Chapter 552: The Demon Slayer
The demon had just raised its head when it was slammed back into the ground by Maggie, who had fallen straight from the sky. The intense impact made Nightingale feel the ground tremble.
If an ordinary person had taken such a hit, their bones would have shattered.
"Good job, Maggie!" Leaf clenched her fist. "Stomp it to death!"
"Bite it, whip it with your tail!" Even Iphy excitedly shouted.
"Awoo!"
Maggie howled triumphantly, preparing to get up and continue after setting Agatha down, but the transformation was suddenly undone—the ferocious Terrorbeast vanished without a trace, and the little girl sat on the ground in confusion, not understanding what had happened.
"The Demon Slayer!"
Agatha reacted first. An ice spear rose from the ground, sending the demon, who had just managed to stand, flying again, crashing through several trees.
She gave the enemy no chance to breathe, chasing after it and freezing its feet.
"Now's your chance!"
Recovering, Maggie pulled out her sniper rifle and fired repeatedly at the immobile target. Nightingale bit her lip and also changed her bullets, having Iphy help her over to join the suppressive fire. Shining barriers appeared continuously on the demon's armor, but they quickly weakened, and the red light in its eyes became faint.
The enemy roared hoarsely and reached out a hand toward Agatha, knocking her away through the air, and the ice crystals at its feet vanished instantly. Then it took to the air, swaying as it tried to escape.
"Don't let it get away!" Agatha shouted. "Maggie!"
"Let me do it!" Leaf grabbed the Divine Will Rune from Anna, pouring all her magic into it—although she had been forcibly separated from the Heart of the Forest state, her magic hadn't diminished much, and she could steadily light up the fourth gem on the rune during daily tests. Soon, golden light filled the forest once more. The demon turned its head, letting out a strange cry, seemingly unable to believe the scene before it.
Golden thunder of immense power instantly engulfed it.
This time, it couldn't withstand it.
...
"Is the demon... dead?" Nightingale asked weakly.
"Only half of its armor is left, goo!" Maggie dragged back the downed "enemy." If it weren't for the exquisite carvings on the edges, it would be hard to believe that this charred mass of blue-black was the demon's main body. Clearly, it wasn't as tough as they had imagined.
Lightning was also found.
When the enemy released the black light wave, the little girl was caught in the blast and fell straight down like a brick, hitting her head on a tree branch and passing out. Fortunately, she wasn't far from the ground at the time, and the dense foliage cushioned her fall, so she suffered no other injuries except for a large bump on her head.
Perhaps upset at not being able to participate in the battle, she looked very frustrated. After confirming that everyone was alright, she said dejectedly, "I'll go notify Brian and have him send someone to pick you up."
"You actually all survived," Agatha said in amazement. "It's truly a miracle."
"To be handled so clumsily by a mere demon, I don't know how to report this to His Majesty Roland," Nightingale sighed in pain.
"No... this is definitely not an ordinary victory. You have to know that the enemy was a Demon Slayer!" Agatha shook her head repeatedly. "Perhaps several high-level witches can fight against a high-level demon, but they definitely can't defeat a Demon Slayer. Only the Union's Three Chiefs can match them."
"Does it have to be Transcendents or above?" Leaf frowned.
"That's right," Agatha confirmed. "That's the lesson the Union learned with blood."
"What exactly is the ability of a Demon Slayer?"
"It's not an ability, but a title," she explained. "High-level demons all possess several abilities, but unlike witches, their abilities aren't awakened. Someone once observed a high-level demon who had led troops to attack Taqila multiple times. Over the course of several years, two more magic cyclones appeared in its body, which means it had at least gained two new abilities. No one knows how the enemy did it. Their use of magic seems to be naturally superior to ours."
"And a Demon Slayer doesn't refer to a particular type of cyclone, but rather that their abilities are powerful enough to produce the effect of a Godstone."
Nightingale's heart tightened at this statement. "You mean... magic nullification?"
"Accurately speaking, it's interference," Agatha corrected. "There's a chance that their ability attacks can break through the defenses of a God's Stone of Retribution, and their magic attacks are restrained and weakened. Moreover, Demon Slayers can dispel magic effects and halt ability activation, making them a great enemy to any witch."
"I... don't quite understand," Iphy said in confusion. "Isn't that a special ability?"
"It's not that simple," she sighed softly. "Let's take Anna as an example. If she could become a Demon Slayer, it would mean that Blackfire could exist even within the influence of a God's Stone of Retribution, and an interference zone would also form around Blackfire, nullifying other abilities—unless the opponent is another Demon Slayer."
Nightingale couldn't help but recall the lightless black hole. From the beginning of the battle, none of its attacks had shown any magical glow. Whether it was the barrier or the void grab, they all carried extremely dim shadows, almost like the scene during a Divine Will Rune attack.
She briefly described what she had seen. "So the first Divine Will Rune didn't completely kill it?"
"Probably," Agatha shrugged. "After all, it's my first time experiencing such a battle. The Union has no record of using Divine Will Runes against Demon Slayers before."
"Then they were victorious with their own power?"
"Exactly," Agatha nodded. "That's what makes Transcendent witches truly powerful. After wearing a God's Stone of Retribution, they're like the sun on the battlefield. Wherever they go, demons will melt away like spring snow, and Transcendent Above is the center of the sun—if you could see Lady Akaliss, you would definitely be awed by her power."
Unfortunately, there was only one Akaliss, Nightingale thought. Even if all three Chiefs were counted, there were only three Transcendent Above. "Hasn't a single witch in the Union ever become a Demon Slayer?"
"As far as I know... no," she replied. "And it's possible it will never happen. Witches and demons are fundamentally different. Demons can give rise to countless Mad Demons, but we can't awaken countless Akalisses—postnatal training can't change that."
"Huh," Maggie, who had been fiddling with the armor, suddenly pulled out a palm-sized cyan box from the blackened remains. "Look, what's this!"
Agatha took the box and tried to pry it open. "It's locked."
"Let me try," Nightingale entered the Mist, examining the square metal box. In the instant the outline changed, she inserted her fingers into the box and pried it open.
Several clear, translucent stones rolled out into the open.