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"Everyone alright?" asked Sekke, losing interest in the devil host whose neck he had just slashed.
"Sekke!!! Beside you!!!" yelled Secre.
The girl whose neck was cleanly sliced by Sekke was glued back together with blood.
"...Do you devils always plan to have some cockroach-like tendencies?" asked Sekke in annoyance.
"You are strong!!!!" yelled Vanica in excitement and used her magic.
[Blood Magic: Red Death Claws]
Hardened blood claws appeared on the girl's hands as she moved swiftly to slash Sekke.
"Well, you are right about me being strong."
[Blood Debuff Magic: Bloody Impact]
The blood claws around the girl's hands exploded and sent the girl flying.
Sekke slowly descended near the man, who too had some devil powers and was using magic to lick Mimosa.
"Keep your filthy tongue off her, you bastard," said Sekke in a cold tone as his grimoire started flipping.
[World Tree Debuff Magic: Fruit of Life]
A single seed appeared on the man's head, and immediately he started screeching in pain.
His mana and life force started to get sucked into the seed as it started to grow into a plant that bore a fruit.
Once the fruit was ripe for picking, it flew towards Sekke while the man's body fell lifelessly.
Sekke simply pocketed the fruit and walked towards Mimosa.
"Sekke-san thank yo-"
Before Mimosa could finish, Sekke grabbed her face and started checking for injuries. He then checked her hands and legs, and after making sure she was alright, he sighed in relief.
He looked at her, who was smiling blissfully on seeing Sekke so worried for her.
Without any mercy, he flicked her forehead.
"Ow!" yelped Mimosa.
"What is a support mage doing on the front line? Even if you want to fight, do it from behind until and unless necessary," chided Sekke.
"But...there aren't any front-line mages apart from Noelle-san and Anna-chan, and both were busy fighting the devil host..." complained Mimosa.
Sekke looked around and spotted no one else apart from his girls, Noelle, and Lolopechka in sight.
"Where are Luck and the others?" asked Sekke as he slowly patted Mimosa's head to calm the royal, who had been unfairly flicked on the forehead.
"They are fighting the dark disciples," said Vanica as she came back for the fight.
"What the hell are dark disciples?" asked Sekke.
"They are people who don't host a devil but can still access some powers of the devils because they are granted that power by us, the devil hosts. I am Vanica Zogratis, the host of the highest-ranking devil Megicula."
"Sekke Bronzaza, the dark lord. I would say pleasure meeting you, but you attacked my girls, so I hope you are ready for a bad time," replied Sekke.
"Dark Lord? What's that?" asked Vanica.
"Dark Lord is the being that is the strongest and stands at the pinnacle of the world. That is me," replied Sekke in a confident tone.
"Oooohhhhhh!!!! You are the strongest person in the world?!?!" asked Vanica in excitement.
"Yes."
"Hey!!! Let's fight!!!!" yelled Vanica.
"Oh, don't worry, we will. But before that. Noelle," called Sekke and looked towards the silver-haired royal.
"What?"
"Is this the devil you wanted to defeat? The one that..." asked Sekke.
"Yes!!! She is the one who killed my mom," said Noelle in anger.
Sekke nodded and closed his eyes, and started contemplating.
"Vanica, was it?" called Sekke.
"Yes!!! Shall we start?!"
"There is a change of plan....You will fight the Noelle, the Dark-Lord disciple, first," replied Sekke.
"EH? WHY??? SHE IS SO BORING TO FIGHT!!!!" whined Vanica.
"...Don't ever call me the Dark-Lord disciple," replied Noelle, but still looked at Vanica in wariness. It was true that she wanted to kill the devil host on her own, but she was not sure that she could with her strength.
"My disciple needs training, and you will be a perfect test for her," replied Sekke and walked towards Noelle.
"And I promise that she won't bore you....I would like to see if she dares to show a boring display...." muttered Sekke coldly.
"Um...We are on the same side, right?" asked Noelle, feeling a bit scared.
"That depends....have you progressed in your training?" asked Sekke with a 'smile'.
"I have...Though I have not mastered it yet," replied Noelle, hoping that Sekke would spare her.
"Good, then you will surpass your limits, right here, right now!" declared Sekke.
All hope shattered as Noelle despaired at Sekke's word.
"Lord Sekke, maybe it might be too much for Noelle..." said Lolopechka, trying to help Noelle.
The rest of the girls said the same thing; the devil and the devil's host were far stronger than Noelle. They saw that in the fight just now.
"...Who are you all to decide that my disciple can't do something? I haven't heard her once say that she can't do it. So, why are you all already giving up on her?" asked Sekke as he looked at the rest of the girls.
Noelle looked at Sekke in surprise and blinked. She thought to herself and tried to remember, and indeed, she had not even once said this fight might be impossible for her.
"She is the Dark-Lord disciple!!! If she hasn't given up, then I sure as hell am not giving up on her!!!" declared Sekke and grabbed Noelle's head.
"I raised this girl from the ground up. I know that she can do it," declared Sekke and gave a firm pat on Noelle's head.
"Tell me, Noelle. Can you do it or not? No pressure. I will just make fun of you for the rest of your life, but that's it. If you want to give up, just say the word?" asked Sekke with a smirk on his face.
Noelle looked at Sekke.
He was the first person who didn't give up on her. He didn't give up on her when she was weak and complained, and continued to help and guide her even after she got stronger. He was there to scold her when she slacked off and praise her when she achieved something.
"Make fun of me for the rest of my life.....LIKE HELL I WILL ACCEPT THAT!!!! I AM A ROYAL, YOU KNOW!!!! MEGICULA, I WILL FACE YOU AND BRING YOU DOWN!!!!" yelled Noelle with a determined look on her face and pointed her wand at Vanica and Megicula.
"That was boring....anyway, if I kill her, then I can fight the Dark Lord, right? Come here and get it over with," said Vanica dismissively.
"Go ahead and make me proud. If you lose badly, you will suffer. If you die, I will bring you back to life and kill you. Go ahead and do your best. No pressure," cheered Sekke.
"That's a lot of pressure!!!!!" yelled Noelle.
"Shoo Shoo, your opponent is waiting," gestured Sekke.
Noelle nodded as her grimoire started flipping.
[Water Creation Magic: Valkyrie Dress]
Her water armour formed over her body as she launched at Vanica.
Sekke smiled proudly before he looked back at the others.
"What are you guys doing here. This master and disciple are more than enough for her. Go and save the citizens."
All of them nodded and rushed out to save the heart kingdom.
[Sun Spirit Magic: Daybreak Mantle]
A glowing mantle of sunlight appeared on Secre, Anna, Mimosa, Lolopechka, and Noelle.
All of them looked at the glowing mantles in astonishment.
"I am not doubting you guys, just being cautious. The spell will drastically increase durability, mana regeneration, and resistance to attacks," replied Sekke.
They nodded with a confident smile and ran away from the area. Noelle smiled as well and started attacking.
"Hey!!! It's cheating if you help her fight?!" protested Vanica.
"...You literally have a devil assisting you in the fight," replied Sekke flatly.
"Oh....I guess that's true!!! Come at me and die!!!" yelled Vanica as blood gathered around her arms.
Noelle glared at Vanica.
[Blood Magic: Herd of Red Beasts] + [Curse Warding Magic: Curse of Untapped Might]
Several beastly creatures made of blood appeared mid-air, along with strange, cursed markings on their bodies.
Noelle's eyes narrowed at the side of the horde of giant beasts in front of her.
Mana method arrays started arranging around her water lance.
[True Water Creation Magic: Giga Drill Lance Break]
Her water lance got huge, and a torrent of rapidly spinning water got even faster.
"That's my disciple, for you," muttered Sekke in admiration, seeing his disciple taking inspiration from his spell.
The lance drilled through the horde of beasts effortlessly, and she immediately appeared in front of Vanica.
Vanica smiled in delight at the sight of Noelle's power.
"Woah!!! If you had this much power before, you should have shown it to me earlier, Dark-Lord disciple-chan!!!!" exclaimed Vanica in excitement.
Mana gathered in Vanica's hands as a murky red magic appeared in them.
[Blood Magic: Impure Blood Blast]
A murky red blast of mana launched towards Noelle.
"Don't!!! Call me that!!!" yelled Noelle as she intercepted the blast with her drill lance.
[True Water Magic: Piercing Ocean Blade]
A highly pressurised water jet blasted forward from the tip of the drill and clashed with the blood magic attack.
The clash caused an explosion that sent both Noelle and Vanica flying away.
Noelle's lance got back to normal size as she looked warily at Vanica.
Vanica, on the other hand, was totally delighted by the fight.
"Good Dark-Lord Disple!!!! Let's fight more!!!!" yelled Vanica as a large amount of blood magic gathered above her.
"I told you!!! Don't call me that!!! I am Noelle Silva, the proud royal of the Clover Kingdom!!!" yelled Noelle.
"Name doesn't matter!!! Fight!!!" yelled Vanica as a cloud of blood Magic appeared around them.
[Blood Magic: Corrosive Blood Rain]
A drop of blood rain fell on Noelle, and she immediately winced in pain as a sizzling sound came from the place where the drop touched.
[True Water Creating Magic: Sea Dragon's Nest]
A protective dome of water appeared around her, protecting her from the blood rain.
However, Vanica's smirk never vanished from her face.
Sekke, who was watching from the sidelines, was not getting drenched by the rain; the water drops were intentionally avoiding him and falling away from him.
Sekke's eyes narrowed as he noticed the water dome starting to turn red.
Noelle noticed the same. Her water magic was slowly getting contaminated by the corrosive blood.
"What will you do now? Wait inside till your barrier changes into my blood? I will melt you in my blood then. Or will you come out and fight me? You will still get hit by my blood rain slowly, but it will hurt a lot. What will you do, Dark-Lord disciple?" asked Vanica with a menacing grin.
Noelle assessed the situation and looked around. At the current rate, her barrier will be entirely contaminated with the corrosive blood in a couple of minutes.
A frown appeared on her face.
She could go out and fight, but if she cannot defeat Vanica in time, then she will be the one to suffer from the rain and will be defeated.
Staying inside was also not an option since Vanica told her that she would drown her in corrosive blood once her barrier was filled with her blood magic.
She gulped and looked towards Sekke, who, as promised, was simply watching the fight.
She wanted to ask for help, but stopped. If she asked for help now, when Sekke gave her a chance to avenge her mother, then what would be of her pride? She was Sekke's disciple, and there was no way she was going to lower her pride just because the situation turned slightly unfavourable for her.
"Sekke!!!!" yelled Noelle with determination.
"What? Want me to help you?" asked Sekke with a smirk.
"Help? No way!!! Just watch me. Watch me surpass my limits, right here, right now!!!!" yelled Noelle with a huge smile on her face.
She closed her eyes in concentration.
The world around her started to get silenced. Her focus was solely on the mana in and around her.
Vanica waited for Noelle to do what she was trying. She wanted to have more fun.
"Vanica. Finish her. The longer we waste time on such trash, the harder it will be to fight that man," said Megicula.
"Eh? But Dark-Lord disciple-chan is starting to get fun now. Let's wait a bit. A little less mana won't affect the fight much!" replied Vanica.
Megicula was about to say something more, but suddenly, they felt the mana around them tremble.
The blood clouds above them started shaking uncontrollably.
The corrosive downpour started to slow down, and a moment later, the blood clouds started to melt in pure water that formed around them.
[Mana Zone]
Muttered Noelle in a calm tone, but somehow her voice seemed to resonate in the surroundings.
The area around her started to moisten as droplets of water started to appear everywhere.
[Mana Zone: Unlimited Ocean Works: Dragon's Den]
Giant Water dragons made of a highly dangerous vortex started to appear all around them.
*ROAR*
All water dragons roared simultaneously and launched at Vanica from all directions.
"Ama-" was all Vanica could say before one of the water dragons tore through one of her legs and some part of her abdomen.
Blood dripped from the torn area as Vanica looked at herself with a bit of shock.
"You got so strong!!! Yes!!! That's it!!! Just like that!!!! Let's make each other stronger and have an even more amazing battle next time!!!" yelled Vanica in excitement.
Noelle looked at Vanica with a cold expression on her face.
"There will not be a next time."
The rest of the dragons also launched at Vanica, ready to tear through her body once again.
Vanica looked at Noelle in shock, feeling betrayed. How could she not want to fight the next time?
Suddenly, half of Vanica's body turned into that of a devil.
"You are getting arrogant, little girl," came Megicuyla's voice, who took over Vanica's body.
[Blood Magic: Red Beastification] + [Curse-Warding Magic: Curse of Untapped Might]
Murky Blood wrapped around her body, and a transformed into a beastly visage made of blood. Curse-like marking also appeared on the beast's body.
Megicula looked at the incoming dragons and moved to dodge their attacks; however, the dragons started following her.
Seeing that Megicula cursed and flew away, trying to get out of the [Mana Zone].
The moment she came close to the edge of [Mana Zone], a dragon's head popped out of the edge.
"Going somewhere?" asked Noelle with a smirk.
The dragon roared out loud, and 10 more popped out of the edge.
Megicula's eyes widened, and she looked back, dragons, she looked forward, even more dragons.
"YOU BR-" yelled Megicula before being engulfed by all the dragons.
The dragons broke through the beastly blood armour around Megicula's body.
Her body, trapped in the violent vortex inside the dragon, was being torn apart.
Megicula tried to scream in pain, but because of the water around her, she couldn't.
Water started filling her lungs, and fatal wounds appeared on her body.
Sekke looked at the attack and fell silent.
Maybe his disciple was a bit too violent.
The attack continued for a while before finally coming to a stop.
Noelle's breathing got heavy. Even with Sekke's support spell, the attack drained a lot out of her.
She looked at Vanica's body, or whatever was left of it, falling lifelessly in the water below them.
The body slowly sank to the depth of the water, seeing which, a faint smile appeared on Noelle's lips.
Her body lost power, and she too started falling.
Lucky for her, Seeke caught her mid-air.
"Excellent performance, my dear, Dark-Lord disciple. And [True Water Creation Magic: Giga Drill Lance Break] and [Mana Zone: Unlimited Ocean Works: Dragon's Den]. Looks like you took some inspiration from someone..." asked Sekke with a smirk.
"Shut up.....I did it, Sekke. I avenged my mom..." muttered Noelle with a satisfied smile on her face.
Sekke smiled and patted her head.
Noelle blinked in surprise before she averted her eyes.
A faint blush appeared on her face.
"...Thank you for giving me a chance....for everything," murmured Noelle.
"You are welcome. Anything for my disciple's growth," replied Sekke with a smile.
The two soon got back on the land, and Noelle immediately lay on the ground.
"Tired after one use? You need to train more. Well, we now have some time to do so. Two of these devil hosts have been dealt with. It will take some time for the rest of them to gather their strength," said Sekke.
"Two?" asked Noelle.
"Before coming here, I dealt with some Dante guy who attacked our HQ," replied Sekke.
"The base was attacked? Is everyone alright?" asked Noelle in worry.
"Don't worry. The base was wrecked, but the rest of them didn't sustain any major damage," replied Sekke.
"So, Lucifero was dealt with? Looks like we underestimamted the human a bit too much."
Hearing the familiar voice, Sekke and Noelle looked towards the source of the voice and saw the torn body of Vanic being covered entirely in darkness, and Megicula's head sticking out of her shoulder.
"We will need to hasten our preparations," said Megicula as multiple cursed markings appeared around her body.
Sekke appeared in front of the devil and the devil's host, ready to slice them with Extase.
[Blood Magic: Blood Marionette]
Sekke's hand came to a halt.
Sekke snorted and released a bit of mana from his body, breaking free from the control.
"Like hell you can stop me!!!" yelled Sekke.
But in the moment he was stopped, Megicula's body erupted into a cocoon of darkness.
[Curse Warding Magic: Vanishing Cursed Mark]
The cocoon, along with the devil and her devil's host, vanished from his sight.
"...Did that bit*h just use Flying Thunder God on me?" asked Sekke in disbelief.
Noelle and Sekke blinked in surprise at the spot where Megicula was.
""F*cking cockroach devils!!!!"" cursed the master and disciple in unison.