I teleported to a town in the Southern Region of the Demon King’s Domain, bringing Yuura along with me.
Inside the town, a chorus of screams and panicked shouts filled the air. People were fleeing in all directions as fires broke out from houses across the district.
Bloated Ogres and Lizardmen rampaged through the chaos, their flesh discolored by high-density Magic Power. They were exhausting themselves in mindless acts of destruction, showing no sign of reason or intellect.
These were Magical Beasts.
Even during my previous life, I had found them difficult to handle. The Magic Power coating their skin acted as a buffer, dampening the effectiveness of spells. They also possessed extraordinary vitality; they wouldn't stop moving even after receiving what should have been a fatal wound.
The bodies of these beasts were marked with countless shallow wounds. The local soldiers and mercenaries had likely attempted to fight back, but it appeared they hadn't landed a single effective blow. As I expected, the gap in strength was simply too wide. When facing a Magical Beast, an average force couldn't even manage to buy time.
I invoked Sensing Magic.
There were four Magical Beasts in this town, and the surrounding towns and villages were suffering similar attacks. Including the individuals wandering through uninhabited areas, I detected thirty-five in total.
No matter how I looked at it, this was strange. Even a tenth of that number would have been an anomaly.
(Just what on earth is happening?)
I pried into their essence, but I couldn't sense any specific Magic Formula within the beasts. In other words, they weren't being controlled by an outside force. In the first place, if there were a caster powerful enough to manipulate Magical Beasts, my Sensing Magic would have caught them immediately.
That said, it was hard to believe this was a natural occurrence. Even if a string of coincidences had occurred, they wouldn't have resulted in a situation this bizarre. Something about this felt fundamentally wrong.
I ran through several possibilities in my head, but I lacked the evidence to reach a definitive conclusion. I wouldn't find the truth through speculation alone. My first priority had to be dealing with the beasts. As long as I gathered the materials, the full scope of the situation should naturally come into view.
“Hostile individuals sighted—transitioning to alert status.”
Yuura stared intently at the monsters. This time, she had brought her Dedicated Machine Golem. She had borrowed it after taking a detour to the Research Institute. The damage it sustained during the Mock Battle had been repaired, and it seemed several improvements had been made as well. The Research Institute Director had personally asked Yuura to test its performance in actual combat.
“Master, requesting orders.”
“Wait a moment. I will take the necessary measures first.”
I replied to Yuura while focusing my consciousness. I wanted to use this as an educational opportunity for her, but if I took too long, the other towns would suffer more casualties. I had to prevent that at all costs.
These preparations were the solution to that problem.
By re-invoking Sensing Magic, I pinpointed the exact locations of all thirty-five Magical Beasts. I then used Forbidden Magic to restrain every single one of them, excluding the two directly in front of us.
I used Thorns—vines that increased in durability by siphoning the target's own Magic Power. It was impossible to tear them apart with brute strength alone. Even across such a distance, this level of precision was well within my capabilities.
(Hmph. That should do it.)
The beasts were now immobile. Unless I chose to release the spell, they would remain completely vulnerable. They were now so harmless that even an infant could approach them without danger.
Normally, such a swift neutralization would be nearly impossible. I was only able to achieve it by exerting my Demon King’s Power. It was true that Magical Beasts surpassed standard demons, but from my perspective, that simply meant they were still only on the level of demons. Furthermore, they lacked intelligence and had zero capacity to counter complex spells. There was no reason I couldn't handle them as a side task.
In fact, they were the perfect prey.
With this, the only threats remaining were the two beasts in front of us. No other interference would come. I could now give Yuura the opportunity to learn.
“First, the evacuation and rescue of the civilians is the top priority,” I instructed. “Construct an optimal combat space.”
“Master’s orders accepted—commencing operational actions.”
Yuura, operating her Dedicated Machine, sprinted forward. She snatched up the injured who had collapsed on the ground and hurled them into the distance. She proceeded to do this for every person in the immediate vicinity.
“...You have to be joking.”
I had ordered evacuation and rescue, but I never imagined she would interpret it so literally. Though stunned for a second, I quickly invoked Wind Magic. I caught the falling civilians with a gentle breeze and carried them safely to a secure location.
While I was at it, I used magic to perform emergency first aid. Many were in critical condition because of the beasts, but I healed them enough to ensure they were no longer in mortal danger.
While I handled the aftermath, Yuura finished her aggressive "clearing" of the area. Standing before the two monsters, she closed the distance with the Ogre Magical Beast.
Sensing Yuura’s presence, the Ogre threw a heavy blow. She caught its arm mid-swing and transitioned smoothly into a shoulder throw. The massive beast soared through the air and slammed into a nearby house, sinking into the ground with a thunderous roar. The building, of course, collapsed instantly.
Yuura leaped onto the beast and showered it with a barrage of punches too fast for the naked eye to follow. The creature’s flesh was pulverized, unable to put up any resistance. Even from a distance, the incessant sound of explosions echoed through the street.
(The sharpness of her movements has increased... Has she been training on her own?)
Finally, Yuura crushed the beast’s head with a single, devastating stomp. Its limbs convulsed once, then went limp. No matter how high its vitality was, there were limits; being crushed like that resulted in instant death.
Yuura immediately turned her attention to the Lizardman Magical Beast. This time, the monster initiated the charge, letting out a roar that seemed to split the air.
Despite the beast's momentum, Yuura remained calm. She fired Beams from her hands, melting the monster’s hide. At first, only the scales were stripped away, but the light soon began to sear through blood and bone. Beams fueled by the Great Spirit’s Power could pierce through almost any mediocre magical protection.
Even with a hole burned through its abdomen, the heavily damaged beast continued its charge. It lunged at Yuura with its jaws wide open. Just before the teeth could close on her, Yuura performed a backflip. She used her Flight capability to adjust her posture in mid-air, then swept a Beam across the monster’s face.
The beast screamed as its eyes were incinerated, thrashing about blindly. Yuura hovered directly above its head, then accelerated downward to deliver a crushing heel drop.
With a sickening crack, the monster’s head was driven down into its torso. Blood sprayed from the impact. The beast staggered unsteadily for a moment before silently toppling over. It did not get back up. Like the Ogre before it, it had died from massive cranial trauma.
Having defeated both targets, Yuura dashed back to my side. She stood perfectly still as she delivered her report.
“Combat actions concluded—hostile individuals eliminated. Requesting a critique of this performance.”
“Your combat maneuvers were brilliant,” I said. “However, humans are not things to be thrown. Furthermore, do not destroy buildings unnecessarily. If you can improve on those points, your performance will be even better.”
While she had displayed incredible martial skill against the beasts, her lack of common sense remained a glaring issue. I couldn't praise her unconditionally; these were necessary lessons she had to learn. Fortunately, Yuura had the capacity to reflect on her mistakes and apply the feedback.
“Understanding Master’s evaluation—I will incorporate improvements in future actions.”
After a moment of thought, Yuura nodded with her mechanical body.
There were still many Magical Beasts left across the region. I looked forward to seeing how much she would grow throughout the rest of this operation.