A few minutes ago.

(Alright, brace yourself. I'll end everything with this one strike!)

Alicia resolved to defeat the strongest demon while armed with the ultimate technique of maximum firepower.

While Alicia and Monica were preparing their powerful techniques, Ceres and Tio were focusing all their attention on stopping the demon's fierce assault.

"Hey, hey! Don't take your eyes off me!"

A mighty sword swung with the force of a raging torrent.

Each swing possesses an absurd power capable of shaking the very atmosphere.

"■■■■■oooooooo!!!"

"Tch!"

However, it seemed that even the demon was not foolish enough to take a frontal attack head-on, as it raised its massive arms in front of its body to protect itself.

Due to that impregnable defense, Ceres' attack was easily repelled.

However, it's still too early to be discouraged.

Protecting one area means that attention to other parts is being neglected.

Tio Autumn wasn't so naive as to miss that opportunity.

"Devour this ―[Heavenly Galloping Absolute Arrow]!"

Coating the arrow with a massive amount of magical power, it transforms into a gigantic crossbow.

With all her might, she unleashed it towards the open side of the demon.

The arrow struck the demon splendidly, slicing through the sky as it accelerated.

"■■■■■■ooooooooooo!!!"

The demon screams as if it can't bear the pain.

In response, Tio wore a complex expression that mixed satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

"Unfortunately, I really wanted it to penetrate, but it only went in about 10%. Well, I guess I should be grateful that it at least caused some damage..."

Considering that it consumes a full 30% of Tio's total magical power, one could say the results are somewhat lacking for such a grand technique.

However, from the perspective of the original purpose of buying time, it is more than satisfactory.

At least now, the enemy has to allocate time and attention to regeneration.

"Ceres! Let's keep attacking like this!"

"I know! No holding back!"

After having communicated, the two launch a fierce attack on the demon.

Without thinking about the future, they intended to use everything up here.

As a result, the time earned was approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds.

―Facing an SS-rank opponent at this time, one could say this is truly an unexpected result.

However, the problem started from here.

"■■■■■■oo─!!!"

"Th-this is!?"

"No way!?"

Unexpectedly, at a disadvantage against Ceres and Tio.

Moreover, the monsters that were supposed to be absorbed are mysteriously disappearing one after another before they even arrive.

In such a situation, the demon probably decided to switch its prey.

The black mist enveloping the demon transforms into multiple threads and flies toward Ceres and the others.

The purpose was not to attack but to devour the target. Just like when it suddenly evolved earlier, the demon was trying to consume Ceres and the others.

"Tch, damn it!"

"There are so many of them!"

They were two who would cut through and sometimes evade those threads, but due to their overwhelming number, they were finally about to be engulfed at that moment.

―A massive wave of magical power descended from above.

"■■■■■■ ―gyaaaa!?!?!?"

The demon sensed the disturbance as it stopped capturing with its threads and turned its face upward with a creaking sound.

And then they saw it. A girl holding a shining longsword was floating there.

In response to such a demon, Tio and Ceres wore expressions of relief.

"Haah, finally."

"You made me wait a long time."

The two finally understood that Alicia had finished her preparations as they turned back to the demon with renewed confidence in their victory.

Currently, the magical wavelength from Alicia above is being poured, but this is merely a precursor.

They both knew that the real deal had a power that was incomparable to this.

"■■■■gyaaaaa!!!"

Instinctively, did it understand that it must not accept that magical power?

The demon transformed the black mist it had directed towards Ceres and the others into a spear and extended it all towards Alicia.

However,

"I'm sorry, but that's not enough to reach."

"■■■■gryaaaaaa!!!"

Just the pulsing light contained in the longsword was enough to effortlessly dispel the evil magic approaching Alicia.

It was also proof that the long sword contained enough energy to annihilate a demon.

"Then, I shall proceed."

After saying that, Alicia begins her descent.

Alicia accelerates at an astonishing speed, even with gravity on her side.

Due to the influence of Monica's enhancement magic, its speed had already reached subsonic levels.

At the moment when she was about to reach the speed of sound, Alicia raised her long sword, which shone pure white.

And then,

"Devour it ―[Astral Blade]!"

With all her might, she swung the blade.

What is drawn in the sky is a massive blade of light created by an immense amount of magical power —"Radiant Blade."

It was the strike of maximum firepower from the [Four Symbols of the Fine Weather] that led to her being called that.

The hammer of destruction was brought down in a straight line upon the demon as it was now infused with the speed of sound.

It was a demon who raised both arms in a hurry, but it couldn't withstand the power for even a moment and was cleaved in two.

And just like that, the slash of light strikes the chest, its weak point.

"■■■■■■gryaaaaaaa…!"

At the last moment, the demon gathered the black mist to its chest as if making a final stand.

They probably thought of resisting magic with magic.

Did that strategy succeed? The black and white magic clashed, creating a brief stalemate.

However,

"Not yet, not yettttttttttt!"

Alicia further squeezes out the magic from the depths of her body, raising the power of her slash to its limit.

Could it be that their determination to never give up until the end paid off?

At last, the pure white light pierced through the demon's defenses and was swallowed by its body─

◇◆◇

"(...Why?)"

In the midst of the clash between pure white and pitch-black magic.

The demon was perplexed.

It was because it couldn't accept the reality that its own disappearance was imminent.

A Sorcerer is a general term for a life form composed of high concentrations of magical power.

In this case, the magical vein running underground through the [Deadly Great Forest] went out of control, creating a reservoir of magical energy and it was from the monsters forcefully absorbed that it was born.

When a demon absorbs a magical creature, it can absorb not only its magical power but also its intelligence.

Therefore, the demon had acquired enough intelligence to think, even if just a little.

That intelligence is telling it.

This ending is strange.

"(Why? Why? Why? Why am I losing to someone of this level?)"

Both physically and magically, it should be overwhelmingly superior.

Despite the fact that it had been defeated, the demon could not come to terms with it.

If there is any reason for the defeat, what could it be?

It doesn't understand. To begin with, the current demon lacks the intelligence to comprehend it.

To gain that intelligence, it must either consume a large number of magical creatures or prey on the person right in front of it.

"(But that was a failure.)"

Earlier, when it was at a disadvantage in the battle with Ceres and Tio.

At that time, the demon was thinking the same thing and extended its magical thread to devour.

However, it was just one step away from success, and in the end, the goal was never achieved.

It couldn't devour the magical power that humans possess.

As a result, it was finally destroyed by this pure white magic—

"(Magical Power?)"

At that moment, the demon's intelligence. No, its instinct realized that possibility.

The magical power that is trying to destroy it now was created by humans.

From a theoretical standpoint, absorbing this or completely preying on a human makes no difference.

If there is a problem, it is that this magical power contains the will to destroy oneself even before it is absorbed—

Conversely, if it can somehow manage that, it can directly use this massive amount of magical power as sustenance.

"(Ahh, I'll give it a try.)"

In terms of probability, it's an event that doesn't even reach 0.00001 percent.

If there were a life form with certain intelligence, it probably wouldn't even attempt to challenge.

However, this demon lacked intelligence.

Therefore, it took action without hesitation.

The result was now about to manifest in this place.

◇◆◇

─A few seconds later.

When the light subsided, the demon was no longer in front of Alicia.

A giant body over 50 meters tall disappeared without leaving a trace.

"...I succeeded, didn't I?"

Alicia fell backward to the ground as she murmured those words in an exhausted voice.

Ceres ran to the landing point and caught Alicia's body.

"...Thank you, Ceres."

"Ah. You did well, Alicia."

With an untroubled smile, Ceres expresses her gratitude to Alicia.

To those two, Tio and Monica, who remained, came running.

"You did it, Alicia!"

"We won, woo!"

"...Both of you."

An SS-rank demon, without a doubt, the strongest opponent they have ever faced.

The four of them share the joy of having defeated that opponent to the fullest.

That's precisely why they were late to notice.

They're late.

That the battle is still far from over.

"(...I see, so this is what knowledge and wisdom are.)"

""""─Huh!?""""

Suddenly, a voice from someone unknown descends upon Alicia and the others.

The four of them instinctively turned their gaze that way, and then their eyes widened in shock.

There was a person standing there.

Their appearance is androgynous and very well-groomed, making it hard to tell if they are male or female.

With long gray hair that reached the ground, they were characterized by their appearance, with the rest of their body enveloped in gray mist except for their face.

The aura they exude is clearly not that of an ordinary person.

In the first place, it's strange for ordinary people to be in a place like this.

What on earth is happening?

Alicia and the others were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

Amidst all this, the one who noticed it first was Monica.

"...That gray mist, the characteristics are a bit different, but it feels similar to what the demon was enveloped in just a moment ago."

"Monica? What are you suddenly saying...?"

"Be careful, everyone. That is the transformed form of the demon. The battle is not over yet."

It was at the same time that Monica said that.

The gray human. No, the demon stared at Monica with lifeless eyes and slowly opened its mouth.

"(As expected, the most troublesome one is you.)"

In an instant, the demon vanished from the spot.

No, it accelerated at a speed that made it seem as if it had disappeared.

"...!"

"Monica!"

"..."

Before Alicia and Ceres could move, the demon closed in on Monica.

Amidst all this, the only one who could take action was Tio, who was closest to Monica.

"I won't let you!"

Tio quickly stood in front of Monica and used the bow as a shield with both hands.

But―

"(You're in the way.)"

"Naah… gahaahhh!!!"

It was a moment.

The bow was split in half by the fist swung by the demon, and it hit Tio's abdomen directly.

Her body was forcefully blown away just like that.

Although numerous trees stand as a wall, they do not fulfill their role, like thin sheets of paper.

Tio's body disappeared into the distant horizon, creating large holes in the great tree one after another.

Chapter 29: Evolution [Extra] Side