The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

"We can't win using brute force. This guy's strength has already gone beyond the level of the average Demon King," Alice said as she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Of course, the blood didn't originate from internal injuries. Instead, her mouth simply suffered a few cuts from Fugallo's wind blades. "Andusia, we're going to have to use tactics, so listen up…"

Fugallo naturally wouldn't give Alice and Andusia time to discuss plans to go against him. The instant Alice started speaking to Andusia, Fugallo promptly began gathering a frightening amount of mana next to him, the sound of strong winds coming from the ball of mana.

Evidently, apart from dark magic, the second elemental magic Fugallo was most proficient in was wind magic. Apart from being able to increase the user's speed, wind magic could also be used to exhibit considerable cutting power, so it was a very useful magic type.

"This… Is it really doable?"

While Fugallo was gathering mana, Alice summarized her entire plan into one short sentence for Andusia. Although it was only one sentence, Andusia immediately understood what Alice was aiming to do. However, when she saw Alice's current state, she couldn't help but grow concerned.

Unfortunately, despite her concerns, Andusia had no choice but to trust in Alice since she couldn't come up with anything better. She might have considerable combat experience as a former Demon King, but Fugallo wasn't some amateur, either. He didn't leave much room for her to exploit. She also couldn't possibly keep relying on Alice to protect her, right?

After gritting her teeth, Andusia jumped off Alice's shoulder and flew straight at Fugallo. During her brief conversation with Alice, Andusia had also been gathering her mana like Fugallo, so she was ready to take action at any time.

"Hm?"

Fugallo originally wanted to use another Eye of the Storm to thoroughly eliminate Alice and Andusia. However, before he could launch the mana gathered next to him, he saw Andusia flying at him at great speeds.

Andusia's current body might be tiny, but the mana contained within that tiny body was not at all weak. While rapidly approaching Fugallo, Andusia transformed her mana into a large black claw. Then, she had this claw ball up into a fist and sent a punch flying at Fugallo.

The claw was the product of a taboo called Dark Hand. Compared to other taboos, Dark Hand had a relatively crude effect. Honestly, if not because of the mana and level of control needed to cast it being just barely at the taboo level, one wouldn't think it was a taboo. However, because of its simplicity, Andusia managed to finish casting it and launched it at Fugallo before Fugallo could even launch his attack.

Fugallo's physique might have been strengthened to beyond the standard of the average Demon King, but that didn't mean he could shrug off taboo-level attacks. Although Dark Hand was weaker than most offensive taboos, it was a taboo of the dark element. This meant that the taboo inherently possessed corrosive properties. Combined with the taboo's raw destructive power, Fugallo would inevitably suffer some internal injuries if he took the hit without defending himself.

Fugallo had seen Alice and Andusia saying something to each other, so he was certain the two had come up with a plan to defeat him. So, although he was confident in his current strength, the cautious personality he had developed during his time as a Demon King forbade him from defenselessly receiving Andusia's attack. After all, even if Andusia's attack wasn't lethal to him, he might be playing right into Alice's hand if he took it without defending himself.

Immediately, Fugallo transformed the mana for Eye of the Storm into a suit of wind armor that covered his entire body. As soon as he finished doing so, Andusia's Dark Hand also smashed into his body.

Eye of the Storm might have been originally intended as an offensive taboo, but it could still show extraordinary effects when used defensively. At the very least, it was more than strong enough to fend off the attacks of Dark Hand, a spell that could only barely be considered a taboo. So, even though Andusia had given her all into her Dark Hand, her taboo had failed to connect with Fugallo's body. All the taboo managed to accomplish was scatter some of the mana making up the Eye of the Storm.

However, Andusia did not retreat even after her attack failed. Instead, she promptly followed it up with a second Dark Hand.

When Fugallo saw this, it further reaffirmed his conjecture that Andusia's usage of Dark Hand was part of a bigger plan. Realizing this, Fugallo decided to launch a counterattack instead of letting Andusia continue to hit him.

"Are you trying to trade blows with me? Have you already forgotten how I sent you two crashing out of the sky just a moment ago?" Fugallo said with a somber expression.

Although Fugallo had already decided to launch a counterattack, he still couldn't help but feel offended by Andusia's actions. After all, he had already proven himself to have strength beyond the average Demon King. Yet, Andusia still chose to attack him with a taboo as weak as Dark Hand. Twice, even.

Hence, at the same time as Fugallo decided to launch a counterattack, he also decided he would crush Andusia's Dark Hand head-on to teach Andusia a lesson.

The next moment, the phantom of a gigantic dark dragon appeared behind Fugallo. Naturally, this was the dragon projection summoned using the taboo "Dragon's Shadow." However, unlike other people, Fugallo did not have the phantom dragon do his bidding after summoning it. Instead, he had the phantom merge with his body.

The instant Fugallo merged with the Dragon's Shadow, his body suddenly radiated a burst of power so great that it shattered the ground he stood on. Now, he was probably strong enough to shatter an entire mountain with his fists alone.

Seeing the Dark Hand approaching him, Fugallo let out a guttural roar and covered his body in a layer of mana. The wind armor he had previously created for himself had disappeared along with the sudden burst of power, so he needed a new layer of protection to keep the Dark Hand from touching him. Then, after doing so, he kicked against the ground and propelled himself forward.

The instant Fugallo collided with Andusia's Dark Hand, the latter broke apart on the spot. Then, without any decrease in momentum, Fugallo crashed head-first into Andusia's body, sending Andusia flying and crashing into the distance.

"Hiss—"

Andusia's Living Wood body might not have any internal organs, but she could feel fractures occurring all over her body. It should be known that Fugallo had attacked her using only physical strength. This meant that Fugallo's physical strength was already enough to overwhelm the physique of a Demon King.