The Demon King Army's invasion of the capital, Larichmond, showed no signs of abating.
The clash of steel and the echo of screams rang out from every corner of the city. The massive castle walls were spider-webbed with cracks, looking as though they might crumble into dust at any moment.
Nyau was likely on top of those very walls, locked in combat with Demon King Zoga.
In the worst-case scenario, she was already dead... No, I shook my head to clear the thought. This wasn't the time for pessimism. My only focus had to be reaching her as quickly as possible.
With that grim determination, I ran.
◆
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Nyau's shoulders heaved with every ragged breath. Sage Nyau was beyond the point of exhaustion.
"You’ve been scurrying around like a damn bug! It’s getting on my nerves!" Demon King Zoga roared, his words a blatant provocation. "Fight me fair and square, you coward!"
Nyau ignored him. She had been focused entirely on buying time. By combining the concealment of Thick Fog Diffusion: Niebla with the high-speed mobility of Air Injection: Inyeccion, she had narrowly avoided the onslaught of Zoga’s strikes.
She knew better than to try and block him.
Great Sage Agrippus had been cut down in a single blow, likely because he had underestimated the Demon King’s raw Attack Power. The Great Sage had surely believed his barriers were impenetrable. He had relied on them for protection, and the result was a catastrophe; the barriers were sliced through like parchment, and Agrippus’s body was cleaved along with them.
Agrippus’s barriers were famous for being the most durable in the world. The fact that Zoga could shatter them so effortlessly proved his strength was beyond all reason.
That was why Nyau knew that no matter what, she could not let his attacks connect.
However, Nyau possessed neither the refined technique to dodge naturally nor the Physical Ability to outrun him. To compensate, she had devised her current strategy: using Thick Fog Diffusion: Niebla to blind him and Air Injection: Inyeccion for artificial bursts of speed.
It was the same tactic she had used when Hero Eligion was assassinated. Realizing she stood no chance against Warrior Golgano and Holy Knight Kanaria, she had scooped up Kiska’s body and vanished using that very combination of spells.
"Hey! If you keep running, this is never going to end!" Zoga barked again.
What a fool, Nyau thought, a faint smirk touching her lips.
Because of the Thick Fog Diffusion: Niebla, Nyau couldn't see her surroundings clearly either, but every time Zoga shouted, he gave away his exact location.
"Ice Magic, Fourth Tier: Great Cold Wave: Olafrio!"
She used a shortened incantation. As long as the spell was Fourth Tier or lower, she could manifest it without the full chant. Furthermore, because the air was already saturated with moisture from her fog, the power of Great Cold Wave: Olafrio was doubled.
A massive wall of ice materialized, surging forward to engulf the Demon King.
CRACK!
The sound of ice being shattered echoed through the mist.
"No... it can't be..."
Nyau stood frozen in shock. He had sliced through that massive block of ice with a single swing of his sword.
"So, that’s where you are."
Zoga’s voice was right there.
This is bad!
A cold shiver ran down her spine. The moment she unleashed her magic, she had given away her position. She had to brace herself immediately.
"Barrier Magic, Third Tier: Triple Barrier: Trinity Este!"
She layered three barriers in a heartbeat. She knew Zoga would likely cut through them, but she had to try.
"Wind Magic, Fourth Tier: Air Injection: Inyeccion!"
She used the barriers as a decoy, using a burst of air to propel herself as far from that spot as possible. As she expected, the sound of the barriers shattering followed a second later.
"Damn it! Scurrying away again! I’ve had enough of this!"
Zoga’s voice was thick with irritation. "I’m telling you, let’s fight like men!"
Nyau remained unnervingly calm. She believed that if she could just keep avoiding him, a window of opportunity would eventually open.
"Fine. Whatever. If you want to play it that way, I’ve got my own tricks."
Zoga’s murmur was heavy with hidden meaning. Nyau felt a surge of doubt. What was he planning?
"I didn't want to use this since it'll take my own men out, too, but I don't care anymore."
A sense of impending doom washed over her. Something terrible was coming. Nyau tried to put as much distance between them as possible.
"Heretical Path-Style Sword Technique: Great Explosive Rending Rubble!"
Zoga hoisted his greatsword high above his head and slammed it into the ground with world-shaking force.
A massive fissure erupted from the point of impact, widening with terrifying speed. They were standing atop the castle wall—a wall that was now being subjected to a catastrophic amount of force.
The entire section of the wall simply gave way. It disintegrated into massive chunks of stone, dragging Nyau and the nearby soldiers of the Sage Empire of Ritz down into the abyss.
"Oh no!" Nyau cried out.
If she fell like this, she would be crushed by the following debris.
"Wind Magic, Second Tier: Gust: Rafaga!"
She conjured a sudden gale to blast the falling rubble away from her while simultaneously directing a burst of wind downward to cushion her fall. She hit the ground safely.
"Yo. There you are."
She whipped her head toward the voice. Demon King Zoga stood there, wearing a grotesque smile.
The collapse of the wall had changed the terrain entirely. She had been forcibly dragged out from the safety of her fog.
"Hah!"
Zoga lunged.
Nyau’s heart hammered against her ribs. It was too late to use Thick Fog Diffusion: Niebla again; there was nowhere to hide.
"Barrier Magic, Third Tier: Triple Barrier: Trinity Este!"
She threw up her defenses.
"Hah! You know damn well that won't save you!"
She knew. She knew better than anyone. But it was the only thing she had left.
"Please..." she whispered, almost like a prayer.
Zoga sneered at her desperation and brought his greatsword down to crush the barrier.
SHATTER!
The sound wasn't the barrier breaking.
"Huh?"
Zoga let out a stunned, hollow sound. He stared at his hand, unable to process what had just happened.
It was his greatsword that had shattered into a thousand pieces.
"If you thought Nyau was running for no reason, you were sadly mistaken," she said, a small, triumphant smile appearing on her face. "At the very start of this fight, I cast Weakening: Flahi on your weapon."
While they were locked in their initial exchange, she had secretly placed a curse on his sword that made it incredibly brittle. An ordinary weapon would have snapped instantly, but since it was a Demon King’s blade, it had held on until now. She had been forced to dodge and weave until the metal finally reached its breaking point.
If it had held on for even a few seconds longer, she would have been dead. It was a gamble that had barely paid off.
"Now your Attack Power is crippled. Nyau wins."
"Shut your mouth!"
Zoga didn't hesitate. Abandoning his hilt, he wound up a massive fist to strike her down.
Nyau’s Triple Barrier: Trinity Este was still active. No matter how strong a Demon King was, breaking a high-tier barrier with a bare fist should have been impossible—
"Eh...?"
It was Nyau's turn to be stunned.
Before her very eyes, the Demon King’s fist smashed through the Triple Barrier: Trinity Este as if it were made of thin glass.
"Losing the sword was a surprise, I'll give you that. But that’s all it was. I don't need a damn sword to deal with a gnat like you."
Zoga’s fist buried itself in Nyau’s stomach.
"Gofuh!"
A choked groan escaped her. The force of the blow sent her flying, her small body slamming into the base of the ruined wall.
But Zoga wasn't finished. He closed the distance in a blur and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick.
"Guaa!"
Nyau cried out in agony as she was sent tumbling across the dirt. Pain flared through every nerve in her body, so intense she felt she might lose her mind.
I have to get up... if I don't stand up, he'll...
She tried to force her limbs to move, but her body refused to obey. She could feel the sickening grating of shattered bone in her legs. Desperate, she tried to manifest a spell.
"H-Heal Magic... First Tier... Heal..."
"Hey. What do you think you're doing?"
She looked up. Zoga was standing directly over her.
"A... ah..."
A thin, pathetic whimper escaped her throat. The terror of the coming pain turned her face pale.
"Die!"
Zoga raised his foot and brought it down like a hammer on the prone girl.
The ground caved in around her. The sheer impact caused Nyau’s body to arch violently upward. Her slender frame was already a broken mess of bruises and blood.
◆
"Hey, you still kicking?"
Zoga reached down and grabbed Nyau by the hair, hoisting her limp body up.
"A... ugh..."
She was barely conscious, unable to offer even a hint of resistance. This bored Zoga. He wanted to hear her break. He tightened his grip on her skull, his massive fingers exerting enough pressure to crack bone.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!"
Nyau shrieked in pure, unadulterated agony.
"Fuhahahaha!"
Zoga laughed, delighted by the sound. But after a few moments, Nyau went silent, hanging in his grip like a broken doll.
Did she die? he wondered.
If she was dead, she was useless to him. He tossed her aside like trash. Nyau’s body skidded across the dirt, coming to a stop several yards away.
With the troublesome Sage Nyau out of the way, his army was already pouring through the breach in the wall. The fall of the city was inevitable. Zoga was already tasting the sweetness of victory.
"...Not... yet..."
"Huh?"
He turned around.
Nyau was trying to push herself up. She was using her rod as a crutch, her arms trembling as she struggled to force her broken body into a standing position.
She was a wreck. Blood matted her hair, and her limbs were bent at unnatural, sickly angles.
"Nyau has... not lost yet..."
She was trying to face him again.
Zoga felt no threat from her. She might have enough mana left for one last desperate spell, but he knew he could close the distance and end her life long before she could finish an incantation.
He walked toward her slowly. Nyau’s eyes were glazed and clouded; it seemed she had lost her sight in the beating, as she didn't even react to his approach.
"Die."
Zoga didn't hesitate. He wound up a full-power punch to the head to finish her once and for all.
"—Wait, what?"
He hit nothing but air.
His fist should have pulverized her, but there was no impact. Nyau was gone.
"I made it just in time..."
A calm voice drifted through the air.
Kiska stood several yards away, his arm firmly supporting Nyau’s battered body.