Kiriel’s party continued deeper into the forest with an automatic golem to investigate the abnormal phenomenon.Chasing the eerie energy into the depths, it sounded like something could be heard.When she pricked up her ears, a bizarre noise dug into her eardrums.Crunch- crunch-.It was an unpleasant sound like something being chewed to a pulp with teeth.Right after, a thick, cloying scent of blood rode the wind and stabbed at their noses.Silpi and Rina must have caught the smell of blood as well; they twitched their noses and their faces hardened.“It smells like blood.”“Ominous~”But Kiriel did not stop her steps.“Even so, we can’t stop. Let’s go a little farther in. We have to confirm what it is.”“Yes.”Kiriel’s party kept advancing, following the nasty mana that seemed to constrict their whole bodies.After going quite far into the deep forest like that, they reached the very source of the mana before they knew it.Rustle-.Pushing through the thick brush and stepping forward, a dark clearing where sunlight barely reached appeared.And within that darkness, some kind of shapes could be seen faintly.Sliiide-.Two figures that had been crouching in the dark slowly turned around.Red pupils shone ominously within the dense darkness.“!”Those two figures were lying belly-down on the ground, chewing on corpses.The bodies of animals and monsters, torn to shreds across the ground.Sticky blood smeared all around their mouths.A scene unbelievable even as they watched it.It was so unreal that the situation felt like a dream.Kiriel and her aides could only stare at the scene, mouths agape.One of the massive figures slowly rose to its feet.“U, oooh……”A fiend with a body as huge as a mountain.At that tremendous size, Kiriel and the other two blankly lifted their heads to look up at the fiend.It had the shape of a human with four limbs, but its face and whole body were crushed black, like a lump of clay that had been kneaded.The red eyes without whites and the huge mouth split open up to the ears were grotesque.“……!”The instant her eyes confirmed that form, a warning bell rang in Kiriel’s head.This was neither monster nor beast.The fiends before her eyes were the “demonkin” she had only heard of until now.Elements of danger one must never encounter.Whooom-.When the hulking fiend straightened up and thrust its fist, a fierce wind arose.At the same time—Boom-!The automatic golem that took the wind pressure head-on was flung far away and rammed into a corner of the forest.Its gears and cylinders, jetting steam as it lodged in a tree trunk, soon stopped working, and the light shining in the golem’s eyes slowly went out.Wiiiin-.With a deflating sound, the mana core completely ceased operation.Power enough to wreck an automatic golem with mere wind pressure.Its movements were not that fast, but its power was comparable to the “Ogre,” the king of the mountains.Grrr-.After dealing with the golem, the demonkin drooled from its widely split mouth.“Well done, Demper.”Before long, another figure stepped forward and bowed politely.“Pleased to meet you. I am Bardo—Bardo Veil.”Unlike the mountain-like demonkin, a bizarre man who looked like a gaunt zombie.The skin of his face and hands was hideously rotted and ragged like a tattered rag, with sinew and bone laid bare within.In the middle of that, his getup in a shabby suit was downright uncanny.“Well now, quality game walks to us of its own will. Elves are a delicacy besides. It seems I shall enjoy a tasty meal for the first time in a while.”The demonkin licked his thin lips with a stiff tongue as if his mouth were watering.That hulking one as well, and this scrawny demonkin too, were not normal humans.Taking stock of the enemy’s faces, Silpi tugged on Kiriel—frozen in place—and slowly backed away.Even the usually relaxed Rina seemed to sense that this was no ordinary matter; she was sweating coldly.“H-… hurry! You have to run. Rina!”“Yeah, let’s bolt, Gnome.”Rumble-!When Rina reached out her hand, a thick earthen wall surged up from the ground and blocked the demonkin’s way.“Now!”Silpi grabbed Kiriel’s hand and started running, and Rina, who had stacked the earthen walls in layers, hurriedly followed after the two.Even as she fled with them, Kiriel kept checking behind to see if the fiends were giving chase.“W-where the hell did things like that crawl out from!”“If you don’t want to die, you’d better run. Those are monsters! We can’t handle that at our level!”“I agree~”The three ran at top speed for an elf’s long lifetime, putting distance between themselves and the enemy.Unlike when they had been peacefully enjoying the two-person three-legged race earlier, this time it was truly a flight for their lives.But that game of tag did not last long.Whish-whish-.In an instant, with a blurred afterimage, that demonkin appeared before their eyes.“My, is it proper to run? If you thrash about too much, the meat gets tough.”Kra-boom-!Right after, the earthen walls they had raised behind shattered, and the giant demonkin appeared to block the rear.“Damn it—Kasa!”Judging escape difficult, Kiriel summoned a low-rank fire spirit and had it breathe flame high into the sky.It was an attempt to burst fireworks into the sky like a signal flare and mark their current location.Someone would see this rescue signal and come running.Just as Kasa’s breath of flame was about to shoot up into the sky—Suuuuup-.The big demonkin yawned its mouth wide and inhaled the surrounding air.The flames Kasa had exhaled were likewise sucked into the demonkin’s mouth and vanished completely.Gulp-.The big one moved its jaw a few times as if savoring the swallowed flames, then gulped them down.“Hot.”“Well done, Demper.”“T-this is……”Who would have thought a rescue signal would be nullified like this.As Kiriel faltered, the scrawny demonkin slowly opened his mouth.“How dreary to be doing something like calling for help. I’d like to take it slow and enjoy myself; when uninvited guests interfere, it kills the mood.”At the demonkin’s nasty words, Kiriel bared her teeth and shouted.“……I don’t care for your filthy tastes! And you—do you think you’ll get away with this after doing something like this inside the Union? Soon the guards and professors will swarm like a hive. Surrender now! Then maybe we’ll show mercy!”Kiriel mustered her courage to urge them to surrender, but of course it didn’t take.“Surrender? Who could possibly get here so quickly, all the way into this deep forest?”“Ugh.”As Kiriel faltered, Silpi, standing beside her, spoke calmly.“Those gremlins earlier—you released them, didn’t you? Monsters being found inside the Union’s territory isn’t a normal situation. Rescue personnel will be dispatched soon. Turn back now.”“Y-yeah! That’s right.”Bolstered by Silpi’s words, Kiriel cried out stoutly, but the demonkin was not shaken at all.“Hmph. Rescue personnel are possible only when information is conveyed. Those students you think you saved…… do you think they’re alive now?”“……!”The scrawny demonkin continued.“I have already dispatched one of my subordinates to handle the cleanup. By now, none of them will be breathing.”“T-that’s nonsense.”“Nonsense? By that measure, our entering this place should be nonsense to begin with, shouldn’t it?”“…….”Kiriel quietly ground her teeth.As the demonkin said, the very fact that such a powerful demonic presence was roaming inside the Union made no sense.It felt similar to the high-grade monster attack during Loen’s inauguration in the past.Tick-.Bardo, the scrawny demonkin, snapped his fingers to focus their attention and opened his mouth.“Now then, let’s start a simple game. What is currently going on at the academy—was it called a Sports Festival? Think of it as an extension of that event.”“A game?”“Yes, a very simple power game.”At Bardo’s words, that hulking one slowly advanced.Grrr-.“Hun… gry.”“This fellow is my hound, Demper. He’s dull-witted and overly gluttonous, but he’s quite strong and sturdy.”Sliiide-.Demper extended his gigantic hand forward.A hand large enough to easily crush an adult man’s head.Bardo spoke.“You just need to compete in a grip-strength contest against Demper. Simple, no?”“Grip strength?”Kiriel narrowed her eyes, looking between her own thin palm and the opponent’s enormous hand.“…….”Grip strength, my foot. Someone’s hand is going to get smashed.And to propose a sudden grip contest out of the blue in a situation like this—the head isn’t right.Even so, she couldn’t flatly refuse the opponent’s proposal right now.For the moment, she had no choice but to pretend to accept his suggestion and stall for as much time as possible.Anything was better than immediate combat.Kiriel nodded and summoned a mid-rank wood spirit.“Treant.”Shla-la-.When Kiriel spoke the name, the nearby tree trunks wove together and soon formed a human shape.Looking at the treant summoned before her, Kiriel said,“I’m a spirit-user. There’s no way I can do a physical contest against a monster like that. Compete against the spirit I summoned.”“Well, if you insist. Go ahead.”As if confident, or as if it didn’t matter either way, the man accepted Kiriel’s proposal.The wood spirit, adult-male size, that Kiriel had summoned walked forward slowly and stood before Demper.Then it extended its hand and joined hands with the creature.Clench-.The treant’s and Demper’s hands overlapped as if shaking hands.“Then let’s begin.”At Bardo’s words, the grip contest began.At the start, Demper squeezed hard.Demper’s enormous hand slowly warped the treant’s hand, which had been formed by weaving tree trunks together.Crack-.Under the demonkin’s powerful grip, the treant’s hand was gradually crushed.“……!”It was certainly a far better situation than if Kiriel had gone herself, but at this rate, defeat seemed obvious.Since the location was in the forest, she had summoned a wood spirit with the best mana efficiency to face him, but it seemed a bit lacking.To win, it looked necessary to reinforce the treant.‘……Wood spirits have good affinity with water-element spirits.’Kiriel racked her brain and came up with the most suitable combination of spirits at present.She had learned that the Five Phases composing this nature were not merely an elemental system but an organic relationship of mutual influence.Beyond theory, she had experienced it a few times in real combat, and knew it instinctively.‘Water generates Wood.’Water and wood were in a mutually generating relationship.A relationship where they helped one another to manifest greater power.Kiriel even summoned Naiad, a mid-rank water spirit, to aid the mid-rank wood spirit treant.“Come forth, Naiad.”Unlike when she summoned the treant, mana flowed out of her body with a whoosh, and particles of water gathered in the air.Shla-la-.The particles of water, clinging together around the spirit core, slowly took shape and turned into a translucent water girl who seemed a bit more grown than Undine.Once Naiad was summoned, the mana the treant possessed grew stronger. Not only that, but the wood and leaves that formed the spirit body visibly sprouted and grew.Thanks to the two spirits’ powers working organically to bolster each other.Thanks to Naiad, the treant, which had newly gained vitality, gradually restored its crushed hand.Crunch-.Now, conversely, the treant’s hand began to press Demper’s.“Grr-rr, grr!”Demper groaned as if the treant’s wooden tendons digging powerfully into his grip hurt.And then, soon—Thwuck-.With a nasty sound, Demper’s huge hand was crushed and turned to clay.“Haa… haa.”A victory barely seized.Having expended a lot of mana to summon two mid-rank spirits at once, Kiriel looked at the opponent, breathing hard.“I… I win, right?”At this, Bardo smiled and applauded.Clap- clap-.“Yes, congratulations. As expected, the bloodline of a High Elf is impressive. Even though your ability has not fully blossomed, you possess considerable skill.”“Spare me the flattery, and leave the Union at once.”“……?”Kiriel snapped at Demper, who tilted his head.“I won. Obviously you should do as I say.”“Hm? I only suggested we try a simple game; I never said I’d do anything if I won or lost.”“W-what? That kind of sophistry……”“Demper.”“Hung- gry!!”As if the grip contest had been mere diversion, Demper restored his crushed hand in an instant and brought his mighty strength down on the treant.Kra-boom-!As if struck by a giant mace, the treant was ripped along the line of force and became a ragged mess.With a massive blow dealt to its form, the treant disintegrated into particles on the spot.“Kh.”Kiriel collapsed where she stood from the backlash of the spirit’s forced dismissal.“Lady Kiriel!”Blood streamed down from Kiriel’s lips.A spirit and its caster were joined by a contract of souls; when a manifested spirit took a heavy blow and was forcibly dismissed, the shock was transmitted to the caster as well.The higher the rank of the spirit, the greater the damage.As the mana link with Kiriel was severed due to her hemoptysis, the water spirit Naiad likewise returned to the spirit realm.Bardo looked down at Kiriel collapsed on the ground and gave an order.“Demper, finish the suppression. After that, I will give her to you as feed.”“Eat…… good……”Thud-.As Demper approached, Silpi immediately took a stance, loosed her mana bow, and went on the offensive.Thup-thup-.But unlike with the gremlins, the attacks did not work on him.As soon as the mana arrows struck his body, they were sucked in, absorbed straight into him.The same went for attacks by the water spirit Rina had summoned.Splaash-.Just as he had devoured Kasa’s flames earlier, the attacks by the water spirit likewise could not inflict any particular damage on him.“Hungry.”Demper, as if the two’s attacks only tickled, accepted them and came on, clutching his rumbling stomach.An opponent against whom no attack worked—truly a mountain.With their current abilities, they could not subdue him.Looking up blankly at Demper approaching her, Kiriel opened her mouth.“This is absurd……”Kiriel possessed top-tier skill, competing for the highest rank in competitive matches, and her aides, Silpi and Rina, possessed considerable combat ability compared to peers of their age.For the three of them to be suppressed to the point that they couldn’t [N O V E L I G H T] even mount any real counterattack—she hadn’t expected such an overwhelming disparity in strength.Bardo twisted the corner of his mouth at Kiriel’s stunned expression.“Didn’t I tell you earlier? Demper is a little… sturdy.”“Uoooh.”Demper extended his huge hands and grabbed Rina and Silpi, who were guarding Kiriel, one in each hand.Crunch-.Holding Silpi and Rina in both hands, Demper slowly applied grip strength.“Kyaaa!”“Ugh!”Caught by Demper, the two screamed and writhed in pain.With just a little more force, their bones would be crushed as they were.Bardo looked at the two groaning in pain and said,“Then, Miss Kiriel, I shall propose one more new game to follow the grip contest.”He looked at Rina and Silpi in Demper’s grasp and asked,“Right or left—which elf shall be better…… to eat? If you choose one, I will spare that one.”“Uoooh.”Demper, alternating his gaze between Silpi and Rina in his hands, yawned his huge mouth wide.Drool streamed down from the big mouth slit up to the ears.“……!”At the demonkin’s outrageous proposal, Kiriel shouted in outrage.“S-stop spouting nonsense and stop! Put them down right now!”“Hmph. There is no such petty option. You would do well to choose while you are given the chance. If you drag it out longer, Demper will not be able to restrain his appetite.”A demonkin who threatened to devour both if she did not choose quickly.Kiriel looked with trembling eyes at the two in the enemy’s hands, then lowered her head.“……I-I can’t.”To save someone and sacrifice someone else—there was no way she could make such a choice.“If you will not choose, is it acceptable to eat both at once?”Creak-.Demper’s hands, holding the two, squeezed harder.Silpi and Rina, trembling in pain, went limp as if they had fainted.“D-damn it.”Kiriel ground her teeth, clawing at the earth.After agonizing for a long moment, she slowly stretched out her hand.The demonkin smiled as he watched Kiriel.“Oh? Which one will you choose, I wonder?”But contrary to Bardo’s expectation, Kiriel did not point at either with her outstretched hand.Ssshaaah-.Instead, she gathered mana into her hand, and a magic circle began to draw itself in the air.It was the summoning circle for a “high-rank spirit,” something she had tried until now but always failed.Kiriel shut her eyes tight and called the spirit’s name inwardly.'Please, please answer me, Phoenix……'Crackle-.The mana spreading from her hand tried to conclude a contract with a new spirit through the linkage to the spirit realm.If only a contract could be made with Phoenix, the high-rank fire spirit—the eternal phoenix with destructive power—then even those monstrous fiends could surely be felled.However—Crackle-.Phoenix did not answer Kiriel’s contract, wrung from her last dregs of mana.Crack-crackle-.The summoning circle shattered under the pelting resistance mana.No such thing as a miracle occurred.On the contrary, due to the side effects of excessive mana overuse, the internal injuries she suffered grew worse.“Urgh……”“Are you finished?”Seeing Kiriel with blood running down her lips, the demonkin smiled as if it were laughable.“…….”Kiriel looked at her two limp aides, then bowed her head with a vacant expression.Then she clawed up the grass so hard her hand bled.'B-because of me……'If only she hadn’t suggested coming here, this wouldn’t have happened.If she hadn’t overestimated her abilities and had meekly gone to fetch the professors, neither Silpi nor Rina would have been put in such danger.And if only she had had a little more power, she could have escaped even in this situation.While Kiriel was in despair—“The time limit has been reached. Then.”When the demonkin tilted his head, Demper yawned his huge mouth wide.“Uwooo—”The giant, holding her two friends in both hands, was about to swallow them in one gulp.Kiriel suddenly came to her senses, and with a shout, sprinted toward the two.“Stoooop!!”Just then, as the demonkin smiled in rapture at Kiriel’s futile resistance—Step, step-.“What a wretched sight.”“……!”A voice came from back there. And at the same time—Clatter-!From behind, chains of mana shot out, coiled around Demper’s arms, and yanked hard.Craaank-.As if a prisoner were being trussed up tight with iron chains.“Grrraaa!”With his arms suddenly bound by mana chains, Demper had no choice but to drop Rina and Silpi he had been holding.Freed from Demper’s grasp, Rina and Silpi fell to the ground.With a look of profound relief, Kiriel looked at the two, then turned her head toward the suddenly appearing helping hand.A snow-white Union uniform.A mage’s badge on the chest and a star shining at the collar.A boy looking down at her with an arrogant face.Kiriel looked up at him and opened her mouth blankly.“……Loen?”Loen de Valis.A face not particularly welcome had appeared at the exact moment he was most needed.

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