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1072: Ronowe
Ronowe had manifested herself using Satia’s body. The mana she radiated was overwhelming, much stronger than the demon we fought in Alessa’s goblin dungeon.
It seems this “manifestation” thing is the state in which a demon can draw out the most of their powers. Since they waited until now to use it, I bet the costs are equally great though

「I’ll slaughter every last person in this village! Offer your lives to me!」
I suppose a heavy cost doesn’t make a big difference if it lets you finish the battle quickly!
The demon Ronowe screeched as her body exploded into hundreds of tentacles, which promptly began raining down upon the villagers.
Every man, woman, and child in the village will be dead at this rate. There’s no way we can protect them all!
Fran also sensed the same danger as me.
Though she had a moment’s hesitation, Fran stepped forward after shaking it off.
Flut and Satia were her friends, and the people of the village were mere strangers to her. Prioritizing her friendship and abandoning the villagers was always one of the options on the table.
The two clearly had a reason for doing this. Taking them on would not only damage their friendship, but also possibly make us enemies to the Kingdom of Phyllius.
Even so, Fran chose to save the villagers.
「Haaaaah!」
Fran transformed into black lightning, weaving through the gaps between the tentacles. We closed in on the writhing black mass at their origin.
Her current state was probably similar to when she fought with Trismegistus in Gordicia. Fran was radiating divine attribute from her own body, unconsciously using the Beast-Bug God’s Blessing.
From there, she delivered a slash with divine speed, one almost exactly like Heavenly Judgment. There was nothing flashy about it. My blade simply cleaved straight through the amorphous shape formerly known as Ronowe.
After being split horizontally, the black mass ruptured.
Her physical slash had clearly applied damage to non-physical existences, such as Ronowe’s spirit and mana. Rather, Fran intentionally cut through these invisible components making her up.
「 KYAAAAAAAH !」
Ronowe let loose a high-pitched, ultrasonic scream. Simultaneously, her countless tentacles were sucked back into her main body like stretched rubber returning to its original shape.
「Kuh! What did you just do
?! Accursed girl!」
Ronowe, who had regained her humanoid form, screamed in agony as she clutched her side.
Her wound was slow to regenerate due to the divine attribute, and leaking a large amount of mana. However, her red eyes still burned with fierce hostility. Her will to fight had not diminished in the slightest.
「Uroogh!」
「Saw it coming.」
「Gyaaah!」
Ronowe’s arms transformed into thin tentacles, each of which launched at Fran from a different direction. Then, her hair spread out and burst into purple smoke. An omni-directional combo consisting of tentacles and poison. Both Fran and the villagers were clearly in trouble.
But Fran was having none of it. Countless slashes diced the tentacles into tiny pieces as my thunder magic evaporated the mist.
「Higyah! How?!」
Ronowe let loose a vindictive scream despite having lost both her arms and hair. Fran raised her eyebrows sadly while looking at Ronowe.
「I’ll have my revenge! Death! You deserve dea――Gyah! Damn you!」
Ronowe’s face contorted in rage and humiliation. She tried again to unleash her poison, but I prevented her in the exact same way.
She stubbornly refused to surrender, so cutting her down seems like the only way to finish things. Meanwhile, I noticed that Fran resolved herself. Though she still had no intention to kill, it seems she was now willing to inflict heavy scars.
「Sorr――」
「I won’t let you!」
Fran swung down the blade with a saddened look. However, Flut’s scythe intervened to block her strike.
「Satia, run! You’ve used manifestation for too long! At this rate, you’ll end up killing yourself!」
「
No, but!」
It seems Satia the caster was still conscious during the demon manifestation state. Even though Flut told her to escape, Satia herself apparently had no intention of doing so. However, the one in control of her body was Ronowe.
And the demon did not hesitate to flee in order to save her own life. Ronowe immediately turned tail and ran.
「Wait, Ronowe! Onii-sama!」
「Forgive me, Satia.」
「Flut. I won’t chase you if you run too.」
「I’m afraid that’s not possible! Feed on my vital energy and manifest yourself! Demon Duke, Bune!」
An overwhelming presence surpassing Ronowe manifested itself before us. Did he just say “demon duke”? Even a baron reaches Threat Level B, right? There’s no way he’s anything less than Threat Level A.
The five meter giant had the head of a dragon as well as dragon wings growing from his back. Flut must be determined to achieve his goal even if it means killing Fran.
The mana released by his appearance was like an explosion, knocking away all the villagers.
「Urushi, please!」
「Grr!」
「Get out of my way!」
「Grrrr!」
Fran switched places with Urushi and sent a recovery spell toward the villagers. Some of them were in a very dangerous state, but it apparently worked. Many remained unconscious, but I think everyone survived.
Right that instant, we heard another loud scream.
「GAAAAHHH!」
「Flut?」
Fran turned around to see a small knife stuck in Bune’s back as he was confronting Urushi.
『That guy over there
 he’s no villager!』
One of the villagers had thrown the knife. An agent from Raydoss or something must have been lurking among them.
Of course, I didn’t have the time to appraise all of them individually. I hurriedly activated my Heavenly Eye skill to check his stats, and found he had high levels in all the skills that a spy might need: Convert, Disguise, Acting, Falsehood, etc. I also didn’t sense any killing intent when he threw the knife, so he must be quite talented.
I quickly fired a blast of telekinesis at the agent, but he dodged as if it was in plain sight and immediately broke into a run.
『Urushi, chase down that guy!』
「Grr!」
『Fran, we need to treat Flut!』
「It won’t come out!」
Flut returned to his original form after his manifestation broke. Fran attempted to pull out the knife stuck in his back, but it seemingly had a magical effect preventing that.
「Guh
」
「Flut!」
「Don’t bother. This is
 one of their demon-slayers
 I’m done for
」