Shikkaku Mon no Saikyou Kenja~ Sekai Saikyou no Kenja ga Sarani Tsuyoku Naru Tameni Tenseishimashita~

The ray of light accelerated to several hundreds kilometer per hour and caught up to Zadokilgias a moment later, penetrating the demon--and proceeded to evaporate clouds few kilometers in the sky above.

It's a spell cast by absorbing about 10% of the enormous mana the [Dragon Breath] carried. This much power is only to be expected. 𝐟𝗿𝚎𝐞𝓌e𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵ𝒆𝑙.c𝚘𝓶

"Did that without rehearsal… but that went well huh."

I cut off my connection to Dragon Veins as I murmured.

Short as it might, establishing a connection to Dragon Veins stirred by the vast mana of [Dragon's Breath] took quite a toll on my magic circuits.

The end result was worth it though.

"There it fell."

Zadokilgias who ate a direct hit of the ray fell off the sky.

It's lost both its arms, one of its wing is burning, its side has been greatly gouged out.

It doesn't have the power left to fly--but it survived.

Not dying from an attack that blew even clouds apart, quite something indeed.

It must have changed its posture during the less than 0.01 second it took for the ray to be invoked and avoided direct hit on vital parts.

As I was thinking that--Zadokilgias invoked a spell.

--[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]

Amongst all recovery magic there is, it's the spell most suited to heal severe wounds.

Unlike ordinary recovery spells, this magic strengthens the rate of recovery by taking in mana in the surroundings as a component

Since the area around here is filled with a vast amount of mana, vestiges of Iris's [Dragon Breath], the spell's recovery power is also many times more potent.

How it managed to make a split second decision to pick the optimal magic even in its terrible state, this demon is really adept at fighting. 𝒇𝚛e𝘦wℯ𝑏𝓃𝑜νℯ𝒍.co𝗺

But of course I'm not going to stay silent as Zadokilgias is healing itself.

Since Zadokilgias flew vertically straight above and then fell, its landing spot is right next to me.

I was going to head to that spot as I stepped on barrier magic.

However…

"…Still got that much power left huh…"

I murmured as I stared at the scene unfolding before me.

Countless magical barrier have been deployed in all possible directions I could take to get close.

It's a ploy to buy time no matter how you look at it.

Those barriers themselves aren't that sturdy--but proceeding through them would take time.

Zadokilgias would have finished restoring its body in the meantime.

Iris's [Dragon Breath] is our trump card.

This fight will get a lot harder if it manages to overcome this situation.

And… Zadokilgias intends to cut its way through this situation.

Zadokilgias is currently deploying multiple barrier magic in addition to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]. A difficult feat even in its normal state.

It's obvious why Zadokilgias deployed this degree of magic even after taking that much damage.

It had anticipated this situation the moment I cast my magic and took extra care so the body parts needed to cast magic were left unharmed.

It must have sacrificed its right arm with the intention to restore it back later.

I broke through the magical barriers picking the shortest route toward Zadokilgias while thinking that.

However Zadokilgias would deploy additional barriers every time I destroyed one.

And while I was occupied in that--Zadokilgias's recovery rate saw a sudden rapid increase.

It's reached the spot with a thick concentration of [Dragon Breath]'s mana.

The wound on its side gets restored in the blink of an eye, its lost arms are gradually forming back.

And then--Zadokilgias suddenly stopped the invocation of [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

"…Hum?"

As Zadokilgias blurted in puzzlement, it turned its line of sight at its recovering right arm.

Looks like it had noticed something wrong as the recovery spell worked its magic.

Afterward, Zadokilgias surveyed the surrounding area--its eyes found broken magic stones on top of faraway roofs.

There are broken pieces of magic stones on top of roofs all over the place here.

Broken arrows could be found near those magic stones.

(Figured it would notice.)

The oddness Zadokilgias sensed is no mere imagination.

Zadokilgias has absorbed mana infused with a trick due to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

『How is it going?』

Ruli contacted me through comm magic.

That's right.

Those broken magic stones on roofs were made by Ruli delivered there on arrows Alma shot.

The magic stones put on those arrows had been augmented with a specific magic that would break the magic stones once the arrows landed and disperse altered mana in the surroundings.

Alma and Ruli hadn't directly participated in this fight not because I didn't count them.

It was done on purpose so Zadokilgias wouldn't notice them, all for the sake of this point.

『Perfect! You did great!』

I proceeded through the barriers as I responded to Alma.

Zadokilgias has indeed realized the girls' trick.

But it's far too late.

The distance between me and Zadokilgias is virtually nil now.

Those barriers would buy at most 10 seconds of time.

Even Zadokilgias can't deal with me with both its arms missing.

Its moves are limited with its arms gone, only death awaits this demon as it can't block my magic and sword.

And--Zadokilgias only has one option left to restore its arms.

[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

Even if there's something wrong with it, even if it knows that it's a trap, Zadokilgias has no other choice but to use that.

The demon itself appears to be fully aware of that.

Zadokilgias invoked [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type] it once suspended at maximum output, and took in a huge amount of mana to fully restore its arms.