“Remedios! What should we do?” Calca cried out to her.
Usually it was Remedios asking the questions and Calca answering, but this time it was the reverse. Apparently, when it came to combat, Remedios was still more likely to arrive at the correct answer than the other two.
“Destroy the building without getting anywhere near it!”
Following her directive, the priests began casting attack magic.
The building came tumbling down bit by bit, but it was hard to imagine Jaldabaoth dying under a pile of rubble. With her enchanted armor, even Remedios wouldn’t die from something like that unless she got awfully unlucky. And besides—
Remedios eyed her clean blade.
Did he really absorb that powerful blow just by flying away? Did he use a martial art like Fortress? Or was it a special demon ability? There were lots of possibilities, but if she couldn’t figure out the answer, they were in serious trouble.
With great cracks and pops, the building was completely demolished by the area-of-effect spells. Remedios found herself having a coughing fit in the cloud of dust it kicked up.
“Hey, Remedios, why isn’t he coming out?”
“…Honored sister, do you think he could have teleported away already?”
That arrogant demon? I doubt he would unless he were injured…
“…It’s time for a fire attack. Let’s pour oil over this and burn it. And then could you bless it, Holy Lady Calca?”
“A Holy Flame Rite, honored sister? Should a paladin really use that to damage an opponent…?”
“I don’t mind. If Remedios thinks that’s our best option, I’ll do it. No, it’s what we must do. If he’s a demon, there’s no way it won’t hurt him.”
Many demons had resistance to fire, but a Holy Flame had both holy and fire attributes, so resistance to fire would only block half the damage.
“All right, Holy Lady Calca, let’s prepare for the ceremony…”
“There’s no time. Can you do a simplified version?”
Looking at Calca, she saw her sister out of the corner of her eye as she said, “Um…”
Simplifying the Holy Flame ritual magic put quite a large strain on the caster. This wasn’t the sort of proposal someone entrusted with her safety should have been making. But they couldn’t afford to give Jaldabaoth time.
“If you say that’s better, then let’s go with that plan. But if I cast it alone, I won’t be able to give you any more support afterward. Please remember that… So will you light it for me right away?”
“Understoo—”
“Hoh-hoh-hoh. That puts me in quite a pinch.” Jaldabaoth’s voice suddenly came to them from beneath the rubble.
“Honored sister!”
“I’m on it!”
Remedios stood in front of Calca and held her sword at the ready.
Apparently, the demon really was trapped beneath the rubble. And if he was talking to them now, it must have meant that Holy Flame was the correct attack. Surely he hadn’t been knocked out by the impact of the rubble.
“It seems I’ll have to actually start putting some effort into this fight.”
“Ohhh? You could have done that a long time ago. I’ve been waiting, so won’t you show me what you’re capable of…? Holy Lady Calca, Kelart, get back.” She instructed the pair in a lower voice.
At the same time, Remedios backed up and left a wall of angels between her and Jaldabaoth.
“Hmm. Then please take some distance. It wouldn’t be much fun if you were killed in the shock of me getting up.”
The pile of collapsed bricks and wood rose. And as the debris fell away, some sort of giant slowly stood up.
“…Jaldabaoth?” Remedios murmured in spite of herself.
The being standing before them was something altogether different from the Jaldabaoth of a few moments ago. She wondered if he had switched places with another demon. But there couldn’t be that many demons this powerful out there.
There was no doubt in her mind: This was Jaldabaoth; it was Jaldabaoth’s true form.
Wings of flame whooshed open. The tip of his long tail was also burning. Even the ends of his terrifyingly thick arms were on fire. His sinister face was rage incarnate.
“Priests! Have the angels charge!”
Following Kelart’s order, the priests sent their angels forward. Jaldabaoth didn’t even counter when the angels attacked with their weapons—he simply took the hits in silence. Being surrounded and assaulted didn’t seem to bother him one bit. It was like a paladin in full plate armor being pummeled by a child.
“This is my true nature.” Jaldabaoth spoke in a deep, weighty voice that seemed to come from the pit of his stomach. Then he took a step forward with a massive leg, forcing the angels back.
Ignoring the angels’ attacks entirely, he clenched a fist enclosed in flames. Fire blazing, it was red-hot like a volcanic bomb.
“You daft, flying insects—be gone!”
With a bang, the angels that should have been shielding Remedios vanished.
Even her sharp vision only registered a momentary afterimage of Jaldabaoth swinging his fist at great speed. The resulting blow had demolished the wall of angels that had been protecting her.
This was the real Jaldabaoth.
Slaying several angels at once so easily. In the face of such overwhelming power, Remedios swallowed hard and gripped her Holy Sword. She broke into a sweat and could sense the clothing beneath her armor changing color.
Can I win? Eh—
“Daaaaaagh!” Remedios charged with a roar—to shake off her fear. Perhaps it was a reckless move, but if she didn’t advance now, her mind would have been forced to acknowledge her defeat. Clenching her sword, she raced forward.
Jaldabaoth neither defended nor dodged.
He repelled her so simply it was laughable.
“—Huh?”
Her sword, forged of an unknown metal as hard as adamantite, glanced off Jaldabaoth’s skin.
When she looked up, his gaze wasn’t even directed her way—just like how a human wouldn’t look down on bugs crawling in the dirt.
“It’s a chore to fight you unarmed… Oh, wait, I have a good weapon.”
Jaldabaoth set off walking, paying no attention to Remedios. She was forced aside by his hulking form.
“H-hey! Sh-shit!”
She attacked from behind, along with newly summoned angels, but her sword couldn’t penetrate
