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Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Quite long chapter.

I love this new heroine, she is cute like a cat.
Can't wait for her dere-dere phase!

Translator: Raizu
Editor: s.h.i.+rayuki

Chapter 141. Former Hero – Regains Confidence

[Nn……? Nnn~………….? Really…….?]

Want to do some sparring? To that offer I made, Elcure obviously felt troubled.
With arms folded together, face frowning, and her head tilting sharply.

When she crossed her arms like that, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s became more emphasized, making it even more appealing.
The arms cradled those babies, instead of hiding them up.

[Not that I'm forcing you to do it.]

[Nn…..alright. Let's fight]

On my part, I have to glean out all the info I can so I tried to lure her in. Fortunately it worked, as Elcure nodded in affirmation.

Just like Laurier and Tanya, these people with demonic blood tend to be hot-blooded and always look for a good fight.
Of course, there are also humans who act like that which I kind of hate even more.

That characteristic might be the reason why the demons had low compatibility with other races.
Even so, it's not like it's such a deep seated urge that it will kill them if it's not sated. Laurier is a good example. There are more out there with a well-balanced personality and could co-exist with others.

[…….alright, let's do it.]

That said, Elcure immediately got into position, ready for the fight.
Magic power already all focused.

[Eh? Oi, wait wait wait!]

[…..what is it?]

Elcure obviously didn't take it too well when I suddenly chickened out. What's with her getting all worked out?

[I mean, we shouldn't fight here….]

Really, that surprised me.
If we go at each other just like that, the surroundings would surely take a lot of collateral damage.

[We should change place.]

[Alright.]

Elcure was actually quite accommodating.
Is it because she's just that straightforward or because she's simpleminded?

Regardless of which, it's fine.

I entered the mansion first to inform the maid that I'll be late for lunch, then took Elcure out of the town.

I found a fairly wide open s.p.a.ce just outside of the town and made sure that there were no bystanders.
The open field was empty and this made for a good place to have a showdown.

[Yosh. Let me say this once more, this is just a sparring session. A mock battle so you shouldn't try to kill anyone while we are at it, alright?]

Elcure nodded in confirmation.
Yosh yosh, what a good girl.

[It's also forbidden to use large scale magic that might damage the town]

[No worries. I…cannot use magic with such a wide range anyways.]

Huh, for real?
Oh well, even though I only have 1 large scale magic in my repertoire. I just hadn't found the right circ.u.mstances to use it so far. Not like any random guy can use large scale magic in the first place.
One on one duels like this is definitely not the right circ.u.mstance to use it anyway.

[Yosh, alright then. Shall we begin?]

I drew my sword, facing against Elcure. Our distance was about 10 meters.

Elcure also took a stance and just like before, an immense amount of magical power began to emanate from her body.

Elcure didn't seem to show anything noteworthy at first glance.
Is she a close-quarters fighter or is she a magic user?

Both of us were facing each other, ready for battle, but neither of us made a move.

I thought that she would attack more aggressively, but she's surprisingly cautious.

No, if she's a magic user, then her specialty most likely image visualization.
More so since she didn't seem to chant anything, but there is also a possibility that she could chant silently.

So, should I be the one to initiate the fight here?

Yosh, let's go.

While we are at it, let's activate the visualization magic first. Once it entered the state where I could use it at anytime, I kicked the ground and dashed toward Elcure.
(ED note: "solidifying magic" doesn't really have a good equal so I used visualization instead)

I rushed in with sword drawn, but Elcure still hadn't made any move.

Is she going to defend against my attack with her bare hands?
Is she that confident in blocking my attack with a minimal amount of movement?
Or perhaps…..

I couldn't help but be anxious due to the various possibilities crossing my mind.
Whatever her intention is, it must be for her own advantage.

When we finally entered sword length, I immediately unleashed the magic I've been imagining.

(Earth Magic – Earth Bind)

Let's just do it as usual.

Since it was a chantless magic, the binding caught Elcure by surprise, depriving her of freedom to move.

The fact that it was a chantless magic did not miss her eyes. Elcure smiled in astonishment.
At the same time, I came in to attack.

The sword was swung.
The aim was Elcure's right shoulder.

As promised, I'm not trying to kill her, but I'm not planning to stop either.
Elcure is a demon anyways. Even if I cut one or two of her limbs, they'll just regrow back.

However, my sword never reached Elcure's shoulder. Instead, it crashed into what appeared to be a solid object and bounced back while emitting a loud metal clanking noise.
The rebound was enough to push me back a few steps.

Eeehh!?

I wasn't aware of it before, but when I looked back at the sword's point of impact, I saw a white gla.s.s sphere of about 10 centimeter in diameter floating there.

What was that? Magic?
Was that something that blocked my attack just now?

Back then, when I first arrived on this world, I saw a ball of soul that was similar to that mysterious item, although this one is smaller in size.
Probably something irrelevant.

But seriously.
I may not have gone all out just now, but I still put some considerable strength behind that attack and yet it got blocked so easily?

How tough.

As I thought so, the white sphere already soared into the sky.
Reflecting the bright sunlight, it sped up towards me in an almost blinding swiftness.

What to do…evade it or block it?

When I looked more closely, I noticed that there are cracks on the speeding sphere.
Could it be cracks from the previous blow?

Yosh. In that case, I'll just have to block it.

Deciding to block the sphere, I raised my sword and aimed for the right timing.

However, when the sphere was about to collide with my sword, it actually split into three smaller spheres and broke away to different directions.

How the h.e.l.l!?

It was originally just one sphere, but when my sword hit the crack, it broke away and changed form almost immediately.
In other words, it's something made of magic power?

There is no time to a.n.a.lyze it leisurely.
The splitting spheres are heading towards me as we speak.

At first, I was surprised, but quickly moved my sword to deflect one out.
It immediately scattered upon deflection, as though its durability was far less than when it was only one.

However, the other two were still racing towards me.

I tried to evade it by twisting my body, but couldn't avoid it completely.
The first one hit me on the left shoulder while the other on the left thigh. At that point, the feeling as if I've been hit by lead struck me.

[…….!]

Of course. Even if it's split apart, it still contained a considerable amount of magic power within.
Its looks truly betray its power. It actually hurt when you get hit by it.
Although it didn't break my arm or anything, that's the least of my worries.

The area where it hit me hurt like h.e.l.l, especially my thigh.

I was forced to retreat a few steps back due to the impact, but I still managed to look forward.
The spheres that had fallen to the ground after hitting me had already floated back around me.

Hee? So it's like funnel? Amazing. I want one as well.
(TL note: for those not in the know, funnel is the drone-like remote weapons used on gundam series. It can be used as both attacking and defensive weapon.)

Now there are 5 spheres floating around me.
There was no sign of Elcure creating more spheres though.
Adding the now-two spheres that I deflected earlier, that makes 7 of them?…..No, could it be that these extra spheres were hidden somewhere in advance?

Umu. I still have some room to move though.

Meanwhile, Elcure escaped from the Earthbind while I was busy with getting attacked.

[Breaking through my Seven Bullets…..and having a no-casting as well…]

Eh? What?

It's just a sparring match. I don't know whether it's due to her personality or something else, Elcure actually sounded oddly serious.

She said 7 just now, didn't she?
So does that mean seven is the max number of these spheres?

Nono, that'll be too easy.
Certainly, you can name the magic you imagined but why bother put number on it?

But perhaps that's the aim, to throw off the enemy by letting them thinking that it's the maximum number when there is actually more.

Well, that doesn't matter.

Even if there are more hidden spheres appearing, it'll still be quite manageable for me.

I kicked the ground once more, closing my distance with Elcure.
The floating spheres came in to intercept me, but I simply deflect them one by one as I go.

When we finally entered melee range, Elcure immediately took an evasive move.

[W-wha…]

However, probably because she's not really good at it, Elcure ended up losing balance and rolling on the ground from making such a sudden evasive move.
No, evidently she did that deliberately to throw me off guard, since that move was indeed enough to avoid my attack.

I swung my sword once more to the rolling Elcure.
If I can point my sword around her neck, then it'll be my win.

Ha!

When I was about to, my vision became blurry.

Elcure had stopped rolling, with her lower body forming an M.

[Gah!?…..]

But before I could see anything clearly, the floating spheres. .h.i.t the back of my head, depriving me of my sight and focus. The rest also followed for direct hits.

While I was preoccupied, Elcure regained her bearings, stood up and re-entered her stance.

Guh.
That was nasty.

Back when I fought with Leon, I had thought that nothing will be able to harm me as long as I put my mind to deal with it….
Well, that M pose really distracted me though.
Especially since Elcure is wearing T-back string panties, I could almost see the glimpse of it.

That was quite amazing.
Too bad the, show was interrupted right at the most important moment.

I came to wonder if she had intentionally chosen to wear such scant panties.

No, calm down me.
It's not the time to think about things like that.

Right now, Elcure can still be considered an enemy; it's only normal to think so.
If she won't give up on Leon, then I would have no choice but to get rid of her.

Un. Yosh. I won't be tricked by that panties anymore.

[Pierce through…Magic Arrow]

Elcure fired some magic from the distance.
It was a short cast, but it did look quite powerful.
She's a magic user after all.

However, it won't pose a problem for me at this rate.
Using my sword, I parried the incoming magic missile.

The redirected magic projectile flew off to the ground behind me, creating a rather loud explosion. But it didn't even put a nick on my sword.

Why of course, it's a sword forged by Kagursan after all.
If it's just some ma.s.s-produced stuff, I doubt that I could do such a trick.

Thank you, Kagursan.
Once we meet up again, I'll be sure to thank you properly. Ehehe.

Meanwhile, seeing all of her magic so far easily overcome, Elcure hated to admit this, but she was thoroughly defeated.

[Overwhelming…]

Elcure fell on the ground, kneeling before my eyes. Her back facing towards me.
She was on all fours, b.u.t.t pointing up so her short skirt could do little to cover her b.u.t.t.

The battle is over and I guess I got misled quite a bit there.

I suppose it almost like a cruel joke for her. Elcure had been aiming to replace one of the Four Heavenly Kings and yet she was defeated by me.

I managed to at least a.n.a.lyze the floating spheres, despite the strange underlying method that enable its creation.

It was created through magic, can be used to attack from a distance, but damages its target physically.
Umu, it's really annoying.

If all four members of Leon's party take part in the fight, then I guess they'll stand a chance to win. But if it's one on one duel, Leon alone…may not be able to win, to be honest.

[The Hero…he is much stronger…isn't he?]

Still on all four, presenting the view of her b.u.t.t to me, Elcure looked back to me, throwing that question with teary eyes.

What's with that pose? Are you inviting me in? I want to grab a feel.

No, no.

[Errm…the Hero's strength? Un…I guess so…]

Is this a question that will serve as her turning point?

The honest answer should be [I am stronger than the Hero], but if I said that, Elcure will surely go to challenge Leon.
So, I said something contrary; that Leon is stronger so that Elcure will give up challenging him.

One wouldn't dare to fight someone they have no chance to win.
I don't know if I have any chance to win against that Bau-something something-san though.

But that aside, if I put too much expectations here, I have a feeling that it'll only backfire.

What I'm expecting here is, since Elcure is also a demon, seeing how she was defeated by me, she would end up falling in love with me just like how Laurier did.

In this world, strength held the absolute status.

Of course the royal family still have some political connections, but a stronger clan can replace them. Even the demon king gained control over the demons because he/she is the strongest among them all.

Of course, there are also things like individual charisma and preferences, so even the not-so-strong people can become popular as well.

[It was dangerously close…..but I came out on top in the end.]

It's a great compromise.

Telling her that she's quite close to me, emphasizing that [Elcure nearly beat me] while also implying that she might stand a better chance if she tried harder.

I'd say it's a safe bet.

[Sniff…..is that…so?]

Elcure stood up while rubbing the tears off her eyes.

Judging from the answer, does that mean we can conclude this already?

Ah.

I just realized.

Isn't it the right situation for the [gentle head stroking] that failed the other day?
Right, this is the perfect time! Am I correct?

I can't think of a better timing.
Yosh, go for it me!

I reached out to Elcure's head
Not forgetting to add some kind words.

[But you are fairly strong too.]

Pa.s.s.

Ah.

I sighed in antic.i.p.ation.
It happened just like that.

Then she suddenly swiped my hand away.

It hurt.

[……don't act so familiar with me…]

Elcure stared at me sharply.

Eh?
Shouldn't she followed up with 'Die' or something like that?

Elcure kept muttering the same words, even as she turned around and headed back to the town.
When she looked back, I noticed the blush on her cheeks…

Ha…
Th-this is…it!

I think I've finally broken through that barrier.