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I chanted.

It was powerful magic, but had the great flaw of a less than completely brief chant required to activate it.

I would be defenseless in the meantime, but I would survive.

I was confident in my physical abilities as well.

 

“The sigh of spirits, borne in shadows,

Come as freezing blades of wind, and bind the other!”

 

It was a blizzard spell.

 

I was able to use this spell due to my ability to dodge the enemies attacks, but it was also due to my subordinate.

 

Because Jeanne had finished dealing with the zombies on the ground and cut off the demon’s head, which she now launched mercilessly into the air.

The severed head had no ability to deal physical damage, but it was an effective method of greatly daunting a living demon.

In spite of their appearances, seeing one of their kind killed was a most terrible thing.

It shrieked and shuddered with a contorted expression.

I did not miss the opportunity presented. Finishing the spell, I gave the demon a taste of what blizzard magic was like.

 

Such pure and powerful magic used with precise chanting had created a blizzard that enveloped the demon in a flash. Its skin quickly went from black to white.

 

Still, it tried to escape, but the ability of my magic to pursue was hardly ordinary.

Its wings soon froze over as well, and the demon fell to the ground.

And just like that, it was encased in ice.

It was sealed.

Jeanne saw this and her voice rose with emotion.

 

“Demon Lord… You are the most powerful Sorcerer.”

 

The block of ice would not last forever, and would eventually melt. However, the very cells of the demon were destroyed, and it was wholly dead.

 

It was the perfect end to one who had attacked the dwarves and toyed with their lives.

 

If any of the dwarves had survived, they would likely be spitting on the demon’s grave right now.

But that was not to be.

 

We had fought the demons and the living corpses. Fought too much. Too boldly.

I had used magic more than once, and Jeanne had swung her sword so many times that she could have dug a hole in the ground.

The enemy would not let us go unchallenged.

I looked further ahead and saw that more zombies were coming towards us.

There were also about a dozen demons and a sorcerer who seemed to be leading them.

 

“Well, we are hopelessly outnumbered.”

 

With my magic and Jeanne’s sword, we would be a force to be reckoned with. However, I did not think that we could win against that number.

 

And so I decided to withdraw.

Jeanne did not look pleased with this decision.

 

“Demon Lord. Do you mean to run?”

 

“We are not running. This is a strategic withdrawal.”

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

“Then you must trust me. In that other world, there is a saying. Discretion is the better part of valor.”

 

“Very well. But how will we get away?”

 

“It’s simple. You turn around towards the direction you came…”

 

I paused.

Because I now saw that there was a horde of zombies in that direction as well.

Ashamedly, I had been too preoccupied in the fight to notice this.

I saw that Eve was being attacked, and so I burned the zombies away with a fireball, but this was not going to be effective for long.

There were too many of them.

It was a dangerous situation.

Even now, I could rush through them with brute force. But things were different with Jeanne and Eve here.

Perhaps I had really allowed myself to be checkmated.

 

It was as if we were the king, queen, and bishop, and around us were endless pawns.

 

Now, what should I do?

The proper action to take here, would be for me to part the sea of zombies with a road of blood, and allow the girls to escape.

Well, I felt that that was really my only option, but then salvation came from the most surprising place.

 

There was a small boulder to the side that I had not taken any notice of before, but it now opened, and from below, the face of a white-haired, elderly man appeared.

 

He spoke.

 

“I see now that you are enemies of Eligos.  And that you wield immense power. It would be a waste for you to die here. I ask that you come down to the undergrounds with me, so that we may fight our common enemy together.”

 

“You will save us?”

 

“It is not for free.”

 

The old man said unashamedly.

I took a liking to him then. This was much preferable to being saved by someone pretending to be a saint.

Besides, we were now enemies of this Demon Lord Eligos.

There should be no harm in receiving the aid of this old man.

 

And with all of this considered, I had Eve, then Jeanne, enter the hole. And like that, we descended into the underground.

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