Chapter 252: CH 251

Putting Rodd-sama aside, it would be dangerous to leave Mei and Alea on their own.

Claire-sama and I decided that we needed to go, even if we’d be targeted from behind. The moment we turned away to leave,

“Why not just watch over the fight between Rates and Rodd-sama? So long as you don’t try anything, I won’t either.”

The Demon Queen said something strange.

“You think we’d trust those words?”

“It’ll just be some entertainment, Claire-sama. Besides, it’s just on my whims that I haven’t personally gone after your trump card. Or… do you have some way to break through my barrier without your trump card?”

“Why you…!”

Claire-sama was visibly a mix of anger and hesitation.

I’m sure she wanted to rush over to her daughters as soon as possible, but if she were to do that the Demon Queen’s attention may also shift to them.

“Claire-sama, let’s do as the fiend says for now.”

“Rei…”

“Let’s believe in our daughters, and Rodd-sama.”

“…”

Digging her teeth into her lips, she silently lowered her magic wand.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Perhaps I’ll begin by destroying that nuisance of a toy.”

Laughing through a human-like mouth on his bee head, his mantis-like arms stretched toward the Magi Shibley.

“No you don’t!”

“I won’t allow it!”

In unison, Mei and Alea readied their weapons.

However, a single figure stepped forward from behind them.

“It’s not time for you two to step up. Leave this to me.”

It was the handsome ore-sama with spiky hair―Rodd-sama.

Rodd-sama held a longsword in one hand.

Looking closely, the sword also had a magic gem inserted, it likely doubled as his wand.

“Come!”

In response to Rodd-sama’s sharp shout, an army of flame soldiers appeared.

Though his magical aptitude was average, his true worth lay in his exceptional magic capacity.

As he had previously displayed in his fight with Misha during the entrance exams for the Academy’s Order, overwhelming his opponent with quantity was his go-to.

Minions―the soldiers created by fire magic were slowly increasing in number.

“Hmm… That small sword of yours and those insignificant underlings have no chance of even scratching me, you know?”

“You think so?”

Immediately converting words to action, Rodd-sama left an afterimage as he closed in.

The next time I saw him, he was already swinging his longsword down on Rates.

Though not quite as fast as Dorothea, it was exceedingly fast.

However―

“Hmph, did it not turn out as I said?”

A sharp metallic sound rang as Rodd-sama’s sword seemed to bounce off Rates’ skin.

Though the blow did leave a mark, it was horribly shallow.

“Would you like to be the first to go?”

Rates used both of his sickles to assault Rodd-sama.

Sliding his longsword to match the trajectory of the attacks, Rodd-sama aimed to parry the attacks rather than accept them head-on.

“It’s something I picked up from Yuu. Even I know I can’t leave everything to brute force.”

With a fearless smile, Rodd-sama launched himself off of Rates’ arms, which were now out of position. Flipping himself while in the air, he aimed for Rates’ neck.

“Hmph. How childish.”

Without even bothering to correct his position, Rates calmly accepted Rodd-sama’s sword with his throat.

With a dull sound, his sword was repelled.

“Damn, your skin really is tough. This sword is known for its sharpness back in the Kingdom.”

“Should you wish to scar my body, you should bring both sword and skill on par with the emperor’s.”

Taking the opportunity at Rodd-sama’s landing, Rates used the front legs of his bug-like lower body to sweep the area.

Rodd-sama also parried these strikes.

“The weak are such a bother. The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy.”

“Hey I’m with you. This kinda thing really isn’t for me, but I don’t have much say here.”

Rodd-sama momentarily moved back to create some space.

They had only exchanged a couple of blows, but Rodd-sama was already visibly sweating.

It goes to show how much concentration Rodd-sama needed to maintain in his tense exchange with Rates.

“Is that all that you wanted to try? If so, I’ll go ahead and kill you.”

“Hey hey, isn’t it a bit too quick for that? Let’s enjoy the fight a bit more.”

“Unfortunately I prefer taking things easy. I’d like to finish the job and take a nap.”

Having said that, Rates yawned.

“You’re pretty different from Plato, hey? Though he had a twisted attitude, he was pretty serious about everything he did.”

“Though he was a bit crude, he was earnest. His loyalty to the Demon Queen and his longing for nihility were many times greater than most..”

“And you’re different?”

“Me? As for me, I’ve lived too long to obsess over either. I don’t carry the same passion as Plato.”

“It seems there’s all sorts amongst the demons as well.”

Even while keeping his guard up, Rodd-sama laughed curiously.

“Well then, that should be enough chatting. I’ll kill you now.”

“Sure, if you can.”

Rates very simply ran toward Rodd-sama.

Similar to the Pope’s failed assassination attempt, it was a simple but heavy strike.

Due to his large body, he wasn’t particularly dodge.

Unfortunately, if Rodd-sama were to dodge, the Magi Shibley would be destroyed. That was simply not an option.

“Uooooah!”

Rodd-sama braced himself to directly intercept Rates’ heavy strike.

With his longsword fixed upright to accept the attack, he was pushed backward.

“That’s not enough, you know. I have many hands and legs at my disposal.”

“Guhh…!”

Rodd-sama’s body was sent flying backwards.

Though he had narrowly defended against the initial strike, Rates’ front legs had swept him away.

While it was a simple attack, it had the force of a head-on collision with a truck.

“Gahh… cough…”

While coughing blood, Rodd-sama tried to force himself up.

However, his longsword had already broken into two.

“You held out comparatively well. However this is the end of that, now then, let’s get back to the matter at hand.”

Rates concentrated his sights onto the Magi Shibley.

Mei and Alea stood in the way.

“Please run, Mei, Alea!”

Claire-sama raised her voice to a shriek.

However, the two stubbornly refused to run.

“That is admirable for ones as young as you. However, that will only shorten your lives.”

Rates calmy approached the two, raising his arms.

“Hey now, didn’t I say that I’m your opponent?”

“!?”

A sudden explosion.

Rates’ body was blown away, travelling a couple of meters.

The explosion was well directed so Mei and Alea were unharmed.

“You again? To think you were still alive.”

“That wasn’t nearly enough to kill me. There’s no way I could bear to show the woman I love such a pitiful sight.”

Rodd-sama gave a smile that wreaked of manly pride.

“However, what can you do? Though that spell knocked me back, it did not injure―”

“Well yeah, I didn’t expect it to.”

Interrupting Rates’ words, Rodd-sama shrugged.

“Then how about we multiply that by a hundred?”

“…?”

“You really haven’t realized it yet?”

“Why you, what are you trying to say?”

In the face of Rates’ puzzled look, Rodd-sama pointed up.

“…?”

Once Rates looked up at the sky―.

“Wha!?”

In that space there were several hundreds, no thousands of minions floating.

“Y-you, you were just buying time!?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Showing the minions early, he showed them to be ineffective. Keeping Rates’ attention with melee combat, he had continued to mass produce minions in the sky.

This had been Rodd-sama’s aim from the beginning.

“The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy? You’ve got it wrong. The strong who make use of technique and strategy, are truly strong.”

“As if I’ll let you!”

In a panic, Rates made a rush for Rodd-sama who was the caster.

However, as previously mentioned, his large body was by no means quick.

“Fire Squall.”

Rodd-sama swung down his arm, which had been pointing at the sky, to now point at Rates.

The countless minions high in the sky rapidly began their descent.

“Uooooohh!?”

Flaming soldiers poured down from the sky like rain, exploding on contact.

While each on its own was only on the higher end of a regular explosion, the quantity spoke for itself.

Then upon further inspection, it seemed that all of the explosions were aimed at the smaller scars that Rodd-sama had previously made with his sword.

“To think something such trifle… magic as trifle as this could…!”

Even Rates was forced into a defensive position in this scenario. However, Rodd-sama continued to rain down his minions without a care.”

“Guaaaahh…!”

Rates’ scream eventually disappeared within the barrage of explosions.

Even then, the minions continued their assault for another couple minutes.

Once the fire and smoke had cleared, not a trace of Rates’ body remained.

“… Phew… I’m exhausted…”

As expected, the attack had drained a lot of his energy. Rodd-sama collapsed and sat where he just stood.

“Rodd-sama, you did it!”

“As expected of you, Rodd-sama!”

The twins ran toward Rodd-sama and hugged him.

“Heh, how was it? Was I cool?”

“Yeah, about cool enough to be second to Claire-okaasama!”

“Just about as cool as Rei-okaasama!”

“… Heh, is that so.”

Having received the disappointingly specific praise, Rodd-sama gave a wry smile.

However, that face instantly stiffened.

“What!?”

“You let your guard down, young one.”

Just as a hoarse voice resounded from next to the Magi Shibley, a grotesque metallic lustre was regenerating before our eyes.

“Did I not say? The truly strong have no use for technique and strategy. I am but one of the weak who relies on strategy.”

With those words, Rates swung his sickles at the Magi Shibley.