Tutril Incident 4: War Demon
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—Tutril: Near the Explorer’s Guild—
"Hah! Come on, struggle harder! Make this fun for me!"
In a place stained red and black with copious amounts of blood, the Warfrenzy Dimon was turning the gathered soldiers of the Central Army into lifeless corpses one after another.
"We're deploying a strategic-class magic weapon! Do not think of him as human! The civilians in the area have been evacuated! Attack with the intent to leave nothing behind—not even a scrap of flesh!"
The commanding officer of the Central Army stationed in Tutril raised his voice.
Hearing his orders, the soldiers of the Central Army materialized small wands adorned with magic stones.
As soon as magic circles emerged from the tips of their wands, a similar magic circle appeared, surrounding Dimon.
"...Oh?"
Dimon let out an intrigued murmur as he observed the magic circle forming around him.
Yet, his expression remained entirely unfazed.
"Obliterate the monster!"
At the commander’s command, the soldiers activated their magic weapons.
A moment later, Dimon was engulfed by a series of massive explosions—far exceeding the power of Super Explosion [Explode], a top-tier spell.
The shockwaves obliterated the remaining buildings and rubble in the vicinity.
Thanks to the protective field generated by their wands, the soldiers remained unharmed, but the area where the Explorer’s Guild once stood was now a gaping crater. Portions of the ground had been exposed to such intense heat that they had melted.
"This should do it..."
The commander felt a surge of certainty.
But then—
"Hahaha... Ahahahaha!"
Laughter rang out from within the still-rising smoke.
"No... Impossible..."
The commander muttered, his expression twisted in despair.
"Too bad for you! No matter what you try, you worms will never leave so much as a scratch on me!"
Grinning sadistically, Dimon emerged from the smoke.
Surviving such a bombardment should have been unthinkable.
Even if he had withstood the blasts, the aftermath should have been an inferno, hot enough to sear exposed flesh and burn one's lungs with every breath.
The soldiers were protected by the spatial barrier created by their wands, but Dimon had no such defense.
Yet, he stood there, completely unscathed—unchanged from before the attack.
"This... This is impossible... There’s no way we can win against that kind of monster..."
One of the soldiers muttered in a daze, the despair spreading like a virus among his comrades. The Central Army lost all ability to fight.
"Hey, aren’t you guys supposed to be soldiers? The kind who put their lives on the line to protect the city and its people? Then come at me with your lives on the line! Entertain me more!"
"I... I don’t want to die... Not like this..."
Hearing the soldier’s pathetic plea, Dimon’s expression went blank.
"...Hah. Boring. Just die already."
His voice was devoid of emotion, spoken as if he had completely lost interest.
The next instant, the soldiers—who had lost their will to fight—suddenly burst like water balloons, their blood spraying in all directions. They all perished in an instant.
"...I’m bored. The Sword Maiden never showed up, huh? Guess I’ll go kill The Rakshasa instead. That one might be able to satisfy my hunger, at least a little."
Without sparing a single glance at the fallen soldiers, Dimon made his next move.
—And in that moment, a magic circle appeared above his head.
"...Huh?"
Dimon looked up at the magic circle—
—And in the next instant, a massive bolt of lightning rained down upon him.
Yet, even this strike failed to inflict any damage.
Showing no sign of concern for the lightning, Dimon turned his gaze toward the one who had cast Heaven’s Thunder Hammer [Mjolnir].
At that precise moment, Will of Night Sky Silver Rabbit appeared behind him.
Without hesitation, he swung the twin-bladed sword in his hands at Dimon.
A perfect surprise attack from a blind spot.
And yet, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Dimon raised his greatsword like a shield, blocking the twin blades.
Will clicked his tongue and quickly created distance between them.
“Lucre, don’t let up!”
“I know!”
Responding to Will’s call, Lucrecia channeled mana into her constructed spell and unleashed Thunder Spear [Thunder Javelin].
Three spears of lightning shot toward Dimon.
But with a single effortless swing of his greatsword, he cleaved through them all.
As Dimon’s attention shifted to the lightning spears, Will took the opportunity to strike again with his twin blades.
Dimon reacted immediately, turning his greatsword in a sweeping motion to counter.
Rather than meeting the greatsword head-on, Will angled his blades to deflect it, causing the massive weapon to slide along the surface of his own.
For the briefest moment, Dimon’s stance wavered.
“Oh?”
A note of surprise escaped Dimon’s lips.
Seizing the opening, Will’s left fist shot forward, striking Dimon square in the chest.
“Get blown away!”
With a roar, Will drove his punch forward.
A ring-shaped magic weapon adorned his left middle finger.
Just as he declared, Dimon was sent hurtling backward.
“Super Explosion [Explode]!!”
As Dimon landed, Lucrecia followed up with an attack spell.
“Tch... That stings.”
Emerging from the smoke, Dimon casually wiped away a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
“No way…”
“He’s still standing after that…? This is insane…”
Seeing Dimon barely fazed by their combined assault, both Will and Lucrecia broke into a cold sweat.
The ring-shaped magic weapon Will had been given bore a striking resemblance to the internal destruction technique mastered by Haruto of the Copper Sunset—a devastating attack that, if landed on a normal person, would leave them on the brink of death with just a single hit.
On top of that, Dimon had now taken two direct hits from top-tier magic.
And yet, he remained standing.
Faced with this absurd reality, the two warriors trembled.
“Hahaha! I like you two. Unlike those pathetic soldiers, you haven’t lost your will to fight… So, how about you keep me entertained until The Sword Maiden shows up?”
Just as Dimon let out his taunt, his body blurred—
—And in the next instant, he had closed the distance to Will, bringing his massive greatsword down upon him.
“—!!?”
Reacting on pure instinct, Will maneuvered his twin blades to deflect Dimon’s strike.
“I’ve already seen that trick. Here, have it back!”
Dimon’s left fist drove into Will’s torso.
The impact sent him flying backward.
“Gah!”
“Will!? You bastard!”
Lucrecia immediately cast both a healing spell on Will and an attack spell to keep Dimon at bay.
Seeing the incoming magic, Dimon abandoned his follow-up attack and instead dodged to the side.
“Thanks, Lucrez.”
“This is my job, don’t mention it! More importantly, Will—don’t lose your will to fight. That phenomenon where the soldiers' bodies ruptured—there’s no doubt that it was caused by his Unique Ability!”
“Oh? You figured that out after seeing it just once? Do you have some kind of power that lets you see mana?”
“As if I’d answer that! After what you’ve done to our city—there’s no way I’ll ever forgive you!”
Lucrecia’s voice was laced with fury.
“Hahaha! I like that fire in you. People like you… their blood tastes the best.”
“Don’t say creepy shit like that!”
Having been healed by Lucrecia’s magic, Will roared as he closed the distance to Dimon once more.
“Tch… Having a mere mortal like you talk back to me—it’s pissing me off!”
With an irritated sneer, Dimon swung his greatsword.
Will dodged with ease.
Without missing a beat, Dimon followed up with another powerful strike.
Will tried to create distance, but Dimon gave him no chance, forcing him into a relentless exchange of blows.
Will deflected Dimon’s attacks, and Dimon parried Will’s counterstrikes.
Will was pushing himself to his absolute limit, yet Dimon remained eerily composed.
Wounds began to accumulate on Will’s body—but the moment they formed, Lucrecia’s healing magic mended them, allowing him to keep up the fight.
(Damn it…! At this range, I can’t use my attack magic…! But Will will definitely create an opening. And when he does—I won’t miss it!)
Gritting her teeth, Lucrecia focused, conserving enough mana to heal Will while waiting for the right moment to strike.
“Come on, fight harder! Or you’re gonna die!”
“Damn it…!”
Will was gradually being pushed onto the defensive.
Dimon’s grin widened as he drove him further into a corner.
And then—Will finally made a critical mistake.
As he attempted to deflect Dimon’s greatsword, his stance collapsed.
A fatal opening.
Dimon’s blade loomed over him, ready to strike—
—“Now, Lucrez!”
Will sent a telepathic message to Lucrecia.
“—[Tidal Wave]!”
The moment she received his signal, Lucrecia activated her magic.
A massive surge of water materialized, forming a towering wave that engulfed both Will and Dimon.
Will, anticipating this, skillfully used the wave’s momentum to create distance between himself and Dimon.
Dimon, on the other hand, abandoned his attack and planted his feet firmly, lowering his center of gravity to withstand the force of the water.
“Haha! You two are in perfect sync! Gotta admit, you make a damn good team!”
Soaked from head to toe, Dimon burst into laughter.
“Hate to ruin your fun, but this fight is over! We win!”
As she declared victory, Lucrecia raised a small wand—one distinct from the ones the soldiers had used earlier.
The moment the magic weapon activated, an arctic wind howled through the battlefield, plunging the temperature far below freezing.
Dimon instinctively twisted his body to evade, but he couldn’t fully escape.
His entire right side—greatsword included—froze solid, leaving him immobilized.
“What!?”
“Nice one, Lucrez!”
Will summoned a longsword into his hand.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary blade, but this, too, was a magic weapon supplied by the Central Army.
“You murderous bastard! Die and pay for your sins!”
With those words, Will lunged forward, his longsword slicing toward Dimon—
—Only for Dimon’s entire body to vanish into mist the instant before the strike landed.
Where he had stood, there was now only a drifting red-black fog.
Will’s blade cut through nothing but empty air.
“Damn it! Where the hell did he—Gah!?”
Will’s eyes darted around in search of Dimon—
—Only to feel a searing pain rip through his back as an unseen blade struck him down.
“Will!?”
Lucrecia gasped in shock, but her reaction was immediate.
She began constructing the spell formula for [Ex-Heal], pouring magic into it—
—But the mana she directed toward the spell suddenly diverted elsewhere.
Her magic didn’t activate.
“…What was that? That mana flow…?”
Stunned, Lucrecia murmured, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
Then—
“Didn’t think I’d have to resort to Mist Form…”
Dimon’s voice echoed from within the red-black fog.
The mist gathered in one spot, condensing—
And Dimon reappeared before them.
His greatsword remained unchanged in shape, but its blade had turned a deep, reddish-bronze hue.
“You… turned into mist to evade my attack…? That’s not possible…”
Will gritted his teeth, wincing from the pain in his back.
“Tch. Of course it is. You mortals could never measure me by your pathetic standards.”
Dimon idly swung his bronze-colored greatsword as he answered Will’s unspoken question.
“Damn it! —Wha…!?”
Will’s frustration turned to shock.
His body wouldn’t move.
“Why…? Why won’t my magic activate…!? This mana flow—what is this!?”
Lucrecia’s voice grew desperate.
She had tried [Ex-Heal] multiple times, only to have it fail over and over.
She couldn’t understand why.
“Hah. That was fun while it lasted. Don’t worry—I’ll put your blood to good use.”
Dimon leveled the tip of his greatsword against Will’s back.
It was an execution.
“—I won’t let you!”
Before the blade could strike, Lucrecia rushed forward, gripping the longsword-type magic weapon issued by the Central Army.
She sprinted straight at Dimon—
“—Stop.”
“—Ah…!?”
The moment Dimon uttered that single word, Lucrecia’s body locked up.
She came to an abrupt halt, her eyes wide with disbelief.
She hadn’t chosen to stop.
Something else had forced her to.
“What… the hell is this…!? What the hell are you doing to me!?”
Overcome by confusion, rage, and frustration, she screamed.
“You will stand there… and watch your friend die.”
A sadistic grin spread across Dimon’s face as he issued his next command.
Then, he raised his greatsword high—ready to drive it down.
“Lucre… run…”
“Don’t… please… Stop this…!”
Frozen in place, stripped of her magic, Lucrecia could do nothing.
All she could do was plead through her tears.
But her voice never reached Dimon.
His grin widened—
And then,
His greatsword impaled Will’s body.
“NOOOOOOOOOO—!!!”
Lucrecia’s anguished scream echoed through the battlefield.
Her face twisted in absolute despair.
And in that moment—
All will to fight against Dimon crumbled.
——.