"You've lived quite a long time yourself — with power like this, why choose to help humans?"
Broken horns and steel-blade arms clashed together, striking sparks.
"Nothing more than a promise. I'm someone who keeps their word — I never go back on what I've sworn."
"And what about you? Why hide among humans wearing their face?"
Valhart burst into laughter at that — but the force behind his arms didn't ease in the slightest. Steel blade and broken horns dissolved into twin streaks of afterimage, clashing furiously against each other in the air.
"For reasons that go back a very long time. I've always been chasing the most exquisite betrayals — and eventually I realized that humans, with their richer emotional lives, made the finest subjects for study."
"You know, in the original plan — after eliminating Gaderia, that last ragtag border noble — I was going to push the old Emperor into launching a campaign to assassinate mages across the land and conquer the whole continent!"
"...Hah?"
If Nanoda was being honest, she'd only helped Gaderia on a whim. That their friendship had lasted this long was thanks entirely to her own strength and a fair bit of luck.
"And then you showed up and threw everything into chaos! Those two poor Emperors won't simply be discarded by me, either."
"You're the one who invaded my territory first."
"Hahaha, you really are fascinating! Honestly, if it weren't for you, I never would have found myself in a situation this entertaining."
"So — all of these schemes were for the sake of the Demon Race?"
"No. I was simply indulging my curiosity — observing humans betray and tear each other apart. To be honest, I was only ever fanning the flames. The way I see it, it would have happened sooner or later regardless."
"To have such a warped hobby... you really are a hollow creature, aren't you."
Clang! Nanoda's broken horns abruptly shifted angle, batting Valhart's steel-blade arm aside. In the same motion, she spun low and drove a kick straight into his abdomen.
"Pfh—"
Blood spilled from the corner of Valhart's mouth as he was sent flying — and with a thunderous crash, he smashed straight through half of the imperial throne. Rubble and dust scattered in all directions.
"Hollow? Yes, that's right. I've been like this since a thousand years ago. So then — can you, the one standing before me now, finally give me something that satisfies?"
Valhart sprang up from the wreckage of the throne as if he'd barely been hurt.
"I didn't expect you to be quite so talkative." Nanoda felt goosebumps threatening to rise.
"This time, I won't be running!"
The two arms that had become steel blades reverted, and black mana coalesced in Valhart's hands — reshaping into a double-headed battle axe.
The sight triggered a flash of déjà vu in Nanoda.
An instant later, Valhart charged with the axe gripped in both hands. Broken horns met battle axe with a piercing, resonant shriek of impact.
It was the technique Linie had copied from Eisen, the mightiest dwarven warrior!
In Valhart's hands the form was identical — but the raw power behind it felt even greater.
"Surprised?"
"...A little."
As the axe came swinging down again, Nanoda leapt back to dodge. The battle axe slammed into the palace floor and carved out a long, winding crack.
The transformation magic. The Killing Magic he'd used to defeat Linie. The barrier magic outside the palace. And now this same imitation magic as Linie — just how many completely unrelated types of magic did this creature know?
Most of the Demon Race spent their entire lives using and refining a single type or category of magic. Yet this thousand-year demon, Valhart, seemed rather excessively versatile.
"Why aren't you using that power and magic from when we first met?"
Valhart wrenched the axe free from the floor and pressed the attack again.
"I don't need it yet!"
Nanoda swept her broken horns forward — Severance Magic activated!
"—!"
In a single instant, Valhart sensed the invisible danger ahead. His axe shifted mid-swing, turning sideways to cover several vital points.
Without any change in his unruffled gaze, the battle axe — formed from solidified mana — was cleaved apart by the invisible slash and dissolved back into mana particles. A shallow line of red appeared across his body as well.
Had he not blocked in time, he would have been cut clean through.
"I see — so that was one of the spells from last time. Very nice!" Valhart flashed a grin, entirely unbothered by the blood seeping from the wound.
Seeing that, Nanoda launched Severance Magic again in pursuit.
Yet the instant the slash was about to connect, an equally invisible cutting force burst from Valhart's hand — and the two strikes canceled each other out.
"You can copy magic?"
Nanoda could now confirm it: Valhart possessed the ability to replicate any magic he had witnessed.
It also explained how she could understand Valhart being able to use so many different types of magic.
Severance Magic wasn't something one could master in a single viewing. Even the gifted Yuna had needed several days to fully grasp it.
That Valhart could produce a flawless version of Severance Magic the moment after seeing her use it once was something that should have been nearly impossible.
"Correct. Worthy of the one I've had my eye on — your instincts are sharp. My magic is the duplication of the magic of our kind! Any magic I have ever seen, I can reproduce perfectly — no need to construct or even comprehend the underlying formula!"
"Isn't that just... cheating?!"
A vein throbbed on Nanoda's forehead. She hadn't expected this creature — the one her berserk self had dispatched in an instant — to have such a thoroughly troublesome ability.
In a sense, this was leagues beyond Linie's imitation magic, which could only copy fighting techniques and physical movements.
The one limitation of this magic was that he could only actively use three copied spells at the same time.
"However — what you'll be facing is every manner of magic from a thousand years of demon history!"
Having revealed his ability, Valhart laughed with wild arrogance. As a Great Demon who had lived over a thousand years, his breadth of experience was the foundation of both his confidence and his pride.
Because he'd been defeated too quickly last time, he hadn't fully managed to copy the magic Nanoda had unleashed when releasing her true power.
But this time — the moment Nanoda drew on that ability and that magic again, Valhart was confident he could replicate even that overwhelming power.
Meanwhile, Nanoda had already made up her mind. She didn't rush to attack again.
Valhart at full mana output was roughly equivalent to a heavily nerfed, demon-race version of Serie — or potentially strong enough to surpass even the Seven Sages of Destruction.
Serie commanded every non-Goddess, non-Demon system of magic from the Mythical Era to the present day.
Valhart could replicate any magic from nearly a thousand years of demon history that he had personally witnessed.
Serie could unleash a massive torrent of different magic types simultaneously.
Valhart could simultaneously employ three different types of demon magic.
Under the current circumstances, taking Valhart down in a single stroke wasn't going to happen.
No helping it — would she have to release her suppressed power one more time?
That was the thought crossing Nanoda's mind.
____
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