Chapter 178: The Strongest Blow

I knew where the demon was.

I was about to teleport to that place, when I felt a sudden surge of mana.

It was Mai and Mei’s mana.

“— this is bad!”

It sent me into a fluster, and I hurriedly added more mana to the Crystal so that the Holy Barrier would be strengthened.

My mana activated the Holy Barrier while using the Crystal as the medium, so it became possible for me to strengthen it, as well as tweak its characteristics a bit.

Immediately after that, a huge explosion occurred, engulfing the area that was around one-fifth of the Holy City.

The Holy Barrier managed to block it somehow.

It was probably Mai and Mei’s fusion magic, which was the spell called Unison Ray.

Aside from the two of them, Tina and Merdie were also fighting outside the defense walls of the city, and they were trying to stop the monster army from advancing, but —

It seemed fine.

I could still sense the mana of those two.

Tina and Merdei were safe.

Several flaming knights jumped out of the bracelet that I handed to the girls, and I also felt that they were also destroyed afterward.

In short, the flaming knights managed to protect Tina and Merdie, but the damage they received was too severe so they were annihilated.

There had been two flaming knights, so that would be a lump of 20,000 mana.

Still, it took them all they got to protect the two, but it was barely enough.

I understood just how powerful that magical power had been.

That fusion magic spell contained anger — I sensed that.

It was probably due to the influence of my fury towards the demon. Because of the summoning contract between us, Mai and Mei were also affected, and they weren’t able to control the release of their power.

I don’t think Mai and Mei would purposely aim to produce a spell that would engulf the entire Holy City and Tina and the others.

That explosion earlier — it was probably my fault, too.

...This wasn’t good.

Let’s calm down.

Reign in these feelings of resentment and wrath as far as I can.

If I didn’t do that, then the spirits who had a contract with me would definitely go on a rampage.

It wasn’t limited to Mai and Mei.

I also made a master-servant pact with the demon monster Youko, who was also a nine-tailed fox. Nine-tail foxes would suck mana from their surroundings, and also negative emotions along with that, and it would result in the fox turning into a calamity that could destroy countless nations.

Youko was filled with Divine Beast Shiro and my mana.

There was a chance that she would be affected if my mana was filled with anger and negative emotions.

If that happened, there was a possibility that Youko would also go in a rampage just like Mai and Mei.

There was no way I would let that happen.

I calmed my heart.

The soldiers who had been assigned to protection duty died because of my mistake, and I felt truly apologetic towards them for what happened.

The fact that I loathed the demon who caused it wouldn’t change.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t let my heart be in chaos because of that.

The entire world would be in danger if I allowed those dark emotions to swallow me.

I confirmed that if there was an insurgence of negative emotions within me, it would result in a negative impact on this country.

“Fire Lance.”

I created 50 flaming knights; each of them were made up of 10,000 mana.

“You guys, if Ryuka’s mana decreases, be her mana.”

I wanted to turn them into a mana tank that would supply enough power to revive the 50 fallen soldiers.

The flaming knights lined up before Ryuka.

“Ryuka, I’m entrusting those guys to you.”

“Okay. Leave it to me! Halt, take care.”

“Yeah.”

I teleported to Tina’s side.

──＊＊＊──

Mai and Mei had morphed back to human, and they were crying right beside Tina and Merdie.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Halt-sama. Welcome back.”

“Halt...comfort Mai and Mei, meow.”

Mai and Mei regretted that they casted a spell that could engulf Tina and Merdie in a fit of rage.

“Halt-sama...We….”

Both of them realized that they must have endangered Tina and Merdie, and were now afraid of their own power.

They were trembling while tears poured down their faces. I encircled my arms around them.

“No, it’s not Mai and Mei’s fault. I was upset, so… I’m sorry. But, it’s alright now.”

From now on, I would do my best to curb my negative emotions.

I couldn’t help but feel sad whenever somebody died.

Even regrets — I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from having those.

Still, if I harbored deep resentment and loathing towards somebody else, ultimately, it would be Mai and Mei who would suffer.

Misery and regrets would cause a person to waver in his actions.

To be precise, it was a weak form of negative energy.

On the other hand, wrath, loathing and harboring grudges would push a person to take revenge and seek retribution.

Fury was a very strong form of negative energy.

Don’t be angry.

Don’t hold a grudge.

If ever I wanted to crush a person with my wrath, then I must do so in a place where there were only enemies.

“Tina, Merdie, I’m sorry for putting you in danger. It’s my fault that Mai and Mei’s mana had gone haywire.”

“I am fine. Halt-sama’s magic protected me.”

“Me too, meow. I was shocked, but it doesn’t mean I’m angry at Mai and Mei, meow.”

“Uwuwu, we’re so sorry….”

“It’s fine, meow, it’s okay, meow.”

“How dare you bastards… I’m NOT fine.”

A gigantic black wolf was standing there.

Its mana belonged to the demon we confronted earlier. This black wolf was probably the true appearance of that demon, I bet.

“So you didn’t run away.”

Mai and Mei’s magic obliterated the monsters, but not only that, even all the warlocks had been annihilated.

This single demon was the only one left.

Actually, I thought he would escape.

Well, I wouldn’t allow that to happen, though.

I already pasted a magical teleportation circle on the demon’s body, so I would never let him go, even if he tried to teleport to another continent.

Of course, I already knew the demon was approaching us.

He didn’t attempt to take us by surprise, so he must be super confident on his completed demon body.

“Run away? This great me will run away, you said? Don’t #$^@ with me!”

The demon’s mana surged.

“Thousand years...It’s been a thousand years!!!”

“Huh?”

“It took me a thousand years to complete that plan, and yet— you bastard —”

The demon stopped speaking.

I didn’t feel the need to go along and listen to his story until the end.

Demons were crafty with their words, and they would use that power to deceive the person’s mind.

There’s no need to converse with a demon.

That’s why I slashed him.

I gathered all the mana I had released earlier. It was enough to cover the entire Holy City. I converted half of it into a magical suit.

I converted the other half of the mana into holy mana before wrapping it around Hakoku. Using the sword technique that Tina taught me, I slashed the demon into half.

The demon’s core was also destroyed completely.

The demon turned into black sand, and was scattered into the wind.

If it was the previous me, I would probably think it was already over. However, I already vowed to myself that I would never underestimate a demon, ever again. Because of that, I noticed it.

The demon was trying to reincarnate.

I could sense the demon’s consciousness from within the sand.

Sorry, but I’m going to obliterate you completely out of this world.

“Holy Lance!!”

Using the mana that was in the magic suit and the mana that shrouded Hakoku, I made a gigantic, enormous, colossal pillar of light — the biggest of all that I created — right on that spot.