Published: July 3, 2025
The day after Ryo and Amon had their mock battle.
The kingdom delegation arrived at the next town, Blanchha, in the early afternoon.
The ideal situation was to enter the town in the late evening, stay overnight, and depart the next morning... however, it takes a full day to reach the next town from Blanchha.
In other words, it was just right to stay here for the night.
As the kingdom delegation attempted to enter the town of Blanchha... the sun dimmed.
"An eclipse..."
Ryo muttered while looking around.
The three from Room 10 and the three from Room 11 looked up at the dimmed sun, maintaining their usual expressions.
However, there was someone who noticed Ryo's suspicious behavior.
It was Priest Zeek.
"Ryo-san, is something wrong?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing..."
The moment he said that, the scenery around them lost its color.
And the world flipped upside down.
"Could it be... the sealed corridor..."
Ryo murmured.
At that moment, he heard a voice.
"Could it be? Is it true? Why, if it isn’t Ryo?"
A stunningly beautiful woman appeared... though she had horns and a thin black tail...
Yes, it was a demon...
"Leonor..."
Ryo only managed to say that, swallowing hard.
"We meet here for the billionth time! I actually had some other business, but if I've ended up pulling in Ryo, it can't be helped. Very well, it cannot be avoided, let's fight!"
"No, why...?"
Demon Leonor suggested with a terrifying smile, and Ryo presented his doubts with a pained expression.
"You are headed to the Western Nations, am I right? Currently, things are quite chaotic over there. There's no guarantee you'll return safely. If we don't fight now, when will we fight!"
"The Western Nations are chaotic...?"
"What's that? Do you want to know? I could tell you!"
"You're just going to say that if I want to know, I have to fight, right...?"
"You know me well!"
Leonor nodded with a beaming smile.
Ryo understood that there was no path other than to fight.
If that was the case... it would be better to at least extract some information.
"Alright, I understand. Let's fight. But after it's over, please tell me about the information concerning the Western Nations!"
"Of course! As long as Ryo doesn't die!"
"!"
Indeed, if he died, he wouldn't be able to hear the information...
Thus, the third battle between the two began.
"[Stone Icicle Flame Armor]"
As Demon Leonor chanted, dozens of stone spears wrapped in flames appeared around her and were launched.
"[Layered Ice Wall 10]"
A thick wall of ice surged from Ryo towards Leonor, increasing in thickness.
And then, they clashed.
With a dazzling light, more than half of the ice wall disappeared with a single blow.
"What the...?"
Ryo was rendered speechless, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events.
"Ku ku ku, this is my counter to your thickening ice wall. Savor it well!"
Leonor wore a devilish grin and cast another spell.
"An addition. [Wind Dust Chain]"
An invisible wind attribute attack magic was unleashed from Leonor.
Twenty from her right hand, and twenty from her left.
Each followed a semi-circular trajectory, passing outside the [Ice Wall], heading directly towards Ryo.
In the midst of the clash between the ice wall and the flaming stone spears, if the invisible attacks were woven in, no one could evade them.
However, Ryo was not among that "no one."
The moment he was pulled into this 'sealed corridor,' he activated [Passive Sonar], which was still operational.
He was aware of the invisible attacks.
"[Icicle Lance 64]"
He launched thirty-two ice spears from his left hand and thirty-two from his right, intercepting the forty invisible rings of wind.
Furthermore, the twenty-four ice spears that were not used for interception were aimed directly at Leonor in a counter-offensive.
They reached their destination.
However, there was no impact.
"The attack comes from a blind spot, from above!"
Looking up, Ryo generated blades with Murakumo... Leonor, with a terrifying smile, brought her full weight down.
Clang.
"Ugh!"
Ryo barely managed to catch the downward strike with Murakumo, though the weight of the sword was terrifying.