Point-of-View: Ariella Velle

———————————————————————————

No, no, no, no, no...something isn't right, this is taking way too long!

Come on...come on, Kai, any minute now!

I stopped pacing and took a deep breath, in a futile effort to calm myself down. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, before I opened Treasury again, my heart sinking as I took a look.

Still no new items...almost an hour has passed from the time he usually puts his letters to me into Treasury.

He's never been late before, he always sends his letters on time. No, usually he sends them early, he's never been even a second late, let alone a whole hour!

Has something happened? Did something go wrong?

N-No, no way, I'm sure he's fine...m-maybe he just had a long day and was exhausted. Y-Yeah, he was so tired that he forgot to send a letter and fell asleep!

"Fuck!" I yelled anxiously, as I began pacing around my room again, my heart pounding.

He's okay, he has to be...the fact that I can still open Treasury means he's definitely alive, so-...wait, that's it, let me check Appraisal, see if there are any new profiles in it!

I opened the Appraisal display, and sure enough, there was a new name at the top of the list.

Nereszu Ryokrin...let's have a look.

Hm, based on these stats, it's clearly an Archdemon...and a good bit stronger than any of the other Archdemons we've encountered, this is definitely the highest Power Level among any Monster I've seen so far.

These Demonic Arts, Nullification Zone and Teleport...the former, is it an ability that blocks the use of Magic?

I mean, what else could 'Nullification' apply to?

Wait, wouldn't that mean that Kai won't be able to use his power boosts under the effect of that Demonic Art?!

N-No, calm down, I don't know exactly what that ability does, and even without his power boosts and other Skills, Kai is plenty strong.

Yeah, I...I'm sure he'll be just fine.

I bet he'll send a letter tomorrow, apologizing for forgetting to send one today!

Damn it...no matter what I tell myself, I just can't shake off this immense sense of anxiety in my chest...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Nereszu Ryokrin

———————————————————————————

"Excellent work, Nereszu. I was truly starting to think that we would never capture him. Hm? What is the matter with your Aura?" Inquired the Demon Lord, adding, "It looks significantly weaker than it usually does. Wnay happened?"

"I sustained damage to my Core, my Lord. Not enough to kill me, and I should fully recover in a few days, but at present, I am in a weakened state," I replied wearily.

"I see. I take it that this was a tough battle, then? Even with your Nullification Zone?"

"Yes...even without his Magic, he posed quite a threat. I summoned every Monster that I had marked with my Mana for teleportation, but he killed over two thousand of them, and without the use of his Magic, at that. They could not defeat him...in the end, the exhaustion took its toll and he lost consciousness.

While it is true that I instructed the Monsters not to kill him, I doubt it would have made much of a difference, he was truly ferocious. It was rather bone-chilling...even after losing consciousness, he still remained standing, amidst the mountain of corpses," I replied with a grimace.

It truly made my blood run cold, this human is...terrifying. I almost certainly would have died if I had tried to fight him without the use of my Nullification Zone.

Even with it, I very nearly died.

After he lost consciousness, I teleported him to the castle, and he is currently restrained in the castle's underground prison.

That was a few hours ago, I was immensely worn down and needed to rest, the damage to my Core taking a heavy toll on my body.

"And what of his Personalis Arma?"

"Well, he dropped it after he lost consciousness, and since I could not pick it up, I left it there," I answered, before adding, "My Lord, if I may...I believe we need to kill this human immediately. On the off-chance that he breaks free, he-..."

"That won't happen. And there is no need to worry. Once I have what I want from him and have no further use for him, I shall dispose of him."

"As you say, my Lord."

"I must say, this certainly is quite a relief. With this, we no longer have any opposing forces in this world. The human is in our grasp, and since the Dark Elf is under his command now, the same applies to that troublesome vermin. We have have suffered a number of losses, but we can replenish our forces given time."

"It really was frightening, how much damage he did on his own, and with purely his physical abilities alone," I recalled grimly.

"Well, it did not matter in the end, seeing as we've captured-...hm? Wait, on his own? He did not call upon his undead summons?" Responded the Demon Lord in surprise.

"No, my Lord. He had summoned them, but they disappeared when I activated Nullification Zone."

"Oh. I was under the impression that he fought alongside them. Then, he managed to damage your Core and kill over two thousand Monsters on the level of Greater Demons completely by himself, and without the use of his Magic?"

"Yes, he did."

"Hm, I see..."

"Another thing, he used a strange ability...a flash of purple erupted, and I was struck with an energy beam in the blink of an eye, an unblockable, impossibly fast attack. He caught me off-guard with that, it should not have been possible with Nullification Zone active. Somehow, that attack was not Magical in nature."

"What? A beam of energy that is not Magical? How?" He responded with a perplexed look on his face.

"I do not know, my Lord. But he used it quite sparingly, so perhaps it is an attack that cannot be used in quick succession," I suggested uncertainly.

"Fascinating. Alright, then, I shall head down to the underground prison. It should not be much longer before he regains consciousness."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.