The winged tiger swooped down again, trying to reap the swordsmen in our vanguard.
　Most of them stayed on their feet, but some of them were caught in its claws and flung backwards.

　All the while, Arte was looking straight at the winged tiger with a strong willpower in his dark eyes.
　Then, with his wand still waving, he began to chant a high-pitched incantation.

''All that is formidable is not different from what is false, and all that is false is not different from what is formidable. I am the one who knows the truth of the passing river. O spirit of water, lend me your strength!

　Arte's attack magic became a bundle of light colored in a pale blue color, and in the next moment, it shot through the center of the winged tiger's body.
　The winged tiger let out a high-pitched scream.

　As expected of a sage, or should I say a sage, the power of Arte's water magic method was tremendous.
　I think I, and probably everyone else, expected to be able to defeat the winged tiger.

　However.

　The winged tiger turned its screams into a ferocious roar.
　Even though its body had been cut up by magic, it still didn't stop moving, spreading its wings and continuing to fly.

　It had yet to destroy the core of the demon race's power.

　Tsk, and Arte clicks his tongue.

''It's coming.''

　Creon warned the adventurers around him in a low voice.
　The winged tiger's eyes flashed red.

　Those eyes weren't looking at us vanguards.
　I look back.

　What the winged tiger was looking at was definitely Arte.

　Not good.

　Arte is a genius sorcerer, a sage with overwhelming talent.
　However, that doesn't mean he's all-powerful.

　For example, if exposed to a physical attack with no guards, Arte has no way to defend himself.

　That's why we were able to repel Arte's attack during the mansion attack.

　The winged tiger flies straight through the low altitude.
　Creon and the others attacked, but the winged tiger did not slow down.
　As it was, it rammed through the flaming fence that Arte had created.

　If Arte had tried to escape backwards, Arte's body might have fallen prey to the winged tiger.

　However, Arte slipped past the winged tiger, extinguished the flaming fence and ran forward.
　That was the right decision.

　Even if we went to the rear, as long as there were few swordsmen, we would not be able to counterattack or defend ourselves and would also endanger the other mages.

　If they head towards us, they can meet up with the vanguard and the targeted artefacts will be safe.

　However, none of the nearby vanguards were willing to shield Arte.
　Most of those present were adventurers other than the Salvation Knights.

　Since Arte is not only unpopular to begin with, but also tried to build a fire fence to cut off her retreat, it's no wonder that they didn't think to protect her at a moment's notice.

　Creon and the others are not in a position to protect Arte.

　But I was in a position not far from Arte, who was rushing up to me.
　For a moment, Flora's words, "If I wanted to protect Filia, I should have killed Arte," come to mind.

　But I waved those words away.

　I backed up and approached Arte.
　Then I get between the winged tiger and Arte.

　Alone, I have to defend myself from the winged tiger's attack.

　The claws that the Winged Tiger swung down were blocked by the Treasure Sword Tetrachord, but my response to the next breath of flame was delayed for a moment.

　At this rate, both Arte and I would be extinguished as well.
　However, a ray of light pierced the winged tiger's back.

　When I glanced behind me, the astrologer Flora held up her staff and intermittently unleashed her attack magic.

　The attack caused the winged tiger to lash out in pain, his mouth turning upwards.
　I didn't get caught in the flames spitting from my mouth, and me and Arte managed to escape in that moment.

　In the next moment, the swordsmen surrounded the winged tiger, and the mages attacked there in unison.
　The winged tiger was considerably weakened by Arte's attack. If this much of an attack was added to it, it would be a huge damage.

　Sure enough, the winged tiger's movements suddenly slowed down as if it had run out of magic power, and then it fell to the side as it was.

　The winged tiger had been knocked down.　　

　Arte stared at me with dissatisfaction.

''Don't think that you owe me this. I was able to overcome that situation on my own, even without my seniors.

I wouldn't say that. In any case, it doesn't matter if I think I owe it to you, if Arte doesn't think I owe it to you, it doesn't mean anything.

　The reason why Arte was targeted was because of Arte's powerful attack magic, which drew the wrath of the demon race.

　This means that Arte is contributing to the attack.
　The fact that I happened to help that Arte, doesn't mean that I can dignify Arte.

　I don't agree with what he said and did, but I recognized Arte's ability itself.

　And when Arte tried to target Filia in order to revive the Demon King, that Arte's ability would be a major threat to us.

　Flora was staring at the two of us.