The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

The day after we found the ruins.

We started to work when the sun came out and we had to make our way through the forest, following the shea footprints on the ground and the scent of the shea left on the packet of preserved food.

"Burlin, can you follow the scent?"

"Grua ......"

"Subtle. But can you tell which way to go?"

"Gru."

"All right, let's do this."

If you know which way to go, just keep going that way.

Along the way, we should find some kind of sheer footprints, so we have to pay attention to the ground.

"I'm a beast, so I can tell you that Usato is fully communicating with Bulrin, right ......?"

"We don't understand each other.　I can understand what he's trying to tell me. I think you do, too, Bulrin."

"Gua!"

"I'm getting punched in the leg as hard as I can. ......"

Mr. Nagi looks at me as I am being hit by Bulrin.

...... You're not being honest with me.

I sigh as Bulrin punches me in the leg as usual.

"I didn't feel that look yesterday, did you?"

It's not very accurate because I'm just going with my gut.

If it were Rose, I would know for sure, but ...... I guess I don't have that wild intuition yet.

Amako, who is riding on the back of Bullein, calls out to me while I'm muttering this.

"Is that hostility you sensed, Usato?"

"Well, I don't know. I think there was hostility, or maybe he was simply looking at me. ......I honestly think it would be fine if it was just my imagination."

"Why?"

"Because if they attack me, I have to deal with them, and if they are people who live here, it's better not to take matters into my own hands."

We want to build a good relationship with those who may live here for the future.

"I know it's hard. What Usato is trying to do now is..."

"If I fail, I'll be choked by the Demon King, so I can never fail. ......!!!"

I don't intend to fail, but I can't stand to be played with by the Demon Lord.

I have to do my best to keep him in the dark.

"....... Kannagi, perhaps the Demon Lord's impression of Usato is less formal than you thought?"

"Ummm.... I think they were just beating each other up with words.

"Well, ...... I can imagine. They were still punching each other at the end of the fight."

It seems like a long time ago now.

I don't want to fight the Demon Lord again.

Next time we fight, he'll try to keep us away from him.

"You can think of Shea as being drawn to the Demon Lord's power ...... which is owned by the Devil."

"It's not a strange story considering the relationship between Hisago and the Demon King. It's possible that in later times,...... well, it's possible that Shea is the insurance policy in case you guys fail to defeat the Demon Lord in this day and age."

Nagi's words got me lost in thought.

Then Nair, who was standing at my shoulder, opened her mouth, stretching out her mouth in a relaxed manner.

"There might have been a discrepancy when the human side was winning and the Demon King, who was supposed to die, was still alive. Maybe they are trying to kill a fragment of the Demon King's power in order to correct the discrepancy.

"We'd better find him fast."

The demon's power is three in total in the demon king's domain and the demon's domain.

One of them is with Lord Farga, and the other three are in the realm of humans, judging from the demon king's words, but I'd like to retrieve all of those nuisances as soon as possible.

"......usato"

Amaco's voice.

I silently put on a baskets and radiate a wide range of healing magic that has deteriorated in my system.

Somewhat later, Nagi-san, perhaps confirming this with her precognition, also puts her hand on the sword at her waist.

"Everyone is ready for battle. Elle and the others will be asked to guard Hanna.

"They all come at once, like they're being driven by something. No, this is ...... not happening."

Amako looks up at me after seeing a series of predictions.

"Usato, put me on your back. I think he wants you."

"What do you mean?　I'm talking about the a..."

Just as Nair is about to raise her voice in question, the ground rumbles so loudly that it shakes.

It's not a big tremor. But this is a lot of demons running toward us.

Gah!

ohohohoh...!

Buuuuuh!

With a yell, many large demons appeared, knocking down the trees.

The common point among these sparse and inconsistent monsters is that they attack us, and that they rush toward us as if something is chasing them.

If we stay quiet, we are the ones who will be crushed.

I grab Amako's hand as she reaches for me and move it to my back, covering her with my cloak as if to protect her.

Dense formation three!

>

I yell out, and the members of the team form a defense, each using a different combination of magic.

Wal, Kevin, and Sein formed a wall to protect us from the monsters' assault, Nono shot a special water spell in front of the wall to destabilize our footing, and finally, Elle sent a cloud of dust flying to destroy the monsters' vision.

The coordinated moves performed with short instructions were enough to confuse the demons that had turned hostile and rushed toward us.

"Koga and Nagi, please deal with the demons!　Hanna-san, stay close to your men and use illusionary magic to disorient them!　Veena-san, do this and that with your magic sensing!

"Nn, your instructions to me are too confusing!"

Maybe we don't have as much time as we thought.

There's a reason why I decided it was better to fight with Amako.

"Usato, they're here!

Right after Amako's voice, the magic senses responded!

A tiger-like monster, enveloped in a black flame, leapt out from the flanks at breakneck speed.

Its size was well over 5 meters, and its angry eyes, which were visible through the shimmering black with white, were pointed straight at me.

>

"So that's him!"

The mysterious presence that was watching us yesterday!

It's about to slash at me with its paws in anger.

That's sweet!

>

As he does so, he thrusts out his right hand, which is wrapped in a cage, and holds it between his arms, using the momentum of the monster's thrust to throw it backward.

"Koga!　I'll deal with it!　You take care of Hannah!

"Oh, I'll take care of her!　And take her with you!

His alter ego appears at Koga's feet.

I touch his alter ego as we pass each other and transform it into a basket hand that wraps around my left arm as I run through the crowd of demons in pursuit of the monster I have thrown away.

>

>

>

I wonder what that monster is.

It looked like a big tiger with black flames.

"Is that dark magic ......?"

"Usato, is it happening again?"

"Oh, dark magic users are a hoy!"

<

I don't know why the little fox on my back and the owl on my shoulder have taken me aback.

It's not my fault that I keep running into dark wizards!　I mean, it hasn't been decided yet that the other party is a dark wizard!

Usato, they're coming from up there!

Oh!

I sense it too!

While avoiding the monster that jumped on him from above, he fights off a succession of paw and bite attacks.

"Usato, thanks to the healing senses, it seems we don't need to anticipate its movements, so I'll predict the behavior of the attacks and give instructions to Keira and Nair."

Please!

"The monster breathes fire from its mouth. Nair, cast a resistance spell. Usato, shockwave. Keira wraps a cloak around Usato's right arm.

Amaco is right, the monster opens its mouth and spits out a black flame from it.

Amako douses the flames with her healing magic bursting palm, and then she meets the next paw with a hand covered in Keira's dark magic.

"Hmph!"

With a forceful move, he sends his paw sprawling.

Taking advantage of this momentary opening, he transforms the alter ego of KOGA clad in his left arm into a mallet, which he applies to the monster's torso and hurls it away.

>

"It's not just prediction, though. Keira is doing well, too."

<>

I didn't send a letter of intent on this trip.

We have a trusting relationship, and more than anything else, Amako is watching us very carefully, even without the magic of precognition.

Now," he looks at the monster that is threatening us, clutching the mallet in his left hand.

>

"...... If you can understand my words, please don't attack me. We mean you no harm."

<>

First, let's see if the other party is willing to fight, and if possible, let's not fight.

If he is a normal demon, we can just knock him out and get the hell out of here.

>

You're the one who talked .......

So this monster has a will after all.

Or maybe this thing was formed by some kind of magic and there's someone inside.

At any rate, the voice coming from the monster seemed to be that of a young child, just like Keira.

.

"...... How do you know my name?"

What kind of recognition is that!

I don't understand why they treat me like a dangerous guy, let alone the fact that they know my name!

"That's great! That monster knows you so well. ......

"It's so loud!"

Nair agrees!

I get the impression that he's white because I'm wearing a troupe uniform, but who told him about me in the first place?

And why is this guy in front of me turning against me ......?

"......!"

Unexpected words.

I throw words at the monster who named Shea.

"You know her?

>

What do you mean ......?

The monster is getting hostile, but we're not taking Shea with us, we're following its footsteps.

But the monster in front of us doesn't think so.

>

"Ah!"

The black flames that it wears intensify as the monster flies across the ground.

Despite its large size, the creature moves with great agility, lightly kicking at the trees and using them as footholds as it attacks me.

Listen to me!

>

I tried calling out to it as I dodged its attack, but it wouldn't budge.

"That black flame. It's like it can change shape. On the third landing now, it's going to turn into a whip."

"It doesn't matter if you touch the flames!"

"It'll burn physically, but Usato's basket hand can usually grab it."

He waits for the third landing, aware of the information from Amako's prediction.

Just as she had predicted, the monster landed on the ground, its black flames flickering in its body and changing its shape to that of a whip.

"Usato, what are you going to do!　Are you going to attack?

"I'll just focus on evasion for now!　Healing Afterimage Fist!

With a quick and steady movement, he moves, leaving a residue of healing magic created by elasticity in his place.

The whip, which is thrust out like a spear, only pierces the residues of healing magic left on the spot and does not hit me.

>

"Ranged attack. Shockwave will destroy it."

"Aah!"

As soon as the monster opens its mouth, it shifts into a healing blast wave and releases it before the black flames can be expelled.

>

The black flames spewed out before they could exert their full power, blowing them away in a shockwave.

Aiming for the moment of stunned surprise, I shot a healing magic bullet filled with Nair's binding spell directly at the monster's torso.

"Healing magic bullet!"

>

The movement is instantly stopped... hmmm?

Just as the magic bullet strikes and the binding spell is about to erode the black body, the black flames from the area where the bullet landed are torn away from the monster as if it were splitting apart.

>

"......"

If they are aware of the threat of healing explosive bombs, did they see us being attacked by Venom Monkey yesterday, or did they lure us in for today's attack?

Actually, they didn't intend to detonate the healing bombs, but I guess adsorption-type healing magic is dealt with by being detached from the body like that.

"Black flames, huh?"

"It's like you can choose what to burn because it doesn't spread. And you can also detach it from yourself."

This diversity is like dark magic.

It's also aggressive.

"What are you going to do, Usato? It doesn't seem to want to listen to us."

"They're probably ...... kids."

It's not an opponent that can't be defeated.

As for his ability, he is able to take the form of a black flame created by dark magic, and his physical ability has been dramatically improved.

This is similar to the dark magic of Koga.

"The only difference is that unlike him, he is too much dependent on his power."

Coga looks like a power type, but he's a technical guy.

That's what made him so hard to deal with.

<< Hit it!　Hit me! >>

"...... You're just a kid."

The whips come at us one after the other, and we use a mallet transformed from one of Koga's alter egos to cleave them off.

Or would it be faster to slash them?

As he thinks about this, the shape of the mallet in his hand changes on its own, and it takes on the form of a scythe.

"What?　Why did it take such a dangerous shape?

>

"!"

Without time to be surprised, the whip rushes toward us, and we cut off the tips of it by swinging it with the scythe with great force.

This cut is too dangerous. .......

"Black cloak and scythe...... Grim reaper Usato......"

"Who's the Grim Reaper?

Nair's inaudible mutterings.

I am the exact opposite.

I'm the one the Grim Reaper hates.

I think to myself as I return the sickle to the mallet.

"I don't know what to do. ......"

There is a way to pull out the contents by hitting the healing fist with a gouge, but ...... that's too bad and I'm going to reject it.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I think it's better to make him calm down."

<

"......"

You're right.

We don't know what the relationship is between her and Shea, but her disappearance has made him mentally unstable.

"I guess we'll just have to do it."

If you want to do it, you have to drive him to unconsciousness in an instant.

It is too dangerous to go out of control any further due to the nature of dark magic.

>

The monster, numb, leaps at me with its whip flying.

I try to avoid it, but... I step forward and catch it as if defending myself with a mallet.

>

He tries to crush me with all his weight, but ...... sweet!

That kind of weight and force is not enough to crush me at all!

I'm stronger than you!"

"I'm used to it, but Usato's body is strange."

"It's true, but it doesn't make sense, and it makes me laugh."

<

>

Maybe Amako is protected by the cloak on her back, but from this girl's point of view, she's hearing four different voices from me. .......

>

"Oops. ......"

The whip is thrust out while the two are still in a locked position.

I let go of the mallet that the monster is biting and step back.

>

"...... yeah, right."

I see him throw away the mallet he was biting on the ground, and I decide to try to persuade him for the last time.

"I won't do anything bad to you. But I can't guarantee that if you keep doing this.

<<>

We're looking for Shea, too.

<>

It's not so much that he can't talk to me, it's more that he thoroughly sees me as an outsider. ......?

Has this girl ever met anyone other than Shea or me?

I don't know what to say, but her obsession with Shea seems out of the ordinary.

<<>

"......"

If you are ......, then you don't have time to waste your time here.

I decide that further questioning and answering is pointless, so I let go of my posture.

"......Sorry."

With that apology, I give instructions to the alter ego of Koga, which I made it look (...) as if it had been stolen by the monster earlier.

The alter ego transforms into its original humanoid form right next to the monster and jumps onto the monster's back as if hugging it from behind, transforming to prevent it from being torn off.

>

Suddenly, the monster panics and swings its body to the side, but its clinging alter ego does not let go.

<>

This is where the monster must have seen it.

The healing explosive (・・・・・) attached to the back of the alter ego.

<>

Attached to the alter is a healing explosive.

Yesterday they were used as decoys, but Koga's alter ego can move according to his instructions to a certain extent.

In other words, with KOGA's movements,

As fast as a cogwheel,

With the strength of a cogger's arm,

With the persistence of a cohort,

It is even possible to restrain an opponent.

"Nair."

"You've gone too far. Binding spell activated.

And to top it all off, he even interferes with division with a spell of restraint.

When the movement is blocked, a healing explosive with an adjusted detonation time bursts.

"Healing disintegration explosion".

>

Particles of healing magic are diffused and a shockwave is released around the monster.

After the black flames scatter and disappear, a child in a brand-new cloak faints at the center of the shockwave.

"Who in the world is this girl?"

It's unknown who he is when he's in the realm of demons, but it's not unusual for a dark magician ...... to be dealing with this much power.

He lowers Amako onto her back and rouses the unconscious child so that she is lying on her back - the hood that completely covers her head comes off, revealing her figure.

"!　This is ......"

What I saw was brown skin, a characteristic of the demon tribe.

But there were no horns, and instead the ears of the girl, who looked slightly older than the child ...... Keira, were long like an elf's.

>

"The circumstances of a demon tribe born with dark magic and an elf who lived in hiding in the forest...... I see, so that's how it is."

A demon tribe, half dark wizard and half elf.

I could not hide my bewilderment at the unexpected identity of the monster.