Chapter 319
Chapter 319 Strongest Sage, Buys Time
I"m keeping an eye on the demon while putting up a [Wait] hand signal .
Then--the demon cast Material Detection magic .
A peculiar mana was discharged before flying off into the distance .
"What was that magic?"
While saying that . . . I calculate the object of the spell from its mana pattern .
And it"s exactly what I predicted it would be .
--The [Key] to the [Coffin of Sealing] .
Without the [Key], we won"t be able to open the [Coffin of Sealing] nor can we carry it far .
The demon used that spell in order to ascertain that .
"Oh that"s to clear people off . It would be a bother if someone trespa.s.ses in the heat of battle, don"t you think?"
The demon looked satisfied while lying through its teeth .
Looks like it didn"t find the [Key] .
While keeping an eye on it . . . I made a gesture toward Giruas .
The route to the hidden room has been wrenched open thanks to the destruction we caused .
" . . . Got it . "
Giruas, visibly upset to be stuck with his luggage carrier role in front of a powerful opponent, was heading inside a hole in the wall when--
A high speed attack magic was shot chantlessly .
--High speed attack magic .
A magic that pursues cast speed above all else at the expense of power and accuracy .
However--when used by a demon of this cla.s.s, the magic"s power and accuracy exceeds that of magic cast by ordinary demons .
"Wha--"
Ordinary human can"t even react to this magic .
Giruas noticed and reacted to it--but perceiving that he couldn"t dodge it, he moved his center of ma.s.s to avoid a direct hit to his vital .
A moment later, the defensive magic I had cast took effect, repelling the high speed attack magic .
"Hou . . . You blocked that . "
Demon Giwald sounded impressed .
It probably didn"t think its magic would be blocked .
"Go now, hurry . "
" . . Yea . "
Looks like the exchange just now has made Giruas realize that this battle is beyond his capability .
He ran toward the hidden room without looking back .
I shoot [Mana Jammer] at demon Giwald while taking a sidelong glance at that .
It"s a magic to disarray mana control resulting in casting failure .
This magic usually gets augmented on arrows to compensate for range . . . But I shoot at it directly this time .
[Mana Jammer] won"t work well on demons of this cla.s.s .
It"ll only make their magic construction 0 . 5 seconds longer at most .
That would have been enough time to deal great damage on ordinary demons . . . But against this demon, that much time gets us virtually nothing .
But it should give us enough time for Giruas to bring back the [Coffin of Sealing] .
"Sooi!"
Following after me, Iris thrust her spear toward demon Giwald .
The demon gripped her spear and stared at me .
"I see . . . Buying time for your thieving friend huh . "
--It found out our goals .
However, demon Giwald shows no sign of panicking .
Neither does it makes a move to deal with Giruas .
The demon understands that we don"t possess the [Key] to the [Coffin of Sealing] .
Hence, it must have chosen to slowly but surely kill us .
No matter how high up a demon on the ladder, a moment carelessness could still bring their ruin . . . by way of peculiar magic .
I have no means for such right now, but this demon Giwald has no way of knowing that fact .
Hence, it"s going to make full use of its advantage in mana and stamina to surely kill us in a protracted battle . . .
That must be this demon"s plan .
It"s going as I antic.i.p.ated so far .
As I a.n.a.lyzed the flow of battle, Alma"s arrow flew off .
With the hand that didn"t grab Iris"s spear, demon Giwald caught the arrow .
" . . . Another jamming magic huh . "
The demon shot a high speed attack magic over Iris"s shoulder toward Ruli and Alma .
I clashed it with my own attack magic I instantaneously cast, diverting its trajectory .
" . . . What an annoying formation . "
After having so many of its attack magic repelled .
Demon Giwald muttered in vexation .
Our formation this time specializes in buying time .
In such, I take the advance position, Iris the support, while Alma and Ruli are holding the rear position .
Since I"m in charge of deciding our strategy at the forefront, this affords us aggressive yet flexible tactics to be deployed at will .