“Almost done,” Roti said. It was an incredibly difficult task that she probably wouldn’t have been able to complete in one go if she hadn’t seen the magical power. Her muscles were stiff from exerting too much force throughout her body.

[You must never relax your body or stop your will. If you do, it will all be in vain.]

“I understand.”

After finishing the calculations and starting to distribute the magical power in earnest, her body trembled like an aspen tree. Cordelia gritted her teeth and endured.

Fortunately, her efforts seemed to be effective as Nazabut’s movements noticeably slowed. Leonard noticed this and launched a fierce attack.

[Hang in there.]

Roti spoke somewhat coldly, sensing that Cordelia’s will was weakening. Cordelia tried to answer but kept her mouth shut. Her teeth were chattering so much that she felt she might bite her tongue if she spoke.

Her magic seemed to be working well. Nazabut started to be pushed back one-sidedly.

Finally, Leonard gained the upper hand. He immediately created a long ice spear by stretching his hand into the air. With his other hand, he firmly gripped Nazabut’s shoulder to prevent escape. Just as he was about to pierce Lydia’s heart with it, a phoenix flew in from somewhere and cut the spear in half.

“Leonard Atilei!”

Rosenblur, who arrived late, shouted and immediately stood between Lydia and Leonard. Rosenblur roughly pushed Leonard away.

“Are you crazy?”

“You’re the crazy one. Do you even know what’s inside your sister’s body?”

Leonard retorted, breathing heavily.

“What are you talking about?”

“B-brother. Please save me. Sob. Leo, Leo.”

Nazabut hid behind Rosenblur’s back, shedding tears. To Leonard, who knew all the facts, it only looked disgusting.

“Don’t hide, come out here. I’ll crush your head.”

“Why are you acting like this? What did Lydia do so wrong?”

“What did she do wrong? She summoned a demon with her own body, do I need to say more?”

“Summoned? What nonsense… How could Lydia possibly summon anything? She’s just a low-level magician.”

Naturally, Rosenblur didn’t easily believe Leonard’s words. It wasn’t just because she was family, but in a normal situation, it wouldn’t be easy to think of the word ‘summoning’.

There was a reason why Matilda and other Seireus didn’t expect a demon to have been summoned despite such a big collapse. The last time a summoning occurred was well over a hundred years ago. It’s now completely disappeared into history.

“Ask your sister about that. How she did it.”

Leo concentrated magical power in his palm and struck Nazabut’s head with it. Nazabut rolled on the ground with a weak scream.

“Kyaak!”

“Lydia!”

Rosenblur immediately counterattacked Leonard. Leonard managed to block it with a barrier, but Rosenblur was also a high-level magician. Part of the impact hit Leonard’s body.

“Ugh.”

“Even if it’s you, I can’t forgive this. How dare you lay hands on an Elfenbaum? And Lydia at that?”

Rosenblur’s face turned cold as ice. Cordelia was watching the situation from afar. She wanted to run over and explain everything, but if she moved, her concentration would be disrupted and it wouldn’t be possible.

The magic Roti taught her was to loosen the connection between the demon and the body it inhabited, and it required continuous maintenance of the magic to see its effect.

But by chance, her eyes met with Nazabut, who was lying on the ground.

It’s you.

Nazabut grinned and mouthed words. While the two men were fighting, Nazabut staggered towards Cordelia.

“Cordelia… I was wondering why my body kept losing strength, it was you?”

Roti blocked in front of Cordelia, who couldn’t move an inch.

[Don’t come any closer.]

“Why does this dog keep interfering in everything since earlier?”

[Don’t mind me, focus on your magic.]

Roti briefly turned back to speak to Cordelia, then immediately lunged at Nazabut. Cordelia nodded slightly and focused all her attention on maintaining the magic.

“Ouch!”

Nazabut shook off her arm as if annoyed, but the gray dog persistently clung to Nazabut’s arm, biting it. Due to excessive use of magical power, Cordelia’s head felt like it was about to split and her stomach churned, but she endured.

‘Just a little more. Just a little more.’

Although Roti fought well, there was no way she could easily defeat an opponent that even Leonard couldn’t easily overcome. Even if Cordelia diligently realized the magic, there was a clear limit.

“How annoying!”

[Ack!]

With a thud, Roti flew and crashed into a tree. The moment she saw that, her concentration wavered. Nazabut approached Cordelia with a grin.

“Still, it’s your wish to be torn to pieces and die, so I should grant that.”

“…Wish?”

“This woman, you know. She’s very malicious. She acts noble on the outside, but behind your back, she’s jealous of you and wishes you were dead. That’s why I was attracted and summoned.”

Nazabut laughed as if she had just told an amusing joke.

Although she had expected it, having it confirmed through Nazabut’s mouth brought a surge of disappointment.

‘Was I nothing to Lydia? Was it just my own delusion that we were friends?’

“Judging by your expression, you didn’t know.”

Cordelia’s tongue dried up with each step she took closer. When she turned her head slightly, her master was still tied up with Rosenblur.

She desperately looked at Leonard. Perhaps her feelings were conveyed. As if by magic, Leonard looked at Cordelia.

She wanted to call out “Master” loudly, but fearing it would draw Nazabut’s attention, she just opened her eyes wide.

“But you. You smell really good.”

“……”

“It seems a bit of a waste to just kill you.”

Nazabut came too close, putting her nose to Cordelia’s nape and sniffing like a dog. That breath made her skin crawl, almost making her stop the magic.

The demon stroked her cheek with a finger. Suddenly, she made her fingernails extremely long, almost like knives. Cordelia instinctively knew that this was the culprit that had sliced open the belly of the woman who died at her feet.

“But I have to do what I have to do. I need to pay the price for receiving this body.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she swung her nails. Cordelia tightly closed her eyes.

“Lydia. You……”

Surprisingly, it was not Leonard but Rosenblur who blocked those sharp nails. He pushed Nazabut away with confused eyes.

“You really have a demon summoned in you?”

“Blaise, it’s not like that. Don’t you trust me? All those nonsensical words are made up by that woman!”

Nazabut changed her expression in an instant. She shed tears pitifully. Her acting was so natural that even Cordelia, who knew the truth, couldn’t help but admire it.

However, hearing those words, Rosenblur’s face was filled with anguish instead.

“It’s true. Really, a summoning……”

“We need to capture and subdue her first. That’s the only way we can save Lydia or not.”

Leonard, who had arrived at some point, said as he shot dozens of wind-made blades towards Nazabut. Nazabut clicked her tongue briefly and distanced herself.

“Oh my, what’s all this about?”

“Isn’t that Lydia?”

Then familiar voices were heard from behind. When Cordelia managed to turn her head, Kainon and Matilda were there. Well, with such a commotion in the front yard of the Magic Association, it’s impossible that no one would come out to see.

“Lydia Elfenbaum summoned a demon into her own body.”

Leonard gave a brief explanation to the two astonished people.

“What? A summoning?”

Kainon’s eyes naturally turned to Cordelia. He seemed to recall the conversation they had just had.

“Cordelia, did you know about this?”

She nodded instead of answering. Matilda’s expression hardened.

“So the collapse was due to the summoning. Yes, now the strange points are explained.”

“This is unbelievable. A summoning. How many decades, no, centuries has it been since the last one?”

“There’s no time to be surprised. If we don’t catch that demon here, who knows how many more lives it will take. It has already killed quite a few.”

“Right. What should we do?”

Leonard summarized the situation. The four briefly put their heads together to devise a strategy, then immediately rushed towards Nazabut. With four high-level magicians charging at her, Nazabut was clearly pushed back.

“Ugh.”

Watching from behind, Cordelia suddenly felt dizzy. Blood rising from her throat stained her front.

Cordelia realized that she had really reached her limit now. Her legs gave way and she collapsed. At the same time, the magic weakening Nazabut was undone.

“Cordelia!”

Leonard was the first to notice her condition and shouted. As Cordelia’s magic stopped, Nazabut quickly regained her strength. She let out a terrible scream and threw a mass of magical power at the four.

“Argh! I’ll kill you all!”

“Ugh!”

Magical power surged up incomparably stronger than before. Kainon and Rosenblur were simultaneously knocked down by Nazabut’s attack. Only Leonard barely managed to withstand it. Matilda exchanged some words with Leonard and then hurriedly ran towards Cordelia.

“Cordelia, quickly lean on me. I’ll move you to a safe place.”

“No, no. I need to continue the magic…”

“Magic? What magic?”

“To separate the demon and the host, huff.”

Cordelia stood up with Matilda’s support. And she started to realize the magic Roti had taught her from the beginning again.

Watching this from the side, Matilda was so surprised she couldn’t close her mouth.

“You, don’t tell me. No, how do you know that magic? That’s a magic known only to a very few even within Triska.”