NOVEL WEB Chapter 74
74. Just This Once
“A one-time operation, huh… What should I do?”
Jack asked in a whisper, making sure Dialva couldn’t hear.
I whispered the plan into his ear.
“Got it.”
Jack nodded.
The success of the plan depended on timing.
If I activated my skill too early or too late, it would be detected.
Once it’s discovered, it won’t work a second time.
“Is your discussion over?”
Dialva stood there leisurely.
The hem of his ragged robe fluttered in the wind.
His face, hidden in the hood, was obscured by a dark mist, making his expression unreadable.
“No matter what you do, it’s futile. I never take unnecessary risks. Even if I can’t defeat you, all I need to do is protect the pillar. Soon, the entire royal capital will be filled with poison, and all humans will perish.”
Dialva said.
“That’s my curse [Barrier Fang]. There’s no way to escape it.”
“I won’t let that happen—Jack, get ready.”
At my signal, Jack moved several large pieces of rubble around.
Each piece was big enough to hide his body.
“If I throw this much mass with my ‘enhancement’ at full power—you won’t get away unscathed.”
Jack glared at Dialva.
“My punch earlier damaged you. A sufficiently powerful physical attack should work.”
“So, that’s your plan? Such a simple tactic.”
The Demon General sneered but didn’t let his guard down.
“You can’t hit me, who traverses space. Even if you seal my magic, I have physical abilities far surpassing humans. Such a primitive attack won’t hit.”
“Let’s see.”
Jack picked up a piece of rubble.
A glowing emblem appeared on its surface.
It was the ‘enhancement’ skill.
“Let’s begin.”
I stared at Dialva.
And so—the final showdown began.
※
“Let’s begin.”
Dialva looked coldly at the boy who spoke resolutely.
He seemed to be plotting something, but it didn’t matter.
They had no way to defeat him.
The only one to be cautious of was the man with the power of Vim Force.
With a head resembling a wolf, a body-like armor, and a long tail.
That form closely resembled the [Code Beast] used by the Sixth Demon General Gyrasvrim to unleash his full attack power.
No, it might be better to see it as the same type of technique.
Indeed, the punch he took earlier inflicted considerable damage on Dialva.
A punch enhanced to its limit was far more powerful than any mediocre attack magic or expert-level martial arts.
Even as a Demon General, repeated hits like that would mean death.
“If it hits, that is.”
Dialva murmured.
“Here I come, demon!”
Jack roared.
Lifting a huge piece of rubble.
“Uooooooh!”
With a war cry, he threw the rubble.
It traveled far beyond the speed of sound, scattering shockwaves as it approached.
“Just throwing it—how simple-minded.”
Dialva was unimpressed but remained vigilant.
He leaped through space to evade the rubble.
Then, a second strike came toward his landing spot.
“Continuous attacks—”
But it was within expectations.
Perhaps they aimed to attack without giving Dialva time to use spatial jumps, but unlike humans, demons had almost no casting time lag.
The Demon General focused his magic to make a second spatial jump—
“…Huh!?”
At that moment, he noticed.
Behind the flying rubble, a faint rainbow shimmer was visible.
“So, that’s the real attack.”
Yes, behind the rubble was a shadow cloaked in rainbow light.
It was a feint to appear as continuous rubble throws, but Jack, covered in defensive skill, was hiding behind the rubble, aiming to attack the Demon General.
That was their true aim.
“Hmph, a bit more elaborate than I thought—but futile.”
Dialva waited until the last moment to evade the rubble and jump through space.
He had observed in previous battles.
Hart’s skill provided absolute defense.
But it had a fatal flaw—it could only be used in one place.
If it was currently on Jack, Hart himself should be defenseless.
Target and strike.
“It’s ironic for the one with protective power to die the moment they abandon that protection.”
Dialva teleported right next to Hart.
“Ugh…!”
Hart turned with a tense expression.
Was it despair or fear from their plan backfiring?
“It’s over.”
Dialva thrust out his right hand and fired a light bullet—
Just before that,
“No, it’s you.”
Haruto smiled.
“What…!?”
For a moment, Dialva froze.
A tremendous killing intent swelled behind him.
“No way—”
He turned around, shocked.
The beast knight with a blue-black body stood there.
※
The plan I devised was simple.
First, Jack would use ‘enhancement’ to throw rubble at Dialva.
Since he would surely dodge, a second shot would follow.
At the same trajectory as the second piece of rubble, a third piece would be thrown.
And I cast a defensive skill on that third piece.
Seeing the rainbow light from behind the second piece, Dialva would misunderstand.
He’d think Jack, wrapped in a skill, was rushing at him from behind the rubble.
Of course, if he looked closely, he’d see it was just rubble, not Jack.
But with the rubble flying at high speed, there was no time to observe closely.
So, to avoid the seemingly attacking Jack—actually, just rubble—Dialva would teleport again.
I predicted he would teleport close to me.
The defensive skill could only protect one place.
If the skill were on Jack, I would be defenseless.
The Demon General would surely target that weakness.
Everything went according to plan.
Jack, who had been hiding nearby, leaped out and counterattacked the appearing Demon General—
Of course, once this trick was exposed, it wouldn’t work again.
“It only works once—but that’s enough.”
I recalled the skill and created a space that nullified magic activation—[Barrier Phase].
This sealed Dialva’s spatial jumps.
His remaining escape methods were limited to using his physical abilities to jump or run.
But neither would work against Jack’s physical prowess.
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
With a roar that shook the air, the beast knight closed in.
The Demon General, trying to jump back in haste, found Jack accelerating further to close the distance.
Enhanced fists roared, and kicks were unleashed.
The sounds of strikes, impacts, and crushing reverberated.
At a level almost invisible to me—perhaps hundreds or thousands of consecutive hits were delivered to Dialva.
“Guh, haa, ahh, ah……”
The groan was brief and continuous, lasting only a moment.
Dialva’s body, crushed all over, collapsed.
The body wrapped in a ragged robe lay motionless.
Thus—
It was the anticlimactic end of the Sixth Demon General Dialva.