The Demon King's Motto
Renya cursed at the distant troll. Even as she did so, she issued orders to handle the situation that had already unfolded.
“Let’s do as I said earlier. Karl, treat that bastard as if he doesn’t exist.”
Ivan and Hillary nodded at her words. Since the plan had been decided, there was no reason to hesitate.
Renya moved her feet toward the troll. Given its massive size larger than the trees, there was no way she would miss.
She did not rush at the troll upon reaching the vicinity.
She knew that relying solely on the dagger would be insufficient to draw out the troll’s nerves. Still, there was a reason she took on this role.
[Nauthiz] — Inflict endless pain on those touched by this blade.
Although it wouldn’t cause substantial damage, the dagger could inflict a level of pain that would make the brain tingle.
It was Rune Magic she had learned from Aaron Patrick as an attribute. Therefore, its completion wasn’t particularly excellent. If it had been him, he would have gone beyond physical pain to touch even the mental aspect.
However, for now, this was sufficient. After all, the priority was to concentrate the troll’s nerves on her.
She took a deep breath and exhaled.
From now on, stamina and mental fortitude would be important. She reassured herself that there was no need to worry. In reality, the surroundings were overgrown with trees, making it difficult for the troll to find her. So, she decided to charge forward with confidence.
The ground trembled, signaling that the troll was right in front of her.
Renya didn’t hesitate and rushed at the troll, slicing its ankle with the dagger. She had intended to sever the tendons, but it was beyond the realm of what the dagger could do. Still, it wasn’t without results.
“Grrrrr!”
As if to indicate that the Rune Magic had properly taken effect, the troll thrashed about. It rolled its eyes in search of the perpetrator who had inflicted the unprecedented pain.
Renya deliberately showed the bastard her position. As soon as the troll found the culprit, it swung its club wildly. A single swing of the club felled multiple trees, and the ground shook.
Fortunately, it wasn’t at a speed that she couldn’t dodge. The problem was that she was depleting her stamina while continuously evading the continuous attacks. Although she considered herself to have decent stamina, as a human, she needed to time her breaths.
It was when her breath was about to choke her.
— Psh!
A clear sound that pierced the throat was heard. It was an arrow fired from 500 meters away that couldn’t be imagined to have such speed. The arrow precisely targeted the head. The troll, which was small enough to ignore, didn’t stay still.
The troll raised its hand to block the arrow. Despite the toothpick thickness, the arrow was deeply embedded, reaching the skull. If it had reached the head, it would have been a powerful strike that delivered a meaningful impact.
It might have been regrettable that the attack was blocked, but Ivan showed no such sign. Rather, his expression clearly showed that this alone was sufficient.
First, it had balanced Renya’s breathing. Second, it was like this.
— Thud!
Unlike the snap of a delicate finger, a harsh sound erupted from the opposite side.
— Kwang!
“...It was an Enchantment series?”
The troll’s hand was powerful enough to burst from a single strike. As Ivan said, it was an attack power that Renya had no choice but to be satisfied with.
‘It entered not badly.’
It wasn’t a monster that would come to mind if regeneration was mentioned, and her hand began to regenerate visibly.
To sever the troll’s throat, she would have no choice but to cut off its head or burst its heart.
The troll was flailing in pain, searching for Ivan who had shot the arrow. He had already left the sniping position and was out of sight. Instead.
“Women who dash should not turn their eyes to others. Troll bastard.”
She repeated the same pattern once more. This time, it was the turn of the poor woman’s dash, not Ivan’s arrow.
Although it wasn’t to her liking, she felt a sense of accomplishment in buying time.
A large golden window was forming on the hill. Although it had been miserably shattered by Aaron, if magic could be constructed, it was a powerful mage.
The window fell toward the disgusting green monster in front of her. The troll swung its massive club to kill.
The collision of the two shook the trees, and a boom erupted. Soon, the window shattered the club and, furthermore, pulverized the troll’s right arm. It didn’t land a fatal blow, but Renya thought it was meaningful.
If Hillary’s magic touched the troll’s vital point, it would be enough to show the possibility of victory. If the troll’s defense was neutralized along with Ivan, it wouldn’t be impossible.
The positive thoughts were soon to be corrected upon seeing the troll. The regeneration was of a different level from the wounds inflicted by Ivan, creating a new right arm.
“...The speed shown at first wasn’t the maximum?”
It was abnormally fast regeneration. It was clearly abnormal, but now was not the time to consider that point.
The plan had to change. If the regeneration was at that level, it was impossible to catch it unless Ivan’s arrows removed both of the troll’s arms and Hillary’s magic didn’t hit directly.
It was practically a theoretical realm. Renya sighed and called out to Ivan.
“Ivan! Tell Hillary to come this way!”
Although reluctant, it seemed she would have to catch the troll herself.
In the control room, the goon who had been watching all this smiled.
“Good~ But this alone isn’t enough. We need to kill some people to reduce the power of the guardian dragon.”
“Shouldn’t we kill that damn professor here too?”
At Berhan’s question, the goon answered lazily.
“Die. Do you remember the purple gem I installed in the auditorium? Soon, a swarm of monsters will come out there. It’s on a scale close to a wave that even a single professor can’t stop. There’s a high chance of death.”
Only then did Berhan nod in satisfaction. As the situation seemed to end favorably for them, the goon showed a firm expression and began to construct the spell. The spell became wind and pierced the door like a blade.
“Who is it?”
Although there was nothing, the goon was certain there was something. His intuition was correct. After the door fell to the ground, a woman entered the control room.
Displaying silky black hair and ruby eyes, it was a woman. The goon had no way of not knowing her.
“...Skadi? I heard you left the Demon King’s castle when you were young. Among humans. What a funny thing.”
“The questions will be asked by me, so shut up.”
The intimidation crushed them. The goon tried to resist it, but in despair, he was horrified.
Although demons value talent, age is an important factor in judging strength. The goon, although belonging to the younger side of demons, was not younger than Skadi. Moreover, the public evaluated her as a talentless trash.
“What nonsense!”
A single syllable came out of Skadi’s mouth. That alone was appropriate to express her emotions.
“Boldly.”
Her blood-red eyes scanned the goon and Berhan.
“Playing such pranks in Professor Aaron’s test?”
“Guh!”
The mana that a mere young demon couldn’t possess was spewing out.
‘Did she hide her talent all this time and deceive the entire demon race?!’
“Tell me. For what purpose did you come here. Is it the Demon King’s command?”
“You, no matter how much you are the daughter of that person, you can’t speak like that!”
“I don’t want to call the bastard who killed my brother father. More than that, don’t beat around the bush. Tell me the reason you came here.”
He couldn’t say it. The goon chose to fight instead. No matter how you look at it, he was a demon younger than himself. He didn’t know what would happen if they fought.
Thinking of being pinned down by experience and skill, he began to construct the spell. But the moment he drew the line of the spell, it was dismantled. For a moment, he didn’t understand the current situation.
It wasn’t the type that was pinned down by force and dismantled. He dismantled the spell with perfect understanding of exactly what to draw. It was the orthodox type, and it was something that happened when the level difference in magic was starkly different.
“The form of the spell isn’t drawn...! Impossible! I definitely heard that the Demon King’s daughter had no talent at all!”
“That was the situation then. That’s why I acted that way. Go ahead and do everything you want. That trash-like skill of yours. I’ll crush even your pride.”
“Arrogant! Don’t be pretentious with something that was just a lucky hit!”
“Well... Check for yourself if it’s really like that.”
Once again, drawing the line of the spell didn’t change. The goon rather wished it was a nightmare. Or that he had used an artifact he didn’t know to nullify the magic.
If this was really possible, the woman in front of him was not a ridiculous enemy of mages!
“My patience is about to run out. Still don’t want to talk? Well, you kind of worship that guy to the point of thinking he’s abnormal, so even if you die, you won’t say it. It would be better to kill both of you without wasting time.”
“Wait, wait! If we die like this, that Aaron guy will die too!”
“It’s better to listen to that properly.”
When Aaron was mentioned, the goon’s breathing quickened. It was a sensation as if the oxygen entering his mouth was being blocked.
“I installed an artifact that causes a monster wave in the auditorium. By now, the monsters should have come out and gone towards that Aaron. If I release it now, that guy can live! So!”
“What? It wasn’t a big deal.”
Skadi, listening to the story, let out a sigh of relief. The goon couldn’t understand her expression at all.
“You know that a single human can’t handle a monster wave! They say it’s quite special...!”
“You’re a demon who wasn’t born long ago? Thinking that a mere piece of trash like that would be a threat to the ‘Malevolent Fiend’.”
That piece of trash? Is this woman saying that a monster wave level is just that piece of trash?
The goon’s head was in turmoil. Skadi recalled something interesting and grabbed his head to show a screen. Aaron Patrick, whom she had mentioned so far, was captured.
“Demons have a proverb.”
Skadi was smiling.
“Run away when you meet the Malevolent Fiend.”