Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 118

The Legion Commander of Lust, Asmodeus.

She was the one who could manipulate people's desires at will, making instinct take precedence over reason.

Her trickiness was beyond words.

If exposed to Asmodeus' crimson demonic energy, one's mind would immediately start to break down, making it impossible to make rational judgments within a short time.

Therefore, she was undoubtedly the top priority target, the one who had to be eliminated faster than anyone else before our minds were damaged.

Of course, she, whose specialty was mental attacks, had no defensive abilities like barriers.

That meant...

Shimmer!

'That black barrier... is that Dercion?'

Judging from the faint mix of mana, it seemed likely.

In the brief moment when all our attacks were launched, Dercion must have used his mana to deploy a barrier and protect Valefor with it.

Of course, it would have required a considerable amount of mana, but it was entirely possible if Dercion had been channeling his mana since before crossing the rift.

There was no need to find it strange.

That's why my attention was currently focused elsewhere.

'...Why is he in that state?'

It was Dercion's state.

Anyone could see that his aura was completely different from before.

His eyes were lifeless and unfocused, his mouth slightly agape, and drool was trickling down his chin.

It was as if a screw had come loose in his head.

He was always out of his mind, but now he seemed completely insane.

Above all,

Ching— Bang!

"...!!"

The power of Dercion's magic had increased even further than before.

Even I failed to notice his attack for a moment.

Elbert, who had reached me in an instant, deflected Dercion's black beam.

"Ugh...!"

And with a groan, he bent one knee.

He hadn't been directly hit by the beam, but he was still injured.

Just deflecting that beam with his sword seemed to have put a considerable strain on his body.

"Are you alright?"

"...I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

"...Yes, thanks to you. Thank you for helping me."

"I'm glad. Protecting your juniors is also part of a commander's role."

Juniors?

I didn't understand what he meant, but I didn't ask him about it.

Now wasn't the time to be chit-chatting.

No, to be precise, it was a very dangerous situation.

'...Two, no, three?'

I didn't know what had happened in that short time, but Dercion's level had risen tremendously.

To the point where even he had to be treated as a Legion Commander.

That meant there were three Legion Commander-level enemies we had to face.

Valefor, Asmodeus, and Dercion.

'...This is crazy.'

No matter how many strong forces we had on our side, I honestly couldn't even begin to imagine how things would turn out.

Could we really defeat those guys?

No, in the first place, why were three Legion Commanders appearing on the third day?

Unanswerable questions kept popping up in my mind.

"Phew, calm down."

I emptied my mind and tried to calm my confused heart.

My thoughts were meaningless anyway.

Things had already happened, and there was no other way but to overcome this.

Somehow, we would win.

For now, I just had to focus on that.

"Dean."

[...Yes, speak.]

Asion Gale said with a frown.

His wound was still stained black.

Sizzle.

Like Elbert, Asion Gale was also injured.

Whether he was blocking the demonic energy with mana or something, the black wound wasn't getting any bigger, but he still didn't look well.

But.

"...Could you possibly handle Valefor alone?"

I had no choice but to ask this favor.

There was no other way.

Only if Asion Gale, the strongest among us, took on Valefor one-on-one, would we have a chance of winning.

Perhaps he knew this too.

[That's a given. I've already set my eyes on that damn bull.]

He spoke in a solemn voice, as if he didn't mind at all.

He was probably trying to lessen our burden.

Thud!

Asion Gale, who had suddenly jumped forward, glanced back.

[Don't even think about interfering.]

And then.

Woong— Bang!

The mana that had been gathering around him instantly spread out, pushing us and the demons away, creating a circular arena.

Only Asion Gale and Valefor remained inside.

[Asion Field].

His colosseum was created once again.

[Come! You damn bull! Let's settle this!]

Growl!

[Humaaaan...!]

Moo—!

The battle between the lion and the bull began immediately.

I watched the fight for a moment, then quickly turned around.

"Ha, Dean..."

"Doing such a thing for us..."

Behind me, those who had connections with Asion Gale were watching the field with worried eyes.

Clap!

I clapped my hands once to get their attention.

"Focus."

Everyone's attention turned to me.

I nodded once with a serious expression and said,

"The Dean will win."

Then.

"...Well, I suppose so."

"I wasn't really expecting him to lose, student Yuhan."

Their reactions were different from what I expected.

They looked at me with puzzled expressions, as if wondering why I was stating the obvious.

"...Weren't you worried?"

When I asked them that,

"Of course we're worried. But that's a separate issue. You may not know this, but honestly, it's not easy for us to imagine the Dean losing."

The cone-hatted elder tilted his hat slightly and continued,

"You'll probably realize it soon enough."

His face held not a shred of doubt.

It was an unexpected reaction, but for some reason, hearing those words made me feel a little more at ease.

'...So, these people too...'

They weren't thinking of losing.

That's what I thought.

Then the conversation would be much easier.

I didn't waste any more time and quickly explained the plan.

"Kayla, Thompson, Roan, and I will face Dercion. The rest of you, please take on Asmodeus."

The plan was simple.

Me, Kayla, Thompson, and Roan.

The four of us, whose main strength was magic, would face Dercion, while the others would face Asmodeus, who was a relatively tricky opponent with her mental attacks.

This was the best possible distribution of forces.

"If one side finishes first, let's immediately provide support."

"We have no problem with that, but... are you sure you'll be okay? Just four students..."

"I think we'll be fine. We also..."

Just as I was about to continue,

Thump! Thump! Thump!...

My heart pounded, and I felt an intense demonic energy from behind.

I turned around to see a massive black beam heading straight for us.

Crackle!

Thud!

Having sensed the abnormality in my heart, I immediately reacted and pulled back...

The elders standing in the same spot chose to gather their mana and deploy a [Mana Barrier] instead of dodging.

Kaaaa-boooom!

The familiar black beam and the [Mana Barrier] created by the elders collided violently.

It was a beam filled with incredibly powerful demonic energy, but perhaps due to the 'Joint Magic Power Increase' effect of the domain,

The elders' barrier thankfully held firm and disappeared after fulfilling its role.

"Whew~ That was close."

"Attacking during a strategy discussion is a foul, isn't it? That old man has no manners."

"...Student Yuhan, I'm a bit disappointed. You just ran away to save yourself, didn't you?"

The elders wiped the sweat from their foreheads, seemingly terrified.

On the other hand, their relaxed tone contrasted with their earlier fear, demonstrating how strong they were.

Honestly.

'They blocked that?'

I was even a bit surprised.

At a glance, it was a beam fired with quite a bit of condensed demonic energy.

I thought even an elder wouldn't be able to escape unscathed...

"I just reacted instinctively. Haha..."

It was needlessly embarrassing.

Anyway.

"In any case, let's proceed as I said earlier."

"Alright. We'll take on Asmodeus as you suggested, but... please don't get hurt. Otherwise, we won't be able to face the Dean."

"Yes. Don't get hurt, student. Absolutely..."

These people were still worried about me.

"Don't worry. I don't want to get lectured either."

With that, I turned around.

Perhaps they had already been listening, but the people who would be with me were already gathered there.

Thompson and Roan.

"Phew, mr. first place . I'm so nervous."

"I never thought the day would come when we'd cooperate again."

"You mean you'll obediently follow along?"

"Well, I always follow the best course of action. Don't misunderstand, I'm moving according to my own judgment, not yours."

"...This bastard and I are fighting together? Is this right, Yuhan?"

Kayla grumbled, displeased to be on the same side as Roan.

And...

A man who seemed even more displeased than Kayla.

"...Yuhan, am I included in this too?"

It was Barundel.

"You didn't mention me... You didn't forget, did you?"

"Ah, no. It was so obvious that I didn't say it. Of course we have to be together."

Actually, I did forget, but I didn't bother mentioning it.

There was no need to accumulate bad karma.

I already had one stack; I couldn't increase it anymore, even if it killed me.

'Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Barundel would have joined this side eventually.'

Barundel was a melee damage dealer.

And there was nothing more detrimental to a melee damage dealer than mental attacks.

Unless they could self-heal their mind with an aura like a paladin.@@novelbin@@

Therefore, it was only right for Barundel to be with us.

Anyway, a temporary party was formed like this.

"Let's go."

I walked forward slowly, with them at my back.

Thud, thud, thud...

With each step forward, a chill ran down my spine, and Dercion's demonic energy grew stronger.

A faint trace of Baal's energy was mixed in with his demonic energy, and his eyes still lacked any focus or reason.

Gooooo!

Looking at Dercion, who was once again condensing demonic energy without moving, I said,

Even though he was someone I had a bad relationship with, seeing him like this left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Is that your end?"

Instead of answering, Dercion only made incomprehensible noises.

"Ugh—."

Dercion howled as if he had lost his voice.

Seeing that, I could be sure.

The inheritor of light and former Magic Tower Head of Aldeon, Dercion Pygma.

He was already dead.

That was just an empty shell disguised as Dercion.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]