Zofi stopped near the training ground.
A small black sphere was there, and she could sense Marius within it.
(A barrier… and it’s a spatial interference type? It feels like a skill, not magic.)
As she was estimating, a soldier called out to her.
“Um, Ms. Zofi, what exactly is going on?”
Zofi, her thoughts interrupted, turned to the source of the voice.
The young man flushed as he was looked at by a beauty who seemed to embody sensuality.
“It’s better for you not to know.”
Zofi said curtly, but she meant it.
If she were to say that Auraniess had appeared and was fighting Marius, this country would likely fall into a panic.
Not that she cared about that, but she shouldn’t do it if Marius didn’t want it.
The soldier, dismissed unceremoniously, opened and closed his mouth as if to say something, but eventually gave up and returned to the training ground.
Back with his comrades, the soldier was pressed with questions.
It seemed less like they were asking for information and more like they were chastising him for speaking to Zofi.
She was popular, especially among men, for being beautiful, strong, and for defeating a Demon.
Sensing this from the soldiers’ conversation, Zofi snorted softly.
Iris called out to her, as if to tease her.
“You seem quite popular with human men, Succubus Demon.”
Zofi’s expression tensed with a mixture of nervousness and wariness.
“It’s a common misunderstanding, but I don’t care about them. I am solely Marius-sama’s Familiar.”
Iris’s eyes widened at her words, but Sophia, conversely, nodded in understanding.
“I thought a Succubus Demon was unusual, but is that the reason for your diligence?”
Though she should have been praised, Zofi scowled.
“Everyone seems to misunderstand Succubi as being promiscuous.”
Facing two Demon Lords, she maintained a calm exterior despite her inner tension.
Indeed, Iris didn’t seem to notice, but Sophia wasn’t fooled.
“You can relax more. We aren’t interested in things that Lady Auraniess isn’t interested in.”
In other words, they had no intention of fighting her.
She didn’t feel looked down upon. The reality was that there was a vast difference in their power.
However, it would go against Zofi’s nature to let it end there without a retort, so she tried to respond.
“I’m surprised too. To be so loyal to another being despite possessing power comparable to a Demon Lord.”
It wouldn’t be strange for Auraniess to have subordinates of Demon Lord class.
However, whether such powerful subordinates would diligently serve was another matter.
Depending on how it was heard, it could be interpreted as “Can your loyalty be trusted?”, which would be an unforgivable insult to those who valued loyalty.
Indeed, Iris’s expression turned somewhat grim.
Just that made Zofi feel as if her heart had been grasped by an icy hand, but there were situations where she couldn’t back down.
She couldn’t just withdraw silently with Marius’s loyalty being doubted.
Sophia stepped in to stop the silent standoff.
She placed a hand on Iris’s shoulder and admonished her.
“You were the one who teased her first, Iris.”
“Hmph… Indeed, perhaps I was too hasty.”
Iris readily admitted her fault and bowed her head to Zofi.
Since she had been apologized to, Zofi had no intention of continuing to be confrontational with opponents she had almost no chance of winning against.
She then looked worriedly at the barrier.
Sensing her thoughts, Sophia said,
“It’s alright. Lady Auraniess loves strong people. As long as Marius doesn’t make her extremely angry, his life should be safe.”
“Conversely, if he does anger her, there’s no guarantee whether Marius or even this country will be safe.”
Iris added fervently.
There was no trace of spite in her expression; it was rather closer to lamentation or sympathy.
“She’s quite different from what I imagined. I thought she would be more indiscriminate with her attacks.”
Sophia nodded at Zofi’s words.
“It’s true, she is often misunderstood. Lady Auraniess never attacks indiscriminately. However, when she gets angry, the attack range becomes terrifying.”
“I-I see…”
Unsure how to respond, Zofi fell silent.
The inside of the barrier was isolated, and they were unaware of what was happening outside.
Unaware of their subordinates’ situations, the masters’ battle continued.
“It’s my turn this time, alright?”
Auraniess declared, arranging a mass of magic power in front of her.
There were not tens or twenties, perhaps not even a hundred.
Her slender white hands moved, and magic bullets flew like rain, piercing Marius’s defensive barrier in an instant.
Marius, anticipating this, dodged with a Warp and retaliated with Star Rain.
“＜…Annihilate!＞ 【Star Rain】”
Innumerable stars, enough to easily crush a single human, attacked Auraniess.
“Whoa, nice!”
Auraniess laughed delightedly and shattered the incoming stars with her fists.
She met the relentless rain of stars with just her two fists, crushing them all.
Marius, after pouring his magic for about ten seconds, judged it ineffective and stopped the spell.
“It’s fun, but there’s no thrill.”
Auraniess commented with a smile, having effortlessly destroyed the attack that had once overwhelmed Decarabia.
Then, she released a mass of magic power from her entire body again.
The number was several times greater than before, and the speed of their release was incomparable.
Against the barrage of magic bullets, whose speed made Decarabia’s charge seem like slow motion, Marius deployed a defensive barrier.
With a look of suspicion on her face, Auraniess watched as the “Dimension Shield” she had deployed blocked all attacks.
“Oh! You were holding back with that barrier earlier!”
Auraniess applauded with a radiant smile that seemed genuinely impressed.
Marius, on the other hand, showed no signs of joy despite fighting on equal terms.
It was clear that Auraniess was deliberately holding back.
She was only using ranged attacks as declared, and those attacks were delivered carelessly, not with refined precision.
However, from another perspective, this was also her weakness.
When Auraniess got serious, she displayed a malicious strength that players called “Unreasonable Nyss.”
She didn’t know if the Auraniess before her was serious, but she wanted to defeat her before she got serious if possible.
Of course, she was also aware that this was extremely difficult.
“Well then, maybe I’ll stop holding back too!”
As Auraniess said this, she unleashed the same attack as before.
This time, it was with even greater demonic power, the speed of release increased further, and it attacked from all directions like a torrential downpour.
Marius abandoned attacking and focused all his efforts on defense and evasion.
For Marius, whose durability was only at the level of a wizard, it had reached a point where a single mistake could be fatal.
It goes without saying that the first attack was mere child’s play.
Moreover, the attacks from Decarabia and others now seemed like mere breezes.
Eventually, the onslaught of waves stopped, and Auraniess praised Marius with sparkling eyes.
“You really are amazing! Only people like Melinda, Sophia, and Iris could withstand that!”
The Demon Lord, with an innocent, beaming smile, was genuinely enjoying the battle.
She wasn’t looking down on Marius at all.
She had simply developed a habit of not being able to get serious quickly because she rarely had the chance.
Marius understood this, which was why he didn’t feel he was being underestimated.
However, the situation was not ideal.
Neither of them had landed a single hit yet.
For now, it could be called a complete draw.
“Then, is it my turn again?”
“Yep.”
Auraniess faced Marius, bringing her palm and fist together in response to his question.
(It’s like a turn-based game.)
Seeing her appearance, which reminded him of an innocent child, Marius felt a sensation close to a wry smile.
“＜O Spear of the Thunder God that destroys evil, manifest in this land and become my power!＞ 【Vajra】”
It was a special-grade lightning magic.
Dozens of giant lightning spears were born and rained down on Auraniess.
“Ooh!”
Auraniess’s eyes lit up again, and she met them with magic bullets.
She offset one lightning spear with dozens of bullets.
While this might seem like she was on the defensive, Auraniess could create thousands upon tens of thousands of bullets at once.
All the lightning spears were erased in an instant.
“Nothing occurs, nothing moves, nothing lives, nothing exists 【Absolute Zero】”
He followed up with another attack.
A silvery space was born.
It was a world of endings where all things that moved would cease their activity forever, and all living beings would enter eternal slumber.
The white prison, which could not be overturned, shattered with a loud noise.
Auraniess emerged from within, cloaked in black flames.
“Ah, that was surprising. That was pretty dangerous.”
She said with a laugh, which robbed her words of any credibility.
This marked the second forbidden spell broken, following Star Rain.
(She really guards against forbidden spells properly.)
However, Marius was no longer surprised and calmly observed Auraniess’s countermeasures.
It seemed difficult to damage Auraniess with ordinary attacks.
If he poured in more magic to increase the power, it might be possible, but Auraniess likely still had reserves.
Breaking through head-on was not a wise strategy.
“Then it’s my turn.”
Auraniess grinned menacingly.
(What will come next?)
Marius heightened his caution and waited.
Simply sending magic wouldn’t do anything to Marius; she had already proven that.
She would likely introduce some variation from now on.
Or so he thought, but this time she created a large number of magic bullets the size of pebbles.
(No way, is it just the same old pattern?)
As Marius wondered, Auraniess smirked and moved her hands.
The magic bullets collided violently with each other, bouncing around in all directions as they flew toward Marius.
It was a storm of ricocheting bullets, the outcome of which even the attacker didn’t know.
(She’s acting recklessly!)
Marius was surprised by this.
Despite their smaller size, their power seemed to be undiminished.
The only safe area would likely be directly behind Auraniess, but he didn’t think she was unaware of that.
Marius resigned himself and warped behind Auraniess.
“As expected.”
Auraniess had, of course, anticipated this and rained countless magic bullets on the spot Marius had moved to.
“【Reflection】”
Marius’s dual barrier was in place in time, but the next moment, it was destroyed under the onslaught of the magic bullets.
However, the barrier continued to deploy layer after layer, and the magic bullets, unable to penetrate, bounced off.
(That was close.)
For the first time in a very long time, Marius broke out in a cold sweat.
If he hadn’t been equipped with the Ring of Divine Words, he might have died from that attack.
Terruingly, Auraniess was batting away all the reflected magic bullets with her bare hands.
It didn’t seem particularly difficult for her.
“Did that give you a little scare? Because it did me, so here’s a return!”
She said, laughing.
Marius quietly fired several Lasers and retreated.
Auraniess merely deflected them with one hand and did not pursue.
