In the town, the black fog and mud that had filled the place earlier had more or less subsided, which made it easier to move about.

Perhaps due to the gigantic Zell compressing itself, the mud and fog which seeped into the town were reduced.

《Shirushu, where are you!》

《I-In the… shopping street…!》

Shirushu’s voice was audible for a moment but quickly broke off.

For telepathy, a certain level of focus is required. She was probably in a battle so intense that she couldn’t maintain that level of focus.

The shopping street, huh? In any case, I should head there immediate-

「– – !?」

S-sluurpp… Cra-ck…!

There was the sound of bones being crushed and the sucking of meat juices.

I was about to change directions and run away when something caught my eye. There was a monster eating a man.

The upper half of the man’s body had already been eaten, and the black monster was straddled across it. The monster had a pair of small wings and a horn, and had a human-like form.

「Gii…」

Having discovered my presence, the black monster paused mid-meal and slowly turned to look at me. Its eyes were bright red and its mouth opened wide, splitting its face open from ear to ear.

????

Level 100

Magic Power

1214252／1215875

Good grief, yet another new species? For the time being, guess I’ll call it the Dark Imp.

Moreover, there are several of these around. I can feel strong magic scattered around this area.

I have neither the time nor magic to spare against a single opponent. In that case… I guess I’ll use that?

I cast Time Square, followed by Red Ball, Blue Ball and White Ball while time was stopped, forming the triple fusion spell, Vanishing Ball.

「– – !?」

With one hit of the released spell, the Dark Imp vanished.

No, to be exact, it blew up rather than vanished.

The Dark Imp broke into pieces as small as beans, which glistened as they disappeared into the void.

The combined magic of the two conflicting systems, Red and Blue, results in a powerful explosion.

With the addition of the Soul type of magic, which conflicts with the other four magic systems, an even stronger shock wave was created.

「Gyaaaa!?」

「Phew…!」

Another Dark Imp charged at me, but again I blew it far away with Vanishing Ball.

Hey hey, you sure fly well, don’t you?

Vanishing Ball is only effective on small monsters, and it has low damage. There are limited ways to use the spell, but once you pinpoint the right way, it becomes useful.

「Well then, Shirushu is waiting. I should meet up with her soon…」

「Wait up, Zeph!」

As I was about to run off, Oaks appeared before me.

「…It’s you, huh.」

「We met at a good time, didn’t we! It’s safer for the two of us to fight together here, don’t you think?」

「…Hm.」

That reminds me, this guy previously mentioned that he had defeated a Dark Zell, right?

Well, it’s true that in this situation, help from anyone or anything would be welcomed. If we fought together, it may be more efficient… I guess?

「Got it, come with me.」

「Oh! That’s great!」

Oaks slapped my back with a big grin on his face, while I cast Scout Scope on him.

Oaks Grambell

Level 25

Magic Level

Red: 0/0

Blue: 0/0

Green: 0/0

Sky: 0/0

Soul: 0/0

Magic Power

0/0

Level 25… Setting aside his zero magic power, does this guy really have the ability to defeat a Dark Zell?

The Dark Zell is tough, but its attacks are not that strong. At this level, would it have been possible… to drive away the Dark Zell so long as you have time?

Well, one’s fighting ability isn’t in proportion to his level anyway. This pattern is more striking in vanguards like Lydia and Shirushu, but… somehow I’m still uneasy about it.

I cast a doubtful glance at Oaks, but he simply smiled back innocently.

…In the worst case, I guess I could use him as a meat shield?

While I was considering that, Oaks and I headed towards the shopping street.

「Haa… Haa…!」

「Hey Oaks, your breathing is ragged.」

「I… I’m fine…! There’s no need… for worry!」

Oaks was gasping for air as he caught up to me with great difficulty.

Seriously though, is he going to be fine? If he can’t keep up with me, I’m going to leave him behind.

「Vanishing… ball!」

「Gii!?」

With a great impact, the Dark Imp was blasted off into the sky and vanished.

There are so many of them… Agh!?

I winced as a sharp pain assaulted my right arm.

Vanishing Ball is a magic spell that blasts away the opponent with a strong force. For its power to be fully displayed, the spell needs to be invoked at point-blank range. Consequently, in that instant of impact, the recoil on the hand is exceptionally great.

Due to the repeated Vanishing Balls, my right arm had been feeling numb since earlier, and I was starting to lose feeling in it.

It would be fine to use my artificial arm to cast the spell, but I’m unable to perform such fine control using the prosthetic yet… At this rate, my right arm is going to become useless.

「Haa… haa… You’re good… Zeph…!」

「Come on, let’s get going.」

As I faced forward and was about to continue running towards the shopping street, something shone at the edge of my field of view.

「…Mm!?」

It was the light from powerful magic.

At once, I cast White Wall Square.

Immediately after the white, magic walls appeared, a terrible storm ravaged the area.

Is this Black Zero?

The walls formed from White Wall Square creaked unsteadily.

Even these walls, formed from a quadra-fusion spell, stand little chance against the Sky system’s strongest magic.

Little by little, fissures appeared and streaked across the wall with cracking sounds, and fragments of the wall fell to the ground and disappeared.

…Damn it, I don’t think it will last long.

「Oaks, get down.」

「Eh? What..?」

His words were cut off by a loud cracking sound as a rift appeared across the wall.

It was a fatal crack, so much that the barrier could no longer stay standing.

The moment when the wall split open, I placed my artificial left arm before us and desperately cast a spell.

Let it be a shield!

With my spell, the prosthetic arm opened up wide and became like a shield.

The prosthetic, made of magic metal, was able to change its shape if you strongly willed it to.

That was what Lydia had briefed me on, but this was the first time I used it in an actual battle.

I stooped down and got on my belly to hide behind the shield and prepare for the impending impact.

The bullets of stone from Black Zero pummeled on the shield formed from my prosthetic, creating metallic sounds which grated on my ears.

Oaks grabbed onto my legs and seemed to be holding on for dear life, trying not to get blown away.

After a while, the force of Black Zero gradually weakened.

It seems like we held out somehow… However, as expected, this was way too tough on us.

Even though White Wall Square had mitigated the initial blow, the prosthetic which had to bear the rest of Black Zero was badly beaten up.

I stood back up and willed the prosthetic to return to the form of an arm, but it was stuck in its shield form and I can’t seem to change it back. Umm, Lydia would probably get mad at me later.

While I was checking if the prosthetic was functional, Oaks let out a cry from the ground.

「Z-Zeph! Look at that!」

I looked at where Oaks was pointing and saw a black shadow appear inside an abandoned building.

It’s hard to tell from a distance, but the shadow looked to be slightly taller than me.

There were two horns on its head, and it held a trident in one hand. On its black body were bat-like wings and a long tail. It looked like the adult form of the Dark Imp from earlier.

「…For the time being, let’s just call it a Dark Demon?」

「Shuuuu…!」

Dark Demon

Level 166

Magic Power

6666666／6666666

Good grief, a big shot just had to appear during this busy time.

Having a magic power of 6 million is nothing special, but considering the power of that earlier spell, this guy is probably a magician type.

Although it is not common, some monsters are good at magic. Those monsters usually have low magic power but can control extremely powerful magic.

That being said, it’s still the first time I’ve seen a monster that can use the ‘Zero’ type spell.

「…Ukuku!」

The Dark Demon smirked as it spread its wings widely and rushed in my direction.

Then, it raised its right arm and let loose a Black Bullet.

Compressed air bullets rained down on us.

Before I realized it, Oaks had run away and was hiding behind a distant rock.

That guy sure is good at escaping, huh. Well, if he’s that far away, I guess he won’t get entangled in this.

Using my prosthetic that was stuck in its shield form, I blocked the wind bullets that were unleashed on me, while I moved further away from Oaks.

「Hey… Didn’t that guy attack us with Black Zero earlier!?」

Monsters that can use magic usually don’t use their own magic power. Instead, they use the mana from the land.

It appears that this black monster is no exception, even though it looks like it came from another world. It could immediately attack with another spell right after it consumed all its magic power with Black Zero.

In other words, it effectively has limitless magic power and can release any attack, for as many times as it desires, be it Black Zero or any other spell.

「Shaaaaa!」

Amid the air bullets, the Dark Demon readied its trident and launched an attack.

A dual attack using magic and his spear. The prosthetic is still holding up, but at the same time, it was being shaved off and warped.

「This… If I damage it any further, Lydia will get angry, won’t she!」

While avoiding the monster’s attacks, I shot a Vanishing Ball.

「Ouch…!?」

Right after I blew the Dark Demon away, an intense pain shot up my right arm.

It felt like the pain was now full-blown. There was a dull, throbbing pain, and I couldn’t feel my arm when I tried to move it.

Furthermore… even though I had just blown the Dark Demon away with Vanishing Ball, it was already hovering in the skies with its black wings spread out wide, looking down at me from above.

As expected, against an opponent of this size, Vanishing Ball isn’t able to knock it back far enough.

It’s troublesome, but we’re going to have to take it down.

「Hey Oaks.」

「W-what is it…?」

「Be glad. It’s time for the secret weapon to take the stage.」

「What do you mean…?」

Without concern for the fear written on Oak’s face, I continued.

「…You don’t have to do too much, just stand in front to defend me from the attacks. I’ll be counting on you alright, Sir Holy Knight? I don’t mind even if you defeat it in the meantime.」

「Heh, hehe…! I-I-I-In that case, don’t worry, l-l-leave it to me!」

Oaks replied with a shaky voice and a tight-lipped smile.

In all honesty, he’s not exactly reliable, but he’s still better than nothing… Probably.

While still feeling uneasy with my impromptu partner, I glared at the Dark Demon.

The Dark Demon in the air flapped its wings and glided towards us.

It moved at a considerable speed, but there was still some distance between us.

I downed a mana restoration potion and stepped behind Oaks.

Turn back, turn back! …Damn it, it’s not working!

I tried to command the prosthetic to turn back into its original form, but besides the sounds of metal grinding against metal, there was no sign of it turning back.

With the pain in my right hand, I won’t be able to wield the Great Divine Sword Ainbelle either… I guess we’ll just have to accept our fates.