Aldis gathered up the Tokiharugasumi and Tsukishiro blizzard and immediately began to run.

　There are a total of five magical reactions two hundred meters away, all of them human-sized.
　They are all human-sized.
　Probably one of them is Sorte, and three of them are escorting mercenaries who were not here.
　The problem was the remaining one reaction.

''Did it move?''

　The moment it moved, which had an order of magnitude greater magical power than the other four, one magical reaction disappeared.
　Whether it was Sorte's magic power or the magic power of the mercenary is unknown.

　As if to mock the impatient Ardis, another magic power reaction disappears.
　If only there were no trees in the way, they could have rushed over in a few seconds, but the distance of only two hundred meters seemed too long to Ardis.

　Just before Ardis reaches the place where the magical reaction is located while avoiding the clutter of trees, another magical power disappears.

''Tch!''

　Ardis unleashed the 'Kiku Haruka' and 'Moonstorm'.
　The two flying swords flew in a straight line towards the magical reaction that seemed to be a demon.

''Are you going to avoid it!

　But the two swords pierce the ground in vain.

　Apparently, the other party seemed to be an individual who was quite excellent at detecting signs.
　I dodged the flying swords released by Ardis from a distance and took distance from the other magical reaction.

　Ardis arrived at the scene late to the flying sword.
　Wary of the demons that should still be nearby, he looked around to assess the situation.
　One headless corpse, one bloody corpse with one leg missing, and one corpse with its body sliced up and down. All of them belonged to mercenaries.
　One girl in a monastic uniform flopped down beside it, her face pale.

''Are you okay ......?''

　Without showing his face, Aldis inwardly patted his chest.

　But I still couldn't foresee it.
　The demon that buried the mercenaries in the blink of an eye is still peering at us from the shadows of the trees.

　Since he was the one who dodged the flying sword that was supposed to have been a surprise attack, he would not be an opponent that could be caught off guard.
　Apparently, the other side has no intention of pulling back yet.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make your life easier.

''If you don't come out, I'm going to come over here.

　The pale yellow-green and white sword barrel begins to move as if played by those words.
　To the shade of the tree where the demon is hiding, the flying swords controlled by Ardis from left and right head towards it as if drawing a solitary line.

　Naturally, Aldis doesn't think that such an attack is a viable opponent.
　So it wasn't surprising in itself when the demon that jumped out from behind the trees came attacking faster than the flying sword that was called back.

''Nah!''

　Nevertheless, there is a reason why Ardis showed a shocked expression.
　The hand that was reflexively going to swing out the 『Soutian Saika』 stopped.

　The one with fangs on Ardis is a four-legged beast whose entire body is covered with golden-colored hair.
　I'm going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to get the best out of it.

''Tut!''

　I immediately let go of the Aoten Saihua and dodge the roaring blow.

　You can't be sure that you'll be able to find the right one.
　Even though the Souten Saihua was taken away, Ardis has many ways to attack.

　However, Ardis didn't use any magic or call back the flying sword, but rather stared intently into the beast's eyes.
　The light in the eyes is not the murderous light that ordinary demons have, but the light of intelligence that seems to estimate you.

　Above all, the figure is too familiar to Ardis.
　Its tail, which is rather large in comparison to its size, is swollen like a paintbrush and covered with soft golden fur.

　Both of them stopped moving for a few seconds, as if they were looking for the other's way out.
　Aldis opened his mouth.

'You ......, are you Rona by any chance?'

　The beast's body twitched.

　After a strange silence, the golden-colored beast spat out the Ao Tian Aika that was in its mouth.
　The sound of the fallen sword's playing clang resounded harshly.

　The beast's originally narrowed eyes narrowed even more and it shot straight through Ardis' eyes as if it were wondering what it was, but eventually it opened its mouth, which contained sharp fangs.

"I can't remember being called names by a kid like you.

　It was an unmistakable human language.

"Well, a demon ...... spoke.

　Sorte rolls her eyes in surprise, too.
　Without looking at her, Aldis continues to make contact with the beast.

'It's me. It's Aldis. You're not going to say you've forgotten me, are you?

Aldis ......?

　The beast looks at Aldis with suspicious eyes.

'I have a feeling you're not the Aldis I know, though.

Oh, no, you don't.　How many years do you think we've been traveling together?

...... Sure, it smells like Al, but

I'm telling you, it's him.

　The beast that sniffed and sniffed with a twitch of his nose seemed to be half in doubt.

''If you're really Al, you can go to ....... 'Otsu's third white,' you know what this means, right?

'I don't mind, but ......, which one is white?'

Of course...

　The beast made a smiling smile with an unhuman face and suddenly leapt.

''--I'm sure it's me!

Hey, I'm flying!

　While complaining, Aldis deploys a magical barrier to intercept him.
　The magic of the beast that is released there. A thin beam of light suddenly appears in the darkness and falls on Ardis like rain.
　A lot of light that hits the barrier and dissipates like sparks.

''Wasn't it the third?!

I think it's your fault for taking it easy.

　The beast laughs happily as it floats in the air.

'Hey, Solte!'

Yes!

Stay out of sight!　If you feel threatened, yell at the top of your lungs!　I'm sorry, but I don't have time to worry about that one!

　Without waiting for a response from Sorte, Aldis floats himself to the top of the tallest tree in the vicinity.

'You've kept me waiting,'

Don't worry about it. I'm not so screwed up as to involve a bunch of bystanders.

I don't know. You know, Rona, the guy I know, the guy who gets carried away and can't see his way around.

Shut up.

　The golden beast, perhaps because it was pointed at a figurehead and became clingy, murmured in frustration and wagged its tail, creating countless ice cubes.
　They began to move soundlessly, and in an instant, they reached top speed and attacked Ardis.

　When he floated his body softly, Aldis quickly retreated from the point of impact and moved into a counterattack stance.
　Beside the top of the tree that had been standing right before disappeared without a trace, the boy turns the condensed mass of magical power into a single spear and strikes it.

　The beast meets Aldis' attack head on.
　At the moment of impact, it swings its forelimbs down and flaps off the spear of magic power.
　The next series of fireballs aimed at the next series of fireballs is a water barrier to reduce the momentum and buy time to evade, and then it leisurely retreated from the landing area.

"This time it's my turn!

　As the beast's ears twitched, the airflow changed rapidly.
　The distortion that appeared above the beast's head swirled around the space around it.
　A large amount of wind was sucked in and compressed into the space that was forcefully wrapped up with Kirikiri.

''Sore!''

　With a distracted call, half-moon shaped blades are produced from the vortex.
　There are three from the front and one from each side.
　While making a strange sound, it flew through the air at an accelerated rate and attacked Ardis.

''That's about it!''

　It's not a speed that Aldis can't dodge.
　Creating an invisible foothold in the air, Aldis dodges the attacking half-moon by kicking it with his feet.

'What a shame!'

　The beast cried out happily, like a child whose prank had succeeded.
　The half-moon blade that Aldis had evaded came at him again in a curved trajectory.

''Chi!''

　Ardis held up one hand and put up a defensive barrier with magic power.
　It's a triple magic barrier that prevented the light ball that Nere unleashed.

　But the moment the half-moon blade and the defensive barrier collided, Ardis immediately regretted it.
　It was because he had only thought that they would collide due to the collision, but it showed an unexpected result.

''Sticking together!

　The half-moon blade that came into contact with the barrier did not emit an impact, nor was it flicked off, but rather changed its shape into a mucus-like form and stuck to the barrier that Aldis had deployed.
　The blade, which had given the impression of being sharp and hard earlier, instantly became a thin film surrounding the entire barrier and blocked Aldis' vision.

''Is that the real deal!

　Ardis felt a strong magical reaction from the direction where the beast would be and braced herself.
　This is an order of magnitude stronger than the previous attacks.
　Even Nere's light ball seems like a child's play, an incomparably powerful force is stirring.

　It's not just a matter of time before you're able to get your hands on a new one.

''That's easy.

　The beast laughs in a stunned voice.

　With a small explosion, Aldis' surroundings open up.
　But it seems it was just as the beast wanted it to be.

　When the explosion subsided, Ardis noticed the thread-like magic power that was entangled in her limbs.
　It seems that at the moment of the explosion, it changed its shape, overcoming the damage and changing its role into a force that restrained Ardis.

　The thread-like magic power is entangled in Aldis's limbs, slowing his movements.
　And one end of the thread continued to the beast in front of him, eventually converging on its tail.

'Come on, tome!

　When the beast tugs on the tail, the thread wrapped around Ardis increases the power of the bondage even more.
　The beast happily began to cultivate its magic power.
　The strong magic power is pushed into the twisted space floating overhead, condensing and waiting for the moment when it will be released towards the prey that cannot escape.

　But Ardis is in no hurry.

'It's convenient if we're connected.'

　With that, he begins to transform the nature of his magic.

　A small sound is generated on the surface of his body with a buzzing sound.
　It gradually increased in number and narrowed in interval.

　Accompanying the sound, countless momentary flashes of light, like sparks, appeared.
　Eventually, when the magic power that had enveloped its body acquired a power worthy of being called an electric shock, Ardis smiled at the beast.

　The beast's expression, which had been showing some composure until then, instantly froze.

''Eh?　Huh?　Huh?　No, no. Wait!　The chattering is--!

　The dark-haired boy mercilessly tells the beast as he hurriedly tries to break the magical thread.

''Alas, it's too late.''

　Faster than he could finish saying it, he used the thread-like magic power that restrains himself as a conduit to pour the magic of electric shocks into the beast.

''Ababa-baba-baba-baba!''

　It must be very effective.
　It's a ridiculously magic-resistant opponent, but the beast called Rona that Ardis knows hates electric shocks terribly.
　It's hard to believe that they would be injured by this level of injury, but 'not worrying' and 'like or dislike' are two different things.

"Well, Rona. Do you still want to do it?

"Ugh ......, that's terrible, Al. You know I hate biliousness ......

So does that mean you understand who I am?

　The beast nodded reluctantly in response to Aldis' question.

''Muu....... I don't know what it is, but if it wasn't for Al, I wouldn't even know what the code is ......

I'm glad to hear it. I have a lot of questions for you, but for now, let's go downstairs and meet up with Sorte. Do you have any further business to attend to?

　Rona shook her head.

'Not really. I have a lot of questions I want to ask Al, too.

Okay, I'll do it.

　The two landed together on the ground.
　A girl was waiting there. Her brain couldn't process the unrealistic scene unfolding in front of her, and she was just standing there, dumbfounded.