Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Ricardo Subjugation Battle (2)
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I thrust my fist out at blinding speed.
"Gasp…!"
The demon who blocked my casual strike widened his eyes in shock and hurriedly rolled away as it tore through the air.
"…!"
Aura shot toward him as he tried to get back up.
"Kugh! Kyat!"
At the same time, my aura-infused kick pulverized the spot where he had been.
Immediately after, a massive roar echoed, and ice infused with tremendous mana shot out from the cloud of dust.
"Hm."
It was an attack he'd prepared with some ambition, but…
"Your mana is too thin."
"W-What? My attack doesn't work…!?"
The demon recoiled in terror as the ice he launched vanished without piercing the protective aura surrounding my body.
"An attack like that won't work on me."
I brushed off my upper body lightly where I'd been hit and spoke casually.
"You fool…!"
"Too bad."
This body of mine possesses the renowned Heavenly Martial Body, after all.
It means I can learn every martial art on the continent.
In fact, after testing how far I could go, I'd mastered virtually every external energy art out there.
Not just the famous Diamond Indestructible Body, but even the alien races' external techniques I'd picked up while traveling the continent—my defense and vitality were unmatched!
On top of that, I'd solidified countermeasures like cold/heat immunity and poison immunity, so I had nothing to fear in terms of defense or resistances.
To hurt me now, you'd probably need at least a top-tier hero.
"If you want to deal damage to me, concentrate your mana into a single point. Then you might have a chance."
"Krrt!"
The demon shuddered and backed away after I kindly revealed his strategy.
Wait a second.
Now that I think about it, a Four Kings executive is top-tier hero level, right?
"Heh heh heh! Hahaha! You think Ricardo, an executive of the Four Kings, will give up that easily? Telling me your weakness so kindly! Your arrogance will be your downfall!"
Uh, well…
…Demons and heroes aren't measured on the same scale anyway!
Overthinking stuff like this is a loss.
I nodded deeply to myself and returned his attack right back at him, then dusted off my hands.
"Kaaaaah…!"
"…."
Come to think of it, I wonder if that student I rescued earlier is okay.
She didn't seem injured anywhere, but she strangely avoided my eyes, so maybe she was pretty shocked…
"Guhk!"
Her breathing was ragged, and her gaze kept wandering, so she must have been hit hard.
'I'll check on her later.'
Just in case she was hurt, it wouldn't hurt to confirm.
I made a mental note and nodded.
"Y-You think this is enough to… Guak!"
If anyone died because of this incident, that'd be a problem, so if she was hurting anywhere, she should get proper treatment.
'Though it's probably nothing.'
She'd gotten up and moved on her own when told to evacuate, after all.
Maybe it wasn't as serious as I thought.
"Kugh! Then how about this!"
Anyway, I'd asked that student to fetch people from around and set up a barrier, so he couldn't escape easily.
Being the chairman has its perks. The instructors who'd rushed over gladly honored my request—that's what saved them.
Demons are weak to barriers and mana anyway.
I could mimic it to some extent, but honestly, it's a hassle.
If we hadn't put up the barrier, though, he'd have bolted given his personality.
'Especially now that he has a rough idea of my power.'
His reaction right after we met made that clear.
Demons who spotted me often freaked out like that.
"Kuh…!"
Right now, his only escape was through me, so he was charging in.
Otherwise, he'd have fled without looking back ages ago.
"Kraaaah—!"
"Hm."
This is getting tricky.
I'd only been toying with him for less than five minutes.
Yet the demon before me seemed to have reached his limit, struggling to his feet with unfocused eyes.
His body was covered in dirt, and some fluid—sweat or tears, who knew?—streamed endlessly from his face.
Maybe because I'd been lost in thought while fighting.
I must have overdone it.
'Need to control my strength better.'
Ideally, I'd let him go like this and have Noah train her tracking skills, but that might be too greedy.
'Tracking alone would push her to her limit.'
Haiho, who'd taken my request, was herding every last demon beast in real-time, so she wouldn't have the capacity for more practice.
"Hic…!?"
"Hm."
So, what now.
I glanced up at the sky, where the instructors who'd finished preparing were flying in to close the gate.
'They've barred the gate.'
It was a powerful barrier, sealing off the demon beasts trying to emerge from beyond.
The ritual instructors must have prepared it in advance.
Thanks to that, no new demon beasts were spawning—just cleaning up the remnants attacking the city.
That should wrap up soon, too.
'The event's reaching its finale.'
I closed my eyes briefly and extended my aura sense.
Scanning Academy City meticulously, it soon stretched beyond the city walls to the outside.
Passing the vice chairman and active heroes on watch at the ramparts, it expanded to the nearby forest.
'No external attacks… No other demons responding to this guy.'
One scenario I'd considered was using him as a diversion while demons outside assaulted the city, but that didn't seem to be happening.
'If it had, things would've gotten messy.'
"Please! Just once…!"
In that sense, this raid being his solo act was a huge stroke of luck.
'Thanks to that, I got everything I wanted.'
"Kuugh…!"
When designing this event, I'd focused on three key things.
'The growth of Noah and the main cast comes first.'
If the world's protagonists—Noah and her friends—didn't grow, there'd be no future, so that was my top priority.
To that end, I'd arranged power-leveling via herding hunts and various other methods.
'Second is checking Academy City's defenses.'
As a hero-training institution, Academy City boasts elite instructors and talented students.
In a crisis, they'd mobilize as the city guard, so I needed to test them in real combat.
Especially since they'd shine in the upcoming 'Assault' event, their growth was crucial.
In that event, it wouldn't be half-hearted raids like this— at least a Four Kings division-level force would hit us, so training for that was overdue.
Thus, this raid was a precious chance to gain proficiency.
I also needed to gauge Haiho, who handled the city's defense systems, to see how much the current Academy City could handle.
'And finally, thwarting this guy's plan.'
No matter what plans or countermeasures I set, if the demon's succeeded, it'd all be for naught.
So, stopping the demon's plan was the prerequisite for everything else.
Therefore…
"Guh, hek—!"
Me holding him here was a vital part of the plan.
"…."
…That said, leaving the finishing blow to Noah wouldn't hurt either.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ And thirty minutes later.
"K-Kill me instead!"
Tears and snot streaming down his face, the demon slammed his head into the ground and screamed in rage.
After gauging his limits, I'd artistically beaten him down just short of death.
His body was pummeled to mush, sprawled like trash on the floor.
The fire in his eyes had sunk into the abyss, his mouth spilling endless laments about his fate.
His mind seemed broken.
"Hm."
That's that, then.
After staring at him for a while, I finally approached.
I'd meant to drain his stamina for a safe capture, but I ended up stripping his will to fight, too.
At this point, he was a living corpse with his eyes open.
Thirty minutes later, the gate overhead was on the verge of destruction, and the demon beasts blanketing the sky and streets were mostly cleared.
⚙ TELEPATHIC MESSAGE ⚙ {Ho! Chairman! All demon beasts have been exterminated, ho! Heading to the demon now, ho!} Right on cue, a telepathic message came from Haiho, who'd finished herding the beasts.
All of them, not just most.
"Got it."
⚙ TELEPATHIC MESSAGE ⚙ {Even if the chairman says no, I'm coming this time, ho! Noah can still fight, so she'll beat the demon with Haiho, ho! Tell me the location… Ho!? For real, ho!?} "Yeah, we're ready."
⚙ TELEPATHIC MESSAGE ⚙ {Ho ho hot! On my way now, ho! Don't kill him before Noah gets there, ho!} The telepathic link cut off with Haiho's ecstatic voice.
She'd arrive here shortly.
No worries about interference midway.
I'd told the student I rescued to let Noah through.
If she'd relayed it to the instructors properly, Noah would reach here without issue.
"Then it's about time."
To wrap up the plan, I needed to hide now.
The battle with the demon had to be Noah's alone.
"But this is a problem."
However, as I turned to leave, I paused at the sight of the demon and quietly knelt.
Letting him go like this wouldn't give Noah the experience.
Not in levels, but real combat experience.
Demon fights were rare opportunities—you had to squeeze every bit out of them.
And for that, him losing his will already was an issue.
──Listen.
So, I brought my aura-coated hand to him.
"A new human will appear soon."
"…."
"Kill her. Do that, and I'll let you go."
I infused his weary body and mind with vitality, implanting words that seemed like a glimmer of hope.
"Don't you want to live? Then fight."
"…."
"I'll give you the minimum energy to do it."
"…Will you really let me live if I kill that one?"
"I swear it on the Goddess's name."
"…Ahh."
"So give it everything you've got. Show me all you've got."
Of course, dying to Noah was inevitable.
Just an unfortunate accident.
Even if Noah couldn't kill him, he couldn't kill her either.
All the instructors would be watching hawk-eyed.
And I'd be observing the fight too, ready to intervene if it got dangerous.
So, Ricardo the demon's survival odds were nil.
'He knows it too. But he has no choice.'
The choice was entirely his.
Even if there was only one option.