Look! This Is What You Call Support Diff! (Part 6)
Rumble, craaaash!
Drawing closer with a deafening roar, the gargantuan crimson surge hurtled straight toward the encampments where the Second and Third Legions were stationed. Up close, its sheer scale was utterly overwhelming.
A power of this magnitude was undeniably impressive, but the mana consumption seemed hopelessly inefficient. Mages were a neurotic breed who obsessed over every scrap of efficiency, sticking their noses into everything. Would one of them truly squander mana like this? It defied reason. They were a greedy, inquisitive lot, forever bickering over how cost-effective their proprietary spells were, lecturing their peers on being wasteful with their reserves. For someone like that to deploy such a lavish, unoptimized spectacle made no sense at all.
Unless that human man truly was the culprit? No, that was ridiculous. Human women were known for their exceptional talents; it had to be one of them. Having observed my younger sister, Livia—Commander of the Third Legion right beside mine—along with her entire corps on a daily basis, I understood the eccentricities of mages better than anyone.
Tired of dwelling on questions that led nowhere, I decided it had to be the work of one of the human heroes. Stepping forward, I squared my shoulders and planted my feet directly in the path of the thundering crimson tide.
Rumble, roaaar!
"My, what a noisy racket you're making," I muttered under my breath. "Let's see if there's any bite behind that bark. Hup!"
I roused the demonic energy slumbering deep within my Mana Heart, coaxing it into an explosive surge that coursed swiftly through my veins. After circulating through every limb, the gathered power funneled into my left hand. Pitch-black currents erupted from my gauntlet, coiling around my left arm like a writhing serpent.
Wuuuush—
Rumble, craaaash!
"Haaah!"
With a sharp shout, the swirling dark energy discharged from my left arm, coalescing into a colossal sphere of demonic power that blasted straight into the heart of the approaching wave.
Rumble, craaaash!
Fwoooosh—
To my utter bewilderment, the sphere collided with the red wave only to phase right through it as if striking empty air, shooting straight past and hurtling toward the point where the deluge had originated. My jaw dropped, eyes widening in sheer disbelief.
What in the world? Why didn't it make impact? Was the entire thing a weightless illusion? But how could a mere mirage generate such a deafening roar? What was this sorcery?
RUUUUMBLE, CRAAAASH!
Before I could piece it together, the crimson surge swept over me. Just as I had suspected, it thundered past without leaving the slightest physical sensation. For a moment, I considered releasing my aura to shield myself, but upon confirming it was nothing more than an empty phantom, I pivoted and began marching toward the point of origin, trailing the wake left by my demonic blast. If I followed that trajectory, I would run straight into those wretched broads. Insolent pests.
I had taken precisely five strides toward the source of the wave when a heavy impact reverberated from the distance.
BOOOOM!
The dull thud echoed from the suspected origin point. A direct hit. Just you wait. I was going to march over there and personally crush the skull of the little wretch who dared toy with me.
Channelling demonic energy into my legs, I detonated a burst of power beneath my feet, propelling myself forward with blistering speed.
Bam!
Faintly from behind, the distant voice of my adjutant called out my name, but I couldn't have cared less. My objective was set in stone. Find your own way, adjutant!
Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, I slowed my pace, savoring the deliberate clack of my boots against the stone as I pondered how best to carve up my prey. I stomped heavily to herald my arrival. The resonant thuds vibrating through the air were music to my ears.
Thud. Thud.
Rejoice, humans. Your doom has arrived.
Thud. Thud.
"Who goes there?!"
I offered no answer, pressing forward in silence. As the distance shrank, their hushed, tense voices drifted clearly into my ears.
"With power like that... has a Legion Commander graced us with her presence in person?"
"What? A Legion Commander? Here? Why?"
"Who knows... We'll find out soon enough."
"She's almost here. Stand ready."
I had plenty of questions of my own, but I fully intended to let my fists do the talking first. Once they were thoroughly tenderized, then we could have a proper chat.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Coming to a halt just close enough to make out their faces, I swept my gaze across the human heroes to take count. One, two, three, four, five, six... seven? A female warrior clad in armor slowly lowered her greatshield, revealing a short-haired human male standing just behind her. There really was a man here, just as my sister had said.
Deducing the trajectory, it was clear this human man had unleashed the crimson wave. The heavy collision I had heard earlier must have been the shield maiden blocking my demonic projectile on his behalf. How amusing. My sister's half-baked theory had turned out to be spot-on.
"So you're all gathered here," I sneered, throwing my shoulders back so that my chest thrust forward in an imposing display of sheer hostility. "The insolent little runts who handed my dear sister her humiliating defeat."
My eyes locked with each of the human heroes one by one, finally settling on the human man at the rear. I expected him to be trembling in terror under my crushing aura, but instead, he gave me a slow, thorough once-over before gazing back with an expression of genuine concern.
What was with that look? Did he just scan my entire body and look... worried for me? Was he actually fretting over my well-being right now? Why on earth did he keep staring at me with those soft, anxious eyes? It was infuriatingly distracting.
Before my mounting irritation could boil over, one of the armed heroes stepped forward from the line, weapons drawn, and hurled a brazen taunt my way.
"Dragging that heavy body all the way out here yourself? And a whole Legion Commander at that. You must be awfully desperate."
"Desperate? Naturally," I replied, running my tongue across my lips as I glared back at the insolent fools. "You worthless wretches dared steal my sole amusement—the joy of tormenting my pathetic sister. Anyone who touches what belongs to me pays with their life."
Most of the heroes held their ground, tracking my every twitch with weapons raised, yet that single human male continued to grate on my nerves. Sheltered behind the shield maiden, he kept poking his head out from behind the steel barrier to cautiously observe my movements.
From start to finish, he was testing my patience. Fine. I would make him my very first target. But first, I needed to confirm whether he truly was the architect of that ridiculous crimson tide.
"That red wave earlier... it played a rather decisive part in humbling my sister. Which of you bitches cast it?"
Silence hung heavy in the air. Sensing that stepping forward meant drawing the full brunt of my initial strike, not a single soul volunteered. So that was how they wanted to play it. Raising my left hand, I pointed a solitary finger directly at the man hiding in the back.
"Nobody? Don't tell me you take a Legion Commander for a fool. Or is that trembling male cowering behind you the culprit, and you're covering for him?"
A noticeable tremor rippled through their ranks. Bingo.
Before the startled heroes could recover their composure, a woman clad in a dark robe stepped forward, brandishing a staff topped with an emerald orb.
"I did it," she proclaimed, chin held high with haughty defiance. "I am an archmage; of course such a spell is well within my power. What could an outsider like you possibly know? Don't tell me you honestly believe a fragile man could conjure something so grand?"
She blustered with immense pride, but having already arrived at the truth, I crossed my arms and snorted derisively.
"Is that so? Then how about we put that claim to the test?"
"...What? I just told you, it was me!"
She was a dreadful liar. Her frantic overcompensation only solidified my suspicions. It really was the man. A simple test would settle this immediately.
"Did you honestly think such a transparent lie would fool me? I came here already knowing that human male was responsible."
"What...? How could you possibly...?"
"I might tell you once my temper cools down."
Mages were so delightfully predictable. A single nudge and they spilled every secret they had. Glancing sideways, I caught the man staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. Transparent as glass. Time to begin.
Raising my left hand, I focused my demonic power into the gauntlet. Black currents surged forth, winding up my arm like an obsidian viper.
Wuuuush—
As the human heroes braced themselves, muscles tensing to absorb the impending strike, I seized the opening.
"Hup!"
With a guttural shout, I unleashed a crushing gravitational pull from my idle right hand, violently disrupting their balance. The shield maiden guarding the man took the brunt of the distortion, stumbling hard and losing her grip on her massive bulwark. Without missing a beat, I thrust my left arm forward and released a condensed sphere of demonic energy.
An opening!
KABOOOM!
Pumping power into my legs to charge into the gap the moment the projectile blasted her aside, I witnessed a spectacle that froze me dead in my tracks.
Rather than resisting the gravitational pull, the human man rode the momentum, violently shoving the staggering shield maiden out of harm's way. Snatching up her dropped greatshield with both hands, he planted his feet to intercept my blast head-on.
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through the clearing as the demonic sphere crashed into the shield. The man had taken the blow meant for the warrior, withstanding the blast all on his own.
Was he insane? A man shielding a woman from an attack? In this world, the natural order dictated that women protected men; I had assumed he would be the same delicate, spineless creature as every other male. Yet here he was, shattering every preconception. To see such a chivalrous fantasy unfold before my very eyes... What I wouldn't give to be shielded like that just once... No, no, absolutely not! What in the world was I thinking?!
Shaking the absurd thought from my head, my eyes snapped back to the battlefield.
"Gaaahk!"
The sheer concussive force proved too much for his frail constitution. Coughing up a violent spray of blood, the man collapsed to one knee, barely holding himself upright against the dented shield.
"...Idiot! What are you doing?! Do you want to die?!"
Tearing off her suffocating helmet and hurling it to the dirt, the shield maiden rushed to his side in a panic.
"Idiot! Can you see me?! Answer me!"
She hauled him up by the shoulders, her voice cracking with frantic urgency.
"Merlin! Merlin, heal him! Now!"
"Wh-what...? Y-yes, on it!"
Demanding healing right in front of an active enemy? Did they take me for a joke?
Bam!
"You think I'll just stand by and let you patch him up?!"
"Do we look like painted folding screens to you, demon?!"
Priming the demonic energy in my muscles, I launched forward to crush his recovery, only to be forced back by the synchronized counteroffensive of three sword-wielding heroines leading the vanguard.
Clang, craaash!
Clack!
Pure White Aura!
Slash, claaang!
Schwing!
Craaash!
What was with these blazing auras?! Each strike came charged with a razor-sharp, life-threatening radiance, weaving a lethal web that was impossible to dodge cleanly. Parrying each blow with hurried deflections, I was forced to leap backward to re-establish distance.
Rolling my shoulders to work out the tension, I gestured toward the battered male with a mocking smirk.
"Tsk... you're a real handful when you stick together. Why don't you go tend to that useless, unconscious runt over there instead of... wha... huh?"
The words caught in my throat.
Though he couldn't stand without support, the human man was already back on his feet. Leaning heavily on the shield, he glared straight at me, his eyes burning through the haze of agony. Looking at him head-on, the sight was nothing short of breathtaking. His clothes were drenched in crimson, the earth beneath his boots soaked in a pool of fresh blood. By all rights, he looked like a corpse on the verge of collapsing into the grave.
Yet in a weak, breathless rasp, he forced out the words one syllable at a time.
"...Yeah. I... cast it. Are you... finally satisfied... now...?"
Silence gripped the clearing.
Heavens above... What kind of creature was he? How could a mere man remain standing in that state? He had taken the full brunt of my attack, yet he still stood proud. Aren't men supposed to collapse into pathetic heaps, wailing and moaning at the slightest bruise? How could a man look this rugged, this intoxicatingly resilient while tottering on the brink of death?
The sheer gulf in grit between him and every other male was staggering. His raw, unyielding tenacity resonated deeply with the brutal ethos of my legion. And that strained, exhausted voice... it struck a chord entirely unlike the cheap, simpering charms of an incubus, sending an unprecedented thrill coursing through my chest.
To think the human heroes had been hoarding such a magnificent specimen all to themselves. When he had landed in that ridiculous pose earlier, we should have seized him right then and there. What a missed opportunity. But more than that...
I want to be protected like that, too!
Jealousy burned hot in my chest. To share the battlefield with a man like that... Who knew human males possessed such breathtaking allure? Those wretched heroines were practically living in paradise. Now I understood why Mother had staked her claim on him the moment she laid eyes on him. For the first time in my life, I felt a burning desire to snatch something right out of Mother's grasp.
Hehehe...
Wait, what was happening to me? Was it just my imagination, or was the blood rushing to my face at an alarming speed? Suddenly, my heart began pounding against my ribs like a frenzied war drum.
Why? Why was my chest fluttering and hammering just from looking at a battered human male?
Clutching at my chest, completely unable to fathom the violent palpitations threatening to tear me apart, I felt like I was losing my mind.
What is this?! What's wrong with me?!