“I will not surrender. My revenge ends only in death.”
The muzzle of the gun failed to shake the Demon Race girl.
Her Magic Power expanded, pushing back the surrounding soldiers while she clad her body in a layer of Pitch-black Magic Armor.
“Fire.”
The Duke gave the order.
The muskets in the soldiers’ hands discharged all at once.
Within this steel storm of bullets, the targeted Demon Race girl would be reduced to dust — no one present would doubt that fact.
Milin felt the same.
She knew very well the power of the bullets the soldiers were using… these were Anti-Demon Bullets, specially developed by Teacher Seifei for the military.
This type of bullet was extremely effective at destroying Magic Power barriers.
Even a barrier she constructed with her full strength could only block fifteen shots at most.
‘This woman’s power is only slightly greater than mine… she probably won’t even leave a whole corpse behind.’
Looking at the thick smoke, Milin felt a surge of vengeful satisfaction.
She waited for the smoke to clear — she wanted to confirm with her own eyes that the hateful girl had died before her.
“Cough, cough… Muskets are powerful, but this choking smoke is truly terrible. Don’t you agree, Feiyin?”
While fanning away the dust that threatened to enter her nose and mouth, she took the handkerchief from Feiyin’s hand, which she had previously used to wipe away her own blood.
She expected to hear Feiyin’s reply, but Feiyin did not speak.
“Feiyin?”
The unusual silence made Milin’s heart tighten. She looked at Feiyin… and found her standing still with her eyes wide open, completely motionless.
A sudden sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
She abruptly realized that after the roar of the gunfire, the entire world had fallen into an eerie silence.
“Feiyin… everyone?”
As the smoke gradually dissipated, she saw that all the soldiers remained in their firing positions… but they were frozen in place like Feiyin, not even blinking an eyelid.
She then turned her gaze toward the center of the Arena, where the daughter of the Demon King had been.
There was no Demon Race corpse riddled with holes as she had expected. Instead, there was a massive, pitch-black shadow.
The texture of the shadow was much like the viscous, candle-like residue from when the Imitation had collapsed earlier.
The part spread on the ground was constantly expanding and extending toward the surroundings, forming a Shadow Marsh.
The edges of the marsh continued to bubble and spread with a sizzle.
The nearly 1,000 bullets seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
In a panic, she turned her gaze toward her mother in the VIP seats.
There, she saw a Pitch-black Humanoid standing before her mother, who was protected by guards. It beckoned to her gently.
“…Get away from Mother!”
She screamed, wanting to sprint toward the VIP seats, but she felt as if her legs were sinking into a quagmire, making every step difficult.
Looking down, she found that the Shadow Marsh spreading from that mass of darkness had already reached her feet.
She looked around again and saw that the citizens in the audience stands and the soldiers guarding them were also motionless.
Under the sunlight, the buildings, the people, Teacher Seifei’s Doppelganger… the shadows of everything had condensed into a single whole, becoming as pitch-black and profound as the Humanoid.
The people shrouded in those shadows were very quiet. If Milin had not used her enhanced hearing to listen to their breathing, she would have thought they were all dead.
She felt as if she were sinking into a silent, deep sea… so she ignited all her Magic Power, leaped from the mire pulling at her legs, and rushed toward the Humanoid.
Her fists were wreathed in blazing flames.
Facing this full-strength strike, the Humanoid slightly raised its palm and caught her fist.
“…!”
The roaring flames were instantly extinguished.
Milin felt as if her fist had been embedded into a mountain.
She shifted to punch with her other hand and drove her knee into the Humanoid’s abdomen — these attacks, infused with her powerful Magic Power, were enough to shatter rock.
However, hitting the Humanoid felt like a pebble falling into a deep pool, causing only faint ripples on its shadow-covered surface.
The Humanoid did not even take a single step back. Even though it was useless, Milin continued her assault until a voice spoke.
“Milin, stop.”
“…Mother?”
Her raised left fist stopped mid-air.
She looked with terrified, bewildered eyes at her mother behind the Humanoid… she saw that her mother was frozen in place like the others, but unlike them, she was able to speak.
“Stop fighting. Your hand is bleeding.”
As she said, Milin’s left fist, which she had used for the attack, was torn and bloody.
She had used all her strength trying to break the Magic Power barrier of the Humanoid before her… and this was the result.
“It’s fine, Mother.”
Milin smiled at her, though anyone could see the girl’s smile was on the verge of collapsing… she forced herself to smile only to reassure her mother, who had a pained look in her eyes.
“I’m strong. A small injury like this will heal quickly.”
Amidst the intense pain, her wound healed at a visible speed.
She threw another punch at the Humanoid’s head… this time, her arm snapped with a crack and hung limp.
“Stop!”
Meliya’s voice began to tremble… Milin saw her eyes fill with tears.
“I will… I will definitely save Mother!”
She couldn’t set her broken arm back immediately, so she simply slammed her head into the Humanoid’s.
Under this borderline insane act, the Humanoid finally reacted.
He tilted his head to dodge Milin’s headbutt, then grabbed her right fist and threw her toward the center of the Arena.
“Ugh… huh?”
Milin landed on the mass of shadows… she had braced herself for the impact, but when her body touched the shadow cluster, she found the texture to be as soft and elastic as the mattress in her room.
She slid down the shadow and fell into a sitting position on the ground.
“Do not be in such a hurry, beautiful girl, brave Princess.”
Then, she heard a genderless voice echoing quietly throughout the entire venue… it was as if all the shadows were speaking to her at once.
She scrambled up and snapped her broken left arm back into place.
She stared intently at the Humanoid standing before her mother and said to him:
“Release Mother and everyone else here. I will agree to any demand you have.”
“I have no intention of harming them. Listen, aren’t they still breathing? I have simply made it so they cannot move.”
The Humanoid walked toward Milin… her vision blurred for a moment — by the time she blinked, the Humanoid was standing silently by her side.
She did not attack again, knowing it was all in vain.
“Milin, do not be afraid. She will be here soon — “
“Duchess, please remain quiet for a moment.”
Meliya had opened her mouth to say something, but the Humanoid stopped her mid-sentence.
She became like the others, even her eyelids frozen stiff.
“I beg you, don’t do this to Mother…”
Milin forced herself not to cry… her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
“Don’t cry. Isn’t today your birthday? I am doing this to present you with a gift. Princess Luc, did you rest well?”
While comforting Milin, the Humanoid reached out and tapped the shadow mass.
The mass split open under his touch… and Luc, her entire body clad in Pitch-black Magic Armor, stepped out from within.
“Thank you for blocking the bullets for me, Lord Magus. I will make the most of this opportunity you have created for me.”