Chapter 70
70. Master Of All Curses And Nihility
In front of me stood a knight resembling a blue-black beast.
──Thump!
The moment I saw it, I felt my blood boiling.
“This sensation──”
Something faintly flickered all over the beast knight.
Could it be──a divine crest?
Just like how angelic patterns appear when I use my skills.
Like the fiery pattern in Gregorio’s eyes when we fought.
This knight also has a similar pattern.
Then, the beast knight turned to us.
It scanned each of us──and its gaze stopped on me.
“…!”
Its red eyes emitted a terrifying pressure.
Yet, oddly, I felt no fear from its gaze or its ominous form.
The beast knight approached.
My tension, and my heartbeat, increased even more.
After all, could it be?
It has the same power as me──a ‘kindred spirit’?
At that moment──the world trembled.
“What…is this?”
I looked around.
Could it be──.
“Hey, look at that!”
An adventurer pointed to the sky.
A huge black hole had opened up.
The second Syrega today.
It usually appears somewhere in the world only a few times a month, so why today…!?
From the hole, pitch-black lightning rained down.
The lightning struck before us, and a silhouette appeared.
A figure cloaked in a tattered, reddish-purple hood and robes.
An ominously evil aura surrounded this demon.
“To think you defeated all my Dragonfang Beasts… I underestimated humans.”
The demon muttered in a monotonous voice.
“If the last pillar is destroyed, my [Barrier Fang] will collapse──I, Dialva, will personally deal with you. Consider it an honor.”
Dragon Fang Beasts likely guarded the pillars.
Judging from its words, the two we defeated and three others were all taken down.
And four of the five pillars were destroyed──leaving only this one.
So──.
We just need to defeat it and destroy the last pillar to complete our mission.
“A new enemy! But what can you do against this many adventurers?”
Ivy shouted confidently.
“Mages, attack simultaneously! Don’t give it time to act, annihilate it!”
Following her command, Lilith and the attack mages began chanting.
“Human magic… just a poor imitation of our demonic arts.”
The demon called Dialva stood calmly.
No sign of using defensive magic.
“Fire!”
At Ivy’s command, countless flashes flew.
Flames, lightning, water, wind──various attack spells hit Dialva from all sides.
Simultaneously, the air in front of the demon shimmered like a mirage.
No explosion──.
“What…!?”
A voice of stunned surprise, from whom I don’t know.
No explosion, no flames, no light──nothing.
Dialva stood unscathed.
“No way!? Even a class S demon would be obliterated or at least heavily damaged by such a barrage…”
“What kind of defensive magic is this…!”
Ivy and Lilith groaned.
“Could it be…”
I saw it.
At the moment the spells hit, the space in front of Dialva wavered, absorbing all the spells.
I’ve seen a similar technique before.
“A D-Eater’s subordinate…!?”
I remembered a battle with a class A demon.
It manipulated space to deflect or teleport, a powerful demon indeed.
The D-Eater twisted space to repel spells, a defensive art.
This seemed like a variation of that.
“Did it absorb the spells into another space…!?”
“You perceived that? Impressive, for one with protective powers.”
Dialva looked at me.
“What I used is a form of warped space. As you said, I sent all the attack spells into another space for defense. But let me correct one thing──I am not a subordinate of the demons you call D-Eaters.”
Said Dialva.
“The D-Eaters are my subordinates. The lowest rank, indeed.”
“So, you──”
“I am the master of all curses and nihility. The one who has mastered all sorcery.”
The demon proclaimed solemnly.
“One of the Demon King’s closest aides──Dialva of the Six Demon Generals.”
“The Six Demon Generals…!?”
Everyone gasped.
So, this one is──an enemy on par with Gairasvrim.
Beyond class S.
The strongest demon except for the Demon King──.
“You, who wield the powers of Ilfaria and Vym Force. By the Demon King’s command, both of you shall be erased.”
Dialva looked at me, then at the beast knight.
Perhaps those words, mixed with strange noise, did not reach the other adventurers.
“I’ll eliminate the nuisances first.”
A withered arm emerged from the hood.
A purple magical light gathered at the fingertip pointing at Lilith and the others.
“──Not happening!”
I immediately deployed my skill.
A rainbow-colored dome expanded from me.
“Vanish.”
The magical light at Dialva’s fingertip shot like a shining arrow──.
And disappeared the next moment.
“What’s happening…!?”
The demon general looked at me suspiciously.
“…I see, your doing. A power to nullify the very activation of magic.”
It seems this one is a mage type, unlike the warrior type Gyrasvrim.
If I suppress its magic with [Barrier Phase], we can fight advantageously.
“But the situation remains unchanged, your skill only suppresses ‘activation’──you can’t stop the poison fog magic already activated by the pillar.”
Said Dialva.
“I observed your fight with Gyrasvrim. Your power has a time limit. If trapped in the capital filled with poison, once your skill fades, you’ll die.”
“…Things won’t go your way.”
I stared firmly at the demon general.
“Oh?”
“I’ll break the pillar and stop the poison fog before that.”
“That’s why I’m here to prevent that.”
Dialva readied itself.
“Don’t think nullifying magic activation is enough to seal me, Dialva.”
“I’ll seal you.”
I watched every move of the demon general.
It’s an enemy on par with Gyrasvrim.
Far beyond ordinary demons.
Don’t let your guard down.
Don’t show the slightest lapse.
I told myself──.