Antagonist Protection Service

Across the darkened skies above the basin, blue fire and black lightning endlessly flashed.

In fact, the whole sky was illuminated so lustrously that it was even brighter than it was earlier in the day, despite the clouds covering the sky and the sun having already set.

The magical, multi-tailed fox spirit danced around in the air, elegantly evading the incoming black lightning attacks from the dragon and retaliating with its own array of conjured flames, which itself were being dodged thanks to the opponent's sheer speed.

Occasionally, the dragon would seem to have enough of its enemy's prancing around and fly in to attack it directly, the sharp claws and teeth of lightning not at all just for show, but the fox was incredibly slippery, and wouldn't let the dragon catch it if it was the last thing it'd do.

Slyly baiting the dragon in for an attack, only to swiftly dodge and shoot off a collection of small spiritual fires into its back, the fox was able to sneak in small hits here and there, though the damage was undeniably weak.

Conversely, the fox had to put all it had into evading the dragon's black lightning, which was so powerful it would almost certainly take it out in just one or two strikes should it take a direct hit.

The clash of these titans was not exactly fair, but it was all they could do to keep the mystical beast occupied while its owner was in a situation of his own.

Mirrored on the ground below those fantastical forces, the captain of the Black Fang and the last of the Greater Demons exchanged countless blows, the former's exceptional sword and the latter's evil-infused dagger attacking, blocking, deflecting hit after hit, blow after blow.

Lilija, the mage of the Black Fang party hiding in the collective of the still-immobilised and gravely-wounded main force of the expedition, had to use up all the rest of her magic energy to summon the fox spirit, and so did not allow herself to be discovered by the Demon menace.

Despite having saved her party from the Demon's tremendously powerful initial attack with a strong magic barrier, she wanted to help out earlier in the fight but couldn't find a good opportunity without risking damage to one of her own party members.

Naturally, by the time the black dragon had appeared and a second one of their party had fallen in Olga without the enemy having sustained any serious amount of damage, she knew she couldn't stand by any longer.

Using her time wisely, she helped the others of the expedition to heal and recover to an extent where they would at least survive, instructing all those who were able to heal and buff her party's captain with all the recovery and enhancement spells they had available.

They all knew that none of them were individually as powerful as Florian of the Black Fang, perhaps aside from the Imperial Commander and a few more outliers, but they were too heavily wounded to be any use, and having too many in one fight would only get in the way and risk the Demon taking yet another hostage; albeit regretfully, they decided to remain still and spectate, praying for victory.

As for the Imperial Commander himself, he of course had been the one to absorb the brunt of the Demon's initial attack due to being the one who stood closest when it was unleashed, and thus, despite his considerable strength and endurance being enough to save him, there was no way he would be able to join the fight, even if juiced up with a number of magical enhancements.

Even if they despised him and his party, they had to rely on Florian, channelling all their support and resources onto him whether they liked it or not.

And so, the clash continued.

With the injured Florian being funnelled and focused by all the expedition's support, he was soon returned to his full capacity and then boosted even further beyond, swinging his blade like a veritable madman and not giving the opponent any space to breathe.

However, the same could still be said for Alasil.

The Demon's dagger, though not possessing nearly the same reach as the opponent's longsword, did not lose out in power, able to attack even faster than the reinforced captain, each blow augmented further with fulminations of black lightning discharging violently upon contact.

With every swing, every thrust, both parties were so close to connecting a hit with the enemy, and they both knew that if they did, the stalemate-like back-and-forth would vanish in an instant, the tides turning to the favour of whoever had gotten the lucky blow.

Block, deflect, dodge, block, deflect, dodge―intermingling swings, cuts, thrusts, attacks from every which direction, the two practically danced across the ground, a seemingly perfect match in skill.

Perhaps if the Demon had enough time to wield his signature black lightning, he might have been able to weaken the opponent, but the latter would never let that happen.

At some point, the high up dragon's lightning aimed for the fox spirit happened to be fired at just the right angle for it to impact and ruinously explode the ground by the two fighter's feet, momentarily disturbing the battle enough for Florian to slip and miss his deflection of the dagger just slightly, causing the erupting electricity from the dagger's jagged edge to jump across in an arc to his body, shocking his muscles still.

"Ghh, no...!"

Gritting his teeth, the captain hurriedly staggered his feet to remain standing, but Alasil wouldn't simply let him recover from the perilous position.

Dashing forward, thrusted the dagger right into the center of Florian's chest, emitting black sparks directly into his insides and causing a concerning amount of blood to splutter out of his mouth.

At the very same time, the thunderous sound of black lightning reverberated the world from above, and as the Demon momentarily glanced up, he found his prized dragon finally landing a successful hit on the teasing fox spirit.

Watching the lightning dragon jump at the opportunity and sweep in to attack directly, it sunk its teeth right into the opponent creature's neck, tearing its head from its body with its powerful claws.

"AWOOooohh...!"

In the following moments, the satisfying sound of fabric tearing was heard as the magic beast exploded into fine particles and dissipated into the air, a faint echo of its cry following as it faded out of existence, bathing the skies above the basin in darkness once again.

"Good... Now then--"

All of a sudden, something completely unexpected occurred.

The Demon's eyes widened, more than ever before as, out of the blue...

CRASH--!

"?!"

...His very precious dragon's head abruptly shattered like glass, the rest of its electrically-charged body falling in a rain of black bolts to the ground, where they promptly vanished.

"...K-... K'yraxth..."

Hesitantly muttering, he couldn't believe his eyes.

At that moment, sheer silence encompassed the basin.

Shena, the archer, Lilija, the mage―those two girls were all who remained of the Black Fang.

It was neither of them, it couldn't possibly have been.

There was no way it was any of the other members of the expedition, either.

So then, who...?

"...!"

Snapping his head to the side, not where the expedition had entered from, and not where he himself had entered from, the Demon watched as a figure silently slid down the slope of the basin, the patently shocked members of the expedition doing the same.

His presence was weak, abnormally so, but he approached nevertheless.

Stopping just a couple dozen metres away from the Demon, a masked stranger, his body fully veiled behind a dark cloak.

Seeing the newcomer up close, Alasil couldn't help but notice his crimson eyes, seeming even to glow in the shadow of the night.

The black clouds parting way just enough to let a sliver of moonlight through, it unusually appeared to bathe only the stranger in its subtle silver glow, a celestial spotlight shining down.

Faced with a bizarre sensation he couldn't quite put a finger to, Alasil simply whispered.

"...Demon..."

Uttering under his breath what could've been either a blessing or a curse, the world was surely taken aback at that moment.