Black Iron Magician

「What, they ain’t coming down, huh?」

「Are they telling us to come instead? How arrogant, just like Maria.」

「No, I don’t think so.」

Deris squinted his eyes and looked at the light part of the monster the blood is the thickest. The light, which varies in color depending on the individual, has been flickering intensely since some time ago.

「I see, they are accumulating magic power. They are going to attack us one-sidedly from the position out of reach. Are they going to use something like a dragon’s breath?」

「「Deris, drop all of them now.」」

「You’re saying it as if it’s simple….」

Receiving the expectant gazes of the two, who are on good terms at a time like this, Deris thrust his black staff into the ground again and checked the amount of his remaining MP.

「Watch out for the counterattacks when they are falling! Gravas

!」

Gravas is not the highest rank magic that Deris can use, but it has a heavy pressure over a wide range. When it’s used by someone as skilled as Deris, its characteristics are even more prominent. Not only on the ground, but the effect of the super-gravity reached even the sky.

「Now, fall!」

「■■!?」

Being pushed by the wall of gravity, the beautiful formation begins to crumble. Some fall instantly, but others can endure it to some extent. The monsters received the same amount of blood from Maria, but it seems that they have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, it’s only a slight difference. Whether they resist or not, it won’t take long before all of them fall.

「■■■!」

As soon as they stopped their resistance, they descended straight down as if riding on Deris’s magic to increase their speed. Furthermore, the nine lights that were flickering spewed out a magic attack that resembled a tornado. Nine tornadoes are falling from the sky, and one of them is enough to overrun and completely destroyed a city in less than a few minutes. Deris wants to sigh deeply, thinking that he’s been having a lot of nightmares in real life today. But unfortunately, he doesn’t have time for that.

「Alezel, the customers are throwing coins. You can pick them up as much as you want. I will refrain, though.」

「Alezel, you have to pay the penalty if you don’t pick all of them. Come, pick them up. I’ll keep an eye on you.」

「Do those look like coins to you!? Are you blind!?」

Rather than using the time to sigh, it’s better to use it to make fun of their friend to raise the spirits. As allies who have fought together for many years, this is one of the few things Deris and Nell have learned. Setting aside normal times, it’s a way to raise Alezel’s spirits during a crisis.

「Purgatorio!」

Nell swung her sword with the Bright Red Magic riding on it. The magic, with an extraordinary amount and extraordinary power, was released over a wide area, and it collided head-on with the tornadoes that the monsters released. The shockwave generated at that time was strong enough to momentarily push the monsters upward as they attempted to descend using the pressure of gravity. Moreover, the small sparks created when the flames and tornadoes collided are enough to burn the skin of the enemy. After that, Nell continued to swing her sword and was immersed in intercepting the enemies with her sword and magic.

「■ …. ■■, ■■!」

「■■■■!」

「Ugh…!」

Even so, the power of the wind that specializes in destruction, which is emitted from the nine monsters, is also tremendous. There’s a difference in their abilities, but it’s not easy to overturn them.

「Almost there, hang in there!」

Nell was supported from behind by none other than Deris. The Fatally Venom created in the early stages is still alive and well, and the poisonous mud waves emitted from the cracks in the earth joined the flames, raging wildly to break through the tornadoes. Even if the nine tornadoes released by the enemy merge into one giant natural disaster, Deris and Nell fight back in sync, igniting the mud into flames. The mud ignited, sending magma from the ground to fight back the tornado, and it became like a fight between a storm and a volcano.

「The seventh bottle of magic suppression and dispersal drug! The eighth bottle of magic suppression and dispersal drug! Hehe, I can’t wait to claim the compensation!」

By the way, Alezel was running around on the ground, looking for enemy attacks that had leaked, and throwing a bottled mysterious liquid from her pocket toward it. When the wind blade, which was part of the tornado, made contact with Alezel’s thrown bottle, the liquid was sprayed from the destroyed bottle and quickly vaporized into a bluish-white gas. It’s probably another Quitet’s technology. Then, for some reason, the attacks of the monsters in the vicinity were nullified.

Thus, Deris and the others succeeded in getting through it almost unscathed. On the other hand, Maria’s monsters were hit by several flames, slashes, and mud poison, which further inhibited them before they descended to the ground. Well, it’s not a surprise. After all, they went through that violent battle of storm and magma on their way down.

「■■…!」

「Oh, is it weakened?」

「It’s the poison that I made while thinking about Maria(‘s weakness) every day and night, you know? It would work, of course!」

「Deris, let’s have a talk later *smile*」

「N-Nell? Why are you angry…?」

「Sigh, Deris doesn’t understand a maiden’s heart at all. Well, you should focus on the hell in front of you rather than the hell that will come later! I’m gonna deal with one of them, kay!?」

Alezel made use of her discerning eye that she had trained in business, and she went toward the individual that seemed to have been weakened considerably in the previous battle. Her speed and ability to take action at a time like this are amazing.

「Nell, are you sure you can deal with five of them? If it’s dangerous, I can take one more, you know?」

「Fufufu, it’s okay. If I burn the feelings I got from Deris just now, I feel like five of them are nothing *smile*」

「Seriously, why are you angry!?」

Nell, whose hair is dyed bright red, and Deris, who honestly doesn’t feel like living, take on the remaining monsters. With Nell’s flames and Deris’s nasty magic and black staff, they succeeded in dividing the monsters into exactly the numbers they planned. Although the situation is unpredictable, the battle is still evenly matched. Originally, they should have been pushed by the unreasonable ability and sheer number, but they are now no longer in a sssituation where it’s unmanageable.

(So far, it’s going well.)

How on earth could they defeat Maria, who would completely recover the next moment even after receiving Nell’s full power of attack? In response to this question, Deris’s basic premise was the elimination of the 『Regeneration』 skill, which is the core of Maria’s immortality. At the same time, he also thought that they only have the chance at the early stages, where Maria would be assessing them. As Alezel mentioned some time ago, Maria basically will receive the attack to assess others because of her high status and immortality, and she especially will receive the attack that she has never seen. As planned, the deadly poison generated by Fatally Venom inhibited Maria’s skills, though not perfectly, and succeeded in bringing her to a level where her HP could be reduced if they keep inflicting damage. Thus, they are finally able to stand on the same ring.

(…… Yeah, it’s going too well.)

Deris suddenly thought so. In his experience when he was an adventurer, the next development usually didn’t go well at a time like this. And now seems to be that time.

「As expected of Deris, you didn’t get cocky with this.」

「I’m a worrier by nature, so I can’t get cocky.」

The monsters were talking in an incomprehensible language until some time ago. Then, one of the monsters in front of him suddenly talked to Deris fluently, but he responded normally with a straight face.