983: Antidemon Dragonkin
After defeating Resalva, we went around cleaning up the other berserk dragonkin. But that’s when yet another change occurred.
『Fran! Antidemons! And there are dragonkin with them!』
「Nn!」
We sensed the presence of dragonkin and antidemons mingling together in the same unit.
So they really can control antidemons!
Or so I thought, but that wasn’t quite correct. These newcomers were neither antidemons nor dragonkin. Rather, perhaps it’s better to say they were both?
They looked mostly like dragonkin, but with various antidemon parts covering their bodies. Some weird fusion between antidemon and dragonkin.
Moreover, the mana each possessed was simply extraordinary, on the level of the t.i.tans even. These antidemon-dragonkin guys must be at least Threat Level B. A total of 20 charged at us from the direction of Trismegistus’ castle.
The ten at the front had silhouettes pretty close to humans. However, there were followed by ten ball-shaped objects rolling in behind them, each the size of a small house. It seems these b.a.l.l.s were also antidemon-dragonkin creatures.
Both the humanoids and the b.a.l.l.s emitted the same wavelength of mana. Their body shape probably mutated to reflect their innate abilities and skills, which seems to be a characteristic inherited from the antidemon side.
「Izario-dono!」
「I know! s.h.i.+kimi-san, you take care of the rest!」
The antidemon-dragonkin were clearly way stronger than the berserk dragonkin we were currently engaged with. Izario must have understood the danger of letting them reach the second division. He headed out by himself, with some of the enemy dragonkin still following him.
We a.s.sisted him by attacking at range. Earlier, our division had to avoid any unnecessary attacks, since we wanted to let Izario take the brunt of their attacks.
However, many of us were still engaged in melee combat, leaving only a few were ready to fire spells at the new enemy. Even with me and Fran trying our best, our barrage proved to be futile.
In the end, the antidemon-dragonkin managed to approach us without taking much damage. No, I guess they were still more than 300 meters away, but it seems they considered that to be well within their range.
As we watched in surprise, the humanoid antidemons lifted their ball-shaped friends above their heads and threw them toward us.
What physical strength!
「They’re aiming at me and Hagane?! Come on!」
The ball-shaped ones had mana overflowing from within, and their bodies splitting open from ma.s.sive internal pressure. This was a clear warning sign of self-destruction. Half of the ball-shaped dragonkin were thrown at Izario, and the other half at Hagane’s carriage.
Our enemies were surely targeting the divine swords.
『Fran, you a.s.sist Hagane! I’ll help Izario!』
「Okay!」
『Urus.h.i.+, block the humanoids’ approach for as long as you can!』
「Grr!」
The mana within those ball-shaped antidemon gave me the chills. Each one contained many times the mana of supreme-tier spells. And there were five launched at each side.
Even Izario couldn’t block this without activating his divine sword. And if it’s to protect the adventurers, I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
『I might not be able to destroy you, but I can knock you out of the sky!』
I simultaneously activated dimensional magic and max output telekinesis. Dimensional magic, however, was not so simple as to allow me to do something else at the same time. But I had no choice.
Because that dude has grown on me too!
『Turn s.h.i.+eld!』
I can’t make a Dimension Gate big enough to transport something so huge. In that case, I’ll have to divert their path instead.
This spell distorts s.p.a.ce to alter the trajectory of projectiles, but it can also work on larger objects if I concentrate enough mana on it.
One of the ball antidemons. .h.i.t my Turn s.h.i.+eld and s.h.i.+fted drastically, veering sharply to the right. It reminded me of a professional baseball player throwing a curveball.
At the same time, another one slid to the left with its course altered by my telekinesis.
It collided violently with one of its buddies midair, and the impact sent it flying far off course.
That one will land outside the battlefield where the second division was fighting. They might feel some of the shockwaves, but anything’s better than a direct hit.
Furthermore, I cast several wind spells in an attempt to divert the remaining ones. However, this got blocked by their barriers.
Still, I managed to shoot one down by focusing all my magic on a single one. It fell at about the halfway point between the humanoids and the second division.
But I ended up using too many spells.
『I’m reaching the limits of my continuous casting……! There’s still two more, what am I gonna do……!』
While I was panicking, Fran attempted to deal with the ball antidemons flying toward Hagane’s side.
「Kanna Kamui! Teyaa!」
Fran had neither telekinesis nor dimensional magic, so she went on the offensive. She planned to hit them with powerful long-range attacks in order to knock them down.
In addition to Kanna Kamui, she fired a series of Sonic Waves. The way she forced out the barrage put such a high load on Fran’s arms that I could practically hear them screaming.
Blood gushed out of the tears in her skin. Her muscles and bones were surely overstrained too. Still, Fran continued swinging without rest.
In the end, she managed to knock two of them down.
But that was as far as she could go. Fran could no longer move after pus.h.i.+ng so far beyond her limits.
The other sorcerers began their own spells in Fran’s place, but the powerful barriers rendered weak magic almost completely ineffective.
Should we give up on the attack and put everything into defense? We could at least save Matsuyuki and――
「That’s plenty. Leave the rest to me.」
「Matsuyuki.」
Before I knew it, Matsuyuki had appeared on the front lines.
『Berserk is certainly powerful, but how far can she go?』
Staring at the ball antidemons flying toward her, Matsuyuki held Berserk in a prayer pose, just as he had done when she attacked the t.i.tan.
「Die.」
Her single word caused the ball antidemon’s body to rapidly shrink, with its mana dissipating into the air. The shape reminded me of a deflated soccer ball.
However, Matsuyuki was only able to defeat two of them. She collapsed upon attempting to activate her power for a third time.
「Kuh……」
Izario saw this and realized our opponent was stronger than he thought.
So he finally made the decision.
「Divine Sword Release!」
An explosive burst of magical power erupted from the divine sword.
『He had to use it after all!』
With this, I won’t have to worry about the adventurers. There’s no way Izario could fail after releasing his divine sword.
The only one remaining was the last ball on the Hagane side. But right at that moment, the humanoids sent a volley of magic blasts our way.
It seems those humanoid antidemons observed our formation and realized that all they needed to do was interfere with Fran. I had a.s.sumed they were in a berserk state, but that’s a d.a.m.n precise judgment!
Both Fran and I were too busy putting up barriers to launch any further attacks.
「Matsuyuki is…!」
『Fran, put everything into your barrier!』
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!