Published: March 21, 2026
The twin blades pressed against my throat closed in, and just before my neck was about to be severed as declared, the two short swords "Night Blade God" deflected them. Ignoring the numb, almost paralyzed feeling in my arm, I swung the Night Blade God down toward Darion's nape. His right arm kicked up at my leg. Darion arched his body and tried to create distance from me in a cartwheel-like motion. I sprinted toward his landing so he wouldn't get away. As Darion hit the deck, our weapons rang out again with a high clang.
If Aurum I fought earlier was a "spear-user of brute force," then Darion would be a "dual-sword user of finesse." With those flexible wrists and body he strikes from unexpected stances and angles. Sometimes he slips past my attacks like a snake. He's harder to fight than Aurum.
"I'm more of a civil officer, but within the Demon Clan I'm among the top, so I'm fairly strong. Are you really sure you don't want reinforcements? If you called the hero it would save me the trouble."
A sharp metallic sound rang as our high-density blades met.
Darion's twin blades are twice the length of my Night Blade God, and they should be heavier, but he swings them as easily and as fast as I do. Demons really have strength on another level. Not as massive as Aurum, but still heavier and faster than me. There's no way he's really "a civil officer."
No matter how I attacked, I couldn't even graze his deep green hair.
"Persistent. Don't you ever think you'll be the one to defeat me?"
"You're certainly strong for a human, I'll give you that. But as you are now, you're no match for me."
Spinning like they're dancing, he avoided my dual blades, launched attacks, and continued talking amid the dizzying exchange. With two weapons each, our strikes were the most numerous of any fight so far. Speed was almost even, but I completely lost out on strike power. At this rate, every time I block his attack my stamina would be chipped away.
Darion still looked completely at ease. Since I'm handicapped by fighting frontally, a true assessment might be a toss-up if we faced each other without tricks — assuming Darion wasn't hiding cards like I am.
"But I'm surprised. You hardly think about anything when you fight. The other trash screams about not wanting to die or begging for help, it's so noisy. Maybe Mahiro or Aurum coming would have been better than you."
At the names Mahiro and Aurum my hand twitched. They were the second- and third-ranking demons who kidnapped and wounded Amelia on Brute Continent.
Also, while we were talking I noticed something: he answered almost as if reading my mind. I hadn't noticed in the fast-paced fight, but the extra skill slot that read satori — perhaps that was the cause.
"...Ah, right, you have that convenient sight. Yeah, that."
Darion affirmed as he deflected my Night Blade God with a metallic clash.
If he's responding without any spoken words, then my mind might be completely exposed to him.
"I can find the hero even if you hide him somewhere. Even if I go after the hero without killing you first, at this distance you'll catch up, so maybe I'll kill you first and then search. I know he's on this ship."
Darion smiled confidently. I clicked my tongue and wrapped the shadows I collected during the fight around the Night Blade God.
There was a reason I hadn't used Shadow Magic from the start. Darion hadn't left me the chance, and simply put, there were few shadows on the ship's deck. The sails cast shadows forward, and the aft deck had almost none. With such scarce shadow I couldn't use a large-scale Shadow Magic like the one that wounded Aurum.
"Is that the 'Shadow Magic' that injured Aurum? Nice. Finally you're getting serious."
His honey-colored eyes narrowed in delight. With Aurum and now this, are demons all battlefield maniacs?
"Then I'll get a little serious too."
Saying that, Darion wrapped something around his twin swords like I had.
It probably glowed — some kind of Light Magic. I heard it's quite rare for demons to use Light Magic.