Standing, the Demon Queen lightly dust off her robe .
While her magic barrier had disappeared, it appeared she herself had not sustained much damage .
Glaring at us, the Demon Queen continued .
“You aren’t getting ahead of yourselves just because you’ve broken my magic barrier, are you? I still have plenty―”
“Lily-sama!”
“Y-yes!”
“?”
As we had planned, Lily began chanting her spell .
It was the Time Magic that had previously caused us trouble .
“Time Magic…? I see . Perhaps wisdom from TAIM?”
Having stalled the Demon Queen’s flow of time, we could tell that the magic she could draw upon had also reduced .
Even if she did have absurd amounts of magical energy, it’s meaningless if she can’t draw upon it .
The strain we felt from the Demon Queen’s magic, which had previously been enough to force us to kneel in her presence, had greatly reduced .
Even then, the amount she had left was astounding . But at least with this, it appeared that we could put up a fight .
However, there was one thing that caught my attention .
I quickly shot a glance in the direction of the palace’s entrance .
Rodd-sama, Mei, and Alea seemed to have used up all their strength and lost consciousness .
The three were close enough to see .
There was no guarantee that they were safe from stray attacks, or after-effects of our battle with the Demon Queen .
“I won’t do something as pointless as aim for combatants who have already dropped out . ”
The Demon Queen spoke as if she had read my thoughts .
“Even though they have value as hostages?”
“Yes . I won’t waste any of my shots . I will use everything to defeat you all here . ”
It wasn’t as though this was some sort of kindness .
The fiend basically declared that she would use all of her strength to kill us .
“While I do think no matter what you try, it’ll be pointless… Challenge me with everything that you have so that there won’t be any regrets . ”
With those words, the Demon Queen sluggishly raised her right arm .
A fog began to form, filling the area .
“Claire-sama!”
“Right!”
Before the fog could encase the area in ice, Claire-sama caused it all to evaporate .
“I’ve already witnessed Judecca . Even if you’re the one casting it, it’s not going to work!”
“… Now that you mention it, something like that did happen didn’t it . The me of that time was weak, wasn’t I . ”
“You’re still weak . Perhaps you are weaker now than you were then?”
“You think so?”
“At the very least, Rei has become honest . In contrast, you’ve become so twisted . There’s no way I’d allow myself to lose to you in that state!”
Shouting her words in a howl, she closed the distance between herself and the Demon Queen in an instant, swinging down her sword .
The distance between the two had been about 20 meters .
Even Claire wouldn’t be able to close in at such speeds on her own .
She was able to accomplish this thanks to Manaria-sama’s wind magic, Boost .
“Do you think such a simple attack would work?”
The Demon Queen raised one of her arms to block the attack .
However―
“In fact, I do!”
Her voice now came from behind the Demon Queen .
Simultaneously, the Claire-sama in front of the Demon Queen disappeared while the Claire-sama behind the Demon Queen swung down her blade .
“So it was an illusion . ”
“… It seems it won’t go our way that easily . ”
Without even looking, the Demon Queen had formed a rock wall behind her to block Claire-sama’s slash .
It appears that the illusion was also part of Manaria-sama’s support .
The Demon Queen then raised her right forearm to point up .
“Khh…!”
Several sword-like boulders raised up from the ground before homing in on Claire-sama .
Claire-sama was forced to retreat backward .
“Onee-sama, Lily, us three will act as the vanguard!”
“Y-yes!”
“Got it!”
“Rei, you support us from there!”
“Understood!”
With Claire-sama taking command, we took formation .
As Claire-sama retreated while evading the sword-like boulders, Lily-sama and Manaria-sama coordinated an attack, flanking the Demon Queen .
Lily-sama with twin daggers and Manaria-sama with a longsword, three blades assaulted the Demon Queen .
“Hmph . ”
The moment before their blades reached her, a fierce explosion erupted, centered on the Demon Queen .
Unable to endure the blast, both Lily-sama and Manaria-sama were forced to step back .
And then,
“How about this?”
The Demon Queen released a tornado with ice blades swirling within it toward the two .
They each tried to dodge it .
However― .
“And this . ”
The ground beneath Lily-sama and Manaria-sama suddenly froze over .
Slipping, the two were unable to move how they wanted .
“Soil Change!”
Reacting instantly, I formed a regular patch of ground over the frozen surface .
Just narrowly, the two were both able to avoid the tornado .
“We’re not done yet!”
Taking the opportunity now that the Demon Queen’s attention was off of her, Claire-sama rushed in and slashed the Demon Queen from behind .
While it was a good call, her approach appeared far too straightforward, causing me concern .
However, just as expected of Claire-sama .
“Flame Lance!”
About three steps away from the Demon Queen, Claire-sama launched a lance of fire .
While this rudimentary magic had no chance of hurting the Demon Queen…
Her goal lay elsewhere .
“!”
The spear landed at the Demon Queen’s feet, causing smoke to rise from the explosion .
The smoke blocked the Demon Queen’s field of view .
“Now, onee-sama, Lily!”
In response to Claire-sama’s call, the three joined together for a pincer from three directions .
I thought that they had caught her this time but― .
“Too naive . ”
Even before her words had reached them, masses of compressed air slammed into the three .
While they had tried to twist their bodies to dodge, it was too difficult to completely avoid the invisible hammers .
“Ha…ah… Haa…ah…!”
“S-strong…!”
“As expected… of someone who bears the name… Demon Queen…”
The three were exhausted . In comparison, the Demon Queen had not been harmed aside from Alea’s one strike .
“Heal!”
I cast healing magic on Claire-sama and the others .
With that we were more or less back to where we had started .
However, I didn’t see a way to break out of this deadlock .
While it had looked like we had been pressing her, the Demon Queen had actually just primarily focused on defense . In truth, we had yet to land a single effective blow .
She was dealing with our attacks perfectly .
As she was me, it seemed that she wasn’t capable of wielding a sword, but even with magic alone she was excessively strong .
From the types of magic that she had used, it appeared she was not simply a Dual Caster .
I’d venture that she was a Quad Caster, similar to Manaria-sama and Mei . It also seemed safe to assume that she had high affinity with all of the elements .
The biggest trouble was that the Demon Queen had cast all of these spells wordlessly .
As one becomes more advanced in magic, deciphering the effect of the spell through the activation phrase or incantation is what’s normal .
For example, Claire-sama’s speciality,“Flame Lance” . As soon as someone hears the “Fla” part, it becomes obvious to any veteran that they will need to deal with fire .
However, that was not the case for the Demon Queen .
As she had so much latent magic, one could sense a heightened amount within the area and guess that the Demon Queen was casting something, but that was all we had to work with .
There were too many factors stacked against us .
“Do you intend to continue?”
“Of course we will . I will definitely defeat you . ”
“You show wonderful spirit, Claire-sama . However, you will soon come to know that cannot come to be . ”
“Say whatever you like . ”
“Then, I suppose I’ve observed enough . Perhaps I should seriously take the offensive . ”
““““!?””””
A sudden wave of uncertainty hit us .
Up until now, she had yet to be serious…?
“Is that a bluff?”
“It seems not, Rei . Look at the Demon Queen’s feet . ”
“?”
I looked as Claire-sama directed me to . Amidst the floor that was scarred from the aftermath of the battle, the Demon Queen’s legs remained unscathed .
“Wha…”
“T-the Demon Queen has yet to move from that one spot…!”
Lily-sama’s scream put to words what we all felt .
“It’s my turn now . Lily-sama, Manaria-sama, will you be able to sustain through this?”
With those words, the Demon Queen waved her arms generating a beam of dark light that stretched toward the two .
This is…!
“Kyaa!?”
“Guh…!?”
Though panicked, I still managed to form a tungsten carbide wall in front of the two . While I had succeeded, the impact from the blast still sent the two flying backward .
“What force… and above that, that magic is…!”
“That’s right, this magic was also used during the incident with Lana . Though at that time, Rates was the one who had cast it . ”
Magic that belonged to none of the four elements, Dark Magic .
What could this…?
“Dark Magic,while only usable by demons, there are quite a few powerful attack spells . ”
As though just to give an example, the Demon Queen once again swung her arm horizontally .
Three dark, crescent shaped blades flew toward me .
“N-no you don’t!”
Recovering from the previous attack, Lily-sama hurried in front of me to cut down the blades that threatened me .
However,
“H-huh?”
“!”
As though avoiding Lily-sama, the dark blades wrapped around her and continued to rush straight toward me .
“Guh…!”
Using Lift Up to form a foothold, I evaded upward .
“You’re not out yet, Rei!”
Sharp words of advice came from Manaria-sama .
Turning to look behind me, I saw that the dark blades had changed directions, homing in on my position .
“How annoying!”
Repeatedly launching ice and earth arrows, I somehow managed to cancel out the attack .
“Perhaps I’ll have you retire from this battle first, Rei Taylor . ”
The Demon Queen then generated countless new dark blades in front of her .
All of them rushed toward me .
“You’re kidding!”
Once again I tried to counter with a barrage of my own ice and earth magic, but a number of the dark blades managed to slip through .
This is bad .
“If I just take care of the source―!”
Seeing an opportunity, Manaria-sama rushed in for a slash . However, the Demon Queen calmly caught the attack with one hand .
“I thought that you might try this, Manaria-sama . Do you really like that girl so much?”
“Yes I do . Which is why I find looking at you so unbearable!”
“How sad . Similarly, I too find no comfort seeing someone such as her put your heart in such disarray . ”
With her one hand, she pulled Manaria-sama along with the sword, tossing her into Lily-sama who had been quietly approaching from the opposite side .
“Wa, wawawah!?”
“Don’t try and catch me Lily! Just dodge!”
Manaria-sama’s words failed to reach Lily-sama in time, so Lily-sama caught her .
While they were down, a dark beam struck them .
“Kyaa!?”
“Guh…!”
Unable to hold their ground, they were both blown backward . Though I had been able to watch the exchange, my hands were already full dealing with the remaining dark blades .
There seemed to be no build up necessary for the Demon Queen to launch spells .
Almost without movement, she launched one spell after the next .
On top of that, with no activation phrases or incantations that could serve as tells, her spells seemed to come at us that much faster .
“Lily-sama, you’ve slowed down the Demon Queen, right!?”
“Y-yes, the effect should be in place!”
“To think she is still able to use such magic and react so quickly . How unfair . ”
Despite her disposition, she was still the Demon Queen after all .
“Why don’t you go after me?”
Keeping posture, Claire-sama asked the Demon Queen .
I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was dissatisfied that the Demon Queen was holding back only against her .
“I have already said, I won’t kill you . ”
“You realize the Three Great Archdukes are already gone, right? I don’t believe there should be any other options . ”
“Do you truly think so? I believe I still have an option . ”
“…?”
As she spoke, the Demon Queen created and launched more dark blades .
This time the blades flew toward Lily-sama and Manaria-sama as well .
“Stop this!”
“I can stop any time . Once you’re dead, that is . ”
“―!”
So that’s what she meant .
“Demon Queen… you…”
“So Claire-sama, what will you do? Will you just watch as they die while sucking on your thumb?”
“…”
This is the ultimatum that the Demon Queen offered Claire-sama .