Even if I strengthen my defenses, there are always subtle flaws.
I specialize in channeling my magic through those flaws and cleaving them at once with my Ore Tree.
In other words, I can channel magic at a molecular level.
That’s why if you want to defend against my slashes, you can only do so with similar molecular-level magic manipulation.
As you reach a level beyond an instructor, they also mix in conceptual defenses, making it even harder to overcome.
However, this great tree’s defense is simply a thick barrier.
It’s an excellent defense, but it’s laughable to think it can protect against everything.
In an instant, I slash vertically, and with the return swing, horizontally.
The barrier, cut into a cross, gaps and collapses, creating a path for me.
“The main event has arrived!”
Just as I land, a black shadow covers the sky.
Looking up, a multi-armed black spirit swings its fist at me.
A spirit of dual attributes, fire and shadow.
A Balrog.
Based on the flow of events so far, this should be Suella’s trump card.
“Physical attacks don’t work well on this thing.”
The characteristic of this spirit is that it’s a composite being of fire, shadow, and unstable existence.
When attacking, it inflicts physical damage, but when defending, it maximally utilizes its lack of substance to let attacks pass through its body.
However, there are ways to deal with such beings.
“However, only conceptual attacks work.”
That is conceptual attack.
In my case, it’s about infiltrating the concept of “cutting” into my blade, creating a blade that can cleave all things.
This conceptual attack is effective in all areas: physical, magical, and mental.
My conceptual attack, specialized in slashes, can cut even things that cannot be cut.
It can cleave even the hardest minerals, and even water, which doesn’t appear to be cut, will have a boundary once I cut it.
I cannot go into the intricate details of conceptual attacks.
After all, it’s a technique that is often found in fantasy worlds, where one’s own thoughts are materialized into magic, exerting an influence that can cause physical interference. It’s a prime example of unreasonable demands that require a certain “sense” and cannot be explained theoretically.
Few can use it, and even among those who can, it’s a handful at most.
That’s why it’s spoken of as the ultimate technique within the Demon Lord’s Army.
It’s said to be the pinnacle for those who fight.
That’s why the conceptual attack of slashing imposes the unreasonableness of cutting all things.
Even a spirit that has no substance and regenerates instantly.
“Conversely, because it has no substance, it’s easier to cut. Such cases exist.”
If you can’t defend against conceptual attacks, your proud arms will be cut off in an instant.
Truly unreasonable, there are few ways to defend against conceptual attacks.
Among them, the orthodox method of defense is to block with magic imbued with the will of rejection.
You can only counter concepts with concepts, as if pitting will against will.
However, the Balrog cannot do this, and stumbles back in confusion as its regenerating arm fails to regenerate.
It looks at me with eyes like it’s seeing a monster.
Its will to stand against me, to protect its contractor master, is mixed with fear.
However, it dispels that fear and tries to defeat me using the rest of its body.
“You’re amazing. Even when you know you can’t win, you try to seize a sliver of a chance.”
I’ve received your will to protect Suella.
That’s why I’ll accept it with my wholehearted effort too and slash the Balrog’s body to pieces.
And then, the Balrog, having reached its limit, vanished.
It didn’t die, it just returned to the Spirit World upon reaching its limit, and will sleep for a while to recover.
I offer my heartfelt admiration to the vanishing Balrog.
“Well then, shall I challenge the main event?”
After pausing for a few seconds, I gently turned my gaze to the main event and ran.
There are no more obstacles blocking me.
This blade will wound the trunk of the great tree.
Or so I thought.
“What?”
But the result was different.
I thought I could cut it.
I had no doubt about it.
My sword would undoubtedly sever thetrunk of this great tree.
I was certain of it.
A chilling premonition washes over me, and the moment I realize I’ve been stopped, I instinctively leap backward.
The magic from the spirit lands there.
It was an area-based suppression, considering that dodging or blocking was taken into account, like carpet bombing.
“Magic can be cut. It’s not that my slash was nullified.”
I slice through the incoming magic and secure my right to survival.
If I stay in one place, Suella, who has the ground on her side, will launch a pincer attack, depleting my stamina and magic.
I move through the air, trying my best not to stay in one place, and observe the great tree.
Conceptual attacks are ineffective.
No, they were blocked.
That means the opponent also possesses defenses related to concepts.
And it’s a means of defense with considerable power.
“I didn’t feel like hitting a hard object. It felt like I was suddenly fixed… a space-type spell?”
My Ore Tree’s speed surpasses even an instant.
It was like a white-blade catch, judging my slash.
From that, I imagined it was a spirit using space magic, like with Valse-san.
An act that could change the world. I could imagine the manipulation of space.
But at the same time, my intuition suggests something subtly different, leaving me unsettled.
“Either way, I’ll know if I try cutting it multiple times.”
Considering the immense spirit being summoned, it’s not hard to imagine the magical burden on Suella.
This battle must be short.
It feels like she’s trying to draw it out, but that’s also what I wish for.
In that case.
“Valse.”
“Yes! You’ve been calling me a lot lately, but oh my, there’s a familiar face!”
I won’t hold back my forces either.
I summon Valse-san and engage in close combat while countering the spatial-temporal series.
“Get close and slash, and please explain that spirit while supporting me.”
“Yes, yes, you’re a rough contractor, aren’t you? Spirit user.”
Despite her complaints, she’s a reliable spirit who supports me well.
Valse is riding on the head of a white snake. The white snake, her mount, begins to move, covering the trees, but the opponent is also a spirit and is responding to its movements.
If it were a dimensional barrier that blocked space-time, the mere wood wouldn’t touch the white snake.
“Tch, it still can’t be cut, can it?”
“No use, no use. It’s insane to throw normal slashes at that child. That child has no offensive power, but when it comes to defense, even I have a hard time dealing with her. But how did she contract with it? This child doesn’t usually get involved in conflicts…”
Taking advantage of an opening, I approach and swing my Ore Tree to attack the great tree again, but it’s blocked in the same way.
“Explain.”
“Yes, yes, if you get too close, the attacks from the other children will be bothersome, so I’ll explain while backing away. You come here and help me too.”
“Understood.”
Being chided and told to devise another plan, I have no choice but to retreat and land on the head of the white snake.
On the moving head of the white snake, I intercept the magic while keeping my gaze fixed on the great tree.
“Her name is Tofam, an ancient spirit. She’s our junior.”
“Junior? Isn’t she a Special-grade Spirit?”
“In her case, she’s a quasi-Special-grade, I suppose. In terms of age, she’s not much different from us, but as you can see, her combat ability is almost nil. Her abilities are mostly specialized for agricultural work.”
“What? She’s not a combatant? I thought she was a spirit holding a secret fort of the Dark Elves.”
She hides numerous spirits behind the great tree and stands boldly, which makes her look like she’d be suited for a fortress, but according to Valse-san’s explanation, she’s a spirit specialized for farming, not combat.
“If you train anything thoroughly, you can apply it to anything. There are all sorts of spirits, you know? There’s even a Special-grade spirit who’s good at needlework. By the way, be careful when fighting someone contracted with a Special-grade spirit of needlework, okay? I don’t want to fight that one either.”
“Valse-san doesn’t want to fight her…”
“We have a bad compatibility. That child can do things like stitch dimensions, so my spells are less effective.”
“…Seriously, anything goes, doesn’t it?”
“She herself is a cute child who likes making clothes, but if the clothes she made get dirty, she gets really angry. Oh, I’ve gone off-topic. Tofam over there is similar, you know? Her specialty is cultivating fields and purifying water.”
“How does that connect to having defensive power that can block my slashes?”
“Idiot, look at her appearance. She’s a plant, isn’t she? If she creates nutrient-rich soil herself and absorbs nutrients to grow, modifying her body is a piece of cake. If she gives up offense and specializes in defense, she can do something like that. The reason you can’t cut her is simply a lack of skill, a difference in age.”
“…So it’s a body refined over thousands of years. And yet, she can defend against my slashes, which can even cut through dimensions?”
Moreover, she was born in the Isal creation period.
Among the surviving ancient spirits, she is young, but among all spirits, she is undoubtedly an elder.
“That’s not all. She’s excellent at growing food, so she’s often been targeted. Because of that, she’s become a bit twisted, and to protect herself from conflict, she’s spent a long time enhancing her conceptual defense. On top of that, she can do what Divine Beasts do, producing magic herself. So, if it were just her, even if the world collapsed, she could create a small world on her own and endure it?”
“In other words, to cut her, I’d need to generate slashes on the scale of world collapse?”
“Yes, if you contract with her, she’ll supply you with magic, so she’s a spirit perfectly suited for prolonged battles. Look there, do you see fruit growing on that branch? That single fruit provides enough nutrition for a human to live for three days.”
“Her self-sufficiency ability is too high!?”
The branches of that ancient spirit bear numerous fruits, each containing abundant magic and nutrients, apparently forming a complete meal.
It felt like I had witnessed the ultimate form of an agriculture-specialized spirit.
The ultimate of agriculture is self-sufficiency and creating a living environment free from interference by anyone.
When such a spirit becomes an enemy, it’s truly troublesome.
The strategy of a short battle is instead tightening the noose around my own neck…
Or rather, if it continues, the possibility of winning in a prolonged battle is almost zero.
“By the way, between the Tower of God that I cut before and that spirit, which one has higher durability?”
“Tofam.”
“You bastard!! I knew it!! The fact that I couldn’t cut it already told me!!”
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that even Ama-no-nuboko, let alone Amaterasu, could penetrate it.
“What are its weaknesses?”
“Its offensive power is almost zero. At best, it can grow poisonous plants and cause physical abnormalities with their pollen. Other than that, it’s just binding with plant vines, like it’s doing now. Don’t let your guard down and get caught? It uses mass to push and entangle you.”
The President might have a way to pierce it.
No, to be precise, I do too.
“I asked the wrong question. What is its defensive weakness?”
“There isn’t one. As far as I know, no one has pierced that defense. After all, she even endured an attack from the Sun God!”
“What was the troublesome method you mentioned?”
“My method is to drag it into my own dimension and use time stop to crush it into pieces. By the way, to do that, you’d need to drain your magic enough to deplete it about a thousand times. Want to try?”
“I’ll pass, I’d die.”
Is that what it takes?
Today’s word:
Thinking about the other person can reveal things you wouldn’t otherwise see.
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