Knowing the future didn't mean one could avoid it.
Take the future-seeing Schlacht's fight against the equally future-seeing Hero of the South, for instance. There was only one Hero of the South — yet Schlacht had to call upon every one of the Seven Sages of Destruction, and even then it cost him dearly: not only did he pay a price himself, but three of the Seven Sages of Destruction fell as well, just to drive the Hero away.
All it took was strength overwhelming enough.
The clash seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
By the time Lernen and Hafleet caught up with what had happened, it was already over.
Nanoda had thrust out a single strike — her broken horn turned to a blade-edge, slashing through the collar of Schlacht's cloak and tearing apart that aura of mysterious, unshakeable composure.
Paradox Magic: Motion and Stillness.
But before Nanoda had even activated her Paradox Magic, Schlacht had already made his move.
"I've seen thousands of possible futures of attack — and within them, the one single blind spot that covers them all!"
No sooner had he spoken than Schlacht's pupils contracted. At this distance, with Nanoda already closing in, there was no evasion left in any future his eyes could show him!
"Rooaarrgh!"
A blast of dragon's breath plunged down from the sky without warning, breaking off Nanoda's pursuit.
Her broken horn swept up toward the sky. Mana compressed and burst outward as Severance Magic lashed out in an instant — a massive arc of light surged upward along the path of the dragon's breath, slicing clean through the column of red flame that had been about to crash down on Nanoda.
"Didn't expect it to be her!"
Astride his Imperial Prison Dragon, Zaha felt an inexplicable stab of fear. This dragon — tamed only recently — might well meet its end right here.
"Hah!"
Another Demon flashed out from behind Schlacht.
Briz, hefting his bronze hammer, brought it crashing down at Nanoda.
A sharp sting shot through the web of his hand, and he realized with shock — the slender arm blocking him, wielding nothing but that broken horn, held more strength than his own!
"Fall back, now." Retreating even as he spoke, Schlacht called out the warning before Nanoda could unleash her spell.
Because casting Severance Magic at the same time as her Paradox Magic of Motion and Stillness slowed the spell's spread, Nanoda — her next move already read by Schlacht's foresight — came up just a fraction too slow. The strike meant to be lethal for Briz ended up only tearing away his bronze hammer, along with two of his fingers.
Briz let out a muffled grunt and threw himself backward faster still, clearing the edge of that lethal zone.
Just as Nanoda moved to press her advantage, another blast of dragon's breath came falling from above!
Nanoda flashed backward, and the distance she'd just closed opened right back up.
The Demon Race were generally terrible at working together — but under the command of Schlacht's foresight, these two capable Demon Generals were managing surprisingly well.
The Demon Race's own strategist, their Commander — the title wasn't for nothing. That man had actually managed to chart out, amid the chaos of joint Demon combat, the one future where the optimal attack path came together.
"A bit annoying." Nanoda was still weighing whether to draw in the surrounding Mana and unleash something big — but her soul, in its current state, might not be able to bear the strain.
Hafleet was frozen stiff with shock. He'd been standing practically a hair's breadth from Nanoda when he'd mouthed off like that — if she hadn't held back, his head would probably be lying on the ground right now, right alongside Schlacht's cloak and Briz's severed fingers.
"Hey! Hafleet! What are you gawking at?! Get over here and help Lord Schlacht already!"
Even with Schlacht directing the fight, Briz had still been beaten back and wounded with ease. Zaha, circling overhead on his Imperial Prison Dragon, had lost his usual composure and found himself strangely on edge.
The moment the words left Briz's mouth, Nanoda quietly turned part of her attention toward Hafleet behind her.
A shudder ran through Hafleet's entire body.
He'd been perfectly content just watching the show — how had he ended up dragged into it?
Who should he help — Lord Schlacht, who had promised him a future, or this terrifying calamity of a woman who filled him with genuine, bone-deep dread?
The answer went without saying.
Hafleet let his Mana surge outward. Whatever else, he was still a Demon General — his Mana volume fell only slightly short of veteran Generals like the Keeper and Bronze. His eyes stayed locked on the two facing off before him.
Schlacht and Briz, having retreated to a safe distance, came to a halt.
Nanoda didn't move either.
The Demon General known as Hafleet of the Ashes spread his four arms wide, and four balls of flame that seemed like they'd never go out roared to blazing life in his hands!
Then he spun around abruptly, leveling a fierce, cold glare at the Human standing off to the side, watching the fight just as they were — Lernen!
"Hey! You — old man over there! Yeah, you! I won't let you get in the way of their fight! Come duel me!"
"..."
Lernen raised an eyebrow. This was a bit beyond what he'd expected. He'd originally planned to hold off acting until the outcome was clear — but now this red Demon who'd come alongside Nanoda had set his sights on him, and this Demon, it seemed, had once belonged to the Omniscient One's camp.
"Well, there's no helping it, then."
Lernen gripped his staff in both hands and settled into a combat stance.
The Mana he'd been holding back burst free in an instant! Behind those aged but steady eyes seemed to lurk a truly immense power.
Under Lernen's glare, Hafleet suddenly felt something was very wrong.
This old Human... he's actually strong?
Wasn't it supposed to be that as Humans aged, their physical fitness and mental sharpness went into steep decline — and even the quality and volume of their Mana dropped off with them?
"Solitär, you lying Demon!"
The current Chief First-Class Mage of the Continental Magic Association, Lernen!
Without so much as a moment's hesitation, a black beam of magic charged with destructive power tore out.
Hafleet hurriedly flung the fireball in his hand, wild and unaimed.
The unquenchable flame met the spell like a moth flying into a flame, and vanished on the spot!
Hafleet, his physical abilities far beyond any ordinary being's, threw himself into a hasty roll, the beam grazing past his back.
Lernen gave him barely a breath's pause, aiming his staff again and firing another spell straight at Hafleet as he tumbled across the ground.
"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"
Hafleet's tumbling turned out to be unexpectedly practiced, impossibly fast.
So much so that Lernen found himself with the strange impression he was watching some well-trained, large canine rolling about.
The spell missed, kicking up a spray of dirt and mud.
Lernen, unhurried, fired off several more spells in quick succession.
"Damn old man!"
Hafleet, tumbling the whole way, dodged every single attack as if by miracle, before springing up onto his feet in one fluid motion — like some kind of acrobat.
At that moment, a fireball began swelling to life between his two hands, raised high above his head.
Lernen wasn't about to give him the chance to finish charging — another devastating black beam of light tore out.
"I've already seen through it! A straight-line trajectory like that won't touch me again — if you want to hit me, you'll need to use a whip!"
Under Lernen's calculating gaze, Hafleet stamped one foot down hard and pulled off a perfect sidestep, slipping clean past the devastating strike. Several meters behind him, a tree was blasted straight through by the black light and slowly toppled over.
"Huh? Why did I just say to hit me with a whip?"
Without another thought, the fireball swelling in Hafleet's hands had already grown to the size of a small cottage — he hurled it straight down at Lernen!
"Burn, you damn old man!"
____
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