No Damage 13

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13. Emblem Of The Goddess Of Protection

In front of the arched gate, a demon in a black robe stood still.

"I sense it... There are a lot of humans in that building over there..."

D-Eater murmured quietly.

"My prey... in such large numbers..."

There was a clear color of delight in that voice.

"The negative emotions humans possess... fear, sadness, suffering, despair... all of those are the source of our demonic power... we absorb all of them, and we gain even more power..."

"...Humans are not your food."

I gritted my teeth tightly.

"You are not feeling fear towards me, but anger and determination... are you? That won't nourish us demons..."

D-Eater sighed heavily.

Extending thin arms reminiscent of dead wood,

Something black oozed onto his palm—

Boom!

With a resounding boom echoing through my abdomen, the huge iron gate bent, and part of it disappeared as if sliced off.

"Compressed using Spatial Manipulation magic—huh." 

Lilith muttered beside me. 

Then, seeing the tremendous power, her face slightly paled.

"It's okay, I'll protect you." 

I stepped forward to shield Lilith.

"...Are you trying to stop my meal by facing me?"

"Stop? No,"

I glared at the demon.

"I'm going to defeat you. So that you can't harm the townspeople."

"If I defeat you. Then I can leisurely enjoy my meal by hunting down all those humans there... right?"

The demon slowly approached,

Walking in a seemingly defenseless manner.

"If you can attack, then go ahead, puny humans..."

"Don't underestimate us—"

Lilith straightened her silver staff.

Her natural boldness ignited against the provocative demon.

The aura of magical power rising up made her golden twintails flutter.

"[Aero Shot]!"

The bullet of compressed air advanced swirlingly, but—

"[Distortion]."

The demon lightly raised his right hand, deflecting it in another direction.

"Then, [Thunder Bullet]!"

"Useless."

The lightning strike released by Lilith was similarly deflected.

The light sphere that bounced high in the sky burst blooming into a flash of light.

"...Seems like shooting normally won't work. It bends the space in front and deflects magic."

"That magic we used to defeat the dragon won't work here, right?"

"Yeah, without [Magic Missiles], I can't do it alone. [Magic Missiles] are rare, and I only have one left from last time... even if I could shoot, if the space is bent, it won't hit."

I confirmed for reassurance, and Lilith explained,

"But D-Eater doesn't have the insane durability like a dragon. If we can hit him, we should be able to defeat him easily enough."

"If we can hit him... huh."

I muttered as I stepped forward again.

"I'll draw the demon's attention. Lilith, attack when you see an opening."

"Hart... be careful."

"I'll be fine. I'm a man who doesn't get a scratch even from a dragon's attack." 

I said in a joking tone to reassure Lilith, who seemed worried.

Of course, she understands my high-defense capabilities.

However, when push comes to shove, she might not be able to suppress her anxiety.

"I'll block all his attacks—!"

Shouting confidently, I dashed forward.

Straight on.

Generally, you can't use two spells simultaneously in magic.

I had heard that in the pre-battle briefing.

So while he's attacking me, he can't use defensive spells like the space distortion he used earlier.

"Crush and collapse... human..."

D-Eater pointed his hand towards me.

He curled his five slender fingers like claws and made a gripping motion.

"[Pressure Bomb]..."

The next moment, my vision warped like a mirage.

—No, that's not it.

It's not my surroundings that are distorted.

It's the space around me.

The compression attack magic that can crush even steel from before.

No matter how sturdy the armor or robust the body, it's useless when space itself is crushed.

Flesh and bones break, crumple, and twist—

Leading to a gruesome death.

But I don't evade.

I continue running straight ahead.

"Haruto!"

Lilith shouted in anguish.

"Do you intend to die...?"

Facing the bewildered demon, I accelerated even more.

Skill activated—.

As I thought, the rainbow-colored light overflowed before me as I chanted.

A pattern resembling an angel emerged.

The mirage-like distortion indicating space deformation dissipated as soon as it touched that radiance.

Of course, I received no damage.

"...What!?"

The demon was increasingly puzzled.

"It was just a fluke...? Then let's try again—"

The same spell as before attacked me.

Distorting space and exerting pressure to crush me—

Skill activated, the second time.

The burst of rainbow colors nullified the compression completely.

"No way...!?"

The demon staggered back in confusion.

"It's not magic... what is that power of yours—"

I accelerated to top speed.

"You...!"

The demon extended both hands with a scream.

He must be close to panic by now.

Not just the distortion ahead—now, something pale purple began to spread.

It's a phenomenon different from before.

In other words, he's trying to release a compression attack with his magic power fully unleashed.

Probably its power is even greater than before—.

"Disappear!"

I scream.

Half unconsciously.

Half instinctively.

My intention became clearer by verbalizing it, and the skill's effect manifested stronger—I must have realized that.

The rainbow-colored brilliance that appeared in front of me was much brighter and emitted an intense amount of light, illuminating the surroundings.

"...What...!?"

I widened my eyes in astonishment.

The shape of the pattern was different from usual.

Although the design resembling an angel with spread wings was the same, the number of wings was not the usual two but four.

"No way! Is that—"

The demon exclaimed in shock.

"Ilfaria Crest!? Why does a mere human possess divine power—!?"