---

– Bang!

All around, ice and all kinds of magic are scattering.

Daio, now demonized, was wrestling against three opponents in this unfavorable 1v3 battle.

Well, it makes sense. Suddenly being turned into a demon and powered up while being the protagonist’s rival couldn’t possibly make him weak.

Anyway, let’s leave Daio to the Toilet.

“Huh━ I thought it wasn’t supposed to be this intense, but what on earth happened to give you so much magical power?”

Hex, released from his seal, stretched lazily.

Riche should have seen little change since her entrance, but it seemed her unexpected growth in magical power created quite a struggle for her to manifest.

“Is that… the Hex that Riche was looking for all this time?”

“His mask looks really creepy.”

“Oh, is this your first time seeing him?”

I’ve only seen him once before, but there’s a big difference between having seen him once and not at all.

At that moment, he turned his gaze directly towards where we were hiding and spoke.

“By the way, the one over there, how long are you going to stay hidden?”

We were watching from quite a distance, but it seems like he can perceive us.

“That’s directed at us, right?”

“Luke, I think we’ve been found out?”

“So what?”

Even if we’ve been found, we should hold out pretending we’re not here.

“Hmm… I know you’re there, but you refuse to show yourself?”

Hex raised his foot and pretended to stomp on Riche.

“To remain unresponsive even after all this… Are you really a human?”

“Mochiron.”

“Luke…”

“Luke…”

I could feel both of them glaring at me, even though I couldn’t see them.

“Seriously, I just casually said you’re not human, and now you’re throwing a tantrum?”

This guy! He’s way more skilled than I thought! How can he hit me with such a sly remark without a care?

Hex fixed his gaze precisely toward the direction of my voice.

“That voice is…?”

Though I couldn’t see him due to the mask, I could sense him scowling just by hearing his voice.

There’s no need for introductions. We’ve met before, after all.

“Hey, if you’re going to run away, then just go. You were planning to do that anyway.”

“I was going to do that, but… seeing you changes things.”

His hostility was palpable.

Even at this distance, I could feel his murderous intent prickling my skin.

“Luke, what should we do?”

“Can’t you kill that guy for me?”

“…It looks like he has no intention of facing us.”

Damn it.

I just want to sit back in a comfy chair and eat popcorn.

Why does everything have to be so high-strung?

What kind of guts does it take to take on a guy who already lost once?

“Sigh. You all handle it. Whether you want to capture the demon for a level-up or just spectate.”

“Then we’ll just wait.”

“Is the conversation over? Then let me repay you for the last incident!”

With that statement, Hex immediately launched himself forward.

It was a charge far quicker than before.

To an ordinary person, it would seem like just a laughing mask was flying towards them.

– Whoosh!

Hex’s punch came flying straight at my face.

– Bam!

Then it struck my temple.

It’s a vulnerable spot that can yield the most impact from any strike to the face.

It wasn’t as wild as I thought it would be.

But…

“Tek-kai.”

Sure, it made a loud sound upon impact, but that was it.

If I had to compare the pain, it’s like getting punched by an earnest 5-year-old.

In conclusion, it wasn’t painful at all.

Hex, unfazed by my lackadaisical reaction, smoothly retreated and said,

“Huh… I felt this before, but you really are strong. I thought I just needed to be cautious of the Dean, but where on earth did you come from?”

“I’m strong, but you’re weak as hell.”

“Ha… haha…! It’s truly strange to hear that I’m weak in this time!”

It’s not that the fake Hex is weak and the real one is strong.

The red moon hovering above enhances the power of all demons and demonkin.

Telling him he’s weak—even after gaining such a boost—puts him in a tough spot.

“Well, I’ll give up on defeating you through conventional means.”

Following this, Hex picked up Riche, who lay collapsed nearby.

Then he brought his fingers close to her neck.

“You know what this is, right? A hostage. If you surrender willingly, this girl will be spared.”

“Wh-what should we do, Luke?! Should we sneak up and attack from behind?!”

The one panicking was Yui, who still hadn’t removed her bracelet.

Luna, unexpectedly quiet, seemed to guess what I would do next.

“U~fu~♡ It doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

It doesn’t matter.

Why would they think that taking hostages would work?

Do they want me to deliver some cliché line like, ‘Cough! You coward! Fight me fairly!’?

Also, it’s only a hostage if they take someone relevant. They should take my popcorn hostage and say, ‘If you don’t surrender, I’ll eat all this popcorn!’ That would be more convincing.

Honestly, a ploy involving hostages would never work on me.

“Luna. Platform.”

“I hope Riche can be saved if possible.”

“That’s not for me to decide.”

Luna smoothly conjured a platform in front of me as if she had expected it all along.

This platform, upgraded from before, looked visibly sturdier and stronger, allowing me to reach that guy in no time.

I neglected the fidgeting Yui and threw myself onto the platform.

Soaring through the air as if the sky was my bed, I adjusted my posture upward and spread my legs wide.

“TOO-OOOT━!!”

“Are you truly human?!”

At that, Hex tossed Riche aside and took up a defensive stance.

Of course, he must do that; if he gets hit while playing hostages, his life is on the line.

Hex likely weighed out his options in that brief moment.

On the left was Riche, on the right was his life. If he kills Riche and then loses his own life, that’s a loss.

As I often say, everyone’s life is a priority.

Who’d be stupid enough to play hostage games when death is looming right in front of them?

Remember how, in the Conan movies, they shot hostages to make the culprits panic?

What I’m doing is similar. Though my intention isn’t to rescue the hostage, if Hex continues playing hostage with Riche, I’d plan on taking them both down.

Soaring through the sky, only two options lay before Hex.

Dodge or strike back.

Hex chose to strike back.

“You foolishly come flying at me like that! Are you begging to be hit?!”

Honestly, I would strike back too.

If the opponent comes flying at me like they want to get hit, who wouldn’t hit them back?

This just reflects how pathetic my current posture appears.

Hex pulled his arm back and thrust it forward.

Straight at the center of my spread legs.

To put it bluntly, even I wouldn’t want to get hit in the groin while in that pose.

“…!?”

Just before his fist reached my testicles, I summoned a shadow to shift the direction of the attack.

So what happens?

Hex’s body gets caught in my Daishuki hold.

“What the hell are you doing?! Let go!”

Not a sex move, but a grip attack.

I mimicked that amazing technique I saw on TV back in the day.

Hex, pleased, punched my face, but…

“That feeble punch isn’t enough! AARRGHH!!”

Go ahead and hit me as much as you want with that power.

I tightened my lower body and created vibrations as I clamped down.

“Gah?! Aaaah!!”

There are things in this world that might seem ridiculous or trivial but can really hurt.

Like a homemade anti-personnel landmine made from LEGO, or that annoying paper cut that keeps hurting over time.

“Do you not care about the hostage’s fate?!”

“Don’t get trapped in common sense.”

Common sense can be a dangerous thing that stifles thought and creativity.

Who said that? If you capture a hostage, you’re supposed to prioritize their rescue?

The police? Or maybe heroes? Do they think this is an academy breeding heroes?

I’m neither police nor hero. In reality, I’m closer to a villain.

Have you ever seen a villain prioritize their hostages’ safety while fighting?

“Did you know? Humans are often worse than demonkin.”

The way demonkin and demons think is truly laughable.

They feel entitled to kill some humans or take hostages just because they’re villains while expecting humans to uphold ethics.

In truth, humans are even more despicable than demonkin or demons.

I’ve seen too much of humanity’s ugliness on Earth.

But could I sum that ugliness up with some medieval story’s vague laws?

The reason demons manifest is that they are born from humans fed up with the ugliness of humanity, yet they think humans are cleaner than demonkin.

I applied vibrations to my lower body again.

“Ugh! Stop it! That feels disgusting!!”

“It’s impossible to escape my technique!”

How would a man enjoy rubbing his groin against another man’s body?

Of course, it’s intended to feel awful.

“So, what do you think of my grip?”

Just as I was curious about how much it must have sucked, Hex suddenly let out a loud scream.

“Grrrrrrh!!!!”

And then,

“Oh?”

My legs, which had been binding Hex’s upper body, began to slowly spread apart.

Even though I wasn’t holding back, Hex started to free himself from my grip.

“Kuk… What do you think?! This is my ability! I don’t usually use it since I don’t like it much, but when I put my mind to it, I can unleash a mindless strength greater than yours!”

“Really? Then your skills must be exquisite?!”

“…What did you say?”

“Stop talking nonsense and die already.”

I summoned a shadow behind Hex and commanded it to behead him.

– Swoosh.

However, the sword wielded by the shadow only sunk halfway into Hex’s neck and couldn’t penetrate any further.

“Hmph, such a mere attack won’t kill me!”

If I had done it myself, I would have cleanly severed his head. But since the shadow was only using half of its strength, he wasn’t killed in one shot.

But there’s a saying in my world.

“A tree that won’t fall after being struck ten times won’t fall at all.”

“What?!

If it doesn’t kill him in one go, just keep striking until it dies, right?

– Squish.

The sword from the shadow pulled out with a nasty sound from the flesh.

And then…

– Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Ugh… Uggghh…!!”

Hex seemed to be struggling to avoid having his neck severed, racing against time to hold it up. But that merely caused the strength in his arms to dwindle, bringing his bindings back to the status quo.

“You bastard!! Let go already!! You leech!!”

“Hey hey, keep your character intact. What kind of clown talks like that? Come on, try it like me. Smile~”

A professional, right? What are you doing with a serious face? Smile!

I pulled up the corners of my mouth with both hands.

I pulled so hard it felt like my lips might rip apart, but I smiled gleefully.

“Stop!! You’ve won, so let it go!! I’ll run away as you said! Please just let me go!!”

“You pick fights with me, and then you act like you’re going to escape? No way. You’re not getting away clean.”

I was just going to kill him, but his attitude made me change my mind.

Not a chance. Once someone picks a fight with me, I’ll chase them to the ends of hell to settle it.

If somehow Hex manages to escape here, my life’s priority would shift to hunting him down.

*

Not a finger moved.

My mind raced with questions about what was happening, and I even tried to command my body to move, but…

No matter how hard my brain pushed my body, if it won’t budge, it means nothing.

‘So this is what it feels like…’

I finally understood the reality of magical exhaustion.

I realized why I had said I would never defeat Hex.

Even now, my body was devoid of strength, but the fatigue that had enveloped me began to take control of my very consciousness.

Am I dying? As attacks loom closer, I can resist nothing. An odd sense of calm washed over her.

Considering Hex’s character, he wouldn’t kill me immediately, but I should at least expect some mockery to accompany my fate.

Yet, strangely, there was nothing but silence.

The only relief was that I could grasp what was happening to me.

Hearing.

Normally, I should have fainted, yet my ears received information as if by their own accord.

“First, take off that mask, you jerk. What kind of rude fellow wears a mask alone and collapses over there?”

“W-wait! Not the mask!!”

“What? Is it glued on? Can’t you take it off your face?”

Nearby, I could hear voices I recognized.

One was Hex. The other was Luke.

Sight.

As I barely lifted my eyelids, the cold ground came into view.

I rolled my eyes around the corner and managed to catch sight of Luke and Hex.

“I’ll seal you again, you bastard!”

“Gaaahh?!”

“Oh, can you still regenerate? The more you do it, the worse it gets, right? Having your arms chopped off dozens of times makes it hard to summon Exodia later.”

I didn’t see everything, but I could see Hex’s amputated arm lying on the ground.

And squishy sounds echoed.

If I had just seen it, I would think they were fighting, but…

– Splut. Splut. Splut.

Arms identical to each other kept falling to the ground.

One, two, three, four, five.

In just a few minutes, it would be possible to build a wall with all the arms scattered around.

“Now you can’t regenerate anymore!? Then I’ll seal your other arm!”

“Gaaahhhh!!!!”

“Smile! I’m giving you the chance to run away! I’m sealing you with five cards?! I can’t promise when you’ll revive, but let’s say it’ll be in about a thousand years!”

It was a repeat of what had already happened.

Arms would fall, regenerate, and the cycle would repeat.

‘Lu…ke…’

That was all that was in my thoughts.

On the brink of losing consciousness, I was barely holding on.

But even that was reaching its limit.

To faint on a battlefield would be akin to accepting death, yet with an inexplicable sense of relief.

She closed her eyes.

 

---