The Demon Queen - Part 3

The hall fell into silence.

All of us were trying to calm ourselves and steady our breathing while we waited for the queen’s next move. I handed my mana potions to Aurelia so she could recover; I still had more than enough mana myself.

After a few moments, Kara broke the silence with a pained groan. As the dust cloud dispersed, I noticed she no longer had any spears embedded in her. She must have removed them shortly after falling.

Kara was breathing heavily. It seemed our attacks had truly taken their toll. She was strong, and although her attacks were more versatile, she did not have the same endurance as Karver.

“…Azkarûn, Nalur, Therenil, [Dark Claws]!”

She summoned her mana claws once again.

As we braced ourselves for whatever she might attempt, she quickly looked over all of us, as if analyzing us, before fixing her gaze once more on Aurelia. She was probably thinking that without her—and her sacred and support magic—she would have a much better chance of winning.

Kara lunged straight toward Aurelia, but after taking a few steps, one of her strides began to glow. Or rather, the floor beneath her foot started to shine. Kara faltered in confusion, unable to react in time, and moments later a massive explosion erupted beneath her.

[Soul Explosion].

It looked like a useless spell that did nothing, but each sparkle that fell to the ground was carefully condensed mana that exploded with tremendous force upon contact.

Kara was blown away by the blast, and although she managed to recover enough to land on her feet, she barely did so, staggering and dropping to her knees the instant she touched the ground.

“You…!”

Before she could do anything else, Garrik had already closed the distance, taking advantage of the previous explosion to approach unnoticed. He slashed at Kara with his sword, striking directly across her back.

Kara tried to strike back, but Garrik dodged and kicked her away—not just to create distance, but to send her straight into another of my mana mines, triggering yet another enormous explosion.

When the smoke cleared once more, Kara was still standing, but only barely. She was breathing heavily, and the wounds she had accumulated were finally catching up to her. Even though she had tried to mitigate the damage from the explosion, it clearly hadn’t been enough.

It felt like the battle was slowly nearing its end, but—

“…You forced me to use it.”

“Huh?”

That was not something I wanted to hear.

“Karver told me… to avoid using this ability as much as possible… but it doesn’t matter! If it helps me win, then I’ll use it no matter the consequences!”

At that moment, Kara began to scream as an enormous amount of cursed mana poured out of her. The room grew heavy, and we all went on guard, but it was clear that every one of us was confused—and even afraid.

Kara’s body began to change. Her forearms and hands started to be covered by a black material that looked incredibly durable, like some kind of armor. Part of her jaw was also encased in that same substance, and even the horn on her forehead grew larger.

This was bad. Very bad.

Eventually, the aura of cursed mana faded and Kara stopped screaming, but none of us felt even slightly relieved.

I had no idea what she had just done. We had very little information about her to begin with, but this far exceeded my expectations.

Kara charged toward Aurelia again, setting off another of my mana mines along the way, but to my shock she kept running straight through the explosions; they no longer seemed to affect her. Not only had her durability increased, but her speed as well.

She reached Aurelia in an instant and attacked her with the claws formed by the armor on her hands. She did not even need to chant anymore to strike like that.

Aurelia suffered a deep wound across her body, tearing part of her robe in the process, and before she could even fall unconscious, Kara struck her in the stomach with such force that she was sent flying into a wall.

“Aurelia!” we all shouted in unison.

Tyra tried to restrain Kara once more with her elemental magic so she could strike her again with one of her rock fists, but Kara broke free immediately and counterattacked with a powerful blow that slammed Tyra into the ground.

At this rate, we were going to die… I had to do something!

“Garrik, buy me some time!”

“I’ll try!”

First, I needed to take care of Aurelia. Tyra was a powerful fighter with a very resilient body, so I had to prioritize the one who could endure the least damage.

I rushed over to her. Her wound was deep. If I didn’t treat it quickly, she would die without a doubt. Thankfully, she was still conscious—barely.

“Kr… is…”

“Hey, don’t fall asleep! Take this, come on.”

Before she lost consciousness completely, I gave her a recovery potion, and her wounds began to mend. She was out of immediate danger, but she would not recover fully from that alone.

I took my own recovery potion and left it with her so she could drink it as soon as she was able. For now, it was best to keep her out of the fight so she could rest.

But that meant we had lost our support.

Garrik was still struggling against Kara, but she was far faster and stronger than before, so he could not do much. I had to hurry.

I ran over to Tyra, who was still on the ground from Kara’s earlier blow.

“Tyra! How are you!?”

“It hurts… but I can man—hmph!”

Before she could finish speaking, I grabbed one of her recovery potions and forced her to drink it. We needed to move fast—Garrik would not last much longer.

“Hey, at least warn—hmph!”

I also gave her the fatigue potion. With this, she should be able to hold out against Kara, at least for a little while.

“All right. I’ll create an opening so you can attack her. Are you ready?”

“Of course!” she said as she stood up and slammed her fists together. “Dust, get ready!”

“Aaah… I need a vacation…”

Garrik was already cornered. He was doing nothing but defending himself, but even when focusing entirely on defense, he could not block all of Kara’s attacks, which were already dealing severe damage to his armor.

My turn!

“[Soul Execution]!”

As I cast my spell, a large number of spears erupted from beneath Kara. Completely focused on Garrik, she was unable to evade them. Several pierced her arms and legs, making her let out a growl—not one of pain, but of irritation. Was she not feeling pain anymore?

The spears were not enough. Kara began breaking and dispelling them as if they were nothing, intent only on continuing her assault on Garrik. Still, even if it was only a few seconds, it was more than enough.

While the queen was busy destroying the spears to free herself, Tyra rushed forward. She crouched to touch the ground, forming a rock fist, and once she closed the distance, she struck Kara with tremendous force, sending her staggering back.

“Garrik, fall back and recover!”

Garrik nodded at my command and retreated from the battlefield to drink some of his potions.

Now Tyra and I had to hold out until he could recover a bit…

“Nngh!”

Kara was about to counterattack, but suddenly she stopped. Her body began to tremble, and low growls escaped her throat. Moments later, she started coughing up blood.

“Huh!? Was my hit really that strong!? Did you see that, Dust!?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt that’s the case…”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

She had previously withstood my mana explosions without much trouble. I doubted a single blow from Tyra could have done that much damage. Could it be… that this state was wearing her down? If so, then we might have a chance.

Shortly after finishing her coughing fit, Kara lunged at Tyra again. Watching her more closely now, it did not seem like she was thinking much about her movements, as if she were acting purely on instinct.

Tyra dodged the attack and struck her in the abdomen, making Kara let out a pained growl. It seemed she was weakening over time.

Just a little more…

“Tyra, fall back!”

At my request, Tyra leapt backward, giving me an opening to attack Kara once more.

“[Soul Execution]!”

Again, spears burst from the ground, piercing her body in several places and drawing more groans of pain from her. Tyra took advantage of that, landing several consecutive blows before finishing with an elemental punch that sent Kara flying.

The moment she hit the ground, Tyra tried to restrain her again with her magic—and this time, she succeeded.

“Young Kris, now!”

“[Judgment Cut]!”

I summoned another blade of mana and sent it flying toward Kara. She managed to break free from her restraints, but it was too late. The blade struck her torso, leaving a severe wound.

Despite the damage, she remained standing. More than that, she began staring straight at me. But it was not a look of rage like the ones she had directed at Aurelia… Even though her eyes were completely red from the state she was in, I felt no hatred coming from them. Instead… sorrow. Or sadness.

Perhaps beginning to regain her reason, Kara leapt toward some of the rubble left by the battle. Just as Tyra and I braced ourselves, Kara did not throw it at us—she hurled it toward Aurelia, who was barely managing to get back on her feet.

“Damn it!”

“[Judgment Cu—]!”

Just as I tried to invoke another mana blade to split the rock before it could reach Aurelia, Kara took advantage of our distraction to attack us. First Tyra, blasting her away to create distance, and then she struck me hard once again, just like before, dropping me to my knees.

The rubble would have hit Aurelia if Garrik had not intercepted it in time, cutting it apart to save the saint.

“Are you all right!?”

“My hero!”

“Aaah…” Garrik sighed with a hint of resignation. Aurelia being overly intense with him had become something of a routine.

“Cough! Cough!”

Kara began coughing again, even more violently this time. Blood spilled from her mouth once more, and not only that—her body also started returning to normal. It seemed she had reached her limit.

“I have… to get out of here…”

With Tyra at a distance, me on my knees, and Aurelia and Garrik far away, Kara grabbed another piece of rubble and hurled it at the ceiling with great effort, shattering part of it and leaving a sizable hole. She spread her wings once more and took flight.

“She’s escaping!”

“[Sacred Missile]!”

Aurelia fired a sacred missile the moment she realized Kara was trying to flee, but Kara managed to evade it. Tyra also threw several chunks of rubble, which Kara narrowly dodged as well.

Thankfully, I managed to stand in time. I raised my staff, aimed at Kara, and began gathering mana.

“[Soul…]!”

However… I did not finish the spell. Instead, I lowered my staff and let her escape. All I did was watch as Kara grew farther and farther away until she vanished from sight.

“What!? Why did you let her get away!?” Aurelia shouted furiously.

“I… ran out of mana.”

“Out of mana!? Damn it, I know she was the queen, but hearing that from you is still impressive.”

Tyra nodded at Garrik’s words.

“I honestly didn’t think you could get tired.”

“Well, this time I can’t blame her. In all our travels, this is the first time he’s ever been pushed this far, young Kris.”

“Yeah… sorry.”

I lied.

I still had plenty of mana left—enough to keep fighting for quite a while. I simply did not have it in me to attack her. Maybe because we had gotten along. Maybe because of the promise. I do not know.

“…Let’s go back. We’ll rest for a bit in the nearest town, then head to the capital to report the situation.”

The battle was over. We won. We defeated the Demon Queen, the final great obstacle.

And yet… it did not feel like a victory at all.