The children were protected by the thread. Itâs connected to the wall and laid in an elastic braided pattern so a half-hearted attack wouldnât be able to break through. The only thing left is the deathmatch between me and the Devil.
âGwooooargh!â
The Devil yelled and raised his sword to slash at me. I slipped under the sword and launched a counterattack with my threads. Luckily the ceiling was low, leaving little room for the Devil to swing downwards. That means the Devilâs range of attacks is limited. That means defense would be easier for me.
A veritable storm of slashes came at me, I jumped over and parried them with my threads. Despite being thrown about like a leaf, I avoided taking any direct hits, but I was only able to land superficial hits with my counterattacks. Iâve already got one handâs worth of threads dedicated to the defense of the children.
The remaining thread is only enough for one hand. The Devilâs attacks are easy to read since he can only launch his attacks sideways, so one hand should be enough. The Devil howled shortly after I came to that decision.
âWuuuooooooo!â
Along with the Devilâs roar, an unseen force slammed into me. Pushed by the invisible power I got slammed into the wall, at that point the Devil came thrusting at me with his sword.
I, who had expected a sidelong slash, had to eat the unexpected thrust. I tried moving out of the way of the attack, but the timing was off.
The strike gouged out a chunk of my chest and broke some of my ribs, I barely avoided a direct hit but itâs now a struggle to even breathe.
âG, Gahack!?â I coughed up blood while kneeling. The pain was so sharp, but if I lose consciousness I canât save the kids.
I canât win? That moment of indecision created a gap. For the sake of buying time, I gave in to the desire to defeat the Devil, through my blurry consciousness. It begins to take shape then. Itâs a complete defeat, but I canât afford to just give in. I wonât make it too long, but for the childrenâs sake, I have to buy time. My stamina was shaved off by a good bit, so even that would be a struggle.
ââ¦Well, Iâll just have to crush you.â
I canât buy any more time, probably no more than a dozen of seconds with this injury. Thereâs no chance Cortina will make it back in time.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
If I die, the children will die. If the Devil makes it out of here, the villagers will die. And if the Devil with that kind of power were let loose. I donât know how many will die in that kinda situation.
The Devil ignored my hesitation and started attacking again. I scolded my trembling legs and lunged sideways. I then tried to seal the Devilâs movements with some thread around the sword which it forcefully ripped off.
âWaaaaaaargh!â
The Devil sent out shockwaves to counter. I already took it once, so I was able to avoid it without much difficulty this time. The timing was difficult to grasp because the flow of magic was so different, but I could still tell where it was going to hit by its line of sight. Then I wrapped some threads around its neck but not enough to actually strangle it.
But with this, my preparations are done.
âItâs all up to my preparationsâ¦â
Once I gathered my nerve, I planted my feet. The Devil was quick to not overlook that. He threw his favored sideways slash at my feet. If I avoid it, itâll go back to being a test of endurance, but I donât have that kind of time anymore. For the sake of victory⦠I wonât dodge. A large thread is pulled as it swings at my leg.
Thread snagged around the sword, threads snagged around the neck. And all of that connected to the thread protecting the children.
The sword swung forward, connected to the Devilâs neck. The mythril thread was pulled by the Devilâs own force, like someone pulling up a bucket from a well. The result was the Devil severing its head by its own power.
But that didnât mean the sword had lost its momentum. Since I connected the threads at the last possible second I couldnât dodge the incoming strike. The sword shakily crashed against the ceiling before crushing my left arm. Then I crashed near the children.
The Devil was no longer keeping them in check. But that doesnât mean they could immediately start moving again. The children were still trembling in fear, leaking on the floor.
But a single girl came running up to me and started putting pressure on the open wound.
From all my past experiences, I knew, there was no saving me. Even so, I tried to comfort her in a raspy voice.