Flillian, I want to live.

"what do you mean?"

Wilt seemed to understand something. Although Fas was the only one fighting with them now, this was the lair of the demons entrenched here.

"There's someone else who uses spatial magic. If we kill that guy first, the opponent's advantage will disappear."

Philen looked at Fas, whose expression gradually darkened, and said with a smile, knowing that she had guessed correctly.

Chapter 160: The reason for fear is insufficient firepower

"Has it been discovered?"

After listening to Philen's analysis, Fas put away his previous relaxed smile. He stretched his neck, raised his left arm, and used magic to conjure up a giant sword again.

"In that case, we must fight quickly and decisively."

Fas bent his knees slightly, then jumped up from the ground. Although he did not use his companion's flash magic this time, he still approached Philen in an instant.

"Humph~"

However, such a charge is not as sudden as a flash, which means that Philen has enough opportunities to launch an attack.

Before Fas's giant sword slashed towards Philen, the light of demon-killing magic hit Fas' chest first.

"So fast……"

Elu, who was also preparing to attack with demon-killing magic, looked at the white light flashing before his eyes, and an expression of disbelief suddenly appeared on his face.

As a top student at the magic academy, Elu was originally very confident in her casting speed, but Philen's attack broke her original seriousness.

It's like a duel between western cowboys. If I were to compete with Philen in speed, I would probably become a ghost under Philen's staff like Fas.

Just as Elu was distracted by surprise, Fas, whose chest was accurately pierced by Philen's demon-killing magic, did not fall down as expected. Instead, he slashed at Philen with his sword at the same speed.

"Be careful."

At the critical moment, Werth pushed Philen away, then drew his sword, gritted his teeth, and struggled to block Fas's sword.

thump—

After the swords collided, Fas, with a conspicuous hole on his chest, seemed to be fine. He turned his body flexibly and slashed at Philen on the ground with the sword in his other hand again.

"Rock Missile Magic."

Elu controlled the rocks on the ground and bombarded Fas. Although such an attack could not hurt the opponent, the impact of the rocks still blocked the opponent's attack and knocked Fas back half a step.

This guy... no wonder he wasn't afraid of death just now...

Falling to the ground, Philen rolled over under Elu's cover, then propped herself up with her staff. Her eyes were fixed on the wound on Fas's chest. For most demons, the heart was their fatal weakness, but the one in front of her was obviously special.

However, since attacking the heart doesn't work...

In a flash, Philen attacked Fas again, who was stunned by Elu's magic.

This time, the demon-killing magic condensed with Philen's magic power penetrated the smoke and dust produced by the shattered rocks and accurately hit the forehead of Fas who had just stabilized his body.

"Did you make it?"

Elu widened her eyes. She could vaguely see Fas' body paused after being pierced through the forehead by the demon-killing magic behind the smoke. No matter how tenacious the vitality of the demons was, there should be no creature that could still fight after having its heart and brain destroyed at the same time, right?

Swah——

The next moment, Fas's huge body appeared behind the few people.

"Eh?"

Elu turned her head and could clearly see that Philen's attack had pierced Fas' forehead. The big man who had just had a rich expression on his face now had a dull look in his eyes, and even the flesh around the wounds on his forehead and chest had begun to turn into black smoke and slowly collapse.

However, this demon who should have died was like a zombie, swinging his sword again to slash at Philen who had no time to dodge.

I was careless...

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. Philen watched the defensive magic she had hastily put up fall apart bit by bit under the slash of Fas's greatsword, and out of the corner of her eye she saw that Wilt was blocked by the greatsword in Fas's other hand while dual-wielding, and could not help her block the attack.

In a trance, Philen remembered a lot of things, which was probably a kaleidoscope - in the rapidly flashing memories, Philen quickly recalled his birthday a few days ago.

"You haven't given me a gift yet..."

Philen thought with some regret.

"Sky Flash Strike."

At dusk, when the sun was about to set behind the earth, a dazzling flash of light appeared in Philen's sight.

The world, which had been slowing down, suddenly returned to normal.

"Hugh Tark..."

A red figure descended from the sky holding a sharp battle axe and used the strongest blow learned from the strongest warrior Aize to instantly cut off Fas's arm and interrupt the opponent's attack.

"..."

After landing, Xutark glanced at Philen, then he swung his battle axe again, turned his body gracefully, and slashed at Fas who had no time to launch the next flash.

Under the sharp axe blade, the body that the demon general was proud of was cut in half, and Philen, who took the opportunity to crawl up from the ground, also raised her staff tacitly. With full firepower, she released several demon-killing magic spells at the same time like a machine gun, launching a saturation attack on all parts of Fas's body.

"Hey!?"

Philen's calm operation once again made Elu look as if she had seen a ghost. In her impression, there was only one person who could do this.

Regardless of how surprised Elu was, Philen's attack accurately hit Fas's severed upper body, turning this guy who was still able to move smoothly after being hit in the vitals into a sieve full of holes in the physical sense.

"Uh--"

A wail emanated from Fas' throat, but this became his last words. With his body leaking and cut in half, he was finally unable to maintain his life. Under the chain of rapid collapse, his body turned into black smoke and completely collapsed and dissipated.

"call……"

Feeling that she had escaped death, Elu sat down on the ground. At this moment, she no longer cared why two "Wilt" who looked exactly the same appeared in front of her. All she felt was the relief of escaping death.

"Master Xutark...thank you."

Until this moment, the somewhat weak Philen supported his body with his staff and expressed his gratitude to Xutalk who slowly put the battle axe back behind his back.

"There has to be a limit to being willful. If I had been late..."

Xutark, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly rushed to Philen in agitation, and scolded him in an angry and worried tone.

"Feel sorry……"

Phelan lowered his head and answered softly.

"this is for you……"

Xutalk took out the goddess amulet he had carved earlier from his arms and stuffed it into Philen's arms.

"this is?"

Philen looked at the amulet handed to him by Xutalk with some surprise. The carving on it was very delicate, as if it was made by a skilled craftsman.

"It's a birthday present for you. If you hate it..."

Hugh Turk turned his head and glanced at Werther who was sitting on the ground watching the show, and said awkwardly.

"I don't hate Master Xutark. I'm just too willful. I'm sorry."

Philen bent down, bowed to Hugh Tark, and apologized sincerely.

Chapter 161: Second Week, But No Good Bro

"Well, isn't this cause for celebration?"

In the sky, Gutel, who had just launched the Hugh Tark, looked at the two people who apologized and reconciled, and spread his hands and said to Fulilian who was watching the village not far away.

"Do you think the battle is over?"

Fulilian glanced at Gutel who was trying to play dumb. She knew very well that with the strength of the great demon next to her, it was impossible for him not to see the trick.

"That demon general is just a puppet with an empty shell. That's why he acted so fearlessly in the previous battle."

Guter shrugged and told Fulilian his guess.

"Yes."

Fulilian nodded solemnly.

The same conclusion had been reached by Fulilian eighty years ago.

Fifty-five years before the death of the brave Xinmeier, and five years after the brave and his party set out on their journey.

"You said this guy is just a puppet created by magic?"

In front of the dismembered body of the demon general, Xin Meir, who was about to put away his sword, stopped after hearing Fulilian's inference.

"In terms of its level of completion, this isn't just a crude puppet golem; it's more like a replica based on a certain prototype."

Frelian looked down at the demon general Fas who was turning into black smoke. Before being completely destroyed, the other party retained a certain degree of self-awareness, which was something that the puppet magic that Frelian knew could not do.

"So, is there someone else behind the demon army that has been plaguing Lord Olden?"

Xinmeier didn't quite understand what kind of advanced magic the other party was using. Knowing nothing about it, he chose to believe in the judgment made by Fulilian.

"That's certainly true."

Fulilian nodded.

"Hey, Xin Meier."

Just as Fulilian and Xinmeier were talking, Aize's low voice suddenly rang out.

"There are quite a few of us here. Should we retreat?"

Haita, holding the holy book, said with his eyes closed. At this time, hundreds of demons appeared in his magic detection in an encirclement. Judging from the magic power emanating from these demons, each of them was an elite in the demon army.

"What do you think, Fleuryen?"

Xin Meir flicked his wrist lightly, shaking off the blood remaining on the sword. He turned his head and asked Fulilian for her opinion.

"If we leave the demon behind us alone, he'll eventually recover his magic and make a comeback, just like Aura did. However..."

Fulilian answered frankly that from the perspective of cutting the grass at its roots, simply destroying the puppet Fas created by the demons behind the scenes with magic was only a temporary solution and not a permanent cure.

"That arrogant old man just asked us to help him get rid of the enemy general. We have completed the mission."

Fulilian recalled how she had forced several people passing by here to surrender in the name of the lord, and how Lord Olden had refused to give her the magic book as a reward. An unhappy expression could not be hidden on her face.

"That's it..."

Hearing Fulilian's complaints, Xinmeier smiled helplessly. Of course, he didn't like the arrogant and rude Lord Olden. However, if he was the kind of guy who cared about these things, he should have given up as early as when he was in the Sword Town of the Xuvia Mountains.

"Are you still going?"

Fulilian looked at the somewhat embarrassed Xinmeier. From the other's eyes, Fulilian had guessed Xinmeier's answer.

"I'm sorry, although Lord Alden is reluctant to give you the magic book, I will give you a gift as a reward."

Xin Meir said to Fulilian a little embarrassedly.

"Well, there's no need to be like that. After all, if it were you, Xin Meier, you wouldn't just leave this matter alone."

Flillian replied with a smile.

"Aize, Haita, could you please hold these guys back?"

Looking at the elite demons rushing out of the woods, Xin Meir turned to the other two members of the team and asked.

"That's really asking too much. I'm a non-combatant."

While complaining, Haita used the goddess's holy spear to blow off the head of the demon in front of him.

"give it to me."

Aize's answer was even simpler. He raised his axe and chopped forward with force. With a flash of golden light, he instantly killed all the demons in front of him.

"Flillian, you show the way."

Taking advantage of the commotion caused by Aize, Xinmeier protected Fulilian and rushed out of the encirclement of the demon army and rushed towards the camp where the demons gathered.

"Ah."

Although demons kept attacking the two of them, after taking a look at the back of Xinmeier in a white cloak, Fulilian felt relieved and focused her mind on detecting the enemy's magic power.

As her breathing adjusted, the originally noisy world quieted down. As the magic exploration unfolded, like the ripples caused by a stone falling into the water, the world in Fulilian's eyes gradually changed into another appearance. In this world, everything lost its color. In the gray and white world, only clusters of magic like flames were particularly conspicuous.

A magician who likes to use puppets in battle must be very good at hiding himself. However, no matter how he confuses humans through appearance, as the commander of the demon army, the opponent cannot limit himself with magic power in any way, so finding the enemy is also very simple.