Chapter 193: A War That Had Already Begun (3)

The hands and spears made of flames that had been enveloping Raion shattered into pieces and scattered as the aura tore them apart.

Through that gap, Raion burst out and charged toward Valam, who had been gripping the lid of the ‘Concrete Shell’.

“I didn’t expect to find an opening from an attack I just tried on a whim.”

“What are you talking about……?”

“There must’ve been a reason you grabbed an attack you’d been taking without any trouble, right?”

“Don’t tell me……!”

“That means there’s some kind of core holding that body together!”

Raion drew out the White Lightning Flash aura at maximum output and swung it.

Pajijijijijijik!

Pure-white lightning tore apart as densely as its output allowed, raking through Valam’s entire body.

“Kuaaaargh!”

A shriek suddenly burst from Valam’s mouth.

It was a scream. One that could only be heard now, since none of the attacks until this point had worked.

“Is it there?”

At that moment, Raion’s gaze focused on one direction among those the White Lightning Flash aura was chasing.

Between Valam’s massive body, right between his legs.

“……!”

Even now, perhaps from the intense pain, the arm that had been holding up the ‘Concrete Shell’ began to lose its form.

‘Why of all places…….’

Whether it was intentional or unavoidable.

What mattered right now was this—he had finally found the weakness.

The location itself didn’t matter. Truly.

Raion drew out an even stronger White Lightning Flash aura and swung it.

There was no need to disperse the attack like before. The aura poured toward a single point.

True Martial Art (眞武道) Sword Strike (劍格) One Point (一點)

Pajijijijijijik!

If Severing Bow (斬弓) was a slashing motion, then One Point (一點) was a thrust.

The aura, concentrated into a single point, shot straight toward that spot on Valam.

“Not a chance—!”

Valam created even more arms made of flame.

Then, his entire body, which had been falling through the air, landed atop a tall concrete platform.

Kukung—!

It was the very platform Raion had raised to launch Valam upward.

From the impact, Valam’s legs, which had been frozen stiff, cracked.

Jjeojeojeok!

“You can’t dodge this from there!”

The opportunity had come to Raion.

The rapidly fired Sword Strike (劍格) One Point (一點) slipped through the momentarily unsteady flame arms and reached its target.

Hwaaaak! Ppajijijik!

Raion focused the lightning aura as much as possible so it wouldn’t spread in all directions.

As a result, a large passage was carved out, starting from Valam’s core area and extending through the flame arms that had been blocking the front.

At the same time, in the center of that hollowed-out torso, there floated a dark red gemstone about the size of a human head.

Perhaps it was sturdier than expected, as it looked unharmed even by the White Lightning Flash aura that had been fired at it.

“So that’s the core? I’d better bind it more. Concrete Spike!”

From the ‘Concrete Shell’, now filled to the brim, sharp spiked pillars shot upward.

Valam’s arms, which had been barely holding together, were already unstable and were soon riddled with holes.

Kwaaang—!

Before long, the flaming arms and torso scattered apart, and the ‘Concrete Shell’ snapped shut tightly.

“Is it done? Ah……, saying things like that.”

Raion recalled something Lewis, a fellow mercenary who liked games, used to say.

Something about a revival flag…….

Hwarik—!

As if to mock those words, flames burst out from the gaps of the tightly closed ‘Concrete Shell’.

At least as expected, if that truly was the core, Valam’s body did not reform elsewhere.

“I can’t let one I caught with such difficulty get away.”

There might not be another chance.

Raion once more focused the White Lightning Flash aura onto the tip of his sword.

At the same time, he spread his left hand and flung the ‘Concrete Shell’ wide open.

Flames surged up from Valam’s core, trying to rapidly form a body.

He couldn’t miss that opening.

“Now!”

Raion kicked off the concrete platform, his body shooting forward at high speed.

Aura alone wasn’t enough. Power and speed imbued with his full strength (全力) were also required.

Shwaaaaaak! Jwaaaak!

In the next instant, Raion passed by while slashing through Valam’s core with his sword.

“No—!”

Agares, who had somehow drawn near, screamed while floating in midair.

But it was already too late.

Flag or no flag, before long Valam’s core split cleanly in two.

The flames that had been rapidly flaring up came to a halt.

Like fire being drenched by rain, they died down, smoke rising instead.

Then, the halved core of Valam crumbled into dust and scattered on the wind.

Pasususu…….

“You dare kill Valam!”

“I never intended to leave you alone either.”

Even in that moment, Raion was worried about what was happening below.

Just then, something shot up from beneath the tall concrete platform.

Kiaaaaaaak!

A griffin with two powerful pairs of wings let out a resounding cry.

Grapheos had returned to his original form and risen into the air.

“Grappi?”

[I blocked it! I blocked it!]

Raion brought up the map through Perception (感知) and checked the situation at Mineta Castle.

The damage was horrific, but there were quite a lot of survivors.

Of course, since he was facing Agares, he couldn’t check everything in detail.

“Thank you, Grappi.”

[Need help? Need help?]

“No. Go down for now and block the shockwave when it comes.”

[Are you okay? Are you okay?]

“Please.”

He didn’t know what Agares’s weakness was. Maybe it was like Decarsen or Malphas…… in any case, striking first was important.

While Grappi descended, Raion immediately drew out his aura and rushed at Agares.

“You’re overconfident if you think I’ll lose my composure. Ad pristinum statum (return to your original place).”

Agares muttered words Raion couldn’t understand.

At the same time, the footing beneath Raion’s feet as he was running lurched and began to sink downward.

“Why is this happening?”

It had been firmly solidified with a 6th-circle fusion spell, ‘Concrete Wall’.

The ground sank at high speed, to the point that it nearly left Raion hanging in midair.

Raion responded by using Fly to rise up.

In the meantime, only Agares remained intact as she descended downward together with the ground.

“So you can manipulate the earth. Does that include minerals or fused materials as well?”

The main component of concrete was limestone, which was called nak in this place.

The gravel and sand mixed into it also belonged to the earth.

They were substances similar to minerals, so if she controlled everything that belonged to the earth, it made sense.

“That Valam guy was fire. This time, it’s earth.”

It was an attribute that would never be easy. It might even be more troublesome than Valam.

The concrete platform Raion had created disappeared completely.

Agares glared at Raion with eyes filled with rage from atop the earth.

It felt cold and heavy, making it difficult to read her exact thoughts.

‘I shouldn’t judge her as absolutely weaker than Decarsen Falkahn or Malphas.’

Carelessness was forbidden.

“If you won’t come down, I’ll pull you down.”

Agares muttered that and waved her arm.

The ground rippled like water and surged upward at tremendous speed.

It looked like a monster with tentacles.

Raion immediately changed direction and descended rapidly.

“I’ll have to finish this quickly!”

There was no need for a reason to attack each other. To the demon race, humans were simply beings to be killed.

If persuasion seemed possible, Raion would have tried.

But by now, an unknown number of people had already been sacrificed because of them.

“Earthquake!”

“You make such a half-baked attempt…….”

As the incantation activated along with the spell formula, the ground where Agares stood began to tremble.

It was something he tested just in case.

As expected, ‘Earthquake’ showed signs at first, then failed to activate.

It was stopped by her power that dominated the earth.

‘The magic wasn’t dispelled……?’

Normally, when magic was dispelled, the mana bound to its attribute scattered into the air.

It meant the mana’s binding was released along with the dispelling.

But just now, it felt as though the mana of ‘Earthquake’ hadn’t been released, but instead had been handed over to Agares as it was.

“If that’s the case…… Flare!”

Raion formed a dense blue fireball in his left hand and threw it.

He amplified it and concentrated mana even more strongly, pulling it up to its maximum temperature.

The rapidly flying ‘Flare’ drew closer and closer to Agares.

“Do you really think an attack like this will work on me?”

Kururung! Shwaaak! Kwang—!

At the same moment Agares moved her arm, earth that surged up like a wave swallowed the Flare whole.

‘As expected… is it like that?’

After confirming the result, Raion immediately charged forward while releasing the aura of White Lightning Flash.

It was a movement that seemed to signal the start of a proper battle.

As if she had been waiting for it, Agares swung her arms rapidly.

The ground shifted, and sharp, earth-colored blades burst forth like roots.

Chachang! Chachachang—!

True Martial Art sword clash

With a sword clash unleashed together with the Raizen-Style Swordsmanship, which boasted a jet-black blade body, Raion deflected the blades.

The attack did not end there.

Following Agares’s movements, the blades changed direction and came at him again.

Papak! Pak!

Before the blades erupting from the ground could even fully reveal themselves, Raion leapt into the air.

The blades then pursued Raion as if to devour him.

Chaechang! Chaechachaeng!

Even in midair, Raion’s sword moved busily.

‘Are these blades made by mixing minerals?’

They were not easily cut even by a blade made of adamantium.

So he tried checking with Analysis, but it was a difficult combination to understand.

‘It’s not like I’m some kind of mineral expert…….’

If he used ‘Tip’ out of curiosity, he could learn more in detail, but he didn’t have the leeway to go that far right now.

Raion infused aura into his blade and slashed straight in a single line.

True Martial Art sword clash Severing Bow

Seoreok—!

But perhaps aura was useless against it, as the blades—packed together like tangled roots—flew apart like heaps of grass.

At that moment, the ground stirred slightly, and a pitch-black gigantic hand burst out and attacked Raion.

Chwaaaak!

Unlike with Valam, he wasn’t grabbed. Together with his sword, Raion deployed a ‘Gravity Shield’ around himself and blocked the hand as it tried to close in.

‘Is it made of solid minerals like before?’

Raion focused the aura he was maintaining on his sword and severed the hand.

From between the split palm, even more hands lunged at him.

Kwachang! Kwakwakwachang!

It was a fierce onslaught that allowed not even the smallest opening.

Huge hands piled up around Raion like a grave, pressing down with their massive weight.

Chwachak! Chwachwachak!

Sharp sword energy surged up from the thickly stacked hands.

Under the densely carved trajectories, they scattered and fell apart like slime being sliced by a net.

‘Now I understand the demon race’s attributes a little…….’

Valam he had fought earlier, and Decarsen Falkahn and Malphas he had fought before that.

They were all demons, yet each possessed their own unique style of combat.

And that style was not a choice, but something akin to a part of their very nature.

‘I thought too deeply about the number of possible cases.’

With self-reproach, strength filled Raion’s eyes.

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