The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

While Roze was engaged in a deadly battle with the Clown King, we were in a staredown with Skat.

However, the stalemate didn't last long.

Reinforcements arrived first for Skat's forces.

Just as several screams and footsteps like ground tremors approached from the direction of the town, the main gate of Count Ketaaru's mansion—the iron door—was blown away as if it had exploded.

"I'm sowwy for bein' late, Kage-sama!"

The demon who kicked down the door and rushed into the garden was about half the size of a giant.

The crumpled iron door slammed into the mansion wall, causing the stone wall to crumble. It's near the reception room, but let's hope no one is inside.

More importantly.

"Damn, was this the one you were waiting for?"

"Ho ho ho. It seems fortune is on my side."

"So, Kage-sama, should I crush these guys?"

The giant demon approached with thunderous footsteps.

He's a bloodthirsty one. Saaya let out a small scream behind me.

Skat, who hadn't tried to make a move until now, finally stirred.

"That's right. Then let's begin—'Dark Moon'."

"'Sunshine'."

The magic Skat chanted darkened the entire area, but Elen immediately countered with light magic, returning it to normal.

Skat, whose magic was nullified in an instant, was impressed.

"Oh ho, as expected of the Demon King's seed."

"I'll crush ya without any tricks!"

The giant demon charged in with a punch. His fist was about the size of my body. Even one hit would probably be fatal.

It seems Skat is leaving Elen to this guy and trying to subdue us first.

"'Blade Shift'."

A mithril short sword. Even if his body is tough enough to kick through iron, it's no match for a super-hard metal that can slice through iron.

My blade sliced into the giant demon's leg—and stopped midway.

"That hurts!"

"What?"

My "Blade Shift" was deflected.

I can't tell exactly what happened since there's no feedback sensation, but it looks like the flesh became abnormally hard partway through, leaving such a wound mark.

The giant demon crouched down, holding his leg.

"It hurts. Kage-sama, I, I don't like pain~"

"Ho ho ho! Don't worry, your body has become even tougher. Look, that boy's sword is mithril."

I try to slash the giant demon with "Blade Shift" once more.

But this time, not even a scratch was left on his skin.

What's going on? It's mithril, you know?

"It's true. I, I'm not gettin' hurt anymore."

"See? Your body is the strongest now. Come on, go get them."

"Yeah. You who hurt me, I'll kill ya."

The giant demon stands up and charges at us again.

Damn it.

"'Alchemy'!"

I open a large hole in the ground. The giant demon's foot falls into the hole, throwing him off balance, and he slams his face hard into the ground.

I quickly distance myself, holding Saaya and Elen.

That size is a threat even just rolling on the ground. We need to be careful of his range.

"That hurts~"

"It's your imagination. Look, there's not a single scratch on your face."

"It's true. Amazing, mithril skin is amazing."

Surprisingly, the giant demon's face left a clear imprint on the ground.

Yes, as if it had been pressed in by a face-shaped press machine.

So, from that, there's only one thing we can deduce.

"Does he have some kind of race skill that gives him the same hardness as the material of the attack he receives?"

"Ho ho ho! Correct!"

Damn, I messed up. So that means he's now a half-giant with the hardness of mithril.

What a troublesome skill.

I regret attacking without holding back in that split second, but there's no use crying over spilled milk now.

We need to think of a way to defeat that mithril giant body.

"Elen, please use magic. Pinpoint attacks."

"Mm. 'Lightning Purge'."

A beam of lightning descended from above, striking the giant demon's body.

"It hurts~!"

"Don't worry. Mithril has the property of deflecting magic power. It's not a big deal, right?"

"Ah, that's true."

Is he an idiot or just obedient? The giant demon gets over it quickly when told.

The fact that magic isn't very effective is quite a setback.

However, if we just stand around—

"Now it's our turn. 'Acid Barrel'."

"Ugooooo!"

As the giant charges in with earth-shaking footsteps, small liquid bullets fly from beside him.

Both seem dangerous.

"Elen!"

"'Downburst'!"

High-pressure wind blows down from above, knocking down the magic bullets and stopping the giant's feet.

In that opening—

"'Rupture Bullet'!"

I aim for Skat. If we can just take him out, we might be able to manage.

The coordinate attack I fired pierced through Skat's head—and vanished in that instant.

"Oh ho, that was close."

Skat had reinforced his own existence intensity with spirit essence to defend.

I hadn't expected it at all, but this upper-class demon was also well-versed in mystic arts.

"A demon using mystic arts? That's unexpected."

"Who decided that demons can only use magic?"

He's right.

It was my prejudice that led me astray.

Get it together, me.

"'Flare Lance'."

"'Dark Hole'."

"'Aqua Cutter'."

"'Acid Wall'."

An intense exchange of magic unfolds between the two at a distance.

Elen's attacks, firing diverse spells almost instantly with minimal chanting, are impressive, but Skat, who defends against them with precise magic, is no ordinary opponent either. I've never seen anyone match Elen's skill before, but is this the true ability of an upper-class demon?

"Grrrr, I wanna be useful too!"

The giant demon stands up again.

Now, what should we do about this guy?

If his body takes on the same properties as something harder than what attacked it, it means we can't deal damage unless we attack with something harder than mithril. But even that will stop partway and make him even harder. It's a characteristic that gives him considerable strength against external wounds.

Moreover, something harder than mithril... we don't have...

I have a sudden realization.

No, we do have it.

"Elen! Give me the Hihiirokane ingot!"

"Mm."

Between magic spells, she takes out a Hihiirokane ingot from her item box.

A heavy rare metal. Unlike mithril, which has high affinity with magic power, Hihiirokane has the property of completely rejecting and repelling all magic power. It's a metal perfectly suited for anti-magic purposes.

If we attack with this, his hardness will increase further, and magic will be repelled. That would be the worst-case scenario.

—However, that's precisely why.

"'Alchemy'! 'Blade Shift'!"

"Ouch!"

I transform the Hihiirokane ingot into a small knife and send its slash flying.

As expected, it only slightly cut the giant demon's skin before the hardness increased again and became ineffective.

"Ho ho ho! Hihiirokane, you say! This is an unexpected enhancement! There's not another being in this world with a Hihiirokane body! You might even be able to defeat a Progenitor Dragon!"

Skat laughed as if exploding with joy.

Able to defeat even a Progenitor Dragon, huh.

Well, that might be something for demons to be happy about.

"But you know, we might be stronger than Progenitor Dragons."

"Mm, won't lose."

I start formulating a technique.

Elen, reading my intention, begins to chant a spell.

Mithril, Hihiirokane, Adamantite, Orichalcum.

There are many special metals, but if the body inherits even their characteristics, there are various ways to deal with it. Mithril that deflects magic, Hihiirokane that reflects magic, Adamantite that resonates with magic, and Orichalcum that can absorb or reflect at will depending on how it's processed.

If so, we have a move. No, rather, that's the key to breaking through.

"'Rupture Bullet'."

I activate the first technique.

No matter how much I try to make it burst along with the coordinates due to the difference in existence intensity, it probably won't deal much damage to a Hihiirokane body no matter where I hit.

But biologically, it should be impossible to turn all parts of the body into Hihiirokane.

Mucous membranes, joints, organs. There must be parts where high hardness would affect the body's functions.

If so, we should be able to deal some damage to those areas.

The coordinate bullet I fired pierced the giant demon's tongue.

"Abaa!"

Blood sprays as the giant demon opens his large mouth.

Elen didn't miss this opening.

"'Lightning Bomb'."

The single sphere Elen released flew into the giant demon's mouth.

The ball of lightning exploded with tremendous heat and flames.

Due to Hihiirokane's property of reflecting magic power, the lightning and flames rampaged inside his body with many times their normal power.

"Abababababa!"

All the soft organs necessary for maintaining life were burned through, and the giant demon fell to the ground, motionless.

Even against opponents we couldn't defeat alone, we've always won by working together.

That's how Elen and I have grown stronger.

"Wh-what... What have you done..."

Skat, who had been smiling confidently until just now, lamented as he gazed at the fallen giant.

I heard he had easily killed the white-armed demon, and even casually killed the flame-haired demon. I thought he was a cold-hearted guy at first glance, but does he have feelings of compassion for his fallen comrades?

As I was thinking this, Skat glared at us with swelling emotions.

"My greatest masterpiece... You've really done it now. Demon King's seed and Divine Tree's apostle, I won't be satisfied with just killing you. I'll kill you and turn you into new puppets, so prepare yourselves."

No, I guess not.

It seems he's just angry that his important tool was broken.

In that case, we don't need to hold back either.

We faced off against Skat, continuing the battle.