Former General Is Undead Knight - Chapter 37
Chapter 37 : The Owl’s Mask
「I’ve confirmed, it’s a 【Lv:33】 devil with 【MAG:85】! It has Tulpa[Spirit creation magic] type magic called 《Trick Dove》 too!」
I shouted what I learned trying to share the information that I gained from 《Imu》 while still laying low on the ground.
Solus was holding its owl mask with both hands, protecting it from 《Blast》.
When the storm weakened, its hands separated from its main body aiming toward Edda.
「Now dance for me, 《Trick Dove》」
A magic circle deployed in front of Solus’s fore finger.
Its ability to switch between defense and deploying magic was way too fast.
This is the difference between a devil who had their own magic core and a human who needs a magic vessel to invoke magic.
Three translucent doves appeared right in front of the magic circle.
That was the magical life-form that was created with Tulpa to resemble a dove, Tulpa Dove.
The Tulpa Dove attacked Edda whose stance crumbled due to the aftermath of Fedor-san’s 《Blast》.
「GUH!」
Edda forcefully kicked off the ground since she couldn’t risk to receive that attack with her crumbled stance.
She dodged two by leaping back, and sliced the third with her magic sword.
The third Tulpa Dove was wrapped in flames as soon as its body got sliced in two.
It seems to be programmed to set ablaze upon impact and hurled itself toward the target.
I’ll definitely die if I get hit by that skill.
The most I can do against that is just parrying one of such attacks, and receiving the next one.
It’s basically a checkmate for me with the third one.
《Mineral’s Demon; Solu》 was truly a terrifying devil.
It’s also the first time I haveseen such deadly Matter magic in a Demon Labyrinth.
The only way to counter that poison gas from before was either using same level Matter magic, or blast it away with wind elemental attack like what Fedor-san did a while ago.
In addition, the three Tulpa’s 《Trick Dove》 were equipped with a tracking function to chase after its target.
Anyhow, the most scary thing about Solus… Was the fact that it had yet to use its terrifying alchemy that created countless spears from the ground.
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Reason being it is under the category of battle art, not magic, which means that despite being under the same level, it needs twice the amount of mana to activate with the demon’s core instead of battle bone.
So far, I think that devil itself was pretty rare since they’re the native of 《Orgol》.
Though I’m not completely wrong, the fact that their magic manipulation was far above the average human aside, their personality was simply troublesome.
The devil’s magic was simply far beyond the level of ordinary demon beast’s magic, and more varied.
To some extent, the devil was more troublesome than a demon beast but, knowing it and experiencing it was a completely different matter.
With Edda forced to be passive, I find it strange that I was still alive.
I wanted to hide Beelzebub’s existence as much as possible but I might have to use 《Petit Dimordi》to finish off Solus.
Fedor-san is… He still standing behind me?
Did he choose to wait behind in case Solus used that poison gas again?
「YoU PuNy HumAn, ReSisTAnCe Is FuTiLe, AccEpt YoUr FaTe As OuR CoRpSe CoLLecTiOn. Behold, a True Magic. 《Clay Weapon》!」
Solus was linking its hands together.
A huge magic circle appeared below the ceiling, shedding light.
Parts of the ceiling then peeled off, forming ten earth spears.
Clad in light, the spears then changed their angles, every single one of them pointing at each of us.
Edda who seems to realize too that dodging that attack is impossible stopped moving.
「And take another one! 《Iron Anima》!」
The previous magic circled changed its color.
The earth lances on the ceiling then transformed into iron lances.
Damn it. Now it activates another magic while limiting our movement.
But if we tried to move in this situation, we might’ve ended up getting skewered by those iron lances.
If Fedor-san couldn’t make his move to guard against the poison gas, there’s no choice but for me and Edda to fight it.
… But, the problem was which attack it was going to use after it fired those iron lances, is it going to use its 《Trick Dove》 to chase after us whose balance is disturbed after dodging the iron lances, or 《Poizogas》 to create another confusion.
If it decides to use 《Poizogas》, then our choices are shutting our mouth and holding our breath, or waiting for Fedor-san to use his 《Blast》.
But I might die for sure if it used 《Trick Dove》.
I can already see the scene of me being brutally killed in my failed attempt to dodge it.
Even if for example I used 《Petit Dimordi》, I guess that’s going to force Solus to use its 《Trick Dove》 to kill me for sure.
… No, I still have another way out of this situation.
I rearranged my breath, readied myself, and went forward while gripping tightly onto 《Demon Eater Sword; Bersera》.
「You Fool! Get back now! Are you asking to get yourself skewered by those iron lances!」
Edda was shouting at me.
「Fool is someone who charges recklessly without any kind of plan.」
The magic circle under the ceiling became even brighter than before, and fired all the iron lances at once.
I gathered my mana on 《Demon Eater Sword; Bersera》’s blade while making a beeline toward Solus.
When I made a decision, I made sure to see it through till the end.
I dodged the attack that seemed to be aiming for my head as I ran forward.
I recalled that it’s impossible to dodge it all but then, the tip of the iron spear gouged my back.
An attack that would instantly kill me right there, or so it was supposed to be.
If it wasn’t for Gold Maimai’s battle art, 《Moon Reflection》.
I gathered my fighting spirit on the place that was seemingly going to get hit by the iron spears, and then liquified that part just before it hit me.
As a result, the spears just passed through my body and stuck in the ground, as if it passed through water.
「GuH! I-ImPOssIBle! BuT TheRe Won’T Be A SeConD MisTAke! 《Trick Dove》!」
Solus’s fingers were pointing at me.
Just as I thought.
But I went past it and swung the 《Gluttony’s Edge》 that I prepared beforehand toward Solu’s chin as soon as I arrived in front of its owl mask.
The skill that I wanted to take was, the《Trick Dove》.
The magic circle that just appeared suddenly vanished.
「W-What HApPeneD!?」
Solus was completely flustered.
『Hoo, to think that you can predict its move to that extent. Good Job, Dean!』
…. Great, I did it.
After I stole the magic that could threaten my life, I continued to drive in my sword’s blade even deeper into Solus’ body.
「WhAT DiD YoU Do To My MAGIc!? InSOLeNT HuMAAAaaaAAAN!」
Solus spread its hands in preparation to crush me to death.
FAST! I mean, its physical attack alone was really powerful even without its tracking magic.
「Raaa!」
Along with Edda’s voice, the iron spear that failed to pierce me before was flying toward Solus’s hand.
The iron spear was colliding with Solus’s pinky finger, and smashing that little finger.
「Y-Y-Y-YOu SHiTyyy HUmaaaaAAAAN….」
『It’s enraged since you guys destroyed the hand that it needed to invoke its magic.』
Beelzebub’s voice told me of that piece of news.
Right after that, though Edda leaped quickly with her 《Flash Decapitation》 to repel the spear that came at her, she still managed to leaped up above Solus’ owl mask and stabbed her sword deep into its forehead.
The crack that formed from the place pierced by her sword has spread even further.
「ImposSiBle… ThiS GreAt Me… HaS Lost? My Arts… SuPpoSed To Be InViCiBle iN 《Ilmis》」
Solus’s owl mask fell to the floor.
The thing that was similar to feather ornament and its two arms was vanishing into thin air.
The odo’s light from Solus went into me, Edda, and Fedor-san behind us.
The only thing it left behind was a scorched feather, and cracked mask.
「Did we just… Win?」
It was supposed to be an extremely powerful devil.
Even though its matter magic was sealed by Fedor-san, after that, Fedor-san didn’t help us to fight that devil at all.
And yet, we barely defeated such a powerful foe.
「… Fedor-san! Why didn’t you help us defeat it!?」
Fedor-san is clapping his hands as he smiles at us.
「Congratulation! I was actually about to interfere if that devil was really too much for you two but, you two have surpassed my expectation!」
… It seems this situation was part of our training too.
Surely, assuming that it’s a training which also served to raise our level against more powerful foe, the higher level one of our side was supposed to stay behind to get a better look on the overall situation and only giving a minimum amount of help when it was necessary.
I thanked him for that but, I hoped he would of told us about it beforehand.
「… You might have some worries about my action, but don’t worry, It’s not like I’m trying to investigate the abilities of your magic vessel.」
… As I expected, Fedor-san realized the fact that I tried to hide my magic sword’s ability.
Though I’m grateful to be able to form a party with someone as sensible as Fedor-san, investigating the other magic sword’s abilities should be prohibited except if you’re really confident with your own skill.
「There’s two ways to collect information, first is by reconnaissance, and second is by investigating directly with 《Imu》…. People rarely did the latter since the punishment is getting themself expelled from the guild but, it’s not like no one ever tried it before right?」
… That’s right, since I’m living in the slum, I know that many people would risk anything for money.
It’s as he said, it’s not like no one ever tried it before.
「I thought you were trying to commit suicide in desperation when I saw you suddenly charging ahead toward that devil but, it seems you do have some skill.」
Edda told me so.
Though her words are as thorny as ever, I’ve to be patient when it comes to someone who lacks common sense like her.
… In addition, I now realized that Edda’s power was far above mine.
I mean, I barely avoided a deadly wound thanks to her throwing that iron spear.
I guess I’ll have to put up with her from now on since she did look like someone with poor communication skills.
「But you’re amazing. I never thought that you could kill that higher level devil in one hit.」
When I raised my hand for a high five with her.
She turned away her face but, I could see the light, proud smile formed on her lips.
「It seems you misunderstand me, I just thought that you did a little bit better than I expected. Narc’s warriors aren’t easy to get along with.」
I lowered my hand with a cramped smile on my face.
… Yup, it seems I’ve yet to develop resistance toward this woman’s spicy attitude.
But, I wonder what is this uncomfortable feeling in my chest.
We subjugated our target, 《Mineral’s Demon; Solus》 , even that problematic 《Cerberus Fang》 got defeated by Fedor-san.
And yet, I felt that something was amiss.