Ignoring Matilda’s surprise, Cordelia refocused her concentration. Having done it once before, the second attempt was a bit easier.

“Ugh.”

However, her body didn’t seem to agree. Before long, blood surged up again. The metallic taste filled her mouth.

Cordelia spat out the blood pooled in her mouth and gasped for air. Matilda said,

“Stop it. That magic consumes an enormous amount of mental energy. If you do it again without rest, your body won’t be able to handle it. I’d rather…”

“No. I can, huff, I can do it. Don’t worry about me and go to the master. He needs you more than I do right now.”

Matilda couldn’t deny those words. The situation was that dire. Nazabut, now firmly connected to its host, was rampaging wildly. Although Leonard was holding his ground, he too was struggling.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

“Hurry and go.”

Matilda glanced at Cordelia with worried eyes before leaving her side.

Cordelia firmly planted her wobbling knees and focused on constructing the magic. Just then, she heard a small movement beside her.

[Are you alright?]

“Roti.”

The grey dog limped towards Cordelia. A sidelong glance revealed its front paw soaked in blood and grotesquely bent, with its ribs caved in. Though the injuries looked severe, Roti’s voice remained unchanged. Instead, it left words of concern for Cordelia.

[Don’t push yourself too hard.]

“I’m fine.”

At that moment, with a sharp sound cutting through the air, dozens of fist-sized stones rained down from the sky. It happened so suddenly there was no time to dodge. Fortunately, Roti blocked some with its body, but a few hit Cordelia directly.

“Argh!”

She lost her balance and fell. Luckily, the stones struck her arms and legs, avoiding major injury.

“Huff, haa.”

Cordelia sat on the ground, breathing heavily. Her arm throbbed where the stone had hit, making it difficult to lift. Naturally, the magic she had been casting was interrupted.

Roti gazed at the sky once before rushing to her side.

[Let’s run away. Quickly.]

“No. If I don’t use the magic you taught me, the master and the others will…”

The power of the descended demon was unimaginably strong. He wasn’t losing at all despite facing four high-level magicians. If anything, he seemed to be getting stronger than when they first saw him.

Cutting off her words, Roti urgently nudged Cordelia’s body with its nose.

[That demon is trying to summon ‘Viriocum’ now. We must get away from here immediately!]

“What’s Viriocum?”

[A rock floating outside the sky.]

“There are rocks in the sky?”

[The stones that just fell are debris from that rock and the beginning of the summoning. If it falls here, everyone will die. Even I can’t stop that. Move quickly, hurry!]

Whether those words were true or not, an enormous amount of magical energy began to be sucked towards Nazabut. Even though it was midday, the temperature touching the skin gradually dropped.

Cordelia put strength into her legs and stood up. However, the direction she headed was not where Roti was pointing.

“Master, Master!”

Nazabut had retreated a bit, seemingly to catch his breath before performing a massive spell. Leonard immediately responded to Cordelia’s call. He glanced once towards Nazabut before rushing to Cordelia.

“It’s dangerous here, go inside the Magic Association building. What’s that blood? Where are you hurt?”

Leonard asked worriedly, seeing the blood on her collar. Cordelia firmly shook her head.

“It’s nothing. More importantly, Master. That demon, Nazabut, is trying to summon Viriocum.”

“Nazabut? Is that the demon’s name?”

“Yes. Roti told me. And right now, an enormous amount of magical energy is surging and being sucked towards Nazabut.”

Leonard’s expression turned grave at Cordelia’s words.

“If that demon really summons Viriocum, this entire area will become ruins.”

“What’s going on?”

Matilda, Canon, and Rosenblur approached. Cordelia repeated the story she had just heard from Roti. They looked like they wanted to ask how Cordelia knew this, but Leonard intervened.

“That’s not important right now. If Viriocum falls here, there will be hundreds of casualties.”

“We need to stop it before it’s summoned.”

Matilda said, dusting off her dirt-covered cloak. Canon, grimacing as if wounded in the side, asked while covering the spot with one hand.

“How? We can’t even cut off one of that demon’s fingers as it is.”

“There is one way, but…”

Matilda’s gaze fell on Cordelia. Automatically, the others also looked at her.

“Me?”

“Yes. If you weaken Nazabut with that magic, and then the four of us attack all at once, we might be able to stop it. Viriocum takes a long time to summon, so if we inflict a major wound in the middle, he won’t be able to continue.”

“What magic are you talking about?”

Rosenblur asked. Matilda gave a brief explanation of what kind of magic it was in Cordelia’s stead.

“Does such magic exist?”

“I’ve never heard of it either.”

Canon and Rosenblur stared intently at Cordelia’s face at the same time. Matilda hesitated a little before asking.

“I’m sorry, but can you do it?”

“Yes. I’ll try.”

Cordelia nodded immediately without thinking twice. If she gave up here, hundreds of people could die.

Leonard gently gripped her shoulder.

“Are you really okay?”

“Of course.”

She was not okay at all. Her insides were a mess, feeling like she wanted to grab a tree trunk and vomit right away, and her head was ringing as if hit by a hammer.

Nevertheless, Cordelia smiled at him. She was even a little happy. She had always been protected behind Leonard, but now she could help him too, which gave her strength.

Cordelia sent her worried master away first and moved to her position. Roti, seeming to recognize her firm resolve, sighed deeply instead of trying to stop her.

[Sigh, I shouldn’t have taught you that magic.]

“I’m sorry. But thank you, Roti. For protecting me.”

[Promise me you’ll run away if the plan fails.]

“Alright.”

Cordelia doesn’t intend to die helplessly either. She’s just trying to do what she can to the best of her ability.

She began her third attempt. Concentrating her mind, she carefully designed the magic.

Due to her poor physical condition, the magical energy sputtered erratically. She gathered them neatly and placed them where she wanted. It’s a complex formula, but looking at it, the calculations become possible quickly. Now the pain will come. Cordelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Hnng.”

Even though she expected it, it still hurts just as much. The eerie sensation of something stirring in her stomach made her skin crawl.

Whenever Cordelia felt like giving up and collapsing, she dug her nails into her palm. The slight pain actually helped her endure.

As she began distributing the magical energy, an intense pain that made the previous agony seem like nothing dominated her entire body.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’

A terrible pain, as if insects were eating away at her internal organs, came over her. Her body shook as if she had chills. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the sky seemed darker than before. Cordelia felt anxious.

The one fortunate thing was that the magical energy being sucked towards Nazabut had noticeably decreased. However, she couldn’t be completely at ease. It wasn’t certain whether this was because her magic had succeeded or because things had reached a point of no return and magic was no longer needed.

The four magicians attacked Nazabut with all their might.

Perhaps because he had already used a considerable amount of magic to summon Viriocum, Nazabut’s movements gradually slowed. Until just a moment ago, they couldn’t even scratch him, but now five out of ten spells were hitting his body.

“Aaargh!”

Suddenly, Nazabut curled his body into a ball and let out a terrible scream. Not missing that moment, the four simultaneously poured their magic onto him. A thick smoke settled, and Nazabut’s figure became invisible.

Leonard gathered his magic to deliver the final blow to him. At that very moment, Nazabut, who had been hidden in the smoke, shot up into the sky.

‘Shot up?’

Cordelia, watching from afar, traced the afterimage of Nazabut flying through the sky with her eyes.

Her question of ‘How?’ was quickly answered. Grotesque black wings were visible behind Nazabut’s back. Even though he was quite far away, Cordelia could clearly feel Nazabut staring at her. And at that moment, he dove sharply towards her.

[No!]

Roti noticed first and blocked her front. Nazabut’s nails instantly grew longer. Without hesitation, he slashed at Roti, who had blocked his way. Despite Roti being thin and not very large, blood spurted out like a fountain.

“Roti!”

Time seemed to slow down. Thanks to Roti buying time, there was a chance to cancel the magic separating the demon and host and cast a barrier spell, but doing so would render everything futile. A fourth attempt would probably be impossible.

Cordelia pondered very briefly before making her choice.

She closed her eyes and focused even more intently on the magic directed at Nazabut. Now she felt no pain or hurt. Only the determination to face the coming future remained.