"Golden magic, great sword multiples."
Several golden swords were sent toward Enrico, who moved out of their path.
'This is going to be problematic.'
He looked at the tiger girl, who was trembling with anticipation, but for some reason, she didn't move to fight. From what he knew of her in the story, she wasn't the type to wait for her prey to be hunted by others—unless it was already someone else's prey.
'Elowyn must have told her to interfere only if I'm close to being defeated.'
[So she saw that someone was already hunting you and decided to wait?]
"Exactly."
Using his stored momentum, he appeared behind Elowyn without her noticing. Kicking her in the back, he sent her crashing into the wall ahead, causing destruction. Deymon appeared above him with a demented smile—for him, this was a moment not to be missed.
"He's all yours, Kai."
After receiving a kick that sent him flying toward a hole, Deymon looked toward the entrance, where Kai stood in front with his sword ready for combat. Several black spheres appeared around Deymon, which he sent toward Kai. Taking a defensive stance, Kai deflected all the attacks with his sword. Veins of irritation appeared on Deymon's face as he prepared a larger attack.
"You've improved."
"Of course I have—if I didn't, how could I get my revenge?"
"Red Corruption Sphere!"
"Crescent Slash!"
The sphere turned red as it was launched toward Kai, but Kai's slash cut through the attack and went straight for Deymon, who was forced to dodge. If he wanted to go after Enrico, he had to finish off his opponent quickly.
Placing his hand on the ground, Deymon began to corrupt it, making the floor collapse around Kai. Jumping between the pieces that weren't yet corrupted, Kai closed in on him at a speed too great to dodge.
"Aahh!"
Taking a cut, Deymon took the opportunity to touch Kai's arm, leaving a mark upon contact. Realizing this, Kai tried to remove it but couldn't, even considering cutting away a piece of his skin.
"You'd better be careful—this magic is already inside your body."
"And what does it do?"
"As if I'd tell you."
Noticing his arm starting to turn black, Kai knew he had to end the fight quickly. Deymon distanced himself, trying to buy as much time as possible to gain the upper hand. This was a magic that drained vitality and would deteriorate Kai's body, so he needed to stall.
'As long as he doesn't die, it's fine—even if he can't lift a sword again for the rest of his life.'
Deymon wore a look of disdain toward Kai. He couldn't allow a subordinate of the person he hated to defeat him. Opening his hand, several black spheres appeared and were sent toward Kai, who simply took a low stance with his sword behind him.
"I'll give it a try..."
Seeing the attack approaching, Kai took a deep breath. He was about to test his magic in battle for the first time and planned to use his sword for it. Tightening his grip on the sword, he gathered energy and then advanced with a slash.
"Ocean Magic: Rising Tide!"
From his sword burst a dense wave of water that advanced like a wall. Blocking the attacks, he continued toward Deymon, who was surprised by the magnitude of the strike.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Deymon emerged from the attack with half his body bleeding and charged forward. How had that boy evolved so much? And if that was the case, at what level was Enrico now? The thought infuriated him. Creating two dark spheres that turned red, he launched them at Kai, who prepared another slash.
"Crescent Slash!"
The attacks were nullified by the magic-canceling power of the sword and his hero magic. Without taking his eyes off his opponent, Kai prepared another ocean spell.
"Dragging Current!"
A fast flow of water surged along the ground, pulling Deymon closer as if he were being dragged to the ocean floor. Trying to escape, he attempted to corrupt the water—which worked, freeing his foot—but he still received a Crescent Slash that left a deep wound in his shoulder.
In anger, he used his most powerful spell: a sphere the size of a small house expanded and condensed. He no longer cared if his opponent died; he would make Kai pay.
"This attack is way too slow."
Kai watched the attack approach. He could dodge it, though there was one problem—his right arm was blackened, and he could no longer hold his sword with it. Waiting until the last second, he vanished, channeling magic into his legs to boost his speed.
"Where—?"
"For this technique, I took inspiration from Enrico."
Behind him, Kai appeared and unleashed another Rising Tide, which, upon hitting, caused Deymon to start fading into the air—meaning he had been eliminated.
"How? I lost... to a mere subordinate?"
As Deymon vanished completely, Kai noticed his arm was still black but had stopped spreading further. Fortunately, it wasn't something Deymon could make permanent—though maybe in the future he could. And seeing the pure hatred in Deymon's eyes toward Enrico could prove dangerous.
"Should I just eliminate him when I get the chance?"
Kai immediately realized what he had said and put a hand to his head. He had never thought that way about a human; at most, he only wanted to defeat those he disliked—like Enrico at first. Shaking his head, he decided it would be better to tell Enrico about this technique. Kai also noticed that his arm seemed to be recovering with a faint light, though it wasn't from his ocean magic—maybe because Deymon had been knocked out.
"What is this?"
Back where the battle was still raging, Grark smiled while swinging his axe at Enrico.
"As always, you're surprisingly superhuman."
"You added 'super'? Come on, you're going to make me blush."
"Are you seriously chatting when you're enemies?"
Above them, Elowyn descended, sending golden swords at Enrico, who rolled to the ground to dodge. Taking a stance with both arms above his waist, two Zero Impacts struck the two opponents in front of him, while from behind, Narisse—with a purple hand—tried to grab Enrico.
'I can't let him touch the princess.'
"Sorry, but I'm not your opponent."
Hearing Enrico's words and realizing she wouldn't be able to hit him, Narisse tried to retreat—but someone grabbed her hand and hurled her into the wall.
"I can't beat the princess right now, but I can start my revenge for you."
Getting up, Narisse saw Seraphina standing in front of her with a confident smile on her face.