“Crazy b*tch······.”
Tilfitz’s whole body turned bright red, as if about to explode right then and there.
It was instantly clear what was happening.
The internal circuits were overloaded.
It resembled Asylum’s self-destructing soldiers, but it was a bit different.
Those guys used their internal circuits for powerful Explosion Spells, but Tilfitz was in a fairly stable condition.
“You need to die here.”
“······.”
It’s tough to survive with an overloaded internal circuit.
So Tilfitz is planning to burn herself and take me along as a companion.
“Aren’t you embarrassed? You’re going to blow yourself up just to kill one pathetic human?”
“What are you talking about? You’re a Majin. I really hate to admit it, but······ you are a Majin with the same authority as me. If we’re hunting a fellow Majin, I have to have this level of commitment.”
She acknowledged me as a fellow Majin.
Yet, it was comedically not satisfying at all.
“I don’t have much time left. So you need to die quickly!”
Tilfitz charged straight at me.
Just honestly charging right ahead.
The only problem was that her speed was so fast I almost missed it, even with Majin-like senses.
*Skrrrt······!*
“Ugh?!”
But it wasn’t completely out of my response range.
As she charged, I brought my Vafe into play, and Tilfitz flattened herself and slid past me, scratching the ground with her claws.
It seemed she was well aware of Vafe’s slicing power.
If it were any other sword, she could’ve ignored a minor scratch and kept going.
But if she had gone in with Vafe, she would have been sliced in half.
Though Tilfitz tried to charge in a few more times, each time she was thwarted by my Vafe.
Despite her circuits being overloaded and her speed certainly high, it didn’t feel all that fast with me having the advantage of a weapon.
‘Something seems off.’
It was suspicious.
Someone who came ready to burn their life to kill me didn’t show up with even a regular longsword?
Seeing the gap between us widening just because of weapon status left me bewildered.
The longer this dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for Tilfitz.
I started to wonder if she was hiding something.
With Tilfitz not aggressively attacking, I took the initiative to strike first.
I couldn’t deal a critical hit due to the speed difference, but I managed to land a solid hit on Tilfitz’s solar plexus as she desperately tried to escape.
It looked like it dealt a significant shock, as blood spewed from Tilfitz’s mouth.
“Humanity evolves, but how come you still don’t know how to use the fruits of civilization?”
“How dare a lowly human······.”
Take out Durandal, Tilfitz.
Do I have to say it that directly for you to understand?
Even after I landed a hit and provoked her, Tilfitz still wouldn’t draw Durandal.
What kind of stubbornness was that?
“Kuh······ Hehe······ Ahaha!”
“······?”
Suddenly, Tilfitz started laughing like a madwoman.
A chill ran down my spine, freezing me in place.
An ominous thought popped into my head that wouldn’t go away.
What if she couldn’t draw Durandal, not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t?
“Hehe······ How naive, huh?”
“Don’t tell me.”
It finally clicked.
Tilfitz was an ancient Majin.
We had only met a couple of times, but that was more than enough time for her to gauge my abilities.
She really did see through me.
She knew that losing her life would be a far smaller blow compared to the massacre of those around me.
Thinking of the parallel world’s me that fell apart mentally, ending up annihilating humanity with my own hands, was an eerily accurate analysis.
*Boom······!*
At that moment, a purple light flickered, and a building crumbled down.
Durandal. Yes, it was definitely the power of Durandal.
While she might not have the power to tear through dimensions anymore, she certainly hadn’t lost all of it.
Even if she couldn’t reach the critical point to tear dimensions apart, she could still unleash enough power outward to be devastating.
That weapon, which was cheating by its very existence, had never belonged to Tilfitz.
She had already handed it over to the Traveler.
“Who exactly is running out of time?”
“······!”
It was none other than me who was pressed for time.
I had to cut Tilfitz’s breath right now.
And I had to hurry to my comrades.
They might be dying in real-time right now.
“Oh my. Are you mad? Look at your face twisting. Now, it’s finally balanced. Here, I am fighting with my life on the line while you’re leisurely thinking about what to eat for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Shut up and die already.”
I didn’t have the luxury to toy around like with the madman before; I needed to fully commit and take her head off.
“Hahaha! Who’s going to die easily?”
Tilfitz’s outstretched arm began to glow as if melting away.
And then *bang*.
*Selection and Concentration. Used 1 second in Agility.*
A massive burst of light – no, fire – erupted, filling my vision in an instant.
It was an attack using up all the circuits in one arm.
Though it covered such a wide area that even a Majin couldn’t dodge it, it was a different story as I had preemptively used my ability.
Avoiding the flames that hissed and scorched my face, I swiftly moved behind Tilfitz.
And with the Vafe, I aimed for her neck······
*ZZZZZTT······!*
Just as I was about to slice through, Tilfitz’s left arm shot up quickly, blocking my Vafe.
Where it should have cleanly sliced through her Majin flesh, the Vafe became entangled in a grotesque mass of flesh, preventing it from advancing anymore.
“Damn······.”
“Hahaha!”
The moment I faced the ferocity in Tilfitz’s eyes, I had to withdraw with my Vafe.
The strange mass of flesh that enveloped my Vafe eerily squirmed before falling off her shoulder.
Even after losing both arms, Tilfitz just kept laughing.
She’s finally given up being human.
“Ahaha! Haha······ huh?”
*Shing!*
It seemed her next attack was to sacrifice her legs.
Tilfitz lifted a leg to kick me, but it was sliced off by my longsword as she fell backward.
“Hehe. You’re really going to kill me just like that? Then your comrades will have an even harder time.”
“······.”
My hand froze, which was going to cut off Tilfitz’s neck.
Killing Tilfitz quickly while rushing to capture the Traveler posed a critical problem.
The fact that when a Majin dies, their power is automatically distributed evenly to other Majins was the reason.
In other words, if I killed Tilfitz here, the Traveler would become drastically stronger.
Quantified, that would be an increase of about 30%.
Even if I ran there as fast as I could, would my comrades be able to endure the Traveler’s attack while he had grown stronger?
It would be tough.
There’s a high probability they’d be wiped out.
That conclusion hit me.
There was no time to hesitate.
I immediately made up my mind and jumped onto Tilfitz.
*Zshhh······!*
“Ahahaha! Hehe, ugh?!”
“Shut up.”
As my hand plunged into Tilfitz’s chest, the sound of meat cooking echoed, smoke rising up.
With her crazed laughter distracting me, I covered Tilfitz’s mouth.
The instant my finger touched Tilfitz’s small heart, information flooded into my head rapidly.
*Selection and Concentration. Used 1 second in Computational Power.*
Tilfitz’s body, which had been about to burst, began to cool down.
Now, Tilfitz’s entire being was completely under my control.
Although she seemed to resist, it was futile; her small stature couldn’t fight against me.
Soon, her eyes rolled back, leaving only the whites visible.
From the hand covering her mouth, warm, sticky liquid began to pour out.
It was blood.
Finally, I succeeded in completely seizing Tilfitz’s power.
I had fully absorbed the Majin power she possessed into my own body.
“Now, you die.”
“Ugh······ Ah······ Ah.”
*Crunch.*
As I squeezed her heart, it burst, and the breaths that were hitting my palm weakened.
When I took my hand away, Tilfitz lay still with her lips stained with blood.
The look in her lifeless eyes staring at me seemed, for a moment, to be somewhat beautiful.
“Ha······.”
I killed her.
No loose ends.
Without even getting to savor the electrifying sensation in my hand, I had to quickly turn around and run.
My comrades were in danger.
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if someone like the royal guard captain or Hertlocker died, but I absolutely couldn’t let Trie, Erica, or Aintz die.
I couldn’t let them die.
If I hadn’t been reincarnated, they would have had a smooth journey without big risks, and I couldn’t bear to see them die because of me.
‘My body feels so light.’
I could definitely feel the increase in my power.
Having absorbed Tilfitz’s power, I was now double my strength, so that was only natural.
It took less than a second to reach the source of the loud crash.
The fact that a battle was still ongoing meant there were still survivors.
Hastily arriving at that place, I found—
“Oh?”
A huge man was gripping the Traveler by the collar with Durandal embedded in his belly.
Recognizing his face, I froze in place.
It was Sergey.
