Chapter 115: Encounter (15)
I looked up at the level floating above Akasha’s head and let out a small sigh.
【Lv. 94】
She was a true powerhouse, comparable to a Lord of Calderic.
I couldn’t believe an archdemon really appeared.
Then, I noticed belatedly the faint, overwhelming magical power hovering in the sky and lifted my head.
It was an eye.
A tiny, magical eye hidden in the night sky, staring down at us.
…The Eye of the Demon.
A chill ran down my spine in an instant.
I knew of this ability as well.
The 10th in the archdemon hierarchy, Mephiros.
When did he start watching us? I didn’t notice because the magical power was too faint.
Only then did I realize that Akasha’s appearance, as well as the rift in space, was caused by Mephiros’ spatial transfer ability.
Because not only Akasha but he was also nearby, I had no choice but to become more tense.
“Hey, are you ignoring me?”
I turned my gaze back to Akasha in front of me.
Despite her clearly displeased expression, her voice was filled with a playful tone.
The situation was at its worst.
Two archdemons, and high-ranking ones at that, had appeared at the same time.
“Akasha…”
I heard Jerel’s voice, as if he had lost his mind.
He seemed to have figured out who Akasha was.
Jerel was one of the radiant knights who had experienced the war with demons firsthand, and Akasha was also a notorious demon among the United Forces of Humanity at the time.
A surprise attack was impossible at the moment.
However, Mephiros was still not revealing himself and Akasha…
Her level disappeared.
The level display above Akasha’s head disappeared in an instant.
I could immediately understand the meaning of this phenomenon because I knew her ability as well. That was a mirage, not her real body.
It was useless to try to distinguish it with magic power because it was not very noticeable in the first place.
She must have been impressed by the ability I had just demonstrated, having watched the battle with the demon just moments ago.
Of course, I couldn’t blame myself for using instant kill to deal with the demon.
She looked down at the demon’s corpse and said,
“I’m curious how you know about the demon’s seed more than anything else. It’s probably a fact that only the hero knows, so what’s your identity?”
She seemed to have not figured out my identity.
Instead of participating in the conversation, I glanced briefly in the direction of the three people not far from me.
Their existence was a burden in this situation.
However, I couldn’t give a signal for them to run away.
It was almost certain that their purpose was Erica, who possessed the demon’s seed, and if so, there was no way they would let us go willingly.
“Archdemons Akasha and Mephiros.”
Akasha’s eyebrows twitched slightly at my words. It seemed she hadn’t expected me to also know about Mephiros.
“Your goal is that girl,” I said with an unpleasant smile.
“I’m not sure about that. If you have a question, you should answer mine first. I’ll answer if you tell me your true identity.”
I didn’t reply since I didn’t expect an answer from them, anyway.
It was clear that Erica was carrying the demon’s seed. The fact that they had come this far meant that they were going to take Erica back to their territory with them.
The demon’s seed was a piece of the demon king’s soul. Those who possessed it were scattered throughout the continent, and the demons used them as sacrifices to hasten the resurrection of the demon king.
This was a setting that hadn’t been fully explored in the main story, so I didn’t know all the details. However, I did know a few things. Only humans possessed the demon’s seed, and demons couldn’t handle it recklessly until they performed a ritual on the person who possessed it. That was roughly it.
The theme of the demon’s seed first appeared in the middle of the main story. When the player and their party were adventuring with the heir of the Holy Sword, they happened to rescue a boy who was wandering in the back alleys of the city.
As they became friends with the boy and helped him live a normal life like others, they discovered that he was a carrier of the demon’s seed.
Suddenly approached by an archdemon, they were in danger of being wiped out, but they managed to survive with the help of an ally.
I thought that situation was not much different from the present.
I heard Erica had spent several years in this monastery.
I didn’t know at what point they became aware of Erica’s existence, but it wasn’t important now.
…There’s no answer, really.
The enemy in front of me right now was an archdemon.
It was not just Akasha. I had to consider the existence of Mephiros, who had not yet revealed himself.
It was a precarious situation where I might have to face both archdemons at the same time.
I had already defeated Ditrodemian, an archdemon with a higher in rank than these guys.
But the fight with him in the first place was almost like risking my life and barely winning.
And just because I had experience that, it didn’t make it easy to deal with other archdemons.
The ability I had was not simply the ability to have an absolute advantage, depending on the opponent’s level.
Depending on the compatibility, for example, I was someone who could find it hard fighting a lower-level wizard with a single defense shield.
So what was important was not the level, but how lethal their abilities were against my instant kill.
And as I knew their abilities well, I could tell that it wouldn’t be any easier to fight them than Ditrodemian.
Moreover, now that there were two opponents, there were also two variables.
But I had no choice but to fight.
Otherwise, there was no way to make up for this situation.
“…”
I prepared for the battle.
Akasha tilted her head and twitched as if she had noticed something.
“I wanted to have a conversation before killing you. If it’s going to end like this, I have no choice…”
Before she could finish speaking, I immediately used space leap.
Just like in the battle with the demon earlier, I tried to move in front of Akasha and use the instant kill.
But at the same time, the other disappeared like smoke.
The magical power that had been concentrated at the center exploded.
I blocked the explosion with floating veil and turned my head to the side.
Suddenly, Akasha was standing a little away from me, arms crossed and laughing.
“I’ve been watching since earlier. Don’t tell me that’s all you got with your ability?”
…This is why Akasha was such a frustrating opponent.
The Queen of Illusions, Akasha.
Her ability was to create illusions that were almost indistinguishable from reality.
She was a notorious demon who deceived and seduced her opponents in countless illusions before gradually withering them away and killing them.
Due to this ability alone, she was famous for being difficult to defeat among the bosses in RaSa.
If I couldn’t find the main body and strike, there was no way to deal damage.
Flash!
Suddenly, a crimson light shot out of Akasha’s eyes.
As I met her gaze, I immediately realized what kind of ability she had used.
In addition to the ability to create illusions, Akasha had the power to trap the opponent’s mind in an illusion itself.
But thanks to the effect of the [Soul of the King], it didn’t work on me.
I once again used space leap towards her. As it was an illusion again, it exploded.
“Hmm? Why didn’t that work? Is your mental fortitude strong enough to resist my abilities?”
Akasha, appearing in the empty space above, tilted her head in confusion.
“Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter. If you keep focusing only on my illusions, you’ll end up dying a miserable death. Try harder, Kukuk.”
Ignoring her words, I continued to attack silently. I kept approaching with space leaps even though I knew it was just an illusion, as there was no other way.
Kwaaang!
Each time the illusion disappeared, there was an explosion, and I surveyed my surroundings with super sensory. If Akasha was hiding, her level would have shown in the empty space, but there was nothing like that.
In other words, she was in a faraway place, completely separated from the battlefield.
At this point, she would have realized that her illusions alone could not harm me. To deliver a stronger blow, she had no choice but to reveal herself and attack.
Since her objective was to take Erica away, she couldn’t keep stalling indefinitely. She would try to surprise me at the decisive moment.
That moment will be the moment of her death.
I frantically chased after the illusions, looking desperate enough to look ignorant, searching my surroundings for any level indicators. That was where her true body was.
After disposing of dozens of illusions, I finally caught sight of a level indicator appearing suddenly on the opposite side. Immediately, I teleported in that direction and used blood magic to scatter blood in the air.
“…!”
Then Akasha appeared with a surprised expression, looking at me with shock in the empty air.
However, all the blood I had scattered was blocked by the shield the guy had unfolded.
Damn, I aimed for the gap, but she blocked it.
Akasha and I landed on the ground and faced each other, and the fight was momentarily suspended.
“How the hell did you figure it out?”
Akasha seemed shocked that her ability was completely exposed.
But now I was also confused, so I could only feel a sense of defeat.
Finding the other’s real body was almost the only opportunity. I should have finished it just now.
Since she had unfolded the shield like that, there was no longer a suitable opportunity to use instant kill.
Akasha, who had been staring at this side for a while with a distorted impression, suddenly sighed and muttered.
“I understand, I get it. It seems like it’ll take a while if I do it alone, Mephiros.”
Mephiros.
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, I felt a secret flow of magic behind me.
At the same time, sharp magic thorns suddenly sprang out of the empty air and attacked my entire body.
I barely put up a barrier and blocked the surprise attack.
Swoosh.
As before, when Akasha first appeared, the air nearby split open.
The creature that sprang out from it was a demon with ashy skin.
He was holding a staff made of decayed wood in one hand, wearing a black robe.
Mephiros, the 10th-ranked archdemon among the demon hierarchy.
His ability was the reason for the magical eye hovering in the sky. It was an ability to cross space and appear wherever he wanted.
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