Chapter 98 – Nothing Changes

Things had been progressing so well, but suddenly took a strange turn.

The three of them had managed to corner the demon before their eyes. One final blow and they could have considered themselves victorious.

Then, a new demon emerged from somewhere, prompting Yurisia to swiftly break formation and move alone to intercept it.

‘This isn’t good! It’s dangerous!’

The most grievous wounds belonged to Yurishia. And yet, she’d gone to face the demon alone.

Not a wrong choice, not exactly. In this situation, Hana couldn’t finish the demon she’d been fighting originally.

So, even if just for a moment, Yurishia had to advance and hold that demon, allowing both sides to find some resolution.

But that was that, and worry was inevitable. It was right there that Nefertiti’s focus faltered for a heartbeat.

“Ugh!”

Her veil of wind, which had been holding firm without issue until now, abruptly lost its strength.

Thanks to that, she nearly plummeted from the air, crashing directly onto the floor.

“Keep it together, President! It’s not over yet!”

With Yurishia gone, the demon they’d been cornering found breathing room.

Conversely, Luciel had temporarily withdrawn from the front lines to prepare her final trump card.

Since she had to pour out every last ounce of her ability and stamina, Nefertiti had to restrain the demon alone, however briefly.

“Can you manage?! If you can’t, say it now! I’ll join you—”

“No, Senior. I’m fine.”

Yurishia rampaged ahead, doing her best to bind the demon’s advance. And Luciel perfectly timed her retreat, scoring countless minor and major wounds across the demon’s body.

Both of them had done their part. Which meant this was the moment their stamina would begin to wane.

‘I have to step in. *I’m* the one with the reserve.’

The reason she’d remained primarily in a support role was simply that there hadn’t been a need for her to do more.

But the situation was different now. *She* was the one with energy to spare, so no matter what, *she* had to move.

“Senior, finish your preparations! I’ll buy us some time, somehow!”

With a spirited cry, Nefertiti wrapped streaks of gale-force wind around both legs and lunged forward.

Seeing that, Seirei’s eyes flashed with a glint. There was undoubtedly a difference between being pressured by three people and being pressured by two.

Besides, a missing enemy also meant that his reinforcements were close.

‘Whether it’s Puss, Amduscias, or even Astaroth! Just a little longer!’

Don’t even think about winning. His sole purpose was to endure against these b*tches.

There was no sign of that dawn or trumpet-blowing fool arriving. Probably starting somewhere else entirely, then rushing over, Seirei thought, and immediately swung the iron mace he held.

“Don’t underestimate this body, you whelps!”

Normally, Luciel’s sword, or Yurishia’s fist, would have intercepted it.

But now, he couldn’t count on that. Nefertiti bit her lip and, in less than a second, deployed two techniques.

One was to erect a wall of wind before herself. The other was to warp the air currents around the mace, adding resistance to its spinning force.

—Kagaa-gagak!

The mace’s chain links collided with the wind, emitting a grotesque noise.

Seeing his mace taut and on the verge of snapping, Seirei sneered, spun his body again, and hammered straight at Nefertiti.

—Kwaaang!!

“Kgh!”

She hadn’t even taken the blow directly, the wind wall had met it head on, and still, this was the result.

To think, Luciel and Yurishia had been enduring this power *directly*.

Feeling a fresh surge of gratitude, Nefertiti immediately prepared her next buff.

‘I’m outmatched in strength. And I lack in physical speed too. The only point where I have an advantage against this demon right now…’

Was finesse. The ability to bewilder the enemy by simultaneously wielding extreme extravagance and its opposite, restraint, with the wind.

She’d realized in battle. Demons used all their senses, just like them.

Of all her senses, sight held the greatest sway.

‘My power… it’s an invisible force. No matter how acutely they sense my presence, how well they read my intent, if their eyes can’t keep pace, I’ll always have the upper hand.’

Maximize your strengths, mercilessly exploit your opponent’s weaknesses.

This was the ultimate tactic, the strategy Nefertiti had internalized through relentless training under Deus and Astaroth.

In that respect, the demon’s weakness lay in the ongoing battle, the resulting drain on his stamina. Her strength, meanwhile, was the potential for attacks that bypassed sight altogether.

‘Normally, time would be on my side too…’

Luciel’s secret weapon on one side. Reinforcements from another demon on the other. Both sides would try to stall.

A calculation was needed. Which of their objectives posed the greater threat?

Regrettably, the union of the two demons was far more problematic than Luciel’s trump card.

She couldn’t let them drag this out. Simply enduring would only benefit him.

Reaching this conclusion, Nefertiti immediately unleashed the full arsenal of abilities she’d painstakingly honed.

Some she had conceived while observing Deus, others while watching Jurishia—

“Ugh?!”

A flustered sound escaped Seyre’s lips. How could he not be?

Just moments ago, Nefertiti had been toying with him, harassing him from a safe distance, only to suddenly shift positions and engage in close-quarters combat.

‘Right now, my close-quarters fighting is inferior to even Deus, my junior, or Jurishia, my junior.’

Naturally. Her training had focused primarily on stamina and her abilities, not on the hand-to-hand combat they excelled at.

But something had come of it. If she could show her opponent, who had always perceived their distance as being exclusively ranged, that she was also capable of close combat, even if only for a short time?

‘No need to overthink it. My power isn’t brute strength, or speed, or a sturdy frame, like theirs!’

Wind. Unbound wind. Ever-shifting, yet perfectly controllable only by her.

This was what allowed her to engage in something resembling close combat, albeit briefly.

Of course, it couldn’t truly be called unarmed combat. What Nefertiti was about to show was—

—*Crack!*

“Keaugh!”

A small, terrifying vortex swirled before Nefertiti’s outstretched fist.

It was like wielding a blade of furiously spinning air, yet she could reverse it at a moment’s notice.

Next was a kick, a basic movement that Jurishia had painstakingly taught her. But when infused with a gust of icy wind, her toes became edged with a razor’s sharpness.

“W-What is this! What sorcery is this, woman!”

“Not sorcery. The result of training. The culmination of effort!”

How much had she been tormented and hounded by Deus to achieve this?

It had been a valuable experience, but also a horrific one. Every day had been a fierce battle, a dance with death. If anything, that time had been more terrifying than this!

A palm strike feinted, and a sharp wind targeted his joints. She powered up her fist, and the vortex spun menacingly, threatening to impale him.

A kick was unleashed, and a razor-like gale lashed out. The moment he considered it a mere distraction, a powerful gust of wind erupted from behind, throwing him off balance.

Unpredictable was an understatement. There simply *were* no rules. She was, quite literally, the wind itself.

Something no one could foresee, nothing could withstand. Nefertiti wasn’t controlling her power, but *becoming* the wind, driving Seyre into a corner in an instant.

But as wind was wont to do, it couldn’t last forever.

“Haa… haa…”

Already strained from the continuous use of her abilities,

Engaging in close combat on top of that naturally drained her stamina at an alarming rate.

If Nefertiti had been alone in this place, it would have been her clear defeat.

Seyr would have broken through the woman who blocked his path and achieved his goal, no matter what.

But there was a reason why she, who wielded the wind as her power, had chosen close combat.

“Time out! Farewell! Demon!”

Suddenly, Nefertiti dashed sideways with all her might. So fast, it was as if the wind had just swept by.

Seyr, stunned by this absurd spectacle, stood frozen in place for a moment.

—Kugugugu!!

Far off in the distance, a single pillar of enormous light, reaching for the heavens, was slowly descending to the earth.

*

To corner the enemy by maintaining the distance, and then, what to do next.

Deus simultaneously stimulated Luciel’s skill and her sense of romance regarding that matter.

“With a giant sword of light, you just cleave through everything you see.”

Whether it was possible or not didn’t matter. Only whether she *could* do it.

And Luciel was a woman who could bet everything on her own romantic ideal of the sword.

Compared to Yulishia or Nefertiti, she was already a prepared Esper.

From there, all she had to do was unleash the essence imbued with her own unique romance, as Deus had instructed.

‘The time my juniors bought for me… I’ll repay it properly!’

Though it was a pitch-black night, the whole world was bathed in white. Shining brilliantly.

Just like the feeling of the sun rising again. A massive wave of light engulfed Seyr.