Published: January 24, 2026
"...You cut through my magic...? Impossible! This is magic that has reached the critical point of the principles of techniques! To cut through that... such a thing..."
A voice filled with disbelief escaped from Oswell.
Thanks to that, no new disasters occurred, and a momentary calm settled.
"What’s there to be so surprised about? Didn’t you just show me an example of magic at the critical point of the principles of techniques...?"
I taunted the unsettled Oswell with my words.
Originally, this guy had no combat abilities.
But Oswell, who could create disasters themselves, was a genuine threat.
If I wanted to seize control of this fight, I needed him to lose his composure even further.
"An example...? You don’t mean to say, you...! You clown, getting cocky like this...!"
It seemed my words hit a critical nerve with Oswell, and he became more enraged than I had expected.
"If you’re pissed off, then try silencing me by force!"
I said something to further needle Oswell’s nerves, then activated Demonic Sword Unification (Alteration), turning Schwarzhase back into its usual demonic sword form.
With the longsword-shaped demonic sword in hand, I used my physical abilities and gravity manipulation to close the distance instantly.
The dragon of mana emerging from Oswell’s shoulder attacked to repel me, but I slashed those dragons down with the demonic sword.
If it were an ordinary sword, touching these mana dragons—a mass of magical energy—would be impossible, but this sword was made of the same mana.
A demonic sword can capture mana dragons.
Once I was within sword range, I swung the demonic sword in a slash.
Oswell himself was a threat, but his inexperience was evident in his posture and movements.
When it came to combat tactics, I held the advantage.
The demonic sword tore through Oswell’s chest.
"Ugh! Damn it!"
Disliking the close range, Oswell unleashed a spinning kick.
"...An attack full of openings like that couldn’t possibly reach me!"
I dodged the kick, switched the demonic sword from a longsword into two short swords, and sliced further.
"You insect! Get away!"
Oswell shouted as I felt mana gathering around him, so I immediately put distance between us.
Right after, a massive explosion occurred around him.
When the smoke cleared, Oswell appeared again, though his expression was unreadable under a cloud of anger.
"You clown! Don’t interfere with me!"
"...Hah, your language has gotten quite rough. Is your mask starting to slip?"
"Silence! I don’t care about Belia’s plan anymore! Right here, right now, I’m going to destroy you!"
The faint air of intellect and composure Oswell had earlier vanished; he now acted purely on instinct like a beast.
"...That’s my line, you piece of trash. All the pain and fear you’ve caused Carol—I’m going to carve all of that into your mind and body. Don’t think you’ll die easily."
"Ha ha ha ha! Carve into my body?! I have Self-Healing! No matter the wounds, I’ll heal immediately—"
While Oswell laughed crassly, confident he wouldn’t die, he suddenly fell silent.
His gaze dropped to his left arm.
The wound where it had been sliced off by the demonic sword.
"...Why? Why isn’t my left arm healing...!?"
The multiple cuts made by the ordinary demonic sword had already closed.
Yet the left arm wound—the one that should have healed over time—showed no sign of closing and was still bleeding heavily.
"I won’t allow you a boring death by bleeding out. —Ice Demon Greatsword."
While Oswell was distracted by his unhealing left arm, I called on Luna’s help and transformed the demonic sword into one imbued with the ice spirit.
Then, with an instantaneous ability surge (Impact), I struck, severing his arm from the shoulder.
Because I immediately froze the wound, there was no longer any risk of death by bleeding.
"Guahhh!?"
Until now, Oswell had probably been ignoring the pain because he believed he would heal, but now that he knew he wouldn’t, he couldn’t endure it.
He screamed in agony.
"Don’t make such pathetic sounds, grown man."