78 - a good-looking place








 Majin Orse entered a fighting stance, but did not attack immediately.



 It was not because he was cautious against an unknown opponent.

 Pure interest prevailed.



 I would like to get a "solution" to the mysterious phenomenon that led to this situation.



 It is not a conversation we can have with them, but there are hints scattered about that we can use to find out.



(This floor ...... is a kind of physical barrier. (Is this floor a kind of ward for physical defense... and illusionary magic to make it look like a floor...)



 If this is the case, then the black man who suddenly appeared - Shiva himself and his weapons must have been hidden by the same illusionary magic.



(It seems that they are good at surprise attacks by involving illusions and smothering their opponents with unintelligible talk.)



 Orce saw through the true nature of Shiva, the true identity of Harte.



(But on the other hand, it also proves that he is only capable enough to make a surprise attack.)



 But he was wrong about the important part.



(But what about that one? The first attack was indeed a ward.)



 He manipulated (・・・・) the wards to move Orce to this place.

 Wards are essentially fixed in space and cannot be moved.

 If they could, it would be in the realm of ancient magic.



(Ancient magician.)



 Orse again gets to the essence of what it is.



(Well, that's a long shot. (Well, if it is, it's not much...) It's amazing that he can move the wards, but he must be rather specialized in that. Otherwise, it would be strange if he didn't do some damage to me with his first attack.)



 But again, I was off on a crucial point.



(It was so simple when I thought about it. (Well, it's not so much of a threat if you know how it works.)



 As a result, I was convinced by the conclusion that I was missing the point.



 Orce, completely underestimating his opponent, even gets playful.



"I think I have a pretty good idea what kind of man you are," he says.



"What ......?"



 Shiva was still in a strange pose.



"You're good at catching people off guard, aren't you? For example,...... you see, I have a number of small wards floating behind me. I want to draw attention to the weapon in my hand, but my main goal is to surprise you from behind. Am I wrong?"



"What?



 Orce chuckles at the obvious agitation.



"I'm a demon who specializes in espionage and search. That's how I was made. That's why I can detect small magical powers that would normally go unnoticed.



 Half of it was a lie.

 He is right that he has a superior ability to detect magic. That's why he could sense the presence of a small boundary behind him so precisely.

 But that quality is only incidental.



 Orse is one of the best attackers that Luciphira, the god of magic, has ever created. He is a demon who specializes in assault and annihilation.

 His role is to find and eliminate even the most vulnerable and weakest targets.

 Therefore, he has the ability to accurately detect magic below a certain level (・・・・・・・). However--.



"......"



(Oh, you've noticed already? (Oh, you're so frightened you can't even speak, isn't that pathetic?)



 Although he tried to pretend that he was not specialized in combat, Orce judged that from his opponent's appearance.

 He had intended to catch them off guard and have them experience gradual despair, but he chuckled inwardly, thinking that he was not suited to be a con artist.



(Well, a good user can't be unaware of my overwhelming magical power, can he? (Well, a good user can't fail to notice my overwhelming magical power...)



 It is always exciting to torture a frightened opponent.



 But he did not take into account the drawbacks of his character.

 He is insensitive to big magic in order to detect small magic below a certain level.



 Orce still could not sense the enormous magical power of Hurt, which Mercumenes, who specialized in survival, had instantly detected...



(Now, how will he react when he is caught by surprise?)



 Shiva's moves are predictable.

 She would attack with the small wards behind her, knowing that she would be discovered, and try to escape.



 So he decided to make the first move.



"I present to you overwhelming despair!



 I'm serious.

 Just to beat the crap out of Shiva, who was helplessly lost in fear!



"What?



 "What?" I hear a startled voice.

 Orse's body expands at once as she explodes with magic power inside her.



"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!



 Golden body hair with black spots. Orse transforms into a bipedal giant leopard beastman. His height approaches ten meters, and his sharp claws and fangs gleam in the sunlight.



"I'm sorry, but I won't kill you all at once, okay? I've got plenty of my claws--gasp!



 Zupapapapa!




 Sharp pain in my back.



"Gosh. ....... What the ......?"



 Probably an attack by small wards. They shot through my back and pierced my guts, stopping just before they popped out of my stomach.



"Oh, come on, give me a break! You said it was big, but it's a paper defense."



 Paper ......?

 Nonsense," Orce says, immediately focusing on recovery.



(My body in its true form is more solid than the walls of King's Landing. ......)



 The skin and hair of the body are covered with layers of magical protection, so that not even a slightest scratch can harm them. And yet...



"Hmmm......... Well, I stopped him just in time, and I think I can cover it up with a frontal view, can't I?"



 Shiva again says something unintelligible.



"Okay, let's get to work."



 He continued, slumping his hips and squeezing the arm with the strange weapon,



"Hey, wait--"

"Pierce me, you unmarked holy armor!"



 He thrust out his fist.

 A stake-shaped weapon is ejected.



(That's ridiculous. ...... I'm a demon. I, who am a prominent fighter among my people, am being a fool in a place like this!)



 I'm too busy recovering to move my body. I can't follow it with my eyes because it's too fast.



"Ah--"



 Ding, dong.



 The stake in his throat creates a shockwave,



 Pow!



 Orce's head and chest are obliterated.







☆☆☆☆☆







 This is what I mean by "mere appearances.

 There are people who say they're big, but actually they're weak. I don't want to grow up to be like that.



 Well, they were saying that they are specialized in exploration and so on. No wonder they are pugged at you when you try to make yourself look like a strong person.



 However, it's a devil for him to have detected the surprise attack. No one has ever noticed you before. I'll make some improvements so it won't leak any magic. Maybe I can.



Well, did I get a good picture?



 I said like an industry professional and displayed the screen. I check the freshly shot battle footage.



"Hmm, you're looking a little wobbly. It can't be helped. I guess I'll have to cut the whole scene where he shot me in the back.



 This video is for the purpose of presenting the performance of the Holy Armor to the dean. We have to eliminate the possibility that the opponent's paper defense will be exposed.



"We can turn off the sound too. We only need to know how powerful it is."



 I had anticipated this and made an unnecessary remark, but the other party's speech is also full of the feeling of a weak character, so I can't use it.

"Yeah, his transformation scene is more powerful without sound."



 The result is a cool video 《vui》 of a strong character crushed with a single blow.



 With this, I'll trick the dean into letting me live a reclusive life at the academy!



 After sending the remaining corpses into the mysterious space-time and erasing the floor wards, I returned to Professor Tia's research building in high spirits...