Now the three teenagers were running through the slightly deserted streets of the town.
While Shinka was thinking rapidly about what they should do, he noticed something important that made him stop short.
"Kusaka-san?"
"How do you two expect to face the Stray Devil without weapons?"
At that moment, as if the saint sisters remembered something, an expression of lucidity appeared on their faces.
"T-The swords are at the church!" Shizumi was the first to speak.
"I'll go get them; you two keep going. You must prevent it from causing a big disaster and involving ordinary people." The group of three split up, and Kaede ran in the opposite direction.
As they advanced, Shinka's worried expression grew more settled.
"Kusaka-san, you can use your real speed. You don't need to wait for me!"
The speed at which they were moving was superhuman, but still Shinka knew he could go faster.
"I'm not just doing it for that. Raymond recommended I stop using Reinforcement magic until my body fully adapts to my current strength..."
A drop of sweat ran down his cheek as he noticed something strange.
"Besides... It seems it won't be necessary for us to go to the devil."
Shizumi looked at him with palpable confusion and worry.
"It's approaching us." After saying that, Shinka assumed a fighting stance, prepared for the worst.
'I'm near the urban area, so I must be careful...'
However, with the mental preparation he had already undergone, his eye contracted. The sunlight was blocked by an amorphous and disgusting body.
Bat wings. Frog's body, human torso and heads. Probably measured 5 meters tall and weighed half a ton, but it flew as if it were as light and small as a bird.
"What the... hell..." He couldn't help but say a foul word.
WOOOOOOOSH!
With a flap of its wings, it stirred the air, raising stones, dust, and dry leaves on the ground.
It continued on its way, ignoring everyone.
"E-Everyone will be able to see it..." Shizumi said in a whisper.
Shinka snapped out of his stupor and knew that meant serious trouble.
"Kusaka-san, can you fly?" She asked in a totally realistic manner.
"I can alter the gravitational field around me to a certain range; I could alter it to jump quite high, but that wouldn't be flying, and I wouldn't have any maneuverability."
"And increasing gravity to bring it down here is out of the question. It could destroy the place." She concluded herself.
"I still have a solution." The boy pointed the palm of his hand at the monster, and two magic circles formed before a sphere of condensed energy took shape.
Wosh!
It shot out with speed.
Boom!
The small sound of an explosion was barely audible.
It was so weak that the creature didn't even flinch.
However, after a second, a magic circle formed where the sphere had impacted.
The monster began to lose color and gradually become transparent.
"Invisibility magic?"
"It was the best I could do under these conditions... It's heading north of the city..." Shinka began to run after the devil.
"I'll inform my sister!"
'If it leaves the city limits, then it will be an advantage for us.'
Even so, the girl couldn't overlook the fact that everything was too strange.
'Stray Devils are nocturnal creatures without much reasoning, but this one is moving during the day. It remains to be seen if it's intelligent or not, but it seems it doesn't care if humans see it, so it's clear it's not very clever either.'
. . .
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon.
Shinka and Shizumi had been running for a whole hour.
The effect of the magic Kusaka had cast had worn off, but it no longer mattered. There were no people in sight.
Finally, the monster had begun to descend on a cliff in a marshy area adjacent to Takido.
'I lost sight of it, but it doesn't matter. It can't hide the energy it emanates.' Shinka thought the moment the creature blended with the surroundings.
"Eugh... I should have brought boots. My uniform is going to spend a long time at the dry cleaners." Shizumi slowly descended among the dirt and stones.
"I didn't know you paid so much attention to aesthetics." Shinka whispered, descending beside her.
"I don't consider myself especially vain, but no one likes to be dirty."
"Huh, good point."
The place was dark due to the plants and trees surrounding it.
Shizumi made a golden-colored magic circle, and it illuminated where she pointed, just like a flashlight.
"Give me your hand. I'm sure you can copy the circle if you try, but there isn't much time." The girl pressed Shinka's right hand, and he understood that what she said was true.
The same magic circle, created with Shizumi's mana, formed in Kusaka's hand.
'However, you underestimate my ability!'
[Flashlight Magic Lv.0 acquired.]
Without her noticing, the golden color changed to a bluish one characteristic of Shinka's mana.
[Flashlight Magic Lv.1]
Neither of the two teenagers strayed far, as they inspected the swamp little by little.
It wasn't because they were looking for the devil.
It was easy to come across a 5-meter-tall creature. But it was clear it had a real reason for coming to that area. It was impossible for it to be a coincidence because they only move at night.
There had to be a valid reason for it to be active during the day.
"Ah! Kusaka-san, look at this..." Shizumi's alarmed voice slightly rustled the leaves.
Shinka, sensing something was wrong, quickly approached.
His heart stopped for a second upon seeing the scene.
Skeletons of corpses scattered in the mud, being swallowed by tree roots, nourishing the swamp.
"W-What the hell...!" He could only whisper with wide eyes.
'H-Humans...?! Are those human corpses?!' He swallowed.
"Clearly, they haven't been dead for long, and the bones show no signs of having been heavily struck." A voice came from behind the two kids. "They died without putting up any resistance... That's why ordinary people should stay away from this world as much as possible."
Kaede appeared, with drops of sweat running down her cheek after running so much. On her back, she had the two swords strapped to her combat armor.
"I was one of those ordinary people until two weeks ago." Shinka said with some irritation, turning to look her in the eyes.
"P-Please, don't argue in this situation." Shizumi tried to mediate, as always.
"And I was until I was five... This place is strange. I feel a slight energy emanating from the entire swamp." She deliberately changed the subject.
"Yes. I noticed it too. It contains the same signature as the Stray Devil, although not much." Shinka didn't make things difficult and also changed the subject.
He knew there was something very strange about this; he gathered courage again and continued investigating.
"The trees have a size and shape as if they were fully mature, which would take decades, but the bones they grew over are clearly recent... It doesn't make sense."
"The trees must be absorbing the life energy of the people. But I don't understand how it works... Shouldn't this be a simple Stray Devil's nest? It's the first time I've seen something like this... It doesn't seem like the work of a completely irrational creature." Shizumi contributed.
"But there are... Too many." Kaede pointed her mana flashlight to another section, equally full of bones. "It's impossible for all these dead to be from Takido, or we would have already noticed that our population was decreasing rapidly."
"It's likely they are from other nearby cities. Your father didn't detect it until it was flying over Takido. It's probably the first time it has come there."
In a movement of the flashlight, Shinka spotted other corpses.
But these were slightly different from the rest.
Ba-Dump!
He could hear his heart in his ears for an instant.
These corpses were not yet bones.
They still had skin and clothes.
And they had an expression of horror in their eyes.
They were three high school boys, not much older than Kusaka. They were hugging each other in fear.
For a second, his vision fragmented.
He could see his own face and those of Tomo and Hiro in the corpses before him.
His breathing even became slightly agitated.
His mind went blank for a few moments.
Moments long enough for him not to notice the beam of light energy threatening to disintegrate his entire body.
"KUSAKA-SAN!"
For a moment, time seemed to slow down.
Shika saw out of the corner of his eye the monster's energy beam flying towards him.
BOOOOM!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
With a great sweep, the monster's energy beam managed to terraform beyond the cliff.
"Kukukuku..." A malevolent laugh escaped from its lips.
"Damn it, Shizumi, take this!" Kaede threw the holy sword and assumed a combat stance.
'That damn Kusaka got sent flying... It will take him a while to get back here.'
Giving her sister time to prepare, she made a great leap towards the creature.
She aimed her sword at the devil's neck, but it only smiled.
CLANK!
In its apparently human hands, long metal nails stopped the holy sword.
"W-WHAT?!"
The devil took a breath, and its mouth began to glow red.
Kaede's eye contracted at the imminent explosion.
She wasn't sure she could survive taking it head-on.
However.
SLASH!
A sword managed to slash the creature's face.
"Shizumi!"
Both regrouped on the ground.
"It doesn't seem to be that stupid. Attacking its head directly will be difficult."
"How about we do it like in Shingeki No Kyojin?" Shizumi said seriously.
"Huh?! Don't tell me you've already caught Kusaka's otaku-ness?"
"I'm serious... In the manga, they always cut the tendons in risky areas to prevent the Titans from moving. Maybe we could try that."
Reflecting for a moment, Kaede nodded.
"Alright, although I hope you know where the tendons of frogs are because I have no idea about their biology."
"Well, we'll have to guess!"
Both launched themselves into the attack.
With devastating force, they left furrows in the ground as they moved.
WOOSH!
SLASH!
With a solid slash to one of the frog's thighs, the monster's body seemed to lose support.
It leaned slightly to the right to try not to fall completely.
Shizumi ran with all her might to deliver a similar blow, but her eye trembled with fear.
The creature stood up using its own tail.
Its functional thigh moved at the speed of sound.
BOOOOOOM!
The shockwave of the wind hit Shizumi's body, sending her and her sword flying in opposite directions.
"WHAT?! Where did Dad get the idea this devil was medium-level?!" Kaede was terrified.
Her expression said it all.
As soon as the devil's frog legs touched the ground, tree roots emerged from the mud, enveloping her.
'Wait a minute...'
In a matter of seconds, the roots hid underground on their own again, revealing the frog thigh completely healed.
It was as if she had never touched the monster in the first place.
'It was a trap... The devil deliberately brought us here to fight us.'
The girl's legs trembled slightly.