Oh, come on. What's that?　You're not going to live to have your head cut off, are you?

　Nicole gave a drawn-out laugh.

'Well, hey. I don't know if he's alive or not--'

　As if in response to Aldis' words, the demon swung its tail around.
　The sound of wildly stirring the wind could be heard.

''-- At least it seems to be sure that it still works.

　Once again, Ardis recognized it as an enemy and confronted it.
　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who has done this.

　Something resembling body fluids oozed from the cross section of the neck. However, it doesn't seem to be the liquid that would spurt out as a matter of course if it were a living thing - blood.
　If we were to compare it to the sap that oozes from a tree when it is cut. That's the best way to describe it.


《---- poof!


　The neckless demon is no better than when it was in its full body, as it moves against Ardis' sword.

　But there is one crucial difference.
　The bluish-gray body surface was a natural shield to repel every half-hearted attack, but the section of the neck that was cut off had no such thing.
　No matter how strong the skin was, it would be at the mercy of an attack from a soft cross section.

　Aldis was right in his reading.
　The flying sword, which was as if it had no teeth earlier, tore through the soft flesh of the section.
　The demon, which could no longer speak, would only writhe and reveal its pain.

''The moment you expose your weaknesses, you've lost.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.
　This time the battle was won. The mercenaries were astonished three times as this atmosphere spread around them.

Can you still move ......

　As expected, even Aldis was puzzled.
　Its neck was severed and its torso was also separated on both sides, though not completely.
　If it were a normal creature, it would not be in a state where it could move with its will.

''It's tricky.''

　Still, Aldis calmly swings his sword.
　He tore further at its body, cutting off its thick tail in the process, and slashing deeply at its ankles.
　Every time Aldis made his sword dance, the demon's body was covered in wounds, chipping away from what had been a single individual, little by little, and then little by little.

　But the demon did not stop moving.
　Its feet stomped firmly on the earth, and its shortened tail still undulated as ever as it attacked Ardis.
　The scene was like watching a marionette controlled by strings.

''Could it be ......?''

　Ardis' gaze flickers to the decapitated head.
　The head of a demon with an organ that resembles a human face and human arms.
　Although the head was cut off, the head itself still retains its shape.

"Is that the main body?

　This demon's body is just its head, and if the body part that Ardis is dealing with is just a dummy, then this situation is understandable.
　The body of the monster is like a driver of a carriage, while the body of the monster could be a mere manipulator of the carriage.

　To find out, Ardis shot two swords at the head while avoiding the demon's attack.

　You can't pierce the demon's hard skin with "kokchun kaze" and "moonlight blizzard".
　Ardis's intention to point the swords at them with the feeling that it would be good if there was some kind of reaction was far off.
　This is because the two swords, which I had expected to be played, have been thrust into the demon's neck with a crunch.

''What do you mean by that?''

　Wondering, Aldis slashed further with his flying sword at the demon's neck.
　While judging the attack from the demon's body, he turned his consciousness towards the neck.

　The neck did not show any reaction despite being attacked.
　It's just being hurt one way or another.
　That meant that doing something about the neck would not stop the activity of the torso.

'What the hell do you want me to do: ......'

　It was only when he arrived there that Aldis' face began to show impatience.


''---- peckish.


Shall we burn it down?　(No, I don't think he's even a halfway magical opponent.

　The demon's torso showed no signs of stopping, even if its legs were cut off and its tail severed.


''---- pic.''


　On the contrary, the part of the body that should have been detached from the body seemed to have reestablished itself and even seemed to be repairing itself.

(It may work if you create flames with all your might, but it's not a good idea to make this whole area a barren land.


《---- snaps》


　I can't continue to muddle along like this for a long time.
　No matter how many times Ardis gets tired, and the limit will come sooner or later.

　It can't be helped. It may be a hassle, but shall we guide them little by little and burn them down where there is no arable land--? When Ardis decided to do so, the sword at his waist made a high-pitched sound and he shed his cocoon.

　It is a red sword that Ardis and Kirill had retrieved from the ruins deep in the Caucasian forest.
　It is the white thing that led them to come to Leytin.

''What is it?''

　Unusually, Aldis's eyes widened in surprise.
　The hair on Nere's head was wrapped up like a cocoon for a while now, but under the gaze of Aldis, it was unveiled with a sudden sound.

　The cocoon that wrapped the red sword is completely fragmented and scattered in all directions, revealing a majestic decoration wrapped in a sheath.

　Ardis stopped moving at a distance from the demon.
　The sword that emerged from the cocoon is the same design and color as when he found it in the ruins.
　Nothing had changed in appearance, but the discomfort that had made him feel faintly uncomfortable was gone.

(But that's not the point now--)

　When Ardis was about to return her gaze to the front, the sword was pulled out of its scabbard by itself as she tried to deal with the demon in front of her, saying the first thing to do is to deal with the demon in front of her.

''Nah ......?!''

　Ardis did not do it.
　The sword came out of its scabbard of its own accord.

　The color of the sword barrel is red.
　Red may be red, but there is a distinct difference from the color he had seen before.
　It was the color of life, not the ominousness of clotted blood, but the color of nobility and warmth.

　The red sword slowly stands upright in front of Ardis with its cutting edge pointing heavenward, and then stops about two meters above the ground.

''Huh?''

　In the next moment, Ardis had to brace herself quickly.
　This was because a human hand was placed on the handle of the sword that was floating in the air.

(When did that happen?!)

　I look back down in surprise and see a young woman there.
　Then he saw the woman's face and was startled again.

'Nayle!'

　Long hair that falls straight down the back of the slippery slope. A well-groomed face with slit eyes that make you feel noble.
　It's without a doubt Nere, the one you've left behind in the forest of the Kingdom of Naglas.

Why is Nere here ......!　...... or is it ...... nere?

　But immediately, Aldis has doubts.

　In shape and face, the woman was equal to the person Aldis knew as Nere.
　On the other hand, there were many obvious differences.

　The reddish-brown hair color, the blazing red eyes and the jet-black robe she wears show that she is not the Nere that Ardis knows.
　What's different is the expression on her face. The woman was smiling at Aldis.

　Nere is not a good expression of emotion.
　It's not that she never smiles, but her smile is very reserved and modest. It's as if he's deliberately controlling his emotions so that they don't come out.
　However, the smile directed by the Nere resemblance in front of me has a soft and warm expression, as if she cares for her young child.

　She looks just like her figure, but she is a different being.
　Aldis understood it not by thought, but by feeling.

'You ......, who are you?'

　Smiling silently back at Aldis's question, the Nere look-alike woman swoops in a slow motion, like cotton wool riding the wind.
　With a flutter of her long reddish-brown hair, the woman passes over Aldis' head.

'Wait!'

　Aldis reached out to grab its legs and looked again as the woman's body slipped through.

'Illusion ......?'

　Forgetting that she was even confronting the demon, Aldis turned around.
　The woman flies through the air with the serenity of riding the wind and lands on the spot where the demon's head has fallen.

　That's when Aldis finally notices. That the woman's body is dimly visible through her body.
　Through the woman's body, she can see the walls of Leytin's castle.

　The woman, who resembles Nere, confronts the demon's neck and slowly sits down and extends her hand to the demon.
　As if to embrace it, she gently thrusts her sword into the demon. It was an illusory scene that seemed to fade away faintly.

"Oh, hey!　Look!　The body of a demon!

　Somewhere, a mercenary shouted out.
　When I turned my gaze to look at it, I saw the body of the demon, which until then showed no signs of stopping no matter how many times I slashed it to pieces, slowly fall to the ground.

　I'm not going to be the only one who can do this.
　And then it just stopped moving.

(No way, that woman did this?!)

　Aldis's gaze crossed with the woman's as she hurriedly turned around and stood up with her sword.
　The woman turns to Ardis with a slightly more shadowy smile than before.

''Ah .......''

　He was about to say something, and Ardis was speechless, not knowing what to say.
　When she turned her face away from Aldis, a woman who looked exactly like Nere jumped up, facing the opposite direction.
　The woman's body, which floated up softly, disappeared into the city of Leytin on the wind while the surrounding mercenaries were taken aback.