How long have you known?
From the beginning.

　I'm still surprised, though.
　This time it wasn't like Arnolt, who was hiding his appearance with Namereon Sympathy.......

''I didn't know you could use transition magic.

　That's right.
　This woman has just used transference magic to appear in front of me.

"Hmmm, are you surprised?
I wouldn't be surprised if you can do transference magic. You don't want to get carried away with that.

　The woman had a revealing and sensational figure.
　Her jet-black bathing suit.......and cloak looked like a bat blending into the night.

''Why don't you help the men who are lying there?　You might be able to save yourself now.
Hmm. If it were these kids.

　The woman snaps her fingers.
　Then the bleeding men were burnt to a boiling, purple flame, and when they were gone, the bodies were gone too.

'It's too late,'
Yeah.

　I didn't expect to be saved from the start, so I didn't feel any other emotions, especially if the woman made the men's bodies disappear.

''It's nice to meet you. I am one of the 《Four Great Sages》, Brise. Let's get to know each other.''

　Brise bowed politely.

'I heard you defeated Arnolt,'
What about it?　You're trying to hurt my friends?
'Hmmm, that's a pretty interesting thing to say. Don't get carried away just because you defeated Arnolt. He is a disgrace to the Four Wise Men. He's just an old man who was brought in to make up the numbers.

　Brides smiles.

　This woman was not lying.
　At the very least, Brise's store of magic power was slightly higher than mine.

''Don't worry about it. Do you know anything about the decline of this world?
The truth?
I believe that's what you guys call it.
'Maybe I know a bit more than Arnolt does. But if you want to make me talk...

　Magic flows from the brides.


Why don't you let him speak with all his might?


　That moment.
　The binding spell from Blythe was activated, and it was successfully applied to me.

　It's exactly the same magic I cast on the men.
　Such speed and magical precision.
　I see. I knew that the Four Great Sages were quite impressive for the level of this world.

"Hahahaha!　How could I have been so careless?　Or were you just admiring me?　Now I will only attack you one way. Be a pig, buzzing and squealing and bleeding?

　Brise hugged her own shoulders and shuddered with a buzz.
　Is he the type who derives his own pleasure from hurting others?

'If you can move, why don't you move?'
'Right. Well, then....

　I take a step forward as I draw my sword from its sheath.

'I'll let you do as you say,'
Wha...

　He puts magic power into the sword and flashes it in an empty space. It's a magic strike.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　I'm not going to be the only one who can do it.
　However.

''Do you think you can block my attacks with such soft wards?''
"Crap!

　A small scream from her.
　The spell shot from me broke Blythe's wards and hit her directly.
　Clutching her chest, Brides knelt down with a crunch.

What do you mean?　The restraining spell should have worked perfectly.......so how can you move?　
Hmm.

　I move my mouth as I slowly approach Brise.

''I haven't finished analyzing it yet to use the disobedience magic. This time I just used my magic to break the restraining magic you were using from the inside out.
...What?
That was a pretty good magic formula. But there's not much magic in it.

　
　Even though it's better than Arnolt, I saw that Brise's amount of magic power was less than a tenth of mine.
　I'm not going to be able to get the same amount of magical power consumption as me, but it's a huge amount for this guy.
　As a result, it's just a matter of me interfering with the magic formula by force, crushing it with even more magic power and making it explode from the inside.......or something like that.

''That's how it broke!　I've never heard of that!
Of course you do. This kind of brute force method. You're going to need a hundred times more magic than your opponent.
What? A hundred times?

　Of course, my magic power reserves wouldn't be depleted by something like this.
　If I wanted to counter this guy's magic power, a drop of water was enough to make it drip off.

''Kuh........!　Don't lick it!

　Brise pulled a dagger from inside her cloak and attacked me.
　The dagger she wielded only scraped me.

''Hahaha!　This really is the end of the game!

　Brise smiles high as he backsteps out of range.

''This sword is pre-magically cursed with a poisonous curse. Even a scrape on your opponent will immediately send the deadly poison spinning around and you'll be left sprawled out and dead.''

　So you can use spell magic?

　I see.
　A purple speckled pattern gradually spread out around the scratches.

''Is that also called the Demon King's Magic?
'Yes!　Sealed, abominable demon king's magic!　A thousand years ago, the Demon King would create extraordinary magic. Such cruel magic...!

　I miss it.
　This poison curse has a solid magical formula set up too.
　But alas...

It's still not enough magic. It's still not enough to defeat a single wolf like this, okay?

　In a thousand years at least.

　I'll use my healing magic to counteract the poison that has been circulating around my body.

"Why are you ping-ponging?　The poison should be going around your body by now...!
''In the first place, spell marking magic is something that prevents the opponent from noticing it. If you reveal your hand like that, all you have to do is nullify it with healing magic.
What!　That's not possible!　A curse isn't just a poison!　It is said that only high-ranking priests could have cured you a thousand years ago...!
"Then I can do the same with that high priest, that's all.

　A thousand years ago, I was hiding in a dungeon by myself.
　Just by stepping in, I encountered traps that sprayed poisonous gas on me.

　In order for that to happen, I had to be able to do the same thing as a high ranking priest (Priest) myself.
　That was all there was to it.

''........Fufu. It's not much of a stretch to be called the 《Four Great Sages》 after all.''

　It's time to bring this to an end.

Ehh...!　What, what is this........!

　Brise lets out a puzzled voice.
　

''They are bugs that are not here, but are said to be in some other dimension. Their name is the Dark Worm (Abyss).
Well, you don't think it's summoning magic?　Impossible...!　That's only supposed to be used by a real Demon King!

　I'm unwilling to call him the Demon King, but it's the same person.

　Brise tries to run away quickly, but by the time he does, a small dark worm (Abyss) crawls up from his leg.

'Ke, don't let those filthy bugs touch me!

　Immediately, Brise deploys her warding magic, but such a flimsy wall is not enough to stop the Dark Bugs (Abyss) from invading.
　Eventually, a large number of those Abysses crawled up and finally nearly covered her face.

"Hey,
I don't want this bug to go away right now!　That's an order!
"Tell me all the truths you know.

　I ignore Brise's words and try to draw out the information.

'Wow, what I know is almost as good as Arnolt's!　It's just....
"Just?
It's said that there was a nobleman who worked hard to seal the Demon King. Even today, some of these nobles still wield great power within the Empire.
"Huh?

　It's quite amusing.
　If the Demon Lord of a thousand years ago is the same person as me, then at the very least, he's a full-blown daredevil.

"What's this nobleman's name?
"--House Fosind. The Fosind family is the most powerful in the Empire, and they rule everywhere. And ... us, the Four Wise Men.
Is that all you know?
Yes, I do!　So, hurry up ... and break this spell!　You filthy pig!

　Apparently, there was no indication that he was lying.
　And it was hard to imagine him having any more information.
　I wanted to give her some credit for being able to cuss me out in a situation like this but it wouldn't change my mind.

'I get it,'
You'll forgive me?
Do you think so?

　There's no way I'm going to let the guy who tried to kill me go.
　If you waste any mercy here, you'll only be attacked from behind like before.
　I'm not such a sweetheart.

''Cah!　Ouch!

　Abysses love meat.
　To them, the bountiful meat of Brides must look like a delicious steak.

By the way... what are the names of the Four Wise Men in your family?
"...Maynard!　Maynard Fosindo!　Yeah, so!　I can apologize for one word. So - caaaaaah!

　A woman's screams echo through the night.
　The Dark Worm (Abyss) would not stop moving until it ate up all the flesh.

　The assassins were dispatched and the 《Four Great Sages》 or something like that was also defeated by one of them.
　But this is not the end of tonight's party.

''The main course is just beginning.

　I'll be on the roof.

　Of course, the place to head is to get to the man who sent me the assassin to put me in charge.