Chapter 34: Versus the Unidentified Demon

...It spoke?

In that moment, my brain failed to process the reality of the situation.

The thing standing before us was a grotesque, black-skinned entity. It brandished a sword shaped like a scythe, a weapon so alien in its design that it defied logic. It wasn't Medusa or anything like her—it was something that, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be male.

"Atlas isn't much of a trial for a group like yours, so I decided to come out myself," he said with a casual air. "Anyway, let's keep this friendly, shall we?"

He sounded almost neighborly... if you ignored the overwhelming, suffocating bloodlust. Then, he moved.

He closed the distance in a heartbeat, swinging his scythe toward the neck of Ayane, the member of our party with the lowest physical durability. Only Kagura-san and I managed to react in time. I threw myself forward to intercept the blow, but...

"—Reima!?"

Even though Shiki’s enchantment should have had a barrier deployed, the blade sliced right through it and bit into my flesh.

I’d succeeded in shielding her, but the weapon was so unnervingly sharp that it carved through my skin like paper. I immediately tried to fire a recovery bullet from [Blanc] to close the wound, but the results were non-existent.

...It’s not healing?

"Ah, yeah. This thing is a custom job," the demon said. "Half-baked recovery magic won't do a damn thing against it."

He wasn't lying. I could feel the truth of it in my own body. More importantly, the weapon possessed a certain 'weight'—a status. It was a cheat-tier weapon, just like my [Laevateinn].

"Still, it's a bit of a surprise to see the main attraction get hurt so early," he continued nonchalantly. "Well, I’m relieved to see your personality is exactly what I expected."

"—[Hyoutou Fuusetsu: Sakura]!"

Ayane unleashed her magic, her rage palpable even as she maintained her focus.

Blades of ice shaped like cherry blossom petals swarmed the demon, seeking to shred him. He simply took to the air, effortlessly evading the frost.

"Oh, I like that one. That spell... it’s hard to dodge, and the bloodlust and mana quality are top-tier! I assume the potency is thanks to that support magic. Not bad at all—and here comes the next one!"

As he laughed with genuine enjoyment, Kaiser closed in. Mounted on his dragon and undergoing a full-body [Dragonification], Kaiser’s charge was a force of nature. The demon stopped him with a single hand, then slammed him into the ground to kill his momentum.

"Kuha! I love a straightforward attack. Same goes for the beauty over there."

"—To think he could block that!" Kagura-san hissed.

She had followed up with a leaping overhead slash, but the demon parried it with his scythe. In one fluid motion, he drove a fist into Kagura-san’s stomach, sending her flying.

"Now then, let's try this—who can block it?"

He smoothly produced a helmet-like object and pulled it on. The moment he did, the world went silent. His existence, his presence... the mana and bloodlust that had been saturating the air a second ago vanished as if they had never existed. I recognized this phenomenon. Better than anyone, in fact—because I had used it myself.

"Alright, I think I'll take that head now."

The monster’s voice hissed directly into my ear.

I ducked instinctively, narrowly avoiding the follow-up. But I knew the truth. If he hadn't spoken just now, I would be dead. There was no 'probably' about it.

"Even with the warning, dodging that with a wound like yours is impressive. I'd expect nothing less from the Hero of [Mythologia]."

The whisper sent a chill straight through my marrow.

He knows? He knows about the world I came from?

I told myself not to waver. I needed to think. Who was this guy? No, thinking could wait—I couldn't let him keep talking.

Remaining in my low stance, I fired a mana bullet at point-blank range with everything I had.

He blocked it with a mirror-like shield he’d pulled from nowhere.

"Close one! If that were anyone but me, they’d be dead, you know?"

Wait. Based on what I just saw... 'blocked' was the wrong word.

He had completely negated the mana. If that was the case, magic was a losing move. We had to rely on physical attacks, yet his technical skill was high enough to shut down even Kagura-san. The situation was insane.

"[Toujin Shura-yadoshi]—I'll have you know I haven't yielded yet!"

"I haven't forgotten you, gorgeous. In terms of pure skill, you're the best of the lot."

They clashed. Blades met and were parried—dozens of exchanges occurring in the span of a few seconds.

Kaiser returned to the fray, throwing himself into the melee with martial arts, but even with the two of them attacking at once, the demon held them off. I clutched my wound and tried to fire debuffs to support them, but he was wise to me. He focused entirely on neutralizing my specific attacks.

Our party was balanced with two physical attackers and three magic users.

The only reason we were even standing was thanks to Shiki’s enchantments and the sheer technical prowess of Kagura-san and Kaiser. Ayane was fighting hard, but her magic was being dodged, and my debuffs were being negated. I kept firing support bullets at my teammates to keep them going, but I knew the score. If I miscalculated the timing by even a fraction of a second, it would all be over.

"Good! This is great! I was only expecting something from the hero, but the people of this world are surprisingly capable too!"

"—I appreciate the sentiment, but would it kill you to let one of us hit you!?" Kaiser shouted. "Even I’m starting to feel inadequate!"

"I can't exactly let myself get hit on purpose, can I? That would be boring."

"If you're capable of reason, I would prefer to settle this without further bloodshed," Kagura-san added.

"Ah, that’s not happening. See, if you guys lose, I’m planning on taking the [Graeae] and [Atlas] out of the [Dungeon] with me."

He said it so casually.

But having fought him, I knew he wasn't lying. He meant every word. That was the one outcome we couldn't allow. This was an opponent that our top-tier party was barely holding back—I couldn't even begin to imagine the carnage he would cause among the general public.

"—Ha. You panicked."

The moment he spoke, a momentary gap appeared in the vanguard's coordination. Simultaneously, I felt a familiar magical signature. It was [Algol]’s... no, it was the signature of the version of her from that other world.

"[Gorgon Pandemonium]."

Massive serpentine heads manifested in the sky. In an instant, the world turned to stone.