“It’s HUGE! I’ve never seen one this big before!”

Even as we fell, the one-eyed monster exclaimed in astonishment.

Guided by his voice, I turned my gaze to the colossal

Oni Blight

before us.

And colossal was the right word for it.

It was enormous—tens of meters tall, maybe even nearing a hundred. A massive boulder-like body sprouted six pale, human-like legs, each nearly ten meters long.

“This isn’t normal… not by a long shot,” the monster muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief.

“But it’s still a Fifth-Rank entity, right?”

“Well, yes, but still…!”

As the monster spoke, a terrible grinding sound echoed.

Looking closer, I saw six massive eyes tearing open along the creature’s rocky body, each one fixing its gaze squarely on us.

“…!”

I gasped and quickly turned my focus elsewhere, catching movement behind me.

A

Silveit

thread spiraled toward me, wrapping tightly around my waist.

It was Aya, extending her

Silveit

threads not just to me, but also to Nina and even the one-eyed monster, tethering us all together.

“Aya, what are you—?”

“Itsuki-kun, I’m counting on you!” she shouted.

“Thanks, Aya!”

With her threads securing us, I shot my own

Silveit

toward the giant

Oni Blight

. I sharpened the tip through

Form Manipulation

and anchored it into the rocky surface. Then, I pulled us up.

We soared upward, defying gravity as the threads hoisted us toward the monster’s massive form.

As we ascended, part of the creature’s rocky body shifted, revealing an enormous, human-like mouth. It opened wide, and a clumsy, childlike voice emerged.

“H-Hello…!”

“Uh, hello…” Aya replied instinctively, her tone oddly polite.

You don’t

have

to answer it, you know, I thought, already preparing my next move.

“

Blazing Spears!

“

The flaming spear of magic spun into existence at my hand, its heat licking the air. I launched it directly at one of the monster’s enormous eyes.

With its sheer size, missing wasn’t even a concern.

The spear hit its mark, igniting in a fiery explosion that obliterated one of the eyes. Black tears began to stream from the wound.

“Zappy-zappy!” the creature cried gleefully, as if this were some kind of game.

It wasn’t enough to purify it. Laughing despite the destruction, the

Oni Blight

began to sprout a massive new arm from its side. The newly formed limb reached toward us with startling speed.

There was no way I was letting it grab us. Kicking off the rocky surface, I sent us soaring through the air once again.

The motion reminded me of the time Nina and I had infiltrated an amusement park for a “job,” evading the Ferris wheel’s arms. This wasn’t much different, except the stakes were higher.

I severed Aya’s

Silveit

threads mid-air to adjust our trajectory.

“I-It’suki-kun! We’re going to fall!” Aya screamed.

“It’s fine,” I assured her.

I extended

Silveit

toward the ground, anchoring us again and accelerating our descent. Timing it just right, I let us drop beneath the enormous arm’s swing before shooting another thread upward, pulling us higher onto the creature’s body.

This time, we landed closer to its base.

Below us, the valley floor was crowded with those grotesque, laughing, tree-like husks.

“

Gale Slash!

” I shouted, swiping my hand.

A scythe of air magic swept through the crowd, shredding the nearby husks and reducing them to a swirling mist of black smoke. The eerie laughter finally quieted as the smoke dispersed.

We landed amidst the fading mist, the one-eyed monster beside us.

“Do we need to burn those too?” I asked.

“Yep. Nothing from the Immortal Realm stays dead unless you torch it,” he confirmed.

As if to demonstrate his point, the eye I’d destroyed earlier started to bubble and regenerate. Within moments, it was completely restored, glaring down at us with renewed intensity.

And then, the

Oni Blight Discover more content at empire

smiled—a wide, childlike grin.

“This is so fun! Do it again!”

The massive creature’s voice echoed across the Immortal Realm, brimming with unrestrained glee.

So, partial purification wasn’t enough. The entire creature would need to be incinerated to finish the job.

“Can you even burn that whole thing, Itsuki?” Nina asked, her voice uncertain.

“Maybe… but…”

I trailed off, running through my options in my mind.

The

Blazing Spear

was effective for precision strikes, but its range and overall power fell short for something this size. Spells like

Blazing Spider

, which spread in a web-like pattern, or

Blazing Cocoon

, which engulfed a target, might work better here. But even then…

“Will it burn all the way through?” I muttered.

That was the real problem.

Against smaller monsters, my magic was more than sufficient. But this… This thing was on a different scale altogether. Could I completely incinerate a creature that massive?

“Maybe we should break it apart before burning it?” Aya suggested.

“Smart idea, miss, but no dice,” the one-eyed monster interrupted. “The Immortal Realm’s demons heal instantly unless it’s fire. You’d be wasting your time.”

So brute force wasn’t an option either.

That left me with two approaches: either use fire to overwhelm it completely or find a way to stop its regenerative abilities.

I decided on the latter.

“Stay back, Aya. Nina too. Don’t get close, okay?”

“What about me?” the one-eyed monster piped up.

“Well, I don’t even know your name, so…”

Looking slightly offended, the one-eyed monster fell silent. Ignoring him, I prepared five threads of

Silveit

.

“Play, play! Let’s play!” the

Oni Blight

shouted, raising its enormous arm for another swing.

This time, I aimed my threads directly at the massive limb.

“Everyone, stay away!” I called, launching the

Silveit

toward the creature.

The threads latched onto its body, and I activated

Complex Attribute Manipulation

.

“—

Oboro Moon.

“

The air twisted and warped as a black sphere materialized at the creature’s core. The sphere pulsed with an ominous light, pulling everything around it inward.

“What’s happening?! No, no, no! I’m getting sucked in!”

The

Oni Blight

screamed in panic as its massive body began to disintegrate, crumbling into faintly glowing dust that was drawn into the black void.

“This spell… It devours everything,” I explained as the creature’s cries faded, leaving only the hum of the sphere’s energy.

The one-eyed monster, watching the spectacle, shivered visibly.

“Kid, I’m amazed I survived meeting you. Seriously.”

“I was in a car that time, remember?” I replied.

“Can’t you just… stay in cars forever? Watching that thing get erased made me feel like I was next.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, only half-serious.

The

Oni Blight

was gone, reduced to nothing but faint light particles. The Immortal Realm’s skies stretched clear and blue above us.

“That was incredible, Itsuki-kun,” Aya said, awe in her voice.

“Thanks,” I replied, glancing upward.

Far above, the portal to the real world shimmered—a circle of light carved by the one-eyed monster’s magic.

“Can we even get back up there?” I asked.

“Of course! Just step back and watch,” the monster replied confidently, raising his hands.

With practiced ease, he drew a clean circle on the ground. The air within it peeled back like paper, revealing the way home.

“See? Easy!” he said, proud of his work.

Maybe this guy was more competent than I’d given him credit for…

I turned to Aya and Nina.

“You two go first.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll follow after.”

I didn’t tell them, but I had something to finish before I left.

Aya nodded and stepped into the portal, disappearing in a flash. Nina hesitated.

“Itsuki… come with me—”

“There’s not enough room for two,” I said gently.

Realizing I was right, Nina reluctantly entered the portal. Once I confirmed they were safely back in the real world, I turned to the one-eyed monster.

“I have one last question.”

“Now? Can’t it wait until we’re back?”

“No. I don’t know if it’s something I can discuss with them around.”

I took a deep breath.

“Do you know about the ‘Immortal Peach’?”

The monster’s expression darkened immediately, his single brow furrowing deeply.

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