Demons. They are a race residing in a place called the Demon World, far across the great ocean, beyond the borders of the continent we call home.
They are like natural disasters, appearing periodically throughout human history to leave behind massive scars before vanishing on a whim.
The most recent appearance occurred over thirty years ago. The Great Mage of that era led a massive army to confront them. After a desperate struggle, they managed to repel the threat, but the mage lost his life, the army was nearly annihilated, and several nations were wiped off the map.
If I recall correctly, the books documenting those events said something like this:
"—Possessing immense mana and hardy bodies, they command Majins and wield terrifying power... was it? So, are Majins just the Demons' subordinates?"
"Hah, don't talk crazy, Master Lloyd. To them, we're just slaves. No, more like livestock. Most of the Majins on this continent are ones who fled from over there. Myself included," Grimo spat out.
"Majins are ranked from First to Tenth Grade. For the record, I'm Third Grade and Pazuzu was Eighth. That difference in rank translates directly to a difference in combat prowess. ...However, Demons are entities that exist entirely outside that scale. Even if you gathered a hundred First Grade Majins, they wouldn't stand a chance against a Demon. You could say Majins are commoners, while Demons are royalty and nobility. They are few in number, but they possess overwhelming power. No matter how strong you are, Master Lloyd, the odds are stacked too far against you..."
I see, I see. So they’re the kind of beings that can make even Grimo talk like that.
Since they’re called Demons, they must have one or two incredible hidden techniques.
This sounds quite interesting, doesn't it?
"Wait, why do you look so excited right now!?"
"I-Is that so?"
Grimo called me out. Was I making that kind of face? ...Maybe I was.
"Anyway, that guy is dangerous! It's better if we run away immediately!"
"Oh my, I thought I sensed a strange presence... Do you harbor a Majin within your body? Moreover, you aren't being controlled by it; on the contrary, you seem to be employing it as a servant. What a truly pathetic Majin. As a fellow resident of the Demon World, I find it utterly embarrassing."
The entity muttered as he descended the stairs.
"What is your name?" I asked.
"Hmm... Very well. You don't seem to be a mere pig. You have earned the right to hear my name. My name is Guisarm Rail Vhalhenvach. As that Majin over there said, I am a proud Demon."
"Proud, huh? Those who thoughtlessly look down on others only prove they lack confidence in themselves. Their self-esteem is bloated, yet they are but empty vessels. A truly proud person does not look down on others, even those of lower status. ...By the way, that's my household's education policy."
Sylpha lectured me on that quite often. Well, since I was a commoner in my previous life, I never really looked down on people to begin with.
At my words, Guisarm's lips curled into a distorted smirk.
"...You certainly have a tongue on you. Fine. You have now incurred the obligation to entertain me. I shall do as I please—so don't go dying on me too easily, alright?"
Guisarm slowly raised a fingertip.
What was that? There was something strange about that fingertip. As I squinted, I could see his finger glowing with a black light.
In an instant, the black light stretched toward my chest.
An attack!? But my Magic Barrier didn't automatically deploy—wait, it didn't trigger at all!?
Normally, it should respond to any attack and instantly deploy a Magic Barrier. And yet, it didn't react. I wondered what the logic behind that could be.
For a moment, I felt the urge to let it hit me, but then I noticed a soldier possessed by a Majin standing right behind me.
Alright, I'll let him take it. Hop.
"Gughaa!?"
The black light pierced the soldier's chest. His body convulsed, and then he collapsed, motionless.
"...Is he dead?"
I poked him with my foot, but he didn't move. When I tried using Appraisal on him, I saw no external wounds or bleeding; only his heart had been cleanly stopped.
"Even if he was possessed by a Majin, the base is still human. If the main body dies, the Majin loses its life too," Grimo explained.
Hmph, what a guy, killing his own subordinate. Well, I was the one who dodged it, though.
"Setting that aside... that attack just now looked like he simply fired mana."
"Yeah, that's exactly right. A Demon can freely manipulate the mana existing in the atmosphere just by willing it... He probably just thought the word 'Die.'"
In other words, it was an ability to trigger a phenomenon directly without going through a Spell Formula. The reason I couldn't block Talia's self-inflicted damage, Crow's Cursed Words, or Ren's poison mist with a Magic Barrier was because they weren't things manifested in this world through a formula.
If mana is like water, the Magic Barrier is like a sieve. It can stop something with a physical shape, but if it remains as water, it passes right through.
"I see. So the mana Guisarm manipulates is like an enhanced version of Ren's and the others' abilities."
"What...?" Guisarm reacted to my words. "I just heard something I cannot overlook... Are you saying my power and the power of those pigs are the same?"
"Are they not?"
"They are completely different!"
His calm tone from a moment ago vanished as Guisarm suddenly flew into a rage.
"This is a technique of the proud Demons! It is presumptuous to even compare it to the abilities used by pigs! In the first place, that thing you humans call 'magic' is nothing more than a degraded version of the power we Demons use!"
"Whoa there, I can't let that slide. Magic has made a lot of progress compared to the old days, you know? It's not something to be mocked."
"Hmph... Controlling mana through a Spell Formula, is it? It's nothing but monkey-mimicry, child's play! Then try responding to my power with that 'magic' of yours!"
Guisarm's mouth twisted as he began to gather mana throughout his entire body. Then, he released it.
The mana impacted at my feet, forming sharp blades that stretched toward me.
"Whoops."
However, things manifested as physical matter can be blocked with a Magic Barrier. As I lightly repelled them all, I saw the mana at my feet gather into a single point. It became a mass like a thick spear and lunged at me.
This one was strong. A normal Magic Barrier wouldn't be able to block it entirely. In that case, I would intercept it.
"'Quaking Rock Fang.'"
At my command, a giant stone fang rose from the ground. The stone fang collided with the Magic Spear, neutralizing it.
"Heh, do you think that's the end of it?"
As Guisarm moved his fingertips, the shattered Magic Spear gathered once more. Mm, that's quite fast. Intercepting with magic won't be in time.
The approaching Magic Spear pierced through my automatically deployed Magic Barrier. Five layers of Magic Barriers were destroyed one after another in a rapid succession of shattering sounds.
And then—thump! It struck me right in the chest.
"Lloyd!?" Ren of the Poison Moth cried out in a pained voice.
However, it wasn't a big deal. I had blocked that last Magic Spear with a different kind of Magic Barrier, separate from the automatic one.
A Magic Barrier activated just millimeters from the skin is dozens of times harder than the automatic ones due to the constraint of receiving the blow at the very last second. I suppose I could call it "Magic Barrier: Strong."
Though, it did hurt a little when it hit the barrier.
"Hoh, to think you could block my Magic Spear... But there is more than one spear."
"What...?"
Before I could finish speaking, my heart gave a heavy throb. This is...? Seeing me press my hand to my chest, Guisarm smirked.
"The Magic Spear was double-layered. A spear to pierce physically, and a spear to simply gouge out the heart."
I see. Guisarm had fired mana with the command to "Die" layered over the previous Magic Spear. I felt my heart gradually grow weaker. And then, it stopped beating.
"Master Lloyd!? Wh-Why... could it be... he's dead!? Master Lloyd—!"
"Ahahahaha! For someone who talked so big, you weren't much at all! Well, I enjoyed myself a little. Only a little, though! Ahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"
Guisarm's loud laughter echoed around the room. He laughed like that for a while, before suddenly turning his gaze toward me as I stood still without falling.
"...You, why haven't you fallen?"
"Well, because there's no need to."
"What!?"
When I replied, Guisarm's shoulders gave a start. He leapt backward, creating distance.
"Master Lloyd! You're safe! But how on earth...?"
"I cast 'Resurrection' on myself beforehand."
—Healing System Magic: Resurrection.
Magic with this kind of instant-death effect exists even within standard spells. This "Resurrection" was created specifically to counter that. It is magic that forcibly restarts a stopped heart to bring a person back to consciousness.
As the name implies, it isn't something that can bring a person who has been dead for a long time back to life, but if used immediately on someone whose heartbeat has stopped, there is a high probability of resuscitation. Since the previous attack had only stopped my heart, I figured this would work.
Hmm, I tried undoing the Spell Formula, and my heart seems to be beating without any issues.
"I-Impossible...! You restarted a heart that had been stopped...?"
Guisarm's face was pale with shock. In the end, it seemed that the power of a Demon wasn't all that different from magic; they just didn't use Spell Formulas. If that's the case, there are plenty of ways to counter it with modern, advanced magic.
"...That power is simpler than I thought."
"...!"
At my words, Guisarm's eyes widened. A vein throbbed at his temple.