Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 28: "Devil"

The armor crumbles to the ground.

...That makes seven.

I was carrying Makana on my shoulder, watching the armors and dogs, which suddenly started to move slowly.

They started moving slowly when Heidi and Fatima started fighting behind me, and as soon as a strong wind and cold air flowed in from behind me, they started behaving as if they couldn't see me.

I didn't know why, but it was still a good chance.

I decided to attack at once.

I entered its bosom and destroyed the armored body, then the main body, and repeated the process seven times.

The dog jumps on me. Where there was nothing.

I calmly swung full force with the makana when it landed on the ground.

The head exploded.

One more hit.

The inside is crushed. Two more dogs.

A mobile dog is a nuisance. Let's crush them as soon as possible.

Ignore the armor and run.

Aim at the nearest dog from the front. It intercepts with its claws, but I dodge through and destroy the head, then the body, in that order.

The rest were destroyed in the same way.

So that's all the dogs.

If the dog's movement was this slow, was Fatima controlling it directly?

She was struggling against Heidi and couldn't get around to controlling them.

Nice work. To be honest, I didn't expect that much since I thought she was just a hair above the original Rothfeldt, but she seems to be putting up a pretty good fight.

Maybe that means she's making better use of the memories she's acquired than I am?

...Is this the difference in natural sense...?

I felt a little sad.

Either way, it's a happy miscalculation for me.

Let's finish off the rest of the armor.

In a matter of minutes, the rest of the armor was taken care of.

Exhaling lightly, I turned back to Heidi and Fatima and saw her holding a kukri against Fatima, who was lying on the ground.

...I guess that one's taken care of, too.

Heidi glanced at me with a sideways glance as I approached.

"It looks like you're done there, too. I'm sorry, I couldn't help you."

Heidi's eyes were fixed on Fatima because she was on alert.

Good call. You never know what this woman is capable of, so you have to be on your toes.

"No, it's enough for me that you've got Fatima in your grasp."

"That's very kind of you to say."

Fatima looked at Heidi regretfully, then looked at me and brightened her expression.

"As expected. I never thought that you would wipe them all out."

"...... You seem quite composed in this situation."

All her subordinates have been crushed and she herself has been held down.

How do you turn this situation around?

No, what is she trying to do...?

Fatima has no allies...no, not yet...

As if to break my train of thought, I suddenly get a bad feeling.

Quicker than I can recognize it, I leap into Heidi's arms.

"Huh? W-What!?"

I ignored the bewildered Heidi and moved away from her.

I looked at the spot where Heidi was standing.

What had happened there was that the grass was gone, replaced by a pile of sand.

Magic?

I know who used it.

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I forgot all about the guy hiding in the mansion.

I didn't know he could do magic.

"Zubel."

Heidi, who was staring at the spot where she was standing, opened her eyes lightly.

"Zubel? But he doesn't have magic..."

Fatima slowly stood up and lightly brushed the sand off her clothes.

"I didn't think I'd be forced to use this."

She snapped her fingers.

The entrance to the mansion was blown open from the inside.

What came out from inside...was not Zubel by any stretch of the imagination.

No, it might be Zubel.

About 2.5 meters tall?

The skin is pitch black, as if ink had been dripped on the human form.

The surface is hard looking, reminiscent of a reptile.

On its back are bat-like wings.

The head is that of a goat...right? It also has magnificent horns.

That... is a demon... right?

For all intents and purposes, he was a fine demon, the kind you see in fiction.

Now, what made me think it might be Zubel was his torso.

There was one spot on his belly that was not black.

It was Zubel's face.

In short, Zubel's face was buried in the devil's belly.

Zubel is in agony.

When Zubel confirmed my presence, he looked at me as if he was clinging to me.

"H...h...hel...p...me..."

I can faintly hear him moaning in a faint voice.

Wow....

That was all I could think.

Heidi next to me also has a look of shock on her face.

"...... what the hell is that?"

"It's the devil."

Fatima moved to the side of the demon before I knew it, with a look of reserve on her face.

No, I know it when I see it....

"The demon is supposed to be something more than just a rumor, right?"

No, Mr. Rothfeldt, it's not. It is right in front of you, isn't it? With a catalyst of Zubel's caliber, however, the limit was a low-level demon. He couldn't even call in a mid-level demon, even his karma was inferior...he really was a useless bastard."

...Zubel...even though you deserved it, you're still alive, but now it's all in the past.

I don't feel sorry for you.

Well, by the looks of it, you're as good as dead.

Whatever, there were demons...

So there are no flying humanoids!? I'm shocked...

No, the devil was the true identity!?

I have mixed feelings about urban legends when I know what they are.

I'm going to terminate my unimportant thoughts and get back on track.

But karma as a catalyst? ...You seem to have accumulated a lot of strange knowledge.

I really hate it, one after another.

I was supposed to be a carefree adventurer, but before I know it, I'm fighting demons.

How did it come to this?

"Get that bug out of there. Oh, and don't kill Mr. Rothfeldt. I wouldn't mind crushing at least one of his limbs."

Fatima backed up a little and ordered the demon.

The expression on her face is unchanged, but sweat is beading on her forehead.

The fight with Heidi was quite tough, I heard. She seems to be worn out.

The demon inhaled heavily and roared.

The sound would be "meh-eh," but the pitch is so low that it sounds like the cry of a different creature.

"...ggh."

Heidi is crouched with her ears covered.

That sounded great. Was it really that bad?

Hmm? I can't hear a sound.

Oh, shit. My eardrums must have ruptured.

I'll fix it secretly.

"Even though I'm here..."

Fatima is crouched behind the demon, her ears bleeding.

She was closest to the demon, so she took the brunt of it.

Ah. That was a complete mess. Her ear will be useless.

"Ugh... my ears hurt..."

Heidi, next to me, stands up, holding her head.

"Are you okay?"

When I call out to her, she smiles bitterly.

"Somehow... I guess, I'm having a little trouble hearing."

"Can you do it?"

"I'll do it."

Then let's go.

I take my makana and sword and charge head-on into the demon.

I swing at the demon's flank with the makana.

The demon catches it with his arm. The arm that was hit exploded. The makana is effective.

A black liquid sprays from the wound onto the ground.

The Zubel in its belly screams and its expression grunts in further anguish.

The demon looks at me.

I jump back as quickly as I can.

The demon's eyes seem to light up, and I sense that I'm in danger...

...Ge.

Makana crumbled from halfway to sand.

What the hell did you do? I loved this...

I threw away the rest of the makana and held the sword with both hands.

Meanwhile, the demon's arm regenerated at a visible rate.

Not as fast as mine, but a hell of a regeneration.

So, where do I have to crush this thing to kill it?

The best candidates I can think of are the head or the Zubel in the abdomen.

If possible, I'd like to keep the head because I'd like to see Zubel's memories, but... that's a difficult task under the circumstances.

Before I knew it, Heidi was behind the demon and slashed the back of his knee with her kukri.

Was she aiming for the tendon? It's a humanoid, so it would be nice if it would collapse....

It didn't.

The demon looked at Heidi as if nothing had happened.

''You...."

Heidi quickly holds out her hand.

What happens is that the grass around Heidi turns to sand and floats in the air.

I take that opportunity to thrust my sword into the back of the demon's head from behind.

The sword feels a solid response and goes in through the back of the head, piercing through the head.

I didn't get him.

I let go of the sword as I thrust it in and move away.

Heidi, perhaps sensing my intention, jumps back out of the line of fire.

I hit him in the upper body with Explosion III.

How's that?

The demon slowly turns toward me with its sword-stabbed head, smoke coming out of its upper body.

Then it roars again.

At the same time, it flies toward me.

Well, it has wings, so it can fly.

And it's fast.

I slammed the wind III into the ground, blinding it visually, and stooped low to get in front of it.

I'm going to duck under and take the rear.

The visibility is not good due to the dust and ice chips, but I can get a rough idea of where it is.

I timed my dive just right, but then I felt a jolt in my stomach.

I feel my body being blown away. I feel like I've been hit.

I regain my position in the air and land.

I look at my stomach where I was hit by the fist. The area where he had been hit had turned to sand.

My reserve brain had been damaged a little. If I don't fix it quickly, it will hinder my chanting.

I see Heidi rushing toward me.

I quickly cover the wound with my hand.

"Are you okay? You were blown away with great force..."

"No problem."

I repair the wound while hiding it. When it healed, I let go of my hand.

My armor was now sand, so only my belly was exposed, which was a little embarrassing, but I didn't care.

Heidi looked at my body, and when she saw that there was no wound, she turned toward where she thought the demon might be.

The smoke hadn't settled down yet, so I couldn't see it.

"Maybe, but if it grabs me, I'm done."

"I agree. I'm afraid that strange attack was magical in nature."

"How do you know?"

Heidi raised her hand lightly to show the ring.

"It stopped it."

I see.

"It looks like it can use it freely, since it doesn't seem to be chanting to activate it."

"From the looks of it, long-range attacks will cause the eyes to light up before they are triggered."

"Does that mean we just have to make sure it won't touch us?"

"Yes, it's coming."

Somewhat, share the information quickly.

The smoke blew from within. The demon was still in the air.

Slowly, it moved its head, and when it saw us, it leaned forward and swooped down.

We scattered to the left and right to avoid it.

The demon plunged head first into the ground.

It scraped the ground for a few meters and stood up.

What the hell is this?

"He's moving weird."

I heard Heidi muttering from a little distance away.

To be honest, I was curious too.

This demon seemed to be just attacking the attacker blindly.

In fact, there have been many opportunities for him to turn me into sand.

Is that what it's missing, unless they are doing it intentionally, or is it that kind of spec...?

If attacked, it fight back?

...No. Is it because there is no order?

Maybe, but does this guy have to give detailed orders to work properly?

If so, Fatima, who gives the orders....

She hasn't moved since a while ago, still collapsed.

From the looks of it, she is alive, but she seems to be unconscious.

Keep lying down.

This might be the way to go.

I can see a way to win.