened squeak .
“Sigh… Just a brat . Too scared to even put up a fight . What’s wrong? I wanna see another one a’ those . Or was that the best ya can do? If so… I’m gonna kill ya, yanno?” threatened Veldaroth as he bared his teeth at Leti, who was frozen and pale .
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Pointing his right hand at the little girl, he said, “If I can’t play with ya, then I might as well kill ya . If I let ya live, ye’ll grow up to be a real dangerous toy . ”
Maroon light gathered at the tip of Veldaroth’s right hand and grew rapidly in size .
“Leti!”
A moment before Veldaroth’s magic blasted Leti’s head to pieces, Wynn darted next to Leti and grabbed her arm .
He ran while dragging her away .
The maroon light missed its mark and struck the ground, sending debris into the air .
Wynn hugged Leti to shield her from the shards that flew towards them .
“Ugh…” Leti heard Wynn groan in the midst of the violent storm of debris .
When the dust finally settled, she opened her eyes and saw the boy hugging her tightly .
“B-big…Brother…?
“Are you okay, Leti?” asked Wynn as blood flowed from his forehead and arms .
“Big Brother…blood…blood is…”
“It’s no big deal . More importantly, were you hurt, Leti?”
Tearfully, Leti shook her head .
She tried to hug him, but Wynn gently pushed her away .
He got up and readied his sword as he moved protectively in front of her .
“How brave of you,” sneered the demon .
“Big Brother!” cried Leti .
Leaving her behind, Wynn circled around Veldaroth .
He moved in a zigzag pattern and appeared to be trying to stab Veldaroth’s torso . Suddenly, he crouched and aimed his attack at the demon’s feet .
However, just before his blade struck, Veldaroth leapt into the air .
Wynn sprang after him and twisted his body in preparation to slash at the airborne demon .
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“Huh?”
But Veldaroth had escaped his vision .
“Ya move well, but yer too slow!”
“!?”
As Wynn landed, he tried to quickly turn around .
He saw Veldaroth charging at him .
Wynn tried to brace himself in a defensive stance, but Veldaroth drove his right leg into Wynn’s solar plexus before he could do so .
He flew through the air in an arc . He bounced once, twice, thrice .
“Big brother!”
“Wynn!”
Despite Leti and Paul’s cries, Wynn didn’t stir .
The pale light faded from the fallen sword beside him .
“Ooh, he passed out . Welp, I had fun, so I’ll stop fer today . ”
Veldaroth glared at the adventurers .
He held up three fingers and said, “Three days . I’ll give ya that much time . Ye should be able to recover yer mana by then . After that, I’ll kill all of ya, startin’ with that girl, then that avian brat . The great Demon Lord commanded me to slaughter avians whenever I find ‘em . And that girl’s mana is too dangerous to let ‘er live . ”
Veldaroth smiled savagely . It almost seemed like his mouth was about to split from how widely he bared his fangs .
“And once I kill those two brats, the rest of ya are next . Ya don’t think ye can run away from a demon like me, do ya? If ya wanna live, get yerselves ready fer me . Won’t that be fun?”
Laughing raucously, Veldaroth effortlessly jumped off the ground .
He disappeared in moments, taking the intense pressure with him .
Not one of the adventurers left behind could move an inch .
“We’re doomed . We can’t beat that… that demon,” Oort sighed as he tied a splint to his broken left arm .
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“Neither Eliza’s nor Leti’s magic was able to hurt that monster,” Paul whispered as he cried .
“I didn’t think demons were that strong,” murmured Louis as he stared blankly at the fire .
He had been put out of commission by Veldaroth’s first strike, and he felt more vexed by that fact than he was worried about their chances of beating the demon .
His frustration had grown as he watched Wynn engage the demon .
The boy was currently asleep on Eliza’s lap .
Since she had run out of mana, the places where he had been wounded by pebbles could only be treated with ointment, then bandaged .
Judging by the red stains on the bandage wrapped around his forehead, his wounds must have been very painful .
Leti had cried herself to sleep while clinging onto Wynn .
The adventurers couldn’t return to Simurgh, or even Laura’s house, because the two children were marked for death when Veldaroth returned in three days .
They had no choice but to wait patiently for Leti to wake up and fly them all back .
The adventurers were also exhausted .
“We can’t beat that demon . We have to ask the Knight Order for help . ”
“Will the Knight Order act?” asked Eliza .
Demons didn’t recklessly appear on the front lines on a whim .
The true reasons were unknown, but scholars theorized that it was due to their low numbers . Demons avoided dispersing their forces out of fear of being crushed by deities, spirits, or dragons if they did so .
That was why, despite such an overwhelming difference in individual power, humanity had been able to build and maintain a line of defense .
The Demon Lord’s main forces were complete monsters . This was the knowledge humans had acquired over decades of war .
“But we don’t have a choice . They might not listen to us, but they’ll listen to the Adventurers’ Guild . ”
“Either way, we’ll have to wait for Lil’ Leti to wake up,” said Louis, bringing the discussion to a close, and they fell silent .
The only sound was the crackling of the fire . They watched quietly as the sparks slowly drifted into the sky .
AN: This arc is takes place in the past, but it’s tied to the present, and it will have a happy ending .
TL note: Magic power is now Mana . I’m now pretty sure that there won’t be multiple magic power-like energies . Also, we have two more chapters in this arc . I’m so sorry for letting this arc get TLed so slowly . Thanks for sticking with me, and sorry for not being a mean green translating machine, and instead being a lazy elephant!
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