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Thud.

Following the sound of something being cut, there came a noise of something falling to the floor. It was a small sound, yet it resonated clearer than anything else.

If only what fell to the floor had been Keltus’s head, that would have been great, but unfortunately, it was not. My sword had certainly aimed for Keltus’s neck, but he twisted his body to escape, already off balance once.

However, it was also too much for Keltus to completely evade, and he barely managed to keep his life by exposing one arm deep into his shoulder blade.

In the meantime, his left arm that fell to the floor was strangely moving by itself, scratching at the ground. Talk about a resilient fellow.

Although I failed to take his life in one swift blow, I still had the upper hand. So, I swung my sword once more, targeting Keltus’s neck.

Swish!

Black blood gushed out from the severed shoulder of Keltus.

No matter how serious the wound of losing an arm, the abnormally gushing black blood soon formed into a spear, aiming for the three of us.

“Ugh…!”

Fortunately, no one was hit by the unexpected counterattack, but I had no choice but to step back as I retrieved my swinging sword.

And Keltus took advantage of the step we retreated, now creating a larger distance between us.

It was regrettable to miss such a decisive opportunity, but at least severing one arm was a significant gain. Even though Keltus wasn’t an unarmed fighter, it would still be difficult for him to cast spells while off-balance…

“Damn it.”

I looked up at Keltus’s state and muttered a curse under my breath.

Keltus stared at us from a distance with vacant eyes, appearing completely unscathed. In other words, the place where his arm should have been severed was still intact.

“Still… still not enough…”

I didn’t know what he meant by lacking something, but while Keltus mumbled, I took the opportunity to glance at the ground. I wondered if the severed arm had reattached itself, and my eyes caught the sight of Keltus’s left arm still wriggling on the floor.

Upon closer inspection, Keltus’s left arm had taken on an unmistakable pitch-black hue. It was the same dark color as the blood-originated spear that had just targeted us.

Such deep black wasn’t common, and it sure seemed to stem from the power of the gemstone Keltus had swallowed before the fight. The Keltus I killed in my previous life didn’t have such abilities.

By the way, regenerating just one arm so easily? I guess I would need to aim for critical spots like the neck or heart. Surely, he wouldn’t regenerate even after losing his head. Now that would be terrifying.

“Ruk Fros Silca.”

Keltus, who had been quiet until now, murmured incomprehensible words. There was no point in babbling uselessly in a situation like this, so it was definitely a magic incantation.

If only Yuli or Frecia, knowledgeable wizards, were here, they would have caught on and reacted immediately, but none of us here were familiar with the unique magic of the demonic race.

In the end, as always, all we could do was rely on our bodies.

Swoosh!

I quickly pulled out one of the daggers I always carried and threw it at him.

At the same time, Keltus, with his reattached black left arm, reached out towards me. Apparently, he didn’t have even the simplest shield magic, as my dagger struck directly into the palm of Keltus’s left hand.

Thud.

I had expected him to evade or block it, but Keltus willingly allowed the attack, which left me momentarily in shock.

Even as blood poured down from the left hand where the dagger had embedded, pooling on the floor, I felt something was off.

Indeed, the amount of blood pooling on the ground looked far too much to have come from Keltus’s body. Even the sturdiest of demons would be in danger of losing their life with that much blood loss.

However, Keltus showed no signs of distress on his face. Instead, he wore a somewhat ominous expression, as if he had some ulterior motive.

The puddle slowly expanded, completely blackening the floor, walls, and ceiling. It felt as though we were trapped in a darkness devoid of light.

The dagger I threw seemed to have no effect whatsoever, but I couldn’t just stand there, watching something suspicious unfold.

To ensure nothing happened to Mariel, I positioned Anne behind me to keep watch while Selian and I charged directly at Keltus.

Was it really made of blood? With each step I took into the darkness, instead of a sloshy feeling, a sticky, gooey sensation clung to my feet.

Thud!

One step, two steps, three steps… As I walked through the darkness, I found my face unintentionally planting into the ground. I tried to lift myself up, but instead of standing, my feet flailed as I struggled.

I wasn’t the only one; I spotted Selian, equally disoriented, sprawled on the ground.

However, coming from a background of enduring all sorts of tortures under the guise of training, this much wasn’t enough to throw me off. There were even tortures involving drugs that disoriented my senses.

Instead of flopping around, I focused on grasping the situation. Moving my fingers caused my toes to react, and when I rotated my shoulder, my neck turned in response.

My senses were completely mixed up, but I was able to vaguely manage to control one leg and my right arm below the elbow.

Clang!

Thanks to that, I kicked off from the ground with one leg, propelling myself toward Selian, and barely managed to knock aside the black spear that had come flying toward us with one awkward arm poised for defense.

Perhaps due to my position, the force of the black spear felt even stronger than before.

Wincing at the jolt of pain in my wrist (even though my tongue rolled out instead of a frown), I continued to move my body in search of control.

With just a bit of freedom, I could turn my head freely even if my eyes wouldn’t roll how I wanted, and I could also walk on my two legs.

I turned back to check on Mariel and Anne, who seemed unharmed, likely thanks to the light illuminating around Mariel.

In the end, the one in immediate danger was Selian.

As she, too, was a Sword Master, she wouldn’t be the type to struggle for long with movements. She’d probably adjust to this disorientation pretty quickly.

But how long would that take? Until then, I had to move in her stead.

“Sorry! I’ll get forgiveness later!”

“What are you… Ugh!”

I snatched Selian’s waist and hurled her toward Anne, who was standing by. Selian was light enough that it posed no problem to throw her.

Without warning, I cast a glance back and saw Anne receive her without issue, then rushed to close the distance between myself and Keltus again.

With each step I took, the black spear targeted me. Was it just my illusion, or did Keltus’s black spears seem to grow stronger with each throw?

One step, two steps, three steps… And then, taking a fifth step, I felt completely adapted and regained full control of my body.

“That grotesque face of yours? It’s hard to look at you up close.”

Once again, I closed the gap with Keltus.

At that moment, Keltus’s black arm wriggled and inflated grotesquely, changing into something resembling a monster, charging directly at me.

The black arm attacked me, moving independently as if it were a living being, separate from Keltus’s own movements.

Clang! Clang!

Moreover, while struggling with one arm, Keltus was preparing another spell with his other hand. Even while I fought just one Keltus, it felt like I was battling two.

Unlike before, I could not count on Selian’s or Anne’s assistance in this dire moment. Yes, if it were the old me, I would have collapsed in no time.

But now was different. I didn’t need their help. Of course, if I could have their assistance, that would be ideal, but I didn’t need to dwell on it.

I was the ultimate Hero of our party.

Boom!

I dodged the talon that lunged at my head simply by tilting my head, swinging my sword to slice off Keltus’s remaining hand.

As expected, black blood gushed from the severed shoulder, and that hand too turned into a black arm, attacking me.

With big hands attacking from all directions without distinction, Keltus’s two black arms came at me.

However, despite the sharpened and quicker attacks compared to earlier, he was unable to lay a finger on me.

Swish! I completely severed Keltus’s legs below the knees in that very moment.

Just like his arms, even after losing his legs, he was already regenerating before even hitting the ground.

I really wondered if it would even regenerate after losing its neck.

Bang!

But I didn’t get a chance to satisfy my curiosity.

Realizing he couldn’t deal with me in close combat, Keltus extended one arm toward me, then exploded it.

The explosion sacrificed one of his arms and was a wide-ranging attack, forcing me to retreat to avoid being caught up in it.

“What a mess! That disgusting regeneration isn’t infinite, is it?”

One of Keltus’s exploded arms, unlike when I had cut it, failed to regenerate. Keltus, with one arm missing, glared at me, looking far from fine.

“Is this all you’ve got? Nothing impressive, considering how much you bragged.”

I threw mockery at Keltus. Although truthfully, my situation wasn’t exactly favorable either.

The power that allowed me to manipulate fate as a true hero awakened within me. I had become quite adept at using it, but controlling fate was no easy feat, and even as a hero, I couldn’t use it frequently.

Thus, I had wished to conserve it until facing the Demon King, but the fierce battle against Keltus left me with no choice but to extract my power.

Even as I reluctantly moved back with the shockwave, a ringing in my ears echoed, and my sense of balance seemed derailed, making just standing upright look like the best course of action.

“Elysia!”

At that moment, my friends, who had been further back awaiting their chance, joined me. Mariel’s blessing enveloped my body, allowing me to blow away most of the shock from the earlier explosion.

“Phew… Is this what it’s like to be a hero? Not easy.”

As I caught my breath, Keltus also took a moment to ease tension, letting his guard down and quietly speaking.

“However, now that I’ve stirred things up like this… it seems I have achieved my desired goal. Of course, it would be great if I could defeat you all here, but that’s not the role given to me in the first place.”

“What? What do you mean….”

“The test tubes in this room. Don’t you wonder why I’ve displayed corpses that have served their purpose?”

Gurgle, a sound of phlegm could be heard from somewhere. Followed by a cracking sound, as though glass were shattering.

Only then did I realize the obvious truth. Keltus was, after all, one of the most cunning demons among the demonic race.

The fact that he presented his true form before us and faced us head-on, even engaging in a fair matchup. Why hadn’t I questioned that as odd?

But it was too late to regret now.

“Ungh!”

With a clang, the sound of glass breaking resounded, and a chilling smiling horde of mounted corpses lunged at us.