"Save your strength. What could you possibly do, torn up all over like that?"
Lois held Timmy back before he could do something foolish. His eyes were fixed entirely on the two combatants before him.
Never mind the sheer shock of that child cutting through a Mana sword with everything she had.
He never would have guessed that the woman called Yuna had such strength — that she could actually trade blows evenly with that Great Demon.
"She's a disciple of our Acting Bishop, after all."
Schwenk, busy trying to heal Übel, looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Weren't you the one who wanted to run?"
The words dragged Lois's thoughts back to his own old enemy — that white-haired Demon.
"I'm starting to think we might actually win this."
"..."
Lois had nothing left to say to a man whose nerve was thick as a city wall.
Dust flew. The attacks touched off by the Mana-Scatter Magic burst out like buckshot — less lethal than Killing Magic, but spread across an enormous area, so that a single lapse would draw blood. Yuna had to throw up a wall of Defensive Magic taller than herself every single time, and it bled her Mana dry.
The instant her staff thrust out, Ordinary Offensive Magic loosed along its tip, and Solitär — who had meant to open the distance by taking flight — was forced instead to conjure a barrier wall and fall back.
The white light of the spell battered against the blue barrier and was worn steadily away, and the vivid scarlet spearpoint of her staff came hard on its heels.
"So your Defensive Magic no longer covers your whole body."
With a sharp crack, a fracture ran through the seemingly impregnable Defensive Magic.
For the first time, Solitär's face soured. She had squandered no small amount of Mana on that chase-game with the feeble Human warrior.
Now, pressed step by step by Yuna, she had lost her chance to open the gap.
Solitär had never dreamed Yuna would be stronger than before by such a margin — her close-quarters fighting was every bit the match of a first-rate warrior.
Caught in the double assault of magic and steel, with nearly half her Mana already spent, somehow she had the worse of it.
Closing in with Mana-Scatter Magic at the start had turned out to be the worst possible strategy.
"You're the first Human I've ever met like you."
Solitär, who had always toyed with Humans without a hitch, felt a sense of danger for the very first time.
One layer of Defensive Magic was breached; Solitär raised another. And just as she meant to unleash Mana-Scatter Magic once more, Yuna's staff sheared clean through the new Defensive Magic in an instant.
"A barrier like this — I've already seen exactly how to cut it."
Solitär's pupils narrowed a fraction. So the Human had analyzed and seen through her Defensive Magic in the thick of close combat.
How on earth had she managed it?
What the Great Demon did not know was that Yuna, who had spent the better part of thirty-odd years in the Continental Mages' Association, had not let a single day of her research slip.
What Yuna specialized in was offensive power carried to its very limit.
To make the most of Severance Magic — whose casting speed and burst force at close range both edged out Killing Magic — Yuna had studied Defensive Magic in depth: its principles, its spell formulae, its structure. Little by little, she had grown able to analyze Defensive Magic.
She couldn't dispel Defensive Magic outright, but she could now pair Severance Magic with her staff strikes to sever the very spell formula of a barrier at close range!
Solitär seemed to grasp roughly what was happening. She swept her hand again, and a fresh Defensive Magic barred the way once more.
This time Yuna failed to cut the formula; the spearpoint left only a red streak across the barrier wall.
"—!"
"Then I'll just tamper with it a little before I bring it out."
Solitär's smile turned confident. In the span of a moment she made a slight alteration to her original Defensive Magic — turning Yuna's earlier analysis into a key that no longer fit the lock.
Then she lifted a hand, and her defense switched swiftly into Mana-Scatter Magic.
Yuna had no choice but to break off her assault, bringing her staff crosswise to raise Defensive Magic.
"Impressive."
Watching the fight, Lois seemed to catch onto something, and shook his head in mild astonishment.
Once, old Wilhelm's finest magic had been Demon-Slaying Magic, reworked from Killing Magic, along with a Defensive Magic crafted specifically to guard against Killing Magic.
But magic was no dead thing; in battle it could be adjusted and reshaped endlessly to suit the moment — something especially pronounced in the modern medium-based magic.
"This is bad — Lord Yuna's been forced back."
Schwenk's earlier confidence vanished in a blink.
"So it really was too much to ask after all?"
That was a Great Demon who could outlive an ordinary person a dozen times over. Lois had already made up his mind to step in — his Mana had recovered most of the way, and with Demon-Slaying Magic he ought to be able to lend the woman a hand.
And just as Yuna looked up at Solitär, back in the air once more —
something broke.
A tremendous roar came from not far off, and a white curtain woven of shockwaves shot straight up into the clouds!
The battle on the other side seemed to have reached its verdict.
At that same moment, Solitär in the sky seemed to sense something, and a strange look crossed her face.
A blurred figure was streaking fast toward them.
"Retreat! Retreat, now!"
Red blood slid down from Grausam's head, drawing bars of uneven thickness across nearly half his face.
Behind him rolled a killing intent so thick it was nearly solid.
In that instant Solitär's expression went blank, and without the slightest hesitation she turned and flew off. She did not spare so much as a second glance for the Humans below.
"Hey!"
The sudden turn left Yuna — already readying her Flight Magic — swamped by confusion.
Solitär had been on the very verge of gaining the upper hand, and she'd just fled without a word?
Yuna wavered over whether to give chase, then in the end let it go. She couldn't leave the weakened Übel here alone.
With Solitär gone, Brother Miracle — the one fleeing through the air — was erased in midair, like a pattern painted on the night sky wiped away by an eraser.
A broken horn, arriving a touch too late, passed through the empty air, then turned back and returned to Nanoda's hand.
Her five senses came slowly back to her.
"I let him get away."
Nanoda, Mana pouring off her whole body in a torrent, spoke with a grim face.
With all her senses bewitched by an Illusion, a head-on fight would have been no trouble. But chasing on the wing — something she had no gift for — fell just short.
Only now did she notice several familiar strands of Mana down on the ground.
"Yuna?"
Nanoda dove, her never-quite-steady Flight Magic carrying her down to the ground and kicking up a great cloud of dust.
"Lord Nanoda!"
Relief washed over Yuna all at once; now she understood why Solitär had pulled back so quickly.
"Heavens, Acting Bishop, your timing couldn't have been better."
Schwenk fawned, while beside him the silent Lois was left with nothing to say.
"Hey! Timmy! Are you all right?"
Another voice shouted from not far off.
Rolwen, blade in hand, was searching for his vice-captain.
"Quite a lively night, isn't it."
Looking over the worn-out, weary crowd, Nanoda let out a long breath.
____
⚡ BONUS CHAPTER GOALS
✍️ 5 REVIEWS = +1 Bonus Chapter
💎 100 POWER STONES = +1 Bonus Chapter
🔥 P@TREON (Walnut-chan): Read +40 chapters ahead and get access to over 60 exclusive stories!
🔥 New history: Mushoku tensei: Speed Run to kill Hitogami — posted on The_Mikudayo