The Demon Queen - Part 2

“You were… I see. I should have realized that a talented mage like you would have some kind of connection to the Hero…” Kara said as she covered her face, her tone slightly irritated.

I was left speechless. What was I even supposed to say in the first place?

“Kris, do you know her?” Garrik asked, intrigued by our reactions.

“Well…”

It was hard to explain. I had only known her for a single night, but we had worked together to save slaves. It wasn’t as if I knew her well, but we had clearly gotten along—at least, I think we had.

Wait, maybe… could we talk this out? The situation felt far more relaxed right now. I thought it might be possible to talk things through with Kara. Yes, I had to try.

“Kara!”

“Huh?”

“[Sacred Missile]!”

However, I was cut off by Aurelia, who launched a missile imbued with the sacred element toward Kara. She barely managed to dodge it after turning her head when I called out to her.

“You…!” Kara growled, glaring daggers at Aurelia.

“What are you doing!?”

“What are you doing!?” Aurelia shot back. “She’s a demon. We came here to kill her!”

As Aurelia prepared another missile, that blatant declaration of war made Kara’s frown deepen even further.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

Aurelia fired again, but this time Kara dodged with ease. She then began to gather magical power around herself, starting to chant.

“Spirit, grant me the power to burn everything to ashes…”

Black flames began to swirl around Kara, growing larger and larger until they completely enveloped her. The titles given to her had been accurate.

“…let my infernal flames fill this hall with fear and agony… explode!”

“[Protection]!”

Aurelia barely had time to react. The flames surrounding Kara surged outward, covering at least half of the enormous hall. Had it not been for Aurelia’s protection, we would have undoubtedly been knocked out of the fight.

When the flames finally died down, the hall was ablaze and radiating immense heat. Even so, that didn’t stop Tyra or Garrik, who rushed toward the queen at once to attack her.

Kara dodged Garrik’s sword swing, driving him back with a kick, while meeting Tyra’s rocky fist with a blow of her own, causing a powerful clash between the two. Tyra held her ground, but Kara proved to be stronger and managed to land her strike, knocking Tyra to the floor.

There was no other choice left.

I had to join the fight.

“[Soul Spear]!” I recited, conjuring at least ten magical spears at once. They were fired almost simultaneously toward Kara, who tried to dodge them all, but one struck her in the abdomen.

“Nice shot!” Aurelia exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re not helping!”

Kara frowned. It seemed she was beginning to notice how the pain from the wound was growing more pronounced and irritating, so she grabbed the spear, trying to pull it out.

“It’s useless. My spears won’t come out unless—what!?”

However, surpassing my expectations, she managed to destroy the spear. That should only be possible if the one doing it possessed impeccable mana control; otherwise, the spear would only cause even more pain. It was a spell I had a great deal of confidence in.

There was no doubt why she was the queen. She was truly powerful.

“That spell… you really are a great mage.”

“…You’re impressive as well,” I replied to her praise, genuinely surprised.

“Then I suppose it’s my turn,” she declared. “Azkarûn, Nalur, Therenil, [Dark Claws]!”

“What!?”

Spells follow a structure in order to be used. Each word strictly serves to give the spell its intended form and power, but that also comes with the drawback that spells are usually long and take time to recite and to gather the necessary mana. My case was special, as I did not need to chant, and Aurelia could only do so thanks to her first-class staff and the sacred element that made mana manipulation easier. But the queen had just shortened the chant by more than half—and without using a staff or anything similar. She was not only physically strong; she was also highly skilled in magic.

Kara’s spell summoned enormous claws made of black mana that appeared on her hands, and not only that—black wings emerged from her back, which she used to propel herself forward and gain speed.

She was fast!

Kara lunged at Garrik, who barely managed to respond to her speed, blocking her claws with his sword.

“Good reflexes, but—”

Immediately afterward, Garrik was sent flying by an explosion of dark mana that burst from Kara’s hands. It was magic in the form of a blast, just like the one I had used when I helped her with the slaves.

“Lord Hero!” Aurelia shouted, immediately beginning to prepare a healing spell. Kara then fixed her gaze on her and flew in her direction. Her plan seemed to be to distract her and strike while she was off guard, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.

“[Judgment Cut]!”

At my words, a massive blade of mana shot toward Kara. She halted to avoid the slash, canceling her attack in the process. That moment of surprise created an opening in her guard, giving Aurelia time to cast another [Sacred Missile].

The attack caught Kara off guard. She blocked it with her mana claws, but due to the nature of demon mana, they began to crumble upon contact with Aurelia’s missile, though not instantly. It was surprising that Kara’s claws lasted that long against sacred magic despite being made of cursed mana.

Then, before Aurelia’s attack could fully disintegrate her claws, Kara deflected the missile in my direction. It caught me by surprise, but I managed to react in time.

“[Soul Execution]!”

[Soul Execution] was a spell that summoned spears from the ground to attack by impaling my enemies, but it could also be used defensively by forming a barrier of spears to protect me. However, since it was not a spell specifically focused on defense, its effectiveness was rather limited.

The deflected [Sacred Missile] finally reached my spear barrier, and after holding for a few seconds, the spears shattered and Aurelia’s spell dissipated. Kara seized that moment, appearing just as my barrier collapsed and landing a heavy blow to my stomach, knocking the air out of me and dropping me to my knees from the pain.

After knocking me down, she turned her gaze toward Aurelia, preparing to attack her as she spread her wings once more. But out of nowhere, the ground began to move, rising up to trap Kara, leaving only her head exposed.

“Earth magic…”

Kara was left bewildered, and immediately afterward she took a direct hit from Tyra’s earth-forged fist, sending her flying. Even so, despite the blow, she managed to recover and land on her feet.

“Azkarûn, Nalur—”

“I won’t let you!”

Before Kara could invoke her claws again, Garrik began attacking her with his sword. Kara could only dodge, as she had no way to block a sacred sword without taking damage in the process.

“Are you okay, Kris!?”

“Young Kris, control your breathing!”

Both Tyra and Dust came to check on me, and she tried to help me up, but the pain still lingered. Fortunately, my breathing calmed a little, and I was able to speak again.

“…Tyra, Dust, I need you to restrain the queen again like before. Do you think you can do it?”

“No problem!” the elf replied energetically, full of motivation, before letting go of me and starting to run toward the queen.

All I could hear from Dust was a quiet, “My deepest apologies…” as he also moved away.

Kara had already begun attacking Garrik while continuing to evade the strikes of the sacred sword, gradually cornering him, but fortunately for him, Tyra arrived. She landed nearby and planted both hands on the ground as she shouted energetically.

“Take this!”

Just like before, the earth began to move. Kara was already familiar with that trick, so she quickly attacked Garrik with a burst of mana to create distance, spread her wings, and took flight at the same time the ground tried to restrain her.

Once in the air, Kara felt something trickle from her mouth. It was a thin line of blood, surely caused by Tyra’s blow.

Kara let out a small laugh when she noticed the blood on her hand after wiping it away.

“…It’s been a long time since I’ve been pushed this far.”

At that moment, Kara raised one of her arms and began to chant.

“Spirit, grant me the power to finish my rivals with a scorching infernal rain…”

She was using the power of her spirit again!

I couldn’t attack, as I could barely stay on my feet, and Aurelia had gone to heal Garrik from Kara’s magical attack.

We were cornered!

“…E-everyone run with Aurelia!” I shouted, mustering my strength at the last moment to stand up.

Tyra and Dust ran along with the others, while a ball of black fire formed in the palm of Kara’s hand, growing larger and larger.

“…Descend!”

“[Protection]!”

At Kara’s command, the fireball dispersed across the ceiling, from where a rain of black fire began to fall.

Aurelia managed to withstand it thanks to her spell, but the power of the rain was overwhelming, striking the barrier again and again without pause.

Normally, Aurelia possessed a considerable amount of mana, but sustaining attacks with her barriers consumed it in proportion to the strength of the assault.

Aurelia began to run out of mana, but fortunately the rain ceased before the barrier disappeared.

“Drink a mana potion!”

I had recovered enough to resume attacking.

“Tyra, I need your help to bring her down!”

“Leave it to me!”

“[Soul Explosion]!”

As I cast a new spell, I raised my staff and formed a somewhat small sphere of mana, which was then fired toward the ceiling. It exploded upon contact, but caused no damage. Instead, as the sphere dispersed, an enormous number of tiny mana sparks began to fall until they reached the ground.

Kara was confused by my move, unable to predict it, and while she tried to figure it out, she was taken by surprise by a massive boulder flying straight at her. Tyra had begun her assault.

“Here comes another!” she shouted excitedly as she hurled yet another enormous rock.

At the same time, I decided to try something.

“Aurelia, are you feeling better?”

“Yes… I’ve recovered some of my mana.”

“Good. I need you to imbue my next attack with the sacred element, but I warn you—it won’t be easy.”

“…You say that as if your plans are ever easy to begin with.”

Despite her clear irritation at my remark, Aurelia proceeded to infuse her sacred mana into me. Landing a single hit on Kara wasn’t going to be easy, so I had to overwhelm her with sheer numbers.

“[Imbue]!”

“[Soul Spear]!”

My spell didn’t summon just ten spears like before, but thirty. Even if I could keep up with that many, imbuing so many spears with the sacred element was difficult for Aurelia, who, despite having recovered, was already beginning to look exhausted again. As she had once told me, imbuing attacks with the sacred element was exhausting on its own, and doing so in such quantity would undoubtedly leave her drained.

“Rest for now. I’ll take it from here.”

The thirty spears, at maximum power, were fired one after another. Kara saw them coming, but the sheer number undoubtedly overwhelmed her. Though she managed to dodge the vast majority, it was by such a narrow margin that her body began to fill with cuts from the spears grazing her.

Finally, two of the attacks struck true—one in her shoulder and another in her leg.

“Gah!”

She tried to remove them immediately, but the pain was far worse thanks to Aurelia’s intervention and the sacred element. Even touching the spears was painful for her.

Kara was growing desperate. Steeling herself, she let out a heart-rending scream and grabbed the spear embedded in her leg, destroying it just like before. However, as she tried to do the same with the other, Tyra seized the opportunity and hurled another rock, hitting her this time.

Kara crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust upon impact.