“That guy…”
What the heck?
Even though his magical flames had been entirely ineffective, it was nevertheless now evident that the Mazoku did not possess any sort of exceptional, innate resistance to flame.
Suddenly, as Suimei was evaluating the situation, a male voice suddenly called out.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Get back!”
“Hmm?”
“You! The guy with the black hair! Pull back!”
Enemy defeated, he’d noticed Suimei’s situation.
The other adventurers, their Mazoku eliminated, rushed over.
Looking more closely, he recognized them as the party that Lefille had happily conversed with.
As directed by the warrior adventurer, a girl – the party’s mage – chanted as fire sprang forth from the end of her staff.
Perhaps having noticed, the Mazoku suddenly flew backward with a flap of its wings.
So that magic is one to be avoided…
Sensing the danger, it pulled back. Although it had previously tried to avoid one of his spells, but this time it really retreated a good distance, perhaps owing to the difference between his magic and hers when it came to effectiveness was against the Mazoku.
Next.
The adventurer who had raced to his side spoke.
“Get back. We’ll take care of things.”
“No, it’s okay. I can do it.”
“What do you mean you ‘can do it’…?! You were clearly in a desperate situation!”
“Desperate? No, not at all…”
“What else would you call it?! That Mazoku is as healthy as can be!”
Well, on the surface of things, that was undeniable. But that just meant it’d take a little more time is all. That Mazoku posed no threat to him whatsoever, not to mention he hadn’t yet used his true strength.
All the same, since he’d been unable to bring his foe down, from an outsider’s point of view, he was indeed locked in a desperate battle.
“…Maybe, but either way, I still want to continue.”
“No way. Retreat back to the caravan, we’ll take care of this.”
“Eh? No, no, that’s a problem!” Suimei rejected the adventurer’s words with a shake of his head.
Indeed, it would be troubling for Suimei. If he were to simply leave this in someone else’s hands, then he’d never be able to unravel the enigma of why his magic was so ineffective against the Mazoku. He would leave without knowing precisely just how much power it took to take down his enemy. Considering that he wasn’t in any danger, he couldn’t just allow the mystery to remain unsolved.
And yet.
“Huh? What problem are you talking about? Once we take that thing down, there won’t be any problems left, right? Now then, hurry back to the caravan—?!”
Not entirely paying attention as he spoke, the adventurer’s words suddenly stopped short.
That was due to having to avoid something that flew his way – the Mazoku’s attack.
The adventurer at Suimei’s side didn’t seem to have thoroughly grasped the attack, as he unnecessarily leapt a great distance away.
Realizing that its attack had been avoided sight unseen, the Mazoku circled around horizontally, as if gliding, while drawing close.
It attempted to flank them in order to attack from a blind spot.