A cape of pure-silver luster, a full suit of armor, paired with a dark crimson cloak; a spiked, pointed helmet that covered his entire face made him look as though he had sprouted three horns.
The giant troll, nearly Qual's height of two meters, stood atop a city wall that had crumbled more than halfway.
That was once one of the most famous Great Demons, formerly of the Seven Sages of Destruction—the Undying Böse.
Just as when it had guarded the vital passage to the Demon King's Castle, it stood there alone, a single demon, quietly keeping watch.
Himmel could scarcely believe his own eyes. "Böse? There's no mistake—that really is the Undying Böse. But I clearly cut him down myself!"
Himmel could not forget how, on the journey to the Demon King's Castle, Böse had blocked their path and imprisoned his squad within a vacuum barrier.
Had they been even a little slower, that would truly have been the end of them all.
Such an exquisite barrier magic—even Frieren could not unravel it in a short time. The most deadly part was the dullness and dizziness that came as the brain ran out of oxygen.
Luckily, Heiter had found a kind of miraculous magic from the Goddess, and so, with no supply of oxygen, they survived inside the barrier for two whole months.
His and Eisen's all-out attack, combined with the barrier-breaking magic Frieren spent two months developing—only by uniting all three were they able to shatter that barrier.
Böse, who had been utterly confident in his barrier, was cut down by a single sword stroke in his startled carelessness, dissolving into ashes of mana.
He had absolutely witnessed that demon's destruction with his own eyes.
"So then—what about this one standing before us now?"
Though she had already heard of it from Aura, that this was a pillar of the Demon King's Army, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction—Böse's mana seemed only a touch weaker than Macht's current strength.
He looked exceedingly troublesome, and as for that barrier magic, Nanoda hadn't the faintest understanding of it. It seemed all she could do was hope that, when they actually clashed, brute force might just work a miracle.
"There's no doubt—it's Böse. He's come back to life again."
The title of "Undying" really did seem to have come true.
Having received confirmation from Himmel himself, the very person involved, Nanoda decided to first consider their tactics.
"Himmel, how many chances of victory do you think our strength gives us?"
Very low.
"?" The unhesitating answer left Nanoda a little speechless. Even a Hero who was always brimming with confidence had moments of hesitation when facing a powerful foe.
"Perhaps there's someone in the Church of the New God who can use magic similar to Heiter's back then. The problem lies in breaking the barrier. Böse's barrier is several times more solid than Defensive Magic.
The instant we expose ourselves, he'll drag us into that vacuum-prison barrier from before. Back then, even Eisen and I combined and giving it our all couldn't break through—it was thanks to Frieren's magical analysis that an opening was created for us."
Himmel's meaning was simple: he worried that there was no one here skilled at unraveling magic. Böse was not the sort that could be removed by brute force.
"Perhaps we could give it a try. My disciple knows a little magic as well."
"? Me? It should be Lady Nanoda after all. To trade magic with an opponent of that caliber, you must surely be one of the legendary great Mages?"
Yuna was not being modest—she truly felt she hadn't the slightest assurance. Against such an immense mana, she would certainly be no match.
Linie, who had been somewhat pleased by her own improvement, now said not a word. Instinctively, she feared the strength of that Great Demon.
The crowd of Church of the New God believers all wore rather grim expressions; the difficulty of this final line of defense seemed to have risen a bit too high.
"Is there any way to avoid that barrier?"
Nanoda asked once more—perhaps it would be enough to evade it before the barrier deployed.
"Impossible. Within a certain range of where he stands, the barrier activates in a mere instant."
Himmel shook his head.
"Then what about ambushing him with a ranged attack? We could reproduce the Thousand-Man Spell II from the very beginning."
Facing that strike himself, he reckoned he'd ache for a while, and might even take a minor wound. Böse's barrier should be comparable to his own magic resistance.
"A blow of that power would at most shake him—it isn't enough to break his barrier."
Vetoed again.
"That solid?"
No wonder he was called the Undying Böse—his defensive power truly could be called the strongest.
"But this is all judged from my past experience fighting Böse. Whether we win or lose now is still unknown."
Himmel too had experienced Nanoda's Severance Magic; that magic seemed considerably stronger than when they had first met. With the two of them combining forces, there might truly be hope.
"Um, Lady Acting Bishop, Lord Hero—that magic you spoke of, for surviving in an oxygen-less state, I think I can use it. But the number of targets it can be used on is quite limited."
The female monk leaned in, her ample figure accidentally bumping against Nanoda, and her slender hand passed over her Scripture.
Himmel did not have Heiter's aptitude, so he could not see the contents written upon the Scripture.
Nanoda too saw only a blur, unable to make out the script upon it.
Still, she nodded. "I trust you."
In the worst case, they might have to use "that paradox," and it could not guarantee everyone's safety.
The advantage of numbers became instead a disadvantage—if a whole crowd of people were sealed inside Böse's barrier, the female monk's magic likely couldn't reach to support them all.
"What do you think?"
Himmel found himself missing Frieren a little. Though Frieren was ordinarily quite simple, quite adorable, and quite scatterbrained, when it came to magic she was absolutely a reliable authority, having extricated the squad from countless predicaments.
"Let's give it a try. You, me, and her—Linie will be responsible for protecting her—we'll go as the vanguard together to attack Böse. The rest will be led by Yuna, using ranged magic the whole time to cover our advance. If things go wrong, Yuna, you take everyone and retreat at once—go and find us reinforcements!"
"I'm going too!"
Puffing out her cheeks in displeasure, Yuna abruptly cut off Nanoda's plan.
"You're a Mage. Closing the distance for combat this time is too dangerous. It's better that you support me properly from afar."
Nanoda had more confidence acting alone, and did not wish for her disciple to put herself at risk.
Thinking that Nanoda seemed to regard her as a burden, Yuna grew sullen.
She had trained so hard, and her physical ability was quite good, too.
Still, Yuna ultimately submitted to Nanoda's decision.
"All right. But you must put your own safety first as well!"
"Of course." Patting her head and soothing Yuna, Nanoda turned to look at Himmel. "How's an arrangement like this?"
"No problem. There's probably no better method than this."
Himmel's thoughts were much the same as Nanoda's. Stroking his beard, his gaze especially earnest, he said, "Since I was able to defeat Böse the first time, there will be a second time as well—all the more so now that I have more companions."
"Your words really are sappy."
Then, at a single command from Nanoda, the people of the Church of the New God all began to gather the Thirteen Spears of the New God.
Linie walked over to the female monk's side, and the two—one human, one demon—nodded to each other in greeting.
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