Ugh... My body hurt so much that I couldn't move the way I wanted.
It was likely the result of copying Sylpha at full power. Since I was young, the muscle pain had set in immediately. I was only ten, after all.
"M-Muscle pain... sir?"
"Yeah. I should probably refrain from any more exercise for now."
I massaged my arm as I spoke. If I pushed myself too hard, it would only take longer to heal. Watching me, Grimo looked exasperated for some reason.
"Gugugu... D-Don't mess with meeee!"
Pazuzu unleashed a relentless flurry of strikes against me—punch after punch after punch. My Magic Barrier let out a painful creaking sound. His power was certainly impressive.
"Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask. Since you’re this strong, why were you bothering to gather Magical Beasts?"
"Is it not obvious?! Rather than me becoming stronger alone, gathering subordinates is a more efficient way to increase my combat power!"
"So you increased your allies to become stronger?"
"That is right! Those were days of constant hardship and effort! I went out of my way to prepare an environment where it was easy for those Magical Beasts to live, and I disciplined them over and over so they would be easy to handle! It was an incredibly tedious task, but it was finally—finally about to pay off! And yet, because of youuuu!"
Wham! With a blow fueled by rage, my body was sent flying into the air. The intense impact caused my Magic Barrier to shatter into pieces.
"Drop dead!"
However, the mana wave he released vanished right before my eyes. Seeing the transparent wall erected in front of me, Pazuzu clicked his tongue.
"Tch... another Magic Barrier? I’ll just destroy it as many times as—?!"
Pazuzu cut himself off as he looked to his left and right. What I had deployed wasn't a Magic Barrier; it was a Barrier.
It was the Spatial System Magic, Dimensional Canopy. It consumed a considerable amount of mana, so it only lasted for a short time, but it was a dimensional wall that no attack could penetrate. I had encased Pazuzu within it.
"Oh, come to think of it..."
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Grimo had said that magic didn't work on Majin, but I wondered if that was truly the case. I wouldn't get many chances to encounter a Majin, so it was worth testing out.
"Double Casting—"
I opened the mouth on my right hand and began chanting.
Quaking Rock Fang. High Tide Ocean Fang. Scorching Flame Fang. Violent Sky Storm Fang.
I recited the Supreme Magic of the four basic systems—Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—one hundred times in sequence. I deployed high-speed Spell Formulas, weaving them together at triple their normal speed.
"「■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■」"
Seven Spell Bundles were spun out in a single breath, and I chanted them simultaneously with my two mouths. Countless Spell Gates lined up, and the inside of the Barrier began to glow with a dazzling light.
"W-What is that high-speed chanting...?! You're weaving together Spell Bundles of that density without a single break...?! Guh! M-My head feels like it's going to split open...!"
"Here I go—"
Then, I released the Spell Formulas. The Spell Gates opened, and a torrent of magic was unleashed from within.
"Bu—?!"
I heard Pazuzu's voice for a brief moment, but it was immediately drowned out by the storm of destruction raging inside the Barrier. It was a cycle of one per second—240 instances of Supreme Magic via Chain Magic in a single minute. It was the same attack I had used on Grimo before.
"...Hm?"
A few seconds later, I noticed a change. The feedback from inside the Barrier had vanished. I canceled the formulas and deactivated the Barrier.
From within the billowing smoke, a shriveled, mummified Pazuzu fell into the lake. His desiccated form bobbed on the surface, his mouth twitching slightly.
"Uu... uu..."
Looking down at him, Grimo laughed.
"Heh. For all that big talk, he went down pretty easy, didn't he?"
"Now, now, don't taunt him, Grimo."
Honestly, Grimo had been talking pretty big himself. But I recalled Grimo had endured for about thirty minutes. I suppose there wasn't much of a difference between them.
"But he ended up taking damage after all. Does magic really not work on Majin?"
"Normally, that's the case, sir. However, for a Majin, who is half Spiritual Body, the discomfort felt from things like sound and light translates directly into damage. It's only a tiny amount, but if you keep bathing them in it continuously..."
"They end up like this, huh?"
To take damage from sound and light... they were surprisingly delicate creatures. Majin might not be that big of a deal after all.
...Hm? Pazuzu was saying something. I lightly plucked the shriveled Majin out of the water.
"W-Why... my efforts... so easily... Why can I not... win...?"
"Pazuzu, you kept saying how hard it was and how much you suffered, but you know, you should try to enjoy those things more."
"En... joy...?"
"Yeah. If you force yourself to do something you don't enjoy, it won't really stick with you. Besides, those feelings are definitely transmitted to the Magical Beasts serving under you. If they pick up on that, they're not going to want to follow your orders. If you had enjoyed interacting with them more, I don't think they would have turned on you just because I gave them a little mana."
We had only faced off for a short time, but I could tell Pazuzu's attitude toward his Magical Beasts had been poor. My giving them mana was merely a catalyst; it wouldn't have been strange for them to rebel at any moment.
"I mean, if you wanted to get stronger, weren't there plenty of other ways, like training your body? That would be much more efficient than going through the trouble of gathering subordinates."
One can continue without hardship because it's fun. Judging by his fighting style, Pazuzu seemed to be the type who excelled at physical combat. Training his own body would have suited his nature much better than commanding subordinates. The reason I could practice magic day and night was simply because it was fun.
"I've done my share of magic training too, but it's not that easy. You vomit blood, do boring repetitions, and slowly make things your own through piles of effort. But Lloyd goes and does all that while looking so damn happy. Every day, all the time—in the past, and surely in the future too... Someone who just talks about 'effort' can't possibly win against a guy like that...!"
Grimo was muttering something, but I couldn't hear him well over the sound of the wind. At my words, a wry smile played on Pazuzu's lips.
"Heh... heheh... So the cause of my defeat was that I couldn't enjoy myself... You're really... asking the impossible..."
With those final words, Pazuzu's body began to vanish, crumbling away like sand.
"Oops."
As Pazuzu dissolved into dust, Grimo opened his mouth wide and began to suck him in. It looked like he was devouring the mana.
"Hehehe, Majin mana really is delicious... My power is starting to return...! As long as I'm by this guy's side, I'll never lack for high-quality mana. I'll keep increasing my power like this, and sooner or later, I'll take over his body...!"
Grimo chuckled to himself as he whispered. His power seemed to have increased just a little bit. It appeared he grew stronger by eating mana.
"I don't really care, but don't give yourself an upset stomach."
"O-Of course, sir! He... hehehe..."
At my words, Grimo hurriedly replied.