Nero felt like his vision might be swimming. In the long span of his past, he had never witnessed such an absurd scene as the one unfolding before his very eyes.
Demon Beasts, and two of them! Incinerated to not even ash remained in an instant!
Although the Demon Beasts he created were merely imitations, their performance wasn't as good as the original Chimera and Hydra, but they were still Demon Beasts!
How could an ordinary human, an ordinary Magus, defeat them so easily?
No, more accurately—when did modern Magecraft develop to such a level?!
And in contrast to Nero's shock, Naoki now only felt his entire body extremely comfortable. Mana flowed powerfully within him, the strength of the mutant fairy filled every corner of his being.
"In the end, it's because he's full."
Looking at Naoki enveloped in flames, Arcueid suddenly said.
"Maybe all this time, Naoki has been fighting in a state of imperfect strength. Aoko, you said earlier that Naoki ate up most of the restaurant, right? Those things Naoki ate are now being converted into Mana at an incredible speed."
When using Magecraft, a Magus would use Mana from the Greater Source as the first choice. Compared to the little Mana converted from their personal Lesser Source, borrowing directly from the world itself was much more effective.
But Naoki was different.
Because his Mystic Eyes of Soul Eater were constantly active, the Lesser Source within his body was always being drained. His body had become accustomed to using Mana from the Lesser Source; the Greater Source actually had a lower priority for him. And because of this, Naoki was always in an imperfect state with constantly depleting Mana.
But now, after filling his stomach completely and converting a large amount of that food into Mana, the speed of Mana production could already keep up with the speed of magic consumption by the Mystic Eyes of Soul Eater. There was even a surplus, and that surplus Mana was now all being converted into power that Naoki could unleash!
Almost four years of being a Magus, this was probably the most luxurious fight he had ever had!
"But how long can you maintain such a state!"
Completely abandoning his relaxed attitude, Nero released the animal factors that had returned to his body again, and instantly synthesized a two-winged giant tiger the size of an elephant!
Another Demon Beast!
'It's just a coincidence that my physical condition is in prime form. One minute? Or two minutes? I don't care how long you can last; after you're exhausted, it's my victory. Humans are indeed that fragile—'
*BOOM!*
The towering fiery fist directly incinerated Nero's thoughts and the victory he had already grasped. The giant tiger also followed in the footsteps of the Chimera and Hydra, buried in the blaze!
Time limit?
"Yes, there is. My time limit is when I'm too tired to swing my fist, too tired until not even a sliver of Mana can be squeezed out. I will indeed reach that point."
"But that has nothing to do with you!"
Flames blazed like a whirlwind beneath Naoki's feet, like a volcanic eruption suddenly launching him high into the air. The fist wrapped in fiery light, even though Nero was staring intently, still struck his face heavily before he could react!
"You will die before I fall!"
'This punch means that, then next—'
*BAM!*
A sound like a bullet leaving its casing rang out. Without any foothold, relying solely on the directionally exploded Mana, Naoki forcefully changed direction in mid-air, then a heavy fiery kick slammed into Nero's shoulder again!
*SRTTT!*
A small part of his body was instantly torn off by a single kick. Flames blazed at the torn part, instantly burning it away!
'This guy—burning my wounds, my regeneration ability is suppressed, and this isn't death, can't immediately—'
*BAM!*
A direct punch to the temple instantly cut off Nero's thoughts. Naoki's speed was too fast, so fast that he didn't even have time to react at all!
'Is his Mana unlimited?! Continuously unleashing it like this, no matter how strong his vitality, it will definitely run out! At that point, weakening to death is only a matter of time!'
Staring at Nero, who was continuously being hammered in mid-air by Naoki's endless combo without being able to fall, Aoko unconsciously gaped: "Kouhai-kun... earlier he said he could barely hold Nero back. I thought he was exaggerating, but it turns out he was underestimating himself?"
"If this continues, standing here makes me feel really awkward!"
"It's a bit like that, it feels like Naoki is the type who wants to help, but because he lacks ability, he's ignored like he's useless."
"I'm at least a Magus, saying I'm useless and all... this unavoidable excess of power isn't my fault either!"
The answer Naoki gave was that he could barely hold him back, so Aoko suggested that the two of them face Nero together to avoid any unexpected situations. But what they didn't expect was that Naoki was underestimating himself; he could suppress Nero on his own, making Aoko, who was worried and came along, look like she was interfering.
'If you could defeat him, just say so frankly!'
"But, I don't think Naoki did it on purpose." Arcueid said with a smile, "After all, Naoki's current state can only last for a few minutes at most. His Mana consumption is huge, plus he still needs to reserve some Mana, so at most it's only a few minutes."
"That's more than enough—he's here."
Aoko looked in one direction.
And at the same time, after delivering another heavy blow to Nero, piercing through his stomach, Naoki also saw Shiki appear in his vision.
The timing was perfect!
*SWISH!*
Grabbing Nero's neck, Naoki directly threw the almost stick-figure man towards Shiki!
'Another one?'
Nero also saw Shiki. Although it wasn't clear why Naoki threw him towards this person, since he did it, it would definitely be to his detriment. He had already lost this fight, a complete and utter defeat. What needed to be done now was to retreat immediately, reorganize his strength, and then make another plan!
'Regeneration—damn it! All the wounds are burned, regeneration takes a few seconds!'
This time was enough for the girl in front of him to attack!
And at the entrance of the park, seeing Nero flying towards her, Shiki understood what she had to do next. Taking out her dagger, ice-blue Mystic Eyes appeared, countless lines of death emerging in her eyes.
Clearly visible, those lines of death on Nero's body, as long as they were cut—
[Look closer]
A voice suddenly sounded in her mind. Shiki instantly unconsciously focused her attention on Nero, and this time, besides the lines of death, a "point" like a ball of thread with many intertwined and converging lines of death actually appeared on Nero's body.
The place I need to stab is there.
Thinking this, Shiki swung her dagger.
*PU-CHI!*
There was no roaring sound like the one Naoki produced. The dagger simply entered Nero's body, piercing that one point. Nero's eyes instantly widened in disbelief.
"I... am dying?"
The 666 animal factors within his body were dying at an extremely rapid rate. Not a temporary death like when he was burned by Naoki earlier, but truly disappearing from Nero's body!
How could this be?
What did this woman do?!
Nero unconsciously looked towards Shiki, and when he saw those ice-blue Mystic Eyes, the shadow of death instantly fell upon his heart.
"Those eyes... that's... impossible..."
"Alright, done."
Walking closer and patting Nero's shoulder, as if it had been calculated, the last animal factor completely disappeared at that moment. Naoki, whose Fairy Armaments had long been released, let out a soft sigh: "Huuuh~ finally finished."
"I was still wondering if I was late. Didn't expect to be really late, only stabbed once, even though you made me so curious earlier." Shiki said, rolling her eyes in annoyance, "Boring, I'm going back."
"Don't say that... eh?"
Both his legs suddenly went limp. Naoki staggered and took a few steps forward, then collided directly with Shiki's chest.
Aoko and Arcueid, who were walking towards them, were instantly stunned.
Shiki herself was also stunned. Although she was cold, the warm breath she felt on her chest at this moment made her heart unconsciously beat faster.
"Hey, idiot, what are you doing—"
"Can't move..." Not intending to get up from Shiki's chest at all, Naoki instead slightly tilted his body and leaned against Shiki's chest, "My legs are limp, no strength..."
"Are you hurt?"
"No, it's just that I seemed to use too much strength earlier, using too much Mana at once, now I'm a bit... hungry?"
Shiki's gaze instantly cooled.
Just as she thought.
She shouldn't have had any worried thoughts about this bastard.