Black Iron Magician

「One more as a bonus, Riway Press ♪」

「Uooh!?」

Before answering Nell’s question, Maria chanted, no, sang her magic again with her two mouths. The wind pressure containing even more ridiculous weight than before was applied to the whole area, and Deris reflexively countered it. His legs are wobbling like a newborn fawn, but he manages to hold on. His waist will get hurt if this drags on, but he’s somehow able to endure it.

「Isn’t it better to talk with fists than to talk with words? Well, I’ll sing freely with my mouths, though.」

「Uhyah!?」

Maria moves in a single breath from the position where she was blown up. Her target is Alezel, who has a face that’s as if saying ‘she’s coming this way!?’. There was some distance between her and Maria, so she could realize that she was being targeted. But even if she wants to avoid the attack, Maria is too fast. Even Alezel could do nothing but be surprised. A moment later, Alezel has a flashback.

「I won’t let you!」

「Wow, again?」

Alezel was convinced that she would die instantly, but Nell saved her. Maria’s fist was pierced by the flame sword, and Alezel was able to avoid the attack just in time.

「UWOOOOOH! You saved me there, thank you, Nell! Ah, here’s a parting gift!」

Just before Alezel dashed away from the two, she took out a bomb made by Quitet from her pocket and threw it. With an explosion, the flames spread quickly to the surrounding area, and Nell and Maria were surrounded by the sea of flame. Contrary to its small appearance, its power and duration are exceptional.

(Uhee! This is bad, really bad! She’s too fast! It’s only Nell who can keep up with Maria-han’s speed!)

Nell used a certain magic before Maria escaped from her sword, perhaps because Alezel’s thought was conveyed when she escaped. Scroll Bright Red Magic level 80, 『Chain Lava』, is a magic that binds the user and the target with a chain of lava. Once bound by this magic, any auxiliary effect of a support magic is shared, so it’s meaningless even if Maria escaped with a teleportation magic. And the length of the chain hanging between the two is less than 2 meters, so they are always inside each other’s attack range.

「How cheeky of you! You have to defeat me first!」

「You’re being so persistent! Fine, I’ll expose the true nature of that strange movement!」

The two demons beat each other while the arms tied to the chain of lava are being burned, though the other one is being healed. After distancing herself, Alezel continues to throw the bombs to support Nell. The field is now completely in Nell’s favor. Maria is attacking with all her might, and each attack is enough to defeat Nell, but Nell’s incomprehensible counterattack always hit her first, making her attacks misfire.

(Hm? Hmm~? I’m giving my all, though. But, why?)

Nell’s Unique Skill is an ability to counterattack. She counterattacks after the opponent attacks, but it will hit first. No matter how you think about it, it’s a simple ability. However, it could twist even fate.

(Wow, wow! I’m seriously trying to kill her, but she always hits me first!? Ahaha, it’s interesting~! I didn’t know such a thing was possible in reality! It might be a shocking first experience!)

Since it’s fixed that the counterattack always hits first, even if it’s the fastest attack that’s launched by an overwhelming strong person like Maria, no matter how far it is, and even if the target is her ally, the ability will work normally if Nell recognizes the attack and moves to counterattack it.

Using this ability, Nell prevented all of Maria’s deadly attacks in advance. The super speed with which she saved Alezel was also a result of this ability. Nell hates to use this power in unnatural situations, but since Alezel’s life was at stake, she had no choice but to use it as a special exception this time.

(Still, I can barely fight her that it’s not strange for me to lose at any moment…! Haha, this is nice! This was exactly my goal, the Great Demon King! I will bite at you even if it kills me!)

This ability, which she rarely uses (there is no one worthy of using it in the first place), must be fully utilized in this battle to the death with Maria. However, it’s not that there’s no restriction. Nell, who has been training her ability for many years and has sharpened her mind for this day, is in great shape, but even so, as a rough estimate, she can only use it about three times per second.

At a glance, the restriction on use seems to be meaningless, but it is still not enough to compete with Maria, whose strength, magic, and speed are all superior to Nell’s. The battle situation changes every split second, and through reading each other, she carefully selects only the attacks that could be fatal, and other than that, she relies on the healing power of the flames to fight with everything she’s got. The repetition is repeated over and over again for each second, and it could not be described in any other word than harsh. Nell is always on the brink of death.

Maria, on the other hand, doesn’t have reserve power as she appeared to be. Deris’s deadly poison surely erodes her body, blocking half of her ability to regenerate. In such a condition, it is hard even for Maria to repeatedly receive Nell’s fire, be cut down, and continue to receive counterattacks. The flames around her, which burned her body, also contributed to reducing her HP.

In addition, her 『Humpty Dumpty』 is a deadly form where she injects all of her blood into the magic of 『Celestial Zoa』. While her status and skills improve explosively, she is constantly activating all of her blood as a catalyst with her Unique Skill, so it consumes a lot of her energy and it’s not suitable for a long-term battle. If she were in a normal state without poison, she would be able to create blood and magic power immediately after using it, but now she is unable to do so. It’s clear that the longer the battle dragged on, the more Maria would be at a disadvantage.

「Why, I wonder why!? I can’t even think about it! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!」

「I will burn your soul!」

Both are enjoying the battle and have genuine smiles. However, it’s just madness built on a truly miraculous balance.

(Uwaah…)

(Guwaaah…!)

Even Alezel, who’s throwing bombs from the outside, could only smile wryly, and Deris, who’s resisting Maria’s magic, is on the verge of hurting his waist.

「It’s fun! It’s really fun! I don’t understand the logic, but Nell is really competing with me!」

「As for me, it’s a little disappointing!」

「Hee, it’s not enough for you, you said!? Then, the next will be my serious magic! Yep, now is not the time to worry about MP! Now, listen to my nonet!」

「S-Serious magic…!?」

The moment Deris shuddered, the remaining lights that had been moving around Maria’s body changed into the shape of a mouth. The young voice that was heard in nine layers began to spin out the greatest and worst magic.