Chapter 221

“Now, how shall I crush you?”
I held up the Deepsea Dragon Sword.

“You’re in my way.”

The celestial being took one look at me and then turned away with disinterest.
What an incredibly insolent attitude.

And then a magic circle appeared below his feet.

The magic circle was used to build barriers.
When I looked closer, I saw that he was also carrying a small box.

I suppose that was required when making the barrier… Now that I thought about it, they had been carrying something similar the last time.

I’d be able to get the upper hand if I could take it from him, but that wouldn’t be easy.

I would just take it after I beat him.
In the first place, I knew how they fought now.

They had great defensive power, and attacks that seemed to ignore my own defenses.
Yes, the residents of the Celestial World were very dangerous.

If I didn’t have mana coursing through my body, my attacks wouldn’t reach them, while their attacks would go through my defenses and deal damage.

And if that happened, the fight would end in a flash.
However, I wasn’t scared, now that I knew their secret.

I imbued the sword with plenty of mana. My body was already enveloped in it.

“Can you block this?”
The enemy was not carrying a weapon.
In that case, I didn’t need to swing too wide.

As the enemy focused on the magic circle, I thrust forward at close range.

—Kiiiin.

“What!?”
It bounced off. The attack had been blocked.

This was the Deepsea Dragon Sword with mana.
Now that I had evolved, I was able to imbue it with much more mana than before.

And it was the thrust that my master taught me.
That’s what he blocked.

As I stood there in shock, the magic circle started to glow brighter.
It would be finished soon.

I guess that his current strength was that of a Lesser Demon King.
He was clearly very strong. However, since he was in the Demon World, his strength was only at fifty percent at most.

I had been confident that I had a good chance. I had been so sure that I wasn’t wrong.

“Tsk!
I slashed down from above, and then returned with an upwards swing.
But they all bounced off before hitting the enemy’s body.
There was an invisible layer that protected him.

“What’s going on!?”
It was impossible. I felt as if I was dreaming.

He had ignored me all of this time, but now he suddenly turned to face me.

“You’re in my way.”
The same expression. The same words.

“Eat shit.”
I tightened my grip on the hilt and thrust at his neck.

I put all of my power into the attack.
I even had a vision of the blade sliding into his neck.

But there was a dull ring, and the attack bounced off.

“Gah!?”

Instead, his hand thrust out like a sword, and bore into my stomach.
“What the hell!? The mana should have guarded me.”

When fighting against residents of the Celestial World, you had to strengthen your body with mana.
I had been sure to do it.

There was no way that his attack should be able to get through my defenses so easily.

“As I thought. I don’t need it.”
“Need what?”

“Do you think yourself strong? A magic stone of that level is worthless to me.”
The celestial being lost interest in me once again, and his eyes turned back to the magic circle.

It was already completed now, and I could see an unfamiliar energy rising from it.
It was likely holy power that had been converted into some kind of magic energy.

He was going to create a zone that would repel mana and be filled with holy power.
If I allowed him to do it, I’ll have a severe disadvantage when fighting within the barrier.

“You’re really pissing me off.”

First they killed my men, and now they have no interest in me.
How egoistic could you be?

I wanted to kill him so bad.
And so while it might have been a little early, I decided to use my special move.

My stomach was still bleeding. But since I had evolved, I felt that it wouldn’t be too bad.
I could have it treated later. Killing him was top priority.
No…wait a minute.

“You said that you’re not interested in my magic stone… So you’re not part of the main party.”
I see. Yes.
I was starting to understand.

Their target was Tralzard’s magic stone. There was no doubt about it.
I had been right about that.

And I knew what their method would be.
This holy barrier they were creating. This would be the key.

There were three including him… The group that I had assumed was the main party. But I was wrong.
Their role was just to make the barrier.

It wasn’t to kill enemies or to gather magic stones.
They were just supposed to create and maintain the barrier.

So the real enemy would likely come once they filled it with holy power.
Someone who could defeat even Demon King Tralzard.

“…I see.”
I tensed my stomach. If that was the case, I had to heal as soon as possible.

And so I used my mana towards healing my wounds.

The effect was immediately evident, but Ogres were already tough when it came to injury.
This was the first time that I’ve been injured since evolving, but I could already tell that I was healing faster than before.

The bleeding had already stopped.
I was fully prepared.

And so was the enemy, apparently.
The light from the magic barrier rose high up into the sky, and the area around him became thick with holy power.

In the Demon World, it took a lot more energy than usual to unleash holy power.
And only those with holy power could create holy power.

It was impossible to get holy power from magic stones. After all, the only thing that was inside of magic stones was mana.

“…Damn it. How many lives were lost just to make this?”
But the residents of the Celestial World did not care about the cost of their experiments.

How many had to offer their holy power in order to make this invasion possible?
I doubted any of them were still alive.

The pillar of holy power stretched high into the air until it looked like it would reach the clouds. And then it started to harden.
The light now looked like a marble pillar. I had never seen anything like it. The holy power had materialized.

“…So this is a barrier of holy power.”
It was my first time seeing it from the outside.

It was like a wall of light had appeared in front of my eyes.
Last time I had been trapped inside, and couldn’t see.

But now, I had no idea what was happening inside.
After all, it was surrounded by a wall of light.

By now, the main party had probably arrived from the Celestial World.

The people that would kill the Demon King.
As for the person who had made the barrier, he was completely hidden by the pillar of light.
The pillar that had materialized.

“So he’s going to use his own body in order to maintain it.”
And as long as the pillar was there, the barrier would be maintained. Interesting.

Regardless, the battle between them and the Demon King would start soon.
I didn’t know what was happening in there, but when it came to this struggle between mana and holy power, the odds were probably fifty-fifty.
No, perhaps mana was at a disadvantage.

“Well then. I better break down this barrier.”
I had allowed him to create it without attacking.
So surely I should be allowed to do it now.

For some reason, I had always found it enjoyable to break things.
And so I laughed defiantly.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi