“aaa.....Priest-sama was.....”

Someone muttered. The soldiers, even in confusion, clearly understood what happened in front of them.

Everyone had seen Kievan use the advance level light magic the moment the black smoke spread all over.

The soldiers had also believed that attack to have ended it along with the caster himself.

But, before they could even raise the cheer for victory, that devil jumped out of that smoke while releasing a howl that sent shivers down the spine.

The battle was truly concluded in the next few seconds.

The devil used the black bullets that had killed countless of their comrades and shot the heads of the 2 magicians.

By the time those two magicians fell to the ground, the devil had already swung is sinister looking black blade towards the Priest.

The devil’s roar, the Priest’s prayer and the sound of the blade cutting the barrier of light away, all came at the same time.

And the next moment, the Priest’s body was ripped into 2 pieces and the blood stained upper body flew in the air.

“The Priest-sama died........”

“The devil killed him.......”

Unrest spread among the soldiers.

Kievan, even though young, was extremely skilled as a commander and not to mention that he was also a skilled white magician that did not fear fighting on the front lines himself. Thus he had gained much trust from his subordinate soldiers.

And a mind that idolized God and his confident personality, all combined with his skills gave a special kind of charisma.

And that trusted superior was easily killed in front of them.

Losing their fighting spirit, the soldiers would soon start panicking and running away.

“Calm down!!”

But, due to one squad commander’s shout, the soldiers stopped.

“Look, after fighting Priest-sama, the devil is exhausted!!”

Sure enough, the black figure currently had his one kneel on the ground.

“We can kill him now! Avenge the Priest-sama!!”

Strength returned in the arms of the soldiers holding the weapons.

“The effect of the barrier is still there, we shall shoot that devil to death!!”

Even if the caster dies, the effect of magic doesn’t disappear instantly.

Currently, as long as the magical energy of the barrier deployed doesn’t exhaust, it’s effect won’t disappear.

“””Kill the devil!””

As if trying to shake of their fear, the soldiers shouted in chorus.

“”Kill the devil! Kill the devil!!””

Nocking their arrows, the strings were pulled to the max.

“Ready your aim!”

The long bows and crossbows aimed towards the target.

The devil had not yet moved.

.

.

.

“haa....haa.......”

After cutting apart the priest with [Kuronagi], I was struck with extreme tiredness.

This is due to over exhaustion of magical energy used during the evolution of the hatchet rather than the backlash of using the martial art.

I faced this condition numerous times during those manoeuvring experiments so I didn’t faint instantly due to experience, but to become like this in the current situation is a bit troublesome.

No, facing a priest that could use advance level magic, there was chance that I would have even sustained injuries as well. It’s thanks to the hatchet evolving that I was able to win easily.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the condition is getting worse.

Those soldiers are still ready to fight even after seeing their superior killed.

They are shouting [Kill the devil]. Fucking bastards! The devils here are you bastards!

No matter how much I curse, it doesn’t change the fact that countless arrows are going to be shot at me any moment.

“haa.......shit!”

Even though I said to Lily that we shouldn’t be reckless, but look at me now.

My magical energy is completely empty. Well at least my body is still unscratched.

“Sorry Lily, it looks like I’ll break my promise........”

Although I promised that I won’t be reckless after fighting Sariel, to have broken the promise this quickly, I really am a pathetic guy.

“But, these guys—-“

The sensation returned to my fingers and I once again gripped the handle of the blade tightly.

“Just these guys, I can’t let any of them get away.”

I don’t know whether I would be able to kill all those soldiers without any magical energy.

No matter how sturdy this body is, if I lose too much blood, I will die. If my head was cut, of course I will die. But still, I won’t step back.

I’ll keep on killing.

Even if it’s just one more, I’ll drag these bastards to hell!!

“Uooooooooohhh!!!!”

From the evolved hatchet, the torrent of hatred and bloodlust started flowing inside me again.

Forcibly putting strength in this body that’s screaming for rest, I jump back to my feet.

A countless amount of arrows rush towards me.

I don’t have enough energy to deploy my shield again. I can only defend by swinging my hatchet.

Resolving myself to get hit many times, I swing the hatchet to at least deflect as many as I can. At that moment,

*DODODOO!!!*

In front of me, a bright red flame burst out.

What the hell is this? Enemy’s attack magic? Did something explode?

But in front of the spreading crimson flames, when I thought I would die,

“.......this is, defensive magic?”

I wasn’t taking any damage from this magic. On looking closely, the flame isn’t randomly rising from the ground, it’s shaped like a proper wall.

To create a wall of flame this big, it must be the advance level wide range defensive magic [Ignis Rampart Defence].

Anyway, whatever magic it may be, the wall of flame devoured all the arrows that were coming towards me and protected me.

But, just who was it that used such an advanced magic—— the only one I could think of was my only ally and partner Lily.

“That was close.”

The voice that came from behind me was a transparent voice of a woman, but I instantly knew that it was not Lily’s.

“Wh,Who is it......?”

As I looked back, a black shadow was walking towards me with light steps.

No, that isn’t a shadow but clothes that are black from head to toe similar to me.

A three-cornered hat like those in fairy-tales, a jet black robe adorned with soft feathers, a weirdly shaped long staff, and light blue hair and golden shining eyes.

I had met only once, but the name of the person in that unforgettable unique dress is,

“Fiona Soleil!?”

“I wanted to meet you, Mr. Icecandy.”

“Ic, Ice......?”

Due to her sudden appearance, I forgot the situation I was in after looking at her usual semi-closed expressionless eyes and her weird words.

“Ah, before I forget I’ll release your curse alright?”

“What?”

What the hell is she even saying? As I doubted, Fiona began moving her lips and small chant was heard.

“??? ?????? ???? ?????—[Release Curse – Dispel]”

“!?!”

The moment the words of release curse came to my ears, I suddenly dropped the hatchet that had felt like a part of my own hand till now.

The moment the hatchet fell on the ground, I fell to my knees like a puppet that had its strings cut.

With the enhancement provided by the hatchet, I was able to keep on standing even without having any magical energy left inside me. So it was the natural what would happen if I lost it.

I thought that I would fall to the hard ground but I was taken in and embraced by the soft arms of a person instead.

Hugged by the witch’s chest, my vision was filled with the dark robe and I was unable to see her face. In the first place, I didn’t even have the energy to even move my head.

“You sure like to use dangerous things. It was a light Berserk state.”

“.......thanks to it I was able to kill the Priest.”

I can’t move my body, but was somehow able to speak.

“Are you here to save me?”(kurono)

“Yes.”(Fiona)

“Thanks, but this place is dangerous. Fiona-san should run away quickly. I won’t resent you even if you leave me here.”

“Then we’ll lose our meaning to come here.”

‘We’? Who else is—–

“Look, adventurers have come to save the village.”

As Fiona-san lifted me, the place where the wall of fire was now,

“a,aa........”

A group of strong adventurers of different races were standing there.

“1 gold for 1 kill!!”

“hyaaa ha, I’ll hunt all these bastards!!!”

The adventurers roared and attacked the remaining Crusaders.

Having lost their commander as well as all the magicians, the group of humans, no matter what the number, can never win against these adventurers.

They were pushed this far just by me alone. Having realized that it had become hopeless for them now that reinforcements had come, the soldiers began running away while showing their backs.

“......Fiona-san.”

“What is it?”

“I leave the rest, to you.......”

With the scene of victory in sight, I finally felt relief and fell asleep.

.

.

.

“I leave the rest, to you.......”

Having left those words, Kurono lost his consciousness in Fiona’s arms.

Fiona firmly held Kurono’s large and heavy body with her slender arms.

In the surroundings, the sounds of cries raised by the running Crusaders and the chasing adventurers resounded.

Within that carnage, the figure of Fiona gently holding Kurono looked like some famous painting.

But, there was one single person that did not approve of it.

“Get away from Kurono.”

Pretty yet somewhat cold voice of a girl reached Fiona’s ears.

When she raised her head, out of nowhere, a girl with rainbow coloured wings was standing there.

Lily who had left the fountain of light, had reached Irz village, or rather, to the place where Kurono was.

“.......who are you?”

“That’s enough. So hurry up and get away from him.”

Lily wasn’t directing clear bloodlust, but even the air-headed Fiona understood that her words contained a thorny nuance.

But, even if it was any another woman than Fiona, she would not have understood that it was due to a simple personal reason like – ‘I will not let any woman other than me embrace Kurono’.

“Here you go.”(Fiona)

In any case, Fiona quietly handed Kurono back to Lily who had landed in front of her.

Lily, just like the time when fighting Sariel, easily carried Kurono.

And finally now that Kurono was completely handed over to Lily did she show her usual fairy like smile to Fiona.

“You were quicker than expected, that really helped, Thank you.”(Lily)

“It’s our job after all.”(Fiona)

“That’s certainly true for the Vigilante corps and the adventurers of Kuar village, but is it the same for you who came from Arc continent as well?”

“.......so you knew?”

“You didn’t really try to hide it either right? After all, the guild card you showed to Kurono was not of this continent.”

“Ah, could it be, that you are the fairy that was with Kurono-san back then?”

“You realized that just now?”

“You really are pretty.”

Lily took a deep sigh. Now that she thought about it, she was out of sync even back then while talking with Kurono.

“That’s enough about me. More importantly, are you an enemy? Or an ally?”(Lily)

“Lily let out a slight killing intent, but Fiona normally replied with her usual expressionless face.

“I’m a rank 1 adventurer now.”(Fiona)

And just like that time, from beneath her hat, she took out a plate and gave it to Lily.

That was without a doubt a guild card of Pandora continent.

“Are you a traitor towards humans?”(lily)

“I just came to Pandora continent as a mercenary. But the food wasn’t good so I resigned.”

“.......I see.”

Lily felt stupid to have been alert and cautious against this half asleep witch.

Lily who could read minds knew that her reactions and responses weren’t an act.

At this moment too, Fiona is still thinking about Ice candy. Lily, due to her telepathic powers, understood that even if she didn’t want to.

“Well it’s fine. I’ll let you eat as much icecandy as you want as long as you don’t betray us.”

“Really? It’s a promise then.”

Seeing Fiona bend forward and stick her face closer, Lily regretted making a hasty decision for a second.

(“ But, turning this woman into an enemy will be troublesome. If she is going to stay as an adventurer the it’s better to leave it like that.”)(lily)

Lily had seen the wall of fire that saved Kurono.

And the true identity of that magic, neither Kurono nor the adventurers had realized, except Lily who had been watching from above.

It was not [Ignis Rampart] that Kurono thought. In the first place, it was neither a wide range magic nor an advance level magic.

It was just a simple lower level defensive magic [Ignis Shield].

(“It’s obvious that even the same magic will be different when used by different people, but, to display that much strength with just a low level magic, this wasn’t just a matter of talent.”)

Whether it was a talent of inhumane level, or was it a special technique or maybe she was born with some special constitution. But whatever it was, Lily realized that this witch called Fiona possessed a fearsome level of magic ability.

It’s fortunate that Fiona didn’t possess an evil mind like an actual ‘witch’ and instead was just a glutton.

“For such a weird witch to exist, this world really is a vast place.”(lily)

As Lily breathed a sigh out of exhaustion, she moved towards the nearby guild to let Kurono rest easily.

Behind her, the black witch who was thinking of the sweet taste of Ice candy also followed.