(Attendances… plz…)
….
It wasn't a request, or at least not from the perspective of the being standing before Reinhard.
It was more like a statement from the girl who would take what she wanted whether Reinhard agreed to it or not, the girl who had appeared there so suddenly and calmly declared in front of him that he couldn't kill the demon because it was her target.
Reinhard looked down at the now-hornless demon in his hand. The demon's life was hanging by a thread, and only moments ago he had been staring at Reinhard with undisguised horror.
Even now, while Reinhard held him effortlessly in one hand, the demon continued desperately trying to free himself from his grasp, doing everything he could to escape the man who had reduced him to this state.
His fear only intensified with the arrival of the white-haired girl, as if her presence was somehow even more terrifying to him than Reinhard's.
Reinhard sighed quietly before turning his attention back to the demon girl standing some distance away. She carried herself with an almost unnatural grace, her posture relaxed and composed, while that faint smile remained on her face as though the entire situation was nothing more than an amusing interruption to her day.
"As in, a subordinate means you are his master."
Reinhard had already reached that conclusion himself. It was fairly obvious from the way she had spoken about the demon, but he repeated it aloud anyway.
He wanted confirmation before doing something that could not be reversed later. More importantly, he wanted to understand exactly what kind of relationship existed between the two.
The girl's smile didn't falter, nor did the coldness in her eyes change even slightly.
"Huh? Wasn't that obvious?"
Despite the considerable distance separating them, neither had any difficulty hearing the other. Their voices carried naturally across the ruined surroundings, as though the distance between them was little more than an inconvenience.
Reinhard studied her for a moment. She appeared older than him, though she was still young in appearance.
If he had to guess, he would place her age somewhere around his own, but there was no way for him to know for certain.
Her appearance alone certainly wasn't enough to tell him anything about what she truly was.
His gaze eventually returned to the demon in his hand.
"Do you know what he has done to the innocent people of that town?"
The question was partly a test. If she was his master, then surely she bore some responsibility for the actions of her subordinate. Yet she had already claimed that he had run away and that she hadn't even known he was here.
What she said next shattered that assumption completely.
"Hmm. Should I? But I can guess. Did he slaughter that village for his fun or something? Not that I care."
Reinhard remained silent.
He had never been the type to condemn an entire race simply because of the actions of one individual.
A person's nature was their own, and it was foolish to assume that every member of a race was identical. Humans themselves were proof of that.
There were humans capable of atrocities so cruel that even a demon might be surprised by their depravity, just as there were humans whose kindness and innocence could surprise even beings regarded as pure and benevolent.
So no, Reinhard would not judge the entire demon race based on the actions of just two he met.
But he could judge the person standing before him.
She hadn't even blinked at the mention of the innocent people who had been slaughtered. There was no anger, no disgust, no sympathy, and not even the slightest indication that she considered what had happened worth caring about. She had come here because her subordinate had disobeyed her and because he was now her target.
Whether she intended to kill him herself or punish him for disobedience was irrelevant.
What Reinhard knew with absolute certainty was that this demon would not be returning with her.
"I see. And you don't feel anything for what he has done?"
The girl didn't answer.
She simply continued looking at Reinhard, her smile still present and her cold eyes fixed upon him as though his question had an obvious answer that did not even deserve to be spoken aloud.
Reinhard understood.
The answer was in her expression.
"That request is denied and won't be possible," Reinhard said calmly. "To take him, I mean."
The girl merely looked at him.
She was completely unaffected by his refusal. If anything, the fact that this human was still standing there and calmly engaging her in conversation seemed to entertain her.
She had given this situation a certain amount of leeway because she found it amusing, but Reinhard's refusal seemed to suggest that he had misunderstood the reason for her patience.
Her smile remained unchanged.
"I apologize. It seems I didn't clarify my intent."
Her eyes remained fixed upon him.
"But it wasn't a request."
Reinhard didn't answer.
He simply acted. His hand retracted from the demon, and before the mutilated creature could even understand what was happening, Reinhard's movements became a blur. His hands and legs were severed in midair with precision and speed that the demon couldn't even react before his already broken body was further mutilated.
Only then did Reinhard turn back toward the girl.
"I apologize if my intent wasn't clear either," he said, his voice as calm as before. "But to say it again, it won't be possible."
For the first time, the girl laughed a little and not merely smiled.
"You are certainly an interesting human. To not only overcome the fear of me as though it were nothing, but to speak back to me as well. For that, I praise you."
Her smile widened slightly, though there was still no warmth behind it.
"But humans always die because of their ignorance, don't they? Or at least, that is what I have observed. Though it doesn't really matter to me. Whether I kill someone because they are ignorant or because they aren't makes little difference."
Reinhard now turned his entire body toward her.
The girl immediately noticed.
A human was actually preparing to fight her.
The thought itself seemed amusing enough to make her laugh again.
"Hahaha. How impressive once again. You're actually thinking of fighting me."
There was genuine curiosity beneath her amusement now.
How was he doing this? Why wasn't he affected by her presence? Why wasn't fear taking hold of him? Was he overcoming it through sheer willpower, or was there something else at work?
Reinhard's eyes remained steady as he looked directly at her.
"He won't go back with you. He will die here and return to nothing. Not even reincarnation will be possible for him."
His gaze briefly shifted toward the mutilated demon lying on the ground.
"But before that, he will experience the pain he caused to the innocent people through what he did to them."
The girl said nothing. She simply allowed him to continue.
"And seeing you, it seems you have no intention of backing down either. You're not going to leave without him."
Reinhard properly faced her now, with the demon lying helplessly between them.
"It seems there is only one way left." His expression remained composed.
"One of us has to go."
"You are correct." The girl's smile remained perfectly intact.
"It seems you have to go. But before your fall…" She paused, apparently considering the situation.
"Even though the result would be the same, alas, I will let you have the first strike for your rather entertaining performance and will. Don't hold back. Come at me with everything you have."
Her eyes sharpened.
"And I… I just might spare you if you are able to entertain me even a little."
Reinhard disappeared.
There was no dramatic movement, and not even enough disturbance to send dust into the air from the place where he had been standing. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone.
The girl didn't even have time to properly react.
Reinhard appeared beside her rather than behind her, having already bypassed every defensive barrier she had put in place and everything else that should have prevented an him from ecen reaching her.
The blessing of the first strike guaranteed the hit.
His fist drove directly into her face. The force behind the blow was overwhelming.
The white-haired demoness was sent flying from the battlefield and into the distant forest, her body tearing through the air before disappearing among the trees.
Reinhard didn't pursue her immediately.
Instead, he looked back toward the location where he had left the demon.
"We'll continue after I deal with your master," he said.
His voice carried effortlessly across the distance.
"Don't even think about running anywhere when you can't."
The demon heard every word clearly, even though at a distance writhing in agony and pain.
Then Reinhard vanished.
…
The girl landed deep within the forest.
For several moments, she didn't move.
She simply remained there, staring at the destruction around her while her mind reconstructed what had just happened.
She had been outclassed. Not merely in one aspect, but in speed and strength.
That human had bypassed every defensive measure she had in place, reached her without her even able to react, and struck her with enough force to send her flying for miles.
It should have been impossible.
Of course, she was considerably weaker than her true self.
This body was merely a body of magicules she had materialized within the mortal world, and it could not perfectly reproduce what she truly was. She wasn't fighting in the same state she would have been in at her full strength in the demon world.
But even accounting for that…
A human shouldn't have been capable of doing what he had just done.
Unless…
The thought appeared in her mind.
Her eyes widened slightly.
A Hero.
Before she could dwell on the realization any further, she heard a voice.
"I hope I wasn't a disappointment."
Reinhard was there.
The demoness looked toward him. For the first time, her amusement carried something else beneath it.
Interest even after experiencing that humiliation, she already decided what she will do to him.
"How rare."
She rose from the crater, her gaze never leaving him.
"Who would have thought I would get to meet a Hero in the flesh? One capable of scarring my dignity, if not my flesh."
Her smile returned.
"I hope you didn't mistake that for all there is to it. You've only earned the honor of my attention."
The demoness lifted herself from the crater, or rather, levitated upward as her magicules gathered around her.
Then she disappeared.
Her hand appeared directly in front of Reinhard's face, moving with enough force and precision to punch straight through his head and kill him instantly.
She didn't wanted to waste time anymore.
But Reinhard reacted to what she was doing.
Not only did he keep up with her speed, he caught her attacking hand before it could reach him.
The demoness's eyes widened yet again as she was fully focused unlike before and had her full attention.
Reinhard immediately countered.
He twisted her momentum, seized control of her movement, and hurled her into the sky.
Before she could stabilize herself, Reinhard had already jumped after her.
The exchange happened so quickly that even the demoness herself could barely process the sequence of events.
The battle had already reached a speed beyond what ordinary perception could follow.
…
On the other side of the battlefield, the trio had been searching through the remains of the ruined building for survivors.
To their luck, there were still a few people alive inside.
While Reinhard was fighting, they had managed to rescue them from the bloodbath and bring them outside. They barely had time to recover or even process what had happened before something else caught their attention.
The sky.
Flashes of light erupted above them.
At first, they thought they were witnessing lightning.
Then they realized that wasn't what they were seeing at all.
Reinhard and his opponent were moving so quickly that their eyes couldn't follow either of them. There were no clear figures in the sky, no bodies that could be tracked, and no reliable indication of where either fighter would appear next.
All they could see were streaks of light.
One moment they were on the right side of the sky.
The next, they were on the left.
Then somewhere above them.
Then somewhere else entirely.
The flashes continued at a speed that made the battle look less like two people fighting and more like lightning itself was tearing across the sky for some festival.
Kaval stared upward, his expression becoming increasingly incredulous.
"Just who is he? Like, literally… literally."
Gido was still somewhat gasping as he watched the flashes.
"As I said previously… maybe a Summon Hero from another kingdom."
Ellen looked toward him.
"Then what is he doing in the Kingdom of Blumund?"
Kaval gave her an irritated look.
"Like hell if I know."
Gido continued watching the sky.
"Didn't he say that he would explain when this is over?"
"Yeah," Ellen replied. "Let's see if there is anyone else in the meantime."
Kaval sighed.
"Not like there is anything else we can do."
With that, the three returned to searching for more survivors and checking on those they had already rescued, though none of them could completely tear their attention away from the impossible thing occurring above them.
…
After several seconds of continuous clashes in the sky, the demoness finally separated herself from Reinhard and levitated higher and at a distance.
Magic circles began appearing behind her.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
Soon, countless magical formations illuminated the sky behind her as they accumulated power.
She unleashed them. Magical attacks poured toward Reinhard from every direction.
Reinhard landed on the ground and didn't move. He didn't flinch. He simply stood there and allowed the attacks to come.
The magical bombardment descended upon him.
And then, just before the attacks could reach him, they vanished.
Every single one.
The demoness remained suspended in the air.
She could feel the weakness beginning to spread through her body.
That was a problem.
To materialize herself in the mortal world, a demon had to construct a body entirely from magicules. A body like that could only sustain a certain amount of power before beginning to destabilize.
The more strength she used, the more magicules she consumed.
And as her reserves were depleted, her magicule form began to deteriorate.
Normally, a vessel could solve that problem.
But she didn't have one. She was here in a body of magicules alone.
The demoness stared at Reinhard.
Her attacks had been powerful enough to devastate the surrounding area, yet none of them had even managed to touch him and simple disappear.
"What?"
The word almost escaped her lips before she stopped herself.
Reinhard looked at her and seemed to understand exactly what she was wondering.
"Magical attacks don't work on me."
His hand moved toward the hilt at his waist.
"And it seems that is enough."
His fingers closed around the hilt of the Dragon Sword Reid.
He began to draw it.
The Dragon Sword could not be drawn against an opponent it did not deem worthy.
Reinhard had no way of knowing whether it would allow itself to be drawn against her.
If it didn't, then he would simply fight her barehanded.
Either way, the result would likely be the same. As she was weak.
She was already weakening from the strain of maintaining her form and from the power she had expended.
But that didn't matter as the blade shifted.
The Dragon Sword Reid had accepted the demon in front of her as a worthy opponent. And just by going from that fact it seems he wasn't just fighting another demon but a demon on a whole different level.
The Dragon Sword Reid deemed the "The White Primordial. Blanc." A worthy opponent.
The atmosphere itself seemed to change.
The air around Reinhard hardened with an almost tangible pressure as he continued drawing the sword from its sheath.
Even from a distance, the demoness felt it.
Her smile finally became somewhat strained. She could sense something fundamentally different from the weapon now u like when it was sheathed.
Reinhard fully drew the Dragon Sword. He didn't waste time speaking or listening and simply vanished.
In the next instant, he was beside her.
Again, he slipped past her defenses. Again, his speed exceeded what she could physically follow.
The demoness couldn't react in time. But atleast this time her eyes caught what was hapoening even if she couldn't react physically.
The Dragon Sword Reid passed through her.
Her magicule body was cut apart in an instant. No defensive barrier stopped it. Her durability meant nothing.
The sword simply cut through her magicule body as though everything protecting her had not even matter.
She couldn't even properly understand what had happened.
Her body began disappearing from the physical world as the magicules holding her mortal form collapsed.
And for the first time since she had appeared before Reinhard, there was no amusement in her expression but rather confusion yet again.
So many surprises for her in such a small moment.
As the White Primordial disappeared from the mortal world, the only thought that remained in her mind as she vanished was…
'What?'
….
A/N: Sorry for the late upload. I didn't sleep yesterday or more likely wasn't able to bcz of the power outage. Just woke up
So I wont say much other than hoped you enjoyed it. And if you want to read ahead you can do it by just joining my discord server.
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