“What’s that supposed to be…?”
In the dark sky, dozens of artillery shells pierced through the clouds and soared upward.
*Boom, boom!* The faint sound of explosions made the elves glance nervously up at the sky.
However, they had no leisure to worry about the sky.
They were too busy salvaging injured and dead soldiers, while on one side, there was chaos over searching for any remaining fanatics.
“That is the anti-aircraft gun boasting by Duke Damien in the desert development area.”
“Anti-aircraft gun?”
“Yes. It’s called an anti-aircraft gun because it protects the sky from attacks.”
“An attack from the sky…?”
Hearing someone explain, the elves looked puzzled.
An attack from the sky?
There were no nations with airships aside from the Empire.
So, what on earth were those anti-aircraft guns shooting at?
“Wait. What’s that…?”
At that moment, something flashed in the sky.
It was such a bright light that one would think sunlight had just burst forth.
The startled elves all lifted their heads.
“Ah…”
A flash was descending down.
Like a meteor shower.
Multiple rays of light branched from one place and surged in all directions.
It was then that the elves finally realized the identity of the ‘attack from the sky,’ and their faces turned pale.
*Gulp…*
Schlus’s mouth slowly opened.
The sky was pouring down countless fiery projectiles capable of effortlessly obliterating entire buildings.
It was an astonishing sight that left one gasping.
If struck directly, the dream Iris saw would come true, and the desert development area would become ruins.
However, knowing this, stopping it wasn’t too difficult.
*Boom! KABOOM!*
The rays of light struck down and exploded in midair.
The fragments did not fall to the ground but exploded in all directions.
It was thanks to a massive dome-shaped barrier protecting the desert development area.
Right before impact, it was the barrier secretly deployed by Erica.
“Prepare for the impact.”
“Okay.”
Now it was time for the main event to descend.
With continuous large explosions, the sky was soon filled with gray smoke and fragments, obscuring visibility.
‘I only have 4 seconds left.’
Having spent all the mana on ‘Selection and Concentration’ for Erica, only 4 seconds remained.
If he was to face Tiltitz, he needed to use those 4 seconds as wisely as possible.
As Schlus sharpened his senses to react at any moment—
“Incoming! Master!”
Something flew through the smoke directly at Schlus.
Before he could even register it, his body had already instinctively stepped back.
*Thud!*
In that moment of shock, the ground split and trembled.
At that instant, he managed to catch sight of a girl embedding a massive sword into the ground.
Majin Tiltitz.
Her fierce gaze was locked onto Schlus.
‘Selection and Concentration…!’
Schlus rapidly chanted in his mind.
If he poured all 4 seconds into it, overpowering Tiltitz wouldn’t be a mere dream.
At least, that was what he believed.
Until Tiltitz reached out her fist toward Schlus instead of pulling the deep-embedded sword out.
“Huh?!”
Before he knew it, Tiltitz’s body had already delved into Schlus’s space, slipping past the two blades.
Having no chance to amplify his agility stats, Schlus found himself at her mercy.
Though he did his best to retreat to lessen the impact, the fist that struck his solar plexus was more than enough to send Schlus flying hundreds of meters back.
He pierced through a couple of buildings before crashing into a wall.
Yet, Schlus’s breath had not yet ceased.
“What are you doing right now?”
“……”
Just as Tiltitz was about to step forward to crush Schlus’s throat, her expression suddenly twisted.
A human had blocked her path.
A knight in full plate armor with green hair.
Revealing his intention to fight with his sword drawn, Tiltitz couldn’t hide her confusion.
Just before descending, she had poured all her mana, scattering destruction.
She had shown that humans, excluding Schlus Hainkel, couldn’t even dare think of resisting.
If she could easily crush bugs like humans, how could one dare to confront her?
“Get out of the way… Huh?!”
At that moment, just as she tried to ignore him, Tiltitz had to bend back quickly to dodge a blade that flew in front of her.
It was a speed impossible to believe was from a mere human.
Could this be a human infused with Majin’s authority?
Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.
‘Magician! Just keep interfering!’
One of the humans who received power from the magicians, no doubt about it.
As she concluded, Tiltitz gripped Durandal with both hands.
While her pride was slightly hurt, this insufferable knight had to be dealt with here to avoid any repercussions.
‘Is he… dodging all my attacks?!’
Tiltitz’s eyes widened as she accelerated and swung her sword.
She was clearly pressing the knight harder with overwhelmingly greater speed.
Yet, Durandal’s blade barely grazed the knight.
What angered her even more was the relaxed expression on the knight’s face.
As if he had experienced even faster assaults than this…
*Huff…!*
As Tiltitz swung Durandal, she felt something brush past her nose and instinctively stepped back.
Only after a brief standstill did she realize—
Her nose had been broken and was dangling.
‘Did I just get countered?’
It was incomprehensible.
Even though they were on the offensive, how could such a swift counterattack occur?
The previous one merely grazed her nose, but what if it had landed at a vital point?
She could lose. To a mere human.
Just thinking about that possibility left her pride in tatters, grinding her teeth in anger.
“I understand now…”
“Huh?”
It dawned on her.
She recognized this fighting style, having seen it before.
It was a method favored by the Traveler, often utilizing the opponent’s strengths against them.
The recently allowed counterattack must have been enabled by using Tiltitz’s own power.
In other words, that knight could only counterattack but was unable to launch his own proactive assaults.
To confirm that, the knight was merely taking a defensive stance, never attempting to attack first.
The solution to this was simple.
“You can’t attack first, can you? Right?”
“……”
If hand-to-hand combat was troublesome, she could incorporate magic.
As she gathered all her remaining mana and began to form a spell, the knight’s lips twisted into a smirk as if mocking her.
“Huh? Not at all.”
“What?”
“Just stalling, you foolish rat.”
“…….?!”
In that instant, her spell was brutally shattered and disappeared.
A spell stemming from another world was disrupted instantly.
Startled, Tiltitz turned her head and saw Schlus Hainkel approaching, cradling his blood-soaked solar plexus.
Tiltitz froze in place as Schlus, whom she believed to be in a dying state, reappeared unscathed.
“H-How…?”
“Why do you care?”
“Ah?!”
The very next moment, as Tiltitz witnessed Schlus Hainkel standing right before her, her face turned pale.
At first, she suspected a teleportation technique, but soon realized it was simply extreme speed.
Schlus was approaching so fast that even Majins could barely sense his presence, swinging his fist.
*Swish!*
“Ugh!”
Before Tiltitz could react to that shocking speed, Schlus’s punch slammed into her face.
With no chance to defend herself, her body shot backward.
Then, as if following her, Schlus Hainkel’s foot crashed into her solar plexus.
Without time to groan from the excruciating pain that shattered her spine and ribs, a barrage of strikes rained down on her face.
‘I-I’m going to die…!’
The fear of death consumed Tiltitz’s mind.
It wasn’t just the possibility of dying.
Her instincts screamed that she would die unless she escaped now.
Having forgotten this instinct after thousands of years, Tiltitz shrank back, losing all reason.
Yet, as she lifted her arms to protect her head from the punches, they just shattered and contorted grotesquely.
‘I have to run…!’
The humiliation of being overwhelmed by a human had evaporated completely.
Her pride was utterly discarded.
Tiltitz, her face grotesquely contorted and her body a bloody mess, trembled as she moved her fingers.
With a flash of purple light, a dimensional rift enveloped her hand.
And just when she grasped the handle of Durandal, her new model vanished from that very spot.
“Haah…”
From the deep, sunken crater, Schlus Hainkel raised his bloodstained fist and sighed deeply.
Agility, strength, endurance, vitality.
One second spent pouring all his stats had just ended.
What felt like an eternity for Tiltitz was just barely insufficient to kill her.
[Quest Completed]
[You have been rewarded with 10 shop coins.]
“Sch-Schlus…!”
At that moment, a hurried voice was heard from above the crater.
Trie rushed over, sending worried glances this way.
On her face were mixed feelings of astonishment, relief, and joy.
“Ah…”
He had let her slip away.
Just one more hit would have killed her, yet he let her escape.
The more he reflected on it, the angrier he became, wanting to grind his teeth.
“I won.”
“Huh? What? Y-You really mean it?”
“Yes. I won. I defeated the Majin Great Sage.”
For the moment, he decided to flash a smile and relish the joy of victory.
