Demonization

“Haaah!”

“Clang clang clang!”

The Young Miss’s swordsmanship was as swift and fierce as ever, her blade moving so fast it left afterimages.

Under her relentless, tide-like assault, Aina was forced back step by step, able only to defend, with no room to counterattack.

If not for that bizarre shadow magic, the Young Miss alone would have been enough to defeat her.

But it was precisely because of this shadow magic that she became so troublesome.

Whenever an attack was about to land, she would slip into the shadows, only to strike again from a blind spot.

Because it was impossible to predict where she would emerge next, I had to both provide supporting attacks and watch the Young Miss’s back, while the Young Miss watched mine.

If one of us was ambushed, the other would neutralize the attack.

…All I can say is, it’s a good thing there are two of us, otherwise Aina would truly have us dancing in the palm of her hand.

“Have you two really only been together for a year?
Your coordination is like that of old comrades who have fought together for years.”

Aina commented in the midst of the fight.

Her tone carried a hint of helplessness.

“Don’t underestimate the bond between me and the Young Miss!”

“In that case, I suppose I should get a little more serious.”

With those words, Aina sank into the shadows once more.

The room fell into a deathly silence, leaving only the sound of my and the Young Miss’s breathing.

A long time passed, but Aina made no further move.

Just as I was beginning to suspect she had taken the opportunity to escape, a shadow shot out from the darkness!

I immediately launched two ice arrows at the shadow.

But the shadow made no move to evade, simply colliding head-on with the ice arrows.

…And then nothing happened.

Just like with Vladimir that day, the ice arrows passed through the shadow without any resistance, and the shadow dissipated like smoke.

At the same time, another shadow darted out from the other side, attempting to attack.

“Haaah!”

The Young Miss brought her sword down in a vertical slash, striking the shadow’s head.

…Of course, this strike also met with empty air.

“Shadow clones…?
There’s magic that can do this…”

As expected of demon magic; such wondrous effects were unheard of in human magic.

…Or rather, this could hardly be classified as magic at all.
It likely followed no rules whatsoever.

When I came to my senses, we were surrounded by several shadows.

Forced into it, we could only stand back to back and defend together.

One of these shadows was probably Aina’s true body… but in the darkness, it was impossible to tell.

Fire magic could create light, but if I couldn’t control the intensity properly, it could easily set the room ablaze and cause a fire… and I don’t have an aptitude for light magic…

Moreover… they wouldn’t give us time to create light.

In an instant, all the shadows swarmed us.

With no time to think, I immediately pressed my hand to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, walls of ice rose around us, protecting us within.

…If I can’t tell which one is real, then I’ll just block them all!

But things did not go as I wished.

All the shadows passed through the ice walls with ease… which meant they were all fakes.

And just then, a black dagger shot out from directly beneath me, aiming straight for my throat.

“Ailena!”

“Clang!”

Thankfully, the Young Miss was quick on the uptake, knocking the dagger away with her sword.

Though it still grazed my arm, at least it saved me from instant death.

At the same time, I reacted quickly, grabbing the hand that emerged from the shadow.

Then… using wind magic, I pulled with all my might!

“…???”

Evidently, Aina, who had been pulled out of the shadow, wore a look of utter disbelief.

Though the Young Miss was also a bit surprised at first, she quickly recovered and plunged her sword into Aina’s shoulder, pinning her to the ice wall.

I also conjured a small flame to illuminate our surroundings.

Upon inspection, both her eyes were now completely stained red with blood, shedding tears of blood, a truly horrifying sight.

“Now you have nowhere to run!”

Seeing Aina’s continued astonishment, I explained:

“You don’t have to be so surprised.
I noticed earlier that using this magic is very taxing on your stamina… The fact that you waited a while before attacking was probably to recover your strength.

…Since you could hold a dagger and stab at me, you must have had a physical form… which is why I figured I could just pull a weakened you directly out of the shadow.”

“I see…”

Aina laughed in resignation.

“Talk.
Spit out everything you know!”

The Young Miss walked up to her and grabbed her by the collar.

“If that’s the case, then there’s no other way…”

Was she about to confess?

But to our surprise, she used her other hand to plunge that very dagger into her own neck!

It happened so fast, we had no time to react.

But… not only did Aina not die, an even more powerful magic burst forth from her body…

Her form also began to change, growing larger, more distorted…

…Could this be… a human transforming into a monster?

I couldn’t help but recall the end of the game, where Katarina Anist transformed into a dragon-like monster.

I quickly pulled the Young Miss back, shielding her.

Gradually, Aina transformed into a humanoid bat.

Not like Vladimir, who had bat-like details on a humanoid form, but a creature that was entirely bat, merely with arms and legs, standing like a human.

“Eeeeee—!!!”

“Crack!
Crack!”

It let out an ear-piercing screech, so loud that it shattered the ice walls and the surrounding glass.

“Ngh…”

The Young Miss covered her ears, seemingly in great pain.

…I don’t know what harm this sound wave might cause, but I have to get her out of here quickly!

“Pardon my impertinence, Young Miss!”

“Eh!?”

With that thought, I picked her up without her permission.

…Because it was an emergency, I used a princess carry, which was the easiest to manage.
But since we are both girls, it should be fine.

Choosing the nearest window, I leaped directly from the third floor!

Using wind magic to slow our descent, we landed safely!

The area around us was more open, so the Young Miss should feel much better.

But when I looked down at her, she had her small hand pressed to her chest, her face completely flushed, with what looked like steam rising from her head…

…Could it be that the monster’s sound waves directly harm the human body, and the Young Miss was hit!?

A sense of panic washed over me.

“Young Miss, are you all right!”

“I… I’m fine… Q-Quickly… put me down, Ailena…”

As soon as she was out of my arms, the Young Miss’s footing was a bit unsteady, which made me think she was just putting on a brave face.

However, after taking a deep breath, she quickly returned to normal.

“Do you have another sword?”

I handed my short knife to the Young Miss.

“This is all I have.”

“It will suffice.”

After toying with it in her hand for a moment, the Young Miss nodded… I knew she was getting a feel for it.

“Thud!”

At the same time, the bat monster also leaped out, swaggering before us.

…It seems it doesn’t intend to let us go.